Hay Days & A Barn Facelift

We did hay this year with our neighbours up the road. Their farm, their hay, their equipment, our labour.

Weather was wonky, as usual, and there were some equipment failures in the beginning, but by the end of August we had hay coming in, and still no hay shed.

That worked out ok though, since we were able to stand on the hay while we did construction.  Easier than a ladder when you're weilding large beams.  Skids on the ground for a floor, logs, poles, and spikes for construction materials, and plastic for the roof.

 #2 decided to replace that old board they've been climbing over for the past four years with a real gate.  That'll make feeding much easier this winter.  He's such a good kid, worrying about his mama like that.

The hay kept coming.  Awesome.  553 bales in the end.  We'll need to build another hay shed for next year.  For this year, we have two stacks piled under tarps.  We're already feeding a bit of hay now, as the grass in the pasture is getting pretty sparse.  Most of these stacks will probably be gone before winter really sets in.

The last load was just me and the littles in September.  The bigs had gone back to highschool.

Earlier this year husband used the tractor to push the barn back up on it's foundation.  It's getting kind of old, and, unfortunately, was not constructed well to begin with, made out of 2X4s and pressboard mostly.  It had never been painted, the pressboard was peeling, and the bottom was rotted out.  And the critters knocked the doors off AGAIN!

We added a couple rows of 1X6s to the bottom of each side to patch the holes and strengthen the base.  Then I started on the paint job.  #3 and #4 helped out the first day, cause you know, it's always fun to paint on the FIRST day...


I couldn't quite reach that patch on the top with the ladder I was using.  I had taken the big ladder back to the house to work on the chimney.  I figured I'd just get that later, instead of carting the ladder back and forth.  Wouldn't you know it though- it's rained every day since I finished the chimney.  The patch remains unpainted.

The back side of the barn doesn't have as much slope on the ground, so I was able to get all the way to the top.

I painted the north side of the barn beige a couple of years ago.  That's where the hay lean-to is.  I'll give it a fresh coat of paint in the spring.