A Productive Week

In spite of not getting any hay cut or baled, the past week was pretty productive. Moved the majority of last year's crop to the terminal cleaning out ten grain bins. I suppose if I hadn't been doing that I might have been cutting hay. But it seemed every day there was either showers or the threat of them and I'd probably not have cut any hay. As it happened, the showers did not amount to much in this immediate area. Seems you can go from dust to mud and back to dust again in the space of half a mile.
I even took the time to get some crop photos with the Merc. The bloom is starting to fade a little on the early canola crops so I knew I better not wait much longer for photos. The sky and clouds were perfect, roads were dry, and the Merc was ready to roll. I think I got some of my best crop photos and video yet and put some of it on youtube. It will be good to look back on in December when the snow is blowing.

More Living Sky

Once again our "land of living skies" did not fail to impress me. Thunderstorm moving across the South while I was still in the clear watching the sunset. Made for some interesting photos and video. And of course an opportunity for some more "Mercury photos". That lightning strike picture is actually a freeze frame from the video. It was many miles away but still looked impressive. No rain fell here. There have been some wild storms in the South with hail and a tornado or two. Plow winds as well.

Uncle Roy Sings

I'm a little envious of those who have a natural musical talent. They can take an instrument and learn to play it without benefit of lessons and produce music. One side of my family had it. I don't. I do enjoy listening to some of the old recordings saved over the years. I'm gradually trying to transfer from the somewhat unstable magnetic recording tape over to digital format where they will be safer and more accessible. At least for my foreseeable future.
This is one of my favourites sung and self accompanied on the guitar by my uncle Roy. He might have had one of his "roll your own" cigarettes in his mouth while singing this old Carl Smith tune. I've listened to a few versions of it by others on youtube and in all honesty, this is the best I've heard. I may be a little biased though.
The recording was made on an old reel to reel to recorder in the winter of 1955 or maybe 56 in the old family farm house. It might have been done by lamp light and batteries as I believe it was 1956 before rural electricity was available in the area. I added a few photos from the old family albums to make it into a music video.

The Irish Sweepstakes

I guess it was a time when lotteries and gambling was illegal in this part of Canada, Saskatchewan. Nowadays they are a big source of revenue for the government but not so in the 1960s. My dad dreamed of winning "the Irish Sweepstakes" and would occasionally refer to something he needed to buy when he won the sweepstakes.
I don't know the procedure it took to acquire these tickets buy my aunt worked in the big city and had access to them. So my dad gambled a little in hopes of winning a lot. I thought of that recently while sifting through boxes of old papers (the kind of stuff most people throw away) and I found these sweepstakes ticket stubs that my dad had saved. Cost was one pound sterling each which I think was about $3 at the time. And that was quite a bit of money in the 1960s on a small farm.
I wonder if our lives would have changed  a little, or a lot, if dad had got lucky on the sweepstakes?
Most likely a new(er) car and a good line of farm equipment instead of the old "mechanics specials" he could afford to buy at the time.
Update: after a little research it appears the Irish Sweepstakes was a bit of a scam. Less than ten percent of the ticket sales went to hospitals. The majority seems to have gone to make rich people richer. Irish Sweepstakes

Carbon Tax

I'm familiar with the concept you have to spend money to make money in this farming business. But a news interview this morning suggested that by paying the liberal's proposed carbon tax, we will actually get more money back than what we paid in. ?? How is that possible? If I'm going to have to pay more for the fuel I burn farming, heating my home and transporting my product to market, how is that good for me?
The proposed carbon tax starting next January will be $20 a tonne. So many tonnes of carbon do I have? Or produce? Just how do they figure out this magical formula that will make some of us rich by spending our money on a carbon tax? It sounds like one of those schemes where you just hand over your money and trust the government to take care of it.
Link to the National Post article.
Carbon Tax Will Pay?

Cattle In The Summer

They have all the grass they can handle but they never refuse a pail of oat chop. I give them some every morning as it saves me having to go out in the pasture to check on the cattle. This was just some video I shot while walking  among them. It was near 80 degrees at the time and  I was thinking back to  the video I shot in February , or was it January, when it was way below zero degrees. The cattle have lost their winter coats now  and look smooth and shiny. Flies are a pest and the cattle spend some time in the shelter some mornings as  it seems to be a little less fly infested. Or  they think so anyway. Very few mosquitos this year which is a  nice change. Probably due to the dry conditions. It used to be a common practice to light a "smudge" for the cattle in the evenings. An old straw bale, partially rotting or wet made a good source of smoke to disperse the mosquitos. The cattle knew it and came to stand  in the smoke. I guess we were adding  to the carbon footprint even in those days.

