October 29, 2013

View of the day-The other day the water wasn't as "hard" on this slough...that's ice with a skiff of snow on it now.

Al was busy combining, even though it was a late start and an early finish most days. He got the straight wheat finished, then had to come back to take the straight head off to finish the swaths. Fortunately, he wasn't that far from the yard, so he just roaded the combine back to change heads.

Marilyn was working on getting her costume sewed for the competition performance coming up this weekend. While she worked on that, we were getting a new furnace installed, so the guys were there all day getting that job done. Since we don't have a basement in our house, the furnace is in a room just off the garage, so the access was really good for hauling in and out.

Al got the swaths done, then came back home and loaded the pickup head back on the trailer. Now he had to move the straight header a few miles south to a patch of standing oats. He left the header there and called it a night.

This morning, we woke to a thick layer of frost on everything, so Al wasn't able to start much before noon. Once the combine was warmed up, he went down and got the oats cut...a tangled, downed mess...but at least there wasn't a lot of it. 

He came back to the yard and switched headers out for the last time...there was a small patch of canola to do, but he wasn't going to start tonight.

He had talked to another guy from 25 miles south of Yorkton, who had some canola to do, but since he was only able to send the combine, the farmer said he would work on his own and see how far he could get. Al told him if he still had some left after November  11 he would be able to help him out. He also got a call from another farmer he had talked to a while back, and they had just picked up their last swath, so they were done, too.

So tomorrow, he is on his way to Dyersville, Iowa for the National Farm Toy Show, with Roger and his neighbor. That means Marilyn gets to combine the last field of the year...then clean the machines while he is gone.

He gets back Sunday, then we are off to Red Deer, Alberta to set up at a toy show at Agri-Trade for the week.

There won't be any pictures from Dyersville this year...

October 26, 2013

View of the day-Another great sunset...it never gets old.

Al was out early to head for town, then check out the weekend auction out where we unload the equipment. He didn't come home with anything. He went out to the combine to service and by 11:30, he was making dust.

Marilyn spent the day at home, trying to get some more work done while checking the trap lines. Around 2am, the sweet sound of a trap springing got her up to do some inspection. Finally we had nailed one of the little bastards. He was still squirming and she didn't feel like making a kill, so she decided to go back to bed and deal with it in the morning. That was the wrong thing to do.

When she went to empty the trap, it was gone! Maybe Al had dumped it...fat chance, he said, so now she had to find out where it went. After looking under all the furniture and along all the places where there had been droppings, she was ready to give up. Then on a return trip to the living room, just under the corner of a blanket on the love seat, she saw the trap...with the mouse still squirming!

It was not happy and was being held by one of the front legs, so she took the trap outside to release it...hoping the neighbor's cats would be hanging around. It was still chomping at the trap and anything that came close, so Marilyn just put the trap down on the step and walked away. After an hour, it had given up and she was finally able to get the trap unloaded, just as the cats showed up. Trap lines are reset for any relatives that might show up.

Al was busy combining again, he was getting some help from another combine, but they had to have a swather cut ahead, since all they had was a pickup head.

While he was combining, he had a visit from Danny and Dillon Ismond. Young Dillon had gotten a ride in a JD combine when the local volunteers were taking off the Yorkton Terriers cash crop. It was his first combine ride and he couldn't stop talking about it, but Marilyn thought he needed to experience a red one. She had been Facebooking with Danny to get him to come out to Balcarres, where his dad lives, for a ride, but since we were working so close to Yorkton, he was able to make it out today.

Dillon was pretty impressed with Big Red, especially since he had never seen the straight cut head...they were picking up swaths on his other ride. Too bad his ride was short, but at least someone took pictures...no way Al would have done that.

These are courtesy of Danny.

Al got the field done, then moved down the road from our yard and got started on the last field. He didn't have the strong wind that was blowing last night, so he had to shut down earlier than he would have liked.

But he can see the light...

October 25, 2013

View of the day-All tucked away for the winter.

