Let me start at the beginning. Yesterday I had a meeting in Hamilton. We were swapping cars so I got up early, cleaned, polished and hovered mine. Don’t know why I bothered as no-one else seemed to, apart from Shirley, who I swapped with. I got a text from Eric saying ‘Ian’s baling now, please bring beers’. We had not a bottle in the fridge.
Got home about 4pm to find a stroopy Harriette, indignant that Daddy had cancelled her piano lesson. (This was deliberate as we did not have time to do the piano run. Piano teacher is a farmer so fully understands). I told her we needed all hands on deck and she was to get back to the paddocks. Turns out they hadn’t started loading as they (Bridget was here) were working on the sheep! 3 had signs of flystrike and one was proper poorly. If she is not significantly better this morning she will be slotted. All were treated and left in the races as all the paddock gates would be left open as we got the hay in. This morning they will get a shot of multi vits before being released.
E and B then arrived and after rehydration we all headed down to the paddocks. Eric had separated Octavia afternoon thinking she looked imminent. He checked on her to see piglets no 2 and 3 arrive. Of course we couldn’t go off then! We watched the next few come. In my next life I am going to be a pig. The only condition being, I live with someone as soft as Eric. You know pigs farrow in their sleep. Well if she wasn’t asleep she did a good impression of it. Piglet No. 1 was up by her ear and climbing all round her face sucking at various bits of her ear. No’s 2 and 3 headed round her back and were trying to find something to suck on. Eric kept saying he would put them in the right place but I told him to leave them. Finally he climbed in and repositioned them!!! Anyway we then went to the job in hand.
I must say looking at 333 bales spread over 3 paddocks knowing we only had a little stock trailer, looked quite daunting. The advantage was it was a perfect afternoon, warm but not scorching hot, a slight breeze (cooling but blew hay into your face) and not a cloud a sky. Anyway we got started.
Bridget and I alternated the driving initially. For some reason Eric moaned at mine and not Bridgets. In fact they got into a ‘who can insult Michelle the most’ competition between them – so childish!, by the end I refused to drive. For those of you who don’t know Cedar Lodge, the house is on a hill in the centre of the block. The hay paddocks are to the south and the barn on the north side. So when we load the trailer we drive anticlockwise, past the pigs, over the drive, through the front paddock to the side paddock which houses the barn and my veg plot. At one point Alice asked if she could drive. So as those 2 loaded I gave Alice a lesson. I made 2 errors. Firstly I stood beside her, outside the vehicle, and secondly I didn’t tell her where the brake was!!!! Yes, you’ve guessed it. She took off. She was doing brilliantly but for some reason pushed her foot down hard on the accelerator. In retrospect it probably wasn’t so hard but she still took off. Bridget wouldn’t agree - she was on the back. Anyway she obviously, by reflex, hit anything and eventually the brake, and promptly burst into tears. Poor Alice. Give her her dues though I asked if she wanted to get out and she said she would try again. I know Mom and Daddy, you are now having a heart attack, and I hope no-one from CYF’s are reading this. Anyway, when she carried on, now knowing where the brake was, and with me in the passenger seat, she did brilliantly. Harriette on the other hand, kangeroo’d around the place.
Richard had said he would come and help after milking. I texted to say Octavia was farrowing, which I thought would bring Robyn running, (she was so busy with calving when the last litters arrived Robyn didn’t get round for a week), (reply, ‘Who is Octavia’ – how many other animals ‘farrow’ Richard?!?!?). Alice later said someone had phoned and said that Robyn could not come (grandma had been admitted to hospital). We carried on slowly, loading about 20- 24 bales per load. Bridget had the stacking job in the barn. Reversing in became a competition between Bridget and I, who could do it with the least gear changes. I did really well with the first ‘ did it in one’ and generally less shunting, until one trip in which I had to straighten up 6 times and pulled my average up way above Bridgets. We took a break and went up to the house for a drink and nibble, we had got to the stage were we were noticeably flagging, not lifting as well or as quickly. That was when the cavalry arrived, R,R, Sarah and Katherine. They also had Katherine and Alice’s friend Sam with them. The little ones went off and played with Bratz dolls after checking out the piglets. While all this had been going on Harriette had been watching Octavia, apart from a bit of driving. I think she kicked 3 bales from a corner in towards the others, while sulking! Alice had been trying to help but obviously had not been able to do much.
Of course you don’t just move 330 bales once, you load them, then sling them off the trailer in the barn and then they have to be carted higher and higher to stack them. The last job was Bridgets, well when it got up high it was hers. So we shifted a bale about 1000 times between us!
With R+R here we made good progress. Sarah, who had never driven anything other than a farm bike, was allowed to have a go driving the ute, and did really well. Harriette stopped sulking with the arrival of the Scotts and at one point we had Sarah and Harriette driving with the 5 of us loading. We could have had a, girls vs. boys competition but none of us females could lift a bale over head level. I once again mused on the positives about living in NZ. How many UK kids learn to drive in a hay paddock in a 4x4 pulling a trailer of hay? I love it here!
The darkness beat us and we had to leave about 2 loads for today. Up to the house to eat the thai curry that Eric had cooked earlier, drink some much needed beers and have a wonderfully refreshing shower. A good days work, and thank you guys for your help. (Where were you Bloo?)
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