Playing dress up as cave people

This past weekend was time again for the Groves' annual Halloween par-tay where I am forced against my will to dress up.  Sigh....  

(Disclaimer - They know I hate to dress up.  They know I only do it because I love them & I don't wanna be a party pooper...)

This year the par-tay was a bit different as it was 'kid friendly'.  I'm all set w/ B-rad because he is always my plus one when he isn't being a farmer BUT he can also be my plus kid.  Win, win.  

(Disclaimer #2-B-rad usually can't do anything fun this time of year, but he always makes it a priority to take off from farming for the Groves' par-tay...)

This year we all decided to be 'cave people'.   Not a great pic of us, but this is all I've got.  Brian's mom took this outside around the fire & the quality is not great.  I announced several times I needed another pic of us tried to get us all together later in the evening for another shot but it just didn't work out.

 You know one of the reasons I hate dressing up is because I don't like to spend a lot of money for costumes.  It's also difficult for me to find things in my size.  I can't just go to the costume store & hope to find something that fits.  SO-when Brian came up with cave people idea for this year, I had an idea - my friend Rose can sew, so I asked her if she could make a skirt & she said she was game to try.  When I went to visit her a couple of weeks ago she made me a costume...& she doesn't even know HOW to make clothes...

The zebra print fabric was $20 & I had a ton left over.  My plan was for her to figure out how to make me a skirt, then sew a zebra trim on the punk rocker shirt I had from last year.  Recycling, people.  When we she sewed the trim on the shirt though, it messed the shirt up.  We don't know how or why, but it did & we had to improvise - quick.  We ended up basically making like another skirt for the top... We cut the triangles at the bottom in both, but the top kinda runs together with the skirt.  When I first tried it on I felt like a big zebra, but after I added the leggings, boots & accessories I felt better about it...

B-rad's costume came from Amazon for $33.74.  It came with the tunic thingie, the faux fur thingie, the cuffs & a belt.  His wig also came from Amazon & it was $9.14.  Shauna & I went shopping for accessories at Horner Novelty last week.  I don't remember what each piece cost, but B-rad's club, his necklace, my necklace & bracelet all came to like $25.  I figured it would be chilly outside (because it normally is) so Shauna & I bought leggings & furry boots to match our costumes.  My plan was to wear a long sleeve black shirt under my top.  Since it was like summer weather Saturday I opted for a short sleeve shirt instead.

I felt it was my obligation to show you the pic of B-rad using his club as uhm, uh...

Like I say, "He's my 12 year old husband..."

Shauna & I found the furry boots at Kmart for $17.  They were buy one, get one half off so we paid $12.75 each for them.  They had these little gold & silver beads hanging down the side but Shauna had the idea to take apart a necklace she bought at Horner Novelty & string that stuff together to hang on our boots.  It's hard to see in the pic, but there are skulls & crossbones on it.  Our leggings came from Old Navy which were also buy one, get one half off.  We paid $11 for them.

I probably took 4 pics of those damn boots trying to get a good one of the dangling thingies we made.   Brian's sister noticed what I was doing & wanted to make fun of me to take a pic of her Sperry...

 She sat down next to B-rad & I & when I got ready to take a picture of us she said she was gonna photo bomb us.  I said, "NO!  I hate photo bombs!  If you wanna be in the picture that's fine, but smile nice!"  

(there may have been drinking involved...) 

 I don't normally wear boots, but they came in really handy as a place to hold my phone.  The other boot housed my lip gloss.  Priorities, people...

 Me & the bestie...Notice she has a bone in her bun & I have 2 bones Brian tied together in an 'x' for me attached to my head.  It's all about the accessories, people...

 

 Butterfly & Rhonda showed up, but not in costume.  (I'm gonna tell you why in a minute.)  I had to share this pic because I know some of you (G...) have a crush on him... 

Everyone says we look alike - I swear I don't see it.  At all...

 Rhonda & I had been texting that afternoon about the par-tay.  She didn't know if they were gonna make it because Jer hadn't been feeling well after a run.  He's been having gastric pains after runs for a few months.  He went to the hospital a while back but they found nothing.  

This is further proof that running is bad for you...

