Sun! - Back to Work

The sun was already shining bright when we got up early this morning and there was wind which was good! Back to the fields! We had frost at about 8 am. They started out at the bin site and after filling a grain bin, then moved here to our house. I had just gotten done mowing/muddin' here and had not started painting the propane tank yet so that worked out well (too much dust to paint). I had sprayed one coat of rust retardant on but it was dry.

In the background of this picture is the white building north of our house. Bill just stores stuff in it.

Earlier when I told Bill I was going to try to mow, he said not to call them if I got stuck - which meant "just leave it, we don't have time to mess with that". It was pretty muddy in a couple spots! Glad to get that done. The fire dept. was called to a mower fire this afternoon - someone Bill farms for.

Some of the hail damaged corn here has too high of moisture content and the yield is low, but it's good to get it out before potentially bad weather. More rain is forecast for this week. They hope to change back to combining beans tomorrow since they really go downhill the later it gets. They are only about half done with beans.

The elevator is closing at 5:00. With corn, they run after that until they fill up both semis and the grain cart. They can be covered with the tarps that roll across the top of them. Then the corn is taken to the elevator first thing in the morning (usually by Tim). Bill combines later at night if he can, and Tim gets going earlier in the morning. Bill will get the combine ready to go in the mornings (while Tim is hauling) which involves greasing, fueling, washing windows, checking chains and just general check over. 2 videos from today.

Fall Display

This is about the only thing that looks like Fall right now since it's still too wet for combining - raining off and on.

This gazebo is in the middle of town at the 4 way stop. They hope these pumpkins are too heavy for kids to mess with. Dad would've liked the gazebo - he liked fall displays.

I'm making Bill's favorite for lunch, Gooey Chicken. I call it Icky Sticky Chicken since it's made with 3 soups and rice and I'm not a fan of rice! It does smell good though.

He's doing odds and ends today, and I'm getting ready for stamp class tonight. We're having the October traditional apple crisp and ice cream for dessert at class.

Flowers Come Back

Sill no harvesting - since last Wed. We haven't had much sun or warmth since then and more rain tonight off and on.

Remember the hail damage on July 22nd? This was a flower bed on a corner in town after the hail. Below is the same corner now. The flowers have come back. Soon we'll know how the corn fared. The insurance adjuster said 65% damage to the corn at our house. The undamaged beans have been doing well.

Bill helped with an after school program for kids today. The firemen showed them some things. He had just gotten home and sat down to eat tonight when the fire pager went off - house fire. It's 48 degrees and raining off and on. Would be a bad night to fight a fire. Have heard on the scanner now though that it was probably a furnace problem and just smoke so that's good.

I'm getting ready for the monthly stamp class that's here tomorrow night.

Buffalo

Yesterday I went to lunch in Algona with some friends and then Rob, Ross & Reed were here in the afternoon/evening for a while. They wanted "brunch food". They say they like college.

This last week, one of the semis' radiator had to be replaced so they brought out the grain cart and 2 wagons to dump the beans into along with the other semi. Not as handy, but it works.

There has been no field work for 4 days - has been too wet. We do have some sun today and a couple guys are combining corn. Tim & Bill have been working on the semi, doing bookwork & misc.










I headed to Humboldt early Wed. morning to get the new tires on the Pilot aligned. These buffalo are at a house on the way. Think there are 3. I did a double take when I saw them and had to get a picture.

One of the couples that Bill & Tim farm for who live in Des Moines now were here Wed. They invited all of us including wives, Peggy, Carl & Pam to lunch at the local cafe and then stopped by to see our house. They like to get here once in the Fall to see their farm and all of the action. It's always fun to see them.

The Trailer

Last Sun. in church I met a man who was visiting. In the conversation, he asked if my farmer husband had any of the trailers that his co. in Humboldt makes that you use to move your corn or bean heads from field to field. I said "no, don't think so". Came home and asked Bill and he said "yes, we do". Well, this week I finally got a chance to ride in the combine for a few hours and move from one field to another and then to another and got to see this trailer and what it's all about! (I don't know why I didn't see it last fall?) I guess they used one of this guy's first "kits" to make theirs - different from what he's selling now. I think they have 2 - one for the bean head and one for the corn. They store them on the trailers too.

The combine is too wide to go down the road and meet cars so they put the head on the trailer. These 2 pictures show the combine without the head and then the trailer with bean head being pulled by the pickup.

The first video shows Bill trying to get lined up right to hook up to the head. The 2nd one shows getting hooked up and lifting it off the trailer. I was impressed and glad that now I do know we have this thing! It was evening when I took these videos so they're a little dark.

Christmas Card Swap

Combining beans has been going well until rain today. I've been learning more - and taking pictures, of course, so check back tomorrow!

The project I've been working on is a Christmas Card Swap with 24 of my downline. They signed up to send me a set of 12 Christmas cards by this past Mon. By Mon. they had all arrived on schedule - 288 cards! I had 24 piles of cards laying on 2 long tables. I "swapped" them so everyone will receive 12 different cards back. They were mailed back out yesterday. Again, these are all card samples so that our customers can see the stamps we sell used in various ways.


This is the card I made for the swap, using our Scenic Season set, Big Shot top note die, night of navy Craft ink and iridescent ice embossing powder. The moon was done by punching a circle out of a post it note, laying it where I wanted the moon, and sponging navy Classic ink around it for the sky.

We are required to put a watermark over our photos of cards shown on blogs, etc. I've been needing to learn how to do that forever. I haven't done much photo editing yet (need to learn). So I'm excited that I finally have a watermark on my card! Now I just have to figure out how to resize it!