skip to main |
skip to sidebar
View of the day-Well, not today, but close enough. Nice and clean, ready for storage.
Al and the rest of the crew...a Massey 9790 and a CIH 2588...combined, and finished, the canola around 3pm. There had been some ground condition issues earlier in the week, so our tractor and grain cart had actually shuttled down earlier in the week for the farmer to use. With the canola done, they made the move to a new field, then shut down at 8pm.
The next day, they were able to get the last of the canola finished and get things changed over to do the wheat. With only one straight header between three machines, the swather was called into duty. In order to get well ahead of the combines, the swather went solo and the combines got parked for the night.
October 24 was the last day for combining as we got the wheat finished and Al brought the combine home. He even managed to get it blown off and washed while Marilyn was at Staples working. While he is able to do most of the work Marilyn usually had to do, he still has not gotten the urge to take any pictures, even with autosteer. One reason is that he doesn't keep a camera with him...that 1 megapixel flip phone that he carries doesn't take great pictures. Except of the inside of his shirt pocket...and lots of them.
So this year, the combine is going to be under cover for the winter. After getting it all cleaned up, he drove it back up north of Canora to park it in the farmers storage building. The sparrows will be so disappointed they won't have anything to crap on this winter.
So that winds up the season for us. We have a couple of toy shows coming up. The first is a one day show in Tisdale, which is a killer...setting up for one day with all our stock is a lot of work. This year is especially tough since the fellow that was a big part of organizing and an even bigger customer and friend, took his own life less than a month ago. It was such a shock...you just never know. We couldn't see backing out, but we know it won't be the same.
We get back home Saturday night after the show and throw some things together for the Red Deer, Alberta show. We had been setting up in conjunction with their annual farm show, Agritrade, but this year, the powers that be decided to change the setup. They wanted the toy guys to set up in 10x10 booths and pay the big bucks. Toy displays don't work that way. Fortunately, one of the toy guys lives in Red Deer and he took it upon himself to find us a new venue apart from Agritrade. This will be a learning experience for everyone involved. They cut it back to three days from four, which means we will get back home a day earlier.
We will need that extra day to get back home, then pack up for an extended stay in the sunny south. We will be going back to Phoenix for a couple of months, to enjoy some shirt sleeved NHL hockey games...among other things. Our first game of the 15 we have tickets for, is Nov. 15, so it won't be a leisurely drive down.
Our last game is January 6, which will be followed by a mad dash home to get the toy trailer and head up to Saskatoon for the toy show on January 11, 12 and 13. It will be a rude awakening to hit the -40ºC after all the lovely desert warmth.
A final shot of the "Heritage Fleet"...
View of the day-Lawn ornament time again...for a short while, at least until the DEF fluid barrel is empty.
The wait has been unbearable. Every day Al would call to see if this would be the day to give it a try and every day the farmer would go out and test, then come back with the bad news. Too wet. Problem is, the days are getting shorter and even if the sun comes out by noon, it is disappearing by 5pm.
While we were down Marilyn was able to work on show tractors for the 2019 Farm Toy Show at Yorkton in February. We always do a show tractor...only 35 of them, which are spoken for by regular customers. Al chooses the 1/64 scale 4 wheel drive tractor for the year(this is the 12th year), then Marilyn makes stickers for the boxes and tractors, then boxes them up. This year it is a tracked black Challenger and it is the earliest we have ever gotten them done!
Finally on Wednesday, Oct. 10, Al got the call that the canola was "close enough"...which, by this time, meant it was still wet, but what the hell. Al drove up to the farm and got reacquainted with the combine...it started, no problem and at 5pm he was back in the saddle. He got 45 acres in before they had to shut down.
Al was going to stay in the camper, but the water system didn't want to cooperate, so he just drove the 45 miles home. The next day was a good one for acres, he combined 110 acres. The farmer has three New Holland combines along with Al, so they covered a lot of ground once they got going.
The next day it rained...and the day after, it snowed. We decided to bring the camper home and winterize it. We had taken the 200 gallon tank of water to use in the camper and it had gotten a little "hard" around the edges from the freezing temperatures. The rough road on the way back home broke it up into smaller chunks...now all we needed was some warm sunny weather to thaw it out.
