Corn Harvest 2012

So Originally this post was gonna be called... "Catching Up - Corn Harvest, Chester, Life...A little Bit of it All," but then I started looking at corn pictures and decided to just make this a big ol' corn post, cause I had oodles of corn pics I wanted to share.

So here ya go...here's my corn post...

 

First I have to say that Corn Harvest has came a went here on our farms....Well actually it came and went about a month and half ago...but seriously who keeps track of those things....they are still harvesting corn somewhere out there so I am good....right?!?!

Over the past few years my role in corn harvest has changed dramatically. I went from being a full time truck driver to not driving a truck at all to now driving the truck some. I really do miss driving and being out there all the time, cause I love being out there and now I don't get to take near as many pictures, but I still get out there a little about every day, cause I have to take meals to the field and run errands for the guys as well.

If you have seen the news at all this summer you would have heard that we were in a drought all over the country and that the corn crop had been hurt really bad. We were no exception to this. The corn on our farm averaged anywhere from 45-80 bushels / acre in all but one field. We did have one field that averaged 107 bushels / acre. We use to think that wasn't such a great yield for our farms, but for us farmers down here in Southeast Kansas (I am sure OK and TX farmers could relate too) after last year having an average of 7-15 bushels / acre we were more than pleased! 

Usually in this part of the country we will average between 100-120 bushels / acre so there was a huge difference the past few years, but even thought it has been as great as we would have liked it to be, God has still supplied all our needs and fully taken care of us and for that we are more than thankful!

Corn harvest this year started on July 23rd. Most years it doesn't start till closer to August 23rd....or so I'm told...

2008 - harvest took place around September 27 (that's when Caleb and I got married and we picked the date cause it was suppose to be between corn harvest and wheat planting...hmm)

2009 - Harvest started September 18th and went all the way through October 29th....that was a long wet fall!

2010 - We started August 12 (about a week early) and finished on August 31st

2011 - We started on August 8th (I think it was a few days before that, but that's the first picture I had) and we finished on August 25th

So like I said I'm not really sure what normal is around here cause in 5 corn harvest's that I have been around for we haven't ever started on the August 20-25th dates that I have been told was normal...

But that's how things go on a farm...lol
 

Even though I wasn't in the field as much as I use to be I still got out there and took advantage of the time I was there and got as many pictures as I could...

Just so you know I taking pictures like this can be a dangerous job...not because I am worried about getting ran over....the combine is already past me, so I am safe....

but because you can get whacked in the head by the corn cobs flying out the back end and they hurt!   

Now this picture, on the other hand can be dangerous and you have to be careful cause there is more of a chance of getting ran over. Especially when Pop is running the combine (and he was) cause he doesn't always slow down at the end he can drive like a wild man...and he was on this day...lol

 

This is why I am sure my camera and lens hate me....cause they have to work in dust like this.

FYI: I was really nasty after taking this photo! 

When the guys are moving the combines from field to field the are hoping and praying not to meat anyone, cause there really isn't much road space left when they are coming.

 Fact: Caleb rarely remembers to turn his blinker off, so it is on in most of the pictures I take of the semi.

So one very hot day I decide to take Chester to grandma's house so I can hang out with Caleb all day and ride with him in the truck. That's how I was able to get this picture of him un-loading at the grain elevator.

 
On that very same day we return to the field and the grain cart starts dumping on the semi and I see this coming out the bottom of the trailer and I'm sure I said some not nice word on the same lines as poop....and then proceeded to yell at Caleb to have the tractor shut off. 

But by the time the message went through everyone we had a huge pile of corn there on the ground....grrr

What do you do with that corn now...

You do this...

 And this....

It's worth way too much to leave there for the critters.

So Caleb and Jeff took turns scooping it into the combine header, while I took pictures.

I think I had the better end of the deal! ;)

When it was all said and done this is all that was left. I think they did a pretty good job...

