Tuesday, January 20, 2009

We have survived...

Hello everyone! Its a perfect 13 degrees ABOVE zero - I think I hear the Hallelujah chorus being sung! It is supose to be up to 30 degrees tommorow and then back into the deep freeze by Friday, but not as bad as it was. I have been helping the Milk Man with more chores as he is layed up. He had a round bale fall and smash him up against the hay mow wall. He has torn his anterior acruciate tendon...not sure I spelled ANY of that right.. He also has 3 bulging discs in his back and this has really put the hurt on those. His back is bad enough that I have to help dress him, needless to say I would rather undress him.... *naughty grin* Anyway - I wanted to show you all how somthing simple can be SO dangerous on the farm.

We have big round bales that weigh between 800# - 1000# each. We pile them 4 high in the 'hay barn' on top of the barn - normal people call this a hay mow!
This is what the hay barn looks like whith those huge bales stacked up on each other, clear to the top of the 20 foot mow roof.


Those bales are pushed off of the top onto other bales and then to the floor.
See that spot in between the bales on the top? That is where the bale that hit MM fell from.....

Then it bounced on the next level and then down to the next level - its supose to hit some smaller bales on the floor and then to a stop against bales pile near the wall...





That top picture is where he landed - against the wall with a #1000 lb bale on him. It took on a life of its own and for some reason it just flew down the bales. Now I am sure someone has a remark about how stupid this is or why didnt he get out of the way - blah blah blah, but let me say one thing - save it.... We are careful farmers and have had few accidents and that is just what this was, an accident. However, this is why we NEVER let the kids play on the bales in the hay barn - the can fall and they could fall between them getting stuck with no way of getting out. These are out of order because blogger is stupid about putting pictures in order of selection... I am to tired to 'redo' them so consider this a challenge and go through the pictures backwards, its a story of events in reverse order... Milk Man is going to be mad about the picture of him - I told him not to make faces because this was going on the blog - but he made a bad choice. *grin* Dont look at the dorky face he is makeing...looks like he has 'issues', or constipation...shh I didnt say that out loud did I - yup, I did - dang it..... SO - he is healing but will more than likely need to have surgery on his knee, lets pray he doesnt cuz I dont know if I can keep up this pace for much longer - feel sorry for me and send chocolate! PLEASE!!! I wanted to explain the 'fog' or 'snow' in the pictures - its ice crystals in the air from the cold. The moisture in the air freezes and it kind of 'snows inside', there is more moisture from the cattle downstairs that is why this happens, its kind of neat.. I will try to post a little later today, we had a brand new calf night before last and I got it all photographed for your education!! Talk to you soon!

26 comments:

Mrs. Mom said...

Keeping you in our prayers and thoughts here My Favorite Milk Maid!! Stay warm and tell Milk Man to behave himself while you are (un)dressing him ;)

Love you girl! Kiss those babies from me too.

Freth Stifter said...

OUCH! OUCH! DANG IT! OUCH!

I've stacked loose hay and I've stacked bales. Perhaps it is less efficient in today's world ... but the old rectangular 80 lb. bales were a lot easier to stack and move around at feeding time. We could do it by hand. And since we cross stacked every level, we didn't have a mountain of hay fall on us. I just can't imagine dealing with those big rolls of hay.

That would be like getting smacked by a moving car. And it wasn't until the last bounce or so changed direction, that he realized it suddenly was coming directly at him. And the helpless feeling of knowing there is no way you could put up your hands and stop that monster. Just a split second and life suddenly changed.

Sorry to hear about that. Health-wise ... things will never be quite the same as before.

I know about having to have help to dress ... with that back stuff, even leaning in towards the sink to wash your hands or brush your teeth is painful. I have to wear boots with zippers in the sides ... because of a knee that screams when I try to pull regular boots off ... even with help. Just ain't what it used to be ...

Anonymous said...

I love your blog and reading about farm life. I lived on a farm for awhile with my aunt and uncle when I was younger and loved it! I know that those hay bales weigh a lot and I hope he gets well soon and for you - what a way to help out cause farm work is not for wimps especially in freezing cold weather.

Peggy said...

Tell Milk Man I hope he mends quickly without surgery. I feel for you with all the chores and helping your hunk. :) We finally got snow!! Things are crazy around here but I am enjoying the chores without any stress. hugs my friend

GreenRanchingMom said...

OMG!! Thank GOD he is OK. We know 2 cattle friends that have died exactly this way in the past year.

I pray for a speedy recovery and your sanity while you take care of him, the farm, and the kids.

Howdy said...

I hope your fella heals up quickly without knives and pain killers involved...

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WudWerkr said...

i am glad to see he is well , we always had square bales , that were 30-50 lbs , and those hurt when they fell on a person , i couldnt imagine 1000 lbs . hope he continues to heal. in mean time u takle care of the OLD boy lol

LDF said...

Oh my gosh, so sorry to hear about Milkman's accident! Am adding my prayers too for a fast (and surgery-less) recovery. Hang in there Heidi!

