I hope everyone had a great long weekend. As I type this, I know that some haven’t had a good one, as we lost a great person this weekend. I was very sad to hear that Russ Ling had passed away. Russ was known by many, and his kind personality made everyone feel better when they were around him. Thinking of Krista and Lucy.
But I do have a good news story for you, and one I think Russ would have appreciated, as it reflects his kind of kindness!
This past Sunday was our Bliss annual get-together/fishing day.
On Friday night I finished cutting hay, which meant it would have been ready to bale on Sunday. The weather looked good for Sunday, and Monday it looked like rain by 6 p.m., with just clouds for the afternoon. My friend Jason texted me Sunday night saying the weather on his phone said rain by 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Ugh. I was being very Betty Crocker and cooking up a storm on Saturday night for our annual fish fry and started to think that I would just send the food and stay back and deal with the hay. Then I was feeling guilty about that because we don’t do this often and none of us are getting younger.
I went, and though it was a smaller crowd, we had a great time with lots of laughs and great food. It was such a beautiful day. Saturday night, my friend Gordon texted me asking about hay. I explained to him my situation.
He had a big baler breakdown when he finished up his first cut but had since gotten the parts and fixed it. He asked if he could try it out, and I said yes, but I hadn’t raked it or anything. Upon my return, I pulled into my driveway, and my barn door was open and there was no tractor on the rake.
We quickly unloaded a few things and headed to the field. Well, let me tell you, I have the absolute BEST FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS in the world. Aynsley got off work and headed straight to the field and was raking hay. Jason had asked James to bale. James headed over with his truck to check out the hay to find Gordon baling.
Once Jason finished some of his own hay, he and Chantelle came and got my square baler. The McQuakers (the field I was baling) asked me to make 50 or so square bales for an upcoming wedding.
When I got to the field, they were just finished up. I was so touched by everyone, but that’s not even the end of it! Monday morning, just before 7 a.m., Ted and Debbie were texting to say that the rain was going to start shortly after 8 a.m. and they were on their way over to help pick up the bales.
I quickly got dressed and did some chores. We grabbed the wagon, and off we went. We picked up the bales and had them all safely stowed away by 8:30 a.m. We had an incredible workout and then a big breakfast, and we were set for the day!
I am still just so touched by everyone that helped. I can never repay them for all their help, but I hope they know how much they are appreciated. My brother has been a huge help this year as well, and he is slowly becoming a farmer.