Now if I could only get Caleb to clean up his messes at home that good we would be in business. ;)

 

Now don't think that little man wasn't part of the action, cause he was there with me all the time.  Most of the time he was setting in his car seat in the air conditioned truck but he also got to drive the grain cart tractor some.

He also talked on the radio and told the guys what to do.

But his favorite thing to do was drive the combine...

That's everyone's favorite thing.
 

Boy did he have fun doing that...

Well for a while and then we would get bored and want to push buttons...

That would be are cue that it was time to go. lol

Don't mind the white legs or the part of the grain cart hanging above my head, I was to lazy to crop either one of them out. :)

Not only did we get pictures with Chester man, but we took some of just ourselves while on our date, when I rode all day with him in the semi. 

Caleb thought I was crazy for wanting to ride with him, cause not only was it hot outside, but the semi didn't have any a/c so it was a long hot ride all day. But I had fun and I think he did too.

 When it was all said and done all that was left was corn trash and blue skies.

I saved these for last, cause these are my favorite pictures...

I don't know what it is, but I love a close up of grain falling out of the auger and into the truck or grain cart....they just make me smile! 

Well that's all for now. I hope you enjoy my corn harvest pictures. If you have any questions shoot them my way and I will do my best to answer them. 

Lots of Love,

Janet

Taking a Brake

So I know it's been a while, but don't worry, I'm not taking a brake from blogging.....that's not what this post is about. So here's what it's about...

Do you ever have a day when you just wish you could get out/away and take a break from life and what is going on? If you are a mother then I know you do. lol

Well the other day I needed a break by the end of the day. Chester was terribly bad in any way, but he didn't take his afternoon nap and on that day I soo needed it. 

Well later that evening Caleb came home dragging the mower behind...

1st - We use Caleb's folks mower to mow our yard. It sucks having to drag (by drag I mean load on a trailer and haul it) down here and then drag it back, but the mower is awesome. Some day I hope to get Caleb talked into getting me my own, but summers like the past two don't really help my cause...2 months without mowing the yard...who needs a mower...

2nd - We really didn't need to mow the yard, cause it's still short and brown. We just needed to knock down the tall stuff along the road ditch where it caught all the run-off from the random rains we have gotten over the summer. As well as some weeds that we weren't able to get the last time we mowed back at the beginning of June....yeah, it's be well over 2 months since we last mowed our yard.

Anyways, back to what I was saying...

Caleb came home dragging the mower behind him and when he walked in the house I quickly said...

"I'll go mow if you will watch a cranky little boy!"

He happily replied "Sure, that would be fine."

I quickly change my shoes and grab my gloves and glasses and run outside before he changes his mind.  

I hop on the mower and go to town on the yard. 

Things to know....since I am just knocking down the high spots it is really dusty around here and the wind is blowing that means when you engage the mower then you get a nasty dust storm. I'm not sure how long I was out there....maybe an hour and it was wonderful. There is nothing like chopping the crap out of the grass for a good ol' stress release! Mowing the yard calms and relaxes me and gives me that much needed break from my little man. Even though he is a very good child everyone needs a break.

Well when I came back inside I'm pretty sure Caleb thought he had the better end of the deal cause this is what I looked like before I had a chance to shower...

 

Yeah, I was kind NASTY! But boy did I have fun getting there.

If I had know I would get this dirty , would I do it again?

In a word...

YES...cause I needed it! 

 

Nothing a little a lot of soap and water can't fix.

Mowing is one of my stress-releases, what are yours?

JP

Do A Little Dance

So I know I have been silent for a while. We had some sad things happen in our life, and I haven't really felt like talking about much of anything. And we aren't gonna talk about it anymore right now...

Cause right now it's time to have some fun.

We need to do some dancing.

