October 7, 2008

View of the day-Tools catching a few fall rays, waiting for work.

Al was up early to take the pickup in for a new muffler and to kill several hours in town so he could avoid having to do any unpacking/putting away jobs.

Marilyn spend an exhausting day getting everything out of the camper and into the house...a job which started out nice and orderly, but eventually fell apart as the goal was to just get it emptied and not worry about putting things away as they came in the house...not a pretty site...good exercise though, dodging the boxes, baskets and bags of 'stuff'.

Al got the oil changed on the pickup and then did help get the last 30 bags out of the camper and by then he got to sit in his recliner in an empty camper and check his eyelids for cracks...since his favorite nap spot was covered with...well...stuff. Marilyn decided to get the satellite dishes aimed and set up before it got cold. It took a little longer than usual because there were two dishes to aim on opposite ends of the house...a coaxial nightmare. Good thing she was smart enough to make a road map of the hookups for three receivers and a dvd player all going into one TV...now there's no jacks left to hook up the Wii.

Al went into town in the evening to watch a hockey game and Marilyn continued on unpacking until it was time for a conference call that killed an hour and a half. And as usual things got left until the last minute...an annual report, a newsletter and of course the blog has to be written before going to bed.

If it can be found in this obstacle course...

October 6, 2008

View of the day-The tractor dressed for the winter waits for the snow to fall...which is supposed to happen this weekend according to the forecast...but what do they know?

We were up early, after a great night's sleep back in our own bed. It was kind of weird waking up during the night,being half asleep and expecting to be in the camper...it was almost as cold...don't want to turn the furnace on too early. It had rained a lot during the night and was cool, windy and overcast for most of the day...which turned into a misting rain in the evening.

We decided to go and vote at the advance polls for next Monday's federal general election, but we got there too early so we had to wait until after lunch to do our civic duty. It's nice we only have to put up with the campaining for five weeks as compared to the three years...or so it seems...to our south. After we voted we did a bit of shopping...winterizing stuff for the vehicles and camper, then Marilyn took Al out to the tractor so he could bring it back to the farm and get the dozer put on for all the snow pushing he will have to do this winter.

Marilyn got to work on getting the camper unloaded, but first and foremost was getting the high speed internet hooked back up...what a performance that was...and it still isn't right. For some reason, the wireless router will not hook the other computers up to the internet...not even when they are hard wired directly. So having the wireless on the laptop is useless at this point since only one computer can be hooked up at a time to the modem. It was one of those things that you work at for four hours, then walk away from...to find a hammer. But at least she doesn't have to drive into town to do the blog tonight.

Marilyn had a meeting for the theatre group in town and Al was pumped to watch his Monday Night Football, but a phone call at half time took him away from the rest of the game...and he said it was a good one.

More bad news on the financial front...and is it any wonder?? Marilyn hasn't been in a WalMart since Sept.1...

October 5, 2008

View of the day-Ready to drop seeds…these sounded like maracas when the wind was blowing…

A big day today…loading and moving, with a big change in the weather…gone are the warm sunny days, they have been replaced by a cool overcast windy day.

We had started to get the combine loaded when we felt the first few sprinkles…nothing serious. We moved it to a farmer friends yard about 20 miles south east, on the #9 highway so it was handier for our move to Carlyle later in the week. We ran into the farmer at the coffee shop on the way back to the camper and had an extended gab before heading back to get the tractor and cart loaded.

We had gotten the tractor loaded and tied down when the skies let loose and we got a terrific soaking. It was short lived and with soaked clothes, we headed north of Saltcoats to the winter spot for the cart and trailer. Marilyn drove ahead pulling the shop trailer and we made it to the farmer’s yard and started to unload, when the rain started up again…oh well, we couldn’t get any wetter at this point. Once everything was unhooked and parked, Al took the Freightliner and Marilyn, the shop and we drove back to our house north of Yorkton to park both items before heading back to Esterhazy for the camper.

We got back to Esterhazy in time to go out for Chinese buffet with our camping landlord/farmer then got back to the yard to get the camper closed up for the trip back to Yorkton…in the dark…and in the rain. It was only misting this time, but the wind was howling making it a bit unpleasant to get things done. Once we had everything flanged in, Al drove the car and Marilyn, the camper, back home…our real home.

It rained all the way home and the last three miles of gravel…wet gravel…made a mess of the camper, but hopefully it rains some more to wash it off. It could wait until we get it unpacked…a chore and a half. After parking it on the lawn and getting the most needed stuff unloaded, we decided to leave the rest of the unpacking for tomorrow.

And now there is no internet…well, there is **&^%ing dialup…so painfully slow…can’t get anything uploaded…it hurts.

Looks like a road trip back into town is in order…nay…a necessity…

October 4, 2008

View of the day-The Freightliner comes out of retirement to dump the last load of the year.

Al was up extra early...he couldn't sleep, so he went out to unload the grain from everything. Marilyn got out to the field at 10am and started combining on the last 30 acres of canola. We had the wind blowing pretty hard today and the trees must have decided since the harvest was over, it was time to give up the ghost and just let their leaves fly...the show was over.

Al was hoping the bin would hold everything that was left, but no such luck...he had to wait for the farmer to get another bin ready at another site...then it was official...the 2008 Canadian harvest was over for us. Don't worry Dyson, there's plenty of blogging yet to come.

