Bent Out Of Shape

No, not me, I am much the same as always. But my old reliable grain shovel as seen in this photo is badly bent backwards. Not that I use it a lot anymore but it has been on the farm longer than I have and has some sentimental value. I think I must have backed up against it with the tractor wheel while trying to maneuvre out of the doorway of the quonset. The doors are next to impossible to open due to freezing so I was trying to sneak out with just one door open. To move snow yet again.
That job never ends this "spring". I was lucky to get two semi loads of flax out yesterday while the road was still good. Flax is over $15 a bushel now which is a very good price. Hopefully I will have a little cash left over after I pay the crop share, trucking bill and this year's fertilizer bill.
Pre buying dry fertilizer is a bit of a gamble like most things in farming. The price is down right now so it is a good time to buy. It is a non-returnable product though so I have to hope that I will have enough acres that are not too flooded to plant this spring and use it all up. Its no fun carrying over a few tons of fertilizer to next season.
Delivery is going to be interesting. Trying to pull all the right strings so the road is not filled with snow/too soft from thawing when I get the semi to deliver. And hope the unloading auger does not break down during the unloading  process like last year.
Wild south east winds the past 24 hours have drifted snow everywhere. No point opening my driveway til the wind drops . More snow predicted for tonight so no rush. Maybe I'll head out to the workshop and try to straighten the poor old bent shovel. Turn up CBC radio and drown out the sound of the wind.

Playing In The Snow Again

Well my driveway had degenerated to the extent that even 4 wheel drive and winter tires were barely getting me through. I had left tracks that would be representative of the Chinese year of the snake, and they were very hard to follow.
So yesterday it was time to fire up the sixty year old tractor and put the 40 year old snow blower to work. It was a nice day, not so warm that the snow was wet, but not so cold that I couldn't take my mitts off to set up the camera and take this interesting series of videos. The 8 foot aluminum conduit pipe mount is a little springy when mounted horizontal. It makes it look as if the tractor is bouncing up and down violently when in fact it is a smooth ride. At one point the camera tilted 90 degrees and gave a whole different view that I wasn't expecting.
It is turning into a long winter. Concerns are already being expressed that we may have flooding problems when the spring melt occurs. Only days ago I read an article indicating that there was very little moisture content in this snow. So what has changed?