I had a great day yesterday! Ow...

I had so much fun yesterday!

I was a little behind the 8 ball to begin with, Mr. D was going to pick up hay with his (kids? grandkids?) help, and he showed up at about 6 ish. Would be the day I slept in... I was just finishing breakfast, and Husband said he was going to go on ahead. I showed up, helped move a few bales, but most everything had been pretty well finished by the time I arrived. Dad came out, (it was Mom and Dad's pasture), and we talked, and watched Mr. D and Sidekick go about with a hay squeeze, picking up ten bales at once, then setting them on the back of the trailer. I remember many a year picking bales one by one, this was a definite plus in my book.

Sidekick mentioned that he had calves, and were we going to do anything with the broken bales, and strewn hay? I hadn't planned to do much with it, just see if the llamas wanted it, so I said he could have it. He was quite pleased with this, and then Dad came up with the idea to go rake up the hay into one spot, as a surprise for Sidekick. I thought it sounded good, so we hooked up a trailer to Dad's lawnmower, and proceeded to get the big stuff raked up and to the front. This worked great, but soon we were stopping every few feet to pick up more little 'tufts'. Dad said, let's use the buck rake. I thought, fine, we'll have to get out the big tractor. Next thing I know, Dad has undone the trailer, and has me back up to the buck rake. HUH?

It worked slicker than wet ice! I drove, Dad rode the rake, and we went all over the pasture, raking 'tufts' into big rolls, which then were deposited in the pile. I'd seen Dad's buck rake for years, (I have no clue how old it is, but it's meant for horse drawing, Dad modified it for being pulled by motorized equipment. 1800's wouldn't surprise me...), but I had never seen it in action. We kept moving, slowly, and then Dad would push a lever, the rake would lift, and TA DA, a nice roll of hay, right where you need it! I have a feeling we were a sight to behold, several cars slowed waaaaaaaaaaay down to watch us. I was getting tired about 1, and so asked if we could take a break. We went into the house and made lunch.

And Sidekick showed up, just as we were sitting down to lunch. He said that Mr. D had mentioned we were raking the hay for him, (Ah, life in a fishbowl), and so Sidekick had driven by. He saw the amount of hay we'd raked, and brought his horse trailer. I didn't think it was that much hay, and it was loose, but when he finished up, it was nearly level with the windows. And I believe it was a two horse trailer. So I guess he got quite a bit of hay.

I have about 2 tons to sell, Mr. D and Sidekick had about 2 tons each, and Sidekick had extra for his calves, so it's all good.

Oh, and the ow? I found out, I haven't raked hay in a while. I have become slightly enamored of Tylenol... My shoulder blades hate me. Just wish I could do some more... LATER...

Semi-decompress for a minute...

Well, I have been busy! One of my friends had a stroke, and is now in the hospital, fighting with the therapists (he has never been known for his demure manner), one of my other friends is in surgery today for prostate cancer, Mom will be going in for surgery this week for a knee replacement, (not the standard one, she has lots of 'stuff' going on in her leg, struts, wiring, screws, that the doctor will have to work around), and in-laws are here, working on a party boat that they want to sell.

(Re-reading the above paragraph, did I just make my Mom's leg sound like a 50's Oldsmobile?)

I on the other hand, have just been on the go, went to Seaside, went to give blood, just on the go, and I am TIRED. This is the first day, (so far, anywho), that I don't have to jump and run to go somewhere! I have wanted to work on the garden. Well, I finally got a chance today, I worked on it, oh, about a week or two ago, and got about half of the rows worked on, today, I finished the rows, and planted corn. (We shall see, I suppose getting them in June, will sort of put it in the close call catagory, I don't know if it will do the "knee high by Fourth of July", but we can hope. If not, there's always the Farmer's Market...) I also planted watermelon, and eggplant. They are close together, I keep wondering if I will end up with eggmelon, or waterplant... I have all of my tomatoes, (14 Brandywines, 4 Beefsteak, and 2 cherry tomatoes), in the ground, so what did I hear on the news this morning? Hail.

Oh, joy...

I also have been trying to do myself damage, right before Seaside, I dropped a full container of peanut butter on my foot. Bruised up just like when the llama stepped on it. So, I have managed TODAY, to drop boiling water on the same foot. Husband has suggested I need steel-toed house slippers... I am not so sure he isn't right! I am doing ok, there was only a minor first degree burn, so I am not going to worry about it, but I sure wish I could figure out why the universe is against my foot being healthy.

I have lots of pictures and stories from Seaside, both in and out of the hamfair. But, I think I will quit while I am ahead, and work on it later. In fact, probably will split it into a couple blogs. I will have pictures, too. Here's a nice teaser. YES, rode on it, NO, won't have a picture for you here.

I think I am going to go work on a cup of tea. And perhaps a cookie. And hopefully not drop either on my foot. L*rd help me, I might even tempt fate with some knitting.

Pay Attention! Or, STOMP!!

Looks lovely, doesn't it? And it's my fault. First, I did what I would have yelled at any novice animal handler NOT to do, I wore light shoes to work with the llamas. This would not have been so bad, if I had not committed mistake number 2.

I was trying to let Lorenzo out. I feed the llamas one at a time, they eat more, (they are underweight. Well, except for Rama, I think she could fatten up on rocks...), and they don't fight. That is, as llamas fight, spitting and snarling at one another. All in all, a lot more civilized than some animals I've seen. (Although it does remind me of a second grade classroom I assisted in once...) Nonetheless, they don't want to be in spit range of each other.

I was in a hurry, I had one llama left to feed after Lorenzo, and wanted him out of the corral. Lama, the head and undisputed boss llama, was in the exit chute. This wouldn't have been a problem, but she likes me, and wanders back UP the chute when I don't close the end of it. She did. Again, I didn't pay any attention to this fact. Lorenzo did.

To encourage them to leave, I pat them on the rump. No go. Oookay, push on rump. Still no go. GO, silly! There is where my mistake #2 occurred. If the llama (or any animal) doesn't want to do something, check if there is a valid reason, before trying harder... Ignoring the obviously blatant attempts by Lorenzo not to be spit at by Lama, I pushed harder. Lorenzo, lacking the ability to turn around and say "DUMB S***, I don't want to be that close to her mouth!", he did the next best thing. He planted both feet firmly, so he wouldn't go forward. And guess where MY foot was? Ahem.

I knew better than to yelp, or they might both panic. Thank all that is holy, Lorenzo didn't think he had good enough purchase on the ground (read: my foot), and so moved his foot. I managed to get between them, move Lama OUT of the chute, CLOSE the exit, THEN worry about letting Lorenzo out. Problem solved.

Lesson learned. I didn't break anything, it just looks butt ugly. I will not be wearing fashionable flip-flops out soon... And I will actually look, perhaps, next time, so we won't have this little argument... I think that would be appreciated by both sides. I know my toe would like it.

A lot.