Early to bed...

I'm posting this early, 'cause I'm beat.

Haying went pretty well. The weather held, with sun and a nice drying wind. We're going to have to water the hops in the morning, and we need to put up the trellises.

I didn't do much with Sketch or anyone else today (they did get treats and petting), though we did trim Hope's hooves. I'd like to get Cora and Zora's hooves done tomorrow, but I'll have to see how willing and able Ken is in the morning.

The neighbor says that we'll probably mow the rest of the field and the back pasture on Friday or Saturday, and then rake and bale on Sunday or Monday, weather willing. By all the best guesses, we've got roughly 800 bales in the hay loft, and if we put all into small bales we should have around 2000 bales total. We're aiming for at least 1200-1400, and may put the rest in round bales, though having all the hay in small squares saved my butt this past winter (last year was a bad hay year. Too dry.) By my calculations, I use a little over 1000 bales a year if I don't feed round bales. If I do feed round bales I only use about 600-700 small bales, which gives me extra for emergencies, or if I want to sell, trade, or donate to a good cause.

Alright, I guess I'm done for now. I'm going to relax a bit before chores, and then go to bed!