July 2,2008

View of the day-Talk about service...grain ticket delivery to the truck.

We started early, but just as we got rolling, the clouds that had been gathering started to sprinkle. Marilyn waited until the water was running off the header then parked the combine. We were up pretty high and could see the spotty showers all around us, but it seemed like we were lucky missing the downpours.

Marilyn rode along to the elevator, then we went to the local restaurant for lunch...no rush there. After we ate, we went back to the field...the sun was trying to shine, we decided to put the shock absorbers on the General. These had been riding around in the shop for a couple of weeks and now that we had a bit of time to kill we figured we might as well stay out at the field and get some fixing in.

Marilyn went out after the shocks were on and started combining again. Just before she finished the field, she had a few riders with her, they took shifts, but the ride was short as it was the end of the field. We moved to the next field...didn't have to take the header off this time...and started in on it. There are a lot of terraces in this field, as the picture of the first round shows...

The rain missed us for the rest of the day...could it have been the broken rain gauge? The forecast is for rain tonight and tomorrow morning, but so far the sky looks clear to the west.

But we know how fast that can change...

July 1, 2008 - Happy Canada Day!

View of the day-Working around the pump jack...the idle pump jack.

Goodness, July already!

We got going at 10:30am, finished the field we were on and moved 12 miles to the next field. the weather was hot and windy and there weren't any lineups...perfect harvesting conditions.

The second field wasn't running as good so Al was able to keep up without a problem...so much in fact that he was able to get the slip tank filled in town with fuel for the combine. After he took the last load of the night into the elevator, Marilyn kept going until the combine was full, then waited for him to return to unload. While she waited, she fueled and serviced the combine...a bit harder in the dark...but it means an extra 30 minutes in the morning.

After our visit yesterday from the Petersons, Marilyn received an email from Dana with a cute story...from out of the mouth of babes...

tonite my kids were out playing with their toy combines and they all had names, tyson was andrew...rhett was rodney and they were trying to convince tilynn that she was ben...these are all names of our crew that drive our combines....but tilynn decided that her name was marilyn......i didn't clue in that she was being you until a little later when she came over to tell me that she was that friend of mine that we saw today and her name is marilyn!!! you go girl!!!and inspiring my girl too without realizing it!!"

Oh, to be a role model...

June 30, 2008

View of the day-The header makes short work of the wheat.

We left town just around noon and made a detour to Otis to check on the availability of a pay phone so Al could take part in his Terriers meeting by speakerphone tonight. Marilyn moved the combine to the other side of the field as Al went to get the shop trailer so we could air up the tires on the combine.

Just as we got ready to fire things up, a pickup truck stopped on the highway, then backed up and pulled into the field. It was the Peterson crew from back home on their way to Great Bend for parts. We got caught up with the news of their harvest and then got down to the business of getting some cutting done.

We finished the field we were on, then the farmer brought our header trailer over so we could unload it and move to the next field. After we got moved, we started all over again, this field was going 45 bu/ac so far and it had 25% hail on it!

Al wasn't able to connect with the Terrier meeting...no technology...no speaker phone...in 2008 if you could imagine...sheesh. So he hauled in a couple more loads then we called it a night. Marilyn picked him up at the Albert elevator after getting fuel for the combine.

It's official...the rain gauge doesn't work...or it won't anymore. Marilyn went to put in into its holder and it dropped and smashed into the header. It was bad news anyway.

With the laptop along for the ride, the blog was able to get written and uploaded before we got back to the trailer.

Finally an early night...

June 29, 2008

View of the day-How can something that looks like this be bad?

We got to sleep in again...good thing for Marilyn since the coffee from yesterday kept her up until 3am.

After a call out to the farm, we discovered that we had gotten another .6 inches from yesterday morning's rain. The grain was soft and so was the field which meant we wouldn't be cutting today...no till farming means no ruts.

We went out to the fireworks superstore to stock up for July 4th...talk about a selection. It's too bad you really don't know what you're buying until you blow them off...except of course for the rolls of firecrackers which Al seems to be addicted to. Marilyn managed to talk him out of the 10,000 cracker roll...400's were enough.

Al decided to visit the library to do a bit of surfing in air conditioned comfort...and Marilyn spent the time getting some exercise...shopping, of course. Just shopping...not buying...much.

After we closed the library, we decided to go out to the field to do a bit of fixing...and to check if it had miraculously dried down enough to do a test. Well...we got the fixing done, at least...too wet to try it, but we did get the servicing and fueling done so when it is ready to go we will be too.

