Lists

18 hours in a car is now imminent. 7 hours today and the rest tomorrow. We are going to the Coast for our niece's wedding. Most of us are going. DS has opted to stay home and go to school, go to a Career Fair in the city - check out colleges and universities- write a chemistry exam, ump or ref - whatever it's called - at a volleyball tournament, go to youth group. He'll be having fun! I will be squashed in the car with My Sweetheart, DD, and my father in law. And so, right now, I am packing.  Finally.  The week has been spent making lists - lists of stuff to pack, lists of stuff for DS to do, lists of stuff for me to remember to do - get more insurance, pack pills, pick up the clothes that were being altered....Lists, lists, lists.

And packing is a chore. I'm staying for an extra week.My Sweetheart et al will be heading home on Saturday. My Sweetheart is not a packer. He just trusts that I will remember everything.  Extra flashlights?  Check.  Cell phone charger?  Check.  Snacks for 36 hours in the car?  Check.  GPS, with addresses and phone numbers entered correctly?  Check. If anything has been forgotten it will be because it wasn't on the list. And because I am staying for an extra week I have to pack accordingly.  I have to remember to pack an extra suitcase.  I'm flying home.  So I have to remember to pack accordingly for that too.  Not too much. But not too little. I might be going shopping - I need comfortable shoes.  It will be October when I come home.  It might be cool.  I need a warmer jacket - just in case. Wedding clothes, church clothes, everyday clothes, shopping clothes.  

I am excited to be going, and excited to be staying and excited to be coming home just in time for Thanksgiving. We're going to have a great time. I'm trusting the Lord to watch over DS when we're not here. I'm trusting the Lord to take away my anxiety while we drive through the mountains. That reminds me - I better pack some sedatives!

Back to the packing...

camera - with extra batteries, extra memory card, pills, cell phone, charger, GPS...

Book bag with books for the drive out and the flight home...

The vanity products...

DD`s stuff...

piles on the bed....

snacks...for the trip going and the trip coming back....

Well, I guess I better get back to the packing....













A Quick Fix

I will be the first to admit that I am technologically challenged. DS is probably the second to admit that.

My blue -suede brother came for a visit this summer. And that heralded the 'new camera' fad that went on. He had me pick him up a camera - there were only a few of them in this country and they happened to be inSaskatchewan- an older model. I liked it so much, that when he came through, I had him pick the same camera up - the last one- at Wally's World.

Long story short~ a few weeks ago my camera quit working. Or rather, the memory card quit working. I panicked. I grabbed the old memory card, from the even older camera and stuck it in.  And IT worked. But I was still nervous.  What if my camera has some kind of virus? I thought that. Maybe just computers get viruses, but in this technological world, what do the techno inept know? I didn't want to take a chance.  So I never used my camera.  It had quit, after all, just after uploading pictures for this laptop for my last blog that had pictures. I thought, maybe my laptop installed a virus to my camera and it attacked my memory card. Who knows?  Obviously, not me.

So, this morning, after going to the farmer store on an errand, I took my camera to WW - to the photo department and told them my story.  I didn't tell them that maybe my memory card got a virus - that would have been stupid.  So I just played innocent. And told them my memory card just doesn't work.
The friendly guy, or maybe he was smirking at my stupidity, looked at my memory card, and flipped the "locked" tab down to "unlock."



Unexpected Surprise

Well, I suppose all surprises are unexpected or else they wouldn't be a surprise now, would they?

I received  a surprise on Friday. And I was able to surprise My Sweetheart with the same surprise. He thought something must be up when I called him on his cell, just before supper, and told him he might want to come in for a shower. Typically I don't encourage him to come in for a shower before we dine when I know he's just going to go back outside and continue muckin' in the dirt. But on Friday evening, early Friday evening, I phoned him, even though he was in the yard, visible from my vantage point in the kitchen, and told him he just might want to come in for a shower.

He didn't. The cement people were here working on the cement for the pole shed and he was engrossed in that.  Too engrossed to pull away to come and get cleaned up for the surprise!

The funny thing was, just to back up before we were both surprised, that right after lunch, when I ran down to the basement freezer to rummage around, seeing what looked good for supper, I came upstairs with a huge beef roast.  And I thought to myself, as I was bringing this huge roast upstairs, 'why, on earth am I bringing up such a huge roast?'  This will feed us for quite a few days.  But I set it in the roaster and put it in the oven anyway.  And then, My Sweetheart's sister phoned me - or maybe I phoned her- I don't remember right now - and since we usually talk for quite a while when we are on the phone, I set the phone on 'speaker' and proceeded to talk to her as I made a pie. I had no intention of making a pie when we started conversing - it just happened.  Cocoanut cream pie.  Home-made.
So, here I had a huge roast in the oven and a pie cooling on the cupboard. Dear Son was going to grab a bite to eat at the volleyball tournament. DD, My Sweetheart and I were, apparently, going to have a feast.

At around 4:30 in the afternoon DD and I ran into town. I had a cheque to cash at the credit union.  My cousin works there. After cashing my cheque I invited her to come out for supper.  She was going to be coming out that evening anyway, so why not come out and eat with us?  We had lots of food.

