Baling Hay

Ahhh....I finally feel a little more normal now that I have my computer hooked up. Hello again, world! I may not have a house to call mine yet, but things are getting better. And there is a bonus for you too....I can finally share some of my pictures. I know, I have just made your day and that makes 2 of us, cause I'm overjoyed. Amazing what a 19" flat screen, a few wires, and a mouse do to make a person's day...words just don't go there!

I thought that I'd share a few of the first pictures I took here. I can't take all the credit, my hubby took a few as well. Sorry, there are none of me actually driving the tractor, but rest assured, I DID drive the tractor AND run the controls for the baler. I also helped him out on Monday as well. I drove a creep feeder (a large feeder just for calves) out to a pasture (going no more than 10 mph is tedious work when you have to drive to middle of nowhere!) and then helped to fill them up. We were almost finished when a whopper of a thunderstorm came through and we got back in time to get soaked running to the house! No need for a shower that night*...there's nothing like trying to peel wet jeans off your legs! This picture was taken by my hubby. You basically drive along at a whopping speed of 3-4 mph and...

...guide the baler through the rows of raked hay. There is a nifty little computer in the tractor that tells you if one side of the bale is bigger than the other and if so you steer a little more towards one side. It also tells you when the bale is full, when the baler starts wrapping the bale, when to eject the bale, and when to close the hatch. I have only one word for that...nifty!!!

Here you can get an idea of what the whole contraption looks like in action. Yes, that's my sexy husband behind the wheel of the tractor!

The computer said "Eject"! (It is important to wait for that to actually happen, or so my hubby claims...apparently if you pull the eject lever too soon, you'll have to go and re-bale that one and it's not so much fun the second time around...or so I hear!) When we first started I wondered how in the world that little machine made a bale AND spit it out when it was done...well, at least you don't have to wonder cause I caught the whole wonder of it all on camera.

And then it's down with the hatch and off he goes again. I found this kicking out part to be rather humorous because when you "kick one out" on a hill it tends to roll away, on down the hill. I'm not crazy, it really is funny to watch!

And there you have it folks...a field full of gigantor hay bales! Ain't it a beauty? I actually just returned from taking my hubby his dinner. The "kids" said they wanted to go for a run since they've been couped up in their cage all day, so I made spaghetti & meatballs and we hopped on the 4 wheeler and a few wrong turns later finally made it out to the field. Dinner was still piping hot and we all enjoyed a beautiful evening together...except, who invited the mosquito's?!?

**Please note that although we are now simple country folk, we do still bathe every day!