Filling Silo

Fun, fun.....we're filling silo today! That means we're chopping the whole corn plants into bits and blowing the conglomeration up through a pipe into the top of the silo. Our neighbor and his son from across the road are here to help. They brought their big newish John Deere tractor and their chopper. We have a chopper head to put on it.......their chopper head is the wrong size for our corn rows. The chopper blows the corn mix into a silage wagon pulled behind it. The full wagons are brought to the silo and unloaded into a blower which forces the silage up the pipe and into the silo. Its a great plan if everything works! So far, things are working well today.

For the guys' lunch I fixed maid-rites, with corn, grapes, chips, lemonade, and raspberry crunch with ice cream for dessert. We had a fun visit around the table, catching up on the latest neighborhood and family news.

The weather today is really warm.....hot, actually. I love September warmth, though, because it is less humid than earlier in the summer.

Guess what we did on Labor Day, the day before yesterday.....we labored! But, it was fun labor. Husband baled hay into big round bales and we spent the afternoon bringing them up from the field. I got to drive the old John Deere 630 tractor pulling two hayracks, onto which Husband would put several big round bales with the skid loader. As I drove the Johnny-popper back and forth from the field, it reminded me of being a kid and driving our old John Deere A tractor.......the first tractor I ever learned to drive. I don't know for sure, but I think the A is from the early 1940's, and the 630 from the 1950's. There are many similarities in the two. The have the same hand clutch on the right side, and the same gear shifting apparatus. Throttle up above the steering wheel on the right. The 630 has power steering......the A did not, hence the need for the spinner knob on the steering wheel. Both tractors have that characteristic popping sound when they run.

When I was a little kid, we also had a really old Farmall F-20 tractor. It had to be started with a crank, and I would cover my ears and almost cry when it was started, it sounded so scary to me. I think its still sitting in my brother's barn. We also had a Farmall IH 560 tractor, which I drove alot for fieldwork and hauling corn wagons. It had no cab, and my dad would put the canvas "heat-houser" on it when the weather turned cold, to help keep the driver warm. I loved the 560, and the sound of it accelerating......great fun to drive, for it felt so powerful! We didn't get a cab tractor until I was in high school......that one was an IH 656......having a cab to sit in seemed like an absolute luxury!

When I got married, I had to switch allegiance from red tractors to orange, because Husband's family used mainly Allis-Chalmers tractors, and then Husband bought the JD 630 later. I think we should fix it up nice and drive it in parades.....that would be fun!

Anyway, silo-filling here will take a couple of days, and then Husband will help the neighbors do theirs. I'm glad we're doing it this way now, so there's enough help. My father-in-law is just not able to help with this anymore, and our sons are in school, leaving us with not many helpers around.

I need to go fold laundry and sweep the kitchen. Part of the lawn needs mowed, but I'll wait until later when the sun is less intense. I got sunburned the other day out on the tractor all afternoon. I also need to go hunt for our mother cat.....she got in a fight with the dog this morning and went sulking into the machine shed. Her kitties are crying for her, even though they're old enough to be weaned.

I could never have a job off the farm.......there are just too many things to do around here!