Friday, August 20, 2010

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

The Bag Lady is a little played out today, but is happy to report that haying season is over on the ranch!

The Rancher cut down the oats last week to use as greenfeed, and, naturally, it rained a couple of days later. Not very much, but enough that he couldn't bale them. It hadn't rained all summer....
He started baling on Wednesday. Wednesday night, he surprised the Bag Lady by pulling into the yard with the baler, and promptly backed it into the shop. Uh oh. The Bag Lady pulled on her gloves and went out to help. One of the rollers in the baler had blown apart. (in fact, the roller on the other end of the chain in this post from a couple of years ago!) A couple hours and much cussing later, they had removed the offending roller and realized that it was beyond repair. By the time they had it out, it was after 9 pm, so they went to the house. (And, still in the linkage vein, here is a post that shows a photo of how big and heavy the rollers are!)

First thing the next morning, the Rancher called the used tractor place which supplies the area with parts, only to discover that they didn't have any rollers. Sigh. The Rancher gathered up the pieces and went to town to find someone to build him a new roller.

He returned with a new roller at 4 pm. The Bag Lady pulled on her gloves and went out to help him. At 7:15 pm, she waved as he pulled out of the yard. He rolled back into the yard at 10:30, exhausted but finished.

In a few days time, he will haul the bales off the field and stack them somewhere accessible so they can be fed to the cows come winter. In the meantime, the Bag Lady and the Rancher are perhaps going to relax and enjoy the weekend. And she hopes all of you enjoy your weekend, too!

9 comments:

Leah J. Utas said...

There's always something going, well, haywire, on a farm or ranch. I'm glad you're done.

I hope you enjoy yourselves this weekend. You've sure earned a rest.

Levi said...

Get some rest! I'm exhausted just reading this post. It's like owning a puppy.

Cheryl Kohan said...

I agree!! You are a real trooper...take a break. Maybe go out for the weekend in that nifty RV you've got!

Reb said...

I'm glad you were able to get it fixed and finish the bailing. Now if it's not too smoky, I would go out to that trailer and enjoy the weekend.

solarity said...

I'm glad it was fixable. One reason I'm happy to have someone else cut my (two bales of) hay is not having to worry about it.

Mary Anne in Kentucky

messymimi said...

There is never a good time for something like that to happen, but within just a few hours of finishing for the season? Jimminy it almost makes you believe in the total depravity of inanimate objects!

Please do relax and enjoy the weekend, I agree you have both earned it.

the Bag Lady said...

Thanks, cousin. It's good to have that job finished. We just need to haul it home and stack it.

Janell - owning a puppy is harder.

Cheryl - we just might do that!

Reb - the smoke isn't too bad now.

Mary Anne in Kentucky - sometimes I wish we had someone else to cut ours, too!

messymimi - that was the annoying part - we were so close to being done! All's well that ends well, though.

tagskie - thanks for stopping in.

Sagan said...

You definitely deserve a rest after that kind of work! And a drink, too, I hope ;)

the Bag Lady said...

Awww, thanks, Sagan!