Break down

So, this happened yesterday.  As I was happily mowing along mid afternoon, I heard a terrible clunking sound and looked around to see my main drive PTO shaft flailing madly about.  I quickly shut off the PTO and drove to the shop where the head mechanic helped remove the damaged shaft.

This is supposed to be straight, not cocked at this crazy angle.

Here's Reynald assessing how to remove the shaft.  It wasn't an easy project.

But, we got it done!

It looks funny with out the PTO shaft hooked up between the tractor and the mower.

I drove to Odessa where a new one was waiting for me and when I returned the second in command mechanic was available to help the fellow with the new install.  I was up and running again by 5pm.

Robert at the parts counter at Walter's Implement in Odessa said, "just when you get all the bills paid and you think you're home free, this happens!".  I really like Robert at the parts counter at Walter's!

Putting the new PTO drive line back on.  

Making sure there is plenty of grease in the shaft case.

And look at that nice straight drive line!  $3,600 dollars, not counting labor, I was back in business!

Farewell Kenny

We said goodbye to our little loader tractor Kenny yesterday.  He has given us several years of service but he has grown very tired.  An energetic man decided to take him to his repair shop, do some necessary fixes on the his engine and hopefully will place him in a good home!

Alicia driving Kenny on to Clint's trailer.

It was a little scary driving on to this trailer, which is very different than ours, but with Clint directing and Alicia's expertise, Kenny was loaded!

Loaded and ready to be chained down for the ride to Coeur d'Alene ID.  

A new John Deere loader tractor has joined our farm family.  Photos of Wyatt will follow one of these days soon!

For the Beauty of the Earth

We finished seeding yesterday later afternoon, actually, Reynald finished seeding.  We finished the fields that we do together Friday around noon.  We have one set of drills that has the ability to be moved down the road, which we did Friday afternoon and moved to the Topper Place where Reynald was on his own! 

One very tired and relieved farmer!

It's a wonderful feeling to be finished.  We started on Monday and finished on Sunday.  Not a bad weeks work!

Last night we were rewarded for our efforts with the most beautiful sky.  After several weeks of smoke and haze, it is refreshing and uplifting to see the horizon again. 

And then it went on to become a spectacular sunset.

What a beautiful world we live in. 

Seeding progress

We are making good forward progress with our winter wheat seeding.  Yesterday morning we finished at Pumpkin Center and moved to the Home Place by Alicia's house.  We had a good and productive day, clicking off a lot of acres. 

Here's the field manager filling my Indy tractor with fuel for the day.

Two sets of drills, two trucks filling dry fertilizer and seed and two service pickups filling fuel.  It's like an advertisement for Doublemint Gum!

This is such a nice place to fill the drills.  Lots of room and flat!

My view from the top of the grain cart as I'm filling dry fertilizer. 

And the field manager again, greasing the drill as we fill.

Reynald surveying the landscape as he also keeps an eye on the seed wheat filling to his cart.  

More First Day of Seeding

Yesterday was not without a few minor bumps.  The straw pickers are prone to finding pieces of metal that have been laying in the fields for years.  Yesterday was no exception.  Thankfully, they are designed to shear a bolt before any major bending or plugging of the drill or pushing a huge mound of soil occurs.

I found a crow bar today!  Reynald came to help as he's usually only a few feet ahead of me in the field.  I'm so thankful that I don't have to fix this stuff by myself!

These are the shaft monitors.  There is an indicator on each drill's straw picker.  If there is a problem an angry buzzer goes off and the light beside the offending straw picker shaft turns red.  It's a good idea to stop immediately if this happens!

This is the crow bar that my drill found!

This is just a small mound of soil that was pushing when the shaft stopped turning.  If you didn't have the monitors, this mound could become as big the drill.  The monitors are a life saver!  

Here is Reynald replacing the shear bold that broke when the crow bar wedged itself in to the straw picker.  This is exactly what is supposed to happen.  

This is how small the shear bolt is.  It is designed to shear relatively easy, before the problem gets too big!

We started out yesterday morning full of seed and fertilizer, so we only had to fill two more times during the day.  This is what filling looks like.  Last year we were pleasantly surprised at how quickly we were able to get both drill filled and back to work.  It's also a nice break from sitting and sitting and sitting!  Alicia makes sure both the fertilizer truck and the seed truck are full of product and in the correct place for filling.

Filling both drills at once.  The white truck with the orange racks has the seed wheat and the blue truck with the black racks has the dry fertilizer.  Each drill requires product from each truck.

The satellite guidance has a warning that beeps if you have driven over a mile without turning the steering wheel.  We are working on a piece that is 2 miles long so every round, you get this warning.
I am alive but I was terribly drowsy yesterday,.  The buzzer that went off helped keep me awake all day!

Operator alive?  Sometimes I wonder!

New Year's Day

We started seeding our winter wheat crop today, beginning a new year.

The morning started out with a beautiful sunrise, and the rest of the day was equally as nice.  Reynald gave me a quick review on all the new gadgets in my tractor cab and we were off and running.  We finished the day with 532 acres under our belts.  A good day to be sure.

As I was making out lunches this morning, I looked out the east window to this beautiful sight.

Alicia and Reynald worked all last week to get everything ready to go. 

So, we hopped on our tractors, set the drills in the ground and we were off.  This is my Indy tractor, the one Reynald bought me for Mother's Day one year!  

And Reynald drives Arthur.  

Seeding selfie!

I spend my whole day chasing after him!

September 1 yard tour

This evening, while Reynald was grilling our dinner of pork chops, and in the oven vegetables from the garden were roasting, I was distracted from finishing up our dinner prep by amazing light from a setting sun.  These photos don't do the color justice, but it will give you and idea of what our yard looks like right now.

I'm not a good enough photographer to capture the sunlight illuminating the Canna lilies but it was amazing.

This grouping has been a happy accident.  The bicycle was Reynald's when he was a child, and the rest just kind of happened!  I love the bright colors that happily present every day.

I am such a sucker for geraniums, especially red ones!

The most reliable late summer blooms come from petunias.  

And zinnias never fail to disappoint.  These happy flowers are from seed that I scattered on the soil the first part of June.  They make me smile!

I especially love this petunia that is white with a pink center radiating out.  So delicate!

Lots of nice color here, with an old drill that mom and dad brought back from Montana one year when they went on a fly fishing trip.

Saint Francis watching over a portion of the flower beds.

My all time favorite rose, Graham Thomas.  If I had to pick one rose that I could have, this would be it!

The tri-color beech was beautifully illuminated by the near setting sun.

And we were rewarded with an amazing sunset as we ate dinner on the west porch.  Life is good!