Laid Up

The hay came in Tuesday, 104 bales. Two words. I'm tired!

The grower/seller was kind enough to bring the hay down on one of those big hay trailers. He only lives a few miles up the road and for us to make 3-4 trips with a flat bed wouldn't have been all that fun bring as how it'd be double the work basically...unloading it off the big trailer (as it was just brought in our of the field), loading it onto the flat bed, driving home, unloading it into the barn and doing ti 3-4 times.

However, I am wondering if it would have been easier in a way. The access wasn't all that easy to maneuver so we may do something about the fence line. Although, if the guy we bought it from had had the time he could have dropped the trailer and let Jeremiah back it up. As it was, he had obligations to attend to and had a much larger truck than our Explorer so he did the best he could and get it as close as he could. We later hooked up the Explorer anyway and get it a little closer.

Imagine moving 103 65 lb. bales stacked on a hay trailer into the barn. NOT FUN! But a good workout anyway.

It's super nice hay. I am so happy with it. I've been really happy with the hay quality here in Kansas compared to California. Everything we got there was so thick stemmed with the 1st and 3rd cutting being so courser stemmed that they'd waste 85% of it. That's money down the tube! The past two loads (3rd and 4th cutting this year) has been so leafy you have to look for the stems which equals less waste both on the ground and from the pocketbook.

After all that work, I feel like being laid up today.

The kids were off school Wednesday. It was in "in service" day meaning all the teachers work and all the kids get it off. I guess for a few years so many kids would play hooky from school to go to the fair they just decided to give them a free day to do so they wouldn't miss school. As it was, Tuesday was $1 day (get in for $1, ride the rides for $1 each, etc.) so a lot were out Tuesday anyway and then no school on Wednesday.

We're attending the fair tomorrow (Sunday), the last day. The senior dairy goat show is that day and Frank, Jo and the kids are coming to spend the night tonight so we can all go on Sunday. They are also bringing down about 50 bales of Brome hay (grass hay kinda like Orchard Grass) as well. I will be changing the goat's diet a bit to include the Brome to cut down on costs a bit and for two, they are wasting so little of the alfalfa as it is and getting so much from it, there's no reason to give them 100% alfalfa.

More news is that Rachel and Drew have yet again gotten into poison Ivy. Last February it was actually poison oak but practically the same difference when it comes to how one reacts to it, especially Rachel. Although, her reaction doesn't seem to be as bad as it was the the oak. I don't know if we caught it sooner, it hasn't been given enough time to cause her the reaction, it's not as potent or all of the above but so far, she's not had the swelling like she did last time.

I'd like to try to keep her off the prednisone but I have been vigilant about the hydrocrortisone and benadryl and for the past 2 days have gone to school at lunch time to administer/apply. We'll see what she looks like on Monday and if it's no better (or worse) I'll take her to the Dr. So far, at least parts, seem to look better. But it's worrying me it's not looking better all over as I got a small bit on the top of one finger and it's practically gone except for a few scabs. I am hoping it's just taking longer for her to fight it off.

We're expecting company at the end of the month. Jeremiah's Mom, sister, brother-in-law and their two kids are supposed to be coming to visit. I'm not real sure where we'll put everyone as I am still working on the basement but maybe next week I can get the baseboards down.

I did get the floor painted however it's just the "basecoat" that will be my grout color for my faux tile look. I still have the (probable) intricate job of laying masking tape and then sponge panting on top to create the tile look. I'm not real sure I'm all for all that but willing to give it a try anyway. I did discover the easiest painting I will ever do though FINALLY after the fiasco with the paneling. The gal at Walmart must have thought I was talking about painting concrete and not paneling because painting concrete was the easiest painting I ever did!

Goat breeding has begun. With any luck, Bonnie will have kids come the middle of February. Her handsome hunk of smelliness was Andy (my spotted buck) this year so hopefully we'll have bouncing spotted babies!

Lotsa work to do this Saturday. It was supposed to be cooler than the forecast is predicting darnit! We need to make a dump run from all the barn waste so that should be exciting!

I finally got around to registering my car in Kansas. I finally have Kansas tags!

That's all for now...