On The Road Again

Yesterday was not a good day--trouble with one drill and then both sprayers broke down.  The part needed for one of them was not available within 100 miles.  R was sent to Kenmare, North Dakota which is about 200 miles away to get the part.  He was probably happy to have a few hours to himself after having his dad, his uncle and his brother all telling him what to do every day.

The first thing I did this morning was make a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies.  M was saying last night that his mom was being stingy with the cookies which made me think she was getting tired of baking so I took 4 dozen over to put in her freezer so she could mix it up a little.  Then I delivered lunch to J who was about 5 miles and 3 gates away on a trail through hilly pastureland.  He wasn't at the most remote piece of land we own, but it's pretty remote.  No sign of civilization that you can see from there.  The trail to get there has gotten pretty rough over the years so it's not a quick trip.

We had howling winds during the night and expected that today also, but it was pretty nice when I delivered lunch.  I was hoping to get a walk in but had to haul some garbage to town and get fuel for the pickup.  By the time I got back the wind had come up again and then later we had rain showers.  The rain gave me hope that supper could be earlier tonight, but it didn't last long and it's 9:30 and M's not home for supper yet.

Twice now I thought I was done for the day and got called out again.  First I had to give R a ride to move J's pickup and a truck, then later had to give J a ride to his pickup when plans changed.

Things are not going too smoothly right now, and I am always the sounding board.  I wish I could give that job to someone else.


 

It Never Ends

I went to my "day job" at the pharmacy today thinking I'd be off the hook from running for the guys.  Not so.  After work, I had a call from my husband asking if I'd go to Plentywood (75 miles from home, 40 from where I work) to get parts so off I went.  I arrived back home tonight about 12 hours after I left this morning.  They always like me to do the parts runs because I get it done faster. I guess I have a bit of a heavy foot on the accelerator--I think it's a genetic thing.

A Day in the Life II

I forgot an important rule today:  Always have a book or magazine with you.  I learned that rule from my mom at a very young age.  There was always an old Reader's Digest in the glove box of most vehicles.  I didn't have too much "hurry up and wait" time, but I did have some and could have done some reading.  First thing this morning I helped R move 4 cow-calf pairs from the calving pasture out to graze with the rest of the herd.  Then, once again, I spent most of my day driving around and getting nowhere, 65+ miles, delivering lunches and moving trucks from field to field.  I'm not done yet.  Still need to act as a flagger for J when he moves his drill.  It's a blustery day, windy and 35 degrees with some raindrops and some snowflakes.  Kind of missing that 75 degree day we had during the week.  The sprayer was done for the day after lunch due to the cold, but the drills are still going.  Good thing I knew better than to make a plan for the day.  Just disappointed that I missed most of the NASCAR race at Talladega--my favorite track.

A Day in the Life

Another important rule of thumb:  Always pee before you leave the house because you don't know when you'll be back.  My day today:  Left the house at 12:15, drove 2 miles to my mother-in-law's to pick up lunch, drove 1 mile back to deliver lunch to M and J.  Drove 1 mile to pick R up and go to another field to get the service pickup and take it 2 miles to the farm yard.  Drove 4 miles to a bin site to get an auger and took it 8 miles to town.  Drove another 8 miles back to take R to another truck, 2 miles back to the farm yard to take cooler back to mother-in-law then 2 miles home with a stop along the way to get a cow out of the field and fix a gate.  Arrived at home at 3:30 (3 hours later) after 30 miles.

Second go-round:  Left house at 6:30, drove 2 miles to pick up mother-in-law, drove 4 miles to get service truck and move it to a different field, drove 3 miles to get father-in-law who moved service pickup, drove 2 miles to get seed truck and fertilizer truck and move them 2 miles back.  Went back those 2 miles again to take in-laws home and then 5 miles to get R who had moved a truck to field for J and then back those 5 miles for him to get a different truck to take to town and I went home.  Arrived home at 8:30 (2 hours later) after 25 miles.

I don't usually keep track of "dirt miles", but thought it might be interesting.  So, I've spent 5 hours driving 55 miles today and haven't been more than 8 miles from home, basically going in circles.  Now I need to come up with something for supper.  So it goes some days......

