Wheat Harvest 2014

Loaner header

7.7.14
74 degrees, Clear
Dew point: 56 degrees
Humidity: 54%
Wind: S @ 8 mph
Forecast: Partly cloudy

All the equipment at the farm is green. Pretty much always has been. And the John Deere folks are on speed dial. Just before the 2013 wheat harvest Bruce got a new combine and header (see post ‘Harvest Begins’ June 25, 2013 on the ‘home’ tab). It’s a Moose and is, of course, green.

This year we started ‘up North’, about a mile from the farm. Out here when someone says ‘the farm’ they mean where the ‘farmhouse’ is located. Most farmers have fields scattered around here and there. I once asked Bruce why people didn’t try to get all of their land connected or at least as close together as possible. It would certainly make harvest and fieldwork a lot easier, not having to move all the equipment around so much. Bruce smiled, ‘Sleet, hail, rain and tornadoes’. OK, i can see that. If your fields are scatter around, say a few miles apart, then something like hail might wipe out one of your fields but you wouldn’t get the crops a few miles away.

This year we began ‘up North’.
About half way through the second combine-bin full of wheat the header stopped. Like most farm equipment it uses hydraulics. Hydraulics are everywhere; belts, blades, reels. Hydraulics make implements go up and down and reels go round and round. Something caused the conveyor belt on the right side to stop.
The John Deere folks sent a couple of guys out to the field. After an hour or so they figured out that a bearing in one of the hydraulic pumps had shattered. A small piece of the former bearing had lodged in a valve and the safety system shut the header down.
That’s good. Keeps from tearing up the rest of the hydraulic system.
A combine parked at the edge of a wheat field is not good.
The only way to fix out header was to take if back to the dealership. The guys from John Deere called and had another header sent out and took ours back.
Back to cutting wheat.
For a while.
The header stopped.
The guys from John Deere came back out. Checked out the situation and called for another header.
Swapped it out the loaner header with a loaner header and we were back cutting wheat.
Seems there was a recent recall on one of the pumps on this make of header. We just happened to get caught in middle of recall and replacement. A rock and a hard spot when trying to cut wheat.
By Sunday evening the cutting was all done (see ‘cutting by Big Creek’). By Monday all of the equipment was back at the farm. By Monday afternoon Hilary was up to the sickle bar cleaning the loaner header. Well actually the second loaner header. Bruce’s header had been repaired and was on the way out.
The ‘style’ at Da’ Farm is to return equipment in better condition than when you borrowed it. So Hilary hit the header with a power washer. When she was finished it looked like it had just rolled off the showroom floor.

Millie….again

6.30.14
83 Degrees: Clear
Dew point: 64 degrees
Humidity: 89%
Wind: SW @ 10 mph
Forecast: Clear

Millie is a loner.
She is a ‘heard cow’; she likes being with other cows and all, but she likes to stand a little bit by herself. Not the usual shoulder to shoulder of most cows. Even when milking, Millie would walk in, milk, walk out and hardly ever say anything to the other cows. She was more inclined to talk to the milkers, especially Hilary.Millie grew up as a family cow. A 4-H project actually. From weaning to heifer she was bottle then bucket fed. All by hand. She was regularly washed, brushed, ears trimmed, tail trimmed, teeth cleaned, and pedicures. A cow of content and leisure.
She was a 4-H project cow. So she was raised, shown and sold. The idea is to promote farming and livestock husbandry. Not raise a family pet.
Millie lucked out. The family who raised Millie knew someone who knew Bruce. A few phone calls and a check brought Millie to Da’ Farm rather than the sale barn.
She is a pure breed Holstein with a regal look and a queenly attitude. The look she got from her parents. The attitude she got from hanging around kids intent on an awesome 4-H project. So all in all, Millie is more comfortable hanging round people than cows.
Millie got to the farm five years ago as a heifer, just a little over a year old. She was soon pregnant and had her first calf when she was about 23 to 24 months old….perfect timing, at least according to dairy lore and the Department of Dairy Science at the University of Wisconsin.
Hilary showed up for that year’s wheat harvest with a plan. Hilary wanted a cow.
Clayton Andrew and Rheta (Bruce & Joyce’s kids) both had cows. Several actually. Bruce, John, Carolyn and Pam had all had cows as kids. It is part of growing up on a dairy farm. Kind of like a home-style 4-H project. The kids milk the cow. Take care of the cow. Eventually sell the cow. The money they earn goes in the bank. All part of learning how to be a farmer.
Hilary grew up with these stories. Heard them from mom. Heard them from Grandma. Heard them at church. Even picked up a few stories from cows during milking.
This year Hilary started serious haggling with Bruce. Actually she had talked about this before, but this year Hilary was just starting high school and it seemed like the right time. She had been saving for this and brought cash.
Hilary and Bruce talked at the kitchen table over coffee. It seems that many, perhaps most, important discussions at Grandma’s house happen at the kitchen table. Usually over coffee.
By this time Hilary had been working at the farm during harvest for about six years. She loved milking. Riding in the combine, semis, tractors or trucks. In fact the very first time Hilary drove ‘solo’ after getting her driver’s license at 16 was back West in a field truck. She had a very good reputation for hard work and ‘common’ sense.
The negations went on for a while. Almost two pots of coffee. In the end Millie belonged to Hilary. She paid Bruce what he had paid Millie’s family. Bruce would get the money Millie produced by milking and Hilary would get the new calves Millie had. Vet bills would be split.