What a productive day! While Al was anxiously awaiting "go" time in the combine, we found plenty to do around the yard. Al had to take the half ton into town to get the heater looked at...unfortunately, it wasn't just a flush that was needed. It seems one of the heater doors is not working and the dash would have to be removed...we've been there, alright.

Marilyn was still working on unpacking and while Al was in town, the furnace man made it out. One look at the furnace and we found out they don't make parts for that one anymore...he even called their supplier and Marilyn heard him laughing on the other end when they told him the brand. So, it would seem we need to get a new furnace. They sent out one of the head guys out and he looked things over and gave us a quick estimate on a new furnace, took some measurements and then they were on their way. Still no furnace, but it looks like they can get the new one in on Monday or Tuesday...let's hope so, since we will both be away next weekend and it wouldn't be good to leave the fireplace going.

We got the camper winterized, closed up and parked for the winter...always a big job and a sad one...for Marilyn, at least. Al was more sad that it was 2pm and we still weren't combining. Murray had done a test around 11am, just as they had planned, but it was testing 21%...just a little high...so he decided to wait a few hours.

While we were waiting, Marilyn got the lawnmower out to clean a spot for the camper, then that spilled over into doing the whole lawn. It looks so much better now for the winter, except a good go around with the weed trimmer is in order.

We finally moved the combine and header out to the field, taking the long way around. There is a back road straight east of our place, but you have to cross a low water crossing and the combine doesn't fit through with the header. 

We got out to the field, got the header hooked up, then Al stopped to talk to Murray, who was in his pickup holding part of a rotor rub bar...not a good sign. This would be the first time in a long time that we got to work alongside a silver combine.

We started combining and the wheat, while still pretty high in moisture, was going through the machine like good old Kansas winter wheat. Thick and lush and except for the fact that it was 5pm and the sun was already setting, we could have been in Kansas...well, there was also the 34ºF/1ºC temperature that brought us back to reality.

While Al was combining, Marilyn made a dash into town to pick up another heater to help with the next couple of nights that are supposed to be down to 19ºF/-7ºC.

But tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warmer...

October 24, 2013

View of the day-Getting the tractor and cart unloaded for the last time this season.

The last couple of days have been busy with trying to get the camper unloaded and put away. Marilyn was sure she had taken a lot less this year, but by the looks of what had to come into the house, that can't be right...and she certainly didn't buy a lot of stuff to bring home.

We noticed the furnace in the house was making odd squealing noises...perhaps a bearing going out somewhere...when the squeal turned into a hum, we knew there was a problem. Marilyn called a couple of places, but no one would be able to come out until Friday...three days. Good thing we have a gas fireplace. Perhaps Marilyn shouldn't have been in a hurry to get the camper cleaned...the furnace works fine in there.

Al was busy running around town getting everything back to normal...the mail and newpapers, trying to fit in a rad flush on the half ton...not a good area to have no heat for the winter. He squeezed in some time to go with Roger to check out a toy collection that someone was selling.

The only thing we had left to move was the tractor and cart, which was still down at Carlyle. Al took the General down early this morning and got it loaded up...by himself...that was a first. Kim was getting some grain moved around, but he showed up in time to help chain down the load before Al took off.

It wasn't a pleasant ride back for Al...no heat in the General, remember. He thought since it was going to be a sunny day that the cab would be sort of warm. Nope. When he got back to town with the load, he called Marilyn to meet him out at the Yorkton Auction yard so we could unload.

That went a lot faster than the loading and once he had the empty trailer hooked up to the General, he took off for Saltcoats to park it where the combine trailer had been left. Marilyn went back to her unpacking and waited for Al to get back so she could give him a ride back out for the tractor, but she got a reprieve when the neighbour was able to take him back.

He got the tractor and cart into the yard and spent another evening trying to thaw out in front of the fireplace. How convenient there was a World Series baseball game, an NFL and a CFL game to watch. Lucky guy.

Tomorrow we combine some straight wheat a half a mile from home...

October 21, 2013

View of the day-Just what we need to move home in...snow.

