Hay, hay, hay!

We've been stocking up on hay to get ready for the winter. Most years we have to start feeding hay daily to all the animals somewhere between October and November, depending upon how cold it gets and how early. When our last load of hay was delivered, Mike told me that it would take him about twice as long as normal to get it stacked in the barn because our son wasn't home to help.

"Well, I can help!" I cheerily chimed in, feeling slightly insulted that he didn't even consider asking me.

True confession time -- I have never stacked hay in the past because our children always helped.

Without even cracking a smile, Mike immediately asked me whether I wanted to be on the hay wagon and unload or be on the hay stack and stack the hay as he tossed it to me. I opted to be on top of the hay wagon because unloading sounded easier. After all, I would have gravity on my side.

So, here is Mike waiting for me to climb up on top of that stack of hay and then to climb on top of the hay rack to start tossing him bales to stack.

And here is Mike tossing hay from the hay wagon to the stack of hay.

What was that? You thought I was supposed to be the one on top of the hay wagon? Yeah, well that was my original plan, but it never occurred to me how high I would have to climb. I am only slightly afraid of heights. But I do have a huge fear of falling from things that are high. I was not at all prepared for how unstable the hay would feel. Or the fact that climbing up onto the top of the hay rack meant that I'd have to jump from a bale of hay that feels like it's being crushed under my foot and somehow pull myself up on top of a wobbly hay wagon. How exactly was I supposed to pull myself up on a bale of hay that weighs about one-third as much as I do? I briefly pictured myself falling to the floor with a bale of hay landing on top of me. Yeah, it was rather unnerving.

So, I told Mike I'd stack hay. As he tossed each bale to me, I moved it into position on the stack. But I wasn't prepared for the fact that my foot might slip under a piece of baling twine and I might almost trip and fall off the stack of hay -- several times. Within ten minutes, I said, "Maybe I'm not the best helper." And Mike quickly suggested that I might have something more important to do. I agreed. So, with a great deal of relief -- he was probably as relieved as I was -- I climbed down from the hay stack and took a few pictures and then headed into the house. So, here he is stacking the hay that he tossed.

And here is a picture of Pepper supervising from under the hay rack.

I'm sure I don't say this enough, but I'm so thankful to have such a big, strong, healthy husband!