When it came time to sell the dairy cows last Fall Millie stayed.
Hilary had spent a good part of last Summer trying to find a ‘home’ for Millie. A place where she would be treated more like ‘family cow’ instead of a ‘farm cow.’ After a little of discussion Bruce and Hilary decided to keep Millie at Da’ Farm.

She now hangs with the ‘beef cows’ and the bull. She is the last pure-breed Holstein and a living reminder of the dairy that was so much a part of the farm for so many years.
Since Millie is no longer bringing in money, Hilary has taken over the vet bills. Bruce makes sure Millie gets good treatment and an occasional bucket of grain. He still has a heart full of love for Holsteins.
Millie is still a loner.
Still stands at the edge of the heard. But she has become more of a leader than in her youth. When she goes somewhere, like for the water tank, ‘the boys’ follow. Seems Millie has become the queen she was destined to be.

Max and the cats

7.12.14
74 degrees, Clear
Dew point: 56 degrees
Humidity: 54%
Wind: S @ 8 mph
Forecast: Partly cloudy

Almost midnight. Getting ready for bed. Went into the kitchen for a little warm milk and as i was washing out my glass, i looked out the kitchen window.
The kitchen window faces North and looks out over ‘the yard’. On the farm ‘the yard’ is that area of the driveway that opens up and everything comes together. The shed, the Quonset, the milk barn, the back of Grandma’s house all open onto ‘the yard’. It is a fairly large area. Actually large enough that the combine or grain cart (and its tractor) can turn around without backing up.

At night the yard is lit by a street lamp on a telephone pole.
As i was looking out the window i saw Max walk into the yard from Bruce & Joyce’s house. Their house sits back North about a hundred yards from the center of the yard and Max is walking over quite casually.
There were the usual few cats lounging in the yard. Except on very hot afternoons there is always a cat or two hanging around the yard. At night the yard-light attracts insects. Insects attract birds. Birds attract cats. On rare occasions the cats have actually caught a bird who wasn’t smart enough to take his insect back to the shed or Quonset rafters.
As Max walked up several of the cats got up and walked toward him. Several more cats who were apparently relaxing outside of the light also headed over to Max.
They all met in the open area in the center of the yard.
Max and seven cats.
After a moment of general ‘sniffing’ they got down to business.
Two of the cats lay down facing Max. One other sat down right next to him. There was occasional nose-to-nose touching, head shaking and stretching.
After four or five minutes everyone walked away. Max headed back to Bruce & Joyce’s. The cats glided into the darkness except for two who resumed bird patrol. There was never a bark or meow. A growl or hiss.
The next morning i asked Max what it had all been about. I made sure to ask him when we were alone, so i wasn’t breaking any dog and cat farm etiquette.
He refused to say. Totally ignored my question.
Later in the day i asked Grisabella. She is the oldest cat on the farm. She has seen better days….her fur is now a bit thread bare, but once she was known for her beauty and regal demeanor. She cocked her head to one side and took the piece of fish i had brought as a bribe. With a last condescending look walked off with her tail high.
I’ve been sitting up quietly in the kitchen watching the yard ever since. Twice around midnight i’ve seen several bird patrol cats get up and walk off toward the small grain silo on the Northeast side of the yard. It’s fairly dark over there. The yard-light doesn’t penetrate the area and i’ve never been able to see who all is over there. After about five minutes or so they saunter back.
Seems they have a new midnight meeting place.
I still have no idea what is going on. Max and the cats treat me the same as always. But, i don’t walk around the farm at night as much as i used to.

