Planting season...

Not too long ago I talked about the "seasons" on the ranch.  We officially entered planting season on May 6, 2011.  Wheat seed started hitting the ground!  We have been experiencing a very wet spring for western ND.  You always pray for moisture and you just have to accept when it comes no matter how inconvenient it may be. 

This time of year also requires escorts.  Not THAT type of escort!

The machinary is large and often slow moving.  People outside of agriculture (even in rural ND) just don't understand this and are aften impatient and just plain don't use their heads.  This phenomenom has greatly increased as the number of oil field related workers and traffic has increased in our area.  It is not uncommon for me to meet a minimum of 6 semis on the 4 mile stretch of road before I get to the highway. 

Therefore, when the guys are moving the equipment from one field to the next someone must drive in front of them with their hazards flashing to warn oncoming vehicles to slow down.  And it doesn't happen in just one trip either.  First there is the tractor/drill/airseeder/anhydrous tank combo.  Then the old, old truck (I refuse to learn to drive such a thing) filled with dry fertilizer, the old truck filled with seed and a pickup pulling the two spare anhydrous tanks.

And the job of escort is mine on the days I don't work in town.  Here you can see my FIL following me with the tractor combo.

I pulled off to the side of the road to allow him to head down the field road (section line) to the actual field another mile or so down.

 Then I followed him to the field around mud puddles to pick him up and take him back to the starting place to retrieve more equipment.

The other part of my job as farmwife is taking the empty anhydrous tanks to be filled.  I'm pulling 2 tanks and the law states you can only drive 25 miles per hour while pulling them.  It takes me an hour to get to the filling station about 40 mintues to fill and then another hour back.  I really try to time these trips in with naptime.

My little tonner pickup next to the big "bullet" of anhydrous.  They require you pull up really, really close to fill and I still haven't mastered it yet.

The process is:  pull tank 1 onto the scale, pull tank 2 onto the scale, have both tanks filled and then reweigh.

And this is what the girls do (hopefully) during this time.  (I facebook or read my kindle if the weather is too cold and windy to visit with the filler.

AA sleeping with her legs crossed.  She fell asleep with a book on her lap.

And this is the book that Lil stole from AA after she fell asleep.  It must be a boring book to put 2 girls to sleep.

TJ agreed with the other 2 and slept too.

And for inquiring minds, yes, you CAN fit 3 forward facing carseats in the back seat of a chevy 1 ton crewcab pickup.