Sunday here on the farm was Hay Day. Those two little words invoke pure happiness (oooh, the sweet aroma of fresh cut hay, and hooray for a full loft of hay for the horses!).... and it also invokes heavy sighs and eye rolls (allergies, a lot of heavy lifting and tossing and sweat.)
This year, our kids' significant others joined in and I gotta say, both have proven once and for all they are in-law material. Kidding!.. but really not!
Decent feed hay around these parts now costs $10 per bale- and those aren't the big bales. By making our own hay, we have saved about $4000 to feed our horses this year - well worth the sweat equity and seed cost last year.
Have I told you lately how much I love my kiddos? And while we aren't a full working farm in the way many of our ancestors may have been- more of a farmette compared to the previous occupants of this land, despite the work it takes to keep the place up and bring in the few crops we manage - it's a good life, a reaffirming life. I appreciate every single day we get to do this.
Meanwhile.. back at the house - little Sally AKA Scout, Maddie, Olivia, Penny.... is doing just fine. The other three dogs are accepting her slowly and she is just a love bug. Now, if we could only decide on a name that suits her.....
I've only had the 'pleasure' of haying once and it is indeed hard work, but extremely satisfying in the end. Your kids are obviously not afraid of hard work and that is in part, due to their up-bringing (well done!) and their significants look like keepers! Love the picture of Ben and the little newbie walking side by side!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kathy! I love that pic too, she's trying to shard to keep up.
DeleteI love the smell of fresh hay. It's nice to see you making the small bales. So many farmers just do round bales anymore. I think your daughter and her boyfriend were smart to wear long sleeves! I remember the itchiness of handling hay. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteThose hay roles mold up pretty quick, I don't like to use them for horses, although many do in other parts of the country. Around here bales are the popular method. The rest of our hay will be rolled ... for cows, who have a better digestion system.
DeleteShe is, after all, a southern belle, so therefore she should be Sally. It suits her, says Deborah from South Carolina
ReplyDeleteHello Deborah from South Carolina. I would be inclined to agree... and so I tried and tried to keep calling her Sally - but.. it just fell flat for some reason. We've settled on Olivia. Liv or Livi for short.
DeleteLove these photos of your hard working family! So nice that the 'others' pitched in to help too. I think they'll be around for a long, long time. :)
ReplyDeletexoxo
Awe, Thanks Friend... x0
DeleteYou are indeed blessed
ReplyDeleteI know it and I give thanks every day.
DeleteThat pup is so cute! Looks like she's having her some fun with that bone too.
ReplyDeleteBrenda
Thank you - she LOVES her toys and nylabones! Teething right now... ugh.
DeleteMy vote is for Scout.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a farmer cut and bale for you?
A former co-worker of mine had a hay farm and he had customers (horse people) from all over central and eastern PA as well as NJ and NY. He only did small bales, sharing the thinking about the round bales for horses.
I LOVE Scout, Heather - that was my no. 1 choice, but no one else liked it - emphatically, lol.
DeleteYes, the man on the tractor is Walter - he's a local farmer who has cows and needs the hay to feed them. He cuts it down and bales it for us and rolls for his cows. We don't have hay equipment YET.. however.. we just bought that tractor he's sitting on - a 1960's model which my guys are very excited to have. We'll be mowing with it and eventually have our own hay equipment. It's taken five years to get the hay fields to yield a good mix of feed hay for horses but this year it's looking really good.
What wonderful photos & memories you have made!
ReplyDeleteGreat team effort! I bet everyone slept well that evening.
ReplyDeleteIndeed!
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