Farm dogs

7.7.14
94 degrees, Partly Cloudy
Dew point: 34 degrees
Humidity: 34%
Wind: S @ 10 mph
Forecast: Sunny

Saw Max talking to the cats last night. Seems they have a weekly meeting.
There is a working relationship between the farm dogs and farm cats. Generally they get along unless food is involved. When there is food then it is a matter of who gets what and this is always a bone of contention.
Da’ Farm currently has three dogs. Shadow, Heidi and Max.
Shadow is the senior dog. He has been here the longest. Shadow is mostly yellow Labrador. More whitish than yellow. Short haired. Its his job to provide the ‘big woof’ when someone drives into the yard. A K-9 door alarm for the farm. Shadow actually knows most of the regulars and the woof is only repeated once if he recognizes the vehicle. If it is someone he doesn’t recognize the alarm will continue until someone from the family comes out and acknowledges his effort.
Shadow loves to ride in a truck. Not the combine or tractors. But just open a truck door and if Shadow is within earshot he’ll be right there. But his idea of the perfect time is riding in the Ranger (four-wheeler). Here he can live his superhero identity: Shadow the Flying Dog.

Heidi is a Brittany. Her main job, and dream, is bird hunting. She acts as a backup alarm, but finding birds is really all she thinks about. Heidi has been at the farm for several years, but not as long as Shadow. She came to the farm as a pup and has grown up in the fields. She now has quite a reputation as a quail dog. In the field she is quiet, well behaved, has a good nose and a soft mouth.

Max is a pup. Well he is about eight months old. He is a Welsh Corgi and loves to ride in any vehicle. As long as it has wheels, he’s all for it. Haven’t taken him on the fishing boat but there is a really good chance he’d take to it like a duck to….
It is a vehicle. It is moving. And Max loves to play in the water.

Unlike Shadow, Max is not into standing up on the seat to see where he is going. He likes to be on the floorboard. This works out very well for the combine and tractors since their front windows go all the way to the floor. But even in the Ranger Max will stay on the floor and look out the door. Sometimes if there are no tall weeds or mud he’ll stand (on the floor) with his head out the door.
Max does like to bark. Being higher pitched than Shadow it carries all over the farmyard and he won’t stop until a human (from the family) shows up. Sometimes he won’t even stop then. We’re assuming some of this is just being a puppy.
Max does seem to have something going on with the cats. But that’s another story.

Grain-cart auger camera

6.27.14
69 degrees: Partially cloudy
Dew point: 63 degrees
Humidity: 79%
Wind: WNW @ 19 mph
Forecast: Intermittent rain

