Loosey Goosey

We went to check on the heifers tonight - and we found 5 geese when we got to the pasture pond! After we were satisfied the cows were fine and the heifers weren't calving yet, I made Jarrod drive me back to the pond so I could fire up the wildlife adventurer in me and take some photos. We got as close as we could with the pickup and they started getting nervous, so I hopped and out and snuck over behind a tree. They settled down a little. So then I crawled out closer to the water on my hands and knees so they wouldn't spook before I got a few good pictures. I'm not sure if they finally smelled me or what...but they decided I too close enough after a few minutes and took off. I hope they come back and visit the pond again - it's not everyday I'm out there disturbing the peace!

A couple "yup's" & and an "ok" and next thing you know...

we bought a tractor?

I attended a "Women in Ag" meeting this last spring thinking I should be participating in these sorts of things since after all, I could be labelled as a woman who participates in agriculture. One of the speakers that night was giving us ladies some tips on improving communication with our other halves (who tend to be of the minimal-communicating variety). She started off by telling the story of being around the breakfast table one morning, thinking she was participating in the daily board meeting. The guys were talking in their usual farmer code - "well what'd ya think of it?" "I think it'll do." "Spose we should go on and do it?" "yep I spose." Come to find out the decision had just been made to buy a combine! I don't tell the story as well as she did, but I certainly understood the point she was making. That conversation did NOT say anything specifically about combines, machinery, purchasing anything, or spending money. And I would think a farm wife who makes decisions WITH her husband would want to know when the farm was about to undertake something as big as buying a combine!





It's taken me years to learn how to decipher the farmer-code conversations that take place between my husband and his father and uncle. I have to listen really closely to the "yups" and ask questions promptly if anything is not clear. I have to make them be specific and I have to expect I will get a surprise once in a while when they forget that I want to participate in the farm decisions too! Luckily, I'm married to a man who's willing to explain and explain and explain EXACTLY what's going on on the farm and lets me help him make the decisions that involve our end of the deal.

So when I tell you we just upgraded our tractor, you can rest assured it was not a snap decision and it was not made by a couple "yups" and an "ok" around the breakfast table one morning! We've been deliberating for more than a year as to how badly it was needed and if we could afford it. And the right opportunity finally presented itself so we did it. So here are a few pictures of my baby and his new toy. He really is like an ecstatic little kid playing in the dirt and it shows in these pictures! I'm thankful and inspired that he has been able to maintain that enthusiasm for the thing he loves the most and not become jaded when life throws him curveballs.

Wheat Harvest Done!

Well the boys finished up the last few acres of wheat on Monday afternoon. I wasn't there :-( to partake in the celebration - I had to work a full day at WireReady or my web people might have likely told me off! Sowed feed got planted (eventhough it's getting to be a bit late) and Jarrod is working on getting that second cutting of alfalfa rolled up before it gets rained on. We're working on getting all the farm bills paid up and making a plan for how to sell the wheat. For the first time, we're in a position where we don't HAVE to sell it all right after harvest just to cover the bills! This might be our chance to get ahead finally and we want to make sure we play our cards right! So all is well here in Lincoln land...just a workin' on our dreams!

Hay Now...

I jinxed us last night blogging that we only had 100 acres of wheat left to cut and we'd be done in 1 day. We woke up to a little rain and 3/4 of a day of cold north winds and cloudy skies. We got machines serviced and ran truckloads to town from last night and waited on the wheat to dry. I make a home-cooked meal for the boys with the plan that we'd be cutting in the afternoon. About 5 p.m. it was still running 15 on the moisture. Sun and wind was what we needed. Sun and wind we didn't see much of! So we still have 100 acres yet to cut!

So we switched gears and Jarrod started on the second cutting of hay instead. We will try the wheat again tomorrow. I stayed home all afternoon and caught up on some laundry and cleaning. I even cleaned my oven! I don't know what came over me! It didn't last for long because I was ready to be outside again by mid-evening. I decided to take Jarrod a drink and a snack when he was about halfway through the swathing. I hung around with the camera and even learned how to use a new feature on my zoom lens! Check out the dandelion at the bottom!

