September 14

View of the day-Well, it's not the festive season yet, but this is a shot from a few years ago when we spent $350 on lights to decorate the rigs only to win a $20 ham in the Xmas light judging contest. The tires, header, grain coming out of the auger, spreaders and air screen were all "moving" with chasing lights, and Santa was driving. We only did it once, since for the next few years, the combine would winter in Oklahoma.

Got up bright and early, no rain, no snow, but everything was white...from the heavy frost that had gathered during the night. Marilyn had an early appointment to get her eyes checked...the six month checkup after lazik surgery. Al did a road trip to Shoal Lake, Manitoba to get a spare rotor and separator belt for the combine...well that and to check out the toys.

Marilyn continued getting things put away in the house and dug out Al's "Sunday go to meeting" duds. Al was elected to the board of the local junior hockey team-the Yorkton Terriers-he has been a fan forever and decided this was the year to jump on board. Tonight was the season opener and they had the executive go out onto the ice so the fans could see the new faces on the board. Marilyn had sent her camera in with the neighbour who was going the the game, to get some pictures for the "view of the day", but...dark, smoke, fireworks...they didn't turn out too good. So it was into the archives for today's view.

On the way back from Shoal Lake, Al passed a catastrophe on the side of the road. A 36 ft draper header (which usually has it's travelling wheels mounted on it permanently) was sitting on the ground-minus the wheels. It had skidded for a way while it was still hooked onto the pickup. Once Al saw the rest of the crew parked further down the road, he recognised the name on the truck, so he turned around and went back to see if they needed help. They had everything under control, so he continued home. Later on in the evening while Marilyn was slaving away over the Friday night movie on CTV, the phone rang and it was the harvester booking a room for the night. Apparently, Al forgot to mention the invitation.

Al met the harvester after the game and he was able to park his rig in the neighbours yard, since our two acres is pretty much all trees. After getting cleaned up, it was two hours of catching up on the season's harvest, comparing notes.

The farmer called today and we could be combining canola tomorrow if the day is as good as today was-weather wise anyway.

The last move away for the camper...

September 13

View of the day-The welcome party of one waiting on the shoulder of the road a half mile from home.

More rain and cool weather, so we found other things to occupy the day. We went into town for breakfast then Al dropped Marilyn off on his way to Grayson and Grenfell. Marilyn met with Lynn, the harvester association's exec-sec. to retrieve "the book"...you know the one...about Custom Combining on the Great Plains. Lynn was on her way to Regina from Togo and her timing was perfect for making the exchange.

Marilyn and Pam, the Paper Bag Players theatre group president, and her young daughter made a road trip to Kamsack to check out its local theatre facilities. Kamsack is hosting the annual Theatre Saskatchewan short play festival November 1,2 and 3. Marilyn is directing Yorkton's entry Myrtle and Rosalie, the first act of a full length production the group performed in May this year for a Mental Health fundraiser dinner theatre. After meeting with the two Kamsack club reps for dinner, the group went over to the theatre to check out the stage and lighting specs. We returned to Yorkton driving through the rain and sleet, making it back in time to pick up Pam's other daughter from school. She dropped Marilyn off at McDonalds, where Al picked her up shortly after.

Al went to Grenfell via Grayson and brought home another toy-a 1/16 scale Versatile four wheel drive tractor to add to his collection. We went to the mall to check out the farmers market for any treasures. Marilyn had a hankering for corn on the cob, and has had for a while, but we never found the roadside sellers that are normally about at this time of year. Most of the sellers were getting ready to fold up their stalls and leave for the day, but we did find one at the very end who was only too happy to get rid of some organic corn...and it was great.

We did get hit with a snow flurry as we left the mall, but it didn't last very long and it was back to the rain on the way home. We were looking for something for the view of the day, when just as we were getting close to home we came upon "ol' friendly", only too happy to pose for the shot.

Back at home we did a bit more unpacking, had supper, then relaxed after a tough day...it's so much work doing nothing. Marilyn had good intentions of going back into town to watch some rehearsals for a different project the theatre group was working on. Unfortunately, she found herself with a piano tied to her a**, when after zoning out for a while, couldn't move off the couch...the blanket was too heavy...

Trying to get things done online on dial-up...argghh...

September 12

View of the day-They were calling for snow, but so far all it did was rain, but...it could be worse...this is our back deck last winter after one of the many snowstorms left its mark.

Woke up to rain and it continued pretty much all day. We went into town to pay our *^%8#-ing land taxes...and just leave it at that. We drove around and checked out the changes that took place in town while we were gone, and there were a few but nothing major. After lunch we decided to take a road trip to Grayson to visit the local banker and get caught up with the gossip there.

