Hay Baling on the Farm

We had a very busy and exhausting day yesterday!  Early in the morning we heard from the neighbor that he was wanting to bale our fields to see if he could get some in before the rain cam this morning. As I have mentioned previously, we have the BEST neighbors!!!

Earl the Pearl brought his tractor, baler and wagon over and started.  His wagon holds 100 bales.

We had worked very hard all morning to get this section of the barn cleaned out.  The Boss had stacked a lot of things there in preparation for moving his stuff into the barn.  It had to be totally cleaned out to get this wagon in there.

Eli and Elizabeth

A young family had come for adjustments and stayed to watch the excitement.  Our family was really excited to get hay in the barn.  Plus there was the extra suspense of racing the rain.

When the wagon dumped the bales they tumbled out the door!

Lee was very happy to check out the bales.

The team set to work as we had only about an hour to get the first batch of bales stacked before the next one was coming in.

Michelle and Elizabeth worked hard at stacking the bales in the upper part of the barn.  These were very heavy bales!  I was super impressed that Elizabeth could heft a bale around.  She is getting to be a real farm gal! Hard to believe she is only nine.  As soon as she finished eating dinner, she showered and headed to bed.  It was an exhausting day!

We were super blessed to have some friends ( 5 young men) come over and help us on our project.  I don't know how we would have gotten it done without them.  We were racing the daylight and we had to finish up by headlight as it was.

Elizabeth and Michelle worked very hard and you can see that glow of hard work on their faces.  They really enjoy working together!

The baler had one major issue.  About every fourth bale,  the knotter wouldn't work and the bale wouldn't get tied up.  That made a lot of loose hay in the wagon and spread around the barn.  We had to work hard to gather it in a pile.

When the tractor came back we ran the loose hay back through the baler to form it into tied bales.  This almost doubled the time it took.  It cost us another potential load of hay bales from the field.

We don't have a hay elevator and so we had to figure out a quick easy solution.  Paul, our mechanical engineering student, came up with this.  He fixed a sled on a large wooden I-beam.  He attached a rope and it had a back stop.

Hay bales were place on the sled and...

Thomas or one of the other big guys pulled it easily up to the loft.

Thomas seemed to enjoy this job.

Michelle's height was useful as she could swing the bales up to the higher rows when we were stacking.

Sam the Man, held the bales down.  Actually, he worked along with everybody else.

Paul, worked hard with organizing and carrying bales.  He is an expert at figuring an easier way to do most jobs.

Here is the loft crew waiting for another bale.  We ended up with almost 200 bales in the barn.  We are left with over 600 bales worth in the field.  Unfortunately, the rain this morning has soaked it all.  We are hoping it has a chance to dry out before the next rain.  Then we can still round bale it.

Autumn on the farm is a busy time.  Here's hoping that winter slows down a bit more.  The old house is on the market. I can't wait until it sells and I get my DH husband home before ten o'clock at night!!!

Family Foto Shoot

Do any of your family ever get a hankering to have a family photo shoot?  To make memories and to make a permanent record of what your family is like at this moment in time?  Well, we do.  Michelle loves to take pictures and to create and record moments.  She loves Pinterest and gets many of her ideas there.  She worked very hard and selected outfits and props and did a gradual work up to try and get everybody on board.  First, she had to find a time when everybody was home and it was still daylight outside. Then she had to convince/bribe her siblings to get their cooperation. Finally all the stars came into alignment and the big moment arrived this afternoon.

Paul, went along with the dress code and had a pretty good attitude.  Michelle told him that a willingness to be photographed was on her list of qualifications for a husband.

The photo props were carried out and gotten ready.

Then we had to wait for our guest photographer to arrive.

Elizabeth waited in comfort.

The larger props, also known as chairs, came out on the ATV.

 Everybody had a coordinating outfit.

We were in danger of constant photo bombing from the dog and the chickens.

We did end up with some nice pictures.

Even the turkeys came along to photobomb us.  It was an animal conspiracy!

Michelle directed and instructed us on how to use our props and where to stand so as to make a visually attractive picture.

We tried the often attempted 'jumping' pictures, with humorous results.  We obviously have a leprachaun in our family.

It appears that Super Man might reside with us also.

There was much laughter and good natured rebellion as we went from one pose to the next.

We even tried the serious 'dust-bowl' era pose.  It was very difficult to maintain our serious expression as our photographer was laughing himself silly.

We tried lining up forwards...

...and looking backwards.

 Here is our nephew Daniel, who stopped by to visit.  He lives in North Dakota.  He was drafted to be our photographer and he did an excellent job.

Here are the girls.  The guys split the scene as soon as the group shots were done.

Here is our photo shoot director with her dog, Dallas.  Had to get his picture taken.  Of course he bathed in the pond, before posing.

These are the pouty twins. LOL.  The 'pot stirrers' who keep life interesting.

Michelle is encouraging her brothers to get growing!  She wants them to pass her up.  Thomas is getting very close.  By Christmas, I am sure he will have done it!

One last rest in the living room chair as it sits in the field.  Not sure how Michelle convinced the guys to haul it out there, but she did!

T-Bob and my DH figured out a comfortable way to get the leather chair back to the house.  Not a bad way to travel!

The June Birthday Party

It is time for the annual June birthday party.  It is something we look forward to all year!

We have the tradition of lining up all the grandkids, by age, along the back of the house.  It is interesting to see the children change in height through the years. In the beginning they were all stair steps, but that has changed through the years.

The girl cousins posed together.

Then the boys.  They were silly!

Michelle and Thomas wanted a picture of themselves when they were about the same height.  It won't last for long.  Thomas is currently growing at a prodigious rate!!!

Michelle was also full of silliness that evening!

This evening was extra special as my mom-in-law was there.  She also has a June birthday!  There were 6 June birthdays!  It was beautiful weather and wonderful fellowship!

The kids had fun playing together.

Visiting.

Thomas is 17 now.  Who would have thought that it happened already?  He is growing up!!!

This year we skyped the Filipino cousins and had a nice visit with Mir and Kitty.

It was nice to be able to talk to someone so far away in real time.  They were looking good!

Miss Sadie was happy to turn five.  She starts kindergarten in the fall.

Then it was time for the presents!  Sadie went second.  Isaac was wanting to help her open her gifts.

To include the Eichs, the person opening the gifts had to sit in a seat that was visible to the laptop, so they could be seen in the Philippines.

Even Mom got some gifts!  She really seemed to enjoy being including in the celebration!  We thank God for a godly heritage!!!