The rain has stopped but the fields are still way to wet to be driving on.
The equipment is about as ready as it can get. Greased. Belts tightened. Fueled. Combine, tractor, truck cabs cleaned out and stocked. Part of the ‘unwritten grain-cart drive rules’ are that the grain-cart drive cleans the equipment windows and cabs at the beginning of the day. This includes making sure there are paper towels, window cleaner, gloves, phone charges (this is the 21^st century), trash bags, clean ice water in the jug (one big red jug per vehicle) and new snacks. Usually Bruce, Clayton Andrew, Clayton Michael, John, Rheta bring their own snacks…. granola bars, Mountain Dew, apples, chips, peanuts, etc. But it is up to the grain-cart driver to make sure there is ‘something’ as well as new ice in the ice chest (each vehicle has a small ice chest).
At this point the grain-cart drive ‘stuff’ is as done as it can be. So even the grain-cart driver was looking for something to do.
About midmorning Clayton Andrew started working on the camera on the grain-cart auger.
Last year we rigged up a camera on the auger of the grain cart. This way we can see the grain going into the semis. It is often hard to see where the grain is actually landing when it is off loaded into the semis. Sometimes it piles up more to one side or the other. Or piles up in the middle. If it gets too close to the side it can spill. Too much in the middle and it is hard to get the tarp (that covers the semi) to fit. Trying to off load wheat into a semi when there is wind adds the problem of wheat being blown away from the semi. The grain-cart tractor is tall, but just not tall enough, to see into the semis. Sometimes it is even hard for Rheta (my sensei) to get the wheat off loaded with her usual finesse. For a poor part time city boy driver (well actually full time city boy part time driver) it can be a real challenge.
So put a camera on the auger boom and a monitor in the cab.
Unfortunately we didn’t have time to play with the setup much last year. It all worked well and cut way down on spilled wheat but, the system could use some tweaking.
So midmorning Clayton Andrew started tweaking.
After a little discussion. Some trial and error. We had a plan.
One of the really nice things about Da’ Farm is there is a lot of ‘shop stuff’ in the Quonset. Grinders, welding rigs, table saws, punches, drills, etc, etc. We’ve got screwdrivers and wrenches in all sizes. From small enough to take apart eyeglasses all the way up to large enough to take apart John Deere tractors.
Clayton Andrew spent a fair amount of time on a ladder getting the angle just right. I spent a fair amount of time in the tractor making sure the angle was just right.

Bruce cut a piece of angle iron to use as a mounting bracket. Drilled some holes and we got to mounting.

We now have a camera on the grain-cart auger that shows the grain flowing right into the semi. We’re about as 21^st Century as can be.
Check out the other Vine video on July 2nd. Just click on the Twitter link on the top right.

 

 

Cutting by Big Creek

7.6.14
90 degrees, Partly Cloudy
Dew point: 54 degrees
Humidity: 52%
Wind: E @ 7 mph
Forecast: Sunny

After church we headed to town for lunch. Went to our usual, the Jade Garden. Well as of last Fall it is no longer the Jade Garden. Now it is Jake & Chet’s. Was the Jade Garden for most of my grain cart driving career. But the Jade Garden folks have gone back East and Jake and Chet are carrying on the tradition of a Sunday brunch.
As soon as we got home we started moving equipment (combine, tractor/grain cart, semi, service truck, field truck) from Back West to a wheat field on Big Creek, about six miles up the creek from where the cows escaped. With Hilary’s help (truck driver) we did the move in just two trips.
The field belongs to a family friend. He ended up in the hospital so Bruce volunteered to cut this field.
It is not a big field (actually two fields on either side of Big Creek). Figured we could come close to getting it done before nightfall. Da’ Farm is near the Western edge of the Central Time Zone, so it stays lighter a lot longer. Kind of nice for farm work, bike rides, sardines and sitting around telling stories.
When we (Hilary in the truck, Bruce in the combine and me in the grain cart) first got to the field i climbed out of the tractor and headed back to the truck for the ride back to the rest of the equipment. I walked about six feet and stopped.
Stopped with one foot raised.
Stopped looked around. Put my foot down and looked around some more.
I had parked the grain cart under some cottonwoods by the edge of the field. About 30 feet from the creek. No sense leaving the cab of the tractor sitting in the sun soaking up heat.
I stood and gazed at a sight i had not seen since my youth. Well, actually it was a sight i’d never seen, even in my youth except on TV. But it was a sight that stirred brain cells and memories from many, many years ago.
Marijuana growing all along the creek. As far as i could see.
The plants were not ready for harvest, at least according to my High Times magazine memories, and were already about five feet high. Very ‘bushy’. ‘Pale green’.
I broke off a small branch and walked back to the truck. ‘Hey Hilary, check this out.’
She took it from me and looked over to Bruce.
‘Right genus, wrong species. Hemp. But not even the right kind of hemp. You’ll see it along the creek beds. Good ground cover, no market value.’
Ended up parking the service truck on top of the ‘cannabis.’

