As Jason mentioned in his post The Big Gamble last week we started on the first cutting of hay. We had a couple of near misses with rain but we came out on the lucky side this time around and have some lovely hay in the barn. The last thing I wanted to be doing last week was anything to do with hay. I rarely get sick other than a mild case of the sniffles, but for a week straight now I have been sick. I even went to the doctor and am taking antibiotics for the first time in over four years and I'm still sick. In an effort to share the love I also brought Jason down with me after a couple of days. Needless to say we were both pretty grumpy last week. Adding extra work, especially dusty hay work, was not what I was hoping for.
When all goes as it should the baler pulls in the raked hay, makes a bale of hay, releases the new bale of hay (which then quietly rests in place until picked up) and then off to making the next bale of hay
I will probably get struck by lightening for saying this as it is so sacrilegious, but a part of me wanted it to rain. Instead of working almost 10 hours on my day off yesterday I wanted to stay in bed, ponder how miserable I felt, and lay around feeling sorry for myself. Maybe curl up on the couch and watch a movie. You know, the things people typically do when they are sick. Of course I didn't really want it to rain, hay is kind of important around here, but you know what I mean.
Happily the hay is in the barn. Given that it is raining as I type that is a really great thing. Now that we've had some dry weather for hay we are back to hoping for rain and more rain so we can get more hay cuttings in the barn.
The amusement of the day for me yesterday was watching the runner. I am sure everyone is laughing as they think I am referring to the horses running away from us again. This time it was a brand new hay bale on the run. Instead of resting quietly in the field, this hay bale took off upon exiting the baler. I wasn't able to video the whole thing as I was having to hold the camera at such an awkward angle, but I got the start of things anyway purely by chance:
This hay bale made a successful getaway. Before anyone could stop it I rolled into what is referred to in these parts as a "holler." Retrieval was going to be almost impossible so it was the one that got away. We had a little extra excitement for a few seconds as our hay bale made a run for it!
I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend, unlike us, had some time off!
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good hay bales waiting quietly to be retrieved
getting ready to load these onto the trailer
ready to unload
moving them into one of the hay barns
Sam, Johnny, Darby and Murphy
Kennedy
Cinnamon, MyLight, Calimba
Traveller and Norman, pony power
Thor
Lighty, Murphy, Fuzzy and Renny
Moe, Baby and Levendi
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7 comments:
Lovely hay - glad the weather worked out. Hope you both feel better soon!
Looked like Jason was going to try and cut it off at the pass! And, from your description, I pictured it as rolling down the hill, not flip-flopping away!
Having the hay in is always a good feeling. We're not even close to starting--usually id-June, but this spring has been so funky, heaven knows when...
Gotta love a post that includes a "holler" and a photo of well behaved hay bales.
we're not close either yet but i see much promise: )
i love watching the runaway bales - it hardly ever happens even though you know how steep our pasture is. the hay guys are just so good, they know exactly how to let them out so they don't take off.
the funniest thing is the neighbor field behind us lost one last year and it took off thru the woods, thru two fences, and ended up in one of the ponds directly below our house. i think it will be there forever, half submerged, it's such an odd sight, it cracks me up (it's not our pond,hehehe).
sometimes they make enormous rectangular bales, i don't know what they're called, something with a q.
my man went to pick up more stinky haylage today, all that's left to eat around here.
Glad that the weather cooperated! Hope you are feeling better soon.
Although no one wants to see hay wasted, I did have to chuckle at the "runner"... :-)
We lived in Switzerland. There they wrap the bales in plastic; making them look like giant marshmallows..
The correct local terminology for a lost bale is " Done got down in the holler.
Jason
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