Got several things done today: 105 bales of hay into the hayloft, the cornfield cleaned up of piled up manure. AND went for a ride at the AgPark! I also did Lil Fred's hair! He was a little apprehensive, but I didn't kill him (haha) and didn't make him look too feminine with the ribbons and braids. He does like his forelock out of his eyes, so it's all good!
This morning while I was in the bathroom I could see Lil Fred and Sprite racing around the dry paddock, doing laps around the barn. In one direction then the other. If she pulled ahead of him, Lil Fred would kick and buck! She's getting in better shape, too. I was surprised that they kept it up for so long.
Had a nice ride, kind of spontaneous. I had hoped we would get a chance to ride, such a gorgeous day in mid-November - high in the mid-60s. Bright, blue sky, just perfect. We had the flatbed loaded with 105 bales of orchard grass hay. We didn't do anything with it yesterday, so it had to be done in one day - today. Might rain on Tuesday, and we never get home before it is dark during the week.
Last night Tom worked on the hay elevator - two trips to Tractor Supply to get the proper sized belts. The belts that were on the elevator where not only failing, cracked and deteriorated but were on the machine the wrong way. He corrected that, oiled the chains with cooking oil, and it is running like a champ!
It took us about an hour and a half to load the hay onto the elevator in the morning and into the hayloft. It was my job to stack the bales in the barn. Tom pulled them off the flatbed trailer, onto the elevator. It was not easy, this farm life is not for sissies or weaklings. We only took a short break, kept steadily at it until the trailer was empty.
When the trailer was empty, he unhitched the flatbed and connected to the little trailer. Are we going for a ride? YES!! But where? We sat at the end of the driveway, deciding eventually to go to the AgPark. It was already 1:30pm.
Saw an owl, several deer, song birds, a couple riders and two riders from our old boarding barn. We passed them, exchanged pleasantries, one asked us if we had ridden in from our new place. No, we trailered in.
Hurry home to catch up on other things planned. Tom used the tractor to move the run-in shed 180 degrees. Tom used the tow strap, wrapping it around the bar that holds the front-end loader. He looped the strap into the corner brace. We were warned about getting a cheap run-in shed. A friend has a run-in that she bought over 10 years ago, five years later she moved to a new farm, taking the run-in with her. She cautioned that a cheaper model would not handle a move, whether across the pasture or across the county.
We bought last year’s model from Penn Dutch in Glen Rock. It wasn’t exactly what we were looking for. Superficially it had a red metal roof. I wanted green. I didn’t want one as large but it was discounted from last year’s stock and we needed it right away, so we had it delivered.
I wanted the opening of the run-in to face East and it was set facing South. With the tractor facing the corner, Tom proceeded to pull, in reverse, pivoting the run-in shed towards him 180 degrees. I wanted to stress this procedure to anyone using a tractor with Agriculture tires while pulling any item out of ditch, doing demolition on a building or anything – always FACE what you are pulling and drag in REVERSE. A lot of times you can get away with not following these simple directions. But one time it won’t work out, the tractor will actually rear up and fall backwards. This is a rare event, but don’t tempt physics. I don’t want to read about you in the media.
It looks great, and Skip walked in while it was being moved! Now I'll be able to see them from the house or barn.
I went to the grocer, hurried back to feed the kids, make dinner, and muck stalls. After that I braided Lil Fred's mane and forelock. He looks like he's ready for battle!
