What I'm Loving Wednesday Harvest Style

I'm loving that I got home in time to capture some shots of corn harvest at my parents' house tonight. 

I'm loving that my nephew G was in the jump seat of the combine and when he saw me coming across the field, he struck a silly pose.

I'm loving that G invited me into the cab to ride with them! 

I'm loving that my dad let G "drive" the combine and that the responsibility made his "gut hurt" as G put it. It's a big deal to steer the big green machine through the field!

"Papaw said there's no driving age for the combine."

"Keep it between the rows."

The same field, just headed away from the sun!

I'm loving this shot. Not sure why, but I do.

I'm loving this shot of all the green machines in a row!

I'm not loving that the hot, dry summer took its toll on our fields. Someone asked my how were we affected and I think my dad explained it best tonight. 

He said that he normally had to unload the corn from the combine after one round through the field (up and back once) - in one really good year, he couldn't even go that long. This year he was easily making two rounds before unloading. 

Disappointing, yes.  Disheartening, yes.  The end of the world, no.

The beautiful part of farming is that every year we have a chance to raise a crop again. The ultimate do-over.

Linking up to this kind of love!

What I'm Loving Wednesday Tired Style

I'm loving that harvest has started in my neck of the woods! It's still early in the season, but I did catch Dad unloading the last of the corn in his first field last week.

Unfortunately, the crop has been affected by the drought that many of us experienced this summer so harvest will probably be much quicker this year. However, we are thankful that there IS a crop out there. Many farmers can't say the same this year.

I'm loving that I have the next four days off of work! I have a silly habit of hoarding my vacation time until the end of the year (our year end is 9/30) and then having to take several days off so as not to lose them. Luckily, I work for corn & soybean farmers and they are a bit busy right now (see above) so our office slows down a bit this time of year.

I'm loving that I spent my first day of vacation with my two nieces and one nephew as a stand-in babysitter. We built a cool sheet tent behind my big red couch. Why? Because my nephew asked me to.

We had a good time, even with my youngest niece deciding to "paint" herself with her own poo (sorry for the oversharing but I had to) during her afternoon nap.

I'm loving that my baby sister asked me what I got done today. I told her that I watched a 19-month-old, 23-month-old and a 4-year-old. That's what I got done today! That and some browsing on Pinterest...

I'm loving that Starbucks has decided to load their free drink rewards coupon (that will come after 12 drinks, not 15) right to my card instead of sending me a postcard. I swear that I don't always get them!

However, I'm quite sad that they are taking away the free syrups. I may have to start re-considering my signature drink OR try to re-create it at home like I did this morning...

I'm loving that I spent last Friday night with a handful of ladies - both farm gals and not - touring some wonderful farms in Johnson County, Indiana - including Keegan Poe's farm in Franklin. He talked to us about how he raises his cattle, how he sells freezer beef, pork & lamb direct to consumers, and we visited the pasture to meet his herd, including this gal (or fellow, I'm not sure).

We finished the farm tours at Mallow Run Winery in Bargersville and learned that unlike the corn and soybeans, Indiana wine grapes endured and even flourished in this summer's drought. After the tour of the vineyards and the wine-making barn (not sure what to call it), we even got to taste! Yum.

I may or may not have taken 4 bottles (the box fits 4 bottles!) home with me and wishing I bought a couple others.

I'm loving linking up to What I'm Loving Wednesday over at this kind of love.

Two Trips to Nashville

I spent consecutive weeks in Nashville, Tennessee recently. Eight nights out of 11 at Opryland.

My first trip south was for Blissdom – a blogging conference – and I was there on my own time.

My second trip was for Commodity Classic – a conference for corn, sorghum, soybean and wheat farmers – and I was there for work.

The first trip I was surrounded by 750 blogging women (well, there were a few token males there too).

Some of my Real Farmwives of America gal pals!

The second trip I was surrounded by 6,000 farmers - men, women and children.

This isn't representative of the conference, 

but it's the best I have...we spent 45 minutes 

in the basement due to tornadoes ripping through the Midwest.

While the two conferences were on the outside as different as night and day, if you look closer there were a lot of similarities.

1.  Getting Lost...I was smart enough the first stay to ask how to get to my room. I wasn't so smart the second stay. I MAY have wandered the halls for 25 minutes before finding my room. Man, Opryland is HUGE!!

A coworker of mine snapped a photo of the map

on his phone...Brilliant!

2.  Food...the first group buys, cooks, eats and serves it. The second group grows it.

Actually, Blissdom featured a California Raisins suite where my Real Farmwives friends felt right at home... 

I usually like my grapes served as wine,

but these were yummy too.

And I learned that some growers dry their raisins on the vine (below) and others dry them on tarps spread out in the vineyard. They also served warm oatmeal raisin cookies.

