Images from the Past

 If the old saying “The hair of the dog will cure what ails you” then Barb and I should live forever. Most people think this saying refers to having a drink in the morning to cure a hangover. While that might be true, I bet you didn’t know it originally came from an old folk remedy of treating a dog bite by placing burnt hair of a dog on a dog bite?

In any case if dog hair is good for you, we will live to like 1,000. Anyone that has dogs that shed knows exactly what I mean. No matter how much you clean there is always dog hair everywhere. On our clothes, on the floor, on the table, floating though the camper when the windows are open. I can count at least a dozen on my keyboard as I type this! Do you ever wonder how many dog hairs you ingest in a day? Even though Barb is a clean freak it seems like we pick at least one dog hair out of every meal….and those are the ones we see! They have gotten so they don’t bother me (as much) which is saying a lot as I am somewhat of a freak myself when it comes to germs. But dog hair is just another source protein in our house.  Even though Barb takes out Dakota’s bed from under the table every day or so sometimes there is enough hair under there you would swear she had a puppy!

We love our dogs but ugh! Do they make a non-shedding lab?!?!?

Speaking of dogs. Barb left me once again for her fall trip to see our daughter, leaving the dogs and I to fend for ourselves. Without Barb around to dote over them this is the view I get at every meal……

"Please Papa, may we have a scrap?"

I got a couple of comments/questions on the last blog. One was how we came to be connected with Farmer Bob and his family and are able to do this. This couple works the beet harvest and are looking for something else to do. For those of you who have read the blog for the past few years know that Barb and I have known Chris since the day he was born and have known the rest of the gang since Chris started dating Holly. So we kinda had an in when it comes to helping out here. That being said, I don’t think I have met one farmer out there who is not looking for help. The challenge is connecting two complete strangers and hoping it is a good fit. If someone is seriously interested in working on a farm I would not hesitate to go to one of the larger farms in the area you are looking at and just knock on their door. Farmers are great people and if they are not looking for help chances are they know someone who is.

The other comment I got from someone on the last post was how dumping the grain from the combine into the cart reminded him of when he used to fly in formation and refuel his jet in the air; flying within feet of another aircraft and tethering a fuel line from one plane to another. To that I say yes, it is exactly like that except we are going 3mph instead of 300mph and if there is a mishap in the tractor you do not burst into flames and plummet to the ground. Other than that, they are exactly alike!

On the farm work front I am happy to report that all the peas, canola, wheat and oats have been harvested! That just leaves the beans which will not be ready for a couple more weeks. In the meantime there is a lot of harrowing to do to get the fields ready for next spring. This week's mishaps in harrowing, hey, that would make a great title for a reality show....Mishaps in Harrowing.... Anywho, they included a flat tire and a broken weld. I find it amazing the context RV'ers (and other non-farming folks) take mishaps compared to farmers. In the RV world a flat tire or something else that needs repair is a pretty major event. In the farm world it is just another day. It has actually taught me that little mishaps like this don't need to ruin your day, you just need to take a deep breath and move forward. 

Nothing like having your own on board welder!

But Bob and I did take a day off to go to the Hawk Farm Museum outside of Wolford North Dakota. It is about 2 hours west and a little north. They have a campground/museum right on their farm property with farm equipment dating back over 100 years.

It was very interesting to see how farm equipment has changed over the years. From single spade horse drawn plows, hand thrashers and balers. 

Horse drawn sickle mower with a grain drill in the background

Horse drawn swather 

Some of the items bordered on the truly bizarre. I should have left the tag off this and had people guess what is was. This went in the calf's nose. When the calf tried to nurse, the spikes poked the cow which in turn kicked the calf and prevented it from nursing. Genus! 

Can anyone guess what this is? Give up? It is a horse drawn school bus. Some of these came complete with a small wood burning stoves to keep the kids warm in the winter. 

Once they got to school, their room looked something like this....

There were other building too. Like the General Store, the church and the ever creepy Doll House...

Who can resist just stopping and staring at a 1921 Harley Davidson!

This old push lawn mower sent chills down my spine as I recalled using one of these in our yard as a child. 

It is interesting to see how this old equipment worked and how many of todays combines use the same basic principle. Except now the combines had 40+’ heads instead of 5’ heads. Farmers of today have it made compared to their ancestors. Bob showed me some of the equipment they had when he was a young lad on the farm and had to suffer through 100° day in open air combines with no AC and covered in dirt. He said he had to cover his mouth and nose because he was in a constant dust storm!

This combine is similar to one Bob used back in the day

Bob too is starting out his own collection of antique farm equipment. He picked up an old thrasher which now proudly resides on a hill within a pasture section. 

He loves old Farmall tractors and now has 3 in his collection.

As well as old cast iron tractor seats. 

Just a few of the seats in Bob's collection

At least that is what I called them and was quickly corrected and told that cast iron seats are actually from horse drawn equipment. The cast iron seats were replaced with stamped steel seats once tractors came into the picture. 

He also has a variety of other antique pieces of equipment which include cultivators, sickle mowers, potato pickers and others. 

The countryside around here is a museum unto itself. You just have to look in the right places. Out in the prairie hidden in the weeds are all sorts of hidden treasures. Bob and I went on a scavenger hunt of our own one day looking for treasures from the bygone era where I got my first cast iron grain drill end as well as a drill meter!

The triangle piece on the end is what we are after!

Drill meter

We also had time to put out a few trail cameras and caught some pretty cool images. Most of them were of deer which are pretty cool but it is the ones of other critters I find just as interesting....

The deer and raccoons get together for a secret meeting....

This skunk of course was late for the meeting

This owl was just hanging out on a barrel

A camera curious doe

Then of course you have what you are really hoping to capture on camera!

This guy is just losing his velvet

So with Barb gone for 8 more days, the dogs and I fending for ourselves on what scraps we can find. After two days I already see a problem though. The dog hair is already starting to accumulate. We just might have enough for another dog by the time she gets back. I shall name it Hair Ball!