The tanks on the camper had fared well...we had kept the furnace at 45ºF and had a radiant heater keeping things from freezing inside. Oddly enough, when Marilyn shifted the radiant heater (an oil filled heater that looks like the old time steam radiators) there was a dead mouse under it. And not in a trap...one less to worry about. She turned on the tank heaters...which Al was unaware that we had...to thaw things out down under for a couple of days.
By Tuesday, Oct. 16, the weather was starting to turn around. It wasn't raining as much and it was warming up. Marilyn got the camper cleaned up and winterized. Just the thought of all the mouse crap in the drawers meant that everything was going to get scrubbed and sanitized. Those little bastards chewed on tin foil, cardboard, rubber, hard plastic, and...for those who use the "shaved Irish Spring soap repellent" theory...they even ate the soap!! Those bright green turds didn't seem as rank.
We don't usually have issues with mice over the winter in our camper when it is parked in our yard, likely because of the "community cats". No one seems to have ownership of them and they do have a path worn out across our yard to the neighbours on either side of us, so we must be sharing. I did see the momma cat carrying a mouse to her kittens the day I cleaned the camper, so perhaps we will have another rodent free winter.
With the camper nestled in and the water tank thawed and emptied, we were done with that "harvest" aspect. Now to finish combining. The weather was great...all the way up to double digits in Celsius, we even hit 20º one day. A lot of combining was getting done in the area.
Al was driving back and forth, while Marilyn just kept working at Staples. The guys were covering a lot of ground and we had hoped to get done in time to take part in the Regina Toy Show which was to be Oct. 20 & 21. Al just couldn't bring himself to attend with all the harvesting left to do, so we had to bow out. It sounded like there were others in the same boat and with more farmers trying to get finished, the crowd was down quite a bit. Can't have every year a bonus year like last year.
Sunday, Oct. 21 we got finished at Canora. Marilyn actually went up for the day...mostly because she had to bring the shop trailer home. Since Al was going to drive the combine home, rather than getting it hauled, it made sense for both of us to go up in one pickup, then everything would get home in one trip. We had some red backup in the field for the last day as two CaseIH 2188's came to help finish the job.
Al roaded the combine back to our place last night, then parked it on the lawn as he usually does. This morning before Marilyn left for work, we emptied out the remains of the DEF barrel into the combine. We have one more job to do about 15 mile SE of us, so Al had another drive ahead of him.
He got down to the field mid morning and was able to get 90 acres combined before shutting down.
There is light at the end of the tunnel...
View of the day-Snow on the canola...not much more to tell.
We took a road trip to see if there was any propane left in the camper up at Canora. Propane was just running out as we got there. We got the dish aimed...hopeful thinking...then went in to pick up a few toys that had been in storage after our trip earlier on.
Marilyn checked around and discovered we have a mouse problem. Every drawer had those little turds spread around...they didn't get into the food storage though. The trap line has been laid out again.
They even gnawed the tip off the rubber spatula...
View of the day-The view out our front door...this mornings snowfall. Just what we needed...again.
Not a wheel has turned since we moved up to Canora. Here's how it's gone...
Rain a bit. Stay cold. Next day no rain. Next day more cold non-drying weather with an hour of sun just before sunset. Next day more rain...just enough to cancel any thoughts of testing the swathed canola, followed by no sun for 10 days. During those days if there was no rain we had snow, but no accumulation...at least in our area. Start the cycle over again.
Marilyn is back at Staples until combining starts and Al went back to H&R Block after running out of things to keep occupied with at home.
Crap weather in the forecast, but next week...yes, next week is looking up...
View of the day-Getting serviced up for the last 100 acres of canola.
Friday was a day full of hope with a game plan...which turned into several, before the day was through.
Plan A-Get the combining done, which required cooperation from the weather...no sun and threat of rain would not make that easy. The guys were out warming up the machines in the morning, they got started, but it was super slow going. With only a hundred or so acres left to go, they just kept chugging along.
