When It Rains It Pours

      I shouldn’t have watered the garden.

      Welcome harvest 2014.  Roll out a combine and see what happens.

    Harvest began on Thursday, with a little mud puddle in the background.

     Friday, a small breakdown was followed by a light shower.  Saturday, clouds and near-fog rolled in, so we found something else to do.

We are now a two-piano household.

  

      A good start in the wheat field Saturday afternoon when the clouds left, the sun  shone bright, and a nice breeze prevailed ended with a major breakdown.  A late shower ended repair attempts. 

      Our 80+ year-old neighbor stopped in Sunday morning to see why we weren’t cutting wheat.  He crawled under the combine and opined what we had pretty much already determined—the clutch housing had to come out.  He broke out his wrenches and we soon had that job done.

      Parts not available until Monday, so break out the old 55.  That took a while:  air tires, clean out fuel tanks, filters and lines.  Put in some fresh gas, install battery, and try to get it to start, which it eventually did with the aid of jumper cables.

     The 55 wasn’t out of the shed for 30 minutes before it got a good shower.  There will be time tomorrow to get at least one and maybe both machines running.

     There is still plenty of work to do to get the 55 field ready.  For one, it overheated while we were getting it out of the shed.  For two, the big tires are due for a change.

     But some of the crop is garnered.  The journey has begun.

       In the meantime, don’t water the garden or wash the car.  Too much temptation for Mother Nature.