Heidi said...

Thanks everyone!! We still have the small squares also for taking to the other barns for some of the calves. The bigger bales are SO much easier to get off of the field than the small ones - it takes more time to feed them, but less time to rake and bail - that means hay with no rain on it!!! LOL Freth - we cross piled them too and when done right, those stacks can stand for years.... Thanks again everyone! LOVE TO YOU ALL!!

Betsy said...

I imagine it all happened so quickly, he didn't have time to get out of the way! I've had a bulging disk before, and now how bad it hurts to move. Must be torture to have 3 at one time. Hoping he heals soon.

Unknown said...

Ooooooohhhhh Noooooo! Please tell Milk Man that I hope he feels better soon.

I will be praying extra hard for you guys...just looking at those photos made my back hurt for him.

I am so sorry to hear this...spedy recovery!

Love ya,

Marlene

Karen Deborah said...

oh no this is all bad news, so sorry to hear this! I will pray and hope that MM doesn't have to have any surgeries and especially for his back! 3 bulging discs is some serious pain! He isn't gonna care if you want to undress him with pain like that. I know it's cold but ice will help the inflammation in his back, bags of frozen peas make really good ice packs and do a LOT for the pain!!! 20 mins on every 2 hours. Stink I'll be prayin Heidi, and we know you are careful and smart too accidents do happen, I'm sorry this has happened to you and your hunny that you love so much. Prayers goin up.

Paige said...

I am sorry he had this accident, I bet it scared the hell out of him. Hay can be tricky!

I am with you on not wanting kids around hay either--too many things can go wrong, might as well pitch them in the grain bin

Vanessa said...

Praying for a quick recovery for him and extra blessings for you! I can't imagine doing all you do in a day.

Greenmare said...

oh that is scary! poor both of you! and it could have been worse yet! We survived the frigid stuff here in Wisconsin too, and now they are saying we'll be back below zero for Sunday again. Take it easy!!Oh wait, you can't! then, be careful and you are in the prayers.

The W.O.W. factor! said...

OMG Heidi! He is SOOOOOOO lucky that that is all that happened to him! I've seen what those huge bales can do! I worked in AZ at the mfg of those huge blue & white hay tarps you've prob'ly seen. We also had crews in KS,AZ, ID, CA,NV, WA installing them. Believe me, having to call families because of those bales severly injuring their family member was tough! (our L & I costs were extraordinary!)

When we had cattle, two winters ago it was ME who had to do the feeding~out of 1200# ones...(cowboy worked at a feedlot, so it was MY job at home)...it took me forever, as I was overly cautious knowing I wouldn't be found until late that nite if something happened. I cussed them out each day...wondering WHY everyone went to those huge bales!!! I know it is cuz of cost and "efficiency"...but safety was taken out of the equation!
Give him my prayers for a speedy recovery. And YOU be careful!

WudWerkr said...

i would never take readers from my lil sis , however in her absence , due to the Milkmans situation . all are welcome to stop by
The-coffeeshopstop.blogspot.com
and say hello , i have a post up most women will enjoy

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is so different than the way we stack our hay.

Oh I do feel for you Heidi, Royce broke his leg last year and taking care of him and the farm was a bit much. So you be sure to take care of yourself during this time. ang.

DayPhoto said...

My and I thought we were cold. Brrr. Really brrr, double brrrr.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/

icancarryallthebagsandthebabiestoo said...

I can't believe that you don't consider 30 degrees a deep freeze. I will not even leave my house for fear of DYING if it's beneath 35.

Erin M said...

i hope the milkman heals up swiftly and i'm sending the 20s back to you, you can keep em

DayPhoto said...

Checking back in to see how your husband is doing. I hope he is healing and that you will not have the cost of a hospital or other 'laid-up' type of things. BUT better those things than to be crippled for life.

Hang in there and know that we are sending prayers your way.

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/

Anonymous said...

gosh... looks like us'ns here too... keep warm and well...
gp

Claire said...

Hope you all are doing okay - like someone else said - make sure you take of care of yourself!

Nancy said...

It was bad enough but it could have been worse by the sounds of it. He is lucky he wasn't crushed! Accidents do happen, we all know that. I have 6 bulging disks in my back and I feel for him there, believe me!

I have figured out this blogger thing, I think! LOL I post my pics from last to first....more or less, backwards. You can drag them up and down, too. I get so aggravated with it at times when it won't allow me to break for paragraphs! Oh, well, as long as it can be read, right?

Hope your hubby recovers quickly and won't have to have surgery. Wish I lived closer...I would come and help you with whatever I could.

Stay warm...sounds like you've had some cold weather there!!!

Time for a coffee break but I'll be back to read more!

((( HUGS )))

Nancy said...

I have 3 awards waiting for you over on my blog! Please drop by and grab them! You and your blog are so deserving of them!!!

Hope you are keeping warm!

((( HUGS )))