Marilyn had been enlisted to help her friend, Brenda, attend a quilt show in Carlyle, about 30 miles south of where we were combining. Part of Plan A was to get Al to the field, then wait for Brenda to call that she was on her way to Carlyle and passing the road to the farm...around 1 pm. Marilyn would meet her on the highway and follow her down to set up. However, Brenda got busy in the store at Yorkton and would be delayed a couple hours.
Plan B showed up when the guys were sure they would finish, even though it had sprinkled off and on. Al called to see if his trucker could make it down to haul the combine up to Canora for him. The trucker was also the same one used by one of the other custom guys that we were working with, so he needed a truck too. Fortunately, two trucks were dispatched to the farm to take care of both trips.
Marilyn's part of this second plan was to wait until she heard from Al that the truck was 40 miles away, then meet Al over at the straight header so we could load it on the high speed transport. While she was waiting for the call, she figured she might as well get the camper ready to move. She got everything disconnected and put away, then helped Al load the header, just as the trucks were pulling in.
Marilyn got the camper hooked up while the combines were getting loaded, then called Brenda. It was still busy in the store, which delayed her getting the trailer loaded to leave.
At this point we had Plan C arrive. Marilyn would move the camper to the farm at Canora, get it set up, then go back to Yorkton and hook the trailer up at the Colette's Sewing Machines Plus, where Brenda was waiting, then we would just take one truck to Carlyle.
Al had to pilot the truck hauling the combine, so we pretty much left at the same time. We got to the farm without incident, got the camper parked and plugged in. Got the combine unloaded, then Marilyn went back to Yorkton to get Brenda and the cargo trailer.
By this time, it was well after 6pm so we were way behind schedule. We had hoped to get to Carlyle early enough to set up for the 10am start on Saturday morning. We still had over two hours to drive, so we got the trailer hooked up and headed out of town.
While Al was relaxing at home, we were rolling down the highway and got about 10 miles south of Yorkton, when we went across a rough bridge, heard a noise coming from behind us. We looked in the rear view mirror to see sparks flying from the sides of the cargo trailer!
Marilyn though she had blown a tire and was riding on the rim, so she managed to get pulled well off the road, so she could safely inspect what the problem could be. By the time she stopped, and looked back, the trailer was about 30 feet behind the truck. Apparently when she flipped the lock handle down on the ball when she hooked up, the hitch had only been sitting on top of the ball, so it wasn't even hooked up.
The chains had done their job for as long as they could before the dragging of the hitch on the highway sheared them off. They were still hanging on the truck and the wires were all pulled out of the plug, but other than that, nothing was wrecked...we hoped.
We had been hauling about 20 brand new sewing machines along with various notions, material and displayers, which we hoped hadn't gotten destroyed in the chaos. We stood there in the dark, trying to assess what we should do...it was already so late...Brenda was leaning towards telling the organizers we wouldn't be able to make it. We had called Al and he was on his way out to give us a hand.
While Marilyn and Al are old hands at the trade show circuit, Brenda had not been to one for years. Add to that not knowing the venue or how we would be able to set up in the morning with only one hour and you can imaging the stress level. Brenda's sister, Colette, owns the store and is busy enough there without going on the road, but when the lady came in asking if she could please help them out, she agreed to attend...except that Colette and her husband were away touring Newfoundland. Brenda had to fill in and she is not a quilter.
So there we were on the side of the road, waiting for Al and calling the lady at the show to cancel. She was so concerned for our health and safety, that Brenda felt sorry for her and we decided to forge ahead to the show, then deal with the mayhem in the morning.
Brenda and Marilyn do a lot of set building for the theatre group and are used to the last minute pressures, because no matter how many months ahead of a production they start, you can always count on the fact that they will be putting the last touches on the set 30 minutes before curtain.
Al made it to the "wreck" and we unloaded about 10 of the machines...which were untouched...to lighten up the front end of the trailer so he could try and lift it back onto the ball of the hitch. Once Marilyn and Brenda were standing on the back of the trailer for ballast, he was able to swing the hitch into place and we were back in business. The only thing we were missing was the lights, but since the truck is so wide with the duals, the tail lights could be seen...and the traffic was pretty sparse by that time. We made it to Carlyle by 11:30, totally exhausted.