Ah well.
For a few moments some old ‘60s Hippie album covers, t-shirts, posters, bumper stickers flooded to the surface, smiled and went back to sleep.

Singing Frogs at Lake Mai

6.26.14
63 degrees, rain
Dew point: 61 degrees
Humidity: 96%
Wind: NE @ 10 mph
Forecast: Rain

Guess the lightening and thunder started about 2:30 this morning. Still far off, but getting closer.
Heard the rain about 3.
Heard the serious rain about 5.
Carolyn and i got up about 5:30. Watched the rain for a while. Saw Bruce in the Quonset so we got the coffee going.
When he opened the door he let in a little rain and a lot of strange noise.
Frogs singing. Sounded like half of the frogs in Trego County were at the farm. We might have been in a tropical rain forest.
By 7 am the rain had let off a little. Carolyn, Bruce and i stood in the front room with the windows and the screen door open listening to the frogs. They were in the front yard by the pond. There didn’t used to be a pond in the front, but we now have Lake Mai complete with wildlife. Especially singing frogs.
Although we should be cutting wheat, sighed, I really appreciate the cool weather. The singing frogs. The weather induced time off. But i really miss hearing the cows. I just can’t seem to shake the loss. After all the farm is the Trego Center Dairy.
Bruce smiled, nodded, took a sip of coffee and suggested i go online and find a recording of cows.

The Great Escape

77 Degrees: Clear
Dew point: 74 degrees
Humidity: 91%
Wind: ESE @ 7 mph
Forecast: Clear

I’d just got back from an evening bike ride when Bruce poked his head in the back door of Grandma’s house and asked if i wanted to go for another ride. This time Back West. This time riding the Ranger (four-wheeler).
Bruce got a call from Judy who lives near Big Creek about, five miles West of here. Seems the cows who live back there were out of their field. Not quite at in her yard, but moseying up the hill on the other side of the creek.
Throwing on my barn-boots and leather gloves (might have to deal with barbed wire) i got out in the drive just as Bruce finished putting gas, some wire and a fence stretcher in the Ranger.
As i got in i noticed Bruce was not only putting on his seat belt but also tightening it. Now my four-wheeler seat belt use is legendary at the farm. I willingly admit that putting on the seat belt and adjusting the steering wheel just to move the four-wheeler from the Quonset hut to the shed (40 feet) is a bit compulsive, but when Bruce snugged up his seat belt i grew a bit concerned.
We pulled out of the drive and headed West. Dirt roads all the way.
At one point a couple of miles from the farm we headed North. Decided to drive around the block to avoid a stretch of road that was ‘a bit’ muddy. There were no one else’s tracks in the mud, so no one else had the courage to try it. At 9:15 in the evening while on a mission to ‘save’ the cows we decided not to be adventitious so we went around the block.
One of the nice things about Western Kansas is that it is divided into straight government approved one-mile squares. It is possible to just go ‘around the block’ (three miles) and be back on the original road.
By the time we got to where the creek crosses the road it was a river. Which is how the cows got out of their pasture. They just strolled to where the ‘river’ had knocked down the fence and walked out. Earlier in the afternoon when Bruce had been out checking on crops and cows and when he got to where the creek crossed the road he stopped. It is was ‘up’. But not up this much as now. Bruce had helped Judy pull some branches off her drive so she could get out. He also did a little fishing. Seems a carp had been swimming upstream and got caught in a low spot in the road. Bruce almost caught it with his hands. Scared it bad enough that it jumped back into the creek/river. Bare handed fishing in the road. We generally don’t do a lot of that during wheat harvest.
Once we got to the ‘carp catching spot’ we worked our way to the field next to Judy’s. The creek makes a little bend here and we could easily see the cows on the other side.
Usually it would be a simple matter of driving right across the creek, if we were adventurous and not wanting to use the road. It is not very wide or deep there. Now the creek was over about 40 feet wide. Easy enough to drive up to, but every time we tried to cross we ran into some deep water….deep enough to be running through the Ranger.
Thought briefly about just ‘gunning’ the Ranger into the water and hopefully across. Like the TV commercials. And just a very few years ago i would have encouraged this. Now i was all for going around. Via Nebraska if necessary. The vision of us slowly bobbing down stream in the Ranger caused us second thoughts. Certainly the vision of the folks around here telling the story for generations to come caused us to head back to dry land.
We finally worked our way round by the road and got to the cows from the West side. We chased them back to the North end of the pasture.
My first real Western cattle drive. Bruce’s cow cutting ability is absolutely amazing. Moving the heard forward then suddenly cutting back and around to head off a straying cow. Then moving them forward with many loud ‘yips’, ‘heps’ and ‘move along’. Just like an old cowboy movie. Except with a four-wheeler instead of a horse. I did slap the side of the Ranger with a curled up rope, just like John Wayne and Montgomery Cliff slapping their lariats against their horses in the Red River.
And in true movie fashion we saw a deer silhouetted by the reddish orange remnants of the sunset. It was on a rise in the ground at the edge of a field that was full of wheat two years ago.
Got home about 10:45. Slightly wet and hopeful that the cows would stay put. At least stay put until morning when we (more likely Clayton Michael) can fix the fence. And we didn’t have to brush our horses. Eat your heart out Duke.

