Really dropped the ball on the blog...there just didn't seem to be anything going on, then one thing leads to another and before you know it six months have flown by.
The last job of last season...
Well, we finally got to combine on our own land...canola, and it yielded not to bad. We rent out our land, since we don't have the seeding and spraying equipment, so when it got down to the wire, between the Kardynal's with their combines and us helping out, it did not take to long to get it done.
Once that was finished, it was back to the last two fields that were left, 275 acres of oats to finish their harvest. It was still standing, so the swather man started in, but it was tough for him to keep ahead of the 3 combines...we were right on his heels. The straw got real tough about 9:00 so we called it quits. We were down to about 150 acres, but the next day we awoke to heavy fog...then the next day we got 1/2 inch of rain, so no harvesting for a few days. We finally got going and were able to wrap it all up on Oct 6, a lot earlier then last year
Al has noticed that in his travels around the back roads of Saskatchewan there are a lot of old pull type combines parked in the trees and fence rows. He has decided we should do something about that, so, to try and preserve the legacy of the pull type combine, Al has started collecting them. His goal is to get one of each model that each company made. He has 3 so far and another 3 that he has not moved home yet. Good thing we have a quarter of land to display them IH 914 Red Top, JD 6601, JD7721.
We like getting to Red Deer a couple of days before the show starts. And a good thing we did, it was the coldest temperature of the season...not very nice to unload boxes. We had 4 tables for the first time at this show and Al had really stocked up. This is a long show and you can easily have 15,000 people come past your tables in the 4 days...so you need lots of toys.
The 4 days went quick and we were loaded up by 6:00 PM Saturday and started the ten hour drive home. The weather was good for the drive and we rolled into the yard about 4:30 Sunday morning but since we had the big storm earlier in the week most of the yard was blocked, we left the truck and trailer out by the road and walked in to the house. Al was busy blowing snow the next day
Our next junket was to Lethbridge, AB for the annual Association of Canadian Custom Harvester's Convention. While we don't cross the border to harvest any more, we are still members and like to stay up to date on all things within the association. It's also great to catch up with those that do go south and with social media being such a big part of everyone's life, it's almost like being there. Minus the bad parts...
Since Al hates flying...he says he knows how cattle feel when they are being rounded up...we decided to drive to Phoenix for a winter break. We had a good chunk of the drive out of the way...relatively speaking...and we would have our own vehicle while we were down there, so we were off. We took the scenic route on the other side of the mountains...a first for us...and we had perfect weather all the way down.
Our calendar was jam packed with NHL hockey, NFL and Cactus Bowl football and the Toronto Raptors were in town to play basketball. We also toured a couple of stadiums, then there was the culture...Carol Burnett and a Christmas pageant complete with high flying angels.
We had our friend, Brenda, from Yorkton come down and spend a couple weeks with us. Being a sports fan, she really enjoyed it...especially when she got to see her Toronto Maple Leafs in action. Al was glad to have her visit so she could get him out of the shopping excursions. He did manage to get a picture with the Coyotes hockey girls...
The toy show was the same as every year. Cold. But sales were good and loading up was a bit lighter...except for the toy auction items Al was bring back for the Yorkton show auction. There had been some rumblings of attending the Lethbridge toy show, but after all the travelling we had done, that didn't last long. Al did, however, take in the Triple T Toy Show in Minot, just for the day.
Another thing we were ahead of the game on was the annual show tractor. Marilyn had the tractors decaled and the boxes labeled before we left for our holiday. One major job that is finally getting done way ahead of time.
Tax season was in full swing, so the 9am-9pm days started taking care of our days. We did take a break to go to Morden, Manitoba for their annual toy show. The weather always seems to be nicer down there for the toy show...the lack of snow this winter probably helped. 
That's quite a load for now. Next post will have a lot of drone pictures...if Marilyn can find them...