The rest of the weekend went fairly smooth, considering we were really just winging it.
There were some beautiful quilts on display and they bent over backwards to make sure we were helped with the unloading and anything else we could ask for.
Saturday night we went out to Marg and Kim's place to watch the Roughriders football game. We were able to park the truck and trailer in their shop to repair the wiring for the lights, then their son Gordie, who is a welder, put new brackets on the hitch and reinstalled the safety chains...and did an excellent job. Not like those Riders...they stunk the joint out.
Sunday the show went on and was over at 4pm. We had the tear down and load up done by 5pm and after a quick snack, were on the road home. We got back to Yorkton around 8pm, unloaded the trailer at the store and called it a night. What a crazy weekend.
Today was cloudy, misty and not conducive to combining. Al took the little Dodge in to get an oil change, then we went back down to the farm at Kipling to get our straight header moved down to Carlyle. Once we had it strapped down, we said our goodbyes to the farmers, while they were getting their seeding rig ready to go to work planting winter wheat.
We got to Carlyle, got the header parked, had a short visit, then headed for home.
Tomorrow, we are Canora bound...
View of the day-Juicing up the combine to make it through the night...or at least until it gets tough.
Another overcast day with high humidity, but fortunately, no precipitation. Al took the shop trailer out to the field to blow out the rads and filters. Marilyn came out later to do windows and by the time she finished, the combines were heading out to start picking up canola.
Once Al was finished with the shop trailer, Marilyn took it back to the camper and loaded the barbeque and a few other things into it...road trip time. We are hoping we won't be needing it...no jinx...so Marilyn would be taking it north of Canora to the farmers yard. We will be moving up there as soon as we are finished here and the trucker moves the combine.
After parking the shop trailer, Marilyn stopped at home to pick up some forgotten things from her last stay...she really needs to list things, so as not to forget them. A stop in town to get fuel and she was on the road back to the field.
Al was getting low on DEF fluid and fuel, so Marilyn brought the "fuel mule" over so he could at least have enough to finish the night...however late they decide to go. On the last 300 acres and there is rain forecast for the weekend.
Could be a late night...
View of the day-Another important job getting done. We don't often see the trucks up close, since the cart driver does the filling.
The start time was up in the air this morning, what with the low clouds, high humidity and threat of rain. We did get 35 drops on the camper, but it stayed away for the most part. Word came down the start time was to be noon...or maybe 1pm...they split the difference and cranked up at 12:30.
It was slow going to start, and the straw never did get dry...even with the wind that was blowing hard out of the east. With all five machines going again a lot of acres got covered...not as much as would have been if the sun would have shone and helped the dry down.
The half section got finished, then everyone moved over to the next field. Apparently the auto steer was not working on the swather...most of the time the line was off by 1º, which doesn't seem like much, but over the half mile it makes a difference.
There was that, and the "beaver houses"...nasty big piles of canola, where God knows what was happening with the swather man. Al's theory is he must have been getting dumped by his woman...but there were way to many piles for that. It was an adventure, that's for sure.
The dust was a killer, too,but we went to 11pm just to finish the piece that we were on.
The end is in site...
View of the day-A hard wind helped to dry the canola down...more of the same.
The plan for today was to start by 10 am, so we went out earlier to do a major cleaning on the windows and seed saver. There was just enough rain to make a thick coating of crap on the glass. Add to that the wind coming up to dry the dust and goo...the fresh bucket of window water ain't so fresh anymore.
Marilyn had water issues to deal with at the camper. The rotten egg smell coming from the hot water was getting worse. We had even put in a brand new anode, which worked for a week, then it started up again. The fresh water tank got a good shot of bleach and then the hot water tank got purged and left to soak along with all the other lines in the camper. Once it got rinsed out, it was better than new...hopefully for more than a week.
