Starting to finish

Last winter we took this old set of drills apart.  Our plan is to rebuild them, hook them up to a hitch, and tow them behind an air cart that will deliver seed and fertilizer to be planted in the ground.  Reynald spent a couple weeks rebuilding the two air carts.  They are as good as new now!

Our next project is to put the drills back together!  It's a bit overwhelming, but we are determined to get as much done as we possibly can before spring work starts.  We won't use this piece of equipment until September 1st, but once we get busy in the fields this spring, there won't be much extra time for repair and rebuild work.  We're not quite at panic mode, but close!!

My first task was to put these two straw pickers together.  They go between the packer wheels to help drag straw through.  We like to carry a lot of straw residue, which is a blessing and a curse.  At times, too much straw can pile up and stop the packer wheels.  These straw pickers help avoid that....most of the time!

Straw pickers that are completed in the back.  The two square rods are what I will build the two additional ones on.

These spiders go on the square shaft.

And two bearing hangers per shaft.

And here they are, finished!

While I was doing the straw pickers, Reynald was putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle.  We had to clear out all these parts to make way for a wedding reception this fall!  Now that we have gathered everything back together, Reynald is working hard to remember what goes where!  I think he has it all figured out, but there were a few moments of  "what did I buy this bolt size for?"

Reynald is smiling now.....

but he was frustrated more than once during this "figuring out and remembering" process.

 Once I finished the straw pickers, I set to work, replacing the rusted bolts on the Stoess straighteners.  Three drills had the straighteners on, the other four I will need to put them on.

Tools of the trade....an air drill, a cordless drill, an end wrench and nuts, bolts and lock washers!

These are the rusted bolts and nuts that I am replacing.

Shiny new!

Boxes of bolts, lock washers and nuts.

These are the Stoess straighteners.  You can see the plate on top of the green angle iron,, that I am replacing the bolts on .  These straighteners  help keep the seed boot in place.  Photos of that to come later.  

Back to work...

I went back to work in the shop today.  I've been living a life of leisure this winter, working on various indoor projects, sewing, and deep cleaning the house.  But, today was the day that I had to go help Reynald in the shop.  We have a couple massive projects that we hope to finish up by the time the snow all melts and it's time to get back on the tractor.

Here's what we're doing....

First up today for me was to start grinding the paint off the new harrow teeth so that I can hard surface the wear points.  Years ago I tried my hand at welding, and wasn't very good at it.  I'm about to try it again!  Things have changed in the welding world so I'm hoping to have better luck this time around.  Stay tuned for that report!

This is one section of harrow teeth.  There are 300 sections to do!

This handy electric grinder and I are going to become very good friends.

I lay out one box of 15 teeth on this little bench where I can quickly grab them and put them in to the vise to grind.

Here I am grinding!  It doesn't take long, but when you multiply it by 300 it becomes a rather large project!

Once all the grinding is done, Reynald is going to teach me how to weld!  Could be interesting!  

I have to set daily goals for this project, because it's too much to do in one sitting.  After I reached my goal for today, it was time for lunch.  Today was a cloudy, gray day, but these primroses that I bought in Spokane last week, brightened the whole front porch!

Rain clouds and fog rolled through off and on all day today.  

I love primroses!

They can take some cold, maybe to around 30 degrees F.  

I did gather all of them up tonight though, and brought them in to the garage.  Low temps are predicted to be in the lower 20's for the next few nights.  Just a little too chilly for these happy faces.

My afternoon project was to start fiddling around with the drills.  You may remember that we started this project last winter, but never finished.  This winter we HAVE to finish!  The pressure is on.....

Invincible

Yesterday Reynald when for a drive with the Gator, to check some of our fields.  The snow is melting after a heavy rain on Thursday and we were concerned about erosion.

However, the field that he really wanted to check remains a mystery, because here's what happens when you think you are invincible while driving a Gator!

Reynald got stuck in a very deep drift, right outside our neighbors, Dennis and Rachel's house.  They were not home so I had to come to his rescue with the tonner, a couple chains and tow straps!  He thanked me profusely, as he should!!

In an attempt to hide his embarrassment, Reynald shoveled for quite some time before he gave up and called for help.

Here he is hooking the tow strap to the Gator.

And here I am , pulling him out of the snow bank!  Not really sure why he thought he could get through this?  Boys and their toys!

Ding Dongs!

Sunday David brought a co-worker to visit the farm.  Athanos is moving to Spokane this spring.  He grew up in Greece, moved to Rome for work and is now on his way to the Inland Northwest! David spent a few days last week introducing him to Eastern Washington, which of course included a visit to Rolinco Road for dinner and conversation.

Athanos and David, always, always working.

David has a guitar that he keeps on the farm.  When he is here, he can not keep his hands off that guitar!  It's such a treat to listen to him noodle away.  

Sometimes I like to try a new recipe when people come for dinner.  I decided this would be a good time to have a go at homemade Ding Dongs.  They were super good, but not very pretty.  I need to try again, revise some of my techniques to see if I can make them more presentable.  In the meantime, we all enjoyed the "ugly ding dongs", and look forward to "pretty ding dongs" in the future.

I forgot to take a picture of the cake in the cake pans, before I used a biscuit cutter to cut out the rounds.  Tried using this pepper corer to cut out the center, but found out that a serrated knife worked better!

Cake scraps.....what to do with these?

Centers cut out of the cake rounds,

You save the cut outs to replace once they are filled with whipped cream.

Filled cake rounds.

Cut outs replaced.  

Ganache covered cake rounds.  This is what I need to figure out how to make more pretty.

The finished product....not very pretty but oh so so good!

The inside of the ding dong!  

Speaking of pretty, Athanos was treated to a very beautiful Rolinco Road sunset.  Watching the sun set over the expanse of snow covered wheat fields isn't quite the same as looking over the Mediterranean Sea, but beautiful nonetheless!  

February Thaw

It was sunny and warm today, Well, warm is a relative term I guess.  It was above freezing, in fact near 40 degrees!  Enough to soften the layer of ice that fell on the snow a few days ago, and enough to begin a gradual thaw of the snow banks and cause little rivers of water to run down the road.

Baxter and I went for a walk today.  The sun felt so good and the blue sky was so beautiful.  The snow sparkled and the horned larks sang and Baxter ran and ran and ran over the snow covered fields. Though, it is a ways off, spring is definitely coming!

We haven't taken the Christmas lights down yet, because most of the strings are covered in snow!

Yesterday I dug a few carrots that are covered in straw and snow.  They are like candy, but I had to work for it!  It was not an easy task, to be sure, but well worth the effort.

And this is how the day ended....with another beautiful sun set.