A good ache though. Yesterday I made an electric fence run out the North side of the Barn for our slinky swine. This is primarily so that the pigs can root in the dirt. They get a lot of their essential minerals from the soil. 
Daisy and I went through our twice daily routine again. We seem to go down into a zone of calmness in the clean waiting milking parlour. Just brushing and chatting about the day. Getting her ready for her big role as the mother ship for the farmy. The giver of milk.
Once Our John got home he picked at the hay for a while, broke bits and twisted bits and decided to bale. He hitched up the second hand baler with much anticipation, it clanked and whirred and chugged along. The baler caught up all the hay, stuffed it into the barrel, made the shape, and popped it out the back with all the knots UNTIED. We got one good bale. ONE! The rest were just piles of hay.
The language deteriorated, the sighs began. He stalked about, stared at the machine, poked at it. When he went for his tools I decided that the best place for a woman when a man is having trouble with machinery is in the kitchen. So I made a cowardly exit and walked back to the house. Food is the great balm for failure and I did not see how he could possibly work out this mysterious problem with his limited baler knowledge. 
But lo and behold about 30 minutes later I heard the machine wind up and begin its slow journey about the tiny field again. I put lids on the pots and turned the burners off, then very, very gently and very quietly the dogs and I drove the truck down the fenceline to the back field, hoping for bales to load. But ready to reverse back behind the trees if there was nothing but a temper still flying about. And there they were. Our first bales of hay. All lined up. Tasty winter feed. So I began to take the bales back to the barn. It is important to get the bales off the ground and into the dry as soon as you can. So I worked until my arms and back were good and tired. Load after load. 
One of the bales fell apart as I was stacking so I called Queenie over to eat the evidence which she was very happy to do. They are stacked on the ground floor of the barn, on their sides with plenty of air between. I felt the fear. Because we are still learning. However it passed all the old timers tests, so once again we will cross our fingers, and leave it where I can see and smell it every day.
But our knowledge grew in leaps and bounds again yesterday afternoon. And the feeling of satisfaction from having 48 wonky, badly baled, loosely tied, roughly stacked, gorgeous sweet smelling bales of hay in the barn is enormous. From now on we can only do better!
Good morning. I hope you all have a lovely day. I am off to see the Old Codger this morning with TonTon. It is Friday! Strawberry Daquiris for Dinner Day!
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
76 responses to “Haymaking makes my Skinny Girlie Arms Ache.”
Queenie is such a good girl eating the evidence.
Morning! She is a good girl if there is food involved. c
I can smell it from here. In fact Jenny and I must be the only 2 people out of the 8 in the hamlet who don’t bale hay so I may well be smelling the hay that peeps out of every surrounding barn:)
I call it the Barn Air Freshener! morning roger. c
Bravo! It feels so good to learn new skills, fixing machinery, baling hay, . . . . I always fall asleep with a great sense of satisfaction on those days!
That is true about the good sleep that satisfying honest hard work gives you! c
Once daisy has her calf and is nursing him, can she still be milked for your household needs?
Daisy won’t nurse the calf for long, i will milk her and bottle feed. Sadly this is the fate of the dairy cow.. we need quite a bit of milk! c
Daquiris for dinner?
I’m in!
(I’m in total agreement with you about where to be when the Frustrated Swearing begins….At least this time, it seems to have produced results! 😉 )
It is frustration and that is an emotion best left unshared.. If I cannot contribute anything it is best to let a person just get on with it and leave the space..Now I had best go out and pick more strawberries.. the birds are sharing which is sweet!?.. c
We have a similar experience with our baler every summer. Unless the twine is threaded just right, it burps out messy globs of hay accompanied by much swearing and tinkering with the guts of the machine. It’s like threading a sewing machine! So glad for your nicely stacked bales! You are definitely weeks ahead of us. We haven’t even planted our outdoor tomatoes and peppers yet!
wow, you are chilly over there, John’s goal is to pick a tomato on the fourth of july, i think this may be one of the few years that he achieves his goal.. I told john that it looked like a sewing machine, shortly before I scarpered as everyone knows about my sewing skills!! c
as you said, it is all uphill from here! and i totally get the achy arm thing. using just one hand these days my one arm is like popeye and the other like olive ole!
Oh No, I hope even out at some point! One armed is so hard.. c
O ye of little faith …. 🙂 I am so impressed with with the hay bales I could have done it myself. Well done! Daisy really has the softest moo-cow eyes. Trying very hard here not to become attached to those Plonkers, but they are cute. Laura
Its OK, soon we will have Sheila and you can get attached to her. Whick reminds me I must call the swine herd next week! c
Wow how those piggies have grown! Yippee for the hay bales. Just thank your lucky stars that the baler is not the kind that produces huge cylinder bales that not even Atlas could lift! Have a nice time with the Codger.
O hate those big ones, they are not user friendly and take a big tractor to lift them. I am much happier with my little ones..they are still heavy but i can do it myself.. c
I can’t believe how fast the pigs are growing, wow!
What a relief that John was able to get the baler working. I love to learn new things and I can see why you’re excited to have that hay all baled up in your barn!
Strawberry daiquiris sound marvelous! Have a nice day and rest those arms a little~ ~ April
I will rest them driving to the old folks home!! c
I could smell the freshly cut and baled hay as I read your post…….dreamily brought back alot of good memories. Thanks and have a nice day C.
hay making as a kid seemed much more romantic tho!! c
The pigs are very cute and you are such a brave woman!
Morning pink! c
I agree, men and machinery should be left well alone when things go wrong! That also applies to men and plunging rods/septic tanks in my experience! Those bales look truely professional though! Those regular visits to the milking shed/brush are turning Daisy into a glossy beauty queen – but don’t tell her I said that or she might get all prima Donna-ish!
Christine
eeoo septic tanks are surely mens work!! Daisy is looking good isn’t she! c
Slinky swine and a stalking husband…my, life on the Farmy can occasionally take an interesting turn. I wish I could share hay baling knowledge from my farm days. But it was just one of those field tasks my dad and uncles and brothers did and I did not pay attention to details. However, they pulled a flatbed trailer behind the tractor and baler and the bales were stacked onto the trailer and then moved into the haymow. They always stacked the bales tight. That’s about all I remember except that later I had to carry those bales and feed them to the cows and cattle. Sounds like you and John are managing fine.
We always helped with the hay BECAUSE the local farmers sons would be helping too!! I will start stacking tight when i have a little more faith in my product. !! morning Audrey! c
Well, what could have been a most exasperating day ended quite nicely. Congrats to you both for a job well-done. I hope your visit today goes well, Celi. I bet the folks over there are already hustling & bustling, preparing for the mighty TonTon. Have a great day!
There seem to be more and more people out in the corridors lately.. I think the nurses make sure the wheelchairs are well placed for a lick and a pat on the way past! c
Of course there is, Celi. Many of these people have few, if any, visitors. You are doing them a world of good, giving them something to look forward to every week. Even if it’s only to see TonTon pass in the hall, that makes today better than most for some. What you’re doing is truly wonderful.