Life On and Off an Acreage

In-sights into moving from an Acreage back to Town, plus a few things I find of interest.

Two things that horses are scared about:


1. Things that move
2. Things that don't move




Old enough to be eccentric, but not rich enough

September 20, 2012

Hay is In!

After 3 days of tough work, 300 bales of hay are in the hay shelter, or about to be tarped. It took a round trip of 82 km and three trips to get it. The picture below shows the horses eating their second last bundle from last year. Talk about going right to the wire! Note the empty hay shelter in the background.
The 18 foot trailer hauled by a Dodge 3500 made short work of it, once the hay was loaded.

 The largest load was 135 bales, piled 5 high. I gave up on that because heaving the bales up that high then climbing up to stack them was getting into the area of no return, and lots of sore shoulder muscles.
 It looks a lot better with 140 bales in the left side and 140 in the right. The stuff parked outside will be tarped and used first. If you are wondering about the two coloured roof, the supplier ran out of red shingles so I had to use grey on the right. Both shelters were built for less than $200 total for both.
The spillage from the trailer and from the ground was a big hit with the goils.

Boots stayed clear of the activities.

For those of you wondering about the cost of wintering over 3 horses in this part of Alberta, the 300 bales cost $5 each and weigh 55 pounds average. The diesel fuel cost another $80 to go get them. Fortunately, my friend loaned me his truck and trailer, and being retired, I work for free (cheap).

Tomorrow, I am going into town for  coffee with the folks, and then I AM GOING TO VEGETATE for at least one day!




9 comments:

  1. You deserve to vegetate just a bit!

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  2. congratulations on getting all that hay, AND getting it unloaded and stacked under cover. Hay here in California runs $13 - $16 a bale this summer for 90 pound bales. Diesel is over $4.00 a gallon ......

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  3. Wow bet you are glad this is done. The horses are beautiful. Enjoy your rest. Hugs, Bobbi Jo

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  4. Because of the drought, decent hay is $14 a bale here.

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  5. hey there you old cowboy. Done a swell job my friend. Now sit down and do enjoy your well deserved coffee. next time you need a set of free hands give me a call. I'll fly in and sort things out with you (coming from a farm I know what to do and I'm not lazy). Just shove some bread and coffe into me and you've got yourself a good cowgirl. Keep looking out for mail when you need me ;-)
    Hugs and I know your horses will appreciate it all. Dagmar

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  6. Glad you found some hay yikes that is pricey bt round bales her in Ontario right now are running $60 to $80 a bale with this drought. We have sold more than half our herd of cattle because we could not get enough hay and will not pay that. There is always next year.
    Good news I just got satellite internet too. Thanks to Tex showing me your site:) Yeah B

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  7. Autumn/winter are sneaking up awfully fast this year. Looks like you have good preparations.

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  8. That is a lot of work. You deserve a rest. Your horses are beautiful. I always enjoy seeing photos of them. Great pricing on the sheds, hay and transportation. That's right up my husbands and my alley: getting a bargain. Looks like you're getting all set for the winter.

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  9. Hay is crazy expensive this year. Those 300 bales will last you all winter? My sheep and goats must be hay pigs!

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