Back in Business!

Still basking in the glory of a rarely well managed seeding operation. Gives me hope that my management is solid and performs.

Grain pricing is so weird. Sort of like watching the stock markets. Rallies can happen in an afternoon and if you are not watching the markets (which apparently I don't seem to be doing!) you can miss out on some big price movements. Assuming you have the grain on hand to price anyway. But sort of an interesting business when in the space of 4 weeks the price can rise by 10%.

But we'll wait and see what happens. I've got the remainder of my grain up for grabs right now, they have two weeks to accept my price and if not I'll try again. I know with it being dry the opportunities for spikes increases so I need to pay more attention.

Still no precip in the next 6 days but not too too warm thankfully.

I had a super time taking the Z06 to get Aidan yesterday. Two boys that saw the car, well this would be the dictionary image of "jaw dropping", even Aidan laughed when he saw their faces. And another boy who leaned out the window of the van he was in to compliment the car and then all the kids in the car were yelling "look what's behind us!". Just priceless moments!

My gf heard that one of her references was contacted! It sounds rather positive. Don't want to get too excited, especially with it being a Friday the 13th and all today!! Still nice to be able to feel some excitement about things.

Never heard from the tire store at all yesterday, will have to give them a call after I take Aidan to school.

I mean I could trailer the car to Edmonton again like I did two years ago................I doubt that would make Aidan any happier about taking the trip with me though...........

Cheers,

Garry
 
That would be great if you could bring the Z! I would load up the car and start phoning tire shops in Edmonton! Maybe they can put one on for you......however, I imagine you've already paid for the one you are waiting for......

Glad to hear the seeding went so well....now if those prices would give a bit of a jump!
 
Good morning Riley,

I suppose what disappoints me, as with the time I tried to order the tire from another store in PR back in the fall, is simply a lack of communication. I mean if I had a customer show up after they'd been told their tire was going to be in on a certain day and they showed up and it wasn't, well I'd be doing a bit of a follow-up to let them know what the story was, when it could be expected etc.

Sort of like trying to order the 6" exhaust pipe for my tractor. Yes, I know it is not in stock, yes I know you have to call Edmonton on it, yes you took my name and number at the time and no I have not heard squat since. Even if you have no information, call me to say you've started looking into it but have not heard from the supplier yet or whatever the delay is. It makes your customer feel valued.

Manny needs to give these folks some lessons in how to treat customers proper-like!

As for grain prices, please don't get me wrong Riley, I was thrilled to get $10.40 for my canola, sure $11.70 would have been 15K more in my pocket. But who ever knows these things ahead of time in terms of prices going up more. I mean if I knew that I wouldn't be a farmer I'd be a commodity speculator!!!!!!! As Dad said, "no one ever hits the hit prices anyway, but try to sell in a rally if you can". Having said that I have a canola cheque in my files somewhere from perhaps 8-10 years ago when it rallied like crazy and was, if memory is correct, $14.75 a bushel! I should dig it out and frame it as that is, I believe, a historical high!!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Friday the 13th??????? The heck with that!

Had a super time at my son's science fair, one of the girls in his class even gave me a rose from her experiment!!!

Found out that a girl in my son's class, her father drives a C4 convertible! Black................

My gf got the job in Fairview - I'm going to be moving at some point in the future and no more gravel for the Z06!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow could this day get any better???????

A tire for my car...............?

Maybe 2 inches of rain but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth!

Right now I am just in the zone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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So the tire is in and I can have it changed Monday after I take my son to school. I am really looking forward to this although it may lead to more spirited driving.................

A point for checking things on your vehicle.............my sedan was starting to get noisy so in preparation picked up rear wheel bearings. Then the transmission made an unexpected noise when I was backing up. Had the through I ought to check the transmission oil. Oddly, not sure why, but there is a lock of sorts on the dipstick and it took me about 30 minutes to get it out. Then.......not a whole lotta oil there! Worse yet as it is a CVT transmission I had problem getting oil but luckily a place in Fairview had it so I picked up 6 liters there. It took 2.5 liters to bring it up to full (7.5 l capacity) and it sounds a bit quieter now.

Note to self - check tranny oil more often! Especially now what I know how to remove the darn dipstick - I mean really - why that silly lock??

