Last Day of Harvest 2008

WARNING: Picture overload.
This was our last day of cutting wheat. Lots of pictures to show so bear with me.


Somebody giving directions...... (yes, I use Tide).
Troy tarping the truck before he takes off for the co-op in town.

Bushels and bushels of wheat. This field averaged about 60lbs. per bushel....this white truck will hold about 350 bushels. The red truck about 400.....the semi about 750. You can do the math....it was a lot of wheat. Each truck made several (many) trips to town by you-know-who, and Troy!

JudyL....this is what your wheat is going to look like!

I couldn't resist a picture of the old windmill on this place. It's beyond repair and I keep hoping that somebody will come by and want it for an yard ornament (I would but I already have one).

This is the combine that I usually drive. Since it was the last day, they put me in the truck...yep, no a/c, no radio, and no supper brought to me either. Not a happy farmwife I was.

This barn was actually about a mile away...was trying out the zoom.

Can you say flat country? Oh yeah, there area few canyons and valleys, but nothing major like what they have out in Arizona and very few trees like in Arkansas either.

This was the last two bin-fulls coming in. I got a thumbs up from the drivers and couldn't see it for the sweat pouring off of me!

Seed wheat is saved in bins for this falls planting season, and now it's time to get the tractors out and work ground. It NEVER ends. I was called a farm-widow today. That's a good definition....I think me and Bernina are going to find each other again!

Questions? Just ask....but remember...I can't answer unless you check the box and your email shows up. Thanks.

NO PASSING ZONE

We're still in the field. Harvest 2008

Here are some of our girls. They were finding shade by a tree in the fence row.













We started cutting wheat underneath these little fans Monday about noon.





Actually sat at the base of this one to eat our lunch. Kind of a neat, but weird feeling to have that big thing whooshing overhead.



















And then this big dark storm cloud had to come in and ruin the fun. We would've finished this field too!



















Rain, hail, wind. And....I could see the windows down on my little red car.

We've dodged several rainstorms and the wheat is still out there waiting on us to come and get it. We'll be back!

More Harvest 2008

Out in the field...the view from inside the combine.

If you haven't guessed, this year they took me out of the truck and put me in the combine. Hey..it has a/c, a radio, and bring me supper ...what more can a gal want?

On a good day (no breakdowns and no rain), we can cut about 100 acres.

Have you noticed that we don't have an abundance of trees? Flat, golden waves of grain.

Grain coming into the bin.

Harvest 2008

A few pictures from the past week. (Neen...i'm alive, but barely!)


Not every combine driver wears boots! This one lives in flipflops!

Number one semi-truck driver!

and the truck that he drives.

He's also good at cleaning out the rock-trap. "MOM?....you're driving too close to the ground!"

Every morning starts with getting the filters blown off and spending about $800 on diesel...yes, that's not a misprint.

Farm Vehicles are suppose to have this symbol on the back of them---CAUTION--WE MOVE SLOW! The symbol is starting to show it's age...kind of like the rest of us we all get wrinkly from being out in the sun.

More pictures this afternoon......we had yet another rain cloud come thru so we're shut down for a day or so.

Rain

We cut wheat last night till about midnight....trying to beat the storm coming in. By 7am, we had received 2.5" of the wet stuff. The combines will be shut down for a few days and we'll loose some spots due to water standing. A high of 78 isn't quit "normal" for June!

Harvest Progress

The days have been long but we're making progress. We're running two combines and three trucks.

300 acres cut and about 900 more to go!

June

Harvest officially started yesterday....yes, WHEAT harvest. If you see a wild-woman driving a red truck...yep, it's me!

What's ironic? We FINISHED wheat harvest this time two years ago. Different growing seasons make all the difference. But, we've also doubled the acres we're farming. **heavy sigh**

Will post some pictures when I get a chance. I'm working half-days trying to keep the paycheck coming in and trying to keep the laundry and dishes caught up.

Officially a Senior

Today is his last day of being a Junior. Never has been "the baby of the family"...the older boys always called him "the short one". This short-one is starting his Senior year of high school...where has the time gone?

I finally got an internet connection last night, so I'll get to post some pictures this weekend.

Everbody have a good Memorial Day Weekend..I know I need the time off from work!

Life at Full Throttle

What can I say...life this time of year is just busy.

How about some "Highlights" from the family?!