Rain Day

We woke up to rain today along with a beautiful full rainbow.  I don't think a "city person" can fully appreciate the joy a farmer feels when it rains.  My husband this morning, when I showed him the rainbow, commented that it looked like the pot of gold is at the neighbor's but that was okay because we were getting the rain.  Since rain is the life blood of our whole existence, we love rain days.  Early rains are great to get the pastures started and cut down on blowing dirt while seeding.  It puts everyone in a good mood, and it's like a free day to do what you want.  It can be used as a day to catch up on things or a day to just goof off.  The streets in town are busier, and the bars are definitely busier!  There's always a lot of weather discussions about how much rain they got, how much they needed it, etc.  There's a saying that the first liar doesn't have a chance, meaning that someone always gets more rain than you do or will say they do.  There are some who really exaggerate the rainfall, but everyone pretty much knows who they are by now.  Others, like my father-in-law, downplay it all the way.  The dogs aren't liking it much since they have to stand at the door and get their feet wiped if they want to come in.  They are probably the only ones not liking a rain day.

Pros and Cons

It has been said that farming or ranching isn't just a job, it's a way of life.  I think that is very true.  It's not a job that you can leave after 8 hours.  You live where you work, if you lose your job you lose your home, and there is an emotional investment.  Some say it's silly to be emotionally tied to a piece of land, but it happens.  A few years ago my dad wanted and needed to get out of farming, and we ended up buying his land.  We weren't sure it was the right thing to do financially, and it caused some hard feelings between my brother and me, but we had some pressure from my other siblings, and we knew we couldn't stand seeing the place sold to a neighbor.  It has turned out okay so far, but there was the danger that being emotionally tied to the land was clouding our judgment.  A few years later, another piece of land that we had been leasing and farming for years came up for sale after the owner died.  This time it was my father-in-law who couldn't let it go, and we purchased it.

This can be a hard life and a lonely one.  My dad was not crazy about my decision to marry a farmer.  He knew it could be a hard life and that wasn't what he wanted for me.  Good thing he knew that my husband was a good guy and that he would take good care of me.  My husband is a workaholic and more often works 16-hour days than 8-hour days.  I joke sometimes that I should get all of the credit and none of the blame on how my kids turned out because I felt a lot of the time like I was a single parent.  On the other hand, I could never have survived their childhood had we lived in town.  They always had work to do and learned important lessons here in the country.  Our oldest son learned to drive when he was 5 and went custom harvesting with his uncle the first time when he was 12.  Someone asked him once where he learned to drive a semi truck.  He looked at them like it was the dumbest question he had ever heard--no one really taught him, he just knew.  He'd been in a truck since he could walk so it came pretty naturally.  He learned how to do things with his hands and can build or fix almost anything he needs to.

More pros and cons:
Late hours mean I can eat what I want when I want and don't have to get home from work and immediately start cooking supper.  But, I like to have a little wine with supper and feel funny about sitting here drinking wine alone.

I can have a lot of time to myself.  That can be good, but we have to be good communicators in the few minutes that we see each other.  There can be a lot of "I told you that."  Uh, no you didn't.

There are no people, no traffic, very little crime.  I can drive 35 miles to work and see 4 or 5 other vehicles.  Our nearest neighbors are our in-laws who live 2 miles away.  Can't really think of any "cons" there since I'm not very social anyway.

Our whole life is built around the farm.  Timing is key, and we can't put off what needs to be done. We don't plan anything from about March 1st when calving starts until late June when the spraying should be caught up.  There may be a lull and then haying season starts and when that's done it is usually time to start getting ready for harvest which could last until October some years.

We have to depend on Mother Nature to be good to us.  It takes a lot of work and a lot of cash to grow a good crop.  It also requires rain at the right times.  It's very disheartening to see your crop destroyed by a hail storm, and we've seen it happen plenty of times--something like four times in the past five years.

The positives must outweigh the negatives because we're still here, and I can't see my husband doing anything else.

