Sound like a conversation reminiscing about happy times when things were swell and people enjoyed life? HA HA HA HA HA! Not on a farm!
You know, in Boone County, we get a whole week off for Thanksgiving because everybody knows that every kid over the age of 12 would ditch school for the first day of deer season. I think if Hay Day could be scheduled as accurately, farming areas would call off school. As it is, I’m not sure how schools consider those absences, but if I had a 16 year-old boy – he would be at home – throwing Hay!
As far as hay days go, this was one pretty good!
I love to watch the farming community come together and get things done. It is a lost art – working as a community.
This hay day was orchestrated by my sister and her hubby.
Bernie cut and tedded the hay in a neighbor’s field which was baled by a church friend, picked up by family and a couple of friends,
placed on two borrowed trailers,
sent to the loft by a borrowed hay elevator (PRAISE THE LORD!!! we didn’t have this last year)
and stacked by friends and family.
At the end of our work day, 220ish bales went to Andrea’s and 80 came to our farm.
My mother fixed dinner for all the workers who hung in there til dark when the job was at least mostly complete.
Today David and I used our mighty little lawn mower and garden trailer to stack 35 bales in the down stall,
and then Bernie brought the tractor over and we (HAhahaha, yeah – David and Bernie) threw 45 bales up to the loft. (They probably missed the elevator, but it was just a few bales and our loft is lower)
One evening – 300 bales off the ground. 220 put up the same evening, 80 up the next day. For real farmer guys, this is not too impressive. For me, two days of actual lifting, toting, moving, whining, etc are quite impressive. I was quite thankful, actually, that David was in a place to need a bit of money – so instead of ditching the work crew – he joined in with full young man force!
My tired muscles were happy he was there!
This is one of my favorite parts of farming. Working together. Work is much more fun when it isn’t bigger than the workforce that is there to accomplish it! I won’t be hiring myself out to pick up hay any time soon, but I kind of enjoyed it a bit this year.
Still I think I deserve some kind of wife-of-the-lifetime award for putting up 80 bales without farmer man. A parade . . . my favorite ice cream. . . umm, something!
brandnewfarmers 