Making hay in November

Garry got lots done today-- and Seth and Jonah put in a full day between helping out and getting their schoolwork done. After feeding the cows this morning, Maxim went to finish raking the hay. He got back before 10 am, to help Garry finish hooking up the chopper and wagon. Seth and Jonah were out for almost an hour before that, helping Garry unhook the mower, put it under the shed and then trying to hook up the chopper- they were having a problem because a hydralic hookup was missing. Luckily when Maxim came he knew where it was, and he and Garry were off with both tractors- the plan was that Maxim was going to drive the full wagon back, while the chopper would stay connected to the other tractor.
Of course something went wrong, and at 11 am I was just going to put the macoroni in the boiling water when my phone rang. So I drove the car out to the field, and came back with the guys and the broken PTO shaft. Maxim was able to weld it successfully (it broke when Garry accidently raised the wrong lever)Any way by the time I had the mac and cheese baked (and the second batch of crockpot sugared walnuts going- found a good use for all those nuts Garry's been cracking) Garry had returned with his first load of hay. You can see where he dumped it by the corn silage pile, although it is more finely chopped dry hay today- we'll see what the weather is like in the morning- it may be more like haylage if it gets wet. Garry and Maxim went back to the field, but Maxim decided to chop the hay- he brought a friend along to stay with the other tractor while he drove the full wagon back to dump- you can see Max come around the house with load number two in one of the photos.(Maxim is worried that someone might steal the tractor if left in the field unprotected)
Meanwhile, after driving the car back from the field, Garry started getting the steel up on the shed- you can see the boys giving him a hand with that missing piece for the roof - I took the photo while untangling the puppy's chain- you can tell he's back to normal today- eating all his food and getting tangled around the post because he's running around all day. Then he got the steel on the shorter back side, although he did have to drive back to the field while Max was doing load number three- Max called to say that something wouldn't work, and Garry couldn't describe what to do that Max could understand- they do better when they can see each other and add hand motions to the mix of English- Russian they use to communicate with.
The boys got sidetracked by Dad's request to pick up garbage in the yard, then I said they should burn the leaf pile from two days ago, and then I asked if they would pick apples off one of the smaller trees in the yard- they enjoyed taking turns climbing the tree and throwing apples at whoever was on the ground to put in the bucket. Now I have to make apple cake in the morning.
They did get to go back to schoolwork before giving a hand with afternoon feeding they were forking hay- that's what made the "bubbles" in the photo of the Seth and Jonah forking hay- all the dust in the air. Maxim came in with load three around 4:30 as the sun was setting- and they actually went out for one more- Garry drove the car out to the field with me and I got to follow behind the parade of loader tractor with wagon, tractor with chopper- and then me driving the car with the flashers going in the dark -through the field laneways and then the three of us waiting for a break in the traffic- we were crossing a four-lane divided highway, crossing two lanes and into the u-turn lane, waiting again, then they went and I zipped to the side of Garry and the chopper as headlights seeemed to be coming fast. Then we drove the paved road into the village, the guys had to pull over to the side just between the crossroad by the church and the turn into the driveway when we met the bus that comes through the village several times a day (it goes to Zaporosia.) Safely home, they dumped the hay and then feed the cows corn silage- they use the bucket loader tractor for feeding the silage and it was in the field.
Then Garry was feeling so good, he took me to Nova Swit for dinner at the cafe (we're getting better at the Ukrainain menu and the waitresses are getting better at figuring out what we're ordering) after he got a shower. Just as he finished his shishlik (BBQ pork for him I had chicken)- he said wow - I'm really tired. In the morning he plans to start all over again- he thinks they are at least a third done with the hay- maybe halfway- he had hoped to get 5 loads done, but they did 4 even with the breakdown.