First full day in Denton

Headed into Denton

Let me start out by telling you it’s 11:00 p.m. (mountain time)and it’s 47 degrees already. I’m not sure how cold it got last night but I do know that we moved rugs and whatever else was on top of the furnace vents this morning. Why? To turn the furnace on! Can you believe it? Seems like only last week we were suffering from 100+ heat and now it’s 47. I think it really WAS last week.

I got started telling you a little bit about how Zeorian Harvesting got started and then, it seems, I got sidetracked. Me? Sidetracked? 🙂 For those of you who have daughters and hired men, consider the combination a “hazard of the trade”. I met Jim for the first time in 1975. He was a hired man for my grandparents. He was hired in 1976, too. My mom and his mom were friends before we knew each other. I didn’t meet him until the day my family went to his folks’ house to pick him up to go to Grand Island. We were headed to Grandpa and Grandma’s house and would be heading for Dacoma, OK within days. We officially started dating when I was a sophomore in high school and married in April, 1982.

Jim was an electrician when we got married. I don’t think he really liked being an electrician but he did his job and never complained. He was a farmer at heart-with no farm. The fall of 1982, my dad and grandpa approached him with the idea of buying a combine and adding it to the fleet they already had. That would make 4 machines for Hancock’s Custom Combining. Since the farm was Jim’s first love, we decided to go for it. He spent his life’s savings on that first combine – a Massey Ferguson. He cut fall crops that year south of Omaha. He was able to stay with his sister and brother-in-law because we were living in an apartment in Omaha at the time. I continued to work my desk job during the week and then go visit Jim over the weekend at his sister’s house. It was always so hard for me to get up early on Monday morning and head for the apartment to get ready for my job. That winter, Jim had a really tough time finding a winter job. He sold Christmas trees in a lot right across the street from our apt. We also cleaned a couple of dance studios in the evenings. I think that desk job of mine probably got us through that first winter.

The spring of 1983 rolled around and I had to watch everyone leave without me. I was able to convince my boss that I should take a month’s leave
in August and meet up with the harvesters. My boss was a good man and agreed to let me do that. I got on a bus in Omaha on the first of August and rode it for 23 hours to Miles City, MT. Jim met me there and we continued to the trailer house in Jordan. Going back home and to the desk was not an easy thing to do!

Jim went with my family in 1983, 1984, 1988 and 1989. Jamie was born December, 1985 and Jenna was born April, 1988. The girls and I held down the fort in ’88 and ’89. We were able to visit a couple of times but at that time, I was also babysitting and couldn’t leave as often as I would have liked. After 1989, my dad decided he was going to go back to work full-time. He had been working as civil service for the Air Force and was short only 5 years for retirement. Grandpa and Grandma were getting old enough they felt they should probably quit. Grandpa was nearly 80 years old and Grandma had been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Jim went to work driving truck for a local trucking business. He was in Western Nebraska June, 1990, when he saw a combine loaded on a trailer headed for somewhere. He came home and told me he had been bitten by the harvest bug. Could we make it work with just one combine? It also happened to be a good time to trade our MF combine for a Case IH. It helped that we had a good friend that was a salesman for Case. The trade was made and we were going on the road as a family! We borrowed Grandma and Grandpa’s fifth wheel trailer house, pickup, and a grain truck. Jim’s dad agreed to go along as our hired man and we headed for Lodgepole, NE. It just so happened that the farmers Grandpa had cut for in previous years hadn’t found a cutter to take his place yet. So, we became Zeorian Harvesting & Trucking. Jamie was four and Jenna was two. Enough history for tonight.

Denton is a beautiful small town with a population of about 300 people. It has everything you need – a grocery store, a hardware store, a bank, post office, library and fuel station. There’s more too – café, bar, swimming pool and grain elevators. We began our day by walking to the grocery store for bread. Jim wanted a couple of pieces of toast and we had no bread. Everyone in this town is exceptionally nice. It probably helped that we were parked on the outskirts of town for a couple of hours last night. It gave everyone enough notice that someone new was in town.

We had a bite to eat, threw a load of laundry in the washer and headed to the where the equipment was parked. Got things ready as though we’d
cut wheat today, checked out the fields and then headed back to town for lunch. A quick stop to the trailer for a new load of laundry to be thrown in and out the door we headed. We were hoping the wheat had dried down enough that we’d get to cut this afternoon but it just didn’t happen. We’ll hope tomorrow’s heat will get it to that magical number of 13% and we’ll be back to work again. I had fun snapping a few pictures of our new surroundings. Enjoy!

P.S. It is now midnight and it’s 43 degrees. Although I’d like to think winter isn’t coming, the temps are telling me differently!

