Slick 60's

Well those soybeans surehave been growing !
But they needed a rain very much !
A couple of days ago I was riding my old tractor , disking the wheat stubble
My radio doesn't work very well
So I listen to about anything that comes in
I listened to a preacher on the religious station all morning
That night it rained over 2" inches
....
Fair enough trade im thinking
.....
Yesterday my sons family came from Arkansas
This is my little grandaughter checking out the soybeans

Man did it thunder & lightning last night !
Lots of big booms very close
Rain gauge has over 3" in it this morning

We will be at SLICKSTOCK this time next year !

“START THE CLOCK!!!!”

If yer reading this....
Your probably tired of me saying "it rained again "
But.....
Yesterday I finished discing a field & got home at one clock
Ate dinner & planned to do some stuff around the shop
But when I walked out around 1:30 it seemed awful dark
Decided the grass better be mowed , as it was fairly tall
Ive lost count on how many times Ive mowed this year
The front yard probably 15 times
Out by the machinery , I usally only have to mow about 4-5 times
Ive mowed out there at least 10 times
So I mowed till 5 & got most of it done
I finished in the rain soaking wet
I see we had over an inch this morning (Saturday)
Neighbor 5 mile south had 2.5"
They have kept track this year of 2019...... 51" of rain
Wettest year of my life... 57% of a century

Well , all the soybeans got cut & hauled to the elevator
The F1000 1961 with the 534 ran perfect
It made about 20 runs of about 25 miles each
Plenty of power & about 4 mpg

Now I'm working the ground & planting wheat
My neighbor called & wanted to get rid of some extra seed a few days ago
So last night I filled the F600 with gas to this morning
But it got cold & the windows were all frosted !
So I started it up & tried out the heater switch
Yep!! Blows good out the defroster ....
Looked under the hood & opened up the valve
Warm air !!! ....

Planted all day... quit when it got dark
Suppose to get cold.... I need 8 more days of decent weather

Going after a little more seed wheat today
Should be done planting by tonight
This weekend will be cleaning & putting machinery
Up for the winter
Big project for this winter is building another field sprayer
Building a frame from scratch
Engine , cab , & drive axle from a combine
Steering axle from a F600 (so I can use the bigger 20" wheels)
750 gallon tank & 65' ft booms
I have the blueprints all written up in my head

Also will have a Slick in the shop to tinker with
Have to get old Goerge (61 4x4) ready for SLICKSTOCK 2020
Haven't drove him to SS since 2012
Hard to believe it was almost exactly 12 years ago I bought "Goerge"
And then found this nutty group on the internet

Been working on a shop project....
Building a field sprayer
Using the drivetrain & axles from a combine
Building my own frame , booms , everything
It will hold a 750 gallon tank & 60 foot booms
New sprayers of similar size sell for over $200K
Mine wont go as fast , but will do the same thing
I will have about 1/30 of that much $ invested
If we don't count ibuprofen for my aches !

Well the wind is blowing in Kansas !
About 30* and a 1/2" of ice on everything
Little snow too ... just darn nasty !
Been working down in my basement
In July we had lots of rain & it got water in it
Not deep ... but about a 1/2" to inch everywhere
Needless to say ... made a big mess ... and its just been neglected
But we have been doing a lot of cleaning & fixing
Built some nice shelves in one room
(To store all the crap my kids will toss when we die )
In the furnace room , I put in all new LED lights (nice & bright)
And built myself a decent work bench table
To keep tools in one area instead of scattered al thruout the house
The big finished room is getting painted & new carpet
Pulled the pool table out (been there for 50 years ....
Nobody plays on it anymore... time to go
Hopefully we will get more use out of it (the basement)

