August 13, 2014

View of the week-More old time antics, this time in North Battleford, SK.

We didn't even have time to relax after the show last week, we went back to work for a couple days, then got geared up for the next show.

We actually did a bit of "harvest" related work, getting the new header loaded on the high-speed transport trailer. The combine was already in at White's Ag, where it had been used to help the service guys get the new header assembled and running on the combine. Once they were finished with the prep, we loaded the header and Al brought the combine home.

There were still radio issues in the combine, so Marilyn went to the CaseIH dealership to see about getting another one to test and see if it was the radio, or the speakers that were the problem. Fortunately, there wasn't a pile of splicing that had to be done to get it hooked up...the cables had the exact hookups. How often does that happen?

It turned out to be the radio that was the problem, so the new one got installed and the next thing on the agenda will be to get all the spiderwebs cleaned out.

So we left for North Battleford on Thursday...just to give us some time to scope out the area and get settled in. On Friday, we went out to get set up on the grounds next to one of the main tents, just behind "Main Street" in Old Town.

The Western Development Museums (WDM)of Saskatchewan are situated in 4 different cities in the province and each one has a different theme. Moose Jaw has "History of Transportation", Saskatoon has "1910 Boomtown", Yorkton has "Story of People" and North Battleford has "Heritage Village". All have a great history of the province and Canada.

The Heritage Village has a couple of main streets with buildings that would have been around back in the "old days". We were able to set up our tent behind one of the stores on the main street, one which we hoped would protect us from the winds that were forecast for Saturday.

Roger showed up and we proceeded to get the tent set up. With the help of the practice run earlier in the week, we were able to get it set up and battened down. There were weather warnings in the area, so we decided not to take any chances by putting out the toys...not even in the boxes...everything else stayed in the cargo trailers for the night. It was a good thing.

We had quite the downpour over night, getting almost an inch of rain, and the wind had gotten up...some towns to the southeast had reported plow winds and there were a lot of trees down and power out. Roger took an early morning drive past the grounds and came back to the camper with the news that we would be doing some repair work to the tent. It was in the same spot, but the roof was a lot lower than how we had left it.

We had planned on starting the setup around 7am, but with the state of the tent, we were hoping to get everything up by noon. We had a couple of the roof braces buckle, but with the help of the guys from the WDM, we had a 2x4 stuck in the ground working as the main upright for the centre of the tent.

We got the tables set up and were only an hour or so behind the starting time, but we fought the wind all day.

We made a point of tying the tent down and anytime it looked a little "light", we pulled it down and added another spike.

The wind went down in the evening and by Sunday, we had a beautiful cool, calm day...until the sun came out. The show was over after the parade of power at 5pm, and we were lucky enough to have the sides open on the tent and a great view of the parade.

Pay no mind to the green toys...business is business.

After the parade it was time to pack up and load the trailers.Roger was going home once he got packed, but we had decided to stay over one more night, so we wouldn't get home in the middle of it. We still haven't decided

We got Roger loaded up and on his way, then proceeded to get our stuff put away and the tent taken down. We never really noticed until we were almost finished, that there wasn't anyone left on the grounds. No one.

They hadn't even driven by to see when we would be out. We were locked in.

Fortunately, we knew a back way out. Too bad it was not passable due to the big rain...it was blocked off. We were lucky to find a guy out by the boon-docking trailers that let us out the gate and we were able to find a back road around the mud bog to get back to the highway and home to the camper. What a weekend.

This was a display in the old service station...Marilyn could hear Al asking for the 3/4 wrench..."the one right there...can't you see it?"

We got back home Monday afternoon, parked the camper on the lawn and tried to get rejuvenated and "in the zone" to go back to work.

Harvesting is just a couple weeks off for us, so now it is time to get back into that zone.

Al even got the General out of the bushes and aired up the tires...

August 4, 2014

View of the month-Our shortest way into town became impassible after 8 inches of rain.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge...and over it...since the last post, but it's time to get caught up.

We took our three week road trip...not the one Marilyn had hoped for to the maritimes...this one was about, all things toys. We left Yorkton with the camper and made it to Jamestown, ND the first night. Day two got us to Albert Lea, MN, then on day three, we made it the rest of the way to Dyersville...or rather, the campground 10 miles east at Farley.

