yup, this is my life

Good grief, it's been a while since I posted anything. I'm still around. Still busy. It seems like my days are just running together, and I can't keep ahead on anything. Home school is in full swing and I'm having a hard time getting everything done now. Just a new routine to get into. OK, so I've never in my life gotten "everything" done, and I know I never will. It feels like things just keep piling up, like laundry and the dust bunnies on the floor that I swear I sweep or have the kiddos sweep everyday. I'm up early and to bed late trying to "finish" something I started but never finished. Between school and well my life I'm just busy.  Most days it's good, but boy once in a while it's not! So don't think my life is all sunshine and roses, it's not and I don't mean to give that impression.  On my living room floor right now I have squash, melons, dust bunnies, crayons, jars, boxes, boxes of full and empty jars, onions, paper my kiddos were drawing on and forgot to pick up, boots shoes, dirty socks...I could go on, but I think you can "see" enough! My husband is in the process of making me another cupboard for my canned goods, so once that is made and home I'll show you! I can't wait to get it. Then my boxes and jars and boxes of jars will have a nice new home! But his cabinet making got interrupted by haying!
My gardens are just about done before I put them to bed for the winter!. I have some carrots to finish. Then squash and pumpkins, but I don't can or freeze them. I just put them in my house and eat them up! Wish I had a root cellar for them. Maybe someday...
Today my husband is haying. We finally have some nice weather all in a row to get some second crop done. Seems like this week a lot of farmers are putting down hay. No pics of it again this time either. The batteries are dead in the camera, he's haying with the "poppin johnny".  Maybe next year I'll have things together enough to get a pic of him haying with it! It's kinda cool!
So have a great day all! I have to go find my living room floor!

and then...

this is what we do...

 load up the poo and...

spread it on the field.
And when I say we, I really mean my husband. He does that. I've never had the chance... We have lots of poo on a farm, but I don't need to tell you farmers that! It's really a wonderful thing!
And you thought this post was gonna be about haying! ha! Tricked ya!
 Oh and I have to show you this...

With some of the hay we left at the farm the kiddos built a little "hay fort." How's that for imagination?! They played there for hours!

And just because she's so dang cute, and getting so dang big...

Dandie.

Have a great day all!

more haying

You guys are gonna get sick of reading about haying!
Yesterday was in the 90's and the three H's. Hazy, hot and humid. We had more hay to get done. So that is what we did later in the day. I threw bales on the wagon while my husband finished baling, my FIL brought over his jeep to pull the hay wagon and drove that. Then I had to stack the hay I threw on the wagon. I'm not the best stacker in the world. But I'm better then I was last year. I didn't loose any bales! It was hot. I was covered in sweat and hay chafe, and my jeans and tank top were sticking to me. Don't ever do hay in shorts. Yikes, that hurts! Done it once the first time I ever hayed, back when I was a teen. My legs were scared and full of hay splinters. OUCH. Anyways... Once my husband was done baling he got on the wagon and stacked. I threw the bales up to him. It's a better workout then any gym. My arms are stronger now then ever. I've got milking, cleaning stalls, throwing hay, and lugging water, under my belt. Plus all winter I worked out at home. Had to keep in shape for the summer and give me something to do. I slept really well last night too. My husband told me I snored!! OMW! I must have been tired. I don't snore. Neither does he, unless he's really tired! I'm so glad!
We have over 300 bales of hay in the barn now. We are well on our way to having enough for the winter. I think we need 600. One field is done, and now growing for second crop. We like to feed the cows second crop. We have another field to do, but may have to hire to have it cut. It's thicker then the one we did. I'm so happy to get this done. It's earlier then last year. And the hay looks so good!
See

 Hard to tell how green it is. The glare of the sun was bad, and I couldn't see what I was looking at. I just pointed and shot. But it's nice and green!

We don't have a "hopper" as my son calls it. So we do it the hard way and drop it on the ground and then go around and pick it up. I throw it! Hard work.

 My man getting ready to jump off the wagon. I tried to get him stacking, but didn't. I needed pictures and he wanted to get it done!

My boys.

Have a great day all!

haying and such

So my weekend was filled with haying. Saturday is a blurr and I don't remember what I did. We had plans to visit Dad's on Father's Day, but when the sun is shining and hot and you have hay down and it is dry and needs to get in the barn, that is what you do. Get it in the barn. Farming doesn't care what day it is. So after church while my husband raked, I replanted one of the gardens. Then while my husband baled I mowed the lawn. Then we loaded it up and took it to the barn. Then yesterday we did more haying. I got to rake this time!
See, me on the tractor. "He thinks my tractor's sexy!!"

Why yes that is a two horse drawn rake. Thanks for noticing. Yes that is a tractor pulling it. BUT it's paid for and it works. Currently very slowly, and is the slowest thing for haying. But for now it works, and we are looking for a different rake... later.
Then while my husband baled, I was getting clothes off the line and yada yada. When it came time for getting it in the barn my BIL, and FIL, came over and I didn't have to do that. I got to cook supper with my SIL. We had to feed the hungry men and children!
We got some more hay down with the JD tractor.
See

 Sure does smell good, and look how pretty it is! Currently drying in the sun!

Here is one load of hay to go to the barn. Feels good to know that we are well on our way to having hay to feed the critters this winter.  And that we did it ourselves. Yuck, don't want to thing about snow today though!
Have a great day all!

this is what we do

on what seems to be the hottest days of the year. Hay!!
But due to the chicken poo we put on the starved fields we now have over 700 bales of hay in the barn!!!!! We are praying that we will get a second crop! That will be for Maggie when she freshens in October. Provided we get the second cut. We were thinking that we would need 600 with all the critters we have. Due to a rather wet spring we  had to buy hay for the horses because the grass was slow to come! What a blessing to us, to have 700 bales! We had to hire the cutting of the hay because it was so thick and our sickle bar mower wouldn't do the job. While Matthew was raking the hay both times we made hay the kiddos and I went to a party at my grandmothers and then to his family reunion! (Two different times). I get a kick out of that. I went to his family reunion without him. I like his family so it was no big deal. The kiddos went swimming in the lake and I watched them. It's a very shallow lake too.

 I ended up having to stack hay on the trailer while it was coming off a homemade loader, well I'm not a very good stacker and I ended up falling off the side. Thankfully I wasn't hurt, just a nice bruise behind my knee and a tender spot down the side of my leg. I actually landed on a bale that I had just knocked over. Then when my father in law was driving down the road with it, 5-6 bales fell off. Guess I didn't get them packed tight enough! That was my first time stacking hay on a moving trailer! Matthew said I did fine. After that load I didn't have to stack any more hay. Not because I fell, or lost a few bales, but because Matthew was done baling and he could stack it. He's a great hay stacker!
One afternoon when things were winding down Matthew let Little Matt drive the tractor!

pleased as punch at a job well done!

So until the next post take care!