Haying

This past Friday and Saturday, I went down to the farm to help with haying. It was spur of the moment; in fact, they asked me on Wednesday to come down. But that's the way haying is, because it all depends on the weather. So, we started Friday afternoon around 3 and finished around 7. We did two large fields.
This is what haying involves: someone had pre-baled the hay, so the bales were waiting for us in the fields. So, one person drives the tractor and wagon. Half the people are on the ground grabbing the bales and tossing them on the wagon as it drives by. The other half are on the wagon, stacking the bales that are tossed to them. Then the wagon must be unload into the barn.
It doesn't seem too hard, right? Well, it wouldn't be, except for the fact that the bales are anywhere between 40-60 pounds. It is hard, hard work. I started on the ground, then switched and stacked the bales on the wagon. Once I was too tired to do either of those jobs, I got a crash course in driving. Yup, I drove the tractor! It was fun, and not very hard at all. Although, I almost knocked their son Ben off the wagon a couple of times with my unintentionally sudden stops. My arm were trembling on Saturday morning. Also, my arms look like they have be attacked by a ferocious animal; hay is very harsh on skin.
Yesterday was Ben's graduation party, so we spent all morning and afternoon preparing food. It was quite enjoyable. Once guests started arriving, we played volleyball. Throughout the entire evening, we played 7 games of volleyball. Now my arms and hands REALLY hurt!! We had a huge bonfire when it got dark, and played hide-and-seek and sardines, and then made smores.

This is the bonfire:


Overall, it was a very fun and educational two days!