We had arrived early enough to check things out around the toy show...you know, see where the bargains were...and we took advantage of that, coming back to the camper with a few things. Actually, we got back with more than just a few things as we had gone to visit the ladies at Bossen Implement to pick up some toys that Al and Roger had ordered.

Good thing we were travelling a lot lighter that what we normally do in the camper...every bit of space was needed and we weren't even a couple days into the tour. Marilyn did manage to find a replica of the Freightliner that will be getting revamped just to look like it's old self.

Seeing the summer toy show was a lot different than the fall one in November. Al got a few boxes of treasures at the auction that was held thr first night. 

We thought with the great weather, there would be a lot more vendors on the street, but it was just as well there weren't...the purchases were already piling up.

After spending a couple of days checking things over, we had seen all we wanted of the toy show, so it was time for some touring.

Since we always miss out on the Mississippi riverboat cruise in the fall, we made a point of booking the Saturday sunset cruise before we left home.

This was a prime rib supper cruise which was supposed to be three hours long and included a trip through the locks. Unfortunately, due to the level of the river, that part was cut short...and it was raining, so we didn't spend a lot of time up on the deck. The supper area was glassed in and we were seated with a couple from Des Moines, IA celebrating their anniversary.

The meal was delicious and the cruise was relaxing, except for a table of noisy people who made it impossible to hear what the captain was telling us. We did get to go up to the wheelhouse and talk to the captain personally and got to find out a lot about the river and the paddle wheeler.

Our next stop was Wakonda, SD, where we stopped for the night...with another downpour. We had to pick up some more toys that Al had purchased over the internet and to drop off a couple of items that he was getting Girard's Auction to put in their next toy auction. Then we were on our way to Chamberlain, SD for a couple days.

Our main reason for stopping in Chamberlain, was the auction sale at the CaseIH dealer. We had purchased several toys over the years from this "old style" dealer.

We actually had to dig through a pile of boxes in the corner every time we went into the store...it was like Christmas. Now, the building had been sold and the owner was retiring...he was almost 90, so it was time.

They had called us to let us know about a couple of pieces of advertising that we had asked about every time we stopped in...they were good enough to leave them out of the auction so we could purchase them.

Was there STUFF at this auction!

Al came away with a few toys, but the way they had things grouped together,

he also became the owner of several huge banners, some posters and other advertising items, while Marilyn got a new cooler and lunch bag.

All CaseIH, of course. The camper was filling up.

With the auction out of the way, it was time to move north to LaMoure, ND for their big summer toy show. This time we were able to park right behind the school, which was where the show was held. We got there a day early...to sniff around...and just take it easy from the driving. More rain.

We didn't come away with a lot of stuff from the toy show, although what we did was quality...read that to mean "spendy". After three days there, we were off to Pingree, ND.

We were able to get a lot of visiting in while we were parked behind the 281 Stop and once again, we got caught in a wicked downpour, just getting missed by a tornado 5 miles north of us. After four days of relaxing, we headed east to Mahnomen, MN and the Shooting Star Casino campground.

We had seen a video of Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap Tour at the Yorkton Film Festival at the end of May and Al had mentioned that it would have been great to see that live. Marilyn got online to see where they were touring and ended up getting tickets to see Bachman & Turner at the casino. They rocked a lot of Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive tunes and for two guys in their 70's, they put on a hell of a show for 90 minutes without stopping.

That was the last stop on the big "Toy Tour" and now it was time to head back home. All the while we were on the road, we would be thinking about where we would be if we were still on the harvest run. We were both missing it...Marilyn more so...but when we thought about the loading in the heat, the driving, the DOT, we weren't missing it so much.

We made it back home safe and sound and we both went back to work...seemed odd to be doing that at this time of year. Al made a point of getting the toys on display in the camper so his friends could stop by and shop. Now we had to get used to the summertime things, like mowing the lawn and trying to escape the mosquitoes. Then, we had a few days of rain...HARD rain...almost 8 inches. Lots of flooding in town, we were alright on the top of our hill with no basement to worry about.