Mooooooo

72 degrees, Sunny, high clouds
Dew point: 59 degrees
Humidity: 64%
Wind: W @ 6 mph
Forecast: Sunny

About 5:20 this morning the sound of mooing.
Right near the house.
Not off in the distance, but up close. Close enough to say ‘that sounds like Millie’. Had to get up and check.
Last night was the Super Moon….full moon while it is at its closest to Earth (elliptical orbit and all that Copernican physics stuff). So this morning i got to get some pictures of the moon while listening to the cows.
Yesterday Hilary and Clayton Michael moved the beef cows, Millie and Da’ Bull across the road into the pasture next to the farm. So this morning there was once again the sound of cows in the morning.
On several occasions i’ve asked Bruce if he misses milking. ‘Nope’ and that is said with a very relaxed smile. But i have noticed that when we are driving around if we pass some Holsteins in a field, he slows down. Just a bit. Running a smiling eye over the black and white.

video reporting

71 degrees, Sunny, few clouds
Dew point: 59 degrees
Humidity: 66%
Wind: S @ 8 mph
Forecast: Sun

Time to go fishing. Again.
There is a rumor that we have not been back to the lake is because of the 45 fish we cleaned a few weeks ago.
Of course since then we have had wheat harvest, rain, ‘worked’ the fields, rain, sprayed the fields, rain. The usual. Well except for the rain.
This Summer we (the bloggers) have been trying something a bit new. Vine.
OK we used Vine last Summer, but this year we have been posting a bunch of Vine videos as a way to tell the story of the farm.
Hilary and i also tried out Fling. A way to send short stories, photos, videos out into the world….well there are a lot of people out there we decided we didn’t want to ‘fling’ our stuff to.
Back to Vine.
So click on the Twitter link on the left and check out the Vine videos.
Time to hit the waves. The lake is up by four feet. I tried to figure out just how much water that was but got lost in the exponents. Whatever it is, it’s a bunch.

rain and rain and rain

69 degrees: Rain
Dew point: 63 degrees
Humidity: 79%
Wind: WNW @ 19 mph
Forecast: Intermittent rain

Rain!

Again rain!
Started at 11:20 pm.

Pam and Don and the girls headed for home (Denver) at about 5 pm. Called a little later from the road to say they were sitting at the Starbucks in Colby waiting for the storm to pass. Seemed to be moving quickly and headed to the North and East. Should be no worries for the farm. Of course…..
Lightening, thunder, wind since 10 pm.
Bunch of wind. The top half of the old elm tree where the driveway meets the road came down. The whole sky in the North was full of lightening. Folks got up just to watch.
Kansas thunderstorms are always something to watch. Even for people who have lived here all their lives.
At 1 am it was still raining.
At 6 am it was only slightly drizzling.
We ended up with 1.25 inches of rain. So no wheat harvest tomorrow. Or probably the next day.
Or…..

riding in mud

76 degrees, cloudy
Dew point: 61 degrees
Humidity: 83%
Wind: NE @ 10 mph
Forecast: Chance of rain