The Pete parked along main street. One of four older style evelvators in the background

Headed to the field

Working on getting equipment field ready

Beautiful Montana scenery!

A landmark that I thought I would probably never see again from a wheat field – Square Butte. We cut near this butte last summer too. The combine belongs to the farmer we’re helping.

Railroad snow plows.

Main Street – Denton, MT

Our new home – notice the grass!

Square Butte in the distance. Jim’s taking the ladder off the combine because he’s worried about finding a mud hole and bending the ladder. The fields we’ll be cutting had been under water this spring.

This is how we get in and out of the combine cab with no ladder.

This one’s for you Jean :)

Aug16 by nebraskawheatie

Tater Tot Casserole

1 bag of tater tots

1 1/2 lb. hamburger

1 head of broccoli – chopped up – more or less depending on you liking of broccoli – can substitute frozen chopped broccoli

1 can Durkee onions

2 tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped onion (more or less depending on what you like)

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 can (soup can) of milk

2 cups Shredded cheddar cheese (more of less)

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. pepper

Place tater tots in the bottom and up the sides of 9×13 pan. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees for 10 mins. Brown hamburger and drain. Place browned hamburger, broccoli, onion and tomatoes layered in the tater tot “shell”. Combine soup, milk, 1 cup cheese and seasonings. Pour over the top of the tater tot mixture. Bake, covered, at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Top with more cheese and Durkee onions. Bake, uncovered, until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Note: Sometimes this dish takes longer than 30 minutes to heat all the way through. After you’ve cooked it once or twice you’ll know a little better how much time it probably needs. If you use frozen broccoli, less time is needed.

On the road…again

Aug15 by nebraskawheatie

Leaving the Jordan, MT RV Park

We left Jordan about 1:30 this afternoon. When the people of Jordan know you’re leaving, it’s like leaving Manley all over again. Everyone wants to stop by and tell you goodbye. And I think that’s the way it should be and Jim sees it differently. He thinks we need to leave RIGHT NOW. He did a lot better today with the interruptions. You know, some times you just have to take the time to visit. We ate lunch at the Hilltop Cafe before heading out-of-town. Rose Edwards and her family run that cafe and I hate to admit it but that’s the first time I’ve been in there since she took it over. I think the previous reputation of the place sort of stuck with me and Jim. HOWEVER, I think I found my favorite place to eat out while in Jordan, MT! Now since I said that, Rose will probably sell it or something and I won’t have it to look forward to next year. We’ve known Rose and her family for as many years as we’ve been coming to Jordan.

Highway sights going through the town of Jordan, MT. I tried taking a picture of main street but it was blurry.

John & Nicole’s shop – Jordan, MT

The trip to Denton went well. It was a cool and cloudy day so it made for a swell moving day. We got to Denton about 5:30. As we came into the outskirts of town, it started to rain and it got really chilly. It was 53 degrees when we were setting up camp. Silly thing…when we got to Arnett, OK this year (first time we’d been there too) we had the trailer house completely set up and once we started to put out the slides, we realized we were too close to the water hydrant. So, we had to unhook everything – hook up the truck and move it. Well, our last stop of the summer sort of sounded like a repeat to the beginning. It takes longer to do everything cuz the girls aren’t here. So, we’re in a new place once again and we have everything nearly set up and we realize what we thought was the sewer drain really wasn’t. Unhook and rehook and move and start all over again. Get this, though, I had on my carhart coat while setting up camp. That’s different from the beginning of the season!

All the way over here, I thought of different ideas for what to write about. Should have written them down! Probably wouldn’t have been a good idea, though. The stretch of road from Lewistown to Denton has more white crosses along it than any road I’ve ever seen. It was probably a good thing I was just driving!

Denton is a fairly small Montana town. I could only guess that it’s about the same size as Jordan. I’ll see if I can find out the population and report back. The trailer house is sitting on real grass and I can see mountains in the distance. Maybe tomorrow I’ll find out more about our new home and fill you in. For tonight, I think I’m going to call it a day!

Lewistown, MT

North of Lewistown, MT

A recap of the past several days

Aug15 by nebraskawheatie

Angie bringing Kage in to meet the gang

Getting to hold the newest Murnion

Today, we decided to spend the day together, including Jim. We went out to the Garfield County Fair to see the sights and hopefully a few people we haven’t seen in a year. The kids walked away with free bags of cotton candy and shaved ice. From the fair, we decided to head up to the Hell Creek Marina and see just how much fuller the Fort Peck Reservoir looked. We thought about going to the dam and seeing the spillway but decided the kids had been on the road long enough and opted to take the rough, washboard road to Hell Creek instead.