While we didn't need to worry about our house, we did have to worry about how we would be getting to town. By the time all the water had gotten into the creeks and streams, our main road into town was flooded out...not washed away, just cover with flowing water for quite a distance. What was usually a 6 mile run to town, was now a 15 mile run to town and as if that wasn't bad enough, that road was under water for a couple of days, so we were stranded out at the house, waiting for the water to subside.

Since we were spending the better part of the summer at home, Marilyn decided it was time to have a deck on the front of the house, so she could put up the bargain gazebo she bought last fall. After coming up with some basic plans, getting the lumber and doing the construction after work and on weekends, Marilyn and her theatre building buddy, Brenda got the deck done and the gazebo up. Too bad we still have to deal with the moquitos, although the dragonflies have finally showed up, which has thinned them out.

We are starting to think about getting in the "harvest zone". We have some winter wheat that is first on the list about 100 miles south of us...it is still a ways off, but no sense in leaving things until the last minute. We got the combine out, and serviced up all the items on the list from the "Uptime Inspection" we had done over the winter at the CaseIH dealership. We even made it to the CaseIH combine clinic at our local dealer...that was a first.

After a last minute decision, Al and Roger decided to set up a few tables at our Western Development Museum's annual Thresherman's Show.

They had a big tent set up for handicrafts and the like, so a few tables of farm toys were just what the doctor ordered.

They didn't have high expectations, but were pleasantly surprised by the interest in the toys and the sales made. Looks like next year will be a go.

The show was really interesting, with a lot of old time music right by our tent and demonstrations of the "old school" way of doing things.

Al had been approached to take his toys on the road to a "Red Power" show in North Battleford. This show is featuring International Harvester collectors and getting some red toys in there seemed like a good plan. In order to get set up for the show, we decided to take the camper, which meant we had to get a hitch put on the back to tow the toy trailer.

Now we are set up to go on the road with the toys and we even have our party tent to set up in...we even practiced putting it up in the yard so we wouldn't kill each other trying to set it up in public.

We'll see how that goes...

May 6, 2014

View of the day-A throwback, actually. It all started with a handshake, this day, last year as we were getting ready to leave.

After years of listening to Al "suggest" it was time to retire from...as he likes to call it..."this lucrative business", we finally came to an agreement that Harvest 2013 would be our last run in the USA.  

While we had officially made the decision, we decided not to tell anyone, "just in case", we changed our minds...this had happened before.  There had been a couple of pre-harvest agreements, that there would be only five or three or two more years, then we would quit, but all those deadlines came and went. And we did the same...came to the US and went harvesting.

Knowing that we were firm in our choice, made the summer a lot more relaxed...sort of. We had some of our customers retire, pass on, or rent out their land, so we lost work during the year which meant future work. We still managed to get our usual acres from other sources, and even with the 52 straight days that we didn't combine, still came out okay.

The hardest part was having to let our remaining customers know that we wouldn't be returning this season. These were folks that we have known since before we had even gone harvesting out on our own. These were friends.

When we made the trek to Wichita for the US Custom Harvester's convention, we made a point of swinging down through Cherokee, OK and Great Bend, KS to visit one more time and officially say good bye. Although we hope to visit again at some time in the future. We have seen other crews retire and wonder how they could handle the transition in the spring, but life is a vacuum...when one thing goes, another takes its place.

We certainly didn't miss all the paperwork headaches that come with getting prepared for the run...and the cost involved. The mad panic to get everything in order and loaded to make two 1200 mile trips...without incident. If we were lucky. With everything we had going on at home, we would have been ready for the straight jackets, of course, we might not have taken on so much if we knew we would be leaving. There's that vacuum.

We will not be getting out of the harvesting business. We have always had lots of work to do here in Canada and actually found some winter wheat to do in the southern part of the province, near Carlyle, which means our season will just start a couple months later than usual.

Anyone who is familiar with our outfit, knows I never wanted to quit the southern run...it has been so much a part of what we have always done in the summer. I will miss those fields that we have combined year after year. Miss those towns we have lived in for months at a time...one day we will go through Al's journals to see exactly how many days we have spent in each place. On the other hand, we will forge new territory here at home.

