Tag Archives: photography

Yes? No? Maybe? NO!

by nebraskawheatie

Nope…not today. We thought we might get to start later this afternoon but it just didn’t happen. And, it wasn’t because we weren’t ALL anxious to get started.

Jim and I are helping another harvester on this first job of ours. The other harvester is a longtime friend of ours (Delane and Travis Reimer) whom we’ve known for over 20 years. Our kids played together when we reached the Chappell, Nebraska area. There were always a whole slug of kids at that stop – Zeorian’s, Krumbach’s, Reimer’s, Trummel’s, Slattery’s and more. It was the stop the kids looked most forward to (except Jordan, MT) because there were friends to get together with. There were times when the kids were all together in one trailer and the old folks were in another. Rain days were most looked forward to in Chappell so we could gather together for a meal and friend time.

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THE day to Honor Mom!

by nebraskawheatie

One day? I guess one is better than none 🙂

Because I don’t have any of my chillun’s to do anything with, or make me breakfast in bed or even pick a dandelion, I thought I’d sit down here and share with you a few thoughts…and my flowers.

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What Day is Today? I THINK it’s…

by nebraskawheatie

The confusion of what day of the week it is has begun. Harvest has a tendency to make that happen. When you’re involved with this job, you don’t run by a clock or a calendar (much). It’s daylight, sundown – rainy day or sunny. So, today is sunny, hot and another day to try to figure out what is going on with this truck of ours.

We made it to our destination – a farm near Burkburnett, TX. This will be home now until the wheat is cut and it’s time to move north. We unloaded the combine and headed immediately north. The issue with the truck is still ongoing.  We stopped in Seiling, OK for a quick break and Jim noticed two of the new bolts were broken. A quick run to the auto parts store for more. Things still weren’t quite right so a call to our new favorite truck repair shop in Ellinwood was necessary. They told Jim to patch it up the best he could and get it to the shop on our way home.  Jim’s intention was to drive until he could get back to Ellinwood. He made it as far as Medicine Lodge (1:30) and had to quit for a few hours of sleep. The alarm went off at 5:45 a.m. and we were back on the road.  Right now, we’re sitting in RMACs shop in Ellinwood trying to figure out what to do next. It looks like we’ll be renting a car to get home and leaving the Pete in KS for a few days. More expense…more worries – that’s what it’s all about (I guess).

I’ll leave you with a few sights from yesterday:

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OH HAPPY DAY!

by nebraskawheatie

The title of this post will only mean something to Jenna and the rest of my family. 🙂 However, we certainly HAVE celebrated a couple very happy days recently. I will attempt to keep the number of words to a minimum because I’m sure I could get long-winded. The number of pictures I’d l ike to share will make this posting long enough.

On Saturday, April 21, Taylor went to her very first prom.

img_2866She had ordered her dress online – in plenty of time –  on Thanksgiving. When she received it, it was way too big. I couldn’t send it back to the “store” as it was created in China. So, the next thing we had to do was take it in. It was a job that seemed rather overwhelming to me but I was willing to accept the challenge. I had questions, though, how to make it happen and called upon a neighbor who had done dresses like this in the past for advice. Taylor and I went to Judeen’s house for help. Judeen, bless her heart, just took over the job. I think she knew it was going to be something I really didn’t want to tackle! And, I’m so thankful for her and what she did. You would never have known that dress was taken apart and re-sewn. THANK YOU, JUDEEN – you are a miracle worker!

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Boredom produces old harvest picture gallery

by nebraskawheatie

gpa-gma-h-001Grandpa & Grandma Hancock (not sure of the date)

I finished getting my numbers together for the tax man. It was too early to go to bed, I didn’t want to clean my house (yet), and it was too early to pack for the US Custom Harvesters convention. So…now what? Hmmm, let’s go through this “old memory” drawer. The “old memory” drawer holds little keepsakes my Grandma gave me before she passed away. I found some loose old pictures and decided it would be fun to go through them. These were pictures she had saved in a wooden cigar box. When I started looking, it made the ‘ole tears start. The first few I saw were of Grandma as a young woman. She did so many things and went so many places! I am in awe of all she did. She was definitely not scared to go on her own. She was 19 in the following pictures. She took a train by herself to California to stay with her Uncle in San Diego. While there, she visited Tijuana, Old Mexico. This was in 1938

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gma4-001 Now I know where my love for fishing came from.

