Got up this morning and constructed some pancakes for our breakfast (with the help of Aunt Jamima of course).  This will probably not happen again for a while, but I am now on the back deck with my coffee and my laptop.  Not bad for October first in this part of the country.  Temp. is in the 60's.  Not a heatwave, but not bad at all.  Knowing that these days will be quite limited from now on, have to enjoy while it is here.  

We had a rain almost a week back that left 1 1/8 inches.  It has been dry since then.  The grass is still growing like springtime, as it has all summer.  No drying off this year.  Plenty of corn and soy beans still standing in the fields waiting for harvest.  most of the corn needs to dry more as there is still a hint of green showing in places.  We have been down to 34 deg. twice, but no killing frost yet in this area.   Even the leaves on the trees are mostly green still.  I suspect when the sap goes down, fall color will come fast and be short lived.

I agree with Gene that Ralph is digging  some good looking potatoes.  Hope Ralph,s rain stops long enough to harvest his bonanza crops.  Seems we do not have good growing seasons like this often enough.

Charlie V.

Those pancakes sound like a good idea Charlie. I'd have time to make some this morning while watching the clouds and mist out here. Got in another few hours of canola harvest yesterday afternoon before the latest shower hit. It has been a long process of hurry up and wait. Days of waiting for the wind and sun to dry the crop only to get in the field and a shower comes over and sends us home. Some are harvesting their grain tough and drying it but I only have limited aeration bins to dry grain so am not quite hitting the panic button yet and harvesting tough grain. Bad enough that I baled some tough or damp oat hay and it is showing signs of heating in the bales.
While waiting , I took the opportunity to move a couple of thousand bushels of canola from one farm to the other to circulate and cool it down. One bin was actually warming up a little and that is trouble. Shot some video of course.
[video=youtube;gNs5rQXlmqk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNs5rQXlmqk&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Oatmeal this morning, Ralph, with sliced banana on top.  That will stick to the ribs about as good as the pancakes.

That was a good ride in the Loadstar.  The old girl does the job.,  by now you may be getting some dryer weather.We were promised rain Thursday night and Friday, then sunny and dry for the weekend.  Somebody forgot to tell Ma Nature.  She not only is giving us a high probability of rain for this weekend, but for all next week as well.  Just under an inch in the gauge so far. Looks like Gene is about in the same weather boat as I am.  

Charlie V.

Charlie, our boat here may be sitting a little lower in the water after rain all weekend. Started Friday just as I started unloading 2 wagons of Amish corn at the chicken farm. Got pretty well soaked doing that. Rain let up just as I finished unloading, then came back with a vengeance on the trip home with the empties. Light rain most of the day Saturday. Had about 1.5 inches by mid morning today and very heavy rains all afternoon. Haven't gone out to check the gauge this afternoon. Won't be any combines running for a few days.

Soybean and corn harvest has been stop and go with the heavy morning dews and every other day showers. Sure glad mine is done. Been hauling organic corn for Amish neighbor. Pulling 2 wagons with the Dodge 32 miles to west with ear corn and 30 miles to east with shelled corn. Makes for a long day when I make 2 runs a day.

Ralph's video brings back memories of the Lodestar 1600 I used to drive for a farmer I worked for. Were hauling 19 miles to elevator with the 16 foot bed loaded with all it would hold. Farmer told me that if I ever got stopped at a scales, just give them the truck to pay the fine. When I had my old S-160 I once delivered a load of soybeans with a net weight of 24,560 pounds and that was on 7.50x20 tires with single axle and straight 4 speed. Did a little frame damage with that load.

Gene

Just checked the rain gauge. Shows 2 inches from this morning. I emptied about 9 tenths this morning from yesterday's rain.

Gene

Yet another morning on the deck.  Being on the North side of the house, no sunshine here when the Sun is this far south.  In the shadow of the house all day.  Low 60's F. with just a hint of a breeze.  Flannel shirt is good, but still, Oct. 13.  Not bad.

I started out late this AM so made Sunday brunch for us rather than breakfast.  (Do not sleep too well since the surgery).  Pancakes and sausage with Maple syrup.......sure was good.  Now I have to go clean up the dishes, but they do not amount to much.  

We were heading to the bank Friday to give back the new checks I have due to printing errors.  Not far from home at 45 mph on a straight level road when a huge crash happened in the front end.  Rolled to the shoulder and shut down.  Steering strange and brakes also not normal.  Smell of rubber burning.  Checked it out to find the left front spring had broken and blew down fron it's cage and was hitting heavy on the left front tire.  All that excitement triggered the fuel cut off switch as well.  Luckily at the moment I do have triple A, only because it gives me a discount on my car insurance premium.  Gave them a call and a roll back from a local collision shop pulled up in about 15 minutes.  Not bad at all.  We loaded up the Santa Fe and the Driver dropped us off at home, then left the car off at the local used car dealer where we bought it.  I went to school with the owner, so he is pretty fair with me.  

