End in Sight

We can see the end of our harvest and will (hopefully) be finished by the weekend.  We moved to our last place yesterday at lunchtime.  A friend had called a couple of days ago and said he was almost done with the job he was working on and wondered if we still wanted him to come over.  M did a poll of J and C and they all agreed that he should come--I guess everyone wants to be done!  This guy isn't always real prompt so J was betting that he wouldn't show up yesterday, but by the time we got moved he was there.  Someone should have taken the bet.  All the acres we have left have been hailed on but the wheat is still running  pretty good.  It would have been a pretty awesome crop without that stupid white stuff hitting it.

I've had quite a few days off from field work while J and C handled the hailed wheat of the neighbor's and M was swathing green spots.  Right now the truck drivers have just a short haul so I wasn't needed too much yesterday either.  I headed to the field later yesterday so I could bring the lunch with me.  I know how much my mother-in-law dislikes having to make the trek to Opheim so I thought I would save her the trip.

M, C and I all took our turns on the grain cart yesterday.  The friend who is helping says I am the best operator because I go the right speed for him.  That's funny because J says I'm too slow.  I'm glad someone appreciates my effort!

This morning I am off to check on cows before I venture out to the field with lunch.  Only a few more days......

17 Gates

We've been plugging along with the combining until yesterday when we had rain.  We moved to Opheim on Friday night but ran into wheat that wasn't quite ready.  On Saturday morning we did more crop adjusting and then cut what we could on Saturday and Sunday before moving back home.  All the acres we have left (still a couple thousand) have hail damage and green spots.  M made the decision to send the rental combine back rather than pay for the days we can't use it until things dry up again.  The weather looks good well into next week so we shouldn't have too much trouble finishing up with one, and if we get in a panic we have friends that we can get to help.

As soon as it started raining yesterday I knew what we'd be doing today.  Moving cows.  We trailed one group home from the pasture by the highway--about 5 miles.  We had to pass cows and bulls in pastures of two different neighbors on the way, but the move really went pretty smoothly.  We had one old, slow cow, but she eventually made it.  We're thinking she's been on the "to go" list for a couple of years.  She may be out of reprieves now.

After we got them home we had to run around and close gates and check fences.  In the process we opened another gate to let another herd into a field.  From there we headed to Opheim for lunch and then fixed some more fence there and let that bunch of cows into the field there.  In all, we either closed, opened or passed through 17 gates.  I'm always teasing M that we should number all the gates so I'll know which one he's talking about when he tells me to go open or close one.  Later in the day it occurred to me that we forgot gate #18 so we had to call M's mom to go close it before the cows found it.

From there we went to get the swather near Glentana to move west of Opheim so M can cut the spots where the wheat is still green.  That was a 2 1/2 hour trip at 12.2 mph.  It was hard for me to stay awake!  By the time we got there M had almost changed his mind about the swathing.  Then we went to the hay field and got the loader tractor to bring it home. 

J and C were busy hauling grain out of an air bin so we can fill it up again.  The wheat didn't get hauled during the winter because they couldn't even get to the bin.  Then J went to get the rental combine and move it back to Richland so that we can get it cleaned up and ready to go back tomorrow.

All day M kept telling me that I could have tomorrow off, but by the time he got home tonight had decided that I need to help him at least in the morning.  He says he's getting too used to working with me everyday.  I must be a breath of fresh air compared to those crabby guys he has to deal with....who would have ever thought that would be the case.

Crop Adjusting

We are continuing our march west.  We've had some cool, damp mornings so haven't been able to get started cutting until after lunch.  We had our first frost Tuesday night.  Do the temperatures really have to go from 90 to 30 in a day?  I was out helping M move and auger and dump trucks this morning and I can't feel my fingers!

Yesterday morning I had to escort the crop adjuster to view our hail damage.  Crops are supposed to be adjusted within 10 days after notification of a loss--how about a month and a half.  There is apparently a shortage of adjusters and lots of claims in the area.  They still haven't looked at the prevented planting claims from this spring.  We'll still have to pay our premiums on time even though they will have to give them back to us.  I guess they want to use our money for awhile.  Funny how the big guy always wins.  We also laugh at how the crop adjusters always arrive in a little car that can't navigate the trails to get to the fields so we have to drive them around while they get paid mileage.  Sometimes the system stinks.  Anyway, the adjuster is not done yet.  We haven't gotten to the worst of the damage around Opheim.  Maybe tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath.

We cut some really good wheat yesterday and toward the end of the day the truck driver (C) couldn't keep up.  M shut down his combine and took off with a truck.  He and C met on the road and switched trucks so C could dump the full one and M could get back to the field.  They cut after dark until they had all the trucks filled so it was almost 10:00 before we got home.

We have a couple of small moves to make before we make the big move to Opheim.  The in-laws headed to Billings today to take Uncle Bud for cancer treatment so now even the cook is gone--help!

We're Not in Kansas....

It's been a busy few days as we continue to make our way west.  We've had absolutely beautiful harvest weather with clear blue skies, no wind and some heat to get things to ripen.  They've been a bit afraid that they would run into wheat that isn't ready but have pleasantly surprised that it's all been ready so far.  They've also been pleasantly surprised with the yields on some of our marginal ground.  K has been getting lessons on the combine and she and I both agreed that it would be nice to farm where the land is flat.  I've had about enough of bouncing the tractor and grain cart over hills and gopher holes and through washouts.  That's going to get worse before it gets better, unfortunately.

I had the day off today since Jared and his dad came out to help for the day.  Poor Jared caught a little grief after some mistakes before he got back into the swing of things.  M asked him if I needed to come give him a quick lesson on the cart.  I'm sure he didn't think that was very funny--14-year-old boys can be a bit sensitive that way.  I told them to be nice to him so he'll keep coming back.

