Harvest Begins

 We've had several weeks of beautiful fall weather.  Harvest started slow as the corn stayed high moisture longer than we thought it would.  With fuel prices so high this year, the cost of drying has also greatly increased.  We didn't want to harvest at the wetter moistures that we do some years.  Both corn and soybeans are ready now and we are plugging away at taking them out.  I made six trips to the implement dealer for parts in a week and a half period, but fortunately nothing major, and very little down time.  Also made a three hour round trip to a dealer in Atwood, IL late one night.  Yields are better than I expected, and may end up setting whole farm records.  After three straight weeks in the field, we are currently taking a two day rain break.

Ron and Kary called one afternoon and said they would provide the field meal that evening.  Ron brought his portable pizza oven to the field and made homemade pizzas for us along with the fixings.  It doesn't get much better than that!

I got my early soybeans harvested and prepared to sow wheat.  Earlier in the week, I had unloaded the hardbox of wheat off of the seed salesman's trailer with my skid-steer with forks.  It was too much weight for it, but I managed.  When I went to put the hardbox on the seed tender, it had to be lifted about three feet higher in the air.  As I got up to height, the skid-steer started tipping forward!  When the hardbox hit the side of the tender, the top half of the box split from the bottom and deposited half the wheat seed on the ground.  The skid-steer righted itself, but I then had a big job on my hands trying to salvage as much of the seed as possible.  Nephew Troy helped, and I think I was able to save and keep clean all but about 1 and 1/2 bushels of the seed.

My mess!

The wheat went in the ground on Oct. 1, and it is now up and looking good.

So far, we have picked up over two five-gallon buckets of almonds.  Not sure how or when we will process them!  They need to be husked, shelled, and then roasted I believe.

We drove to Cissna Park one Sunday morning to attend church and the annual Illinois Potluck.  It had been years since I had been there, so it was good to visit again.  I really liked their church remodel. We enjoyed the blessings of worship and fellowship there.  During a break between supper and singing, we took a walk in the cemetery and found my great uncle Bill's grave.  He raised his family in the Cissna Park area.  There are a lot of familiar names in the cemetery of families that passed through. It was a nice day, and a nice drive home through the country.

And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:   Genesis 43:11