20/08/14

As promised, some pictures of seed dressing by the sea.  The morning was nothing short of glorious and I couldn't ask for a better view on a morning like this.  Kettleness is a small village accessed via a single track road with many sharp corners high hedges and very few passing places.  Great caution and a patient polite approach while driving the final mile or so to the village.  But once you are there what an amazing little village.  My pictures don't do justice to the view or the village.  I enjoy working the seed dresser here as we set up just in front of the customers farm house and the coastal path runs very close to where we are working.  Last year we ended up in the holiday pictures of a curious walker.  We didn't reach such a height of fame this year but we did get several curious glances, though no one asked for an explanation of what we were doing this year.  Considering that the generator set wouldn't start this morning and when we did get it going we weren't sure why it started, the day went fairly well.  The generator only stopped once during work, though this did block one of the elevators it was soon cleared and the whole job went very well.  Back to driving tomorrow, see you then.

19/08/14

Today has been a good day.  I got loaded quickly, I had a full load and only four drops and all were easy enough.  I did have another drop which was well out of my way but luckily one of the other drivers was going into the same area and since I was fully loaded I couldn't take his drop but he could take mine, yes.  I was on my usual run of Carlton store and area so I knew all the drops.  I had completed the deliveries by eleven and just had enough driving time left to get back to Carlton store where I loaded with empty pallets and waste plastic wrap to go back.  I expected to take a second load to Helmsley store but someone else had got back before me and had already taken the load.  I'm seed dressing tomorrow at Kettleness just North of Whitby so I spent the rest of the day cleaning down the dresser for the morning.  Kettleness is a beautiful place right on the edge of cliffs above the sea, if I remember I will take some pictures.  The picture below was taken at Kettleness last year but it doesn't show the beauty of the site.  See you tomorrow.

18/08/14

Back to work, the only real disappointment it the realisation that I am getting up in the dark and I now need to put my lights on for the drive.  It won't seem long before I'm going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark.  I won't see my orchard, except for weekends.  In an ideal world I would move to the South of France for the winter and come back to this country for the beginning of March.  I'd better stop grumbling and get on with enjoying the remainder of the summer and Autumn before worrying about the depressing winter.  The first day back at work was a standard sort of day, a couple of drops in the Gate Helmsley area and then Carlton and area with one drop as far out as Whitgift.  The day was easy enough for a first day back but I expect that won't last, I expect to be seed dressing soon.  See you tomorrow.  

13/08/14

Still on holiday in Cornwall with my wife.  Having a peaceful time, which as far as I'm concerned is great. So far Rosemary has only switched her laptop on twice to continue planning, (she's a teacher and I can assure you the long holiday is a myth, she normally works several hours each day. Her working week, as with most teachers, is sixty to seventy hours so holidays mean working around twenty hours per week. That's dedication.)
As for me, I'm doing most of the driving. The rural roads here are as narrow as the roads in North Yorkshire, they also have stone walls either side but have the addition of trees and vegetation growing in them. What appears to be a hedge is actually a stone wall. Driving these twisty little roads requires a certain measure of caution. I'm back to reality on Monday. See you Monday.

07/08/14

When I got to work this morning there was good and bad news.  The good news was that the customer with ten tonnes of Oats to dress had cancelled. I hate dressing oats, they can be very difficult.  It's not that they give the machinery any trouble its getting them out of the final chute, the angle is wrong and I have been known to resort to putting several bits of wood under the near side wheels to cant the machine at an angle to get the damned things to flow out into the bag.  Also they tend to be light and its difficult to get half a tonne in a bag.  The bad news was that I was supposed to be with the first customer by seven am, this didn't give me time to clean down and I hate starting the day with bits of grain left from the last farm.  But I got to the customer by half past six, I don't think I woke him.  There was only one tonne to do and I was done and back in our yard by half past eight.  Then back on my truck and a full load to Carlton store and two drops before a collection at Penistone.  All went well and the only thing of interest is the picture below.

I don't know what the gentleman or woman was doing but it appears the front axle dropped off, I bet that was exciting.  Well that's me for a week and a day, my wife and I are going away for a holiday.  See you when I get back. 

05&06/08/14

Seed dressing both days, the fifth was average, nothing went wrong with the machine or the operator and all the work was done in good time, the sixth was different.  First call of the morning was at or in Old Malton, eight tonnes of barley.  I like dressing for this customer, the set up is always the same and instead of bagging the dressed seed it is run into three quarter tonne potatoe boxes.

This is an easy operation and today was exceptionally quick, I was finished and away much quicker than planned.  The next customer was some distance from the first but I had plenty of time so I stopped for lunch and had a burger from the tea room on the A1079 near Dunnington, it was a good burger for this type of place, so far so good.  On to the next customer for four tonnes of barley.  First problem they had given me the wrong address again, they're very good at doing that, that's the second time this week.  Eventually got to the farm, if the office had written the correct address it would have been easy as I've been there before.  Before I managed to get set up it started to rain and yes I was working outside, great.  The shower passed after about half an hour so we got started, there was seven tonnes to dress not five as the office had written down.  Three half tonne bags filled and the heavens opened again, I sheeted up and we waited.  After about half an hour we got started again, about half way through the next bag it started again, this time it really poured down.  Bag off and under cover and I sheeted down again, by this time the sheet over the trailer of grain was leaking and water was running out of the bottom of the trailer.  I was just about to call it a day when the sun came out, after some hesitation we started again with the sun shining down as if the rain had never been.  This time we managed to keep going until we got all seven tonnes dressed.  What should have been an early finish turned out to be a late one.  See you tomorrow.

04/08/14

Busy day but there's nothing unusual about that especially with two drivers on holiday this week.  To add to my normal run I had Gate Helmsley store and area.  True enough I only had a small drop at the Gate Helmsley store and three drops in the area.  The only trouble with this was that I had to collect the goods for one of the drops from Carlton store as we didn't have it in at our base.  This wasn't a problem, its just that I hate to have to double back on myself, I know I'm paid by the hour but it still irks me to have to travel back over where I have been.  But despite my grumbling everything went well enough and even the collections went well.  First collection was five tonnes of bags from Howden Dyke the second collection was a thousand litre IBC of fish oil for our mill.  At least I think its for the mill as I don't know anyone who oils fish!  Back to base by a quarter to five but I didn't have chance to get unloaded.  I am seed dressing again tomorrow and I need to clean the machine down before I set out for the first customer as the barley of the last customer contained some sterile brome seed which will cling to the riddles if I don't strip them and clean them thoroughly.  I don't have any pictures from today though I did see a very scary sight on a bike, some people shouldn't be allowed out of doors wearing tight clothing.   See you tomorrow