My Online Ladies

L to R: Laura, Lisa, Cathy, Joyce, Gail & her furry friend,

Emma in the back, Sue, Patty, Dawn Marie,

Debra and her daughter Jaclyn, me.

Notice only two of us are wearing tennis shoes!

Back in August we had a party to celebrate the new shed on the farm.

Since the shed would be nice and clean, I invited some of the

ladies from SCS to come over to stamp and check out the farm.

Lisa, Gail and Debra brought their husbands with them so they wandered

around the farm while we got some much needed girl time together.

Lisa's hubby was gracious enough to take everyone's camera and snap a picture.

Farm going on's.....

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. Have been busy

on the farm. The last few weeks I've picked stones with Dan

and his brother Andy. I got to drive the tractor so that wasn't

too bad.

For today's post, I thought I would introduce the newest

piece of equipement to our farm family/fleet:

A Case IH Magnum 190 Dan and I went and picked this bad boy up on

Tuesday of this week. Didn't really plan on using it this early in the season,

but there was a slight accident with the tractor that Dan was going to use.

I accidently shot a stone, with the lawn mower,

at the tractor Dan was in and shattered the door.

As you can see with the one above, the door is all glass. Dan thought someone

had shot it out with a gun. Well after some colorful language,

he called the dealership to see if this tractor was ready and to

order a new door. Hopefully it will be in next week.

Until then Dan gets to use the new one, and I don't get to cut

the grass around any of the machinery.

Kentucky Machinery Farm Show

Welcome back!

No, not me, You!

I have been quite slack in my blog posting.

With the holidays and being busy with the farm and

family members, needing my time I haven't been a very good

blog girl.

I thought I would start off by letting you all know about our

recent, quick trip to the Kentucky Machinery Farm Show this past week.

It was a chance for Dan and I to take a little vacation,

while doing farm business.

The show was at

Cardinal Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky.

One word: WOW!

There were so many vendors there showing new equipment,

gadgets of all kinds,

and many new ideas to make farming easier and better.

We had to find the CASE IH corner,

cause friends don't let

friends drive green.

It was a great time!

The new shed

Well this is what the new shed looks like from the outside.

It's HUGE! Dan is already looking forward to working

in it this winter.

This area will eventually be three rooms;

Dan's office, a bathroom, and closet area.

Where the boards angle, there will be stairs

to a loft for items to be stored.

Here is one of two big doors in the shed. They need

to be that size to allow machinery to come in

and be worked on.

The old barn.

This is a barn that currently sits in one of the fields we own.

Slowly it has been "leaning" off of its foundation.

Dan was able to find someone who wanted the wood from

the outside of the barn. This is what is left so far.

Eventually this barn will be gone and

Dan will be able to work the field in its place. The barn makes it

difficult to work around with the machinery.

What I get to look at.......

Just thought I would share a picture of what I get to look at

on most days during sugar beet harvest. It's not the prettiest site

there is, but at the sun was out that day.

New Truck and Trailer

Thought I would share some pics from the field.

This is our newest addition to the farm,

a new truck and trailer.

I told Dan, "now that's a truck".

Gotta love those "big toys".

Sorry..........

I know I haven't been on in quite some time. I just couldn't find any mojo for card making, and then we had to start harvesting sugar beets.

Last Monday, 10/19/2009, was the beginning of "permanent piling" at all the dumping stations in Huron County. I was up bright and early making sandwiches for Dan and I. Dan would be spending all day out in the field, while I would only be there half a day, as I had to work at the hospital. I will be on vacation starting 10/20, and will be off til 11/02. That gives Dan two weeks to have me out in the field.

Monday was spent digging, Tuesday was part runs to Bad Axe and Sebewaing, and more digging. Wednesday was spent on the farm cleaning pens and getting machinery ready for Thursday. We did very well on Thursday, leaving the field at 10:30 that night with only 3 more hours of work left to finish before moving to the next field. Friday was rain and lots of it. I do believe most of the trees have lost their leaves due to the wind gusts and pouring rain. It was nice to be home and have a home cooked meal though, much better than sandwiches.