100 acres left!

We're soooo close...only 100 acres of wheat left to harvest!
I took more pix this afternoon while I was shuttling lunch to all the guys and waiting for my truck to get filled so I could run it to town.

And of course, it wouldn't be harvest if something wasn't out of commission at times! Jarrod being himself in the black and whites ones - being the grease monkey I told you about last week!

:-)

Harvest Pix

Well we got 3/4 of the wheat harvested before the rain came again. We got into some good wheat on Monday day and some storms rolled in Monday evening. We worked through the long holiday weekend and I did get an opportunity (between running the grain to town, making lunches and suppers, helping load seed wheat into the storage bins and working 14 hour days) to take a few pictures. I think I lost 10 pounds last week eating sandwiches for every meal, drinking insane amounts of water and just simply doing physical work all week. It's like a game of survival. I think that should be the next episode. Instead of surviving on some remote island, contestants should have to brave the sun, mosquitoes, chiggers, wheat dust, break downs, flat tires, augers, dump trucks, crazy drivers that hog the road and simply driving a loaded truck to town safely over and over again in the Kansas wheat harvest! Oh and don't forget - there isn't a bathroom in sight. Pop a squat if you can find some cover somewhere where everyone in a 10 mile radius can't see your bare white ass!

Anyway - here are the pictures I took while we were waiting on the combines to get enough grain cut to fill a truck after we moved to a new field. It looks like we're lazing around - but in reality we're just taking advantage of a few rare minutes of down time that we did have!

While the cats are away, the mice will...

be sure to play as hard as they work! And both we did for 1 day during harvest.

Our family farming arrangement is 2 brothers and the oldest brothers oldest son. I'm married to that son. Each farmer has his own farm ground that he owns or rents and what they all share is labor and equipment. It's harvest time. It's what we work for all year and then live off of the rest of the year. It's a big deal. It doesn't wait for you to be ready. You gotta be ready when harvest is ready. Yesterday the 2 brothers had to be away from harvest to take care of their dad. This was a colossal moment in the family farming operation. The next younger generation of farmers had to prove they could hold down the fort for a day. That'd be my hubby and I, my brother-in-law and a cousin that was generous enough to help us out for the day. 2 combine operators (with some experience) and 2 truck drivers (that are normal truck drivers) that had to learn to run the tractor and grain cart really quick-like!

We were excited to be the bosses for a day. To finally have a chance to say with actions "hey we're not little kids anymore - we can do this and you need to see we can do this." In the end, Dad and Uncle about went nuts being away from the harvest field for a day - and no sooner did they get back to the farm did they kick the younger generation back out of the combines before the day was complete. I wish they would have let our generation finish the day and show them that we could get the job done without tearing anything up or having a catastrophe. We did a fine job working together making decisions in a timely efficient manner and getting things done. Ultimately their wheat was cut just as much and just as fast as it would have been if they had been there themselves.

I don't really know how the older generation feels about how things were handled while they were away. I hope they can see that it wasn't as bad as they feared and that maybe they should value our opinions and ways of doing things a little more. We've sure put in our time learning to do things their way. No matter what they think, we know in our hearts we did them right and could and would do it again anytime it's needed. Even when it is a thankless job.

And who cares if a couple empty beer cans fell out of the back of the truck at the elevator, right?!!! We were safe and we didn't waste time goofing off either. My point is - sometimes, there's room for a little gray. It doesn't have to always be black or white. You can work hard and still play a little too.

4 down, 9 to go

Heinze Harvest is in full-swing now. Some farmers around us are winding down and finishing up and some farmers still have a lot of wheat to cut yet like we do. I am still hoping the rain stays away - we need 1 more good solid week of hot weather. I've only been driving truck 2 long days (and a couple more half days) and I'm tired already, but I'm willing to keep on working long days in order to get this done. Family has worked together well this year to keep the harvesters fed and cool and rolling. We are smiling and joking about the holes in our jeans and the things we goof up and spending way too much time swatting at the dang mosquitoes and chiggers! And little Wyatt got to ride in the wheat truck a time or two!