It rained all the way down there, quit for a bit while we had coffee and checked our lottery tickets. The local hardware/license issuer/video rental/bus depot/lottery outlet, runs Marilyn's favorite numbers on the Western 649, every Saturday while we are away. After checking the all the accrued tickets, Marilyn had won a total of $34, which meant she still owed $12 for the summer...looks like we won't be retiring anytime soon. Just as we left the store it started to rain again as we started the drive back to Yorkton.

We did a bit of shopping and it seemed to be "seniors day" at the grocery store...not that there is anything wrong with that, but it was slow going up the aisles. We came back home and just looked out the front window at the pouring rain...a perfect day to just curl up on the couch and watch TV...the stuff from the camper will put itself away.

Marilyn had been suffering with sort of a head cold, or perhaps allergies. Something seemed to rear its head right after having to clean out the rotor. Now is a fine time to discover an allergy to grain, isn't it? Well, that's if it is indeed an allergy. Today was head achy, chills, stuffed sinuses...a day just made for recuperating.

We talked to Marg and Kim down at Carlyle and they had a beautiful day, with lots of combining...

Maybe we do bring the rain...

September 11

View of the day-Al rolling through the Qu'Appelle Valley on the way to Esterhazy.

Well today we really did get up bright and early so we could say good bye to Gordie before he went off to school. We also wanted to give Kim a hand pulling his sieve out of his 2388 so he could repair the system for the third time in his short season. Once we figured out what the problem was and he had sent his father for parts to repair it, we figured he had everything under control and we decided to head north once more.

Al left the farm and waited at the junction for Marilyn who had gone to say goodbye to Marg at work, and to get her to make a copy of the service manual section on the cleaning system to give to Kim. Marilyn noticed red flashing lights a mile north of the Ag Services where Marg works, and the discussion in the office was that the DOT had some kind of check point set up and they were stopping everybody that passed. A comment was made that they would probably give Marilyn a ticket for only having one running light, but she fixed that by turning on her headlights because she knew they both worked on dim. There was a bit of concern on her part that they might stop her because the shop trailer didn't have the lights wired, even though it was narrow enough that the camper lights were clearly visible. But why tempt fate? She drove back out to the farm and came around the back way, after letting Al know on the radio that "the restaurants were open all over the place"(our code in case the bad guys were rubbering in) and he should leave without waiting for her.

We got to the farm just west of Esterhazy, unhooked the shop trailer and unloaded the combine. No one was around, so we just headed up to Yorkton with the camper, the coast was still clear. Although at this time it didn't matter because we were 'legal'(not that we weren't before, but the rules change all the time depending who stops you), and to prove it...at the tourist booth just south of town, there was a checkpoint set up. They were channeling cars into the tourist booth parking area and they had the big rigs in another lane, all marked off with pylons. They waved us through! AND we left all the pylons standing.

We got out to the farm, the gardener had mowed the lawn so it looked nice and neat. Al was a bit disappointed that he wouldn't get to use his weed eater right away. Marilyn started getting the camper unpacked, while Al got "Frank" into running order and took it for a test drive. Marilyn had made arrangements to go into town to have coffee at Tim Hortons with a couple of fellow thespians from the local theatre group. Al went next door to visit with the gardener and drop off the "beverage" that he had brought back from the US.

After we both got caught up with the latest gossip it was time to call it a day...and the rain and wind came. Not to worry, we get to stay in our house for the next few days while the crops dry down at Esterhazy. That can't happen too soon since the "campground" there has wireless high speed access and here we only have dial-up, until we move back in permanently in a couple of months. Speaking of months...it was four months ago tomorrow that we left the yard to start the season.

Where did the time go...

September 10

View of the day-The end of the day, the rig is loaded and waiting to move to Esterhazy, SK.

Clouds and rain first thing in the morning, so we weren't sure what we were going to do today. The farmer decided they could finish up on their own, since we would have to wait a couple more days for the wheat to cure enough to combine.

We talked to the farmer at Esterhazy, and they had gotten some rain and there wouldn't be any combining for a couple of days, so if we wanted to stay here we could. We decided we should get the rest of our stuff moved to Esterhazy and wait there, just so the elder farmer wouldn't have to phone when the panic set in.

We went for lunch then went into town to get a new fuel filter for the Dodge, to replace the wrong one they had sold Al the day before. He already had the old one off so we had to borrow a truck from the landlord. We also had to renew the license for "Frank", our second vehicle. Frank is a 1987 Grand Marquis that we use to shuttle around town when we want to go our separate ways and it comes out of summer retirement when we get to Esterhazy. The name comes from the gentleman we bought it from, it just stuck...and it fits. Marilyn took Al out to the combine at the field and he roaded it back to the yard to get it ready to load.

