The hay supply was getting low. A count of the bales and simple math told us we would need about 50 more to safely get to 1st cutting, which around here is somewhere between late May and mid-June depending on rain.
We were told about a farmer with hay in LaCrosse, about a half hour drive from us, so we set off on a rainy Saturday morning to pick it up. We took the horse trailer, praying that 50 bales would fit. We don't ever pick up our own hay -- the farmer we usually buy it from delivers it on a flatbed trailer. But he did not have any extra, so we got the lead on the LaCrosse farmer from someone I work with.
Using the GPS and directions from my friend at work, we still managed to pass up the turn to his house, and had to take the long way around. He was a really nice guy and helped us load the hay into the trailer. All 50 bales fit, even though it took John and the farmer both leaning on the door to get it shut. I know John was glad he did not have to put any in the bed of his new truck...
I thought I took some photos of the horse trailer all loaded up, but evidently I didn't.... I wish I had.
It has been raining so much here lately, that we could not pull the horse trailer into the pasture. We had to park in the driveway as close to the barn as possible and carry the bales in. They are stacked up in our tack area in the picture above.
Since we only had 50 bales, and had to bring it up to the loft from the tack area, we could not use our electric hoist. So it had to be done the hard way.....
Yes, that is John up there, pulling the bales up by hand. I am in the tack area and attach the hook to the bales, and then he hoists them up. For 55 he is in great shape....
He got all 50 bales up into the loft and stacked them, though I did help with some of the stacking.
The cats were there to keep us company. Here is our boy cat, Simo....
And "The Princess," Sonya
So now our critters will be fed until more hay is harvested....
Time to take a break.
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