After getting the dairy barn finished as far as we could this year we had to really hustle here on the Law Family Homestead to get ready for old man winter. Everything was put off all summer due to the barn needing to be finished before the fall rains started. The next two months were spent trying to fit in a variety of preparations between rain showers and mud.
Our first order of business, as soon as the roof was on the barn, was to get the last of our hay from our neighbor down the road and get it stored in our barn.
We did this right away, while we still had help from Mark and Uncle Peter.
How we were going to get it in had been a topic of discussion for awhile.
Thankfully the flatbed trailer stacked with hay was high enough so it could be walked right into the doorway.
This is where many hands made lighter work. And I was ohhh so grateful the guys were still here so I needn't be called upon to do it!
We also got our barley supply in for at least a few months worth of winter.
Our wonderful neighbor brings his tractor and grinder over and just grinds it right into our bin!
Then Kit and the younger crew spent a morning digging a post hole.
The boys were fascinated with how deep the hole was.
Once Kit got it deep enough the boys had their chance to use the tools, and were ecstatic about filling the hole back in again.
This will provide some permanent electric fencing where in the past we have just run a temporary fence and then fought it and the cows all winter. So this will be nice.
We also got another couple loads of hay and straw that we had to get into the barn.
This time we used a pulley system, and PW enthusiastically asked to run it with the lighter straw bales.
His younger brother JW1 waits in the doorway with his hay hook to drag the straw into the hayloft where grandaddy stacks it for him.
We also quickly devised a temporary hay feeder for the milking cows so they aren't wasting quite so much hay and it will also keep it drier and they can't walk on it. We used one hoop panel, a length of plastic, a sheet of plywood, and a scrap 2x4 from the building project to give it some stability. Cattle panels bent into hoops are a great way to build temporarily. They are portable and re-useable and don't cost an arm and a leg.
Of course all work and no play is not good so we brought the horses up one day.
All five boys climbed on for a ride before the snow came.
We also took a break on Thanksgiving and had the in-laws and my dad and his wife up for dinner.
The weather cooperated this year and being a male dominated household a game of softball was suggested.
Under the tutelage of two sports loving grandpas and daddy, the boys improved their game.
We've had a great year, albeit hectic, but the busy season was wrapped up and we've adopted a bit slower pace for the winter!