Harvest has officially begun so my life is over. I know, that's a little dramatic, but things get a bit crazy this time of year. J started cutting peas last week and they have started desiccating lentils so we'll have those ready as soon as we're done with the peas. I'm hoping they get a lot done before R and Jared have to go back to school because that will mean less time that I have to spend on the grain cart. The in-laws have moved back to the farm for harvest and everyone is happy about that. It's so odd to not have them here all the time.
I always feel bad at harvest because the guys are kind of excited to reap the fruits of their labor, and I really hate it. It's hot and dirty with long, long hours and stress. I don't want to be in the middle of things but feel really guilty if I'm not. I just can't win.
R has been swathing CRP hay for a neighbor and has been able to help us a couple of days. He's happy to be keeping busy and making $$$ to get him through another school year. He's healing well from his hernia operation.
R had a bit of excitement yesterday, however. I was at work and the fire whistle in town blew. I said to my boss, "I hope that's not R, he's out swathing." I texted him just to be sure and he said "I started it." Then I got worried. He called me later to let me know all was well. Something must have sparked off a rock and started the grass on fire. He called for reinforcements and had it pretty much out before the fire trucks arrived so it only burned a couple of acres. They were lucky to get it stopped before it hit a pea field. When I was leaving town after work the fire whistle blew again and I thought, oh no, but it was south of town so nowhere near R. There have been quite a few fires in the area, from swathers, lightning and a vehicle fire in a grass field. One of my sisters commented that she didn't remember there being fires when we were kids and I agreed, but the world was a lot different when we were kids. At that time, there was a lot of fallow ground and the CRP program didn't exist. Now there are miles and miles and miles of grass and crops without any black ground. The last two springs and summers have been nice and wet which encourages a lot of growth that inevitably becomes dead and brown when the dog days of summer arrive in July and August providing lots of fuel should a fire start.
We had a storm roll through last night just as we were going to bed with high wind, thunder, lightning and a little bit of rain. I couldn't sleep and had to close some windows because the rain was coming in. The storm was over pretty quickly so I opened the windows back up to cool the house down and could smell smoke. I prowled the house going from window to window looking for flames but never did see any. The way the wind came up there could have been a fire a long distance from here causing smoke in the air. I always wonder about a fire starting from lightning in the middle of the night and how far it could go before someone noticed. A big fear of mine obviously.
Today was another hot, windy day. I took lunch to C, R and Jared in the field. M and J had been desiccating at Opheim and were on their way back so I left the cooler for them and headed out to take salt and mineral to the cows. M had told me the easy way to go and then another way from where I was at lunchtime. He doesn't give me good directions, and I don't take them well. If I can't visualize what he's talking about I can't follow. Anyway, to make a long story short, I wandered around for awhile before I found the right gates to get me to where I wanted to go. I lost track after 7 gates. He warned me that I should take a wire stretcher along so I could open and close those gates. NEVER a good sign. Of course, I grabbed the POS stretcher that slips all the time so that made things more difficult. I came back the easy way--with NO gates! Pete and I were hot and tired and cranky(well, at least one of us was cranky) by the time we got home.
The fair is in town this week so M says whoever wants to can take at least part of tomorrow off to go to the demolition derby. Jared will be going so so my house will be quiet. I might just stay home and enjoy that!
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