There was a full fleet of five machines running today, so once again, the buggy man was hopping. They worked straight through until after 10 pm when it got too tough to put through the machines.
A long productive day...
View of the day-Another one from the drone.
It was Staples working weekend, hence the break in the blog. Al held down the fort for the weekend and had it pretty slack. There were enough sprinkles to put the brakes on combining and when it wasn't raining, the dew held things up.
The green ones are having a time of it with breakdowns, which has to be frustrating for them. A chopper, then some bearings and a few other assorted issues. At least they don't go down together...very often.
Today combining started around 10:30am...no thanks to the dew...it was slow going until late in the afternoon. This gave the combines some smooth sailing until around 10pm, when the rain started. They kept going until it started to run off the headers, then shut down.
Hopefully it is just a short shot and we won't have to wait too long to start tomorrow...
View of the day-Out the camper window...lots of action today, considering the bins each hold one and three quarters Super B's worth of canola. Lots of auger moving.
Another early day for Al as the guys went to finish off the last of the canola down south. Marilyn brought lunch out and rode around until the field was finished, then helped to get some of the trucks moved back to the yard.
The next field they moved to was just a mile from the yard, so it will be a short trip home at the end of the day.
Of course, that could also mean working later because it is so close...
View of the day-First thing this morning, everything looks so peaceful at the lineup.
Al had come home with bad news last night. He had picked up some fence wire and it had wrapped around the front of the rotor...seems to be an annual ritual. They were pretty much finished for the night so Al figured we would go out bright and early to clear it out in the daylight.
It had gotten down to freezing temperatures last night, so this morning was fresh, to say the least. With several layers on, we headed to the field to get the wire out of the rotor. With the header raised all the way and a piece of coroplast down on the ground to protect the knees from the canola stubble, Marilyn was able to get set to start.
Al helped get the trough underneath pried open and held that way with the four inch side of a 2X4. Not a lot of room to work with...but that's all we had. It took better than an hour, but eventually we got the four foot piece of barbed wire unwrapped and we were back in business.
Al started combining and Marilyn went back to the camper to make lunch and clean up after the dusty job under the combine. While she was in repair mode, she decided to take the motor off the rear stabilizer jacks on the camper, which had quit working late last year. God forbid we should have to crank manually when we have the technology to push a button and have the RV level itself on its own. All we needed now was to get the motor tested/repaired/replaced.
Marilyn took lunch out for Al and rode around a bit, then he decided to take the afternoon off and let Marilyn combine for a change...just in time to do the dance with the power poles. After checking his eyelids for cracks and getting caught up on some season premiere episodes on the DVR, he came back out to the field to swap out again.
Marilyn rode around a bit too long after he came out and got the drone out just after sunset. The wind had completely disappeared and it was all but impossible to see anything when all the combines were close together.
She had been hoping to get some aerial shots of all the dust, but just as she got it in the air, a whiff of wind started up...as did the mosquitoes, which made the flight even shorter.
Another cold night forecast...good thing the propane got topped up...
View of the day-Still dumping...this time it is the end of a field, so we can all move to the new one empty.
While doing the morning servicing, Al discovered a bolt was missing from the chain drive pulley on the pickup head. He called into Windthorst to see if they had the right bolt...they had one that would work...so he took a road trip in to pick it up. Once that was repaired, it was back to picking up canola swaths.
Marilyn had water work to do back at the camper. Even though the anode rod had been changed, she figured the hot water tank should have gotten rinsed out to get the crud out of the bottom...it was starting to smell again. She also wanted to regenerate the water softener, which requires a half a box of salt mixed with water. No salt in the camper meant a road trip to Kipling...we needed propane anyway.
After picking up the salt and a few groceries, she threw together a lunch on the road and headed down to Kennedy where the combines were working. Once Al had his lunch and she rode in the combine for a round or two, it was back to the camper to get the water refreshed.
With the softener filled with brine and soaking, the water heater got drained and the inside scoured out. Time to kill before filling everything backup again, so she decided to clean out the cargo hold. There was a lot of tools and water hose parts in tubs...an attempt at organizing. She brought along one of many empty toolboxes sitting around in the garage at home, hoping to at least get all the tools organized.
