Denim Deb Hay, hay, hay. Thank the Lord!

I miss her. Don't know how many times today I thought I saw her. I broke down this morning and cried. And I had trouble all day long not crying. I also didn't get everything done on my list. I was just too worn out, both physically and emotionally. The wood stove has problems, we don't know if we're going to have to replace it or what. So no fire for now. I did do some of the wood, but much of it won't split easily. So I'm planning to break out the splitter over the weekend.

I didn't put the tarp up over my hay shelter at home. I have to clean up along the one side. Until I do that, I can't put the tarp on.

I put all my tomato seedlings in pots along w/some eggplants I never planted. I was shocked to see that they were still alive! I stuck all of that in a corner of the garden, then covered it all w/leaves.

I'm not doing any dishes tonight. I just want to go to bed early.
 
What a long, tiring day! I didn't post a to do list for today because I wasn't sure what all I'd get done. And, it's a good thing I didn't! I would have gotten next to nothing on it done.

This morning, I picked up 4 RBs of hay. Went to the farm, got everyone fed, got the field picked, and let my chickens loose. I had the section of the field where the gate to the road is blocked off, so it was easy to get in the field. I let the horses into the parking area, then shut the gate to the field. KN showed up, and I was happy to see her! The tractor is not working, so I needed help. I let the wires in my field down, and backed the trailer up to my hay storage area. Then we started working on getting the hay out of the trailer. That was NOT fun. RU called, and she came over and helped. We were able to get all 4 bales off the trailer. One bale that I already had had gotten wet because it wasn't set right, and I couldn't get the tarp between the hay and the fence. We were able to get that one out, put where I'll be using it first, and got another bale in it's place. It's supposed to rain tonight, so I got everything covered the best I could.

Since I had the truck and trailer, I decided to go to the hay auction. I get there and saw a lot of trucks, but not much hay. I was NOT expecting to get any. But, I did pick some out. Figured if I could get it, I'd have hay for the goats. At first, it didn't look like I had a chance. First lot went for about $5.00 per bale. But the stuff I was looking at a lot of people won't bid on. It looks crappy, but I've bought the hay like this B4, and my horses love it. There were 4 lots of 25 of this hay.

Well, the first lot comes up. The bidding started low. I bid up to $2.25. Someone else bid $2.50-that was my limit. So, I didn't get that lot. Next lot comes up. The bidding started low. I bid up to $2.25. No one bid higher! So, that gave me more than enough for the goats. Then the next lot comes up. I decided to try for that one as well. Figured if I got that, I'd leave all or most of it at the farm and get a RB for the goats. The bidding started low and I bid up to $2.25. And again, no one bid higher. So that gave me 50 bales! Then the last lot of this hay came up. I wasn't planning on bidding. But, it was heading the same way. Again I bid the $2.25. And again, no one bid higher! So that gave me 75 bales at $2.25/bale! Needless to say, I was thrilled.

I was lucky that a couple of guys I know gave me a hand. I had most of the first lot loaded when they came over. When they saw I was by myself and had over 50 bales to still load, they gave me a hand. We got 72 bales in the trailer, the other 3 went in the pickup. Went to the farm. RU saw I had a whole trailer load, but she had her grand daughter. She said she'd give me a hand. Since I wanted to get done, I decided I'd get started w/out waiting.

First thing I did was finish filling my hay shelter. I now know how many bales it will hold-69. I had one bale fall apart, so I put that out for the horses. I put another 10 bales on a couple of pallets. That left 23 in the trailer. That should be plenty for the goats. Only problem being, the hay shelter had no cover. So I had to cover it. It took awhile, but it's done. I also took an old tarp and covered what's on the pallets. It was getting dark by the time I left.

Got home, and got the trailer unhitched. But I was just too tired and it was too late to mess w/the hay. So w/hubby's help, I covered the trailer roof enough so that if it rains tonight, the hay should stay dry. Probably on Thursday, I'll get the new tarp on the hay shelter at home and get the hay in there.

I'm beat. I ate frozen pizza for dinner, and will be going to bed soon.
 
I'll be getting 4 more RBs on Friday, and then I'll have all my hay! I can't believe it. I can't ever recall having all my winter hay this early.
 
Not sure if I'm going to be able to do anything outside today or not. They've changed the forecast from showers to rain. So, I'm glad I got the hay all covered! My to do list for today is going to have some items w/a * next to them. I'll only be doing them weather permitting. So my list will be quite long today since it's going to include both outside and inside stuff that I may or may not do.

1. Practice piano
2. Put out trash and recyclables
3. Clean bathroom
4. Feed animals and bag Misty's feed. (Didn't do it yesterday, only bagged enough for today)
5. Pick field*
6. Weed out more dock*
7. Clean tack shed*
8. Feed Stormy, bag Licky's feed, put out hay, take care of chickens
9. Clean kitchen
10. Work on living room
11. Work in garden/yard*
12. Work on wood*
13. Work in basement*
14. Make dinner
15. Do dishes
16. Collapse

Guess that's not too long.
 