Anyway... let me back up - Rhonda is a super crafty kinda gal.  She makes jewelry, she takes old stuff & re-finishes it & she has become quite the crochet"er".  She made this unicorn hat for Butterfly & he wears it with PRIDE.  

SO-as we're texting I mentioned that Jer would enjoy the kid par-tay (because he's as bad as B-rad) & I would enjoy having an adult conversation with her.  She texted me back, "Kid friendly? As in children?"  I said, "Yea...."  And she was like, "Oh no - our costumes are NOT appropriate for kids..."  And she sent me a pic of Jer's costume...

WARNING, WARNING, WARNING - the next pic is NOT for the faint of heart.....

If you are easily offended, close your eyes & scroll for all you're worth...

She crocheted that for him...

Thanks to the Groves' for having us again!  Brian works really hard for weeks on all the decorations 
as evidenced in this selfie I took to show you the bones in my hair better....there's a mummy in the bed behind me.  Creepy stuff!  

An itty bitty, teeny tiny problem with the combine...

After the 40 days & 40 nights of rain, B-rad was finally able to get back into the field on Sunday.  Everything was well again in the world...until...

Around 7:30 pm I got a call:

B-rad: "The motor on the combine just came apart."

Me:  "HUH?  What do you mean it 'came apart?"

B-rad: "The motor on the combine -  I was driving & it just stopped.  I got out & there are pieces of it laying around."

And now we know how much a complete motor (a re-manufactured motor, mind you - NOT a brand new one) for a combine costs.... $21,400.00

YEA.

Ok- so now that I have your complete & un-divided attention I'll tell ya the story:

B-rad was in the field doing his combining thing & the machine started to vibrate really bad.  He heard a loud 'flopping' or knocking noise that sounded like a belt was coming apart.  Suddenly the engine died & smoke started rolling.

So B-rad did what any other farmer would do, he got out to figure out what the hell was going on.

And what he saw made his heart sink...

Pieces of the motor...broken... 

and bent...

And I have no idea what all this stuff means, but I'm gonna tell you exactly what B-rad texted me when I asked him what the hell happened to describe on the blog told me... A piston hit a valve that was stuck open.  A bolt had come out & something slid over causing that valve to stay open.  Then the piston hit the valve, the rod broke & sent it through the block in front & back.   Like I said - it's all Greek to me, but it's very, VERY bad.

This is a catastrophic (dramatic, much?) failure.  I mean - it's the MOTOR.  And things like this just don't happen everyday.  B-rad watches his gauges, he checks the oil & the engine temp.  He didn't let it overheat & blow up - it just came apart.  No warning, no reason.

B-rad spent most his day Monday trying to research their options.  Of course we still have grain in the fields so we have to do something.  He called to get a price on a new motor (which is the $21,400.00 I told you about).  And even though that's bad enough news, the even worse news is we can't get one for at least 35 days.  We don't have 35 days to wait...

Before anything else could be done, they had to get the broken combine out of the field.  Thank goodness he was close to the barn when it broke.  The head was still on the front of the machine down on the ground.  The head runs on hydraulics & guess what controls those hydraulics?  Yes, the motor...

First job was figuring out how to get the head to raise up & remove it so they could haul it back to the barn.  I have to give it to my hubby, he's pretty darn creative.  They hooked the hydraulic hoses for the head to another tractor & operated the head via the tractor.  If you look closely you can see the black hoses connecting the 2 machines.  

 The next night they used the Case tractor to pull the combine back to the barn.  They had a chain hooked to the combine as well as the hydraulic hoses.  B-rad's inside the tractor pulling & controlling the combine from it.  His dad is inside the combine to control the brakes...

And since Sunday night when this happened & today when I'm posting this (Friday) we have changed our minds about 4,324 times as to what we want to do.  We know we HAVE to rent a machine from our dealer to get as much done as we can while we figure this whole thing out and/or get a new motor.  That will cost $15/acre.  We can't just throw our hands up in the air or lay in the fetal position sucking our thumbs - we have a crop to get in - we paid a LOT of money to get it put out!  

Here were our options:  (I would like to also point out that the boys looked & looked for other machines to get motors out of.  Burnt machines, older machines, old motors, etc.  Trust me - they didn't just jump into the $21k option...)

