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May 25-31: Finishing Up in Texas

May 25 – Today is another hot one.  The combines are running early and Vic calls to Carl by mid-afternoon to let him know he has 50 cutting hours on his combine.  (Combines record hours used rather than miles driven.) The combine operators keep a daily log of servicing done on their machines as some grease ports are 10 hours per greasing, some are 50 hours, and there are 100 hour ports.  This log also has any repair parts noted, plus the hour on the machine when the work was done.  It helps to keep track of everything for future reference, if needed.  Lunch is served in the field with a beef casserole, coleslaw, sliced tomatoes, cookies and watermelon.  Karen keeps a log of the meals served and a plan of meals for the upcoming days posted on the refrigerator.  This helps in the planning of grocery store trips and lets Sandy and Karen work ahead on the day’s meals.

May 26 – French toast, bacon, juice, coffee or milk is served for breakfast this morning.  Carl tells the hired men that today, they will be cutting wheat that will be used for next year’s seed and they will be putting it in storage bins on the customer’s farm.  They will need to be sure to keep track of the loads hauled to each bin and what field they came from.  It is important as there are different varieties that must be kept separate.  They will also need to keep close track of the moisture content of the grain.

May 27 – Cereal and sweet rolls are on the menu for breakfast this morning.  We let the guys sleep a little longer this a.m. as all the trucks were emptied last night and there was a light dew on everything.  Carl is out scouting the next field to cut and visiting with the farmers as to where they want the rest of the grain hauled.  Karen and Sandy look at cookbooks – trying to get ideas of menus to fix.  Hamburger sandwiches, taco salad, chips and brownies are for lunch.  There is always plenty of iced tea and water served, too.

 

 

 

 

May 28 – Breakfast pizza, toast, juice, coffee or milk are the breakfast choices for today.  Carl tells the hired guys that we are about to finish cutting in this area and we will be leaving to go to Oklahoma in a few days.  We are done here earlier than normal as the crop has had light yields and not as many acres will be harvested.  This has really made an impact on the local economy.  Porkchops, scalloped potatoes, green beans, bread and butter and apple crisp are served for supper.

May 29 – Scrambled eggs, ham, juice, coffee or milk is on the table for breakfast.  Karen and Sandy are always so busy in the mornings with the laundry, cooking lunch and starting the dessert or salad for supper, doing the truck records of loads from the day before that sometimes they get behind in their time for themselves.  But this morning is more laid back as everyone pitched in to help with the chores before they went to the field.  The wheat is not as good as the truck drivers have a little extra time before leaving town to haul their first loads for the day.  It’s barbecue beef, baked potatoes, creamed peas and chocolate cake for supper.

May 30 – Carl is on the phone early this morning to make sure the crop is still okay in Oklahoma.  He talks to the farmer about a place to park our trailers while we are working on his farm.  He has a place for us to park just east of town. We will be getting done here today. Carl has told the truck drivers that, by the end of the afternoon, when they see they are on their last load or so, to get the car washing equipment from Karen and go to the car wash to clean up their trucks.  Tomorrow we will be loading the equipment for the move north. Karen is making sure she has all the elevator tickets in order and checking with the elevator for total bushels on each customer.  She is preparing the settlement sheets for each farmer. Tomorrow will be spent paying all the charge accounts here in town – fuel, propane, repairs and groceries.

May 31 – Karen makes an early morning call to her father – today is his birthday. She tells him of their move tomorrow to Oklahoma and checks on things at home. He is the cowboy keeping watch over the cattle in the pastures at home. All the equipment is brought back to town so it can be cleaned off and gotten ready to load for the move. Sandwiches, potato salad, chips and a relish tray are for lunch today. We will go to the café for supper. Karen and Sandy will be extra busy this afternoon getting the trailers ready to move.

June 1-2