I didn't get the feed all bagged today. I'm out. I had enough feed until Sunday. So on the way home, I stopped and got some. I'll take it out tomorrow.

The weather was not as bad as they were calling for. So, I was able to pick my field and work on the dock. And while I didn't get it completely clean, my tack shed is cleaner.

We could get a frost tonight, so my work in the garden consisted of getting all my peppers picked.

I managed to get a bit more wood cut up and stacked. I'm starting to see progress in that.

The kitchen is clean, the living room is cleaner, but I didn't touch the basement.

I did dishes while my dinner was cooking. I made my casserole finally.

I got a lot done today. I'll be going to bed in the not too distant future.
 
I have another busy day planned for today. I already have some of the stuff done on my to do list. I'm hoping that by the end of this month I can take it a bit easier! So, for today I have the following I hope to do:

1. Iron shirts (done)
2. Practice piano (done)
3. Wash and hang a load of clothes (they're in the washer right now)
4. Feed animals and finish bagging feed
5. Pick field
6. Go to Bible study
7. Work on dock
8. Feed Stormy, put out hay and take care of chickens
9. Clean around hay shelter at home and put up the new tarp
10. Unload the rest of the hay from my trailer
11. Work on cleaning bedroom
12. Make and eat dinner
13. Feed goats
14. Work on firewood
15. Do dishes
16. Collapse
 
I got a lot done today-even though I didn't finish my list! I wanted to get a certain amount of the dock dug out today. Then, I had another area I wanted to get done tomorrow. Well, once I got past a certain point, the dock was growing as densely, so I got all of the one area done, and most of the next! That means that tomorrow, I'll be able to start on a completely different area!

If I hadn't already decided to go w/sbs next year for hay, after putting out hay this week, I'm be thinking about it. It's a bit harder to get the hay all put away. But, it's so easy to put the hay out. I stick a bale on my cart, and pull it out. And if we get snow, I have a sled to use. I still have a few more bales I'll be putting out B4 I start on the RBs, then I'll be using the RBs up first if at all possible.

I need to get those 4 young roos taken care of. They're going for the hens more. I just haven't had time. Next week, I'm going to have to come up w/a day to do it. Maybe for Halloween-do it in my front yard while kids are coming. :D

I got all cleaned up around my hay shelter at home, but didn't put the tarp up. It was too windy. It's not supposed to rain, so I should be OK.

I got most of the hay in the shelter. I had one bale fall apart, so I left that in there. Plus, I miscounted at some place. I had 3 more bales than I was expecting. And while the shelter is more than big enough to hold it all, w/the other stuff I had in there, I would have had to move stuff around to get them in. So, I left them in the trailer. I'm getting the rest of my RBs tomorrow, so I'll drop off these bales as well.

Did some firewood. In some ways, I'm encouraged. I've made a big dent in the pile I have out there. But, the wood shed still looks so empty. I didn't work as long as I'd planned. My chain needs to be sharpened. I have another, sharp chain, but didn't feel like messing w/it today. Instead, since I'm getting the hay tomorrow, I stopped early, and hooked up my trailer.

It was chilly today. I couldn't tell if my clothes were damp or just cold. Since I only needed one thing off the line for tomorrow, I took that off and left the rest up. I'll take the rest down tomorrow. If I wash anything tomorrow, it will be some blankets, and I have enough room on the line for that.

About all I did in the bedroom was change the sheets. But, since I don't have clothes to put away in the morning, I may work on the bedroom instead. I also didn't do dishes. But, there's not a whole lot of dirty ones, so they can wait until tomorrow as well.
 
I am so looking forward to Sunday! I'm hoping I can relax then. I have another busy day planned. But, each day I get a lot done means I have that much less to do. So, my plans for today:

1. Work in bedroom (done)
2. Practice piano (done)
3. Wash a load of blankets and hang them on the line
4. Get a load of RBs
5. Feed animals and bag feed
6. Pick field
7. Unload hay and cover
8. Work on dock
9. Feed Stormy, put out hay and take care of chickens
10. Work in basement
11. Work in yard/garden. We had a frost last night, so I may be pulling the rest of my plants out, and it's going to be even colder tonight.
12. Work on firewood
13. Feed goats
14. Make and eat dinner
15. Do dishes
16. Collapse

I keep feeling like I'm missing putting something on the list. But what I'm missing is putting Cindy on there. I miss my kitty. Every time I leave my tack shed, I have to remind myself that I don't need to check to be sure she's in there. I don't know how many times I've thought I've seen her, and it's either a different cat, or even my black chicken seen out of the corner of my eye near the tack shed. And I have a feeling that when I'm ready to get another cat, that it's going to mean a big fight w/hubby. I want to get a puppy and a kitten next fall. And, I want them in the house. He doesn't want animals in "his" house. Last time I checked, my name was on the deed as well. I've told him we need a duplex. He thinks I'm joking-I'm not. That way, I could have animals in my house and he wouldn't need to worry about them being in his house.
 
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