Suzuki Sami-

I'm at our alfalfa ranch in Eastern Oregon for part of this week. Before I left home my husband's phone alerted us that the irrigation pivot had stopped. That meant it was stuck.  He coached me on how to back the pivot up out of the hole and how to use Sami (the sawed off Suzuki Samari we use like a 4-wheeler) to haul gravel out to the hole and fill it.

After unloading my clothes and food from the car and into the cabin, I drove Sami down to the pivot and walked along to see which tower wheels were stuck. I discovered it was the next to last tower from the outside. Easy-peasy. Then I drove back, tried to find some plywood to put behind the seats in Sami so I didn't get a lap full of gravel while driving back out. Couldn't find a piece that would fit and ended up with a metal "Dead End" sign. (That's a whole nuther funny story) then I fired up the back hoe and scooped up gravel. (operating a bucket on a back hoe is not as easy as it looks). I started dumping the gravel in the back of Sami and the sign fell down. It was under gravel and nothing much I could do, so I finished dumping the bucket. Yes, the bucket was wider than Sami and I left two little mounds on each side of the vehicle when I pulled away headed for the pivot.

Because I had to start the hand set of pipes in a corner of the alfalfa field, the road I needed to drive on would be too greasy(wet) today to drive Sami, down. The plan was to drive Sami down and leave it parked at the end of the pivot until this morning since it was getting late and I still had to check all the hand line and make sure it was all hooked and switch the valves before I could start. Which I did once Sami was parked at the end of the pivot.

While checking the hand line, I was attacked by no-see-ums and mosquitoes. I hate the no-see-ums the worst. You can't see them and they leave burning bites usually on your head, neck and behind your ears. They are nasty. After checking all the hand line, I started the pump and watched the water as I ate dinner.

This morning I got up, walked to the base of the pivot, and backed it up. I walked the length of it back to Sami. Then drove to the pivot track and backed up to the two holes in the pivot tracks and fill them with gravel. Once that mission was accomplished, I then had to open up the sprinklers on the first tower. Because it runs so short it can over water and we have to turn the sprinklers off and on. I had to use Sami to stand on to flip the switch on the sprinklers. Tink wasn't happy when water rained down into Sami. It felt good to me because it is already getting hot. Good hay growing weather!

If something exciting happens while I'm here, you're sure to hear about it in another post.