Spring?

In our neck of the woods there's a saying that if you wait for a nice day to get something done you'll never get anything done.  There's also a saying that the definition of a nice day is one when the wind doesn't blow.   The temperature can be below zero but if the sun is shining and the wind isn't blowing everyone thinks it's a beautiful day.  The wind has been horrible for the past week--or maybe two, I've lost track. Today, however, was an almost perfect day--temperatures in the 70s and just a slight breeze now and then, and I was able to have the whole day all to myself.  I was planning to deliver lunch to the field but R was going to the field so he took it instead.  I'm beginning to believe that spring really is here.

My day started a bit early--5:30 when I had to let the old dog outside.  I fell back to sleep until about 6:30 when I woke to the sound of cows bellering and dogs barking.  The old dog apparently remembered the days when he used to keep the cows out of the yard and decided to give chase to those near the yard.  The border collie is bred to be a cow dog so he had them rounded up and on the run.  I was able to call the border collie back to the house and the old dog who is deaf followed.  M was up for the day, but I went back to bed.

Since it was such a beautiful day I did some work outside cleaning out flower beds and picking up dog poop.  I planted some canna bulbs that my sister in Arizona had given me.  I hope they don't wake up wondering where the hell they ended up.  It's a far cry from Arizona!  I also washed my car.  We had rain last week and I drive six miles of gravel road to get to the highway so the car got a bit muddy.  I should have taken a "before" photo.

I had to patch some jeans for R today.  He seemed a bit miffed that I had had them since Friday and hadn't gotten them patched yet.  Apparently he doesn't know that it isn't my favorite thing to do.  When we were first married, my husband was always ripping out the knees of his jeans and wanted me to patch them.  If I was reluctant he would say "I'll just take them to Grandma" like I would be offended enough that I would do it.  Grandma ended up doing a lot of patching!

For the past three days every time I put on shoes and a jacket the old dog would get excited thinking I was taking him for a walk.  He'd go outside with me and I'd drive away and leave him, poor thing.  Today we finally went on that walk.  I have a few 2-mile routes that I usually walk.  He couldn't quite keep up today so I had to catch him on my way back.  He's almost 15 years old and has some health issues but loves to go out.

The seeding continues.  Today there was an issue with the air conditioner in one tractor.  Luckily, the guys are able to fix most things themselves.  The support staff is very important to keep clean seed and fertilizer coming to the drills and water to the sprayer.  Most of the time we don't seem to have enough bodies to keep it all going--more on that later.

Here goes......

Here goes my first attempt at blogging. I have had inspiration from Julie of Julie and Julia fame (I hate to cook, though, so don't expect any recipes or cooking tips). I have also had inspiration from my nephew's wife of Tickled Pink. It occurred to me one day while reading her blog that her life is like the total opposite of mine and thought that maybe someone may be interested in how the other half lives. That is, the half that lives in the country far from civilization (or at least it seems that way at times). While I am not nearly as involved as some farm women in the day-to-day hands-on work that farming requires, I can share the ins and outs and ups and downs of this kind of life. I will have to learn how to do this and be careful not to offend anyone; however, I'm pretty sure my kids will be offended if I mention them at all!!  J is the oldest (girlfriend is K) R the youngest (girlfriend is A).

My husband (M) started spring planting last night so we begin the weeks of long days, late suppers and stress.  An important rule of being a farm wife/go-fer:  If you have something on the stove and get called to help, turn it off!  You never know how long it will be before you get back even if it sounds like a simple errand.  Last night I was called to give a ride from the field back to the shop.  Didn't know we would have to move trucks to the field and then take J back to his vehicle so he could go home.  I did turn off the stove before I left and we ate supper at 10 pm.

Today I took lunch to M and J and then K came out with her 3-year-old god daughter to see "baby cows."  Of course, the white calf she wanted to see was moved to pasture a couple of hours before they got here and when we went to the pasture we couldn't find it.  She got to see some others, though, and named one Sam.  A nice, warm, sunny day, just wish the wind, which has been blowing for a week, would quit.  If it does, we may all fall over.