At Commodity Classic, the trade show not only featured tractors and seed corn, but also delicious omelets and apple fritters cooked up in a new, healthier soybean oil.

Why were omelets and apple fritters being served at a convention for farmers? Someone has to grow the soybeans so we can buy the oil at the grocery store!

3. Technology...I saw smart phones, iPads and laptops at both conventions. While the #Classic12 Twitter stream wasn't as crazy as #Blissdom, it was quite busy.

Also, I learned about Instagram, Facebook and other technologies at Blissdom. I learned about GPS, enhanced seed traits and apps for everything from weather forecasts to market updates at Commodity Classic.

4.  Passion...I don't think I know of any two groups of people who are more passionate about what they do than bloggers and farmers! Enough said.

5. Compassion...we helped ConAgra donate 40,000 meals to help end child hunger at Blissdom.

At Commodity Classic, it was announced that Beck's Hybrids helped raise $80,000 for families looking to adopt.

So many children helped...I feel blessed being associated with both groups!

6.  Entertainment...being in Music City meant some awesome musical acts to entertain us.

 At Blissdom, we saw both Joe Jonas and Rascal Flatts.

 I'm petitioning for NKOTB or Boyz II Men next year...

I felt a little old screaming Joe's name...

Oh, Joe Don, you can sing for me any day!

At Commodity Classic, I went to the Grand Ole Opry not once...but twice!

 It's an amazing venue...such history there!

At Blissdom, I went into Opryland on Thursday morning and didn't leave until Sunday morning.

At Commodity Classic, I went downtown three different times and listened to some great local bands.

Sing me some Conway Twitty boys!

I would have loved to see these two conferences happen at the same time...I can just imagine the conversations between the bloggers and the farmers. It would have been awesome! Maybe someday...

While I am SO, SO happy to be home, I feel like I should be heading south in a couple of days!

Anyone up for a road trip?

Sorry for the low quality photos! I carried around my big, fancy camera at both conferences and ended up snapping most of my shots with my iPhone!

Wrapping Up Corn Harvest 2011

As my dad, brother-in-law and uncle (that's right three families supported by our family farm) finish up corn harvest 2011, I thought I would reflect back on a pretty October day when captured some classic harvest shots.

I actually shot the first two photos a day or two earlier as a storm rolled in. We haven't had great weather this year so dad pulled out a corn reel (I think that's what it's called) just in case he had some downed corn (corn stalks that fell over due to wind and shallow root systems).

I decided to capture shots of the combine moving down the field while trying to stay away from the dust...

Then I snapped a some shots of the corn being unloaded.

First into the grain cart...

Then out of the semi trailer and...

into the grain bin!

If I'm lucky, I might squeeze out one more ride in the combine tomorrow night but I'm not getting my hopes up...those pesky nephews usually have priority over me!

The Trip that Keeps on Giving

Remember my trip to Kelsay Farms a couple weekends ago?

The one when my nephews had a GREAT time in the giant corn box.

The one when my floor was covered in corn kernels once we returned home.

Here's an update on where I have found corn kernels in the two weeks AFTER our trip to the farm.

1. The backseat of my car.
2. The guest bathroom.
3. The rocking chair in my living room.
4. Underneath my kitchen table.
5. In my couch cushions.
6. And I'm guessing many more places in the days to come!

Oh well, the boys had a great time at the Kelsay Farms so it's worth the extra clean-up. There's still one weekend left to experience the farm. Visit Kelsay Farms website for hours and a list of activities.

Pumpkins, Cows, Straw and Corn, Oh My

A trip to Kelsay Farms each October is becoming a tradition. 

This year, Baby Sister and I took her daughter and our two oldest nephews with us for an afternoon of fun on the dairy farm where we, of course, saw the cows.

The farm is just outside of Greenwood, Ind. and is a working dairy farm. They open the farm to the public every weekend (Friday night to Sunday evening) in October.

They do a great job providing lots of fun activities for all ages, including a corn maze.

But, it's all about the straw and the corn box when my nephews are there.

The photo above does NOT do the straw mountain justice. It is HUGE with tunnels and slides. It's a perfect place for boys to run around, make friends and play tag.

They expanded their corn box this year (think sand box but with corn) and it was a happening place.

My only complaint about the whole day is that the boys brought a little too much of the fun home with them...

Not sure if you can see it, but there's corn all over my floor...from his pants pockets! Oh well, he picked it all up, though I'm not sure where he put it...

This was supposed to be a Wordless Wednesday post so I'll wrap this up with some other fun photos from the day. Enjoy! If you want to know more about Kelsay Farms, visit their Facebook page!

Moo-Choo Express!

Pumpkins!

"I love my pumpkin!"

Calves...23 days old.

"Bye calves!"

Tuckered out!

Kelsay Farms did provide me with a couple of admission tickets to the farm but the thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own, of course.