Yesterday was supposed to be decent... weatherwise
Got up & Colleen and I headed to the field
Ive been spraying fertilizer on the wheat
Had a patch up north I wanted to finish
Started up the the old sprayer & Colleen started waving her arms !
The. Compressor. Belt was smoking
No problem... I dont need that to finish spraying, so I cut it off
Since it was already ruined
Made one round in the field.....
Phone rings ....
we cut your waterline where we. Put in that new bridge
(I run a. Public rural water district)
Ok.... get in the truck and drive over....
Yep ... right about where I marked it for the bridge builders 4 months ago
But this guy was doing the ditch work , and embankment rock
I said "did you call DIG SAFE ?
"No ... the county engineer said nobody knew where the waterline was"
Well , I said ... not exactly ... but my flags were probably less than 5' feet from it
.....
Any way ... finally got it fixed & buried about 8 hours later
Drove back to the field and worked till 7 finishing that field spraying
Then I noticed the wheel bearing out on the steer tire
Guess. I wont drive this home....
At least I know what I'm doing today
Hope the bearing shop is open

I have been cleaning up around the old farmstead
Getting rid of junk & trying to sell things I wont ever use..
Mowing & trimming trees that have been neglected
....
Last winter I sold an engine off of a combine i no longer needed
Guy gave me more than I can sell these old junkers for....
But the machine was still in my shed...
So Jim (my son) and I had to pull it out
Hooked my truck to it & pulled it out of there
.......
Later that day , Colleen and I went to town for some lumber
To build a feed bunk for some calves we bought
Before we went to Lowes , I said "let's get a hamburger"
Pulled up to the window & ordered
Then the woman behind me got out of her car
....
"Sir....... Sir ! ..... did you know your dragging a long chain?"

Well..... I do now
At least the cheeseburgers were good

Hot dry winds past 3 days
In the 90*s and 25 mph winds
Been planting soybeans
The wheat is ripening fast
Chance of rain next 3 days.. we could use it
No pics yet.... hopefully some during wheat harvest

The winds have been brutal up in northern Nebraska also this week. I'm hoping to get some rain a couple days later this week.

I went to bed last night about 11:30
The wind was blowing pretty fierce
Colleen said the weather service said "take cover"
So I fell asleep & woke up at 6 am sharp .....
Looked at the gauge .... 1.25" inches of rain
PERFECT !
Good on the soybeans that are growing & what we just planted

Got some more !
The soybeans are growing ... but so are the weeds in the wheat that has been cut!
As soon as it dries up ... the sprayer will start up

RAGWEED SEASON

I didn't get hay fever until I was almost 40 years old
But ever since then , every fall it hits me
I will star sneezing if I'm around a bunch of it
If I mow & kick up dust it gets worse ....
Then I make the mistake of rubbing my eyes
Then they start swelling ....
By this time , about the only thing I can do is
Go inside & take a shower & sit for a while...
Today I took a sudafed .... about slept half the day
Those things really knock me out
Probably go in & get a shot....
I ain't gonna fight this until it freezes

5 days ago (Sunday) my son & I drove to Salina
It was so hot (96*) the AC on the track barely kept up
Then by Wednesday morning it was down to 38* !
I actually built a fire in the basement wood stove
I wanted to test it out...
last spring I built a plenum over it , and
Ducted it to a hole , at the end of the upstairs hallway
Now it brings heat upstairs really good !
Been drizzle raining most of the last 3 days , about 2.25" inches
I think it will help the soybeans some... pretty late in the growing season though
Definitly will be good for planting Wheat....
Will start that in about 10-15 days from now

holy cow !
like the title says ...
WIND BLOWING IN KANSAS
and it really has done just that...
started wednesday night
all day yesterday & supposed to blow all day today...
averages about 35 Mph , with up to 50 gusts
about 25* degrees at night (fahrenheit)

have to go repair a waterline break today
backhoe is suppose to be coming at 9
hope it goes good.. i dont mind cold
but cold & wind .... i do not like

another day.... we tied for second place
straight 50+ mph wind all day long
just a skiff of snow

Straight line winds 50 to 60 with a peak gust of 93 in Montana this week. not to bad today 25 to 30 plus grass and timber fires this week.

holy moly !!! .. who left the door open up north ??
it is cold ! ... 8* here right now....
supposed to be below freezing every day
and in the single digits at night for the next week ....
i dont mind some cold weather...but thats a bit longer than i enjoy

not much snow on the ground... just barely white

the wood box is half full... but the wood shed outside has plenty

ive noticed one thing about global warming .... its dam cold at times