Comfort in rain and grass

This morning while I was attempting to catch a fledgling American goldfinch who was stuck in the barn rafters I got a call from our hay guy.  A buyer had backed out, and he had 225 bales loaded on the trailer ready to go.  Would we buy them? I had planned for this weekend, thinking that G would be here to help (he's not, he's in Vancouver for a week).  

So while I flailed my extendable fish net up to the peak of the barn while teetering on stacked hay bales I agreed, and as usual my whole day plan changed in an instant. 

I needed to get rid of dirty loose hay and some bales that were no good.  Old plastic we'd put on the barn floor (dirt floor) was ripped and torn by rodents and mold and needed to be replaced.  I sprinkled barn lime down on any damp earth, and raced into town for some more supplies. 

I needed some new construction poly, and had called ahead to arrange for some pallets at our feed mill.  The dock crewman has always been good to us, and he made sure to save the nicest strongest pallets for me. We have to put these down on the construction poly, and that keeps the hay away from condensation and mold for the most part.  

So by the end of the day the barn smelled of nice green fresh hay again, and I was sweaty and exhausted, but it's a good safe feeling now, knowing that we have at least half of what we need for the long winter ahead.  

Rumbling thunder clouds rolled in and sprinkling rain cooled me off a bit.  The animals were happy. G worked a long day at work and came home after sunset to find me talking to the sheep and rolling one heavy hot bale out of the barn.  (you wouldn't believe how hot bales that were baled wet can get! they can actually ignite.  Hay guy had identified that one as not to be stacked.)

So that's it for now.  It's a big investment, all of this hay.  What some folks might pay for a vacation to a resort in Mexico or somewhere else.  We still have more to buy in, since we won't be haying our field again after all.  But for now we are ok.

***

I caught the fledgling, and released her into the sheep pasture where she continued to call for her parents.  Now it's my turn to yell for food!! It's 9:30 pm, and G is making an amazing stir fry with all of our garden veg.