‘Never use that road after it’s rained.’ Everyone sitting around the table in Grandma’s front room nodded their heads in agreement.
A pinochle game was a bout to begin, but everyone was willing to stop for a moment shake their heads and nod. Yep. ‘Everyone knows that.’
The city boy didn’t. The roads were pretty much dry, at least along the ridges. A little wet here and there but very passable. So i headed East.
I always head East. A couple of miles East, a couple of miles North, a couple of miles West, a couple of miles South. A great bike ride. Easy to extend….if the weather is right and i’m feeling a bit bold.
This evening nothing arrogant. Just a short ride around the next section (1 mile by 1 mile by 1 mile by 1 mile….640 acres) East of us. About a quarter of a mile up the road.
The mud is about a half-mile further.
A 25 foot stretch of road that is a slight depression in a road that is generally inclining.
Mud from side to side. Even into the weeds on the side of the road. But any biker can ride through a little mud. So i downshifted from 24^th to 22^nd, just to be safe, and pedaled on.
Within five feet i was in 18^th.
Another three feet and saw 14^th.
Just before the midway point i was in 7^th.
Just after the midway point i was in 1^st.
Just after 1^st i was standing still. In about seven inches of mud.
Began pushing. Two feet later i decided to pickup my bike and carry it and instantly realized that i would need the ‘small’ John Deere with the front-end loader to lift the bike out of the mud.
Kept on pushing. Eventually got through after loosing a tennis shoe. Was tempted to leave it as a permanent maker.
Propped my bike up against a field fence and used some dry tumbleweed to get some of the mud off. Then pushed for about another half-mile to get the gears and chain free.
Rode the rest of the way home in 6^th and 7^th gear.
Thankfully we still have a power washer from the milking days. The air compressor in the Quonset finished the job.
Tennis shoes hung on the clothesline. Bike hung in the garage. Bob, splattered in mud late to pinochle, a little wiser….’Never use that road after it’s rained’.

Millie gets a pedicure

71 degrees: Intermittent clouds
Dew point: 63 degrees
Humidity: 89%
Wind: ESE @ 6 mph
Forecast: Rain

Rain.
Started last night. Now is intermittent.
Not steady just light to moderate sprinkles.
Generally everyone was up by 6.
Both Don and i headed out about 6:30.
Don to run. Me to ride.
Pam, Don and the girls got here Monday afternoon.
At 6:30 this morning it was a great day to be out, especially if cutting wheat is not an option.
Don headed West.
I headed East. East a couple of miles, then North a mile. Back West a couple of miles. The last half mile or so was by the first wheat we will cut. If we get the chance.
On the way home i stopped by to see Millie. She’s hanging out in a pasture with a bunch of beef cows Clayton Michael raising.
The beef cows are young, mostly boys and rambunctious. They love to run. Especially if they see something their not sure about. So as i ride up the run off. Cows are actually very curious. On several occasions i’ve walked into a pasture and watched the cows scatter. Then i lay down. First the cows stop moving away and just stare. Then their innate curiosity takes over. Within a few minutes i’m surrounded by cows.  Sniffing and occasionally licking, trying to figure out what is going on.
Today i noticed that Millie was walking a little funny.  Favoring her left front foot.
A little while later in the kitchen drinking coffee i told Bruce what i had seen.
After the coffee (there are priorities after all) a quick ride up to the pasture confirmed that Millie was waking funny. Probably a broken toe (claw, the part of the foot that is somewhat like a finger nail). Bruce called the vet and he had time to see Millie later that morning. So we carried some panels up to the pasture. Corralled Millie, loaded her into the trailer and Bruce, Don, Millie and i headed to the vet’s. Once there Millie ended up in a tilting squeeze chute. More comfortable for the cow and a lot easier to work on her feet.
She had a broken claw. Not bad. Easily cleaned up and trimmed (well easy if you are a highly skilled vet). Actually Millie got a full pedicure. All of her nails trimmed and sanded.
When we got back to the pasture all of ‘the boys’ ran off a little way, until Millie stepped out of the trailer. Then they all ran back and surrounded her with a flood of questions and commenting on her nails.
As we drove off they were still all standing around the queen of the heard.

finding the butterfly

84 degrees, Sunny, clouds up North
Dew point: 56 degrees
Humidity: 41%
Wind: E @ 6 mph
Forecast: Partly cloudy

Don runs.
I ride.
On his morning run Don ran into a ‘circle of life’ experience. It was one of those times that might have slipped by, but there have been changes at the farm and everyone is just a little more aware than usual. Of course it could also be that Pastor Don is just more intuned to these sorts of things.

