A beautiful summer day on Sunday turned to almost winter overnight. Today the furnace is running and the daytime high is somewhere in the 40s. Another half inch of rain has re soaked the already saturated grounds. It is a common thing to see a four wheel drive tractor parked on the edge of the field while swathers cut canola. I got stuck once myself swathing canola. I have not even taken the combine out of the shed yet.
Here is a video to look back on, back when there was sunshine and blue sky not that long ago.
[video=youtube;xn8q0ygd3k4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn8q0ygd3k4[/video]

Nice video of the '39 Ford. Look forward to riding along on a ride on the local roads and trails.

Hope you can finally get some harvest weather. Cold wet weather makes the harvest seem to last forever.

Western Ohio has been blessed with very pleasant weather. Had our warmest day of the year last Friday with a high temperature of 91 degrees with light wind and a full day of sunshine. Light rain on Saturday then more sunshine and warm temps since then. Been good haymaking weather finally. I mowed my hay on Wednesday and raked and baled it on Monday. Third cutting and heaviest hay I have made here. Got 295 bales from the 3 acres. Was very satisfied with that.

Neighbors have started cutting corn and filling silos and lots of hay down over the last week. Soybeans in many fields have started turning and even saw 1 field where the leaves were starting to drop.

Weeds and grass is growing like it was the end of April. Never had to mow so much grass this late in summer.

Hope everyone enjoys the last few days of summer.

Gene

We are about at the end of the warm weather right now.  Predicted high today of 81.  Not sure we made that.  Rain and t-storms called for tonight with a cold front.  T shirt weather is over for now.  High tomorrow of 70 and low 60's for the weekend and beyond.  Strange year indeed.  First year I can remember when the heat ran more time in August that the air conditioning.  Like everyone else we have spring growing conditions.  

Did some travel Monday.  Miles and miles of corn fields.  Looks to be about 14 feet tall most places.  Still fresh green in this area but visible change 50 miles West of here.  No yellow leaves, but certainly much more pale green with slight loss of green at leaf edges.  Seeing a lot of soybeans similar to the picture Gene posted earlier this summer.  Appear to be near waist high and very full and bushy. Some real nice stands of what is probably third cutting hay and alfalfa.  Some down and drying and some being cut.

Not a lot else to talk about here.  As Ralph knows   we did some trading and got a newer set of used wheels.  Nice ride and we put on about 1000 miles the first month.  That is huge for us.  60 day, 100% warrenty so have to look for any bugs or problems now.  Come winter the car will spend it's time parked while our necessary travel happens in the all wheel drive SUV.  For as far as we go there is no point in salting up two vehicles.  That does pay off too.  Got back almost all of the money we paid for the 2005 car which we bought in 2007 so that made me a happy camper.  Beyond that, the dealer who was a little worried it would take a while to sell the 2005 at what he allowed plus whatever profit, sold it the first day on the lot.  Guess he is happy too.

Charlie V.

Sad but true.  Two days later and 52 degrees with rain on and off.  If I want summer all winter seems it will be necessary to move South, far South.  Even then it may not be a sure thing.

Charlie V.

Hard frost here and most of south Sask. last night. That will finish the green crops, or at least heavy damage . On the positive side it will also help "dessicate" the green second growth that is holding up the harvest of some crops. Swathers were running late last night trying to get as much green canola down before the frost hit but I think there will still be damage. Showers predicted for tomorrow.

Getting early fall weather here in Ohio too. Still summer officially, but have 42 degrees this morning. 9 days ago we had the highest temperature of the summer and now have a fire going this morning. No frost or freeze in the forecast, so late crops are safe for now.

In 1964 my brother, Edsel, started a repair garage near Magnetic Springs, Ohio. Yesterday we had a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the business. Many patrons and family members attended with some very nice cars and tractors for display. Had plenty food to eat and door prize drawings throughout the day. Many of the current and former customers attended as well as many neighbors and friends. 6 of us brothers were there for the festivities.  Brother has since retired and his son Kevin now runs the business. Congratulations to Edsel and Kevin for 50 successful years.

A sad note was the phone call we received from Tennessee that our second oldest brother, Ernie, from Tennessee had passed away on Saturday morning. He had been under hospice care for some time with heart problems. Was a blessing we were together to get the news. Ernie had just celebrated his 86th birthday last month. A great brother and friend will be missed.

Gene

Gene,

Saddened to hear about your Brother Ernie Passing.  Hope he is in a better place now.  My wife's cousin lost her husband week before last also.  I did not know him well but understand he was a nice man and easy to talk with.  He did not have it easy the last couple of months and has been nursing a bad heart for fourteen years so I believe he was as ready to go as one can be.

