November hay

Today Maxim was mowing alfalfa (hay) in a field near where they were getting the loads of hay. I took a picture of the mower when they were getting it ready to go this morning, and another of them checking out the hay when Garry went to pick him up around 4:30 this afternoon. With the time change on the weekend the village cows were just coming back down the street to their homes, so Garry had to drive carefully- slowly winding through them. Then he drove across the highway and on the laneway through the fields to the alfalfa field.
Garry fed the cows while Maxim was mowing- and did some of the finishing on the shed so it will be ready for the steel when it arrives- you can see his line he used to square off the ends of the wall- with a piece of 2x4 tied to it for a weight. He also bought a big pregnant heifer, all by himself today, from the initial contact to delivery in Russian. He checked her and says she is 4-5 months pregnant.Garry also had a visit from the veternarian about the cow with mastitis- not sure of how good the vet is- he told Garry he needed to put wood under the cows and keep them out of cold drafts to prevent mastitis. Kinda think that's the Ukrainian folk lore not scientific fact.
The boys- Seth and Jonah- were having fun lighting the pile of leaves I had them rake on fire this afternoon. The village kids are off school this week for fall holidays. Andrei, the boys who painted for Garry in the summer, got a coat of paint on some of the doors made of chipboard on the upper story of the barn and the shed- you can see he's finishing up in one of the photos, along with his little brother Serosia who spend the day leading the puppy around on his chain. Poor Polo had an upset stomach last night, so he was ready for a break after all that walking, by the time the boys were raking leaves.
Andrei had fun throwing his little brother in the pile of leaves while the boys were raking. They even put the puppy on the pile. I had to sneak Polo in the house for a nap, he was so tired. The guys had fun mugging for the camera, as you can see in the photo where Seth is lifting Andrei. Then Andrei helped with the fire lighting, and his brother had fun finding things to throw into the fire, until they noticed the cows coming down the road and it was time to go home. Seth and Jonah raked another pile of leaves from under the walnut trees while we went to get Maxim.