Busy, busy, busy.......

I know it's been a few weeks since I last posted. We've been busy
in the fields trying to dig sugar beets early. I think we have dug
a total of 3-4 days, while it was still warm. Now that it has rained,
it gives Dan a chance to work on other projects.

Corn and beans are still out in the field. Dan did some chopping
yesterday, and combined beans earlier that day and the day before.

It's a slow process, especially now that we have gotten some rain,
but it will also soften the ground and not be so hard on our
equipment.

It's that time again!

Well it's that time of year again.

Yep, that's right, Sugar Beets!

Today is the first day of digging. Although it's also the only day.

The sugar company needs some beets to get the factories going.

We will only be digging for one day, since it is still considered "too warm" to pile.

So while you go about your day, think of me,

sitting in a tractor going up and down the field.

Our Trip to Canada.

Well on a spur of the moment kind of thing, Dan and I went to Canada

to look for a semi tractor, you know the thing that pulls the trailer.

Anyways, we left at 6am and didn't get home til about 8pm. What a long day.

Unfortunately, Dan didn't find what he was looking for, so on Wednesday of next week,

we are heading to Ohio, to look at another one.

Yay, road trip!

Here is another view of the bales that

I got to take home from the field.

I hauled 14 and so did Dan.
Although he hauled his faster, I'm rather slow at it.

A Tractor, Bale, and Kim

This is the tractor that I drove around in the field

while Dan loaded the wagon with round bales.

Can you believe it?!

We each pulled a wagon home that was stacked like

this one. Each of the wagons had 14 bales on it.

I always go home slow,

since I don't want to dump any off.

This deer was eating the clover that was growing

amongst the clover in the stubble. The machines

don't really seem to bother him.

He did move as we got closer.

Moving Round Bales

Just thought I would share some pics of Dan and I moving

round bales.

Dan has a "spear" attached to the loader
bucket that he sticks into the bale so he
can load it on a wagon.

Beans, beans, beans.

Thought I would give you a break from the wheat.

Here are the beans that are growing in the field

near where the wheat was. You can tell when bean plants are getting big enough.

They start to "vine out". The plants will start producing

vines that have small flowers on them. These small flowers

will eventually turn into beans.

Big beautiful combine.

Isn't she just beautiful? What a nice looking combine.

Yes that is Dan in there cleaning straw off the header.

Dan is one of the safest men I know, so yes the combine is

turned off while he's in there cleaning it out.

This is what the field looks like when all the wheat is

taken off. I think it looks so beautiful. Once straw is off

these fields will be covered in manure. Since wheat is the first

crop off for the season, all manure will be spread on this stubble.

Up until now there was nowhere else to spread it since all the

other fields have crops growing in them.

Deer Bed.

I know you must all be getting tired of my field pics.

Sorry about that, this is the first time in a long time that

I've been able to get these and they turned

out so good.

This pic is the combine header and what the wheat looks

like after the wheat is clipped off.

The deer like to make these "holes" in the wheat. This way they can
lay down and not be worried about being seen. Dan has
chased many a fawn thru the wheat field.

More pics from the field.

Here's another view of the wheat being unloaded into the

truck.

A view from the inside the combine, looking at the
"wheat head".

Here's a fawn that was keeping Dan entertained. He was

jumping from row to row of straw. Eventually he ran into the woods

surrounding the field. Dan said he was eating the clover that was under the wheat.

More combine views.

Here is a picture from the inside of the combine.

I got to ride around with Dan when I took him his supper.

I love listening to the combine "head" as it goes around.

It makes a "whoosh whoosh" sound as it goes around.

After the combine fills up an auger arm swings out

to unload it into the truck. As the truck fills, the combine moves

back and forth so to spread it out.

An on the ground view.

Go Red!!!!!

Dan is working hard to get the wheat off. It's suppose

to rain here in the next couple of days, so it's

a mad rush to get the wheat out of the field.

I usually don't get pictures of Dan doing wheat,

so I tried to get some good shots.

And this is what the wheat looks like.

The wheat heads should be hanging over just like these.

That means it dry enough to come out of the field.