Tag Archives: food

a break in the action

by Nebraska Wheatie

IMG_4452Smokey Butte and location #3

I think our farmer may have mentioned to Jim that combines tend to get stuck in the field in location #5. So, with the latest rains we had, the Beast and I have been separated for a few days. That’s OK, though, because I was starting to miss Frank anyways.

I have cut mud holes and I know when it’s time to move on but if anyone is going to get a combine stuck, I’d just as soon it was the boss. By the way, we’re down to the last 20 acres in this particular area and I don’t think Jim has seen even a little mud.

After moving the equipment to location #5 late Sunday afternoon, we parked everything for the night and decided to get a good start the following morning.

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and then it rained

by Nebraska Wheatie

Continued from previous post, “that bed has NEVER felt so good“…

We moved to location #4 on Tuesday the 12th – a little further away from Jordan, again. We just keep moving further and further west. The further west we move, the closer to the “Breaks” we get. The “Breaks” would be the Missouri River Breaks. These are pine tree-lined buttes along the Missouri River – the very same buttes Lewis and Clark would have seen so many years ago. The prairie just drops off into something completely different. I’ll get pictures of this when we actually get to location #5.

IMG_4768Jamie sent me a picture of Callie’s first day of school as a Junior. How can this be???

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that bed has NEVER felt so good

by Nebraska Wheatie

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.

photo 3 (3)Seems me and the Beast have been doing quite a bit of this…sitting and waiting on a truck.

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let’s cut wheat!

by Nebraska Wheatie

photo 1 (24) - CopyMontana – BIG country! Do you see the Beast?

We got back in the field on Thursday afternoon.

While Jim and I were servicing the combine on Wednesday evening, he realized a bracket which is part of the spreader had broken. So, on Thursday morning, he took it to his favorite local welder and got it temporarily fixed until a new one can be shipped to him. He had also taken the time to drain the oil from the Beast on Wednesday evening  so he needed to finish that job on Thursday morning too. All this takes time. So, it was very close to noon before the Beast headed into the wheat to see what we had. Result? Moisture was 10% – plenty dry! So, the plans changed from “unsure of what we were doing” to “let’s cut wheat”! Continue reading →

the northward trek – final day

by Nebraska Wheatie

photo (11) - CopyThis is where the Beast and Frank spent the night – The Miles City sale barn.

For those of you who do not follow the Zeorian Harvesting Facebook page, you haven’t seen a few of the pictures I’ve posted and you don’t know that we made it to our final destination. We got to Jordan about 10:30 a.m.

photo 1 (21) - CopyThis is one of those “sames”. This has been in this pasture welcoming us every summer. I look forward to seeing it and I don’t even know what it is.

photo 2 (22) - CopyA good sight to see…Jordan!

There are a few changes but mostly the town looks the same. This is the 34th summer we’ve been to Jordan. Not necessarily Zeorian Harvesting but my family. We (Hancock Custom Combining) stopped in Jordan for the first time the summer of 1981. I was oh so much younger then! 🙂 The very first HUGE change is that we had to relocate our “home” to a different trailer park. We’ve been in the same one every summer since we first stopped here. Fellman’s (a convenient store/cafe) is closed. The swimming pool is open for the first time in a couple of years (updating). We haven’t been to the store or the post office yet. We’re hoping those are a couple of the “sames”.

The first thing we saw when we pulled into the farmyard was this awesome welcome sign. This was so much fun to see, Jennifer, you made our day!

photo (10) - CopyWe unloaded the service pickup and headed right back to the Cottage. We needed to get her set up and back to “normal” so we could continue with the day. Once we got everything hooked back up, it felt like we had never traveled the last several days. Jim and Callie jumped back in the dually and made that 85 mile trip back to Miles City to get the header trailer. We had to leave it at the sale barn as we lost it’s driver. Chanse, by the way, is back home tonight in his own bed. Again, thank you Chanse!

photo 2 (23) - Copy

photo 1 (22) - CopyIt’s very pretty here. There are even trees BUT it’s not the same.

photo 3 (5) - CopyThe view from my “desk”(aka the kitchen table).

photo 4 - Copy (13)Love these Big Sky sunsets

Everything is unloaded and ready to begin the task of harvesting wheat in the Jordan area. Our final stop for the summer. This also just feels weird. We just left home.

 

 

the goodbye will be hard

by Nebraska Wheatie

photo 1 (13) - Copy

It’s too quiet in here!

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feelin a bit behind (video)

by Nebraska Wheatie

IMG_4392 We’ve been busy! The days have been long. It’s the time when you regret feeling bad for sitting due to rain. I know…this probably doesn’t make any sense to you. Maybe I can explain a bit better. When it’s raining and you know the wheat needs cut, you think about not being in the field. Now, we’ve been busy every day. The day starts at 7:00 a.m. and doesn’t stop until at least 12:30. BIG days! Good, right? Yes, but I’m starting to get tired. I think everyone is. But as soon as the combines fire up and the reels are pushing that wheat into the header, all signs of being tired are gone. It’s like the first day all over again. And…it helps working with good people. Great people! Until I have enough time to get all the pictures I want to share with you (and the stories), I’ll have to leave you with just this video from yesterday. I think we may be finished with this amazing wheat crop tomorrow or Saturday. (I think we’ve been able to get almost 350 acres cut per day.) Then, I’ll catch up. But until then…I’m feelin a bit behind!

back to work (video)

by Nebraska Wheatie

photo 2 (11) - CopyThe diagonal markings in the wheat are chisel marks. At some point during this wheat’s growing season, the wind blew. It blew so hard it covered the brand new fence that was on the south side of the field. It blew right down the rows and left the wheat plant in place. How the wheat survived and why it didn’t blow out cannot be answered. And even more than that – how did it raise 60 bushel wheat? Apparently, as Jack said, “we don’t need topsoil to grow wheat”.  They chiseled this field while the wind was blowing hoping the ridges created would help minimize the blowing.

Yes…we DID get back to work! The sun was shining yesterday (July 19) with all its glory and there was heat. And we cut wheat!

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doesn’t that just figure!

by Nebraska Wheatie

 IMG_4339This is the storm that began our four-day raincation. We left this field on Monday evening and haven’t been back since.

There was something foreign in the sky this morning when we got up.

It was the sun.

Monday evening was the last time we were in the field. And, if you remember, we left it just prior to the rain because the moisture went up and the storm moved in all at the same time.

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let the games begin

by Nebraska Wheatie

There’s one thing I can say about wheat harvest 2014…it’s not typical.

I was given the morning off (July 14). The guys were going to be moving the equipment to the fields that used to bring us to Limon. I was told that I would have most of the morning to do what I needed to do and get lunches made. Jim would call when they needed me. No big deal…they’d be close to Limon and Taylor could take me to the field.

Sounded like a great plan. If only the wheat would have cooperated. It wasn’t quite ready.

So, I got a call telling me to go to the Pete and follow Scott to the field. Which is what I did.  I didn’t look to see what time it was when we got to the field, so I’m going to guess about 1:00 or so. The combines met us there and Chad took his into the wheat to cut a sample. The moisture was a little on the high-end. Let’s give it an hour or so…HURRY UP AND WAIT!

Actually, this is one of my favorite things to do (if I don’t have anything else pressing me to get done) when we’re cutting with others. I enjoy spending time with them and learning more about the people we’re working with.

The first waiting-for-the-wheat-to-dry game was throwing rocks at the corner post and see who can hit something. It was funny how a simple rock being thrown began as a personal challenge for one and turned into a game for them all. Even Jim picked up a couple of rocks and started throwing them.

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