It's looking good...

June 28,2008

View of the day-A windmill in wheat.

Well, the old rain gauge let us down again. This time we were rattled out of slumber with the crack of thunder and it continued right through the morning. We never even attempted to go out to the field...we knew it would be wet, so we don't know how much it rained at the field.

We checked out a few places around town, intending to hit the big fireworks store to stock up for the 4th, but time was short and we had a appointment to keep after lunch. We spent the better part of the after noon at the My Coffee cafe, getting caffeined up and discussing all things harvesting with Jason Holcomb, an Associate Professor of Geography from Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky and his girlfriend and reasearch assistant, Heather. Jason had gone on the harvest run for several seasons and is working on a project dealing with the change to international laborers on the harvest run. He is also going to be working on an oral history of custom harvesting. It was a fascinating afternoon and once he has his own blog up and running we will include a link so you can find out more about his work.

After we parted ways, we brought the laptop into the cafe and Al did a bit of catching up on the internet...all but killing the battery on the laptop. After a late supper, Al went back to the camper to recover and Marilyn got her exercise by doing a few laps around Wal-Mart...not to much heavy lifting and only double digits on the receipt...

Marilyn decided to try and get the blog update done before driving back to the camper, since the wireless hotspot is right next to the Wal-Mart lot. There wasn't enough juice left on the laptop, so she went back to the camper, finished it off, then went back on the road to upload.

The sun came out in the afternoon and it was really pleasant out...not too hot and a dry wind from the north.

It seems promising for tomorrow...

June 27, 2008

View of the day-Combining among the terraces.

Okay...well, maybe the rain gauge thing was over rated. We had a terrific storm last night and ended up with .6 in town and .3 inches at the combine. But...just maybe it did work...we could have gotten over 3 inches like they did in the area. It's up again tonight and there isn't a cloud in our sky.

We knew we could sleep in thanks to the rain, but we had items to look after and we thought we might as well do the laundry as well. You never know when the weather will cooperate and if it does, there won't be time to get anything done...just combine.

We called the ProHarvest guys to check on the header lift on the combine. It had been creeping down while it was loaded on the combine trailer and was starting to work a hole in the fenders. It looked like they had come out and changed a few things and it seemed to be working fine.

After dropping Al off at the General, which had been parked at the elevator, Marilyn went out to the field to fuel and service. We waited until 3pm to go out, just to give the grain time to dry out after the rain. The humidity never did go down, but the wheat was dry enough to combine, even though the straw was extremely tough...but it went through and we were able to get 60 acres done.

We had stopped by the local Nex-Tech dealer for free hotdogs at lunch...the local radio stations were doing a remote...to check on internet service and they told us to park outside their store and use the Hot Spot service they have.

So...into the truck and down town to load the blog...

June 26, 2008

View of the day-Al unloads his first load of Kansas wheat in the elevator at...Albert, Kansas!

We had a pretty productive day...and this time we did start early. We left Cherokee and took the scenic short cut...only met one grain truck and he pulled over for us...what a nice guy. We made Great Bend around 11am, temporarily parked the truck, combine and shop trailer so we could get the camper parked at the RV park.

We got parked, hooked everything up and while Al went to get a few parts from the Case dealer for the header...yes, Ron, we finally changed that broken guard...Marilyn got the camper organized and set a Great Bend campground record for aiming the dish...5 minutes!

After we had lunch and loaded up with ice, we headed over to the bins where the other equipment was parked...a 20 mile trip from Great Bend. Once there, we got everything unloaded and fixed up, ready for action. We went out to check some fields and the first one we got to seemed like it was ready to go, so we moved the combine over and commenced to cuttin'.

It was plenty dry and running close to 40 bu/ac. Al got to haul one load in to the elevator before they closed then came back to the field to fill the truck again. He got to combine for a while before we called it a day...nasty storms were brewing to the north all day and we did get a few sprinkles before we left the field. We don't need to worry about the rain because Marilyn finally got the rain gauge mounted on the combine and when that's on, it rarely gets used...again, famous last words.

Bad news...no internet at this campground, so we have to drive a few blocks over to the Days Inn to get hooked up. Marilyn figured by the time we got phone hooked up from the big company, it would be time to leave again. One of the places to get internet is in the parking lot over at the 24 hour Wal-Mart...now, isn't that convenient?

Let's hope the rain gauge works and the weather misses us tonight...