Summertime on the farm

Summertime. While most are out taking their family vacations, we are gearing up for baling hay. This past weekend, with triple digit heat indices, we met up with a friend who had just finished baling some square bales. Just what we need for our goat herd. We piled up in the truck with the cattle trailer behind us and headed to Henderson. When we made it to the field, there were square bales on the ground, waiting for loading. My husband, Jon Paul, and my 3 oldest boys, Jean-Luc (11), Tristan (9), and Dylan (7) made a game plan and decided how they would man the trailer to get the hay loaded. Jean-Luc and Tristan would be in control of stacking, Dylan would move the bales to them in the trailer, and Jon Paul would pick up each bale in the field and throw them into the trailer. Hay bales are not light. They weigh around 60 lbs each, which is a little less than my boys weigh. They ended up loading 52 bales in the trailer, which is pretty impressive. I got the easy job of driving from one bale to the next with my trusty side kick, Ethan (4) telling me when to go and stop. 


The real work begins tomorrow when we start cutting pastures for round bales of hay for the cows and goats to get them through the winter time. Bless my husband for sweating it out over the next couple of weeks to get the hay baled. It is tough farm work that a lot of people take for granted. Cutting and baling usually doesn’t start until close to lunch so the morning dew has a chance to dry off the grass. With the heat index being so high, I always worry about him drinking enough water and staying hydrated. It’s hot dusty work, but it’s nice to know we have the ability to feed our animals. 


Yesterday, we were able to take a break from the heat in our new living room addition in our house. We’ve been living in a construction zone for a while now, and it is nice to finally start moving things in the new living area. We still have work to do, but we got the furniture moved in and my husband got the tv mounted above the fireplace for now. The boys enjoyed hanging out, watching movies, and eating ice cream during the heat of the day. I call that a great end to the weekend! 

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