• Three more days of school. I really don't mind my kids being at school, but this time of year they are starting to need to be de-toxed from the other kids.
• Three more days of school....and my youngest will be a Senior! And then the expenses will begin!
• Since I don't have an internet connection at home (thanks so very much technician that won't show up) I don't have new pictures to post.
• We are gearing up for wheat harvest. I don't know when the combines will be rolling, but the wheat is starting to turn colors. The temperatures were 100 degrees for the past three days and thankfully it's going to cool down to mid 80's over the holiday weekend. Too much heat too fast and the wheat berries will ripen too fast and shrivel up....(kinda like me when I'm out in the sun too long).
• I found out that my niece is getting married in August...so another quilt project to make during our BUSIEST time of the year!
• DH's class reunion is this weekend. I hate those things....and DH loves them. He's told three separate couples that our house is open if they need a place to stay. HUH?
• MIL/FIL's 50th anniversay is coming up. (Can you say frozen punch? yum)
• Was told last night that instead of a one-cheesecake request for a friend's daughter's wedding.....it's a THREE cheesecake reception!
• Oh, just wait till I get to post a picture of what I got for Mother's day! Just remember....I'm a farm wife....and use your imagination.....it was NOT on my wish-list!

Until next time...maybe I'll have some pictures.

Results

If you guessed $50. then you win the prize for what the the coconut creme pie brought. It was a good dollar prize for our group. The brownies brought $35. I think I made a good contribution. Do you think having owned a bakery for several years in town might've helped?!

Troy is our FFA group's new Vice President. He was trying for President, but when best friends are trying for the same spot it's hard not winning top. There are three who are best good friends who are all officers and they'll make a good team. Three boys and five girl officers...it'll be an interesting year!

Seems like these are the two things I make when we have either a bake sale or a get together. But...they're also asked for...so guess they're favorites.


Tonight is our end of year FFA banquet. Guess who's kid is running for chapter president? Probably the same person who made an extra chocolate pie and put it in the fridge (it's hiding) to eat tonight after the banquet.



The booster club is having a mini-bake sale. Any bets as to how much these will sell for? I'll fax you a piece if you guess the closest dollar amount?! lol

Saturday is another celebration. We're having (gulp) 30 people over for lunch after graduation.
More cooking to do!

Oh (BTW) the chocolate brownies are still warm...can ya smell em?

Many, many hearts!

I wasn't going to post this until I gave it as a gift, but since I showed what I made from the scraps...oh, what the hay...here it is!

I took many, many pictures of these many many hearts because I'm very-very please in how it turned out. This is a graduation present (shhh don't tell) for Troy's girlfriend who's graduating from H.S. this year. No, she doesn't know that Janice and I have made this.

Janice found the pattern and re-sized it to suit her. We picked the brights from my stash and she cut and I sewed. We do make quite a good team. Yes...her brain thinks faster than mine, but hey... my gray hair didn't come automatically--it came from raising her hubby (my son).

I have to brag. She did the quilting. She free-handed every single one of these little and big and squiggly hearts. Didn't she do a marvelous job? Her Mom has a Nolting (which I've used), but this is actually her first big quilt to quilt by herself. I'm impressed and so is everybody else who's seen this in person. She used varigated thread on the top and pink on the back.

Another one finished!

Weekend Purse Project

Okay, in all honesty it took me TWO weekends to make this, but I had several "come and help us" moments.

The handles are a little long for me, but the recipient likes to put the purse up over her head. --I'm sure there's a technical name--sling bag? I don't think she'll mis-place this bag..it's very bright!
I've made enough of these that I've learned to put pockets in them. This one had three smaller pockets on one side and a larger one on the other.
I found this Bucket Bag Pattern and have made several using different sizes of squares.
Anyway...this was made from scraps of another project that I'll post later.

Sold Quilts

The two quilts (in the previous post) were sold last night. They were put in the silent auction (not by choice) and were given a beginning price of $75.00. ...and that is what they were sold for.

As quilt makers, we all know it's hard to price and sell items that are handmade---and fundraiser are always hard to predict what price things will bring. They could've not even sold, or they could've brought 3x's that amount.

In my experience, a live auction will bring more money for items too. But...we don't always have that option! Since the parents in her class paid for the materials used to make the quilts, she wasn't out any money for fabrics...only time and labor (and MIL's labor is free, right?!) Time spent together can never have a pricetag put on it!


...and there's always next year's project!