Fam Vac

In the middle of July, we spent a relaxing and refreshing week at Hobby Crest Resort on Hamlin Lake near Ludington, Michigan.  Also nearby, is Ludington State Park, where we spent a lot of time.  Hobby Crest is a small, old resort that is currently for sale.  It was far from deluxe, but we rented the entire resort and it worked well for our extended families.  There is a large old building that used to be a popular restaurant that closed fifteen or so years ago that we were able to use for all of our meals, devotions, church services, and other family activities.  It still had working appliances and all necessary utensils.  We spent some time at the beach, tubing down the Sable River, hiking in the park, boating on the lake,  eating, reading, coloring with my granddaughter, and enjoying the mild Michigan weather.

The quaint little cabin that the old farmer and his wife stayed in.  It was comfortable if you didn't mind the rustling and scratching noises coming from underneath during the night.

The old restaurant gathering place.

The S.S. Badger passing the North Breakwater Pier Lighthouse in Ludington on its way across Lake Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Sailboat on Lake Michigan just before sunset.

We hiked to Sable Points Lighthouse in Ludington State Park.  We climbed the circular stairs to the top for a beautiful view of Lake Michigan and the dunes.

The serving table on "haystack" night.

The dunes in Ludington State Park.

  Fear ye not me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
Jeremiah 5:22

Wheat Harvest

We tried four different days over the month of July to get the wheat out.  We were thwarted by wet wheat, muddy ground, and rain.  One of the times, a couple days before our family vacation, we were able to get enough acres out to allow us to bale some small square bales, and then haul some manure to keep the pits from overflowing.
Finally, on the last day of July, we were able to finish harvest.  The wheat did test very high for vomitoxin and had an average of 49 lb. test weight.  The elevator ended up paying us $1.76 per bushel (should have been around $5) with all of our docks!  At least we were able to get rid of it.  There were some farmers that harvested their wheat wet and ended up owing the elevator money!  Not a very profitable year for wheat!
We cut a lot of ruts still at the end of July, and I even had to skip a couple of wet spots for fear of getting stuck.  We also left an acre or two that we just shredded because the weeds were too bad to run through the combine.

After harvest, we were able to get our large round bales made, and this week we got them all hauled home and stacked.

CaseIH has their tillage tool plant in Goodfield (the former DMI plant), and in the summer they are always looking for wheat fields to demonstrate or test new equipment.  This year they called and asked if they could use our field for a photo shoot for some upgraded tillage equipment.  They spent a whole day in our field running, cleaning, and shooting two tools with a professional photographer.  They usually do some free tillage for us as a gratuity.

 Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.
Joel 1:11

Finally

For the last 3 weeks my network or router or antivirus/firewall or filtering software has been blocking me from signing into blogger.  This afternoon I finally broke through and managed to log in (obviously) and can start catching up on my posting.  Stay tuned!

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
Philipians 3:1