Hay day, round two!

I had so many plans for today, but they were all uprooted when I got a call this morning saying it was time to put in the hay at the family farm. It was only 300 bales, but it was so hot out today that everything felt a little harder than it should have.

At least I got to drive the tractor, which is the best job. It's just a little tractor, and the hardest part about driving it in the hay field is holding the clutch in while I'm waiting for the bales to be thrown onto the trailer. I'm pretty short, so holding the clutch down all the way is a little strenuous for my left leg. I really shouldn't complain, because my job was by far the easiest.

There was a nice breeze in the field since the tide was coming in. That kept things a little more comfortable, but it meant I had to aim the tractor downwind of the stacks of bales, so the guys throwing them didn't get a face full of hay bits every time they threw one. That gets old pretty quickly.

My four year old nephew had a good day! He got to ride his little ATV around the field while we were working. He's such a little farm kid. His little brother has an even smaller ATV that he tried to ride out to the hay field, but he got stuck in some cow holes on the way out there and gave up. The pasture between the barn and the hay field gets walked on by the cows all winter, and since the smaller ones weigh nearly 1000 pounds, they make some pretty deep divots. When they dry out in the summer, it's a pasture ripe for ankle snapping.

After the bales were picked up, my father in law went back out with the baler to bale the windrow, which is the hay right at the edge of the field. It makes much heavier bales and they are no fun to pick up. There were only thirty of those, so I can't really complain.

As the afternoon wore on, the cows moseyed back from the far field towards the barn, and were quite interested in my cargo. They went into the barn to watch us unload and were very excited when a couple of the bales broke and we threw them into the manger.

The tiny farmer helped up unload the last load. He can't pick them up yet, of course, but he could roll them off the pile so I could throw them to the stackers. That load took a little longer to stack, because of the help, but it was worth it just for the absolute cuteness.

My farmer tan is coming along nicely. I can't wear anything sleeveless in the summer without a little embarrassment. The only saving grace is that most of my friends are also farmers, so we all have the same fashion predicament.

It was a long day, but a productive one. The cows will be happy this winter, and although I have at least one more round of hay to do before the season is over, it's nice to have this round behind me. I will close with a shot of the field when we were nearing the end.

I'm off to melt into the couch now! Good night, everyone!