Sunday is upon us again, a day of reflection. That day of the week when one reflects on the week that has past, the week that is ahead and tries to make it a somewhat day of rest and relaxation. Of course for me Sunday also means taking the time to sit and compose my morning blog musings. As I woke up today I suddenly realized the Summer Solstice is once again just around the corner, the longest day of the year is almost upon us which in turn means the downhill slide of days towards winter. What a dreary thought to have on such a day! But as I reflected on this sentiment it dawned on me that Nessie needs some work done on her today if she is to be ready for her 2015 inaugural jaunt to the John Day Farmer’s Market.
She has run like a top since we bought her last year over in eastern Montana and really is a reliable old girl but does have a couple of issues that need addressing. Her carburetor was tired and her muffler exhaust pipe does occasionally need some adjusting. I was going to buy a kit and rebuild the carburetor myself but then other farm work needed tending to, such as the dispatching of numerous pigs, so instead I purchased a newly rebuilt one from eBay and popped it on. Felt a bit like cheating but then again it did save a lot of time. After discovering she had a few loose bolts on her manifold covers, needed a fuel line replaced and after cleaning up her original old oil bath air cleaner discovered it had a hole that needed patching to stop the oil running out, she is just about ready to go. However, I still need to actually put the air cleaner back on, crawl under her to secure the muffler tail pipe in place where it had been cobbled together by the previous owner, and then she will be ready for our jaunt to John Day next Saturday. I am so glad I am married to a chap who thinks my tinkering on cars in more than acceptable!
There has been a plus side to having the urge to “fix things” myself. Over the years I have learned to replace roller bearings on big round bale hay balers, replace cutting blades in bale chambers of regular type small balers, weld broken harrows, replace starters and fuel injectors on tractors, build fence, cobble together chicken house doors… alright… so my chicken house door never has quite opened all the way and I still use a piece of wire to keep it closed but it works and I made it!
When Darrell was working over in Bend running his electrical contracting business and thus supporting our farming habit, there were times when I was here taking care of the land, haying and baling the crop we put in each year in order to feed our cows, a herd of 65 mother cows plus bulls, calves and replacement heifers. Now growing a crop of hay is a fine thing. Cutting it is also a rewarding experience as there is nothing finer than seeing a good swath of hay laid out behind you as you go up and down the field… when the mower is working right! After laying the hay down and allowing it to dry a couple of days in the summer sun, a quick flip over with the hay rake gets it into nice winrows ready for baling. When the time and the moisture content in the hay is just right, it is up bright and early to get cracking baling.
Now for those of you who have baled hay before, you know the joy and frustrations that come with this task. For those who have just driven by fields with nice tidy rows of baled hay sitting ready to be picked up, you have no idea of the frustrations that may come with that bucolic scene! I always would check the balers, the big Heston round one or our smaller “regular” bale baler, a couple of days before it was due to be used. Even if it had worked perfectly the day it was parked after last being used, “Farm Sprites” often have the habit of nipping in at night and I swear they “do things” to perfectly running farm machinery to put a kink in the works! So I always would hook the baler up to the tractor, turn everything on, make sure it was well greased and chains well oiled and running great before baling day arrived. Yet somehow, it would never fail. You would get up and head out to get cracking while the hay was perfect for baling, sometimes just before dawn, fire up the tractor and start heading down the winrows, peering over your shoulder as you watch the baler behind you do it’s magic and chunk out nice tidy bales.
Ah… the joy of baling hay! So you look at the far end of the field as everything seems to be doing just fine behind you. A quick glance back over your shoulder, expecting a lovely row of tidy bales and… oh no! The knotter on the baler has quit again! Instead of a nice tidy row of nice neat bales you have a messy bunch of half tied bales strewn behind. A mumbled choice of words not normally voiced erupts as you stop everything, jump down from the tractor and fix the offending knotter. Back you climb up and with a tad of trepidation you start everything up and off down the row you go again, this time keeping a fearful eye behind you! But as you keep an eye behind you miss seeing the large wad of hay ahead of you about to be gobbled up into the bale chamber until BANG! The too large wad has caused a shear bolt on the chamber to well… shear! So everything stops, you jump down from the tractor, another expletive almost slips out as you wait for the machine to stop whirring so you can manually pull the offending wad of hay out the balers throat, yes it’s throat… sometimes necessitating crawling in a very undignified position into said throat in order to clear it… then it is finding the new shear bolts in your tool box, replacing them, tentatively starting everything up again and off you go once more. A few more bales pop out in grand fashion, now we are on a roll! Really folks, I have often wondered if someone ever drove by while I was in the throat of the bale chamber changing shear bolts with just my legs sticking out, if they had ever thought of stopping to see if I was working, stuck or just being eaten by a baler! No one ever stopped but then again I have no idea if anyone ever passed as when you are inside a baler your only thought is to get the dratted thing fixed!
Once fixed, you yet again climb up on the tractor seat and off you go… hang on… is that a bunch of heavy dew I see on the front tractor tire? Oh no! I started baling so early that now, as the sun is peeking over the horizon, that morning dew has arisen which means the hay will now be a bit to damp to bale which if I continue will result in possible mouldy hay! Oh well, a quick cup of tea is in order while the dew fades… I just know everything will work perfectly when I get back in a short while…
Ah… the joy of haying season. I do miss that lovely smell of fresh cut hay, those bales chunking out behind in perfect rows, bales neatly stacked…. Hang on what am I saying! Ah… how nice it is not to have to fight temperamental haying equipment, how nice it is to have Darrell haul a trailer of hay up from a farmer down on the river, how nice it is to just have to unload it… I must be getting old!