Part of the deal to retire the southern run was that we would be able to do something we had always wanted to do, and that was take the camper and tour Newfoundland and the maritimes. We had planned to leave the last week of May and spend the month of June touring around...we were looking forward to it, although, Al would not drive unless we had each day's destination confirmed...he didn't want to drive too far and end up looking for a campground. There had to be a plan.

No problem with the planning until I discovered our date to leave was coming up in just over a week...where did the time go?!

Now, Al had been talking about the Lamoure, ND toy show in the middle of June, which would have thrown a wrench into the maritime tour..that's a long loop around. Then Al got a call from the CaseIH dealer in Chamberlain, SD, where we had purchased farm toys over the past several years. He had wanted to purchase a particular piece of advertising memorabilia and they would never part with it, but now they were planning an dispersal and were offering it to him before the auction...which was in June a few days before the Lamoure show. How convenient.

So we had decided to save the maritime trip for next year and do the ND toy show loop. Then we noticed that the weekend before the auction and toy show was...the Summer Farm Toy Show...in Dyersville, IA. Road Trip! This time we might get our Mississippi riverboat cruise. So now we will be taking three weeks to go to Dyersville, Chamberlain and Lamoure. 

What is tough now, is following Facebook and Twitter, seeing all the rigs that are heading south and starting the harvest. The bad part for them is the disastrous crop conditions that they are heading into. Another plus for us not going on the run...but not enough of a plus that it takes away the feeling that I want to be on the move, too.

For the past 10 years, I have hauled all our harvesting photo albums along, going all the way back to 1991. My intention was to scan them all and put them into our digital photo frame so we could "trip down memory lane" as the pictures scrolled through. Even though Al has the rule, "if it doesn't get used, it doesn't come back in the camper next year", they always made the run, tucked away in a place Al never looked. Now with all the time I have on my hands, I want to get the job done and post some of the past years on the blog, there are some classic harvest pictures that need to be shared.

So, just because we aren't harvesting in the US, doesn't mean the blog will stop. It might not always be about harvesting...at least until August and the Canadian harvest starts.

Countdown to June 1 and our "Farm Toy Tour"...

May 4, 2014

View of the day-This was a common sight for us this winter/spring...almost 4 months of it.

Well, it's been a long hard winter up here for us...and busy. Between trade shows, toy shows, work and road trips, during one of the longest cold stretches we have seen in a long time, the blog has been put on the back burner.

We had the Saskatoon toy show first thing in January 10,11 & 12. It was a new venue this year, so we were unsure if the crowds would be as good as they had been in the past if no one could find the place, but our (Al's) fears were unfounded and it turned out to be a great show...the weather even co-operated. Here is a before and after of our tables.

The Crop Production show was in Saskatoon the following week, so the Sunday of the toy show, we got the booth set up for the Association of Canadian Custom Harvesters, but this time we didn't have to man it. Lynn Prevost had said she would do the Saskatoon show if we looked after Brandon Ag Days the following week. Worked for us.

Our golf cart was delivered to Crop Production and was brought to Yorkton with Jeff Just, one of the CaseIH guys manning their booth...who is also a neighbor, sort of...from the other side of Yorkton. Big thanks to CaseIH for the delivery.

We got back from the Toy Show/Crop Production, just in time to turn around and head east to Brandon for AgDays, January 20.

We got set up and had a chance to look around before settling in to the booth. We only had to work one day as Brad and Rhonda Martens, harvesters from Gladstone, MB, took over the last two days.

The Minot, ND Triple T Toy Show was next on our agenda, on February 1. As usual, we managed to find a few deals and pick up the several boxes of toys that had been shipped to Pingree and Kenmare.

Al's Toy buddy, Roger Miller, had flown in to Minot from Arizona and was getting a ride back to Canada with us, so we made a point of stopping in Kenmare to visit a private museum that we had visited several years ago.

He was quite impressed.

Next on our calendar was the Yorkton Toy Show and Auction, Feb 7,8 & 9. We were organizers for the auction, which was held on the Friday night, so between getting set up for that and getting the tables set up for the toy show at the other venue...we were hopping! There were 225 lots that sold, most consigned, but a lot were cleaned out of the closets at home.