We were up early to have eggs before we forged into the crappy weather. It wasn't that bad at Yorkton, but as we got closer to the farm at Balcarres, the snow was coming down pretty hard.

While Al got the corners of flax that were left in the box of the General cleaned out, Marilyn got the header trailer lined up to load, then got the header ready to load. When Al got back, we got the header strapped down, then went to work getting the combine trailer moved out of the tall grass for loading.

After getting the combine loaded, chained down and hooked up to the truck, we waited for Brenda to show up with the little Dodge, so she could pull the shop trailer back with us. She got there just as we were getting the camera hooked up and the oversize signs on the trailer. Then we were off.

It continued to snow all the way to Yorkton...some would say we brought it with us. We got back out to the farm, got the combine unloaded, then Al took the trailer out near Saltcoats, to park it for the winter. Marilyn got the combine in the yard, but didn't get anything parked, because she had to get into town to meet Brenda for a late lunch, then she had a meeting and rehearsal again.

Al got back to the farm and proceeded to get as much rearranged as he could, what with the camper in the middle of the yard. He got everything into a temporary spot, then tried to thaw out...no heater in the General plus being wet from the snow is not a good combination.

There will be more combining, just not for a couple days...

October 20, 2013

View of the day-What a thing to come home to. At least it's not deep.

Today was moving day...for the camper, at least. Al had the last day of the Regina Toy Show to attend with Roger, so he was gone early...not as early as yesterday, though. The show didn't open until 10am today, so he got to sleep in a bit.

Marilyn, on the other hand, had the camper to close up and get ready to move. Normally, most of it gets done the night before, but not this time...it would be the last move of the season before winterizing and parking. Once the camper was hooked up, she stopped at the house to drop off some maps, then said goodbye and was on her way home.

Uneventful trip, except that there seemed to be a several vehicles coming towards her that were covered in snow. Not a good sign. By the time she got home, there was snow on the ground, but only enough to make a mess. After the camper got parked in its "unloading zone", the dish had to get set up so Al would have his NFL when he got home.

Marilyn had rehearsal at 1pm, so she had time for a quick shower before heading into town. After rehearsal was over, it was back to the farm for the dreaded unloading of the camper. Which strategy to use this year...load one rubbermaid tub, then bring it in and unload it...or load several tubs and bring them all in to unload...or load everything into tubs and bring them in one at a time to unload. The last one seemed to be the one selected. Too bad there weren't enough tubs to do the job.

Al made it home from the toy show around 8pm, after stopping to catch the last five minutes of the Terriers hockey game in town. He had a pretty good day of sales...for a Sunday...the income goes to his "Dyersville fund". That trip is coming up pretty quick at the end of the month.

We are still getting calls for combining, but at least they are a bit closer to home...like a couple miles...so we won't need the camper. Harvest isn't done yet.

But first we have to get the combine home...

October 19, 2013

View of the day-The combine is back in the yard and finally finished at Balcarres.

Al was up before the crack of dawn to meet Roger in Fort Qu'Appelle, then they were off to Regina and their tables at the Regina Toy show. By the time Marilyn woke up there was snow falling, but fortunately it didn't stick around...the rain did, however.

Before Al left, he discovered that we had run out of propane during the night, so it was mighty chilly in the camper...good thing the fireplace took some of the chill off. When Marilyn finally pried herself out from the warmth of the bed, she got the tanks in the back of the pickup and headed for Melville to get them filled.

When she got back to the farm with the full tanks, she stopped at the house and picked up Jean and headed out to where the combine was parked, to move it back to the yard. Bob had finished the last field of flax last night around 2:30am, which meant his harvest was finally done. Yay!

After getting the combine back to the yard, she figured she might as well get the hoses rolled up and put away. Then it was "take it easy" time as she took the rest of the day off.

After all, tomorrow the camper goes home...

October 18, 2013

View of the day-Quite a load of ice...about an ice cream pail worth...got cleaned out of the water hose this morning.

After making lunch and getting the hose thawed out, Marilyn had the job of servicing a fueling today. She was on her way to the field around 10:30, but was pretty sure there wouldn't be combining for a while...there was actually some snow pellets that fell. Just enough to wet everything down, but not enough to stay.

