Friday 29 July 2011

Fires, bales . . .

We have had a couple of manic days and are just recovering.  Dude did his second mobile mating a couple of days ago and was miles better.  He still has a slight issue with walking on the halter but getting straight down to the job went swimmingly.  Dude was in fine orgling form and I think he is beginning to associate the stock trailer with girls - which is not a bad thing!  Our destination was Reddingvale, always a good place to go and it gave us a chance to view some gorgeous coloured cria - particularly splendid fawn baby.  Viv had marked the occasion with an impressive bit of toe nail painting - glad I had my boots on, can't remember the last time I even looked at my toenails!  We delivered a few fleeces from other breeders ready for the Great Western Region Alpaca Fleece and Yarn show and then had to rush back to feed Trouble.  We also had to get to bed early as Thursday was bailing day.

Bailing Day was not as smooth an operation as we hoped for.  We began with a major breakdown of the Fordson, just as it had started to row up 10 acre.  This meant a quick swap to the Leyland which has been parked up for ages.  Third field has quite a steep slope in it so we knew the little 2 wheel drive Leyland might struggle and it did!  We were lucky to have the help of the Marine who manfully trudged around rowing up all day.  We did have an exciting stop mid morning when the field accidentally caught fire!  This is quite a scary sight as it takes hold very quickly.  Luckily the alpaca water barrels were in the back of the jalopy so I zoomed rally style across and we soaked the area whilst Carl did a sort of Irish Jig on it.  Crisis averted we hooked up the bailer and the sledge and got going.  Then the Leyland ran out of diesel so the marine had to hot foot it to the garage while the bailer gradually caught up.  The grass was so thick we had to go pretty slow and we got through a great many shear bolts!  Back with the diesel - white diesel, expensive - start woofling and then we spring a diesel leak!  The Marine plunged to the ground and plugged the gap, Carl rushed over with a spanner and I had to remove my Tshirt for the emergency (luckily I had a sort of t shirt type bra on underneath or that could have really ended the day).  It did all feel like it was getting a bit much when we caught a glimpse of a flashing light through the hedgerow and up rolled the Shepherd, The Strong Boy, Sam, a massive McCormick, a large bale trailer and the bale grab!  It was a very good job because we ended up with 900 bales and that was leaving 3 rows at the bottom.  To say we were shattered last night is an understatement.  The Marine's Lady turned up with a camper full of curry and donuts which saved the day!  This morning a leisurely breakfast was called for but the Marines had to go due to an incident involving a garage, a police chase and a phone call!  So, instead we did spit offs, a mating, body scores and toenails!  All went well - I think little Yossarian was the one who had the most fun!

Sam and Carl have now gone off to do more bale carting - Sam did get a quick play with his cousin in the middle of all this.
Here it is - a barn of bales!  Waiting to be sheeted up!

And, Willie, up date on Sammy Davis Junior tomorrow hopefully!

4 comments:

  1. Thanks Rosemary...had some rather sad (non-alpaca) news today...you have made me smile ;)

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  2. Great to see that hay in the barn after all that palava !!....ever thought of doing round bales ? much easier on the workforce !!.....mind you..I think they might just all roll down the hill into the barn themselves !!!......I think you deserve a well earned rest .....Jayne

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  3. Great to see those bales ...stacked...poor you...what a palava....round bales are much easier on the workforce....and they could all roll down the hill and stack themselves....I think you all deserve a rest ...after that day !....Jayne

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  4. Day off definitely earned!

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