 Then I started seeing old harvest pictures and decided I needed to share.

harvest-001It was in this combine and in the corn field that I remember standing in the cab with Grandpa and “helping”. I was little enough I would take a nap on the ledge behind the seat.

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harvest5-001Notice who’s “helping” on the header? Yep, that’s me. 🙂

harvest6-001And this very skinny young man is the guy I later married.

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harvest13-001Me and Grandma posing for a newspaper article while in Lodgepole, NE. She looks a whole lot more excited about doing it than I do!

harvest8-001In 1989, Jamie, Jenna and I visited the harvesters in Lodgepole, NE. Jamie would have been 3 and Jenna 16 mos.

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harvest11-001Our first year on the road as Zeorian Harvesting & Trucking. 1990 – Lodgepole, NE

harvest12-001Jenna helping her Daddy.

Another yearly event is about to come and go. The US Custom Harvesters convention is next week. As I’ve said before, our family counts down events ’til harvest rather than months and days. So, we’re nearly through them all. After we’ve celebrated Jenna’s birthday, the next thing to do will be pack the trailer to get ready to head south. When the convention is here, harvest is right around the corner! Are you ready to follow the adventure?

our “Little House on the Prairie” evening

by nebraskawheatie

I wrote this little diddy back in 2012 (February 5 to be exact). Its been nearly three years ago already but I remember the night as if it were tonight. It’s times like this that you aren’t expecting but when they happen, it turns into one of those memories that just never go away. The girls and I had a wonderful evening due to the heavy snowfall! I think we all three slept in our bed to keep warm. Jim was doing snow removal. Sometimes…it’s the little things that just mean the most! And, to top it off, I’m certain we had a snow day the next day rather than school!

Lost power again about 5:30 last night. What do you do then? Well, start out with finding as many blankets as you can. Next, was the kerosene lamps. From there, whatever you can find to do by the light of the lamps:

Made soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for supper.

The camera flash gave us a few seconds of light 🙂

Callie reading “The Hunger Games” to me…just enough to get me hooked!

Our wintery wonderland!

P.S. We got our electricity back about 3:00 a.m. Heard some places around here will be without any power for up to 3 days. Glad it’s not us!

Winter…it found us.

by nebraskawheatie

Hello from very snowy Nebraska!

Almost exactly one month ago today, I wrote about how Eastern Nebraska has lucked out with the winter cold and snow. I had a feeling it was too good to be true.  For the past several days, the weatherman has been warning us of the impending snow storm coming from Colorado headed right for Eastern Nebraska before continuing its trek Eastward. My Grandpa always said that when we experience a strong wind from the East we should be watching for a bad storm. He was certainly right! The wind blew like crazy yesterday – straight out of the East. Branches that had been protected from previous winds found their way to the ground. Because I knew the storm was headed our way, I took a picture from the kitchen window to show you what it looked like prior to the storm. I couldn’t take a picture from the exact spot this morning because the window was wet from the snow.

We woke up to 12+ inches of snow. More than we’ve had all winter.  And no power.  The house was a little on the chilly side! Good thing the temperature outside wasn’t  below zero. What do you do when there’s no way to make coffee? Improvise. We’re lucky enough to have gas appliances in this old house so I heated some water for hot chocolate and instant coffee.

Callie’s enjoying her cup of hot chocolate.

Right after this picture was taken, the power came back on – for a short period of time. Then, it went back off again. Rather than sitting in here trying to stay warm, Callie and I went outside and shoveled for a while. The snow is wet and heavy – perfect for a snowman!

What’s this? I. Am. Honored!

by nebraskawheatie

So, I sat down this afternoon to share with you the picture that I have been so anxious to share (and I still will). However, when I logged into my WordPress account, I realized that I’d been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award.