The Old Porch is Gone

The old porch stood, detached from the main house, for just over 40 years. It had developed a serious lean over the years and the last few big wind storms were too much for it to stand anymore.
Originally built as the new house was constructed in 1920. It was very small but served the purpose of keeping the cold Northwest winds away from the kitchen door. It also served as a dog and cat house under the floor.
The old porch was retired and relocated in the summer of 1976 and a new, much bigger one was built to replace it. It served some purpose as a storage shelter and place to park things that we weren't quite ready to throw away yet.
Lots of memories in that little old building and it shows up in various photos over the years.

One of the earliest is this one from 1947 of my grandmother and Aunt Doris sitting on the steps.

Me with my dad probably  the winter of 54.

Thats my dad again, probably 1947. 

Little brother sitting on the steps squinting into the sunset about 1961. 

Summer of 76 the old porch was moved and we were well into laying the concrete for the new replacement. 

The old porch relocated to it's new home not far away near the maple hedge. 

Just the edge of the roof showed up this wedding photo from 2014. 

Couple of weeks ago it was all done. Now the clean up.

Feeding Cows and Finding Calf

Going hands free with the Gopro camera. No , its not a commercial endorsement but I thought I'd post a video of my first test run trying it out. It is a chest mount harness that holds the camera steady and secure so I can video and still have two hands free for work.

Went out to feed the cows and discovered one cow missing. After a short walk into the pasture I spotted her with a new calf. In almost the same location as she had a calf almost exactly a year ago.

Back In The Oat Field 2016

Part 4 of harvest 2016. Got a few more acres done between rains. Managed to  keep working til 3:00 am without getting lost, falling asleep or driving over anything I shouldn't. Then it rained. After that it dried up for a few more days before the next rain, and the cycle continues. Currently sitting here at near 3 inches of rain with it likely turning to snow by morning.  I guess the flax will stand through it. And if I'm being optimistic, I might even harvest it this fall before real winter sets in.

Harvest 2016 Episode 1

You can tell its a rainy day and I can't harvest. So I'm catching up on a few things including editing some of the video and photos on my cameras. I worked til 3 am last night trying to finish a field of oat swaths before the rain but never made it. Those big swaths were tough enough going even when relatively dry but the rain was the finish. My "harvest crew" stuck with me right to the finish and I would be lost without them.

Its supposed to be a big one but so far just slow rain. Canola and wheat yielded great. Oats not quite so good and I suspect I should have swathed them sooner before Sunday's wild wind threshed out a lot of crops. Some canola swaths were torn apart and there was a "twister trail" across the oat field yesterday and swaths were scattered. As always, we are at the mercy of nature in this business.

Groundhog Day

February 2 is traditionally known as groundhog day. The day when this large rodent ventures forth from the snow covered frozen ground and gives us a clue as to how much longer the winter will last. depending on if it sees it's shadow or not.
We don't have groundhogs here in Sask. and if we did they would be hibernating beneath the deep frozen ground knowing there will be nothing for them on the surface but cold and snow for the next month or two.
In family history it is also the birthday of great Uncle Alf Goff. Born in Chetnole, Dorset in 1870. He got out of Dorset in his 20s and sailed for Australia where he worked on a sheep farm for a few years before returning to England . Not for long though as he and his younger brother Tom then sailed for Canada and spent some time working on the railroad and threshing crews eventually returning to England. They must have liked Canada though for they returned to take up a homestead in 1903 in the land that would soon become Saskatchewan. Alf farmed full time until he died at the age of 72 in January of 1942.

Alf with cousin Jack who lived and farmed next door . 

Alf in Australia in the 1890s.

Winter Warrior

I borrowed that title from the CBC phone in program today where they asked the question , "are you a winter warrior or a whiner?" Inspired by the continuing cold and colder to come weather here I guess. This little calf has to be a warrior to survive. He was born in the dark, cold early morning hours last Sunday morning in the open front cattle shelter at sub zero temps. Lucky he had a good mother who was right on the job drying him off and preventing his ears from freezing in the cold conditions. He spent the first five days pretty well all inside the shelter, which was the best place considering how cold it has been . This morning , with sunshine and wind chill factors in the -30s he was out and running around, looking right at home in the cold weather.
I consider myself a reluctant winter warrior since I really don't like the extreme cold but have to get out there every day to feed and water the cattle.
At least we humans know from past experience that this extreme weather will pass and soon enough it will be spring. That calf has known nothing other than frozen ground and snow, cold and wind.
The forecast is for near record breaking cold weather tomorrow night. I am starting to hear a lot of complaints about the severity and duration of this winter. I guess its not just me.

