ReachOutGiving

July 12, 2011

Up until now I think Dave has been holding his own as best he can considering everything.  As most of you know he is tough as nails, but I can see things are starting to get rougher.  He never likes asking for help and having to have help putting up the hay was very hard for him.  He was able to be out and about during the haying but later fessed up to me that he spent a lot of time behind a tree or the barn vomiting.  The weekend really took its toll on him.  He has been in bed sleeping for the most part since.  Dave is in quite a bit of pain and has been vomiting regularly.

Last week we were able to cut our small acreage of hay.  My quick lessons on how to run the swather and bailer turned out ok.  I have been using the tractor for years so that wasn’t a problem but if something breaks down I have no idea how to fix anything.  Things looked pretty good getting it swathed and raked but then after just a short while of starting to get the hay bailed the bailer broke down.  This was on Friday morning and everyone that was coming to help was soon to be arriving.  I had hoped to have the bailing done when they arrived and then all we had to do is pick up the bails. 

Things never run as planned so long story short we finally got the bailer back up and running with the help of many men.  The bailing commenced at 5:30 Saturday evening and by the time we were done on Sunday afternoon we had put around 40 ton in the barn.

We had a great crew Cory Dave’s brother and his with Heather and Justin their 2 year old, my family John and Teresa, Bill and Melanie, Judy and Mike, Kathy, Betty and Colton his girlfriend Jonnie.  Plus we had a couple of neighbors come by and help fix the bailer.

End of the Day Sunday                                                                Fixing the Bailer

We celebrated my 45^th birthday also.  We had so many desserts you could pretty much get anything you wanted.  My sisters and sisters’ in-laws really held down the kitchen for me so I could spend my time out in the tractor.  I am not use to that I usually end up heading up the kitchen and working in the fields at the same time so it was really nice.

Besides helping with the hay and feeding everyone.  The women weeded the garden, mowed the lawn cleaned house and did whatever they could think of to help us.  The men worked double hard on getting the bailer fixed, loading the hay and stacking it in the barn.

Part of the crew

We had a pretty good weekend but Dave is really feeling the effects of the hard work.

Peggy