Finding the butterfly
Don Kearby
Marching ants munching,
            the wings of a butterfly.
The beautiful butterfly,
            at the end of the road.
From Caterpillar to cocoon,
            bursting forth in new life!
The joy of flying,
            soaring on air.
The final flight,
            careening to rest on the earth.
Enter the running man,
            interrupting the meal.
Quickly the days fly by –

 

the rhythm of the farm

84 degrees, Sunny, clouds up North
Dew point: 56 degrees
Humidity: 41%
Wind: E @ 6 mph
Forecast: Rain

Its quiet here.
Almost to quiet.
I have often heard that the rhythm of a farm is directed by the weather.
Field work. Planting. Harvesting. And all the other 326 things that go into putting grain into the grainery is all determined by the weather.
At Trego Center Dairy the rhythm of the farm is directed by the cows. Regardless of the weather, or harvest, or fieldwork, or machinery breakdowns, the cows come first. Twice a day we get together to milk.
The cows talk about their day.
We talk about ours.
Cows have been milked at the farm for as long as anyone who is now alive can remember.
The ‘automatic’ milkers came in 1968. Before that it was hand milking into buckets.
The milk cows have directed the rhythm of the farm.
Today we spent getting the combine. tractors, grain cart and semis ready. Cleaned out, fueled, lubed, windows washed and all lined up at the edge of the drive.
We’re ready.
Now it is just a matter of waiting for the fields to dry.
Bruce and i went to look at the field up North. Can’t cut tonight. The wheat is too ‘chewy’.
Wheat should be hard. It is after all, called Hard Red Winter Wheat and when chews a few berries they should be crunchy. Have to use molars.
Not so right now. The wheat is easy to chew. Just not ready.
Pretty much the story all around here.
From the rise about a mile East of the farm it is pretty easy to see for miles around. No one is cutting. Even if the combine four, five, six miles away is almost impossible to see, the chaff cloud will show where people are cutting. Cutting wheat causes a small dust cloud of chaff behind the combine.
No dust. No cutting. Not this evening.
The only upside to not cutting wheat is that there is time for Pinochle! Eight players. Two teams. A great way to ‘not begin’ cutting wheat.

the city slicker field crew arrives

72 degrees, Rain
Dew point: 62 degrees
Humidity: 89%
Wind: W @ 22 mph
Forecast: Rain

Carolyn and i got to Da’ Farm this evening. Well actually last night.
Stopped in Lawrence at noon to visit Eli, Muriel Steve and the kids. Stayed through lunch and left about 3 pm. Got to Da’ Farm at about 7:30.
Drove through off and on rain from Junction City to WaKeeney. 171 miles.
Saw a few people cutting wheat. Saw a few people getting chased off the wheat by the rain.
When we talked to Bruce & Joyce from the road it was decided to go for a very light dinner….they had also eaten late. After minimal discussion we settled on homemade ice cream and German chocolate cake.
A delicious way to end the road trip.
Hard to sleep.
Just too wound up from the trip. Wound up from the road. Wound up from Hilary not being here. She is in Germany, WWOOFing. Wound up from the cows not being here. They left eighth months ago. October 23rd.
           For the first time in living memory no one is milking, or being milked at Trego Center Dairy. Millie is the only Holstein left. There are some beef cows and Millie hangs with them. The beef cows are younger and give her a fair amount of respect. Somewhat because she is larger and older. Somewhat because she is a Holstein and they just naturally seem more intelligent. She has developed a certain relaxed demeanor not often seen in a milk cow. All in all retirement seems to suite her.
It’s quiet without the cows.
Too quiet.
We didn’t unwind until well after midnight, so we heard the rain start.