Aggieterpkatie-Pics of my new rabbit-Page 38 !!!!!

[aggieterpkatie]

I was standing the round bale up on its end (no easy task I assure you) and that made peeling the hay off of it much more tolerable. Then the local farm supply store in Aberdeen started to sell round bale feeders. It looks like a big half cylinder sitting on a rack. Putting the bale in it is much easier because that is the way the bale sits on the ground. My tractor picks it up with the grapple and I just let it down in the same orientation with the tractor. Works great.

That would be great if we had a tractor capable of lifting large bales like this! The only tractor on our place is the JD 318!

I know a couple of elderly ladies that do this. They watch old Agetha Christies while they knit.

Sounds fun! We're not old though. Although DH tells me I look like an old lady when I knit.

 

[patandchickens]

If you have a real sharp machete or something similar you can hack into the side of the bale to cut the "layers" of hay so you can go into the bale from one point rather than the unwinding business. I have also used a saw but would not necessarily recommend that unless you are desperate.

I love the idea of tipping the shed up to get the bale under it, that's great!

Pat

 

[deb4o]

We also got a great deal on round bales this year and got 4,we had other hay in our hay shed and just started to use the first round one last week.It was a real sight to watch my DH and DS roll it into our shed,they laid it down flat and my DH went to work peeling off layers, he will have to peel more in the morning,I have him do enough to last a week so it is easier on me when I have to feed. I kind of like using the pitch fork and loading the feeders, makes me feel like a real farmer lol

 

[Denim Deb]

I wish I could get thru a winter w/just 4 RBs, but when you have horses, no can do. But, the last ones I got I got for a good price, $22.50. I put the last one out yesterday. I'm hoping I can get a few more on Tuesday at the hay auction. If things go as planned this summer, I won't need to be buying them in the winter. I'll have them bought in the summer, put up on pallets, and covered w/a tarp. Sometimes I can get them for $20.00 or under in the summer.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Here's the picture of the bale squeezed into the shed. So far it's working out great! I also blogged about it.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

BRRR!!!! It's cold out there!!!! 8* right now! I'm just SO glad we don't have any snow on the ground. And it was so frozen this morning I wore my "nice" shoes out to do chores since I knew the animal poop wouldn't stick to them.

So, I'm fed up with these cold winters. This winter and last winter are unusually cold for us. Our main heat source is a heat pump, which are terrible if it's colder than 40* out. Last year we installed a pellet stove to supplement it. We desperately want a woodstove, but there's really no place in our house to put one. We dont' have a very open floor plan, which is a PITA. The pellet stove is in teh basement, the only place it would fit. Our basement is about 3/4 finished, with a small cellar area. We finally got off our tushes this weekend and really re-organized the basement and got it set up and the furniture re-arranged so we could spend more time down there!!

I found some awesome shelving units on freecycle and we got them this weekend. One went in DSD's room, and the other 2 went in the basement for my yarn stash (pics on the blog!!!). It makes a world of difference! DH put the Wii downstairs so now we can watch movies from Netflix on the TV down there (that was never hooked up to anything before). I'm excited to be able to use that space and take advantage of the pellet stove's warmth!

I also dried some mushrooms last night for the first time. Baby portabellas were on sale so I bought 2 containers and dried one. It was super quick and easy!

 

[TanksHill]

I love the hay in the shed. Kind of reminds me of a big box of Kleenex!!!

Your new yard shelves are wonderful. Some day I would love to have a wall like that. One for all my yarns and another for my fabrics.

Great job on cleaning up the basement. Getting a jump on spring.

g

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Great job on cleaning up the basement. Getting a jump on spring.

g

Thank you! Yes, it's about time we did something about it....we cleaned out boxes that had been untouched since we moved in.....almost 2 years ago!!!

 

[savingdogs]

Doesn't it feel good when you get your old projects like that cleared out and done?

How cool to gain a little room out of it. I wish I had a cozy basement with a heating element. Our floorplan does not suit a woodstove but we have one anyway. Fans help. All the dust it makes gets a little tiresome in the winter though, but mine is an old style.

It does seem like an awfully cold winter this year.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Today is Buford's big day!! He's getting neutered this morning so he came to work with me for a little while until I can take him in. There's a place in our county that does low cost spaying and neutering, plus HW tests, microchips, a few vaccines, etc. He's getting "tutored" and a rabies and it'll only be $85!