In the afternoon yesterday I had 152 bales of good hay on the hay racks. Our John is working right up in Chicago these days and is always late home. For the first time in ages I was going to have to load the hay alone.
So I put a chicken in a big pot, fed the pigs, read the weather forecast again with horror (there was an enormous storm coming – the radar looked terrifying, so there would be no procrastinating) and began to unload one of the racks into the West Barn.
Work like this is satisfying but heavy and by the end of the first hay rack I was reaching the end of my endurance. I thought. 
But then John arrived home and we finished that load and after a short break transferred to the other barn and began the other rack full of hay. He threw each bale up onto the clatter box. I took it off up in the loft and stacked it messily and tiredly along with the others. Three or four people are better for loading hay. One to unload the hay rack, one to throw it up onto the clatter box, one to take it off and one to stack it in the barn. Two makes it double work for each person. But both of us methodically and relentlessly heaved each bale up and across, twice, our heads down without stopping. We had both worked a full day so there was no point complaining about tiredness. Surprisingly by 7pm we had everything loaded into the barns and my arms were still attached to my body.
Thank goodness it was only a small load. 152 bales of good alfalfa hay.
I made dinner then went outside in the dark to finish the chores (hence the rather grainy image of the night with the lightning and the red lights of the windmills) then showered and crawled into bed. Shortly thereafter the rain began. Lots of thunder and lightning. Inches of rain. The dogs are nowhere to be found this morning. And it is still raining. I think we have had about eight hours of steady rain and no sign of it letting up so I will be doing chores in my New Zealand long oilskin coat passed down from my father.
I am so glad we pushed on and got all the hay into the barn.
And I am so grateful for this real soaking rain. It is like a reward.
Today I will work in the barns, organizing the messy piles of hay into their tidy stacks back in the corners of the barns and clearing the floors. I hope Molly has her babies under cover. the last few nights she has had them sleeping outside.
I better get busy with my chores.
Have a lovely day.
celi
WEATHER: Wet and warm. Good pasture growing weather!
Wednesday 08/29 60% / 0.3 in
Scattered thunderstorms this morning with a few showers possible during the afternoon. Cooler. High 78F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Wednesday Night 08/29 10% / 0 in
Some clouds. Low 56F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.
Sun
6:16 AM 7:30 PM
Moon
Waning Gibbous, 91% visible 9:25 PM 9:10 AM
The Kitchen's Garden 
39 responses to “AND THEN IT RAINED”
Sometimes, we have no idea what we are capable of until we put in hot water. You certainly rose to the occasion. Hope the dogs and piglets are safe too. I do NOT like lightning. Scares the bejezzus out of me. We get almost none here in Portland which is why I’ll never leave. I’ll be you have some sore muscles today from pushing them so hard ever though you are exceptionally strong anyway.
I have fond memories of riding the hay truck into the barn as the first drops of rain fell. What elation to finish just before the storm!
What a relief to get the hay in. Well done!
YAY HOO FOR YOU!!!!
Reminds me of the old song Muscle in the Arm. Good job. And the days keep rolling on. I hope you continue your skillful navigation around all these farming events. You make us so much more aware of where our food is coming from and at what cost. Thank you.
Thank goodness you got that hay into the barns just in time.
This is the kind of day when you know that being a farmer is a labour of love (unlike a 9 to 5 office job) … though the feeling of accomplishment is well deserved. Nature is ruthless and waits for no man (or woman) to get their hay loaded. And then there are today’s chores to get done. Congratulations.
A “hard push” sort of day for you and your John. Here it was getting brand new unfinished kitchen cabinets here and inside before the rain, which was done by my spouse and the building owner, they finished all of about fifteen minutes before it started pouring rain. Smoky spent the night jammed next to the commode shaking like a leaf (he’s terrified of the thunder and lightning) and very leary of coming out this morning. I can’t help at all with things like that anymore and I miss just pitching in and getting it done. You earned a bit of a breather today.
We had a huge storm yesterday evening and night too, 3 for sure, possibly 3 more tornadoes sighted within 10 miles of us and the power out for close to 24 hours. Not fun at all. I believe in the last 8 to 10 days we’ve gotten more than 10″ of rain. Thankfully I didn’t have any hay to get in!
Oh! I remember now what rain is.
God that sounds like very hard, but worthwhile work!
The racing horse farm I worked at had an enormous barn. A full size American tractor trailer could pull right in! Our hay guy was in his late 60’s best guess, my boss mid 50’s, me just 30. Hay guy stood on top of the bales and threw them up, and with both of working to stack we couldn’t keep up with him! Always exhausted and sweaty and covered in hay-bites by the end of the unloading. 17 years later I bet that fella is still outpacing people decades his junior!
Bet he was a muscly fella.
Well, shorter than I but wiry and strong as a snake!