We got the combine, tractor and grain cart moved back to the yard where the camper and shop trailer were parked and Marilyn started cleaning the combine. After how many years of doing the same job, and making sure all the shields were back in place after cleaning the chaff out of all the hidey-holes, who would have thought she would miss one? Yep, tucked behind one of the big tires was a shield on a leash...which now has no leash...and needs major reconstructive surgery.

We met the crew from out east, Al's brother Jeff and his bunch for steaks at the Gerald bar. They had finished yesterday and the meal was a great way to get some visiting in to celebrate the end of the harvest for both of us.

Tomorrow we will be loading up again and getting things moved around. The Freightliner and grain cart will be parked for the winter, the combine loaded and ready to move to North Dakota for the soybean harvest and the camper will get unloaded...that's the biggie...it's surprising how much it holds.

Al found where that flying saucer from the other day landed...not far from the camper, at 'Area 22' along the 22 highway, and it brought a friend...

No reports of abductions or mutilations...except for the skunk on the highway...

October 3, 2008

View of the day-The good old days...this tractor is in retirement, watching the world go by.

How many ways can we describe the beautiful days we have been having...the warmth, the colors, the harvesting...just perfect.

Al got a ride out to the field with the farmer to get the auger moved and Marilyn got lunch ready then serviced and started combining by 10:30am. We got the first field finished then moved over to the last 90 acres we have to do in Canada...kind of bittersweet with the weather being what it is.

And speaking of weather...we are constantly watching the weather channels and have a couple of weather bugs on the computer...one from the US weather channel and one from a Canadian source. It was interesting to compare them this week, with the US one predicting rain on the weekend...60% chance on Sunday and Monday, while the Canadian one said clear sailing straight through to next weekend (Oct 11). We were wondering how they could be so far apart in their forecasting...the Canadian one did come up to 10% for Sunday in it's forecast, but still...we'll be watching...

About mid-day, Marilyn thought she heard a strange sound coming from the header so Al jumped in the combine to see if he could pinpoint it. Marilyn heard what sounded like metal ticking...something hitting somewhere, and Al heard a squeaking...perhaps a bearing, he thought. This wasn't going well. Upon further investigation it turned out to be a large eyebolt that adjusts the big auger in the pickup header...it had broken off flush with the adjusting nut.

We had no shop...it was back at the camper...so we had to "McGyver" a fix. We found an extra nut and screwed the two halves in so that the break was in the middle and it worked like a charm for the rest of the day.

We lost an hour with the fixing, but even so, Marilyn was able to get another 100+ acre day. Al left with the loaded General around 9:00pm and Marilyn kept on going until the grain cart and combine were full leaving around 30 acres for tomorrow. Al wanted to get in to watch the Saskatchewan Roughrider's play football on TV. They haven't been doing too good the last few games and we figured it was because Marilyn had been flying a Roughriders flag...that's when the down hill slide started. There were two phone calls and one call on the radio before the game requesting the flag be pulled, or at the very least put at half mast on the combine ladder. Marilyn left it up until half time and when it seemed like they were starting to lose their lead...it came out of the holder an into the cab...and they won. Coincidence? Perhaps.

We finally got to see the moon for about half an hour...a little sliver of a thing seemed to pop up then sink out of sight leaving it black again...

It sure made the northern lights stand out...

October 2, 2008

View of the day-Dusk at Esterhazy...on the way to yet another moonless night.

Do these great days ever end? Another perfect day for harvesting...combining by 10am and going non-stop all day.

Once Al had the auger set up he was able to get both bins full just around sunset and since he had to move it to another yard, we just filled the truck and cart to finish off the day. Finally a 100+ acre day and after dropping the grain truck off at the yard, we called it a night.

It won't be long now...

October 1, 2008

View of the day-Al at the "bin" unloading the General.

The fabulous fall days don't seem to be ending and today was no exception. The only thing we missed was the wind...even a breeze would have made things at the 'bin' a little less dusty for Al.

We continued combining on the wheat, with Al running cartloads back to the pile which meant he didn't have a day of moving the auger...well, actually he did have to move it to the pile first thing in the morning.

Marilyn got to take some pictures while Al was taking a turn in the combine and found something interesting in six of the pictures. She always shoots in burst mode, taking three quick shots at a time...just in case the first one turns out bad. While reviewing the pictures of the day, two sets of three pictures had a small pink spot in the sky...all the rest taken from the same angle had nothing...very strange...see what you think...and the lens was clean. The bugs were like those tiny no-see-ums, it's kind of neat they look so big in the picture.

We finished the wheat around 7pm and after getting everything dumped into the pile, moved over to a canola field half a mile away. Al drove the combine and Marilyn followed in the pickup as he combined his way over to the bins...real ones...in the field. Now, this is a field we have never been in, it was dark and there was no wind making following the combine almost impossible...the dust would not clear, so Marilyn would wait a bit, then drive along the swath and hope she didn't end up in a slough. Al had no idea where the bin was so it was the blind leading the blind, until he called the farmer for directions and we finally made our destination.

We went back to get the General, then returned for the cart and after six trips figured out where we were going to be starting in the morning. Once everything but the auger was at the new field, we called it a day and headed back to the camper.

We are wondering where the moon has gone to these past weeks...it is blacker than the inside of a whale out there at night...