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!