Random Pictures on a Pretty Fall Day

The trees are turning.

Beans are done so back to corn today after lunch.

Bill using a leaf blower to clean out the combine before switching from beans to corn.  See video below.

School kids on a field trip having a snack on the picnic table after a tour of the dairy.

Two semis brought part of the new machine shed early this morning.

Perfect timing with the beans around our house just out of the way as of Mon.

One of Those Days

Bill called me this afternoon to go out on our screened porch and look south.  He was seeing smoke from where he was.  It turns out the smoke was just east of us where one of our neighbors frequently burns stuff.  On his way home for lunch, Bill drove by and found that it was getting out of control so went to the fire station for the pumper truck.  In the meantime, the neighbor was trying to get the fire out himself with his tractor but it caught on fire!  Another neighbor found him trying to drive it home with the cab full of smoke - couldn't see the guy at all.  So he got the neighbor out of the tractor and it's a good thing.  You can see from one of the pictures below that the cab completely burned inside and the windows shattered.  ***Our county doesn't have a burn ban right now but should.

Tonight Bill is combining the last bean field.  Will probably switch back to corn tomorrow.  No rain in the 8 day forecast.

There is a bean head in that dust.  Tim had it following Bill in the combine and I was following all with flashers on.  Moving to a different bean field. 

 

DUST!!

As we were having lunch on the screened porch at the back of our house one day last week, this is what it looked like every time a semi hauling grain went by.  Sometimes it's worse than this if they're going fast.  I really didn't get good pictures of how white it gets for a few seconds if the wind makes the dust come toward our house.  We need rain!  Even though we have a new house and windows (that are closed), the house gets very dusty inside.  Lots of nice weather days you can't have your windows open due to the dust.    

As of yesterday when I set up this post, I'm having some time off.  It feels strange to be at home when so many are going by our house with combines and semis or tractors pulling full wagons on the way to the elevator.  We're doing beans right now so Tim and Bill can handle that just the two of them and we don't rip the bean ground which is what I do.  Bill usually combines and dumps directly into the semi and Tim hauls it to town.  I'm "on call" for parts runs and to take supper out.  When I do that I usually ride with Bill until he combines enough to fill up both semis and the grain cart which is all we can do since the elevator closes around 6:00 (the time varies).  Sometimes he needs to move equipment so I give him rides between places.

We did get our combine back on Sat. and it seems to be running right.  Bill is very glad to have "his" back.  Another guy here had something bad happen with his combine this morning.       

Freeze and Road Trip to Clarion

Last night we had the first freeze of the season.  Our low temp. was 28.  I covered our 3 knockout rose bushes and the tomato plant which is just now finally producing some nice tomatoes.  Bill is glad to get this freeze.  Lots of bean stems have still been green so this freeze will take care of that within a couple of days.  

Two of Tim & Bette Jo's kids and their families came here from Kansas and Colorado for their Grandpa's funeral so Bill has had some company in the combine.  Deb's son, Bryan, who was in some of my pictures back when we were doing our landscaping (he was a big help!), was able to come even though he just started college.  He wants to be an Agronomist so I'm sure he's starting to look at the family farming operation a little differently now!   

My friend Terri and I had been wanting to get out of town and have lunch at a tea room or something so earlier in the month we went to Clarion which is only about an hour away (east) to have lunch at Daisy's on Main.  We were pleasantly surprised with how nice it was.  We had a cute little table for two by the front window.  As you can see, the food was bright and colorful on the white plate and even had a flower for garnish.  The food and service was very good.  It's also a gift shop (including upstairs) with everything nicely arranged.  We would definitely go back.  They change their menu weekly.

Love the window boxes.

Pretty Fall display of gifts in the front of the shop.

I did the "choose 2" and had quiche and chicken salad with tomato carrot soup.

Terri had quiche and the enchilada.  The rolls were homemade and very good.  So was the bite of nut bread.

These were the dessert choices.  We had the choc. and carrot cake.

Some people here go to the hospital in Clarion so I've always wanted to see what's in Clarion.  After checking out a couple of flower/gift shops and the coffee shop called Grounded (we hope to bring our husbands back here for an evening meal and their live music but their lunch menu looks good too), we went on to Kanahwa to visit the Old Bank Winery.  

Their wine was not our favorite, but I thought it would be appropriate to buy a bottle of theirs to fill the last spot in my pretty wine rack since I worked at a bank for 11 years.  It's a little hard to tell but their label is a picture of a bank vault.

Back in Business

We are back in business with a rented combine as of last night.  Bill spent this morning trying to get it running right.  After I made 3 trips to West Bend for parts, he thinks he can run now without problems.

The John Deere dealer says they'll probably have our combine fixed by Mon.  (it broke down this past Mon.)  It turns out the problem is something that was not done right at the factory when the combine was made and just now showed up.

So this week Bill took out a fence and other odd jobs.  I got stuff around the house caught up and went to Ft. Dodge yesterday to get things on the Walmart list and shop in general.  

Bill had a problem with our brand new skid loader when taking out fence.  It needs parts and we won't have them until first of the week!  Luckily they still have the old one and got it going.  It's definitely been a screwed up Fall.  Lots of people are having combine and other equipment problems - way more than normal.    

Aunt Bette Jo's dad passed away Wed. morning so they have family on their way for the visitation tonight and funeral in the morning.  Her dad was 91 and had farmed all his life.  He worked ground this spring and had ridden with his son in the combine this past Sun.  We met Joe back when we first started visiting Glenn & family in Rolfe.  Joe was always an usher at church.  I made them some oatmeal raisin cookies  which are Tim's favorite and will be helping their church ladies with the funeral dinner tomorrow. 

I've been taking some pictures today and may get them posted tonight.  I'm going out to cut our grass now.  Again, it just needs it in spots.
Some pictures from today:

This is the piece that was needed to make this combine work right (a wedge kit).  The first one was too small so we got a bigger one.

Lots of tools needed and are kept close.

The rented combine.  Hooking up the hoses that connect the bean head to the combine.

Had to also change an air filter.

  

Bad Day

We started out with a little (very little) rain - less than a tenth but enough to stop work for at least the morning depending on if the sun would come out later and/or some wind.  The guys had been watching the combine's engine for the past three days - something was not right.  Since it rained, Bill had a mechanic come out to do some testing.  He did some tests and said "get it to the shop".  This afternoon they determined the problem was a blown head gasket.  Will know more tomorrow re: down time and repair costs.  

Tim took the maps I had drawn of the rocks I "found" in three fields and got them picked up with the skid loader this afternoon.  Usually that's a job that gets done much later, usually in bad weather.  

My friend, Terri, came over this morning and shared Turtle Pie with us that she had made her husband for his birthday.  Yum!!  Bill said the only problem was the (sm.) size of the pieces (it was rich)!

The sunsets lately have been pretty.  Hard to get good pictures of them.

Tomorrow Bill is going to take out some fence and I'm going to water trees.  We keep hoping to get some weekly rain and not have to do that so often plus rain is just better.

Turtle Pie