Chester just loves to dance, espically to some good ol' Bluegrass music. Some of my college friends would know this group he is listening to, they are called Big Smith and they are awesome! I we to download a song of theirs that we use to listen to all the time in college and came across an album of kids music they made called From Hay to Zzzzzz: Hillbilly Songs for Kids and I love it! I bought it from Amazon, in case you would like to check it out.

Well I now got to go and get dinner ready to take to the field, cause we are cutting corn right now....

More on that later.

Hope ya'll have a great day and take some time to enjoy the music!

JP

Beef on My Plate

I was recently contacted by the Kansas Beef Council about try out a new online assessment tool called My Plate, My Way, on the "Beef It's What's for Dinner" website. This is an interactive tool offers personalized tips and recipes to guide healthy eating choices that are tailored to you, while fitting in with USDA’s dietary guidelines.

It's a really neat tool. You will take an 8 question quiz and when you are finished it will give you your eating personality as well as some great recipes to try.

So when I took this I came out as a Flavor Saveur. And here's what they said about me...

Flavor rules in your book. Life is too short to eat foods you don’t enjoy, so you look for foods that will provide taste above all else. You love reading and trying new recipes on your quest for flavorful food.

They gave me two different recipes to try...

Filet Mignon with Herb-Butter Sauce and Mushrooms or Smoky T-Bones with Chunky BBQ Sauce

So they both sounded soo yummy, but I choose to the Smoky T-Bones....why, because I have T-Bones in freezer, but I still want to try the other recipe, but I might try it with ribeyes instead of the filet. But that will be for another time so back to the T-Bones I cooked. Well here's what they looked like...

I won't lie I was a little scared when I was making this for Caleb cause its a steak that you add BBQ sauce onto it and it has pineapple in it...

I should say this, Caleb likes his food "Plain Jane". No "fancy" ingredients. So I really didn't expect him to take to the idea of this steak topped with Pineapple BBQ sauce, but...

Not only did I love this recipe but so did Caleb. I though he might just go for the steak with no sauce on it, but he put it on the side and just plain loved it, he even started stealing some from my plate when he ran out of sauce. The only thing I didn't do that the recipe called for was rub chili powder on the steaks.

I'm sorry I didn't do a how-to picture post of this recipe, I was kind of in a rush when I made these, but I plan on making them again soon, and hopefully I will be able to do it next time. Once again here is a link to the Smoky T-Bones with Chunky BBQ Sauce again. If you get chance to try them, do, cause they are wonderful! Also take some time and go over to the Beef It's What's for Dinner website and check out all the great tools they have over there. Also go check out the My Plate, My Way. I would love to hear what your eating personality is.

Until we meet again.

JP

I'm Farming and I Grow it!!

First sorry I have been away for awhile. My computer caught a nasty bug, and has been in and out of the shop for about two weeks now. It back now and good as new!!!

Ok back to why we are here....

If you haven't seen this video yet then you must watch it...it is just too good!

Frist I want to say gret job to these boys....this was great. Second these are some good ol' Kansas Boys woot, woot!!! Third I love the fact that their clothes are dirty in parts of this, cause it really show what farmes look like when they are out there working.

Hope ya'll enjoy it! Have a wonderful Friday!!!

JP

I got tired

I got tired with my old look so I decided to change it up a bit.

What do you think??

Do you hate it?

Do you love it?

And what do you think of my new picture?

There are a few things that I don't just love about this new set-up, but for the most part I am happy with it....and anyways, I was needing something different.

Have a great weekend!

JP

Update's, List and Other Random Things

1. We are still in the Wheat field.

If all goes well we should be able to finish up with the wheat harvest this week!! How awesome would that be! We still have soybeans to plant behind the wheat but we are slowly making headway on that too. There have been years around here where some of the farmers talk about watching fireworks from the combine while cutting wheat, so getting it out this early is just great!!

