Pictures

Alan, Chandra and Lisa entertain us at Betty's birthday bash!

Derek turns 8!

Adam (w/ broken nose), Alan & Ed

Yes, we're still here and It's still raining!

It is hard to focus on anything once harvest is done. Although there are many things to do, I don't seem to do any of them. Maybe when the rain stops.

We are following Stephen's attempt to make the Double A Bantam hockey team out of Kindersley. He has made the intitial round of cuts and there are about 3 kids left to cut so he is still waiting. He played his first game last night against Swift Current. They held their own sharing the lead back and forth until about the end of the second period when things kind of went to hell and they lost the game 11 -6. Stephen assisted on their second goal, but he got burned a few times as well. It is fast hockey and you aren't allowed any slip ups or it will cost you. They travel back to Swift Current on Sunday.

I am the new Minor Hockey president in Kerrobert which has already proven to be a busy job but I think I will enjoy it. Adam is still recovering from his concusion and still is not allowed to play football but is still travelling with the team. They are 2 wins and 1 loss so far.

Chandra has started teaching piano in town 2 days a week and catching up the farm books.

Clem

Over the Top Harvest

Here's the way to harvest!

It's Raining!!

Woke up this morning to thunder, lightening and rain! What timing. Rain is predicted for the next 5 days. I have always loved the rain. Vancouver would be a good place for me. I think it stems back to when I was a kid, when it rained it meant we didn't have to go to school as you couldn't get down our road and on the farm the work was suspended when it rained. It also makes you appreciate the shelter.
If you look back on the posts of the last 3 harvests we have been lucky on each one narrowly escaping the big one each time. It is still early and I'm sure we will have more nice weather but 95% of the Sask harvest is in the bin.

The news of tragedy in Montreal this morning reminds me of how volatile life can be and that we must count our blessings every day.

Finished Harvest 06

We finished at 4PM Tue, Sept 12. Rain is predicted starting tonight for 5 days. We have shipped many B train trucks to make room for this years harvest. Peas yielded 30 bushels per acre, Lentils 15, Wheat 25, Barley 45, Flax 10, Oats 35. All in all they were average yields. Quality is all in the top grades and should move well.
Thanks to Adam and Stephen combine operators, Doug McNicol, swather, combines, trucks, tractors. Derek, Joeboy. Lyle and Carol for all their help. Ritz for helping truck and especially Chandra for keeping everyone fed and happy. It was a successful and safe harvest. Yeehaw!

One day before the Rain

80 acres and one day left. They are calling for rain to begin overnight and to go until after the weekend. We had a great day yesterday. Adam is getting back in the saddle and they pounded off 160 acres yesterday. We can use a rain as things are very dry.

The Schraefel Farm

Stephen banged off the 100

With Adam down for the count, Stephen was grinding alone in the ol' Massey 750. We started this morning after church and he never missed a beat. He 's well over half done the 160 acre field. Derek helped all day moving trucks and he found that he can get an FM station out here and is he pumped! It fades in and out so he has to move around to tune it in. Hope to have both boys back tommorrow. Calling for showers on thursday. Maybe snow in Calgary. Yikes!

Closing in!

320 acres left to go!! The weather is holding and everyything looks good. I lost some operators yesterday. One had the flu and one had a broken nose and black eyes. Adam lost his first football game but he didn't see any action. Most of the rookies get to watch from the bench. Stephen is going to the double A camp next weekend in Kindersley.

I was thinking of running as a liberal delegate in our riding so I could get to the leadership convention in Montreal. There are so few members in this riding, my chances of going are very good. I used to spend a lot of time there but haven't been there for quite a while. It is a great place, a very friendly place. I could visit some old friends I haven't seen in over 10 years. Just a thought at this point as there are so many obligations here right now, but it's fun to dream.

Chandra' Garden

Before I forget, I wanted to show a picture of Chandra's garden. I had tried to put it on our site earlier but gave up. Anyway, here it is in the early stages. It is by far our best crop and most important crop. It is 100% organic and we have been enjoying the fruits of her labour for over a month. She works in it every day, usually in the morning when it is cool. She has been picking, watering, weeding, freezing, canning and feeding us, non grateful boys and I feel great. When you see the work that goes into the veggies we eat, you realize we have extremely cheap food available to us in Canada. Thanks for all your hard work, Chandra!


Rant:

I heard a phrase once "farming causes cities" and can see now what it means; without industial agriculture we would have to feed ourselves this way and it would be a full time job to provide food for our family for a year. When I see the effort involved it amazes me that our society, especially Canada, doesn't value this service like it does the energy industry. I think, like a lot of other areas, we have our values screwed up. Oh well, as long as the US and the EU continue to subsidize and support it's food producers which keeps world food prices low, Canadian consumers and Governments will benefit greatly from it.

Clem

Harvest Progress 2006

We are closing in on finishing the barley at around 45 bu/ac but we are now out of room to continue. Hopefully we will get some trucks today to haul some away.

Adam is swathing oats (160 ac) and we will start combining flax (240 ac) as soon as we have space and then we are done and hockey can start. Last year Adam was going from the combine to the rink. This (early harvest) has been a blessing and a very relaxed harvest. +32C yesterday.

Adam is playing football and will have his first game on Friday. They have been practicing for a week and he is all bruised up and limping so I guess he is trying. Good luck!

Some August Pictures

We went to beautiful Outlook, SK on August 12 to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Chandra's aunt and uncle, Shirley and Tony Kubashek. Pictured, l to r, are Ginny and Pierre Parent, Shirley and Tony, and Betty and Alan Huck. Shirley, Ginny, and Alan are siblings, with Alan being the youngest, as he frequently likes to point out.

These are Chandra's siblings and cousins and their kids! Two of the cousins couldn't be there, but the rest had a blast! Some hadn't seen each other for 17 years.

August 15 - Derek turns 8!
We had a family celebration with yummy vegetables from the garden and an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen!

A storm narrowly misses us, hail wiped out a lot of crop just to the south!

www.schraefel.ca

Check out the Schraefel Farm website at www.schraefel.ca

Check out Derek's blog at www.derek34bb.blogspot.com

See if this is easier!

I will try to update the farm happenings this way instead of on our home page, so there will be one more click to get here.

Straight combining barley is the most fun! Adam is on the lead machine and Stephen is close behind. Derek drives us around to move machines and trucks around. Thanks guys, you're doing great!

Clem