Hay Fever

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The last of the three loads that we need to see us through winter!  There's nothing about this hay that we would have picked for our needs, but as we said earlier, it's not a year to be picky.  It's first cutting; we prefer second.  It has lots of alfalfa; we prefer lots of grass.  The bales are 1800 pounds.  We'd really like to see them around a thousand pounds.  Square bales - we like round.  Cost?  Well, compared to last year, we'd like to see last year's prices back again....  We can complain all we want, but we are truly happy that we have it!  The cows won't complain at all - of that, we are certain!

That's 'Dance, our herd bull.  We love him!  Really.  One of his favorite things to do (besides courting his ladies) is to follow the ATV around.  He hopes that he'll find hay in the back.  Despite having the lovely green grass in the meadow, he'd rather have the easy to eat hay as a treat. 

He's teaching the kids to do the same thing!  They are so curious now and follow him into all kinds of situations.  We call them "Dance lessons."

He's a very handsome boy!

And happiest with a mouth full of hay!

A Star is Born

That's our girl Bessie in the top photo.  She's getting dry after her bath and tail trim.  Son Raisin is getting his very first bath ever! and he actually seemed to enjoy it.  No fighting, no kicking - what a boy!  Once they were clean and shiny representatives of the Dexter breed, they got a short ride to Lusk, where Bessie will have a walk on role in The Legend of Rawhide  She'll be playing the part of the milk cow!  A Star is Born. 

And yay!  one of my favorite days of the year.... The arrival of the first load of hay.  These bales are really nice hay, but are 1800 pounds.  Given the drought and the price of hay, we decided we'd better take what we can get this year - size wise.  Our little tractor doesn't care much for them, but with some ingenuity (and a battering ram, more or less) Chris was able to push the bales to the ground, then pick them up with the borrowed forklift.  Takes a bit longer, but it gets done.  The driver was very patient while we got off to a slow start.  A little practice and the remaining bales were soon put away PDQ.

Waiting to see the thunderstorms that we were told to "watch" for....  hope they get here because it means rain!