Alfalfa and Rain

Yesterday our farmer friend called to say he was baling our requested alfalfa. We had made plans to do other things but figured pulling the bales of the field was much more important. The weatherman had mentioned there was going to be rain. (And boy was he right!)

When we realized we would need to get the bales, we looked at the radar to see if and where any rain was so we could plan accordingly. Of course, rain was coming our way. So we rushed home, switched the hitch out on the farm truck (much to Mike's dismay as he hurt himself on the trailer), and headed out.

The bales were in a different field than where I thought he was baling. Luckily it's a nice field and actually rather pretty just to stand and watch the dark clouds roll in. We had requested 75 bales but there were more in the field than that. After the half way point of throwing bales and moving the truck foward, we took a quick break to call the farmer to find out exactly how many were out in the field. He said it was 100+ bales.

I was worried he'd baled all the small ones just for us and we didn't have room. But no worries as the farmer had plans for the rest. Thank goodness it was overcast with a breeze. We kept a close eye to the sky and could tell it was raining all around us but not on us!

Luckily this year the alfalfa never got rained on, or if it did it didn't pour on it like last year. I was so disappointed with last year's alfalfa that this year's alfalfa looks almost good enough for me to eat! I am a little worried that some of the alfalfa was baled a little too soon but I guess I'd rather have my bales under cover and home instead of still sitting out in the pasure waiting to be baled.

We were able to get 80 on the flatbed and truck. I felt terrible to have Mike throw bales since he's allergic to almost anything horse related. (Now how in the world could I marry someone who's allergic to everything horsey?!!) :-) But Mike, the sweatheart husband that he is, willingly tossed as many alfalfa bales as we could get into the flatbed.

We pulled the flatbed full of bales into the redshed for the night and I will unload either tonight or this weekend. We then decided to treat ourselves to cheap pizza Wednesday in Hartord. By the time we gobbled down our pizza and got back home, it was starting to rain. I "enjoyed" watching the lightening as I drove home.

Before we left for supper, I had pulled Joe and Thor into the barn so Joe could eat (and Thor would'nt throw a hissy fit.) I also pulled Sam in. Unfortunatley with Thor in the barn I had to rearrange and Sam got the small stall. I was worried that Sam and Joe would start fighting but I think after full bellies they both settled down and ignored each other. Joe does not like Sam that close to him. Not sure why.

But as the skies started to rain, I had to get Thor and Joe out. I always think it's odd that I find myself touching metal objects during a lightening storm. Here I am buttoning up the fence after putting Joe and Thor in the lawn pasture and it's lightening. Go figure! One of these days!

The skies really poured last night. We got over two inches of rain. I'm sure glad we pulled our bales off the field last night. They are pretty good this year and I want to keep them that way. I want to get them off the flatbed as soon as possible. Last year we didn't get to it right away and started having problems with the bales. I need to make a few changes in the haybarn where I'll be stacking them. I knew I should have cleaned it out awhile ago but I didn't have the energy. Now that I HAVE to get it cleaned out and ready, I'll hop to it right away. Not sure if I'll get all the bales moved out tonight or if it'll be Saturday evening. But in either case we need the flatbed for next weekend so I guess I'll have my work cutout for me this week.