While she was waiting for the combine to warm up, she got a text from Jean that the crew was going into Balcarres to have lunch at the rink and she should join them. Just as she got close to town, she got a call that she should go back to the field to pick up Jake, who was just moving over with his combine to help out. After picking him up, we were off to lunch...without the company of his guard dog, who remained in the cab.

After a delicious and filling lunch, we were back at the field, ready to get started. Jake had ridden back with Marilyn and when we got back to the field, the HoneyBee tech was out there with a demo header for him to try out on his CaseIH 8120 combine.

While they worked on the header, Marilyn cranked up and tried to combine to the other end of the field...it took quite a while...it just wasn't ready yet. Undaunted, she plugged along, stopping every 50 feet or so to unplug the feeder house, or pull wads off the reels...and only once to get the feeder chain back in place after it jumped a cog. Since Al had been doing the repair every time it happened before and he wasn't around, she had to figure it out for herself. Must have done it right, because it never happened again.

Around 2pm, it was like a switch was flipped and the flax started going through like a dream and she was off to the races. There were four quarters in a row, with three red machines and a couple of green ones all split up among the fields. That poor cart driver had his work cut out for him, trying to keep all the machines running as they worked so far apart.

By the end of the evening, Al had gotten back from his Regina road trip and had started hauling to the bins. Marilyn finally got finished with the piece she was working on...occasionally going out to pull straw off the feeder drum and reels. It was getting back to the way it had started, but she could see the end of the field and kept on cutting to the end.

We even had snow flurries tonight...

October 17, 2013

View of the day-Al finishes off yet another bin of flax.

We were both out at the field this morning to get organized for the move to the next field. Marilyn had to get retrained on how to service the combine...it had been quite some time since she had last handled the grease gun and fuel nozzle. It all came back in no time at all and once the combine was warmed up, we were ready to make the move.

We got the General moved first after it was unloaded, then came back for the combine. Once we got to the field, Marilyn started cutting to see how it was going to work. It didn't. After going about 10 ft, the flax wrapped around the auger and Al was back to pulling straw. We figured we would take a break, since it was still only 11am, and went down to Fort Qu'Appelle for lunch.

The Dairy Queen was our choice...we had eaten at the one in Yorkton just last week and they have a couple of specials that are reasonably priced...for Canada. We had finished our lunch and were topping up our beverage and the pop machine that was out on the floor for the customers, when the "soda cop" comes running over and says "refills are $1.05". What?? Apparently all DQ's are not the same...usually when the pop machines are out for the customer to fill, refills are free. We dumped our cups and gave them back to her.

Back at the field, we tried several strategies...changing directions, staying out of the downed flax, nothing worked...10 ft and we were pulling again. This was not going to work today. After talking to Bob, he suggested moving over to another field to see if that would make any difference. Boy, did it ever! This flax was going through like butter and Marilyn was even able to see the top side of 3 mph. Considering we never got started until 3pm and we were still able to get almost 70 acres done.

Once Marilyn was on a roll and Al got the truck unloaded one last time, he went back to the camper to watch his Seattle Seahawks make short work of the Arizona Cardinals...a good end to his day. Marilyn got one truck filled before it started to get tough, then Al came out to pick her up.

There could be a light at the end of the tunnel...

October 16, 2013

View of the day-Weird cloud around a bright moon.

More of the same today. Al went out to service and unload, letting Marilyn know that noon would be plenty early for her to get to the field. She was just about to go out around 11am when she looked into the storage compartment under the camper and found a lot of water. Apparently another pinhole had rubbed through the small hose running to the water filter for the fridge.

It took about a half hour to get the water cleaned up with the shop vac and once the water had been shut off, she was on her way to the field.

Al had been having issues with the feeder chain jumping a link on one side when a wad of flax straw would go through, so we set about trying to work around it. We got the feeder chain tightened just slightly more than where we had usually had it adjusted, then we figured we should tighten up the feeder clutch springs, to see if that would help with the plugging. It did...a lot. So we were off to the races...if we were a turtle.