We have Versatile Blogger Award rules to follow:

  1. In a post on your, blog, nominate 15 fellow bloggers for The Versatile Blogger Award.

  2. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.

  3. In the same post, share seven completely random pieces of information about yourself.

  4. In the same post, include this set of rules.

  5. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs. (Or post to Twitter.)

6.  Copy this picture to your blog.

I’m a little unsure what this exactly means BUT it’s always fun to be nominated for any kind of award…right?  I’m not athletic and I wasn’t much involved in anything in High School – except FBLA. As I grew up and got married and started having babies, being awarded for anything other than “the worstest mommy I’ve ever had” award was never imagined. So I’m honored to think that I’ve “met” enough other wonderful bloggers out there who would even CONSIDER me for this award. I have been nominated by my new friend, Joy. The very first posting I read from her blog “My Universe is Still Coming Together” was “My Universe Came Together, While It Was Falling Apart” .  See, I’m still so new at this blogging thing, I don’t even know how to change the font color for my links (maybe someone can fill me in).  I related to how she felt with the death of her Grandma. My “harvest” Grandma meant the world to me and my universe fell apart when she died. I also relate to her desire to write and be a published writer. Thus began my newfound friendship with Joy. THANK YOU, JOY! for nominating me for this award! 🙂

Now, as part of the rules for the nomination, I’m supposed to nominate 15 more bloggers. So, here goes:

  1. My daughter, Jenna’s blog – Yensyphotos

  • The Wheat Harvest Movie

    • 3. Kuntz Harvesting

    1. icanseealotoflifeinyou

    5. farmchiclogic

    1. Lady of Ag

  • The Farmer’s Life

  • Small Nebraska Farming

  • Common Sense Agriculture

  • Agriculture Proud

  • Simple Gifts

  • Confessions of A Farm Wife

  • TALINORFALI

    • 14. suehealy

    15. My story uncensored

    The final part of the rules is to give you seven random facts about me:

    1. I procrastinate. I work better under the pressure of a deadline.

  • When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut.

  • My two least enjoyed household chores are folding clothes and dusting. I think that’s because those were the two chores my mom hated…someone had to do them.

  • Some day I want to visit Alaska. Mostly because that’s a trip my grandma always wanted to take and never did.

  • New things scare me. As soon as they become familiar and I know what I’m doing – watch out!

  • Once I set my mind on doing something, it takes a lot to get me to quit. I’m very persistent.

  • The word IMPOSSIBLE does not fit in my vocabulary.

  • I know I’m only supposed to do seven but I wanted to throw #8 in because I wanted you to know (unless you’ve already got it figured out) that God is important to me. I constantly look and listen for Him each day. When you watch for Him, you can see how He fits each piece of your life puzzle together creating a beautiful picture! I hope the people I come in contact with can see Him through me.

    • And finally, the pictures I wanted to share with you (you know what this means)

    And finally, Callie made a cake for me – complete with homemade fondant frosting – while I was gone Sunday afternoon watching Taylor’s UNO honor choir. What a kid!

    Goodbye 40’s…HELLO 50’s!

    by nebraskawheatie

    Tomorrow, I will be 18,261 days old…or 50 years old…or half a century old. WHOA! How can this be? Life really does happen in the blink of an eye! Am I feeling a little crummy about it, YES! Will I get over it the very next day, YES! I know we never know how long we have on this crazy earth and how long we have with our loved ones but by being 50, I know I’m closer to death than I am to birth.  For the heck of it, I went searching for some fun “being fifty facts” and the following are the ones I found that I liked:

    “Turning 50 heralds a decade of transition, many of them involving bodily changes. Menopause ends the childbearing years. Gray hairs supplant natural color, forcing one of three decisions: let nature take its course, cover the gray or try a completely different shade. (Unlike men, women haven’t embraced head shaving as midlife sexy.) Changes in vision require reading glasses. Gravity takes its toll as our necks sag, stomachs bulge, breasts droop, faces wrinkle, underarms swing like fish bellies. Waists thicken and knees and back ache. Skin loses its elasticity, causing some of us to try and turn the clocks back by means of all sorts of chemical and medical interventions — moisturizers, ointments to reduce age spots, wrinkle creams, Botox injections, plastic surgery, face and eye lifts.” (About.com Turning 50 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Turning Fifty for Women)