This afternoon I went to tackle the left rear wheel bearing. I'd done the fronts last winter I think it was and I figured that the rears would be a snap without the axle. The left has the parking brake! Never done one before. But even before I can do that I need to get the ABS sensor out. The bolt holding the plug is loose but it doesn't want to screw out so the threads are stripped, probably on the wheel bearing which is fine. Then figured I could get some better purchase by taking the bearing off. Top two bolts, piece of cake. Bottom two, so a sign of movement yet, even with a snipe on the socket. So gave up for the day on that project.

Decided to go for something less challenging, teaching my son how to add and subtract fractions. So you can see how I was feeling about the wheel; bearing bolts now!!

But I did get the second drill cart tank cleaned out and the manifold area all blown off so I am happy to have done that too.

Forecast still for rain on Thursday and showers Friday - oh please!!

Cheers,

Garry
 
We missed you at the meet!

Seems you have a lot of good projects going on! It must be nice to have the seed down and growing! Also nice to hear the Z won't have anymore gravel! Congratulations to your gf on the job!
 
God's sense of humor.......................

So go to get the tire changed on the Z. 2 1/2 hours of waiting. And yes I called ahead of time and was told I could ring it in anytime!

Anyway, happy with the new tire finally, heading home, driving along like normal, meet a gravel truck, now my 4th impact, this one the diameter of a pop bottle! Thankfully toward the bottom of the windshield but actually to the right of middle of the HUD, thankfully it doesn't appear to affect the display on the windshield. Makes me thankful that I have yet to replace it but better buckle down soon, it is starting to look like my grain truck.

But still happy with the new tire and now having to worry about any failures due to that puncture from last fall.

Cousin Brad was suppose to come over to see if he could remove the old wheel bearing, I hope he was successful.

My gf's first day of her new job tomorrow, I sure hope that it goes well for her! Three month probationary period and then house hunting can begin seriously!

Cheers,

Garry
 
So nice to have the new tire! Resulted in some "spirited" driving yesterday but not excessive. Fun to pass people and not have in the back on my mind a blowout due to a hole in the tire.

Awaiting the call from the dealer in PR for the low beam wiring harness recall and the comb for the connector (SAHS warning) under the steering column. Time to attend to these things.

40 to 65 mm of rain in the forecast for the next two days. Could that really ever happen? I can't recall anything like that for a few years, maybe back 2013. Could really set things up nicely for us if it happens. Could still be a camshaft in my future yet!

Currently 1 mm has fallen, and they are right about the wind, about 50 to 60 km right now.............
 
What a difference a few hours makes. Gale force winds from the north, 2 to 3" of snow, +1 and calling for a low of -2 tonight. Could be nasty for poor little pea and wheat seedlings. Rain I was ready for but I didn't think it was going to get ugly like this today. I hope that the stubble will provide some insulation to help keep little plants from getting too cold.

Here I was thinking camshaft.........sure have to put that on the backburner, for a few days anyway.........................
 
ugggg
VelocityYellowRules! said:
What a difference a few hours makes. Gale force winds from the north, 2 to 3" of snow, +1 and calling for a low of -2 tonight. Could be nasty for poor little pea and wheat seedlings. Rain I was ready for but I didn't think it was going to get ugly like this today. I hope that the stubble will provide some insulation to help keep little plants from getting too cold.

Here I was thinking camshaft.........sure have to put that on the backburner, for a few days anyway.........................
Click to expand...
Are you serious Garry? Wowsers.... As much as the moisture is good, we don't need snow and -2 temps.... It's still +12 here and we haven't had a drop of moisture.... some cloud but it doesn't even look promising for rain. Will the cold bother the peas? They are a little more hardy than the wheat I thought. We've got some crop that's up 4 to 6 inches here but we need moisture badly. There are some worried looks on the farm faces. That will all change to smiles and chest thumping if we get a nice soaking this weekend.... here's hoping... for them and for that cam for you.... :Biggrin:
 
It gets worse. My gf arrived home and plowed her car into a drift in the yard that is probably a foot deep! Her car is currently stuck so she might have to take one of the pickups instead to go to work tomorrow. She was actually sent home early from work due to worries about the roads. She only saw one vehicle in the ditch which probably isn't bad.

Yes, the peas ought to take the cold better than the wheat will. I'm not really sure what the outcome of this is going to be really. If it was shorter duration I might be more hopeful but the snow and possibly rain are going to last through tomorrow and with highs of only +4 for tomorrow it won't be over quick.

But it is what it is I guess. Part of the reason why we have crop insurance eh. And it will be good for the canola which has yet to emerge. But for sure I'm thinking about the peas and wheat right now, especially the wheat as the emergence was really bang on and looking sharp.
 