The rest of the day was spent trying to get the field done and at about 8pm, Al figured we had better call it a night. Marilyn thought she could see the end of the field, so we chugged along until it was finished...with no plugging to speak of. It was slow going though.

Let's hope we don't get the "s" word, as forecast...

October 15, 2013

View of the day-Working on the second bin surrounded by the lumpy flax swaths. No one wants to bale it, so it will be raked into piles and burned.

Al was out early with high hopes of starting at noon. He got the combine serviced and fueled, unloaded the trucks, then gave it a try. He got about 20 ft and the feeder plugged. He then called Marilyn and told her there was no rush to get out to the field and he would call after he got the first hopper...whenever that would be.

That worked out good for Marilyn since she had discovered the fresh water holding tank was empty and she was going to have to work on getting the hoses to the hydrant thawed out. Once she got them all unhooked, she dragged them out to the road in front of the camper and waited for the sun to work its magic.

Al finally got going and gave Marilyn a call to come out to the field, just as she was getting the hoses hooked back up and the holding tank filled. By the time she took over in the combine, it was already 2pm...that cuts the productivity down quite a bit. It was going to get even shorter for her as she was leaving to go to Yorkton at 5:30 for a drama rehearsal.

The beavers have been busy around this field, chewing down trees and trying to survive in the ponds that are slowly drying up. Would have been nice if they would have felled these the other direction, or at least dragged them to the hut.

After making sure the trucks were empty for Al to fill in her absence, she took off for Yorkton and left Al to combine. He managed to get one of the trucks heaped and the other one started, before the feeder plugged and the chain jumped a link. He decided to leave it for the morning, since it was already 8pm and the straw was tough...again.

Marilyn enjoyed the view on the way to Yorkton...another beautiful sunset...

October 14, 2012

View of the day-Short haul to the bin for this field, as Al does the early shift cutting flax.

Al went out early to service and unload the truck. Bob had been out to set the auger up at the first bin in the lineup, so it was good to go. Marilyn was supposed to be out at the field around 11am, but after Al tried to cut a bit, he called back and changed it to noon.

Marilyn took the opportunity to run down to Fort Qu'Appelle to refill one of the water jugs at the grocery store and get fuel in the pickup. She got half the job done, realizing as she was 10 miles back to the field, that she had forgotten to fuel up. Oh well, the alarm wasn't going off, so we should be good for a few more miles.

Marilyn rode along while Al combined the General full, and it was a good thing she was along. During the first six or so rounds, the feeder would plug and she had to jump out to do the pulling. Good exercise, but it did cut into productivity  Combining went really well during the sunny heat...if you can call 60º "heat"...of the afternoon. No plugging and it was cutting really nice...if only it could stay like that. We could really notice the difference when the sun went down. 

Al got the General emptied out, then after getting the south patch done, we had to move to the north end of the field. By this time the temperature had dropped quite a bit and it was getting tough, even though we were cutting around any of the raggy downed flax. 

Al took over combining and Marilyn went back to the camper to see if she could still get any water from the hose to fill the holding tank in the camper. Nope...just a trickle. Hopefully it will thaw out in the morning before she has to go to the field and she can fill it then. But tonight the showers will be quick to conserve what we have.

Al tried to continue combining, but it had gotten really tough and after cleaning out a couple plugs of the feederhouse, he quit for the night.

A little wind would sure help the cause...

October 13, 2013

View of the day-Not a ripple on the pond means no wind and slow drying.

We had gone home for a night due to the rain and stayed at home, which meant most of the electronics were back at the camper...hence no post yesterday. But here's what happened...

We were up and at 'em early to get the toy trailer unloaded and the packing list "refreshed". Marilyn had come up with a way of keeping track of where all the farm toys were packed, just in case someone would ask her for a specific toy when Al wasn't around. With the list, she was able to find it without any issues at the toy shows. Unfortunately it is a pain in the a$$ to put them back in the same boxes, since a lot of them get sold and it is easier to consolidate them...which means a new list every toy show. The biggest problem is that after the last show, it doesn't get done and then to top it off there are all the new toys purchased from throughout the summer that need to be added in. It's all done now.