1.  Replace our motor & wait 35 days for it to come in.  That will end up costing around $30,000.00 by the time it's all said & done.  (Shipping the motor [that ain't cheap], putting oil & fluids in it, & other various 'parts' it would require.  That does not include the boys labor to put it in.)  This also means we would be renting that other machine for 35 days.  We have roughly 1000 acres left.  Not that they would get all 1000 done in 35 days, but if they did - that would be another $15,000.00 for the rent - worse case.

2.  We could trade in our combine for the rental machine & pay $10,000.00.  (Best I can explain that is like when you're upside down on a car - you owe more on it than they will trade for it.  I mean-the combine has no motor - it's practically USELESS.)  {B-rad did a TON of work on that machine this summer to get it ready.  (Remember we just got it at the end of last years harvest?)  He had to mount all his monitors & it had been sitting in a barn for a while before we bought it & it reeked of mice.  He had to take the whole cab apart to get it cleaned out.} The dealer would waive the rental fee if we did that. As of Monday night - that's what they thought they would do.  BUT-when the rental machine got here on Wednesday, B-rad did NOT like how it ran, how it sounded or how it looked.  He was uncomfortable with the machine & the prospect of trading ours for the rental (which is also a year older & has more hours on it.)  B-rad told his brother, "We really need to think about replacing the motor."

3.  Rebuild our motor.  I heard words like 'short block' & 'turbo' being thrown around.  Not sure what any of it meant, but that job would be quite an undertaking. 

4.  Brian called Cummins (that's who makes the motor) & talked & begged about other options to get a motor faster.  The Cummins guy ended up doing some more leg work for us & found a motor in Canada...& it's brand new.  It will cost us $19,000.00 & will be $1800.00 to ship it here.  It will come with a warranty, so depending on whether it's void if we install it - Cummins will do the work for us & we'll have whatever labor bill for that.  

And option #4 it is, people...  

And you may be wondering if the motor is so expensive that surely we will make butt loads of money off our crop to cover it?   And of course, it's not that simple...  Right now prices on corn are down - like in the $3 range a bushel.  That's like really, really low.  We have been selling grain from last year we were holding onto to pay some bills, but money is still tight right now.   I always tell you guys B-rad doesn't do this to make money, he does it because he loves it & he's investing in our future.  The farm pays for the ground we own & the property taxes.  (And for those tax conscience blog stalkers, B-rad & I show the payment for the land from the farm as income when we file our taxes.) B-rad & I can't afford that on our own.  That would be around $20,000/year for just the 200 acres we own & taxes on them...that does not include the 200 we own w/ Brian & Lora or their 200 acres they have separate from us or the taxes.  It's crazy town money.   AND what makes the combine motor money situation even worse is our financial guy has been on or asses the last couple of years about how much money it costs to put our crops out, etc.  This past year we had to make MAJOR changes to get our input prices down or he was going to refuse to let us borrow the money.  

He's got the money - so he's got us by the balls...  

Although the farm doesn't pay any of our personal bills (house, cars, groceries, utilities) the financial people still look through our personal finances.  Every year I have to tell them how much money we have in savings & investments.  I have to tell them what our home, belongings & vehicles are worth.  I also have to show them all bills we owe (credit cards, loans for said house & cars, etc.)  2 years ago when I bought my car, he ripped B-rad's ass about it - he questioned why we did that.  UHM, I traded in a car that got like 15-17 mpg for a car that gets 29-33 mpg & the payment was less.  To me, that was a good decision but he didn't think so.  

So if you're wondering how we're going to pay for this - me too!   We will have to sell more grain now at the lower price - which sucks but we gotta do what we gotta do.  Grain prices always go down at harvest because everyone is harvesting at the same time.  It's supply & demand, people.  If we can hold onto it & store it & sell it in the winter & spring when there's a demand & not much supply the price goes up.  We are fortunate because at the barn we have 8 bins for grain storage.  (The bins are financed in w/ the land we own w/ Brian & Lora that we bought from my in laws a few years ago.  Yep, we're also paying for our inheritance.  Cool, huh?  I think I blogged about it but you guys may not remember...it was 2011, after all...)  Most farmers around here don't have that so we usually have more flexibility on when we sell & can watch for the market to go up...

