Ahh... It's finally summer!!

Except it's October tomorrow. Gads... To my recollection, the past week has been the first solid stretch of summer-like weather we've had this year!

Good thing, the pressure was getting to be on; to get some harvesting done. And thankfully, the World's Finest $1000 Combine (which I might now have $5K into) is repaired, and working like it was... '87.

Yep, those beater bars left of my hand are spinning (just by hand), although I wish I'd spun it just a little faster, or used a slightly slower shutter speed, but oh, well... At least it spins like new!

Last year, right down to the wire, almost through harvesting flax (in November!!) I broke the shaft that drives that cylinder, where most of the threshing occurs. My own damn fault, the drive chain was too worn. On the newer $300,000 combines you can change cylinder speed from the cab, but on mine you change the drive sprockets. And with the bigger sprockets (slower speeds, for crops like camelina) it was tight enough. But when I switched back to the wheat/flax sprocket, the chain had slack, started jumping teeth on the sprocket, and then she busted!!

But at least I was able to get a replacement shaft from a salvage yard in the Dakotas, for a mere $150 (!), not to mention replace it myself. Thanks again to my high school vo-ag teacher, Van Shelhamer, who taught me to do this kind of thing. "Obsolete" skills...?

Not around here.

But of course we're not just harvesting. Today was fairly "typical", whatever that is...

Got up early for a buffalo robe run, picking up robes from a tannery. Meeting halfway, which today turned out to be Deerlodge. Last time it was Warm Springs. Those familiar with Montana know those towns are where various malcontents and misfits, as well as those with serious issues, get locked away. So there must be some irony packing an Explorer with buffalo robes there...

But at least I can joke about having to go to Warm Springs. Except this is actually a productive endeavor!

We just got started harvesting this past Monday. Cutting winter wheat, which ordinarily would have happened like two months ago.

And, speaking of interruptions, took a significant part of the afternoon out of that first day of harvesting (an almost inconceivable concept for any other farmers I know) for a subcommitee meeting of the Madison Elk Working Group. And all we did was decide to recommend forming another subcommittee to the larger group. Bah. Humbug!! And now that I've slept on it for a day or three; there were some really screwed up things at work there. Models that don't work anymore. It's way better to just be up front about things. But no...

A far better use of time; got back to harvesting by 6:00 or so, and the days are getting quite a bit shorter! But at least now I'm through with "winter" wheat, about half through with barley, and then only have spring wheat, camelina, quinoa, peas, mustard and flax.

Which isn't as daunting as it sounds. Only a few acres each of the oddball stuff. And to my disgust, the peas have almost completely shelled out. I've literally never had that happen with a crop before! That's not good...

Even the camelina is holding up, with very minimal shelling out. And, the quinoa might even make it! That's a first for Montana, it seems.

At least the forecast sounds favorable, so finish those items, seed some winter wheat and camelina, ship lots of buffalo robes and skulls, and then get back to BiOmega3.net, pressing oil and developing markets for it and the meal...

But I might take a day or three "off", inbetween. Some of the less than "straight-up" types (at that subcommittee meeting at least) seem to get regular vacations, plus "comp" time and whatnot. That's why they missed some things they shouldn't have.

But I suspect "comp" time is coming down the pike for us also.

Ah... a far preferable version!