While we were doing the cataloging, Al had Marilyn take pictures of the toys he was going to put in the auction in February. She also had to get them up on the JAKz website...but that had to wait for a return to the camper and the laptop. We got everything tucked nicely away and the lists all made up, ready for the first show of the season...next weekend in Regina. Al is pretty sure we will still be combining, but he will take a bit of time off to help Roger get set up at the show, since Roger is finished his harvest for the season.

We were going to stay overnight again and go back to Balcarres on Sunday, but since they only got "a tenth at the field", we thought we might have to start combining earlier than anticipated. So we went back to the camper, even though it meant Al was going to miss seeing the return match between the Terriers and Millionaires in Melville. Too bad, really...the Terriers won this time.

Today, Al finished getting the guards on the header...the JD guy must not be able to count, because we were 4 guards short and had to use the best of the used ones. We had a quick lunch at the camper, then went out to the field to do a test...it was plenty dry. The new knife and sections really made a big difference in the cutting, now we hoped we wouldn't have an issue with the wiry straw wrapping.

Since the piece we were on was only 15 acres, Al wanted to combine so he could listen to his Seattle Seahawks NFL game on the Sirius radio. Marilyn went back to the camper...only a couple miles from the field...and waited for Al to let her know when he was finished.

After she got the call, we moved 15 miles to the next field, then went back to get the General. Al had to unload the wheat that was in it from the last field that Bob had used it on, then he came out to the flax field, where Marilyn had started combining.

By this time the sun had gone down and the straw got pretty tough. Marilyn had been out a couple of times to pull straw, then when Al took over combining, he was left with the job of pulling straw...in a blur. We figured we might as well shut it down for the night and head for the camper.

Tomorrow that flax is "going down"...

October 11, 2013

View of the day-Rain, rain and more rain...at home in Yorkton, at least.

Al was up early to finish up changing the guards and sections on the header. He was down to the last three feet, when he had to go get the General out of the field before the rain started. By the time he got back to the header, it had already started to come down, so he put his tools away and came in out of the rain.

We decided to get a few things done in Yorkton during the day, then Al was going to the Yorkton Terriers/Melville Millionaire game in the evening. We went out to the farm and picked up the toy trailer that Al uses for his winter hobby...farm toys. There was a moment of panic on the way to town when Al realized that the keys to the locks on the trailer were back at Balcarres in the little Dodge. Fortunately, he had only set the lock on the back door to "look" like it was locked and we were in the clear...and in the trailer.

We backed up to the garage to unload some of the boxes to make room for the load that had been delivered to Minute Muffler, that Al's farm toy "cohort", Mike, owns. We were able to get squeezed in for an oil change on the dually before loading up the 20 odd boxes that were there. Apparently, we didn't get enough boxes moved out of the trailer...or it could have been that Al was doing the packing, instead of Marilyn...either way, one of the big ones had to go into the back seat.

The first toy show of the season is next weekend in Regina, Al isn't sure he can make it, so he is getting things organized so his buddy, Roger, can take over in his absence.

While the Dodge was getting it's oil changed, we walked down a few doors to H&R Block, to have a visit with Al's co-workers from his off season job as tax preparer. Curtis, his boss, was working hard at trying to get Al riled up over the hockey game, since he is a Millionaire fan and Al is a Terrier fan. These two teams are from neighboring towns and there has always been a healthy rivalry between them...Al and Curtis had a huge wager on the game. The loser was going to have to buy the cookies after the game.

We met for steaks before the game with Curtis and Marilyn's theatre friend, Pam. The girls were going on a prop/furniture finding mission for the upcoming production, up at their storage locker at Ebenezer, 10 miles north of Yorkton.

More toy trailer cleaning and preparing tomorrow, so we will stay in our house tonight.

And Al had to buy the cookies...

October 10, 2013

View of the day-The flax looks like it is almost ready...except for the green stems...could be trouble.