For now - B-rad has been using the rented machine to run corn.  He will continue to do that until the new motor comes in & is installed - whether it's Cummins or McAfee's.  B-rad thinks it should only take a day or so to get it all put it.  I was surprised by that...seems like that much money should get at least a weeks worth of work out of them...

I know I threw a lot at ya'll in this one - as always, if you have any questions comment below. 

Weekend in review

Last Saturday I went to Harvest Homecoming's costume contest to see our friend, Brian, debut the Cyborg T-Rex he built this summer.  If you've ever just been-you know-sitting around in a small Southern Indiana town & then suddently see a T-rex dinosaur walking down the street - it's quite the spectacle.

People were gathered around him taking pictures & looking at his handiwork.

The costume contest was broken down by age groups.  Brian's group was the last to go.  He couldn't fit on the 'stage' they had set up so he had walk in front of it.  The chick that was announcing all the contestants came out to put the microphone up to his costume because it came complete with sound effects.  He had a dinosaur roar & then some funny stuff like a cow moo & other various tunes.

This is a side view of it.  Ya'll - he made this all by himself... He is crazy talented.

 What I loved is that while he was showing his costume to the judges a LOT of people walked up to take pictures of him.  I can tell you they didn't do that for anyone else.  I was there for the WHOLE contest!

 Brian won his age group (duh) & the Harvest Queen presented him his trophy.

 

 First place.  Boom.

 After the contest he stayed in the parking lot for a while & there was a constant flow of adults & kids coming up to admire the costume.  If you'd like to read more about how he constructed it & what materials he used, you can check out his Cyborg T-rex Facebook page here.  There are videos of him trying out the movements as it was under construction & you can hear the sound effects.  There's also a video of him walking down the streets of New Albany in the costume the morning of the contest & peoples reactions to it.

On Sunday afternoon I traveled 2 hours west to Rose's house to have her finish my quilt.  Rose works for the state & she was off for Columbus day (which was last Monday)... my jobs sucks I am not so I took the day off to stay the night w/ her so we she could do the work....

 We took the same fabric that's on the back & used it for the binding aka 'edges'.

We she used a little fancier stitch option on her sewing machine.  I had brought white thread to use, but it got lost in all the colors of the fabric.  Rose had some thread that was all different colors so we used that.  You know me - I like fun... & THIS is fun!

I got home Monday evening & washed my quilt (not in any good smelling laundry detergent, mind you because of my stupid, stupid fragrance allergy... my detergent smells like nothingness...BLEH.).

Sonny said, "Mom - this quilt's gonna work out just fine..."

But enough about me... let's talk about B-rad for just a second.

Since its been raining for 40 days & 40 nights he's not been able to run corn.  Even with the rain, he had been still going to the barn every night because you guys know there's ALWAYS something to be done at the barn...

BUT-the last couple of nights - B-rad has been hunting.  YES, HUNTING.  (Remember the fight we got into about him hunting again?  Pssssh, how could you forget?!)

His new special hunting bow came in & he's been working on getting it set up to hunt between working at the barn.  

He has a foam deer in the back yard he uses to site in his bow.  He also has a wart hog but since he's not hunting those right now he's been practicing on the deer.   (I sarcastically lovingly refer to our back yard as wild kingdom...)

(I technically think this pic was taken at another hunters house down the road where B-rad was also siting his bow in...but we DO have a deer so there...)

He was all excited & ready to go.  Fancy bow...fancy arrows...other fancy stuff that I don't know what it is...

AND back to me....

So we all know my love of thank you cards, RIGHT?   I like to put the ones I receive on the refrigerator.  Sometimes they stay a short time...sometimes they stay a while... it all depends on how special I deem the 'thank you'.  

(And YES I have lots of magnets on the fridge.  My new thing is to buy a magnet from a place we visit.  You can also see at the far left a pic of Faith Hill's head.  I was a member of the Fan club [yes, I was] & I got a magnet.  Also to her heads right are 3 magnets from the Soul 2 Soul tours we saw. [yes the plural is correct] AND I have our tickets there from when we saw it in Vegas on the 3rd row.  I love that story...)

