hay.... it/'s that time of year...

 Must be the middle of June.. because the sounds of tractors and hay elevators seem to be everywhere. Truck are hooking up to wagons...

 And great loads of hay are heading into the barns... yup, it's that time of year... it's hay season. We had a very wet spring, rain seemed to come every few days, so the farmers were playing a "cat and mouse" game with knocking down the fields. Father waited a bit longer than some others, and I think his patience paid off...

 We are in a nice stretch of weather --- very summer like -- and perfect for making hay. We pulled our elevator down and had the loft all cleaned out and ready for next winter's supply.

Our hay comes in  in batches... the first load was Monday, a perfect day... a little overcast, cool.. nice breeze. But today's load... ugghhh... HOT... temps in the 90's, humid.. not the day that you really want to be in the middle of a field picking up bales. But, it comes with the terrority, and goes along with .. make hay while the sunshines...

We certainly aren';t the only ones bring' in the hay. Barns all over town are open and hay elevators are doing their jobs...

 Every job needs a supervisor. Abbie was quite interested watching the bales come up into the loft. She kept telling me.."good job baby... that looks nice".....

Satisfied that the job was done well...

Course, there's no better way to end a day of hot hard work... then a treat of ice cream!!! Summer, it's officially here.....

Bogey settles in....

One of my first adventures with any of our service puppies, is a trip down to the barn. In keeping these dogs well rounded, socialzing them in all sorts of situations is important, and I feel that the "big animals" are always a great help. We started with the chickens.. Bogey thought they were fine, but really was more interested in any of the grain that had been spilled over the past few days.

Next, we moved onto the bunny. Actually she is "new" here on the farm too... Sadie heard that she needed a home, and guess where she ended up. It's nice to see "someone" living in the hutch again, but sadly (at least to me) she isn't very nice. Twice she has come after me, so, I don't spend that much time with her. Bogey however, didn't have any troubles with her!!!

 Then it was onto the horses. The "little" ones seems to facinate our new house guest. He just sat and watched them for the longest time. They were far too busy eating to bother to come over and say hello.....

 But, after a bit, Silver did make his way over. At first Bogey wasn't so sure... he kept looking at me for some guidance, and I just told him everything was fine.

 But then, something really caught his eye... "this" he wasn't so sure of....

And as Tonka got closer and closer, Bogey began to have second thoughts about horses... he came right over and sat right beside me. I didn't say anything, until he began barking at Tonka.. and then I simply told him to "hush".....

 I walked over to Tonka and tried to get Bogey to come along. At first, he would have nothing to do with that... Tonk.. being the silly that he is, tried to grab Bogey's leash from me... poor Bogey, I could almost hear him saying.. "no.. don't let him have that!!!"

 but, with a little time, some quiet praise, and just keep myself with a very calm presence.. Bogey finally decided to say hello. All our horses are very used to dogs, and they are very gentle with them.... so, they are great to work with....

Then Tonka got bored with this whole "lesson" and went to work on the grass. Bogey seemed to be asking.."what are you eating"

Course  I have to admit... looking at horse from this angle.. they can seem rather big. so, Bogey.. I'd say your first day on the farm was a success.... but there is much (much) to go....