Hell Creek – Fort Peck Reservoir

Anxiously waiting

Aug11 by nebraskawheatie

Today is the first day of the Garfield County fair. Taylor has spent quite a bit of time out there doing whatever teenage girls do at a small town county fair. It’s a good time to hang out and visit with familiar faces. When it’s fair time here, it’s the time for all past members of the community to come home. I think this may be one of the reasons Jamie and Jenna chose this weekend to come up and get the girls. Over the past 20 years that we’ve been coming to this community, the older girls have felt a special connection with the kids in their class. They actually became a part of their class – being included in class pictures and the roll call – each summer. When certain life events happen here, they’re included. At the time – when they were being forced to go to school here – I don’t think they really appreciated the fact that mom and dad pushed them into going. I think they’re glad it happened now, though. So, I guess Taylor is continuing the tradition of being in Jordan, MT and catching up with her “classmates”. Callie didn’t start school here. However, she’s got a great buddy here. They become pretty inseparable when they get together again. Collette has been a great friend to Cal and vice versa. We’ve been anxiously waiting for Collette and her family to come home from their nearly 2 week trip to Columbia, MO. They went the annual Fur Trapper Convention and peddled their “lures”.

Remember the “Fur Country Lures” cap Jim has on his head on my facebook page? Collette belongs to this family. I knew her mom (Nicole) when she was only five years old. She’s (Nicole) the daughter of Charlie and Pohney Murnion. Nicole’s other siblings have a special place in my heart, as well. I feel like they’re all family! Anyways, Nicole and her husband, John, have four children. Collette and Callie mean quite a bit to each other. As change is sure to happen, the town of Jordan is going to change for Callie and the rest of the Zeorian’s when John and Nicole move to Lusk, WY. The town will take on a completely different feel for all of us when they leave. We’ll still have wonderful friends here but Taylor and Callie have been adopted by this family (and me and Jim, too). It will not be the same when they’re in Lusk and we can’t have supper together nearly every night. Maybe it’ll be a good time for Collette to just tag along with us when we travel through Lusk on our way up here next year. It’ll be a little more challenging for them to get to spend as much time together but I have a feeling we’ll get if figured out! We’re also anxiously waiting for Curt, Jamie and Jenna to get to “J” town! Our little 40 ft. home will be full again 🙂 And, as I mentioned in an earlier post, Sunday will roll around way too fast and I’ll be pretty blue – once again. I’m so silly when this happens. I start bawling when I see their towels lying around and the empty beds. It’ll take me several days to get into the new normal again. I should be used to this, right? But I’m not. So, right now, we are anxiously looking out the window hoping each noise we hear is the car from home. Jim took a quick trip to the Lewistown area this afternoon. We’re anxiously waiting for his arrival too. Once he gets back, he’ll be able to give me an idea of whether or not we’ll be heading a little further west for more acres. If we head that way, we’ll have to load the combine tomorrow and get it headed that way. Unless plans change, we’ll take the trailer house over after the rest of the family leave on Sunday. One thing I learned a long time ago with harvest is…”hurry up and wait”. And the other one that Grandma had to remind me of constantly was…”one day at a time”. I can hear her singing that song to me as I type!

Creamy Chicken-broccoli bake

Aug11 by nebraskawheatie

6 ozs. dried medium noodles (3 cups)

12 ozs. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tablespoon veg. oil (optional)

1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms

1/2 cup sliced green onions (4)

1/2 cup chopped red sweet pepper

1 10.75 oz. can condensed cream of broccoli soup (we used cream of mushroom)

1 8 oz. carton diary sour cream

1/4 cup chicken broth

1 tsp. dry mustard

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

1 10 oz. package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained (we used fresh broccoli)

1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs

1 tablespoon butter or margarine, melted

1. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, coat a large skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Preheat over medium heat. Add chicken to skillet. Cook and stir about 3 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Transfer chicken to a large bowl.

3. If needed, add vegetable oil to skillet. Add mushrooms, green onions, sweet pepper (and fresh broccoli is using) to skillet. Cook and stir over medium heat until vegetables are tender.

4. Transfer vegetables to bowl with chicken. Stir in soup, sour cream, chicken broth, mustard, and black pepper. Gently stir in cooked noodles and broccoli.

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spoon chicken mixture into a greased 2 quart square baking dish. In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs and melted butter, sprinkle over chicken mixture.

6. Cover casserole with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 minutes more or until heated through. Makes 6 servings.