If it wasn't May long Garry, I'd be more surprised, but this isn't the first time we've seen snow this time of year.... still +3 here but also drizzling. We've only had 1/10 of rain... and if it gets much cooler it could be snow. Looking like it will be overnight if it does. Glad your gf made it home ok. Better to drift the car in the yard than out on the road in traffic.... here's hoping snow goes....warms up...and crops grow....
 
For sure it is not as if we don't get unseasonable weather in May but this is unreal. The drifts are really high, some east of my deck I'll bet at 2' deep! I'm going to suit up and venture out to get a snow shovel from the garage which will give me a better idea of what it is like. I know that the PR airport is reporting 25 mm of water yesterday and I know that normally take about a foot of snow depending on density etc. but that would be accurate if so. Still more called for today but warming up in the afternoon to +6 which is a good start.

I wish I was smart enough to figure out how to add photos to my posts here. being dense like I am I looked at all the icons and can't seem to find a nice simple "insert picture from" icon. But I know you fellows are able to do it!

Cheers,

Garry
 
From my "one lives in hope" category, I started to dig up notes from crops courses from decades gone by. There may be reason for hope. Wheat's growing point until the 5 or 6 leaf stage is actually still below ground. So even if frost kills what is above ground it will produce new growth once it warms up. Peas are amazingly tolerant to cold temperatures, much more so than wheat as there are multiple growing points, not all of which are active. To start with they are shielded between pairs of leaves it seems, and if one get killed, an alternate one is activated. Great job Mother Nature! When I shoveled off the deck and sidewalk I also was able to observe how there was almost slush/water in contact with the ground under all that snow so it does appear that the insulating properties of snow are not to be taken lightly for little plants under a blanket of the white stuff.

Deep snow in the yard though. Even had one of the hubs covered in ice and I had to gently chip away with a hammer before I could lock the hub in for 4 wheel drive. And I was smart enough to roll forward a few feet, back up and repeat to break a trail. But it became clear that even a foot or more of deep wet snow was not going to be a problem and so i just backed up, took a gentle run and zipped onto the driveway and my gf was good to go.........

Please or please take this to Ft McMurray too!!!
 
Here's hoping Garry but from my experience what you are saying is correct. I'm betting that all will be well. We got 5/10's in the rain gauge overnight which is a pretty good soaking. This morning about dawn it changed to freezing rain and then wet snow but no accumulation. Quit about an hour ago and just cloud cover right now. I'm hoping the cloud cover stays until the temperature recovers somewhat. High of +1 tonight but if it cleared off overnight, we could have well into the minus by morning. That might not be so good.... again. Here's hoping.

As far as adding pictures Garry, when you are typing in a new thread message, there is an "Upload File" grey coloured tab beside the "Post Reply " tab at the bottom right of the box you are typing in. Click on the "Upload a File" tab. It opens a small window with the word "Browse". Click on the "Browse" and it opens your computer directory. Go to where you have saved your picture files, click on the picture file you want to add to the post and it will highlight blueish grey, then click the open tab at the bottom right of that window and voila! success loading a picture.

Hopefully I didn't miss any steps.... If I did, someone can jump in and help...Here's some pictures

upload box.jpg




upload box2.jpg




upload box3.jpg
 
What wonderful instructions and simple enough that even I was able to follow them! The first three images are from yesterday about 2 pm before the weather got bad, the rest are from this morning when I went to see just how bad things really were. Forecast high today dropped from 6 to 4 but still in the above zone.

While hope the wheat and peas are OK, I don't think my flowers are going to come through in one piece, not enough coverage I'm thinking........
 

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OMG.... I've created a monster.... 8 pictures in your first upload attempt.... hahaha.... Just kidding Garry. Glad I was able to help. And by the looks of those flowers on the deck, I'm thinking ....Nope.... can't help ya with them.... Have a great weekend...

Eric
 
Top growth of plants I can afford to lose (just like on me too!) as long as they will regrow............a pity though as the flower bed was really looking nice, I'd been watering it every evening and morning when it was hot and I'm not sure if the potted plants will live but I hope the perennials in the flower bed will make it.

Don't think there will be any Z seat time for a bit, might have to throw the battery minder on.

Yes, now that I know how to add images, everyone should be afraid, very afraid indeed. Thankfully they know who to blame!

And have a super weekend as well..................
 
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