Once the cargo hold was organized...along with several "so that's where that was!" comments after finding the odd treasure, it was time to get the water running. Everything was fresh again, all tanks filled, the propane tank was back in it's spot, heating the water for the much needed showers later on.
Al had called in the middle of Marilyn's repairs to say the air filter alarm had gone off, so he cleaned it out as best he could in the field, but thought it was time for new filters. Marilyn was on the road again to Windthorst to get filters and bring them back to the field so we could install them. They had just finished the field and were making the move to the next one a mile down the road, so the timing was good.
Marilyn decided to use one of her many cooking gadgets to make some little tarts. She had picked up crust and pie filling and had everything all set to go when she opened up one of the cupboards...looking for the tart/cupcake machine...and discovered all the ziplock containers that she thought she had left at home. Another one of those-"so that's where those are...I knew I brought them!"...unfortunately, what she didn't bring was a can opener. Oh well, the tarts were delicious, made with fruit cocktail from two little lunch size containers she managed to find.
More of the same tomorrow...
View of the day-The view from Al's seat.
Early morning for Al today. A trip to Windthorst to get some disappearing fingers for the pickup head auger, then back to install them. Not all of them, though. A couple of the holes in the almost brand new auger were hammered up pretty bad from the "log" incident. There were enough in the auger to pull in the canola swaths, so now we have a couple extra backups.
We had been in a weather warning all afternoon and we could see the fluffs of clouds slowly building in the east. They eventually turned into large thunder heads, but stayed in the east, for our viewing pleasure. It's been a while since we had any bad weather and it was nice to see it pass us by...not so nice for the areas getting hit by it.
The drone came out for a short flight today. The wind has been really strong for the last couple of weeks, so it has been grounded. The wind was still pretty brisk, so it was a quick trip up, around and down.
Long day and more canola tomorrow...
View of the day-All lined up and waiting for servicing.
We were both up early today...AIS was 8 am. Marilyn wanted to get the windows cleaned for her afternoon shift and Al wanted to get the filters blown out. We got that done and Al started combining while Marilyn went back to the camper to get lunch together.
Al had a few issues with old stumps getting in and breaking a few disappearing fingers...in addition to the ones from yesterday. He also had issues with netting from the cow guys and their baling. The left over net that they would wrap the bales with would be bundled up and get caught in the pickup teeth, then start wrapping...it did not want to let go. Al got a knife out and made short work of it, but it still took time away from combining.
The field we are on is two sections, which is one mile wide by 2 miles long. The swaths run the mile long run, so as you can imagine, the buggy man has his work cut out for him. Not only is it a long trek back and forth to the trucks, he has to deal with the long swaths cutting him off from the five combines, which are on every other swath...and he can't drive over the swaths. Yes, he has to have a plan...and hope that everyone works along with it.
Al came back to the camper to watch the CFL football game between rivals, Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Marilyn got to drive combine while he was cheering on the Riders...it must have helped, they won. He came back out to the field after the game and switched out with Marilyn, until they shut down at 8 pm.
Weather looks promising for the next while...
View of the day-Change of crop, so a midday break to change headers, then fill DEF and fuel.
Big wind meant another early start to the day to finish off the last of the spring wheat. Everyone moved back to the yard around 2 pm to service and change headers from straight cut to pickup, then headed south to Kennedy to start picking up canola swaths.
We parked the straight head out in the field by the yard, then hooked up the shop trailer to take out and blow off the chaff and straw that had collected. At this point, we are done with it for the season...although, you never know.
Al started combining with the rest of the crew and Marilyn got the straight header all cleaned off, before bringing the shop trailer out to the field for radiator blowing tomorrow. Picking up swaths going east was quite a task with the wind blowing the dust and chaff to the front of the combine.
We had the header jam once and when Marilyn went out to pull out the crop to see what was in there, she got quite a surprise. there was a 6 ft half burned log that was about 8 inches across laying just under the auger in the header. She was able to pull it out and wrestle it to the ground...no camera handy for that performance. We ended up with a couple broken disappearing fingers, but were able to continue on.