Seems that our weather is a parallel to yours.  Down to 41 again last night.  Best to leave the freezes to Ralph for now.  Only at 58 now so I will dress a little when I go out shortly to mow.  At least the wind is fairly calm.

Charlie V.

Well I am back for a while. I have trouble navigating but that should get better as I hang around here. I don't have a lot of news, I am at that point of my life where it is hard to do major projects. I keep the 4 old tractor I have running and work them with keeping the places mowed. Interesting note it that we have 8.5 acres of alfalfa, which I cannot find anyone to bale it.  Long story is it will go to seed this year and have some one lined up to make it next year, What a waste.
Is this the main thread??
Paul Waugh

Hi Paul,

Welcome back.  Sorry about your alfalfa.  It hardly pays to buy and maintain a baler for small acreage, does it.  I am in about the same situation as you when it comes to not being able to do half what I want to do.  One of the penalties of living longer but..............................we all know the alternative and that isn't so good either.  I, for one will stick to this one as long as I can.

If there is such a thing as a main thread, I guess this would be it.  A handful of us just compare what is going on with each of us and chat a bit.  This is the only thread that has had activity for quite a while except for the post I put up yesterday advertising Dean VP and his JD ability.  I will say this area of NY is just now showing some color in the leaves and some fields of soybeans are about a 50% mix of yellow with the green.  Although corn is no longer fresh green I do not think it will really change color until after we have a frost.  

Charlie V.

Paul, good to see you back on the forum. Hope you keep us up to date on your happenings.

Weather has been delightful fall winter for the past week or so. Cool nights and bright warm days. Forecast for today and Sunday is near 80 degrees. Have had no rain and very little wind for over a week. The trees are just now starting a little color, seems a little later than normal.

Crops are maturing rapidly and many soybeans being combined. I went flying Thursday morning and saw several fields have been harvested. My beans still have some green stalks and leaves, so expect to be able to run them by the end of this week. I combined some beans at the end of the field next to the woods that were dry being stunted by the trees. Needed to be able to get some machinery out of the woods and they were ready.

Last Monday I made a trip to Bryant, Indiana to get a drive axle for my combine. Mercer county had many acres of corn chopped for silage. Looks like a good crop for the whole area.

Had some physical problems this summer with pains in my muscles and lack of strength. Was taking Crestor for my cholesterol and saw this was 2 of the side affects of the medicine. I quit taking it and now have felt a lot better. Finally able to get some projects done.

Gene

Glad to see you made it here to the forum Paul. This is certainly the "busiest" thread on the forum but even so, there are days go by with nothing said. I am guilty this week having had 5 days of good weather and non stop combining canola and wheat. I have a day off from the combine today. Light rain hit this morning. I may have updated my blog, posted a few comments on red power etc. but here is the one you have all been waiting to see.
My driving video of the 39 Ford. Had it edited and ready for a week but didn't get around to uploading to youtube until today. Its like 1971 all over again, kind of.
[video=youtube;KaQ0TYNJhGI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaQ0TYNJhGI&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Ralph, thanks for another excellent video.  Really fun to watch and listen to.

Dean

Ralph, thanks for another excellent video.  Really fun to watch and listen to.

Dean

Glad you liked the video Dean. I enjoy making them. Hoping to get some good harvest video but I've been too busy driving the combine to set up the camera it seems . Now the rain has shut everybody down and the forecast is not good. Harvest is around the half way done mark here. Some places more, some less. I took this shot yesterday while harvesting some tough wheat. I don't normally put 17% moisture wheat in the bin but with rain in the forecast and a few other factors, I decided to chance it.

Hi Ralph.  I do always enjoy your videos and appreciate the time you put into them.

Here's a quick scene from yesterday... I guess it's all about the bedding.

Dean

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Let it rain. I finished combining the soybeans on Saturday. Got the ground all chisel plowed. Should be good for the fall. Have started hauling corn for the Amish. Delivered over 1500 bushels to farm near Fort Loramie. Took the last wagon load this morning. Is a 30 mile trip each way, so a long time. Rain started a little before noon, so getting a couple nice showers.

Last week spent a couple days at Portland swap meet. picked up a few items I can use. Spend more time socializing than shopping. Only had a light rain and typically cool fall weather. Electric heater and furnace in the motorhome made for comfortable nights.

Fall harvests have been spotty. Some crops not ready yet  and spotty showers have slowed the combines down ic crops that are ready. Fall colors just coming on and leaves starting to fall. more fall cleanup.

Dean is getting a lot accomplished at his place. He is going through the same things I did when I first got my place. Seems there is always something. Ralph, I hope the are getting along well with harvest. Can sometimes be a long season.

Hope everyone is having a good October.

Gene