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Busy weekend, not as busy week
Jul. 16th, 2024 08:34 amI went to my parents' this weekend, which I almost didn't. Friday I ran into the office and when I left, I ran and picked up groceries. I didn't have work to do in the afternoon, so I was planning to hit the road pretty quickly after.
Well.
I got to my road and they had closed it. Just fully closed. No one was allowed on it. I went to the other end of where they closed it right at that intersection and they had three big electrical trucks replacing a pole. Still don't know why they closed the road so far down. I mean, it was so they could detour people down a side road, but I don't know why they didn't let any local traffic in either.
I checked the outage map and they said they'd be done by 3pm. And I had ice cream. So I texted B and asked if I could hang around at the farm for a bit and put my groceries in the farm fridge/freezer. She said sure, so I headed over and hung out in her cabin while she packed up to hit the road.
Around 2pm, the outage map said they were done, so I headed home after retrieving my groceries and yay the road was open again!
Packed up and was on the road by 3pm which I was pleased with. Got to my parents, sat around and did nothing that night.
The next morning, I rototilled the strawberries. This is renovation for matted row systems, where you narrow the rows back to a foot wide because they spread so much. So you take out the center of the rototiller and hope the drip irrigation lines haven't drifted or aren't too far from the probably center of the row. I definitely hit a couple of lines, mostly at the ends. It was very hot and thankfully I was running the tractor with a cab and AC, but it defintiely struggled to keep up.
I finished off one field and got 2/3 of the second bigger field done which was pretty good. I listened to music and had a nice time.
Mid afternoon, I went back to the main farm and gave my mom a break from blueberry customers. I can't believe people were coming out to pick in the afternoons, it was so dang hot and humid. And yeah, you're just standing there picking, but it still is hard. The RST isn't exactly cool but it is a small building, so I was sitting in the shade and mom runs a crappy mobile AC thing, which is a slightly cooling fan. I did some spindling.
That night, mom and dad went out with friends and the rest of the extended family had an impromptu gathering since my aunt and uncle were up visiting. They have two very sweet dogs, so I got some dog snuggles which was great. It was a nice time.
Sunday was the fun project. Me and my dad went and worked on the 1940s pull behind combine, which is a beautiful piece of equipment for harvesting small grains like wheat and rye. Dad wants to start harvesting his own rye seed since he plants a lot as cover crop and has a mini variety trial between a heritage variety called Aroostock and the modern generic type that we usually buy. He also wants the straw since we cover the strawberries and making runs to pick it up from all over is a pain. We tried last year to get it running and couldn't manage it in time. The feeder belt had needed to be replaced and dad managed to find someone out there making belts for this combine, which is a minor miracle in itself. But when we tried to get it on, the belt knobs didn't fit through the gap at the top and we ran out of time.
Combine without the belt. I didn't take any pictures with the belt, but it would cover the large open area behind the rotating flaps on the right side.
This time, we were determined. We bent a piece of metal plate at the top of the belt since it was only attached on one side to give us enough room for the belt knobs to slide through. Then we tested pulling the belt through and it went! We had to bend it again since it wasn't quite enough but it worked!
Then we had to connect the belt ends which was really one of the most difficult parts of this whole thing. We got it all hooked up and then realized the belt was still too loose on the rollers despite the tightening mechanism to move one of the rollers. So we unconnected the belt, pulled it as tight as we could, made new holes in the belt, reattached and then we got it running! And it worked!
Dad did just text me that the storms came through and flattened the rye which is unfortunate. Some of it will pop back up at least.
After we got it running, I picked blueberries and gave mom a break from the customers again, then showered and hit the road. Got back in plenty of time to eat and sleep. Did read before bed and stayed up a little too late.
Busy day yesterday and then today I'm working from home. I did schedule to shear a sheep tonight but it's mostly educational, teaching a bunch of girls at a community center about sheep shearing and also fiber stuff. So I'll be taking spindles and fiber and some other things with me. Don't worry, I'm getting paid by the hour for it.
Well.
I got to my road and they had closed it. Just fully closed. No one was allowed on it. I went to the other end of where they closed it right at that intersection and they had three big electrical trucks replacing a pole. Still don't know why they closed the road so far down. I mean, it was so they could detour people down a side road, but I don't know why they didn't let any local traffic in either.
I checked the outage map and they said they'd be done by 3pm. And I had ice cream. So I texted B and asked if I could hang around at the farm for a bit and put my groceries in the farm fridge/freezer. She said sure, so I headed over and hung out in her cabin while she packed up to hit the road.
Around 2pm, the outage map said they were done, so I headed home after retrieving my groceries and yay the road was open again!
Packed up and was on the road by 3pm which I was pleased with. Got to my parents, sat around and did nothing that night.
The next morning, I rototilled the strawberries. This is renovation for matted row systems, where you narrow the rows back to a foot wide because they spread so much. So you take out the center of the rototiller and hope the drip irrigation lines haven't drifted or aren't too far from the probably center of the row. I definitely hit a couple of lines, mostly at the ends. It was very hot and thankfully I was running the tractor with a cab and AC, but it defintiely struggled to keep up.
I finished off one field and got 2/3 of the second bigger field done which was pretty good. I listened to music and had a nice time.
Mid afternoon, I went back to the main farm and gave my mom a break from blueberry customers. I can't believe people were coming out to pick in the afternoons, it was so dang hot and humid. And yeah, you're just standing there picking, but it still is hard. The RST isn't exactly cool but it is a small building, so I was sitting in the shade and mom runs a crappy mobile AC thing, which is a slightly cooling fan. I did some spindling.
That night, mom and dad went out with friends and the rest of the extended family had an impromptu gathering since my aunt and uncle were up visiting. They have two very sweet dogs, so I got some dog snuggles which was great. It was a nice time.
Sunday was the fun project. Me and my dad went and worked on the 1940s pull behind combine, which is a beautiful piece of equipment for harvesting small grains like wheat and rye. Dad wants to start harvesting his own rye seed since he plants a lot as cover crop and has a mini variety trial between a heritage variety called Aroostock and the modern generic type that we usually buy. He also wants the straw since we cover the strawberries and making runs to pick it up from all over is a pain. We tried last year to get it running and couldn't manage it in time. The feeder belt had needed to be replaced and dad managed to find someone out there making belts for this combine, which is a minor miracle in itself. But when we tried to get it on, the belt knobs didn't fit through the gap at the top and we ran out of time.
Combine without the belt. I didn't take any pictures with the belt, but it would cover the large open area behind the rotating flaps on the right side.
This time, we were determined. We bent a piece of metal plate at the top of the belt since it was only attached on one side to give us enough room for the belt knobs to slide through. Then we tested pulling the belt through and it went! We had to bend it again since it wasn't quite enough but it worked!
Then we had to connect the belt ends which was really one of the most difficult parts of this whole thing. We got it all hooked up and then realized the belt was still too loose on the rollers despite the tightening mechanism to move one of the rollers. So we unconnected the belt, pulled it as tight as we could, made new holes in the belt, reattached and then we got it running! And it worked!
Dad did just text me that the storms came through and flattened the rye which is unfortunate. Some of it will pop back up at least.
After we got it running, I picked blueberries and gave mom a break from the customers again, then showered and hit the road. Got back in plenty of time to eat and sleep. Did read before bed and stayed up a little too late.
Busy day yesterday and then today I'm working from home. I did schedule to shear a sheep tonight but it's mostly educational, teaching a bunch of girls at a community center about sheep shearing and also fiber stuff. So I'll be taking spindles and fiber and some other things with me. Don't worry, I'm getting paid by the hour for it.
