Bales & Bankers

Wow, what a day!

God did some pretty cool things today!

1. Many of you may not know this, but Rick was born and raised in Greencastle, PA. From the day he was born he has probably spent more time on a farm than off.  Its in his blood.  He has family and friends there, many that are heavily involved in agriculture. Earlier last week, Rick got a chance to catch up with an old friend in Pennsylvania.   They discussed everything: milk markets, cow prices, feed costs, etc.  After Rick went to the auction in attempt to purchase some hay for the cows to replenish our short supply, he called him back.  All we could get at the auction were small squares, and we really needed large round bales.  His friend agreed to sell us some hay!  Just being able to find it was a blessing.  But it gets better. Rick's brother is a diesel mechanic for a company called Generation Trucking.  He gave us the phone number for them, and after a couple of phone calls, they were able to fit us in their schedule.  We fed the last of the small squares Sunday night, and the round bales arrived this morning.....EARLY!

2. Awhile back, we decided to tweak our team member's schedule. Now she comes in for some additional morning milkings.  Today was one of those days, and we were so grateful!  The load of hay came at 6am, while we were still doing chores.  If our team member hadn't been there, I would have had to finish milking (while Rick unloaded the hay) and then do all of the calf chores, resulting in a very late breakfast and really hungry kids!

3.  To show the trucking company how much we appreciated them hauling the hay for us on such short notice, we put together a little gift for the driver: one of our farm mugs with 1/2 dozen cookies.    He mentioned that today is his birthday.  He grinned from ear to ear!  Happy Birthday, Kevin!

4.  We also had an appointment with two loan officers from our bank.  One of them had not seen our place before, and we wanted to show her the farm,discuss last year's financials, and visit about a potential building project.   There was a little extra clean up that we wanted to do before they came that we didn't have time to do over the weekend.  One of the kids asked why we wanted the farm to look so nice. I said "because it shows that we appreciate their support and them lending us the money to buy the farm." For this particular child I added "If you take good care of things, they last longer."  With the hay coming early, and schooling that needed done, we found ourselves on a tight schedule.   But wait! Who was that at the door? Its Jane! Jane just so happen to bring us lunch today.  She could not have picked a better day. It was so helpful!

5. Rick went out to rake the small piece of grass by the entry door and sweep the cement by the entry door.  Scraps of wood, straw and hay from the winter months always seem  to gather there.  Believe it or not, in the driveway pulls our neighbor with his tractor and sweeper.  So he swept all of the rocks that were thrown into the lawn over the winter, the small piece of grass, and the entire cement pad.  Thank you!  Again, the timing could not have been better- God's timing is always perfect!

6.  The original appointment time was changed, so I needed mom to help me with the kids a little bit sooner.  Her and dad were out, but we turned the corner to go to their house at the very same time. Thanks, Mom!

So the bales and the bankers both arrived right on time today.   Both are such an integral part of this operation.  We have a good relationship with our lenders and we look forward to their annual visit. They took a chance on us when we were 23 and 22 years old, and we're not going to let them down.

Ever wonder what is under the tarps on the semi's?  Well this one had hay, and you would not have known any different until they took the tarp off.  Its a good thing, because hay is a hot commodity right now!

The trucker was concerned about being parked in the road.  We assured him that we only had two other neighbors who had not gone by yet on their way to work. So, he left all of his flashers on (including a cool rotating orange light on the top) but said he probably didn't need his yellow safety vest........

Thank You!

With our larger tractor, Rick can spear two bales at a time, saving time on unloading.  While Rick unloaded, I helped the driver roll up his straps and lay the tarps out to be folded.  He was on his way to Flint to pick up some totes of coal to take back to PA.

More than once today our toddler looked out the window and very excitedly said "bales! bales!" Yeah, we feel the same way!

 

 

-Terri