Finished with winter wheat in Jordan

Aug11 by nebraskawheatie

Sometimes is seems like things work out well for a change! Jim was concerned that he wasn’t going to get finished tonight before it was supposed to rain. But…he did! We just finished bringing trucks to town in case it does start raining tonight. The lightning to the west makes me think the possibility of it happening may be good. More chances for rain tomorrow too. What’s next for us? Not sure right now. Curt, Jamie and Jenna are on their way up here tonight. They were hoping to get to a motel in Ogallala about midnight tonight. Will finish the trip tomorrow via Mount Rushmore. And, their dad has taught them well with planning trips around food. The Belle Inn (I think that’s the name) Restaurant in Belle Fourche is the best darn little diner you’ll EVER eat in! The prices are reasonable and the portions are way more than you’ll ever finish. So, they’re anticipating a meal there on their way up here tomorrow. I haven’t seen Curt and Jamie since we left in May. Jenna came to visit us while we were in Deerfield, KS over the 4th of July. It’ll be good to see them all again!!! I’m NOT looking forward to telling the kids good-bye on Sunday, though. Even though it’s temporary, it’s still very hard to see them leave. The trailer house takes on a whole different feel when the kids are gone. And another harvest summer is done and gone.

Just as I was starting to fix supper, Jim called and needed my help with getting trucks moved around. So, Taylor, finished what I started. We made a new recipe that turned out marvelous. She said it was easy. I will post it for you, just in case it sounds like something you’d like to try. It seems like we make certain dishes only during harvest. I’m not sure why, either. This one should be more than a harvest meal! A lot of the meals that is brought to the field is food that’s easy to pack up. Tacos is one meal that’s not an easy meal to bring to the field! I have a couple of insulated food carriers that were Grandmas. I try to look for more when I’m in thrift stores because they are the best for hauling meals and keeping food hot in! One of them has a reminder of the days that I helped her. I think I put it on the stove top when it was still very hot and melted the bottom. It now has duct tape over the holes to prevent water from going into the holes while it’s being washed. I’m glad I have it – it’s a visual reminder of my days with them.

Speaking of duct tape…that and baling wire were two required items to have on the service truck when Grandpa harvesting. That man could fix ANYTHING with duct tape and baling wire – SERIOUSLY! Grandpa’s family grew up during the depression. They wasted nothing and threw nothing away for fear they might need it someday. Grandpa had a mind of an engineer and so does my dad! I think it was passed on to me, as well. Not that I’m bragging but my brain can “visually” see how something might work before it’s tried. And being the persistent person that I am, I don’t usually stop until I figure out how it will work. That’s a passed down trait, I’m sure!

Since we all have cell phones now, its hard to imagine how we used to have to stand in lines at the pay phones to call home or farmers or girl/boyfriends. One place in particular I remember standing in line waiting for the phone was Dacoma, OK. I remember sitting in the pickup after the sun had set just wishing the person we were waiting for would hurry up and get off the phone so we could just go back to the trailer house and sleep. Another memory is the phone booth in Lodgepole, NE. There was ONE pay phone along the street and there was ALWAYS a line to use. If you’ve ever been through Lodgepole or Chapell, you know there’s a trail blowing it’s whistle about every five minutes. This phone in particular was the hardest to use because your conversation was always extended due to having to wait for the train to go by before you could hear the other person. Lodgepole holds a lot of fond memories for me. The restaurant on the East side of town, the trains, the post office, the Linger Longer bar, the busy elevator right across the street from the trailer park, 4th of July and a town full of other harvesters. This particular trailer park also had a clothes line. We didn’t have to string our own here. It was a treat!! And a real clothes line is STILL a treat. I talked the owners of the RV park here in Jordan into putting one up for me and they did. What a silly item that makes a persons day! Most of the time, I have to figure out how I can string a line to make it work and I can get pretty good and making them work. When Jamie & Jenna were little, I’d put the line low enough so they could help me hang clothes. They used to get the biggest kick out of helping me with that chore. Jamie had her dad help her last spring before we left for harvest set clothes line poles in her yard. Nothing beats the smell of clothes hung up outside!

Better quit for now. As a kid, I always dreamed of being a writer one day. I feel like I’ve got my opportunity to write 🙂 so I’m gonna write. Whether it makes sense to anyone or not, I write what comes to mind – so beware.

