Today we baled and stacked 300 bales of hay. It was a bit of a family affair, Mum always at the ready with a cuppa and a scone, Dad,76 with one kidney and some dodgy pipe work happy to get on an ancient Fergy tractor and haul it around the paddock that has some tight corners. We started the job yesterday in 29 degrees - today was aslightly cooler but sticky 27 degrees uncomfortable.
And then there is the Rock who has a passion for doing things the old way which means using old stuff. Some of it 30 - 50 years old. We had our moments - the Holland Baler busted its boiler a couple of times but the Rock , as he almost always does , fixed it. And the Hay conveyor chewed bales for a while till we worked out a bulging guiding rod was the culprit it was fixed in a paddock moment with the most intricate of tools - a sledgehammer. Two bangs and dang if it didn't slide the bales up like butter.
Son Matthew joined us for the last round of the paddock so there were three generations of Campbells outstanding in their field. It also meant the oldest skited to the youngest by ripping round the paddock only to be sworn at to slow down. Dad might want to do a lot of things at his age but apparently driving a 62 bedford truck scooping up hay sedately is not one of them.
The bales were neatly stacked in our shed - almost all of them - a mate took about 60 straight from the paddock for her stock.
As I sit here typing this , Im still feeling the scratch of a lonely grass wand on my slightly less ample arse but no one stirs.
Asleep they are - dreaming of big bales and noisy machines, dust and a very tidy stack, a cleansing shower and the smell of Mums fresh scones and my strawberry preserves from the house and a cold beer.
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6 comments:
Jeez, BB its things such as you describe so eloquently that remind me why I retired, Last stop on the farming road round the corner in Bideford.
I spent a couple of hours this morning "topping a paddock for 'son in law' on his acres in Hawkes bay, that was enough "farming" for this old bugger.
Wonder if we will ever cross the path of the Campbells Senior on the road in SI when they are in their Movan?
30531.
Is that an old Forest Service truck I see?
JC
Beautiful! Nice post thanks BB, makes a nice change from all the tribal warfare raging on most other blog sites, kind of cleansing to extent. Can totally relate to this scene as i have been there and done that many time myself.
...is that fergson a Multi power? Whoar they were awesome!
Thanks Fred
I remember Hay making down on the West Coast on my father's cousin farm.
He was a cattle farmer and getting haymaking done when it fulled up the barn was the difference between a good year and a bad year.
I have never forgotten after throwing hay bales around how heavy they got at the end of the day and how unstable it was to sit om top of a trailer when they were eight or nine bales high.
Oh, the memories... the only thing missing was a picture of the old fogie in action. Whoops, I meant old Fergie.
My first drive - a 1926 Dodge truck - chassis, tray and seat with solid rubber wheels and one gear, two if you could find it. Doing the same job as the J2.
Oh the nostalgia...
Your Dad looks to be in fine form in spite of the problems you mention. We have a MF 1965, one year younger than me! It is still going strong.
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