Summer's Last Awakening ...

As the sun rose over the horizon, our Summer took her final breaths!  She gave us a glorious day filled with sunshine, a warm breeze and 29C ... perfect harvest weather!  By 8:30 pm, Summer slipped away and Autumn officially arrived!!!

Sunday ...

And harvest continues ... 

September Hues ...

The beauty of a late summer evening ... and a prairie slough! 

Seven Days ...

Saturday, September 13, 2014:  Wispy Clouds Bid the Evening Farewell

Sunday, September 14, 2014:  Helping Dad Take Apart the Unload Auger

Monday, September 15, 2014:  Magpie ...

Tuesday, September 16, 2014:  Harvest Rolls On

Wednesday, September 17, 2014:  Heading Out to Help Dad

September 18, 2014:  Hunters & Gatherers 

Friday, September 19, 2014:  A New Day Dawns 

Moisture ...

I 'NEVER' want to curse moisture ... having been raised in good ole' Southern Alberta, cursing moisture is just a curse in itself but sometimes you 'QUESTION' the 'TIMING!'  After the recent snowfall 'EVENT' many of us are just itching to get harvest DONE!!!  However, the rain falls ...  

Thankful ...

As the sun set this evening under the glow of the sun, there is much to be thankful for!  Remembering 9/11 and the families that lost so many loved ones ...  

Change

*SIGH* ... the sky is clearing but thanks to Monday's weather 'event,' our green world is about to rapidly change ...

A Step In The Right Direction ...

The rain is still falling but it's R A I N and not that white stuff!  That's a bit easier to take at this time of year!  Despite being cool, the rain clouds are supposed to depart soon and our sunshine is scheduled to return!  

Weather Woes ...

What started out as a COLD rain ... turned into wet flurries ... 

As the temperatures dropped, my clothes line FROZE ... and our yard became a winter wonderland ... 

 My "sunny" sunflowers looked sad ... and VERY COLD!  

Our trees became green, drooping popsicles ...

And these sad little sparrows certainly seemed to be questioning "what the heck?" ...

Our barley crop, like so many other crops started to bend and buckle under the heavy, wet snow ... 

And after getting cold and wet and needing a cup of hot chocolate to warm the soul and hands ... I crossed paths with this beautiful red fox, obviously in a hurry to get home and out of this miserable weather!  

Yes, its September and it snowed!  No, its not the first time this has happened and likely not the last.  It indeed puts a damper on harvest but in the grand scheme of this crazy old world we live in, I'll take the challenge of bad weather over war, disease and painful heart ache!  It might have snowed today but we know the sunshine will return!  Chins up everyone ... we live in Alberta ... wait 5 minutes and the weather will change!  

Harvest Woes ...

In an attempt to fill the hopper one more time last night ... my Hubby blew the 'clean grain elevator belt!'  Luckily, we happened to have an extra one hanging in the shop so the boys had the pleasure of assisting their Dad!  

What cooked the belt ... the auger in the hopper plugging with wonderful dirty peas!  Yes, field peas are notorious for being dusty buggers and this year, although yielding well, our peas are certainly that ... dusty buggers!

 

With smooth sailing for a few hours ... **Murphy** visited us once again ... the gear box in the unload auger piled up!!!  There is nothing more frustrating than having great harvest weather ... knowing the weather is going to change and being shut down!!!  The joys of running older equipment I guess!  

On the bright side ... if we never had to fix equipment, our boys wouldn't have the opportunity to learn!!! (this is me always trying to point out the positives ... in which I am usually greeted with rolling eyes! LOL!)

After getting off the phone and narrowing the problem down to just the horizontal auger, we unloaded trucks and tucked them away in the shop and took the 'old green gal' back to storage for a few days!  

By 8:00pm the clouds were rolling and the rain began!  

Harvest ... Day Into Night

Our harvest has officially begun and with the addition of some 'lifters on the header' a clean out of the rock trap and a grease job on everything ... the boys and their Dad headed off to open up the first pea field! 

The boys continued into the night ... and a beautiful night it was!  

In fact ... we had the pleasure of enjoying a small aurora dance while loading out peas!  A great way to start harvest off!  

Homeward Bound

Well, the 'Old Green Gal' rolled out of storage and headed to the yard this evening ... it looks like harvest is finally a go for us.

Diamonds In The Rough

Brrr... A BRISK morning, that left behind a bit of ice on the windshield and a beautiful heavy dew that sparkled in the morning sunshine!  Definitely "diamonds in the rough" ... prairie style!