Calgary Snow….

Black 03 Z06

Black 03 Z06

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Yikes, just saw on the news all the snow you folks got in Calgary. I know you have weird weather on occasion but is this early for snow?

Good luck.:thumbs:
 
Yes, this is very early for snow. They say that we are in for a nasty winter this year, and I'm beginning to believe it. :Banghead:

It's supposed to clear up by mid next week, so hopefully we can get a few more nice days in before I put the car in storage (because if we don't, it's staying where it is).
 
Fall in northern Alberta...................

Last day of combining was Sept 29th for me. It took me 13 days to struggle through about 250 acres of lodged field peas. A magnitude of difficulty more than the worst combining I had yet to experience in my life. After about three or four hours each day I just wanted to drive the combine into the bush and leave it there. Problems caused by about 45 mm of rain that we got in mid August that just flattened the peas to the ground. Bought about 45 crop lifters to put on the combine header, lost or broke off about 1/2 of them. I use about 15 at a time so they were just flying off the header some days it seemed. At $30 a pop it got sort of annoying.

Three days of rain and snow followed. Then instead of highs normally in the +12 range, we had 2 to 4 above for the next few days.

So spent time in the machine shed fixing the combines - the one I started with that was taken out of action by a clean grain elevator that was plugged solid with peas and of all things mold off the pods and stems! The mold was so bad that it looked like the combine hopper was filling with peas and dirt. When unloading I couldn't see the end of the auger some 15 feet away from me..........

It snowed again for the past two days. Nothing positive in the forecast for the next week, again normal highs of +10 and nothing more than 1 or 2 above and more snow forecast for this weekend.

So as it stands, about 15% of the crop is off and I can't say there is hope for much more at this time of year.

Thank God for crop insurance which means the Z06 stays with me still!!

Made an offer on a house in Fairview but no reply yet, they have until tomorrow. As it is Thanksgiving today I'd be thankful to finally have a garage to store the Z06 and the Mustang finally. Just around the corner from the guy who has a red C6 convertible too! And to not have to drive 2 1/2 hours a day to take my son to school would be something that I'll never miss...............

Up at 5:30 yesterday to have to change a septic tank pump - the fun never stops around here. My favorite winter time activity. I'm learning though, as these things happen to me on the Saturday night of a long weekend I had a spare in hand! The rare male that can learn from previous mistakes.

But overall, still happy, thankful for my son, parents and gf and the pea crop was actually my best yet I think................but the canola and wheat looked super good too so I am sad not to have been able to pick them up. And I am missing not being able to drive the cars the first two weeks of October

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Cheers,

Garry
 
Good afternoon Riley,

We actually had a sort of melting day yesterday and today. Much less snow. Not that it is anywhere near combineable. I'd be happy but the next four days are calling for 30 - 70% chance of snow/flurries/showers. But then hey +4 and +6!! So ya it's not over yet but still need much more positive weather involvement.

The house offer was rejected, as I sort of expected it would be. Not sure if I should raise my offer and if so by how much. Need some time to consider this. Sure would be happy to have the cars in a garage though.

"Harvest was mostly a success"..............not quite! 15% of the crop off is not that good I think. Sad that all the investment was made and only 15% of the expected income so far to show for that. Might be a lean winter! Still I have to wait and see what the outcome is over the next month. If we do get any more crop off and how much crop insurance will pay on what I can't get off.............

Cheers,

Garry
 
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Not much better down here Garry. They are saying most of the barley is off but wheat and canola still in the fields. Luckily the wheat is mostly still standing so we still have a shot if it doesn't germinate.... most of the canola is swathed .... sorry to say we could use some cold weather to freeze dry and let us combine it...... chin up on the house.... The right one at the right price will come along.....
 
Wow, I never knew things were bad in central Alberta.

The people south of the river, so say Falher and Grande Prairie I think got all done up but north of the river was a shocking wreck. Fields unharvested between Grimshaw and Peace River which I can't ever remember seeing before. And around Fairview which is normally one of the first areas done there is a lot there too. One day I talked with told me her son in law had 5000 ac out south of Whitelaw. So unlike some years when we're the only ones in this situation it seems much more wide spread. Almost everything has been repaired and is ready to go if we get another chance.

My wheat is standing as well but it lodged so badly I'm not sure if it would have been better to have swathed it. Grade will be bad though, feed for sure and I hope not any worse than that. I've even heard rumors of canola starting to mold............

So four days of snow, then Tuesday +5 and Wednesday +9. A mess if it doesn't continue, hope if it does!

As for the house, yes I am calm enough about it that if it is not this house, it will be another. It is sort of a struggle between how long one has to wait before people get with understanding that by and large the economy has tanked in Alberta and a lot of these small towns where the money was made in the oilfield have disappeared and will most likely not appear again or at least for a very long time.

But still considering a counter off and the possibility of just moving on to a different house or just waiting for something new to come along. The recommendation is always to never buy a house in the winter anyway and that seems to be where we are headed!

I may have to store the cars in the sea-can at this rate.....................

Cheers,

Garry
 
Jeepers! I'm not sure what the heck I read, but for some reason my brain thought you had only 250 ac of peas in the field and everything else was off! I didn't realize you only completed 15% of the harvest. That's too bad to hear.
I think my brain played a trick on me as most of the fields around here are cleared off, which is not the situation up north as I still see a lot of canola and barley out in the fields.

Sorry for the mix up Garry! Here's hoping for the perfect weather to allow you to get as much off as you can.
 
Good morning Riley,

I sort of figured as much!