The wind never slowed down after sunset, actually, it seemed like it had gotten stronger by the time we shut down just after 9 pm.
Lots more canola coming up...
View of the day-The man in demand...no rest for the buggy man.
Early start and a productive day. As more and more got cut, the tractor and cart were having to cover more of the field to get to the combines, so there was a bit of waiting.
The rest of the half section was finished by 5:30, then there was a 15 mile move to the last spring wheat field...another 300 or so acres. That won't take 5 combines too long.
Then, it's on to the canola...
View of the day-If it wasn't for the red tractor and cart, we would be outnumbered by the green machines.
Another early start to the day, moving from the finished oats field to the yard for cleanup and setting for spring wheat. Two more John Deere combines made the scene, so now with 5 machines, the buggy is covering a lot of acres to keep up.
We got the first half section done and got moved over to the next big field closer to the yard. This one had us waiting once in a while, because even though the plan was to stay together and work each smaller piece round and round, a water way would cut through and split the party up...and it was no party for the buggy man.
We kept going until we all got confused in the dark and the trucks were full, then quit for the day.
More wheat tomorrow...and no rain in sight...
No jinx...
View of the day-Cutting near the yard is always handy for servicing and fuel.
With all the fog and humidity during the night, we knew it wouldn't be an early start in the oats...but at least there would be a start. The best part was the cloudless sky, brisk wind and warm temperatures helping to dry down the straw.
First call was for noon, but then that got pushed back to 1:30 pm. Al had gone out and done a bit of servicing in the morning, so he was able to rest his eyes for a bit before going out to the field.
Once the combines were rolling, the acres got knocked down, but once again, the straw had to be dropped for baling, so there was to be no unloading on the go. Never the less, they got the oats done before 10 pm.
Spring wheat is up next...
View of the day-A road trip to Stanley, North Dakota for our annual visit with Ray and Robert from CaseIH ProHarvest.
Sorry there was no blog the past few days...Marilyn was in Yorkton working and she had the internet phone with her, so Al couldn't do any updates. Not that he would have anyway. Nothing news worthy from Yorkton, other that the fields had combines in them all over the place on the way up from Kipling.
We had a wedding to attend for one of our H&R Block co-workers son, near Melville. Al had his brother Jeff take over in the combine for the last half of the day so he could get away and after Marilyn got off work, he picked her up and it was off to the wedding. We had missed the ceremony in the afternoon, but went later for the evening's festivities...until Al got a phone call from Jeff that the fuel filter alarm kept going off on the combine. That was it for the wedding. We headed back to Yorkton.
Al went back to Kipling and the combine to relieve Jeff so he could get home earlier that anticipated. Marilyn went back home for the night...one more day at Staples to go.
Al started combining around 10:30am on Sunday and they were running until 5pm, when the rain came. Done for the day. Marilyn worked until 5 then left for Kipling.
Monday we did some servicing on the combine...changing fuel filters was top of the list. After getting it serviced and ready to hit the field, we waited for the call. It never came.
Today, we waited for another call to go, but with the low clouds and the odd sprinkle, it didn't look like it was going to get any drier. Once we had "no cutting" confirmed, we decided on a road trip...at 2:30 pm...it was going to be a quick one.
We had been wanting to get down to Stanley to see the ProHarvest guys and Marilyn had gotten a text saying they would be getting there August 28, so after confirming they would be there, we were off. We also had some farm toys to pick up at Carpio.
The trip down was a fast one, we sailed through the border without incident and got to Stanley to pick up our ProHarvest hats. It was great to see the guys and get caught up on the current harvest season down south.
We left Stanley and headed east to Carpio to get Al's stash of toys that he had purchased and had shipped there. After a quick visit with Pete at his "warehouse"...a two car garage...we were on our way to the border. We needed to get there before it closed and we would have had to take the long way home...through the 24 hour crossing. That would have been way too busy for us.
We made the border with an hour to spare and got back to the camper by 9:30 pm...and we needed the furnace.
Hopefully we get back in the oats tomorrow...