My "day off" consisted of walking the dog, delivering lunch (which took 3 1/2 hours as I waited for truck drivers and then helped them make a small move down the road), taking salt and mineral to the cows (it always makes me laugh when they come running, licking their chops all the way), laundry (gotta keep the combine operator in clean socks and underwear!), cleaning bathrooms (yuck) and just generally catching up around the house. I did have time for a couple of important phone calls (my mom and my brother) and some football watching (I should have skipped that, very disappointing).

Tomorrow I have to go to my "real job" because my boss is going to be gone so they will be very shorthanded here.  I tried to talk Jared's mom into letting him skip school (he was all for it), but she wasn't going for it.  They've moved to some of our best land with the worst road in and out which means the poor truck driver will have his work cut out for him.  And, the weather is supposed to change and get cool so things might slow down a bit as the temperature and humidity affect the grain.  We're making good progress so I hope the trend continues.

Dumping grain from the combine onto the grain cart

Catching the other combine going the other way

Dumping onto the grain cart

Strong Silent Types

I guess I'm not used to working with men...very quiet men.  I told M that they are kind of boring since there's no chatter on the radios....and I get no instructions.  Once in awhile I try to interject some humor and get no response.  Most of the time I just bite my tongue.  Today I really wanted to tell them that I can't see through hills and I can't read their minds.  There was a humorous moment when M called on the radio and said that J was full.  I couldn't see him from where I was but I headed in his direction.  Then J said he thought he could make it back to the end so I stopped.  Then he came over the hill and C said he didn't think he could make it so I started off again.  J said the wheat wasn't over his window yet so I stopped.  Then shortly after that he told me to come to him because he wasn't going to make it back to the end.  Hard to read the mind of one male, much less three!

M says they set a record today, cutting over 600 acres.  Only ten more days like that and we should have it whipped.......and we'll all be exhausted and crabby.....and quiet.

Wet, wet, wet

We are still dealing with the effects of our incredible winter and wet spring.  Our day started off with more fencing.  Last night, just before dark a neighbor called to let us know that we had calves out.....again.  We had already chased them in once that day.  We have been wanting to move them but had more fence to fix in the pasture we wanted to move them to.  There's a reason that fence hasn't been fixed yet--it runs through a swamp!  As we were leaving the house this morning I asked if we needed our Muck boots.  No, M didn't think so.  Well, yeah we probably could have used them.  It was a bit wet where we were working with grass and weeds up to our chins.  After much cursing and gnashing of teeth, we had the fence fixed (sort of) and were ready to move the cows.

Of course, those cows have a mind of their own and headed toward every water hole they could where we couldn't get to them.  Pete earned his dog chow and saved the day by swimming across and getting the cows moving in the right direction.  At one point, I couldn't see him and could just hear M yell, "go get 'em" and then a splash, splash, splash, a hesitation, M would yell again and another splash, splash, splash.  Finally, they figured out where they were supposed to be going.

I headed home with the pickup while M moved the salt and mineral tubs.  As I was driving, I heard a funny sound so when I got home I looked and there was a piece of barbed wire sticking out from under the pickup.  Uh oh!  Of course, when M got back and I showed him, he had a fit, and I got "the look" like it was my fault,  but we managed to get it out without much problem.  Who knows where I picked up that piece of wire.

We had a quick lunch and headed to the combines and finally, it was dry enough to go.  They had tried it yesterday and it was still too wet.  They thought they would make good progress until J came on the radio and said "I guess it's still wet here."  He was trying to cut around a spot that hadn't been seeded because it was too wet when he started sinking.  Uh-oh, stuck combine!  They tried to pull it out with the tractor that pulls the grain cart, but it couldn't get good traction.  They called a neighbor and he happened to be close by as was his 4WD tractor so he came to help.  It was a trick to get the grain off the combine because with the combine sunk into the ground the unloading auger in the usual position would hit the top of the grain cart.  We had to leave it all the way back and managed to get it unloaded to lessen the weight on the combine.  The neighbor was able to pull it out with no problem--thank goodness!

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and the guys kept me hopping with the cart and C busy dumping trucks.  No time to read today!

Wild, Wicked Weather

We were awakened around 3 am yesterday by incredible thunder, lightning, wind and rain.  I was sure something in our house was going to get zapped or the lightning was going to start a fire somewhere.  However, we came through it unscathed (other than some lack of sleep) and thankfully, it didn't last long.  I was feeling bad for J who was riding it out in the camper all alone.

Then last night around 7:00 we had another huge, wicked storm roll through with high winds, rain and hail.  We could see the ridge of clouds and then this wall of white coming at us.  We have some bushes on the west side of our yard and at times couldn't see them because it was raining so hard.  We had some small hailstones here and not too many, but with the wind they could do some damage.  I had a few flower petals on my steps this morning.  Again, thankfully, it didn't last long.  We've heard reports that the hail was worse at Opheim, but no one has wanted to go check.  M is so tired of these storms and worrying about getting the crop in that he said he's ready for winter.  Be careful what you wish for!!  It is very disheartening to have what you've worked for all year destroyed by Mother Nature.  Some neighbors lost 5000 acres of durum in the last storm and estimate that it was worth $2 million.  That hurts!  Thank goodness we got the lentils (most of them) harvested!

So, everyone is a bit crabby today and I'm trying to lay low.  I made a trip to see the cows and make sure they survived the storm.  All was fine there, but I did notice where the heavy rain had washed down some hills and coulees.  It's a nice cool day so I did some work outside starting to transplant to the new flowerbeds, the job I had planned to do this spring!  Like everything, it will get done eventually.