Just before getting into my car I saw 2 women walking towards me. 1 of them I recognized as My Sweetheart's cousin.  She had just recently moved into town. And then she introduced me to her sister. My Sweetheart's cousin who I had only ever heard about.  I had never met her.  And I always wanted to. We didn't know she was down for a visit.  I was so surprised and so happy to finally meet Esther - My Sweetheart's cousin from Carrot River. I have an uncle who lives in Carrot River, and I found out that night that Esther knows my uncle.  Small world!

Anyway, My Sweetheart's cousins and my cousin were able to join us for supper that night! We had lots of food! His cousins were his surprise by the way. I think he was wishing he would have come in for that shower!

Laughter and Tears

My Sweetheart and I went to the city today. Primarily, or so I thought, to buy new clothes for My Sweetheart to wear at his niece's (our flowergirl's) wedding.  The wedding is in 2 weeks.  We needed to act fast.  But My Sweetheart had a list.  You know - a long city farmer list. Anyway,as we started out on our trek I remembered that my brother had phoned.  Not my blue-suede brother, but my other brother.  He had phoned last night when I was out.  And my family was outside working.  So we missed his call.

So, on our way to the city for the farmer stuff (how ironic is that?) and for the wedding clothes, I sent him a text. I texted "i know you phoned last night."  He replied, "I did?"  I thought that was a strange reply. So I texted back, "yeah, you phoned when I was out and my family was outside."  And then I never heard back from him.

While I was in the mall, after finding some exquisite bras for the newer, smaller me, and while waiting for My Sweetheart while he was finding the stuff on his 'list', I checked the outbox on my cell phone. Who knew that the numbers that spell out P-H-O-N-E-D on a cell are the exact same numbers that spell out S-I-N-N-E-D? No wonder my brother hadn't replied.  I think he was dumbfounded.  Then I got the giggles while I was trying to imagine his bewilderment. "I know you sinned last night."  ~ that's the message he would have got.  And then "Yeah, you sinned when I was out and my family was outside." My giggles, which I tried to stifle being that I was all by myself and all, turned into loud snorts. And that got me laughing even louder. So here I was walking down the hall of the mall snorting and laughing all by myself. By this time My Sweetheart was in the parking lot waiting for me.  He was on his cell phone and almost couldn't hear himself talk to the neighbor who lives right across the road from us, because I was laughing so hard.

Eventually we bought some wedding duds - that was another adventure. But we got it done.  My Sweetheart wants his niece to know that he must love her very much to have spent so much time in a dressing room.

After running around and running out of time to get everything on both of our lists complete, we headed home. I phoned my brother and started laughing again when he told me that he was wracking his brain trying to figure out what he had done last night that I would have found out about. That was worth the phone call right then. And of couse, more laughter and guffawing ensued.

The giggles that had been so prominent for most of the day have now been replaced with tears. I just got off the phone after talking with  a dear friend.  A soccer mom friend. A woman who has been a friend since our boys were 10 and 11 years old.  We met at the soccer pitch. There are a unique group of us 'soccer parents' whose friendship grew very quickly.  A group of 'soccer parents' who enjoy just being together. I love these friends. Anyway, my dear friend ~ 1 of my dear friends anyway - informed me that 1 of the soccer boys - a young man now - a boy who has played soccer with DS since they were 10 and 11 years old, a boy whose parents have coached Dear Son in soccer - a good guy,a really truly good guy, with loving, dear parents, has cancer. And it does not look good. He's been in the cancer ward for some time now. The cancer has spread. And all I can do right now is cry. And pray. And hope.  And pray some more.  I know that the Lord can perform a miracle. I know this young man can be healed.  But I also know that maybe he won't be healed. And then I cry some more. How devastating this must be for him.  For his parents.  For his brother.  His grandparents, his friends....

We talked about what we could do as friends - gas gift cards, restaurant gift cards -yes,  that will be provided. But what we can't do, I'm trusting the Lord to do. I'm praying that the Lord will wrap His loving, caring, understanding, strong arms around this family and comfort them. I pray that He will use us, as much as we are able, to be HIS arms around this family as they go through this unwanted journey. I pray that God's light will shine brightly around this family as they are in, no doubt, a dark, dark time. Probably the darkest time that they have ever been in.  And I am praying that their tears of anguish will be replaced with the kind of laughter that dominated my day until l talked to my dear friend on the phone this evening.

All Wrapped Up!

Yesterday, at noonish, the harvest here was finished! A month ahead of last year's harvest! The lentils, canola and durum are all in the bins.  And we are rejoicing and thanking the Lord for a bountiful and safe harvest.

Safety is always, for me, the biggest concern for farming. It is what I tend to worry about the most. And, it is what I pray for the most - safety for my family and safety for all the farmers - especially at harvest time.

I'm amazed at how well the crop turned out considering the small amount of rain we had this summer. It's obvious that the little bit of rain we received came at just the perfect time. Another blessing from the Lord.