2. My child is sleeping right now, but I'm sure he will wake up before I finish this post! More on him in a bit.

3. I currently have what's left of a dead possum in my yard thanks to my wonderful dogs. It's been there long enough that it no longer stinks. How sad is that! lol

4. My garden looks terrible this year. I was pulling weeds yesterday and oh my there are a lot of them. I also discovered while out there that I need to pick green beans...

As if I didn't already have enough to do this week.! :/

5. I have 2 mason jars full of dead flowers sitting on my table from before mothers day. I really should throw them out, but I keep finding better things to do.

6. I hear my child waking up, which means I don't have much time. :)

 7. I miss blogging. Over the past 6 to 8 months (really since Chester was born) I haven't blogged near as much as I use to. Partly because of him and partly because I took on another responsibility. I am now taking care of Children's Church at my Church and that consumes a lot of my brain time, but I soo love working with the kids. They are an absolute JOY!! and the helpers I have well they are just plain wonderful!

8. I <3 Mt. Dew! It's true, it's kinda my coffee!

9. I own 2 Kid Rock CD's (soon possibly 3) and 3 Nickelback CD's....For those of you that have known me since I was little that's probably a shocker, cause all I use to listen to was Country and well that's really mainly what I do listen to, but I but I do love me some good ol' rock music...But I don't listen to all the songs on their albums, cause there are some that are a little too nasty for me! My favorite music is hands down "Reddirt Country" or "Texas Country" what ever ya wanna call it. It's the best!!

10. I am a Missourian, born and bred. I Love everything about my home state, but after living in Kansas for almost 5 years now I would have to say that I am beginning to love it too. Now I will always be a Missourian, and it will always be my first Love, but I am gradually becoming a Kansan too and I really can't imagine living anywhere else. Hmm....never thought I would say that! lol

11. I quilt, and I love it!! Back in November I won a photo contest and with the prize money I bought myself a new sewing machine. I ha been using three different old machines that were either given to me or I got for a $1 at a garage sale, well I know why they didn't cost much cause they didn't work worth a hoot. So I finally was able to get me a new one and oh my was I glad I did!! It's amazing and I love it and use it every chance I get.

I made a quilt for my nephew who graduated high school this spring and I loved the way it turned out!

Here he is showing it off.

Now I only have 12 more to make to get all the nieces and nephews taken care of...I had better get hopping!

12. I currently have 2 totes full of baby clothes that need to be hauled out to the shed for storing. This kid is growing way too fast!

13.My child turned 8 months yesterday...

Yeah I know it's hard to believe it's been that long. He is now crawling all over the place (he does the army man crawl, cause he doesn't have time for the other crawling). We keep him pinned in the living room with laundry baskets full of clothes. If the clothes aren't in there then the baskets aren't heavy enough...

It's really not that hard to find the clothes I am doing laundry every other second.

14. We did a photo soot in the field where the wheat field meets up with the corn field. I took somewhere around 235 pictures and boy was it fun!

15.Chester can now pull himself up now and we do it all the time. He one very determined child and I am afraid we may be walking before long. Yikes!

I thought I had a picture of him standing, but I just have a video, and it's not on my computer...But this is him after he stood up. He was trying to get my phone, and once he had that he wanted my camera. lol

16. We did an impromptu family photo shoot the other day, because I really don't have any pics of all three of us. Caleb always tells me that there's no since paying someone to take our pictures since I have the camera and can do it...but he forgets that he has to make time for to take the pictures. So I put Chester in a cute outfit and got a clean shirt for Caleb and when I took him his dinner one day I made him stop for a few extra minutes to take a family picture. They may not be perfect, but this is how things are most days, so I wanted to get one in our "real life" setting.

17. I loved what Chester was wearing in this picture so much that I put him in that same outfit a few days later for his 8 month photos.

Well I guess that about does it for now. It has taken me half the morning to write this so I had better go put my little man down for a nap and go and fold some laundry and stuff some diapers.

If I get a chance I will post some more pics of Chester's Photo Shoot, cause they were really cute!!