Stormwalk January 2014

Even though it was cold and windy to the point of dangerous wind chill, I had to edit this video down quite a bit to make is short enough to upload to youtube. When I shot this video a few days ago the sundogs were out which is an indicator of cold conditions. Wind blew so hard that a lot of the snow just blew away. The few places it did settle produced some very hard drifts. I spent an hour or so yesterday with tractor and blade clearing up around the barn and shelter area hoping to get the snow out before the cattle pack it down. My driveway may or may not be passable , I will find out tomorrow maybe. I didn't feel like walking a quarter mile in that freezing wind to see.
While I was out risking frostbite the real lazy farmer was out in a field planting rye grass in a different part of the world, far removed from Sask. . Quite a contrast.

Spring Auction Sales

Standing around at farm auction sales is very hard on my back lately but I did get to a couple this spring and shot a bit of video. Watching them online from a comfortable chair is a lot more attractive. If only Sasktel would come up with more band width for us peasants out here in the sticks I would likely do it more often. Especially when snow is in the forecast (again).
Sitting up on top of a 2388 combine to shoot some video was a nice change from standing and a chance to rest my back but eventually the wind got to feeling cold at only a couple of degrees above freezing.

1230 AM And Alls Well in The Cattle Shelter

Looks like they are all settled and content for the night out in the cattle shelter. A few flakes of snow falling. The wind has dropped and it is perfectly quiet. Only a few coyotes howling to break the silence. The January calf is doing well and no more new ones yet.

Just An Observation

This news story about a huge  snowball fight seemed a little ironic today. Here in Sask. every small town and city is spending a small fortune cleaning up and trucking the snow out of town off the streets. Meanwhile in Seattle they spent a lot of money trucking in some 162,000 pounds of snow to play with.
And what is with blogger lately? It won't let me upload a photo from my files. I have to link to a photo that is already on the net or in an online album of mine.

The Sun At Last

Sometimes I complain about too much sun in the summer time. In a Sask.. winter the sun is a life saver though. Those dull cloudy, foggy days are pretty uninspiring. Today the sun broke through in all it's glory. There is nothing like sunshine on white snow and deep blue sky to make a nice photo backdrop. Not that I am particularly photogenic but I find a photo is usually more interesting if there is a subject in it, be they human or animal.
I shot a bunch of video too and got a good bit of exercise walking through the deep snow. I'd say a quarter mile walk in that is about equal to a mile of walking on a good road. Much more peaceful though.
The temperature was around -10F (about -23C for those that prefer metric) but that is not bad at all as long as the wind does not blow creating that dreaded "wind chill factor" that the weather men keep warning us about.
You can see how cloudy and dull it was yesterday in this cattle feeding video from yesterday. What a difference!

Walk In The Frosty Woods

Great scenery today so I had to shoot some video and photos around the yard. Tried out a new idea for the camera. It certainly gives a different point of view.

November On The Farm.

Some nice scenery here even though its winter. Hoar frost always does it. Milder than normal now and we are losing some of that snow. I pushed snow today to clear a path for the grain semi to haul out 3 loads of grain. So far it is looking like I was smart (lucky) to sell my canola at October price. Today's price is a dollar less per bushel. It makes no sense to me but the market is always right.

Lawn Cutting.

A rare (lately) sunny day in Sask. although it was cold enough that I was dressed up for winter. Fields still too wet to get back to seeding but I took the opportunity to cut the long grass and dandelions that were taking over my yard. It is relaxing work and sure looks nice when it is done. Not that a lot of people get to see it but the few comments I get are always positive so it inspires me to keep on cutting. Makes it easier to spot the predators too when the grass is kept down low.
This old John Deere has a lot of cutting hours on it and has to be over 20 years old. The occasional new bearing and cutting blade along with a little "skillful welding" keeps this little tractor on the job every summer for the foreseeable future.
I suppose I should be contributing to the economy by buying and driving one of the new "zero turn" hydrostatic drive mowers but as long as this one does the job without too much downtime or repairing I will probably be satisfied with it. Although if this cold spring/summer continues I might consider adding a cab and heater to it. :-)