The end of ‘Bean’ week

First, a short update on the crazy bean saga. I had thought I was planning to can roughly 40 pints of pork and beans, but the final total came to 60 pints of pork and beans, and 10 pints and 12 half-pints of ham and bean soup. So now we start on apples, juice, sauce and jelly.
We had planned on going to Huntley, Mont., for the threshing bee on Saturday, but because my house was an absolute mess from the canning on Friday, we opted to wait and go up on Sunday. That allowed me to get the canned bean jars all washed and left to dry so they can be marked and shelved this week.
On Saturday evening, Rick mentioned that we could always stay over if we didn’t get everything done on Sunday. My mind immediately went to yes, let’s stay over. So instead of hurrying through the tractor show, we spent several hours there visiting with friends we have made over the years. It was awesome to see the new steam collection that has been added to the club, the new vendors and the kids that have grown up over the years. Many were babies or not even born when we first started attending the show and were involved in it. Now those same kids are in college and even married and have kids of their own.
I called a motel we used to stay at a lot on Saturday to see if they would have a room on Sunday evening. The guy wasn’t sure, but figured he would. It is a little, off-the-wall sort of place, the kind that got left behind by the new interchanges into town. The rates are very reasonable, but it is kind a bare-bones sort of place. After we left the threshing bee, we secured our room and then headed to do our shopping, since most of the places close at 6 p.m. on Sundays, we opted to hit WinCo that evening, then do Costco the next morning. I am glad we did it that way.
I have decided that Billings is a rat-race. I used to really enjoy going to Billings for a weekend or overnight parts run — which, by the way, is a vacation for farmers — but not anymore. Either I am getting old or I have been on the farm too long. The traffic in Billings is horrible, people are in a big hurry to get somewhere and I am sure they were cursing me the whole day. When I turned off at Rockvale onto a nice two lane road, I remarked to Rick, “Well, we are out of the rat-race. We didn’t win, but at least we are out.”
It is dry out there in the badlands. We noticed that all the way there and back. It is scary dry, there is hardly any water in any of the normally big rivers we see along the way. We also noticed how many of the yards in Billings and Lovell are dry. I am sure because of the cost of watering when using metered water.
Then we drove into Basin. You know, our little town is like an oasis. It is so green, so quiet, so peaceful. We enjoyed going, but we were glad to get home.

Ham and Bean Soup for canning
For each pint jar:
¾ cup soaked and prepared beans (soaked overnight, drained, covered with water and brought to a boil for 3 minutes let set for 10 minutes and drained).
¼ cup finely chopped carrots, celery, and onions all mixed together.
1 teaspoon tomato sauce
Enough chicken broth to fill to 1-inch head space.
Process 75 minutes at 14-15 pounds pressure.