Do not know yet how expensive it will be, but it won't be cheap. I read on the internet that some of those break while the car is actually parked.  Mine is nine years old with 75,000 miles on it and has never been used hard.  Pretty poor way to build a vehicle.

A lot of soy beans going into hoppers and bins around here now.  A Lexion has been working in the fields behind me for the last two nights.  I think they are finished now as I heard it last night working a field on the next cross road.  Some corn is being picked, but a lot still standing.  I got a chuckle the other day when I saw a now days little four row combine sitting in a half finished field.  Do not see many that small any more, but it looked like it was getting the job done.

I am not going to proof read this because my outdoor cat wants to be fed.  Hope it is not too bad.

Charlie V.

Charlie, sorry to hear of the misfortune with the Santa Fe. Hope you are on the road soon and not too expensive.

Have had beautiful fall weather here in Ohio. Bright sunshine all day and cool clear nights. Soybean harvest started again last Thursday after a time out for the rain weekend before last. I believe every combine in the state is running either corn or beans. Crops are very dusty and it is not hard to spot the running machines. I have seen some of the smaller 3 and 4 row combines in my travels. Today I saw a new John Deere That I didn't even know they made this small. Think the model was 9240 or something like that. Had a 4 row corn head on it. Also a couple Gleaners and small older IH combines. There are a lot of dairy farms in the Mercer and Darke county areas. Lots of turkey farms too.

I attended the Portland fall swap meet Thursday through Saturday. Had a good time and caught up on a lot of my visiting. Managed to find a few things I can use, but not much tractor related, more garden tractors and mowers than anything. Took my old motorhome with hopes of finding a buyer for it, but no luck. Bandy had a good time meeting new and old friends, both human and canine. He slept very good both nights we were there.

Back to hauling corn for the Amish made 2 runs to chicken farm with shelled corn and one run to organic dairy. Both places are 30 miles away so takes quite a while pulling 2 wagons with about 400 bushels of corn. Drove about 175 miles at these speeds.

Came home early afternoon Saturday and mowed grass all afternoon. Didn't mow under the apple trees because of too many apples on the ground, so spent most of Sunday raking and shoveling the apples into piles. Then shoveled them into my dump trailer and hauled them back to the woods. Had to make 2 loads to get them cleaned up. I then mowed the grass under the trees. Still a lot of apples on the trees. Best apple crop I have seen.

Bet Ralph is busy harvesting his crops. Hope the canola and flax are doing well.

Gene

Big event!!  10:19PM with the thermometer sitting at 33.6 F.  Good possibility we will have the first freeze of the season tonight.  Many leaves still half green and hanging in the trees.  A good freeze should bring many to the ground.  Got the SUV back last Thursday , Gene.  New springs and struts in both front sides, new drag link.  1 new front axle, and a new power steering hose.  When I paid the bill, it seemed I was buying the car for the second time.

Charlie V.

Charlie, glad you are back on the road. Must have been a big shock to get the bill. Hope all is good to go now.

Weather has turned colder here now. Below freezing last 2 mornings and finally had a frost this morning. Wednesday morning greeted us with 2 inches of very wet snow. Didn't last long and was gone by noon. Wednesday evening had cold rain showers mixed with sleet.

Soybean harvest is still stop and go with the frequent rains. Farmers seem to get 1 day in 3 with some afternoon harvest. Corn is doing a little better since it doesn't absorb moisture like soybeans.

Corn hauling for the Amish has been steady, actually too steady. Everybody wants their corn hauled NOW!!! Got an early start this morning, only to have a wheel bearing go bad on one of the wagons. Spent about 4 hours repairing that and when I got to the feed plant, they had gotten so much corn that I had to wait about an hour to get unloaded. Should have been a good day for 2 trips, but only got 1. Maybe I can get in 3 runs tomorrow.

Haven't heard much from Ralph. Hope weather was good enough to finish his harvest. He is working on his Massey and I am sure he has that all figured out now.

Cleaned my gutters this evening, so ready for them to fill with leaves again when they finally start falling.

Gene

Well I am back thanks to the links you guys and a few others supplied over at the old forum. Yes, harvest finished up Oct. 29. It was a bit unusual swathing and combining flax beside the big slough covered with ice. But the sun was shining and the straw was dry enough to go through with no problem. The flax tested 11.5 which is about 2 points higher than I like to see for safe storage but hopefully I can get it sold shortly and not have to worry about it spoiling.
That Massey Super 90 project is at a standstill. It is a hard tractor to work on . Seems like darn near everything on the tractor is connected to the head and had to be disassembled. Have to admit I have been "window shopping" for something newer and better condition but so far nothing.
A recent shot of a couple of white tail bucks in my yard.


