just long enough

Well, we made it to what could be our final stop for the 2013 harvest season. Coming back to Jordan feels like returning home! We’ve been coming here since 1981. My Grandpa & Grandma were looking for wheat to cut when we stopped here 32 years ago. Who would have known just how important this little town would become to the Z Crew!

img_4491Before we left Denton, Jim and I cleaned the combine and header – AGAIN. My job…the header. Yuck! I sent Taylor & Callie a text and asked them if they missed this mess.

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“binning” the grain


IMG_4355There’s two ways to get rid of the grain once it leaves the field.  Once the combine(s) have dumped and the truck is full, the grain will either head for the elevator or to a grain bin (On-Farm Storage). My favorite, of course, is to the elevator.

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wordless wednesday – curious teenagers

The farmer’s wife called these guys “curious teenagers”because of their age. They certainly were curious about the machines being so close to their pasture!

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harvest time in montana…in a BIG way (video)

20130815-124711.jpgThe above picture shows you the reason I can begin to fill you in on how the past ten days have gone. It will be two weeks ago on Wednesday night that we came rolling into Denton. It seems like at least two months ago. Those semis you see in the picture are lined up waiting to haul the grain away from the elevator. They’re pretty much always here with those of us waiting to dump. It’s somewhat a vicious circle. The crop is amazingly large this year! We’ve been cutting 75+ bushel wheat since we started. Jim says there’s one four-letter word for it…SLOW. We have been lucky to get about 60 acres cut per day – per machine (we’re cutting with the farmer).

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jim & tracy’s excellent adventure

“We were just in here yesterday”, says Mr. Jim as we’re walking into the Scottsbluff, NE WalMart this evening. “No we weren’t. It must have been the day before”, I replied. “Nope, it was just yesterday”, said Jim. Continue reading

smile because it happened

dr-seuss-quote1So…it’s really going to happen.

Taylor and Callie will be packing up their stuff tomorrow. They have decided that it would be best to head home from Limon rather than make the big move to Denton, MT with us only to turn around and head home. Good choice, I suppose. However, for those of you who have followed our journey for at least a year, you know I don’t handle the goodbye very well. After the girls have left, the reminders of them being here with us are everywhere. Even their towels make me cry. Nothing new. You would think by now it just wouldn’t affect me like that. WRONG! So, tonight, I’m trying to soak in all the giggles, the yelling and the chatter between the two of them because in a couple of nights, that will be gone.  I’ll have tomorrow with them and then I probably won’t see them again for six weeks.  Ugh!

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thank you, dear farmer! (video)

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I am NOT a farmer. Our livelihood, however, depends on the American farmer. If they didn’t raise the crops that we harvest, we would have no reason to do what we do.

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BIG business catering to gluten-free diets

Thanks to one of my readers, a link to the Celiac.com website was shared with me. After I visited it, I became aware of at least three interesting facts I’d like to share. I definitely believe there are people who genuinely suffer from Celiac Disease and gluten issues. I DON’T believe we should all stop eating wheat – simply because of the ridiculous claims that are being reported through our media sources.

  1. Celiac Disease is hereditary.

Celiac disease, also known as gluten intolerance, is a genetic disorder that affects at least 1 in 133  Americans. Symptoms of celiac disease can range from the classic features, such as diarrhea, weight loss, and malnutrition, to latent  symptoms such as isolated nutrient deficiencies but no gastrointestinal symptoms.

2. There is clearly a difference between Celiac Disease and Gluten sensitivities. They are defined as “non-celiac” and “celiac gluten sensitivity”.

3. Catering to gluten-free diets is BIG BUSINESS!

$6.1bn spent 2011 on gluten-free foods in the USA—and a 30% growth from 2006 to 2010 in Canada to $2.64bn—indicate “Big Business” complete with the risk of missed, omitted, and mis-information for the goal of promoting greater consumption of gluten-free processed foods.

According to this CNBC.com article published on May 20, 2011, titled Gluten-free Foods Paying Off Big:

“Gluten-free ingredients can be pricey — Kupper estimates a gluten-free product can cost two to three-times more than regular items — but that has yet to dent their growth.

In 2010, gluten-free foods racked up $2.5 billion in global sales, accounting for more than a quarter of all food-intolerance purchases, according to Euromonitor International.”

An Endangered Species?

For some “down” time, I sometimes like to hit the “Random Post” link on my blog. It’s always fun to see what we were doing on that particular random day.  If someone is with me, I like to reread the posting to them to spark a memory of where we were and what we were doing. Sort of like playing a game. This particular posting is one I feel could be thought of on a daily basis and wanted to share the game with you, my readers:

I’ve been trying to keep up with the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance Facebook page www.facebook.com/USFarmersandRanchers. However, every time I visit to see what’s being talked about, I just get mad!

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WHERE’S THE GRASS?

I’m sure they’re eating something but it’s not GREEN grass. 

We’re home, home! The final miles were driven yesterday. It’s been quite a long 5 days!  And so very HOT – 110 degrees on Wednesday and 105 yesterday. The Pete kept running hot all day on Wednesday – to the point it shut itself off going up a hill. That has never happened before. I asked Jim why it had decided to do it at that particular time and he said it was because of the intense heat and the four mile hills we were climbing. This heat and no rain is really taking a toll on our country. The Midwest is very, very sick right now!

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