Early August was a busy combination of working summerfallow and beginning to cut hay in the ditches. On August 7 we had a fun family Sunday. In the afternoon we took the boys and John and Barb out to the pasture at Landis and we had a hot dog and marshmallow roast. It was a beautiful afternoon with a stiff enough breeze to keep the bugs away but not enough to be uncomfortable. With the sound of the running water as the solar pump filled the water tank for the cows and the beautiful sight of curious calves and golden crops, we enjoyed some much-needed family time. The next day we went back to cutting hay, baling, and working summerfallow.
Some very wonderful people put on a Vacation Bible School in Wilkie from August 15 to 19. Joseph was old enough to attend and I thought it would be very good for him to be able to spend some time with some kids around his own age. I volunteered to help as there was no point in driving back and forth from Wilkie twice a day for a week. I had the pleasure of helping keep track of nine four-year-olds. Both Joseph and I had a wonderful time, and I at least was tired by the end.
Water lines connected
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During that same week, we were able to get the horizontal boring done to get the waterline under the road. Our good friend and neighbour, Leon, came over with his backhoe and connected the boring hole to the well.
On August 18 we were able to water our garden with water from our own well! It’s a little late to do a lot of good for this year’s garden, but we will be able to water all of our fruit trees before winter, and next year the garden should do much better with water.
Harvest started that week. Gregory combined John’s peas with John’s JD 9600. There were some kinks to work out and Gregory made a few trips back and forth to get parts and tools but he did manage to get the peas in the bin. The air conditioning quit working and Gregory got a bit warm.
August 24 John swathed his wheat on the home quarter. Next, he moved to swath the organic wheat down by Four Mile Lake.
In late August we attended a beautiful wedding at St Pascal’s church in Leipzig. Later that day and Sunday morning it rained. It ended up being around 7/10 of an inch. As a result, our harvest was put on hold for a few days. We started up again August 31 with the organic wheat. The air conditioning on John’s combine quit working again and he got overheated. Joseph and James had been very excited to go combining with Grandpa, and they were disappointed that they had to wait.
The following morning, Western Sales came out and worked on John’s air conditioning. John was much more comfortable when we combined his wheat on the home quarter and he had a very happy James sitting beside him. Joseph was too busy. He rode in my combine for a little while and then decided that he wanted to go help Grandma.