Al went out to get the trucks unloaded and the combine serviced, while Marilyn waited at the camper for further instructions. Then it started to sprinkle...then rain. This was not in the forecast.

After about half an hour it quit, but even though it was only a short shower, Marilyn was pretty sure there wouldn't be any combining for a while.

Al showed up just after noon with the news that Garth had jumped across to finish the last few acres that we had left before the rain came. We were done with the wheat and the only thing left to do was flax, but unless the sun came out and it dried up, it didn't seem like it would go today.

We got the combine moved back to the yard and did a bit of work on the General's tarp...it didn't seem to want to open evenly. Got that looked after, then went back to the camper to wait it out.

Bob wanted a test done on the some of the first flax he had planted, so we moved out to the 15 acre patch which was a mile from the yard. We took the spreaders off, since the straw is going to be baled...and flax straw does not spread worth a damn.

Marilyn started the first round and plugged the feeder within 10 ft of starting. Part of the reason was that the stems were still kind of green and some of the grass from the outside round had made it into the feeder as well...and it had rained this morning.

Al took over and cut enough for a sample, which we took to the elevator. It was 9% moisture and that was good, since dry is 10%. We went back to see if we could finish the patch, or at the very least, make a couple rounds.

Al got 1/3 of the way around and only had to stop three times to unplug the knife. All the green straw was jamming it solid, so we took a good look at it and decided that if we were going to do 400 acres of flax, we had better invest in new knife sections and guards.

We went to the John Deere dealer to see if they had what we needed, and they did. They had the MacDon brand for a mere $18/guard, or the jobber brand for $14/guard. We figured the jobber brand was good enough for us and we needed 65 of them, so it did add up. We also needed to change out the 140 sections that cut against the guards, so we picked them up as well.

We went back to the farm and started changing the guards and sections. We would take about 5 guard and 10 sections off at a time, replace them, then move down the header, repeating the process. We had already done about a third of the header, when we looked at the guards and discovered that they were the MacDon brand instead of the jobbers. Had he charged us for the jobbers...which we requested...and given us the MacDon ones by mistake?

After taking a look at the bill, we could see they had sold us the MacDon ones at the MacDon price. We certainly weren't going to take off the 25 we had already put on.

Well played, John Deere...well played...

October 9, 2013

View of the day-Al unloading into the bins at the field. He had four in a row, so there was a lot of conveyor moving going on.

We woke up to a chilly camper. We had run out of propane during the night, but thankfully, it wasn't too cold to sleep...getting out from under the warm blankets, however, was another story.

While Al got trucks unloaded and the combine serviced, Marilyn took the propane tanks into Melville to get filled. Once she got back and replaced the tanks, the heat was on again. After making lunches, it was time to get out to the combine and get to work.

We were working on the north quarter section of a half section of wheat. The wheat had to be kept separate, so while Bob's combine had it's wheat hauled west of the field, Al was able to work on filling four bins right at the field. With the wheat running over 60 bu/ac, he was filling alot.

We got all the bins filled and started working on the trucks, but it was clear we wouldn't have enough room to finish and it was getting tough, so with 10 acres left we shut it down.

After all 105 acres for the day was good enough...

October 8, 2013

View of the day-The hawks are everywhere, looking for lunch.

Another early day for Al as he got trucks unloaded and the combine serviced. Marilyn had to make a run into Fort Qu'Appelle, but was back in the combine before 11am.

We got the rest of the half section finished, then moved across the road to the next half. Surprisingly, it seemed to take as long to finish the first field as it did to finish the whole second half section...or at least it felt like it.

It was another gorgeous fall day, sunny, windy...but not too windy...and in the 60's. We can only hope for a week or so of the same, but there is the "R" word forecast for Friday. The guys were loading the bins in the field, so the truck was spotted at the auger and Al was running the cart out to it. With the small bins, it didn't take long to fill them.

Supper was in the house tonight, and we went in shifts...another delicious meal from Jean and Martha. By the time Marilyn's shift happened, everyone but Bob had eaten and he wasn't leaving the combine until the field was done. Good thing it was just across the road from the house.