Luke Bryan – Harvest Time

Aug10 by nebraskawheatie

I recently heard this song and felt it was one that needed to be heard by the ag community. I think we can all relate to it:

There’s peanut dust and corn husks driftin’ through the air tonight
The marchin’ band’s warmin’ up under the football lights
There’s tractor-trailers backed up down by the elevator
Train track grain car will roll in later
Get filled up and head on out in the world
(Chorus)
It’s harvest time in this little town
Time to bring it on in, pay the loans down
Fill our diesel tank up, make another round
There’s a big red moon comin’ up in the sky
Combine’s cuttin’ in a staggered line
The only time of year we miss the church bells chime
It’s harvest time
There’s a thermos and a water jug rollin’ around in the cab
A set of socket wrenches wrapped up in a greasy red rag
Bobby’s mother pulls in the field bringin’ us supper
We grab a bite and make sure to hug her
Saddle back up and let the big wheels roll
(Chorus)
At a quarter ’til 2 I kick off my boots in the laundry room
We’ll start it all over tomorrow at noon
‘Til it’s all done until we’re all done
(Chorus)

Maybe a little history

Aug10 by nebraskawheatie

I was thinking today about this blog and the different things I could/should share. One thing I always find interesting about a person is their story. Whether you believe it or not, I think EVERYONE has a story. Everyone has a purpose and a reason for being where they are. Sometimes, I wonder what the purpose or the reason is for me and I find myself getting a little too “deep” into my thoughts. So…I thought, maybe I should give a little history about how Zeorian Harvesting came about. As I mentioned in my “About” page, I was 12 when Grandma proposed the idea of going on harvest with them. Being 12, I had no idea what life adventure I was about to embark on! But, I knew what harvest was. I can remember visiting Grandma and Grandpa as a very little girl during the summer wheat harvest and at corn harvest. I remember standing in the Massey combine – yes standing – next to Grandpa and watching the corn “dance” into the header. If you have never watched a corn-stalk “dance” into the header, you really should make an effort to experience this. To this day, I love riding in the combine and watch the corn dance. Another memory of mine is crawling on the ledge behind the seat of the combine and taking a nap. I can’t climb on the ledge anymore but the movement of the combine makes me very sleepy – only in the “buddy” seat. When I’m the driver, I never get sleepy. From the first time I sat in the seat of a combine, I have sat right on the edge. It’s a habit to this day to sit right on the edge. I just don’t feel like I can see the header and the wheat correctly unless I’m on the edge. And, I drive it like this all day long.

Grandma spoiled me when I was with them. She loved to shop and she loved to go out to eat. One of her favorite places to eat on the road was Pizza Hut. She loved the thin crust pizza! After pizza, we’d sometimes go to the local soda fountain or drive inn and get a “black cow” (root beer float). Shopping was a must – clothes shopping that is. She taught me how to be a thrifty shopper. We never looked at the clothes unless they were in the sales rack. And, I could usually get whatever I wanted but she’d always say, “now this will come off your paycheck at the end of the summer”. Oh my goodness, if I could just go back and experience one of those days with Grandma all over again! How much fun would that be?

One day while shopping with her in Alva, OK for groceries, she mentioned to the young man who was helping us out to the pickup that we were in town cutting wheat. “Oh, you’re a wheatie”, he says. Grandma was so upset! She was still carrying on about how she was NOT a wheatie for days after that! Apparently being called a wheatie was not a good thing.

So many fond memories of the times I got to spend with Grandma and Grandpa on the harvest run. You know I have them to blame for this addiction and the love for this lifestyle! I’m sure they never thought it would go any further than just a fleeting moment in my life. I remember Grandma once telling me, “whatever you do, DON’T marry a harvester”. I do know, though, that once we decided to make the move and do this as a business both Grandpa and Grandma were pretty proud that we were out there carrying it on.

They both talked about their harvest friends very fondly. Always! I completely understand, now, why those friends were talked about in such a fond way. These people understand the feelings we have when we see a wheat field for the first time each summer. They understand the experiences you go through. Unlike the friends you have at home, home.

I think I better stop for tonight. This will get too long and if I tell all my memories tonight, what will I have to type about tomorrow?

Jim’s still whacking away by himself in the field. He found a mud hole this afternoon. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my time here at the trailer house. Especially since my time with Taylor and Callie is getting more and more limited. They will be going home on Sunday. I guarantee that will NOT be a good day for me!

My first posting on my brand new blog

Aug9 by nebraskawheatie

I was encouraged by a follower on the Zeorian Harvesting & Trucking facebook page to start a blog. I guess I’ll give it a try. New things are always a little stressful but, hey, what the heck! If I would have thought about this much earlier in our 2011 harvest season, I could have kept a daily blog explaining what we do. Instead, the season is nearly over and I’m starting a blog…Well, I guess if I actually get followers of this, you can go to the facebook page and get caught up on what’s happened previously for the summer and view the pictures.

The picture below was taken last fall while searching for the perfect Christmas tree. From left to right: Curt, Tracy, Jamie, Jenna, Taylor, Jim and Callie. Abe the dog (Jamie & Curt’s dog)