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Thursday, November 18, 2021

Tree Harvest Time!


How Slow Can You Go?!

I have always been fascinated by the whole harvesting operation of any kind of farm crop.

After all, I married the Farm Boy in 1981, plucking him right off of his family farm where potatoes, onions, corn, sugar beets and beans were the crops that kept the farm going.

We lived for years in the Ontario, OR  to Payette ID area and during harvest season the wind would actually lift the dried onion skins that came off the back of the onion harvest trucks and blow them around like leaves.

I remember one performing group was called "The Onion Skin Players" as the sight (and slight fragrance on the air) of these harvesting crops meant that the farming community was thriving.

Onion processing plants near by were also an icon.  You can imagine what onion processing would smell like, I'm sure - along with the potato smell coming from the Ore-Ida potato processing plants.

Have you ever smelled a sugar beet processing facility?  It's not as sweet smelling as you would think it would be!  Rather nasty, in fact -


So living in a place that harvests truckloads of pumpkins in the fall, followed by trailers and truckloads of fresh cut fir trees from Halloween in to December is AWESOME!

And yes, it smells much better than sugar beets ever could!

Even more fun is watching the eyes of my guests as they try to catch the trucks with cameras before they rumble on by too quickly.

I caught these two photos on my way back from the USPS yesterday.

And even better:


Now on the front door at Quiltville Inn!

Imagine my joy when the Clayton's of Clayton Garden Center, Indiana drove up, parked out in front of the inn, and tried to sneak a wreath to my door!
I love that they come all the way from Indiana to Mouth of Wilson VA to load their trailer and big panel van up with fresh Christmas trees to haul back to their Garden Center in North Webster, IN.
I also love that I intercepted the sneaky couple and got to give them real hugs in person!
This beautiful wreath is now hanging on the front door at Quiltville Inn, where it will be enjoyed by the last two retreats of the year before coming home to spend Christmas with me at the cabin.
Safe travels back to Indiana, Claytons! You made my day!⁣

Everything went into hyper drive to get the rest of the inn ready for the arrival of Nola's Bonniacs.


Indigo a Go-go from String Frenzy is hanging in the front foyer!

We will be working on this quilt through their time here, breaking the workshop up into several segments over several days so no one has to rush at anything.

So much better than cramming it into a 6 hour session!

And yes, that is Appalachian Autumn on the round table.


I just love the indigo blues mixed with neutrals and cheddar!

And what's not to love about nine-patches?


The Bonniacs began to roll in right at 3pm - and the afternoon couldn't have been better for their arrival.

Sunny and warm, as if the welcome mat kept cold temperatures at bay at least until they were safely here and unloaded.

These five are waiting for a couple more cars to roll in until all were present and accounted for.

Weekend Forecast:  A Flurry of Friendship and Much Quilting Activity Ahead!


Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Go create some beauty today, and every day! 

Enjoy your Thursday, everyone!


 

21 comments:

  1. Thank you for your inspirational quotes. They brighten my day as I read your blog each morning to start my day. Its a cold, clear day here in Nebraska 23 degrees. Have a wonderful day Bonnie!

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  2. Memories --my first job in California and driving to work at six am, hoping I didn't get stuck at the traffic light by the sugar beet plant. A nasty smell at any time of day...

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    1. I have the same memories!! Right off the 55 freeway! It was definitely a wake up call. It was a time to hold your breath.

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    2. That's the one. Seemed worse first thing in the morning.

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  3. Thank you for your post today - I enjoyed learning about the smells of harvesting and seeing the big semi truck with Christmas trees on it and then the icing on the cake - your beautiful door wreath!

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  4. I remember driving around rural Minnesota when I was home from college and having to dodge the sugar beets that fell off the trucks. When I was in high school we lived next to a seed corn field. If it was windy just after they plowed everything in the house would be covered by black dust, even with the windows closed. A lot of high school kids made extra money by removing the tassels from the corn.

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  5. Citrus processing is also stinky. When I lived in Southern California I passed a Sunkist processing plant on my way to work in the mornings. It was really an unpleasant smell, and I think it was from the orange rinds that they burned or disposed of after processing.

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  6. Indigo a Go-Go feels so soft and vintage. Looking forward to seeing how the retreaters interpret the design!

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  7. Sugar beet processing - oh yes!! I grew up about a mile from a big sugar beet plant and we HATED when the wind came from the east.

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  8. What a nice thing to do for you!! A wreath for your door!!
    We live right in the middle of several Christmas tree farms.
    We see people drive by with their trees on their cars all the time.
    Blessings

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  9. My daughter in law has worked in Ontario, OR at the hospital for the last several years. She is now transitioning to the hospital in Nampa, ID. The love the area. I agree pumpkin and Christmas trees would smell much nicer to be around. However, we certainly need the others. Grateful for farmers of all sorts. Love your colors of your new quilts that you are working on.

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  10. My mom worked at a Birdseye plant when I was in middle school. She came home stinking of broccoli and cauliflower every night! Like beets, you wouldn't think they could smell that bad but they sure did!

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  11. Harvest time for a lot of things. My daughter is working harvesting Holly. Not a fun thing, but the wreaths and all kinds of decorations, are beautiful. Her poor hands and forearms take a beating, even with gloves. Your wreath is gorgeous. The quilts have me ready to get to my sewing just as soon as I put grandson on the school bus.

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  12. We have the onion trucks and the hay trucks that come through the Morongo Basin and they have to climb 2 steep grades to do it and come right through the center of town to another grade on the way to their destination. Locals know to take the back roads!!

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  13. I live in an area with lots of dairy and pig farms - we joke about our Dairy-air (say it fast!). Love the Christmas trees!

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  14. How nice of the Claytons to gift that beautiful wreath to you! Thanks for sharing the tree harvesting pictures and your memories of other harvests! Smells and all! Enjoy your time with this group of retreaters and that lovely quilt!

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  15. One summer I worked in the Bookmobile - we stopped at the garlic and onion farms/processing plants, so smells of harvest are familiar. Now we get to hear the newcomers complain about grape must, fertilizing the dairy and beef fields, rotten apples odors!

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  16. I'll argue in favor of the smell of a sugar beet processing plant. I live downwind from one, and to me it just smells earthy and "real"! And don't most of us just LOVE sugar? LOL!

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  17. I always thought our sugar beet and cattle feed lots were bad growing up in eastern Colorado, UNTIL..we moved within a few miles of turkey processing plant!! OMG the worst ever!!!!! Love the wreath,can almost smell it and the trees! Happy Thanksgiving to all the Quiltvillians, from cold, 20 degrees this morning and dry t Colorado!

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  18. Oh, I don't think anything can outdo being downwind from either a turkey farm or a a general pig or cow feed lot. You can't hold your breath long enough.

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  19. I’m so excited to know that fellow Hoosiers are in the house! I don’t know them but still… How exciting!
    And it’s so neat to see photos of all those Christmas trees rolling down the road!
    The wreath is gorgeous!

    We live where you can get whiffs of cows as we drive, Aztec Milling can send us the fragrance of tortillas, & of course the wild onion garlic smells from fresh cut fields. And of course there’s the occasional smell of skunk wafting in the air! I’m glad we don’t live downwind of the turkey, hog or chicken farms, but they’re out there! Haha!

    Just stepped outside at 3am to see the solar eclipse… the first one of its kind in over 500 years (the longest lasting one) very cool!

    Have a blessed day!
    Marci H.

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