New field tomorrow...

October 7, 2013

View of the day-Al is on cart duty for part of the day. He followed us around the half section to make sure we could open it up. Garth is unloading into the cart.

Beautiful day out, warm, sunny for most of the day and windy…perfect harvest weather. We were working in the fields around the yard today, so the hauling was all done to the bins via the grain cart. Al had a few shifts in the cart, then spent the rest of the day unloading the semi at the bin.

Marilyn drove combine…and drove…and drove…covering 120 acres. Now that’s productivity. It really helps when the wheat is standing nice and there are wide open stretches with no turning. And the grain cart is a must…no time to stop for breaks.

The only time we took a big break was to fuel the combine and even then it was only 15 minutes before we were back in business.

More of the same tomorrow…

October 6, 2013

View of the day-Brent is keeping an eye on the bin out in the field, heading up the ladder to see how much room is left. It is the camera that makes the bin look like it is on tilt.

Al got the usual unloading, servicing and fueling done, then started combining until Marilyn made it out to the field around 10:30am. After switching out, he went back to filling bins and moving augers…which there was a lot of with the smaller bins and the big yield…getting close to 70 bu/ac.

We finally finished the section of wheat, then moved a mile down the highway to the next quarter section of wheat. Marilyn had been having issues with the feeder plugging and after inspection, Al decided to put the new chain on the reverser. He had been wanting to do this for over a week, but couldn’t get time to do it, but now he had to make time. Once the chain was replace, the problem was solved.

The cat tails are plentiful and really explode when the reels hit them. It’s almost like a blizzard…but let’s hope we don’t see that for a couple or three months.

We kept combining until supper time, then we went into town in two shifts for a delicious supper of turkey with all the trimmings. Jean had worked her magic with the turkey and brought it in to Balcarres to Bob’s mom and dad’s for us to have a feed. Did we mention it was delicious?

Back in the field, the goal was to finish the field and hopefully have enough room for all the grain. We managed to do just that even though we had to leave a bit on the combine.

No sign of rain, so it should be alright…

October 5, 2013

View of the day-It was a bit chunky washing the windows at the fuel pump with all this ice in the bucket.

Al went out to do the servicing and unloading then started combining. Marilyn ran down to Fort Qu'Appelle for groceries, then came back to the camper to get lunch ready. After going out to get something out from under the camper, she saw that the water hose had thawed out...and blew the blue plastic housing off the bottom of the water filter. We'll need a new one of those.

There was no rush to get out to the field since Bob's combine was getting some work done on it, which meant the hauling would be slow to start with. Once Marilyn got out to the field, she took over combining from Al and he went back to hauling grain.

The rest of the day was the same as the other days and with both combines running, we kept going until everything was full, the quit for the night.

Four acres short of 100 for the day...

October 4, 2013

View of the day-Al watching the fueling of Bob's combine as we get set up for the day. Don't let the blue sky fool you...it was pretty chilly out.

Al was out early to do his usual jobs...unloading trucks, fueling, servicing...and Marilyn made the scene around 10:30 and got right into the combine to get started. It was still pretty wet, so the going was slow, but you know the drill. Shut up and drive.

We were short a truck driver...rather, we could have used another truck driver...but once Bob got into the tractor to run the cart, some of the pressure was off Al. The run to the bins was about 16 miles, so he was constantly on the road and unfortunately, the motor that runs the swing part of the auger that goes under the hopper on the semi trailer had quit and Al had to move it manually. Not an easy job when you are used to a remote control doing the job.

Jean brought out supper in the field and while we were getting ready to eat, Al spotted something in the field. A bull moose! It was about a 1/4 mile from where we were set up and we watched as he loped across the field, stopping occasionally to see what we were doing.

By the time we finished eating, the sun had pretty much disappeared and it was cold...really cold. Good thing we had hot cups of tea to warm our hands. We were done for the night.

It took all day for our water hose to thaw out. Looks like tonight will be another hard water night...