Remember the Country Chic Pinterest wedding?  I got my thank you from them in the mail like a good little bride & groom & it was AWESOME!  First of all, it was PROMPT!  The wedding was Sep 27th - I do love me a prompt thank you note...  Cute pic of them on the outside & inside was another pic of them kissing at the ceremony.  Then there was a handwritten note inside thanking us for our gift.  Maybe I don't get out much, but I've never gotten a wedding thank you like this...

And the turquoise thank you on the left?  Well that ones been there since around May.  6 months - and ya wanna know why?  Well - it was a thank you for a First Communion...& the little boy whose First Communion it was WROTE THE THANK YOU HIMSELF.  I mean, people - you can't get much better!  It makes this gal with ice in her veins a little warm inside!  

 (His mom also wrote me a lovely note inside - but who cares about that?)  

A wedding brought to you by Pinterest...

B-rad & I went to a wedding last Saturday night & ya'll - I LOVE weddings.  I know that's hard to believe since I'm the most non-romantic person you'll ever meet.  I can't exactly tell you WHY I love them, but I do.   I never wanted kids, but I always, ALWAYS knew I wanted to be married.  

I don't know if it's because it's supposed to be the happiest day of your life?

I don't know if it's because of the big, white dress & the fact that the bride will never look more lovely in all her life?

I don't know if it's because I like to see all the neat & different ideas people come up with?

I don't know if it's because at the end of the night you are guaranteed cake?

ANYWAY-we went to a wedding.  And you may be surprised that I say WE.  

As in B-rad AND I. 

The McAfee's.  

We attended a function together in the fall.  

I KNOW.

The groom is a friend of the family & has worked for the boys on the farm for many years.  Most the time taking off from the farm for a night like this doesn't happen, but the boys decided they needed to make an exception.

 B-rad told me the day before the wedding that we could wear jeans.  

I said, "What?  We CAN?  To the ceremony??"

B-rad said, "Yea - the groom is wearing jeans."  

And all of Gods people said Amen...

(Disclaimer - we wore nice jeans w/ 'dressy' tops & I was all jeweled up.  We didn't look like total heathens...)

The bride has a son (he was maybe 6-8 years old?) & they each said vows to him.  And ya'll - when the bride did hers & cried the whole time - I did too.  It was super sweet & I love how they made him part of the ceremony. 

(I blame PMS...)

Further proof that jeans were appropriate attire - the groomsmen wore work boots.  

I liked all the fun & different things I saw at this ceremony.  The bridesmaids wore cowboy boots & their bouquets were simply bundles of babies breath.  The brides bouquet was flowers made from what looked like burlap w/ some crystals.   She wore a denim shirt over the dress w/ a high waisted belt & cowboy boots.

 The reception was outside.  I wish I would've taken more pics, but the path leading up to the tent was lined with hay bales.  They had a shutter turned sideways on top of one of them with their last name, "Harris", spelled out on it.  The area where eventually they brought the cake (it was 9,000 degrees on this Saturday...) was a mason jar & votive candle inside w/ flowers tied on it hanging from a shepherds hook.  There was also a small tree there that had what looked like large pom poms made from tissue paper hanging from the branches. The bridal parties table had hay bales for seats.  

It was very rustic or 'country' but yet very classy.  I would call it country chic.

 The table decorations were very 'fall-ish'.  Our table had a hollowed out pumpkin w/ flowers inside.  The mason jars were covered in burlap.

 While the rest of my family was gabbing, I made my nephew come with me to find a table so we all had a place to sit.  I'm sure it doesn't surprise you that I like to promptly go & find a seat.  Who wants to wait around just to have all the tables fill up?  I mean, I could have to sit with someone I don't like!  Priorities, people.  Find seat FIRST, then talk...

   Cole is 12 & almost as tall as me.  Sigh... 

 I told the bride that I thought everything looked SO cute & since I inquiring minds wanted to know - I said, "Where did you get all these ideas?  Pinterest?!"  

She smiled & nodded, "Yea..."  

No shame in that.  I have no creativity bone in my body...

  

I tell ya what - weddings just are NOT the same anymore.  I can't imagine what kinda of purple monstrosity extravaganza ours would've been if Pinterest existed way 'back then'...