I am sort of surprised when I was coming back from Fairview this morning and went to Peace River for groceries and I saw the number of fields left besides ours. Some operations that are usually top notch run and just plow through their work and they even have fields left and combines sitting in the fields. So it does make me feel a bit better. Having said that I'd also be willing to bet that they have a lot less than 85% of their acres left to go.

But it is what it is. And after review I still find it hard to see where I could have changed things to be further along than I am right now and I think that helps to give me a great deal of peace and to keep me calm.

And with some hope it the forecast, well, as they say, "it's never over..............".

Makes me think getting another combine and delaying in the house might be in my future!!

Cheers,

Garry
 
A lot of snow last night, maybe 10 cm. But the forecast still calling for +8 on Tuesday and +10 on Wednesday. Harvest may not be over just yet! But more snow forecast for the next three days first. Then all the melting and drying that needs to take place. Now we need those hurricane gale force winds too. I looked at some wheat, a fair bit of head breakage off the stems has happened. But I'm more interested in getting the canola off anyway. That is still possibly worth some $ where as feed wheat or worse is hardly worth the effort now.

Made a counter-offer on the house. Hope I don't have to wait out the weekend. I'd be happy to move on to a different one. I don't like the garage on this one but it is big enough and very tall as the owner liked to store his grain truck in it.

Cheers,

Garry
 
I'm up in the Nipawin area today doing some site visits. I was trying to get to view a river crossing but it was a no go. There is standing water EVERYWHERE up here. Ditches are all full and any area with a dip seems to be filled. We were talking with one farmer who says it so saturated that the waters just coming up out of the ground. Therefore trying to drive out would be useless and he stated that he's not too keen getting his 4WD tractor stuck if we need help getting out. A lot of fields here with swathed crop just sitting. I don't thing I've ever seen this.

Here's hoping it dries up a bit!

And also hoping you get the house!
 
Good morning Riley,

I hate to say that misery loves company, but in this case I'm surprised at the amount of crop unharvested in other areas. I talked with a girl in my son's class yesterday whose parents farm south of Fairview and again they are not done. Nor, much to my surprise, one of cousin's near Nampa is only 40% complete. It is much worse than I had realized.

Still warm weather for next week so my fingers are crossed.

Maybe 10 cm or more yesterday on top of what we had earlier and never lost so it is looking pretty wintery right now.

No reply to my counter-offer. I dislike having to wait over the weekend. I mean it is a house being sold through inheritance. How hard is it to make a decision? It's not like he's trying to recoup his purchase price because in this case it was zero!

Cheers,

Garry
 
We got the big hit yesterday. About another 3 inches at my place... Canola swaths are starting to smell...not a good sign... suppose to be nice next week. Here's hoping for anything still worth combining.... A lot of water laying around here as well.... almost every swath has a black saturated tire track on each side of it.... Lots of water laying in the fields here too.... just plain nasty..... Thank goodness for insurance.
 
Yep. Not that I get excited about paying my crop insurance premiums ever (and even thought about not taking any this year too!) but it is always a feeling of relief in case of an outright disaster so it is just a regular part of doing business..

We're looking at 3, 5, 9 and 10 starting on Tuesday. Still another chance of show tomorrow. I got stuck in my parents yard today even. Sheesh!

I've heard others talk about molding canola. Hard to know what it will be like if we get a chance to hit it again. Just have to cross my fingers it will be a fast melt with some good winds and a rapid dry up. The nice thing is that I've already written it off in my head so if anything comes off, I'll be happily surprised.

But now will M. Nature give us back the two weeks she took from us??

Cheers,

Garry
 
0, 2, 4, 9, 9, 8 as it stands. 30% chance of snow today and tomorrow yet. So there continues to be a little bit of hope coming along.

House offer rejected. Much to gf's disappointment I'm going to let it go. 15 K apart.

Owner got house 6 months ago when his dad died. And apparently based asking price on the municipal assessment. While that is fine that also assumes certain things like occasional upgrades (original 40 year old windows like) and that things like foundation drainage are working. House appears to need weeping tile replacement. That could cost 15 to 20K so the house is not in normal upkept condition in my mind, therefore the using the municipal assessment value to set your selling price is too high.

And while I'm not sure where most of you live, the economy in Alberta, especially in small towns where there were scads of over-paid, under-educated oilfield workers has tanked and two years into this new world, people need to accept reality and to get their expectations in line.

I would have liked the house, to have a garage for the cars but am not willing to pay pre-2014 prices to get that especially if right off the bat I'd be facing another 15 to 20K to replace the weeping tile. I'm even more skeptical that he'll sell it going into winter which is normally when housing sales drop off, no one seems to enjoy moving when it is snowy outside. Plus if you haven't seen the house it, you can't get a good idea of the yard etc.

I could be wrong but with the best information at hand that is route I'm going to take.

Cheers,

Garry
 
Garry have you given any thought to following Bill's lead and building your own? I would think based on the reality of those needing work in your area you could find a contractor to help you out. Just a thought but build what you want and have no worries about the condition of the place. It would be new and exactly what you need.
 
Given the cost of building new, even now, I don't want to be in a position of having to have a mortgage again. Thus my budget is build around that factor. A good solid house where we will probably be living for six years until my son graduates and then we may be moving back here. I'm keeping my current acreage for a place to stay during farming season so will not be selling this which might have given me that option, but I want this place for a place to stay when I farm and also to have it lined up already for when I move back.

For those who are not out of Toronto or Vancouver, that means in the 250 K range...............I know for most of you that wouldn't buy an outhouse but in Northern Alberta it can still buy you something decent enough...............

I'm a patient fellow and the right house will come along. Sort of like the right car did, the right gf did etc!

Cheers,

Garry
 
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