Day 2: Mowing

Alternately titled: Still here.

I dare say there are two very attractive things in this world. One is my husband in uniform. The other is my husband on a tractor. Since I no longer get to see the first, I'll be more than happy to settle with the second.We were up about 7:30. We haven't brought the goats home but do have plans tomorrow to pick them up. Lots to do today to prepare. Jeremiah moved the entire pasture and made 2 passes deep from the property line fencing with the brush hog.

Neighbor of ours came over yesterday and asked us if we needed anything and didn't hesitate to loan us his tractor!
I found a hay supplier on Craigslist to buy some alfalfa from. Kansas is a bit different than California in that you cannot actually buy hay from a feed store. Strange right? Yeah, you walk into a "feedstore" in Kansas and say I need some hay and they look at you like you are an idiot. Afterall, what would a feedstore be doin' sellin' hay for cryin' out loud! Am I the only one who finds this ironic?

At any rate, here in Kansas you buy all your hay directly from growers. I was doing the same thing in California but it was always nice having the feed store as a back up even if their prices were really quite inflated.

We bought the last 30 bales the guy had. Back in Ca. that would have been enough to last well over a month. Things are a bit different here in that A. bales don't weight the same they do there (which is both good and bad) B. feedstores don't carry hay and C. growers sell out and D. The winters are much harsher than we are used to. So, while "A." doesn't have a lot to do with "B." and "C." and "D.", I will say that it's nice having smaller bales weighting about 65-75 lbs. because it means I can load them and feel accomplished where as with the 110+ lb. bales in Ca. I kill myself trying to flip them end over end. What "B." and "C." means is that I need to stock up, like, for the entire winter and with 70 lb. bales, going through a bale a day, 14 goats, harsh winter, 2011 cut not happening until mid May, that calculated to about 180+ bales I need! YIPES! D. means that I cannot just wait until after a rain storm like in Ca. and go get a few bales from the local feed store to hold me over if needed. You can't just go out in the middle of a blizzard and go get hay from the feed store here. Moral: Plan WAY ahead.


Okay then, well...um...fortunately with all the rain they normally get in Kansas, they can get like 5-6 the grower was sayin'. That's great! That means I still have time to stock up before winter. He said he'll let me know when he cuts next. Normally if you pick up in the field they'll give you a discount and hopefully he'll sweetin' the deal if I buy in bulk. $4 a bale would make me happy because right now at $5 a bale, doing the calculations, it's costing me more to keep the beasts than it did in Ca. and since they are dry I have no milk to sell, I have to wait longer to breed this year so I don't have frozen kids in January and gee wiz, these animals!

On to the alternative title: "Still Here". The neighbors horse has been living here for who knows how long. The sellers had a horse they had to have put down a few months ago and I guess the neighbors horse was a companion. The sellers-whom we met with a few times before closing-told us that the neighbor was aware the property was selling and that he needed to deal with the horse. We were under the assumption that meant the horse would be gone by the time we moved in.


"Horse" has lived here because the neighbor has about 3 heavily wooded acres and there isn't much, if anything, to eat so the horse grazes here. Well, fine and dandy but gosh, I don't want to feel obligated to care for this thing. She's a nice mare. Hasn't tried to kill us yet or anything which, of course, is a good thing 'n' all but we arrived on Friday to move in and she's still here..on our property (or soon to be our property if the dang lender could just get their act together and file the correct paperwork!).

There is a gate that we share with the neighbor. It's pretty common, I think, to have gates on the property line. It makes it easy to go from one property to another. You may ask why that's a positive thing...well if you're doing tractor work, or running animals, or whatever the case may be, it's just nice to not have to go all the way to the main road when you can just go through the fence.

So, okay...I need to contact the neighbor (the vet) and see what to do about this horse. The main pasture gate has been open for her to seek shelter but come tomorrow, it'll be closed off and while horses can be out in the elements and there are groves of trees and bushes out there enough to shelter her, this is our property now.

I'll deal with the horse on Monday. We took off for Jo's 90 miles away to stay the night and bring the goats home tomorrow. Butters (our dog) will be happy as he's on the verge of a psychological breakdown I think.