Hey, Hay!

    “Come on . . . Climb up here. . .  You gotta see this!”  

The VERY best part of the entire property (and there are a lot of cool places) is the hayloft.  Right after we had signed on the dotted line, we climbed up into the top of the dairy barn and discovered a sweet treasure that has kept the kids entertained!  Yes, you read that correctly; we purchased the land without the knowledge of this beautiful hayloft!  In hindsight, I find this hard to believe.

However, you have to remember that we bought the land for the land; the barns and farmhouse were just added bonuses.  The bales of hay stored in the loft belong to the farmer who rents the pastureland. Eventually, we have to sell the bales and hand over the profit to the farmer.

For now, we are all about playing hide- and-seek and American Ninja Warrior with ropes and hay bale obstacles. I can’t describe the joy in the boys’ eyes as they scramble and play. They pretend to be mountaineers and have built the mountain tops high!

                                                               Through all the pleasant meadow-side
The grass grew shoulder-high,
Till the shining scythes went far and wide
And cut it down to dry.

Those green and sweetly smelling crops
They led the wagons home;
And they piled them here in mountain tops
For mountaineers to roam.

Here is Mount Clear, Mount Rusty-Nail,
Mount Eagle and Mount High;–
The mice that in these mountains dwell,
No happier are than I!

Oh, what a joy to clamber there,
Oh, what a place for play,
With the sweet, the dim, the dusty air.
The happy hills of hay!

–Robert Louis Stevenson