This is also the third year we have had a tractor painted up to raise money for a family in the area who is going through a rough time. 
This year we had a Versatile 2335 which was painted by Mike Kardynal from Minute Muffler in town.Another successful auction, with a lot of notes for next year...hopefully we find them when the time comes. Al came up with the idea of having a "show" tractor for the Yorkton show, so each year we have to make boxes and decal up the tractors. 
These are this year's model...and there are only 35 made.

Now, we were going to be able to be the participant and take it, kind of, easy...we were heading to Wichita, KS for the US Custom Harvesters annual convention.  Al had purchased a certificate at the Canadian Custom Harvesters convention, which included a membership, registration and rooms for the event. 

We took the scenic route on the way down, first to pick up some rims and hubs to dual up the Magnum in Aberdeen, SD, then we stopped in Waconda, SD to pick up some of the toys that Al had purchased online. We also made a detour over to Great Bend, KS and Cherokee, OK to have a visit with the farmers that we have been fortunate to have worked for, for the past 20+ years. The amazing thing about this trip was that we had snow on the ground all the way down, to Cherokee.

We had a good chuckle at the snowman that was built outside the newspaper building in Cherokee...it was even reading the Messenger!

Back in Wichita at the convention, it was great seeing our extended harvesting family, once more, but this time it was under more laid back circumstances.

We had a tour of the AGCO factory in Hesston, KS...we covered a lot of miles going between the buildings, but it was still pretty interesting...Al was even considering changing colors for a short time, but Marilyn said the cab was too small.

We got to enjoy their hospitality, took in the big trade show and learn a lot at the various sessions that were held...and we sat on our hands during the auction. No treasures this year.

Our travel time wasn't over yet. We nicely got back from Wichita, then four days later, we were on the road to Morden, in the southern part of Manitoba, for the last toy show of the spring season. 

Once we were back in Yorkton, living through the longest stretch of -40ºC weather we have seen in our time, Al was getting into the start of the tax season rush at H&R Block and Marilyn started helping out there, too, after she was finished at Staples for the day.

Marilyn had theatre business, with the preparations for a drama festival, clear across the province. It was a small cast, but the set required three bathtubs...with showers and running water. Nothing too it...on paper at least...finding claw foot bathtubs for the director was something else. 

Right in the thick of rehearsals, Marilyn got to go on a "sewing retreat". She had been invited to fill the fourth position for a trip to the garment district in Los Angeles, CA. Her friend, Brenda's sister, Colette, who owns Colette's Sewing Machine Plus(where she got her embroidery machine and serger) had a shopping trip planned through one of the ladies that had brought a workshop to Yorkton. Colette, Brenda, Marilyn and Monika, one of Colette's regulars, took off April 8 for a full week of, all things sewing.

We got to learn how to create our own personalized patterns, then we met some of the people that dress the stars. The shopping was amazing...streets lined with bolts of all materials imagined...too bad we didn't have the cargo trailer to haul our treasures home. The weather was great, we got to tour the usual traps and even got to see Book of Mormon at the Pantages theatre. 

Getting our purchases home was a different story. We had to buy extra cases, make sure we were under 50lbs per bag(no easy task, when you can buy material at $2.50 a pound). we did have to get our dress forms shipped to Kenmare, since they were being custom made for us. We're already looking forward to next year's trip. Marilyn just needs to get sewing.

Back in the real world we managed to get our play, The Drowning Girls...based on a true story from the early 1900's about a man who married, then killed three of his wives by drowning them in the bathtub...all put together...thanks to the spare water pump from the camper, as you can see from the monitor in the green room. All the hard work paid off as we came home from the 6 day/6 performance festival with the Technical Merit, Best Characterization, Best Novice Actor, and Runner up to Winning Entry.

One last encore performance May 17 in Yorkton, then Al can have his toy hauling cargo trailer back...minus the tubs and plumbing.

We got through the tax season in one piece...nobody got choked and we are still waiting for the weather to smarten up. We had lots of rain and there is still a snowbank on the north side of the house.

Bring on the summer...