Birthday Wishes

        When you ask my husband what he would like to do for his birthday, he always says to be in the field.  His wish was granted on Tuesday, but because of the drizzly day, we did make it to town for dinner and to pick our last new stove.  The first one we purchased in late August. We discovered last week when we went to install it, it was damaged.  We thought the dented-up back would be fine, but when we turned on the oven for the first time, we found out differently.  A loud pop resounded and a spark flew.  Yikes!! Luckily they replaced it even though it had been over 30 days since the purchase date. 
       Anyway, I'm getting off topic.  Here is my husband doing what he loves...farming. 

        Saturday was a beautiful fall day perfect for cutting beans.  No dew, wind out of the west, we should be able to start long before noon and finish our last field of beans.  

         Nice thought anyway ,the combine was having starting issues. So the morning started with a trip to John Deere, 30 minutes away, to get parts for what we hoped would fix it.  Then, I went to the field with him to turn the key, while he primed the fuel pump by the engine. 

 

      First go around was a failure. Now it's a phone call to John Deere to get some advice on what to try next. There was one more thing we can try before running to get more parts. I head back for the cab while he starts fiddling with the injectors. As I try opening the cab, I realize that I did not fully unlock the door earlier and now the keys are locked inside. Oops, one more call to JD to see if they have a key that would work. Luckily they do, but it also means another trip to JD. 

        My husband says he was irritated, but I would say he was more than irritated because we sped pretty quickly out of the field and not a word was spoken on the 30 minute drive. After getting the key, and driving back, we try this last trick.  It worked. She fired up!

        Now that it is noon and we lost all those extra hours. We head into the field to get started again.  The beans are cutting well and his eager mood returns.

         As you can tell from all the pictures of my husband, he is on the phone. Well, yes, he is quite the social butterfly, but it's also the only time he is distracted enough that I can take his picture. 

         We fill one semi and borrow a neighbor's grain cart for the rest.  The beans are yeilding about average which is good.

       Once we finish, it's time to head home while I follow behind in the truck with the head cart.   Two loads of beans to dump at the elevator and the 2013 bean harvest is complete.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

        Ok...so not really, but it sounds like it around here.  Our new grain bin's heater has a jet plane engine.  Every few minutes for about five minutes it sounds like we live next to an airport.  Even our neighbor, a couple miles away, can hear it.  Sorry :(
        After Thursday's inch and seven-tenths in a half an hour, the wind blew down all the corn tops in one field.  Even though it is still too wet to store, it's time to start picking.  Good thing our new bin has the ability to dry it down and store it safely.

        As you can tell, it's not that bad because you can still row it, but since it is nonGMO corn the bugs have compromised the corn stocks integrety. NonGMO means not genetically modified.  Besides for keeping weed and insect resistance down, it gets a higher premium at the elevator.  On the negative side bugs burrow in. 

        Corn yeilds are much better this year, which means the combine fills up quicker and more semi loads to haul.  It also means we will be hauling more to the elevator this fall once the bins fill up. As supply and demand goes, though, that means lower prices.   Currently we are getting half the price per bushel as last year. Later this winter or in early spring, prices should rebound a little.           

        The first of many beautiful sunsets in the field.  Four hopper fulls equals a full semi.

       Our first load from earlier today means my husband is the black blob on top the bin opening the lid. 

        Grain flows from the hopper on the bottom of the trailer to an auger that takes it up to the top of the bin.  The tractor runs the PTO, power take-off, that turns the auger. 

       My job was to climb to the top to make sure the auger was hitting the spreader evenly.  Since I climbed all the way up, I might as well snap a shot. 

       Later on, the sun goes down on another day.  From the top of the bin you can see the cows cleaning up the corn we left behind.  The field in the distance we finished last week so we could put in some dry-dams to hold back rain water and make more ground farmable. 



Perfect timing!

        Harvesting takes top priority right now, but Thursday was perfect timing.  Since weatherman forecast included stormy weather and I happened to have the afternoon off, we called my dad to plan a tiling party.  The rain happened to roll in just as I was getting off work.

        We finished the first half at around 10 o'clock that night.  Then Friday while it was still wet and I was at work, my husband finished three more rows.  Now it would be possible to move the fridge up on the tiles to complete the rest of the kitchen.  Saturday my husband and I grouted what we had finished. 

       The weather happened to work out perfectly for us one more time.  Sunday it was cloudy and misty all day while we were visiting my grandma, which meant this morning worked out wonderfully to finish laying them.  They were just about finished when I headed off to work at noon.

        Now, all that's left to do is seal it and paint the front of the heater cover.  They are forecasting rain again this weekend. Maybe we will get base cabinets put in then.