    ” Women over 50 are president, CEO, and the star of their own lives. If you have the attitude that life is precious, that life is grandiose, that you don’t want to waste any time, you will make this quality time.” — S. Mitchell (WebMD 50 Great Things About Women Over 50)

    “It is not unusual for someone to feel a lot of anxiety about  turning 50 years old, but once you reach your 50s and beyond, you are going to  wonder what exactly it was you were so worried about.”

    Tonight, the sunset was spectacular! It was almost as though God was giving my 40’s a grand farewell and it made me smile! I look forward to what the      50’s have in store for me. I do know I’m not going to stop living life to the fullest, I will still view the word “impossible” as a bad word, and I will continue to look for God in every part of my day! Here’s to the next 50!

    Now I can start thinking SPRING!

    by nebraskawheatie

    I know we could have a lot more winter yet. As a matter of fact, March is sometimes THE WORST month for measurable snowfall in Nebraska. At least we know when it snows then, it won’t stick around very long.  Nebraska has been in a roller coaster pattern all winter with very little moisture – really nice for several days and then a blast of cold. Today, we’re headed toward another upward trend with mid 40’s in the forecast.  However, Nebraska weather also has a trend being after the warmer days…watch out! (I think that may be coming on Friday)

    I know you’re probably going to laugh but guess I’ll fill you in anyways. I took down the Christmas tree yesterday. Yes…the tree (and all the other Christmas decorations). I decided that it was time to get the living room back to normal again, regardless of just how much we have enjoyed the tree this year. As a reminder, here’s what it looked like and this is how it came to be part of our family:

    It felt good waking up this morning and walking into the living room knowing I didn’t have that job ahead of me.

    Last fall, I sold our summer home on wheels. Jim felt it was time to look for something that had more “livable” space for the rainy days (or when we find ourselves inside the trailer for longer periods of time). The other trailer house was beautiful and I loved it but it did lack in space for everyone just to hang out.

    When we knew it was going to be a long day inside, Jim would just head upstairs and lay on the bed most of the day. So…now the search has begun. Finding something that fits both of our likes and “requirements” is a little tough. Last weekend, Jim and I decided to take a quick trip to Wichita to look at a specific toy hauler that had caught my eye. He likes the idea of the 3 axles and I want something that feels like home when you come in from the field at the end of the day. Pretty hard to find that in a toy hauler. I thought the one we went to look at would be “the one”. No. We visited a couple other RV lots while we were there and found a 5th wheel we both liked. Now, we wait to hear if the salesman can do his job and make the price somewhat reasonable and maybe worth a second look. I hope he comes through because it would be PERFECT for our family. When we finally find our next “cottage on wheels”, I’m sure I’ll be sharing with pictures. Until then, the days just keep clicking away.  We need to have one in the driveway the first of May so I can start the packing process.

    Another sign that spring’s on the way is the long awaited (by my family) US Custom Harvester’s convention. This year, it’s in Grand Island, Nebraska and will begin for me the end of February. We’re talking days away now. The kids LOVE going! It’s the time when they can be around people who know what we do and don’t have to ask the question, “what’s a combine?” or “how was your VACATION?” When we get around the good folks who call themselves custom harvesters, it’s like being with family again. LOVE IT and we can’t wait. Curious about what happens at the USCHI harvester’s convention? Check out the pictures you can find at http://www.3-deerphotos.com/  You can also visit the USCHI website at www.uschi.com After the harvest convention, it seems the spring harvest preparations begin and wheat harvest is right around the corner. The Zeorian household is ready for the day when the “train” is headed south again!

    Now that February is nearly here, I will be watching and waiting for the first Robin I see. When that happens, I KNOW spring is right around the corner!