I'm also amazed at the record warm temperatures we experienced over this harvest season - unseasonally warm - around 30 degrees celsius for a good week.

We had no major machinery breakdowns this harvest either.  Quite often, in previous harvests, 1 of the combines is down for some sort of repair for a good part of the day. If I recall correctly, last year both of the combines broke down within minutes of each other and were not in use for the better part of a day.  I was talking to 1 lady yesterday at church - she was telling me of someone whose combine was broke down and the part that was needed wouldn't be in until Tuesday. That's a major inconvenience at harvest time.

Saturday was my last day of combining this year. We whittled it down so that by the end of the day there was only about 40 acres left.  The men were more than able to take care of that on Sunday without my help, so that freed me up to go to church.  But on Saturday, before I went out to the field, I swung by town and picked up My Sweetheart's Dad and took him out for a day in the field. He mostly rode with My Sweetheart in the semi and the tandem.  He did, however, take a break from the heat and rode around with DS on his air conditioned combine for a few swipes. My Sweetheart's Dad was out in the field for about 9 hours before I quit for the night and ran him back home. He said he had a good day.  I'm glad we took him out to the field. No regrets!

Saturday was a beautiful day for the last full day of harvest.  In this picture Dear Son is moving the JD combine to the 2nd last field that needs to be harvested.

Now I'm operating the John Deere, and near the top of the picture, you can see the New Holland - DS is operating it.  Maybe Grandpa is riding around with him in this picture. My combine is picking up the last swipe before heading to the last field!!

Look really hard, but you probably won't be able to tell that it's me! But it is!!

My Sweetheart on his combine....

Just kidding - this is 1 of the old relics on the south farm - he just crawled up for a photo op - I'm glad we don't use those combines anymore!

Dear Son and I are dumping our hoppers into the semi at the same time - we have to be very careful to not hit each other's augers! From there My Sweetheart (and his Dad on this day) will drive the semi to the yard and My Sweetheart will get out in the stifling heat to auger it into the bin!

And that's it- harvest is all wrapped up for another year!





A Love-Hate Relationship

Honestly, I have a love-hate relationship with farming.

I love the peacefulness of living on our farm.

I hate having to drive to town from the farm if it's really muddy.

I love working together as a family - tonight DD was manning the fort, while DS and I were operating the combines, and My Sweetheart was hauling  the durum to the bins.

I hate worrying about My Sweetheart when he is unloading at the bins; especially when he has to crawl on top of the bins to check and see how full they are. I, when I came home tonight, had to work the remote for the semi to unload while My Sweetheart was on top of a very high bin. It almost made me nauseous.

I love the harvest sunsets that are enjoyed on the farm.

I hate tarping up the combine in the pouring rain. This happened less than a week ago.  We had over an inch of rain, and I'm sure that when it was raining the hardest, and when the wind had picked up - that's when My Sweetheart came to get me to help put the tarp on the combine. I was drenched and had to run into the school, and pop into the bank on our way home from the north farm where the tarping party had just taken place. 

I love tarping up the combine with My Sweetheart - cold, numb fingers and all!

I hate the junk food lunches that I have time to make on the combine.  Seriously! They're quick and easy, but what I wouldn't give for grilled salmon and rice instead of caffeine-free diet pepsi and munchies.

I love the guilty pleasure of eating junk food for this limited time.

I hate eating alone at supper-time. We all do.  DD eats by herself at home, DS and I munch away on our respective combines, and My Sweetheart grabs a bite while hauling.

I love watching the grain feed into the combine.

I hate feeling like I'm on the combine when I crawl into bed at night.

I love harvesting when the weather is warm.

I hate having to move the tandem to the other end of the field when it is hot though- I just about burned my entire body yesterday when I crawled into the very hot truck with the even hotter seats and steering wheel.

I love coming home each evening, after a long day's work, to DD! I miss her lots at harvest time. And when harvest is over, and the machinery has been put away for another year, when the geese are flying overheard, when the nip in the air reminds me that winter is just around the corner, then I am grateful for another successful harvest season.

National Family Dinner Night

The flyer came in the mail this past week, encouraging us to join the company on Thursday, September 15 for National Family Dinner Night. I did not know, until I read that, that there even was such an event. And then, a few days after receiving that flyer, I heard, on the radio, that on average, the typical family eats together twice a week.

Thankfully, if you were to delve into the statistics at this farm, you would find that, on average, this family eats together, 3 times a day.   Except school days.  But on those days, if you count the popcorn consumed while sitting around the telly, we would still eat together 3 times a day.

There is just something good about eating together as a family. I ususally, probably 95% of the time, since we're talking statistics, shut the television off. And meal time is the time we talk to each other.  Lots of laughter takes place around our family table at mealtime.  Our days are talked about, plans are discussed, we reminisce quite often. It's a good thing, these family dinner nights, that take place regularly here.

So, M& M meats, thank you for the invitation, but we will gladly decline your offer to join you on Sept. 15 for family dinner night. But we invite you to join us every night as we celebrate our family together, not just once a year!