It’s been 11 days since the girls left. Seems like a lot longer than that! And…a lot has happened since that day.

We had rain the day before they left. Not much but enough to stop us. I spent the day on Wednesday (the day they headed south) picking up what they left-towels, bedding, etc.- which all reminded me of them so I could move on and not cry every time I saw it. We were back to the field the next day and haven’t stopped until Friday night. And then it rained. THANK GOODNESS, it rained!

That would explain why I haven’t posted.

So, let’s backtrack a bit and I’ll see if I can get you caught up on our activities without making this too long.

We finished our second location on Friday (August 8) evening. The following pictures were taken before we left.

Seems me and the Beast have been doing quite a bit of this…sitting and waiting on a truck.

Silly, I know, but I’m amazed at just how straight these fence lines are! The town of Jordan is in the distance.

The next several pictures were taken on my walk through the prairie. I had to move Frank to the end of one field and walk back to get the Beast. Before I could get back to the Beast, though, our farmer stopped and picked me up. It was a great day for a walk and I needed the exercise so I was almost disappointed she got to the field so fast!

Headed to the next field (where Frank was already waiting). This shows you what the prairie looks like.

See the difference? One variety is beardless and a different color.

Unloading the last of the wheat from our second location into the bin.

The next day (Saturday) had us making the move from location #2 to location #3. The third location has us getting a little further away from Jordan and very close to Smokey Butte.

This is Smokey Butte. One of the highest landforms in Garfield County.

From milepost 202 and beyond, Smokey Butte, looking like an old volcano or a teepee with a somewhat flat top, stands out to the north. Stories have it, Indians used to send smoke signals atop here that could be observed for long distances.   Lonesome Highway 200

The wheat continues to be better than the typical Jordan crop. This field had a couple of different varieties planted together and makes for a pretty picture. I admit, I took a handful to put in a container at home. I hope it makes it home without getting destroyed!

Our daily routine has been some of the longest days we’ve put in this summer! I know I have been complaining about not being able to get into a routine due to rain and moves. So…I deserve it, right? We are up about 7:00 (well, Jim is. I lay there until 7:15) to begin our day. Jim gets dressed and heads to the Cenex for fuel and then to Ryan’s for any grocery needs and our daily quota of ice. While he’s doing that, I’m making lunches and hoping to get caught up on the world news. The quality of the antenna reception is not the best!! It comes in and out and in and out. I guess, though, it’s better than nothing. Some of the faces that get frozen on the screen are hilarious!

We try to head out the door no later than 8:30. Once we get to the field, Jim greases while I tend to the fuel and windows. I distribute the lunch boxes and water jugs to the appropriate vehicles. All the while, watching where I step for fear of a snake lurking in some weird spot. So far this summer, we have not seen one rattlesnake. I hope to keep it that way! The combine is usually fired up and headed to the field between 9:30 and 10:00. And that’s where I sit all day until the sun starts to go down about 8:30ish. I try to get 120 acres under my belt. The other day, I was able to get 135. Ok … ok, I’m sure there’s someone out there who will tell me they get way more than that accomplished in a day. To that I say – good job! For me, though, the ground is pretty rugged and has deep cuts where water has run and there are rocks. If I were to pick up a rock and run it through the combine, I may as well pack my bags and head for the nearest bus station!

When the Beast comes to a stand still at the end of the day, I jump out of the cab and use my handy, dandy “harvester’s secret“ and clean my windows. Jim is usually finishing unloading the truck into the grain bin. Once he’s finished with that, he empties the fuel from the pickup’s fuel tank and blows the combine off with his leaf blower. When everything has been put to bed for the night, we head for the Cottage. By the time we get back, it’s usually 10:30 or later. This is when I really miss the girls. Since they aren’t around, we have to get by on whatever for a quick meal before we get to bed. Typical meal may be a bowl of cereal, crackers and cheese, maybe chips and salsa, a frozen pizza or nothing. (Don’t ya just feel sorry for us?)  🙂

Jim’s first in the shower. The truck driver always gets the shower first. Always! While he’s doing that, I try to get caught up on the day’s emails and anything else that may need my attention. It’s usually midnight or after before I get my shower taken and crawl into bed. There are nights when that bed has NEVER felt so good!

Oh…wait a minute…I forgot something! I crawl back out of bed and throw a load of laundry in so it can be ready and waiting for me in the morning. In the morning, I’ll either throw the clean clothes in the dryer or hang them up on the line.

Ok – now I can relax and go to sleep. Just to do it all over again the next day.

The wheat in the second location has also been above the typical Jordan average. It’s so beautiful – the countryside and the wheat fields. I never tire of looking at a beautiful wheat field (or a sunset)!

We’re hauling to the grain bins. But, we’re also working with a semi. The semi will come two or three times a day to get a load and take it to Moccasin. It seems the biggest problem we’ve had this year is waiting on trucks. Well, the biggest problem the combine operator has is waiting on trucks.

The door of the Beast is open and I am laying on the floor waiting for the truck driver (Jim) to show up. I decided to take this picture because I wondered just how many combine operators have done what I did – wad up my sweatshirt and took a nap! 

Here comes the semi!

This shows how we do it. The Pete just finished unloading into the semi. I finally just drove the Beast to the semi and unloaded so I could keep going.

Jim unloads into the grain bin when the semi isn’t there. The worst part is taking the auger down from the bin so that it can be used to unload trucks into the semi. When the semi is loaded, the auger has to be placed back into the bin.

The hawks seem to really enjoy having the Beast in the field! When we come through the field, it means all the little critters that have been hiding under the canopy of the wheat now have to run for protection. That’s when Mr. Hawk sees the perfect opportunity to get a meal without having to really work for it. At one time, I had about ten hawks hovering over the Beast waiting, waiting, waiting and then the game begins. They dive for their next meal. This has been going on ever since we moved to location #3. I tried to get a picture of the game and this is the best I could do:

To be continued…