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Welcome back Ralph. Wondered if you were still stuck in the combine digging out straw.

Nice picture of the bucks. Was that taken with a game camera? Been seeing a lot of deer east of Bellefontaine as I haul the corn. One doe has been standing in the road as I get near, then finally gets off the road. Have seen 3 to 5 at a time there. Saw 5 a couple times in my woods, probably eating the apples I hauled back and dumped.

Harvest still not done here. Spotty rains has really slowed the soybean harvest. Corn harvest a little bit better. Ground starting to get a little soft, had another 3/4 inch Thursday night with howling south winds just before midnight. Blew a lot of the leaves off the trees but still a lot of green leaves on the trees.

Gene

Our weather here has not been anything to write home about. A lot of rain during the last couple of weeks.  Most of the sunny days have been accompanied by a stiff North wind that made it unpleasant.  Winds to 60 MPH and above yesterday.  Even with that, leaves did hang on some of the trees, Maples in particular.  After my last post, we did get a light freeze but only down to 30 and back above 32 before dawn.  About last Tuesday night the hard freeze did hit.  Well down in the twenties over night.  Catalpa trees are funny.  The day before the freeze they still had all of their leaves, and just only a little off the green which they had been all summer.  By daylight the morning after the overnight freeze, the Catalpas were raining leaves steadily.  By days end there were barely any leaves left at all on those trees.  It was a calm day and there sure were plenty of Catalpa leaves on the ground.  I went out Thursday and turned then into confetti with the zero.  I knew high wind was predicted and wanted them gone before the wind whipped them everywhere and in hard to get places.

Also on Thursday I dug out my two Generators and fired them up.  I know it has been many months since their last start up.  I checked my records and they indicated that the gas had not been changed since 2009.  I thought that impossible.  Probably forgot to mark it down.  While taking out the old gas it dawned on me why so long.  I could tell by the color that the old gas was gas and not gasohol.  I really did not want E 10 in them, so I left the old stuff.  Still ran OK, but new fuel in them now, so time will tell if it will cause problems.

I am thinking with the cold expected this next week it is time to think hard about gassing up the truck, then putting the plow on it. Last year that turned out to be the best way not to need the plow, but that may not work two years in a row.

Charlie

Welcome back Ralph. Wondered if you were still stuck in the combine digging out straw.

Nice picture of the bucks. Was that taken with a game camera? Been seeing a lot of deer east of Bellefontaine as I haul the corn. One doe has been standing in the road as I get near, then finally gets off the road. Have seen 3 to 5 at a time there. Saw 5 a couple times in my woods, probably eating the apples I hauled back and dumped.



Gene

Yes, Gene, that Bushnell trail cam takes a lot of pictures in my yard some nights. It is surprising to see how many deer come in to clean up where I clean chaff and grain off the combine, swather and baler out in front of the shed. Coyotes, raccoons and skunks show up too. And by daylight it even catches a few images of me working.


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Ralph, your coat sure reminds me of my old Air Force parka. It was sheepskin lined with a wolf fur lined hood. Warmest coat I ever had. It was obsolete and base supply wanted me to exchange it for the newer style, but managed to keep it till discharge. It was the only one still in service.

The picture of me on my Case S in my photo section was taken by trail cam my friend Dewey had set in my woods. Also had pictures of turkeys, deer, raccoons and squirrels.

I attended the membership meeting of the Tri-State club at Portland today. I was nominated and elected to fill the post of campground director. I will now have official capacity of aiding campers at the summer show.

Charlie seems to be getting along fine with his new parts. Looks like he is getting prepared for winter.

Should be done with corn hauling by Wednesday. Then I can get caught up with my own jobs.

Gene

Ralph, your coat sure reminds me of my old Air Force parka. It was sheepskin lined with a wolf fur lined hood. Warmest coat I ever had. It was obsolete and base supply wanted me to exchange it for the newer style, but managed to keep it till discharge. It was the only one still in service.

The picture of me on my Case S in my photo section was taken by trail cam my friend Dewey had set in my woods. Also had pictures of turkeys, deer, raccoons and squirrels.

Gene

Mine is definitely not air force issue. Just a local hardware store "Work King". Not a bad parka but the duck material does not seem to wear as well as the nylon shell parkas I usually wear. Those coats get a lot of use in this country.
I have lost my way to the photo you refer to Gene. The one of you and your Case S.
Light dusting of snow today but still not freezing the ground. I might get back to flax straw piling yet. Water pump started leaking on the Cockshutt 40 so I have another repair job to deal with.
I have finally edited some of my harvesting video to my youtube channel.
[video=youtube;VIJ4c4PcZhg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIJ4c4PcZhg&feature=youtu.be[/video]