We got back out to the farm and tried unsuccessfully to fix the window on the drivers door on the General. For a while it wouldn't roll up all the way, which wasn't bad in the summer, but it's getting a bit chilly now and it really needs to close. Especially if Marilyn switches over to truck driving for the fall harvest. We dismantled it and discovered the plastic strip that moves the window up and down had all the holes stripped out of the middle. We tried several repairs but quit short of fabricating a new one, the thought of punching all those oval holes didn't seem too appealing. Al decided to tough it out with it the way it is and we will look for the part at a wrecker.

The farmer came out to the camper to settle up, and after a gab, left us to do what we normally do after a job. We got the combine loaded without incident and hooked the trailer up to the General, then parked the rig for the night. The plan is to move the combine to Esterhazy, parking it in a different spot that the grain cart, of course.

We will take the camper home to Yorkton to unload most of the summer's accumulation of stuff that tends to collect. We will also get rid of the "summer clothes"...sigh...to make room for the jackets and warmer clothes that will be needed for the rest of the Canadian harvest. The forecast low for Thursday is 26 F...that's gonna be cold.

Hope the gardener has mowed our lawn...

September 9

View of the day-Clouds that let go the rain with no rhyme or reason.

The sun was shining bright and early (for us) and it looked like it would be a great day for combining canola.

We moved the grain truck over to the field of canola east of Carlyle shortly before lunch. We gave one of the farmers a ride back to their yard, then went back to Kim's field to get the combine after he fueled it up for us. Al serviced the rig, Marilyn did the windows and reset the computer so it would monitor things properly. Al complains that since ProHarvest updated our yield and moisture monitor, he doesn't know how to change things like header width or crop. This means it is pretty much useless for figuring out yield or acres covered.

Once the settings were all changed, Al went out to the field and started combining the canola. Marilyn went back to the camper to make lunch and take down the tent, just in case the wind came up and a catastrophe should happen. When she got back to the yard, everything had been dismantled and not by the wind. All that was left to do was bundle up the poles and secure the folded tent.

Back out at the field, Marilyn took over combining for Al and he went into the farmers grain cart for the rest of the afternoon, taking a break when his truck was full. Marilyn had just made a couple of rounds and was curious as to how fast Al had the rotor going under load, when he suggested a ground speed, Marilyn stated that she was being cautious and just didn't want to plug the rotor. Al replied that the feeder would plug long before the rotor would. The rogue clouds would dump rain at random, never enough so it was running off the header, but enough to make the straw tough. We were along the highway and after one of the showers the vehicles were spraying up water which meant it wasn't just a sprinkle. Not to worry, we had the same thing with the oats the other day, so off Marilyn went...for about 200ft...you guessed it...the rotor plugged.

Al came over and we took the shields off to examine the slug that was refusing to let the rotor turn, and it really wasn't a bad one, just one thick band of wet straw. Once we dropped the concaves and backed the rotor up to dig out the slug by hand, it was clear enough that the combine was able to cough up what was left. It was nice of the farmer to stop by to supervise and note how tactfully we "discussed" the various reasons for the slug and how to clear it. We do have our own language when it comes to these sorts of things. It didn't even take twenty minutes from plugging to getting rolling, so it was just an excuse for "fresh" air.

At one point during the day, the farmer went over to do a test on their wheat, thinking it would go, but it was still 17% moisture so we stayed where we were. The rest of the day was uneventful, with Al in the cart picking us up on the go there was no stopping until we quit at 8:00 covering 100 acres.

A good day even with the small delay...

September 8

View of the day-Marilyn's big purchases at the auction sale-a 10X30 party tent and Gordie holds a gas weed trimmer...what deals! Our gardener will be happy.

Up early to get in "the zone" for the big auction sale. We got the call that the wheat and mustard were too wet to go, so we had the better part of the day off.

Al went out and helped Kim do some fixing on his pickup head, while Marilyn, Marg, Gordie and his other aunt Kim (it's confusing with so many "Kim's in the family) trekked north to the Wawota corner to the auction sale. Oh, there were bargains-a-plenty to be had but someone always managed to outbid us, but we didn't come home empty handed, as you can see by the view of the day.

Al didn't have much to do, so when Kim went out and checked his canola and found it was good to go, Al decided to go out and combine with him, while Kim's dad hauled grain for them. With two machines going, he even left the tractor on the auger running between loads since the haul was close and the trucks were always full. No idea of what the yield was because Al didn't know how to change the settings on the combine...he doesn't like technology.

When the happy shoppers came home at 5:30pm they were still hard at it...and no breakdowns! Marg whipped up burgers for supper and Marilyn and Gordie put the party tent together...we got the easier job, we had it up in no time and still had to help with supper.

Once again the junior weather forecast was wrong...supposed to be 70% chance of rain and the sun shone all day.

Maybe tomorrow will be the same...