Any other harvest widows out there?!

[Lala1980]

Hello. Lonely and frustrated harvest widow would love to chat/vent with other farmers' WAGs...

Our harvest has not even started.

We are bailing for farms further down the glen but their ground is quite wet and it is a bit tricky.

It will be the potato harvest in the next few weeks and some farmers are grumbling because the potatoes from last year were never lifted some of the potato merchants went bust but never told the farmers

Busy mending fences and trying to keep up with everything. I wish each day had 50 hours instead of 24. Or clones. I could do with seven clones.

Send in the clones.

Ladyflip - It is so difficult steering farmers away from the farm and toward some semblance of family life and a home instead of a bothy where they sleep and eat.
There are always three in the marriage and they are wedded to their farms first.
When work becomes less hectic (yes. I know), could you insist that he spends some time with you and the dcs, maybe do stuff to help around the house?
It has taken a long time for me to strike a happy medium with dh but I insist on Sunday being a family day once the morning work is done. It took every wile to get there but did in the end.

The END? I've forgotten what that looks like?!?! They Finished the last of the wheat today, so now he's loading up straw apparently he'll be at it all night (i bet £20 they'll be in the pub by 10), was still to wet to do the barley at his place, did the outside of the field & combine kept getting stuck with less than half a tank!
I de-balled & tagged my first calf this morning unsupervised without being kicked :D Feel very clever lol!
Have only seen him for a total of what maybe 2 hours this week awake, including me dropping off lunch and dinner nearly everyday! can tell he's getting tired as only had sex the once as he's too sore or too tired.
I'm hoping DD is staying at my parents for the weekend so i might at least be able to stay at his & make him a meal not eaten in the tractor (they're not combining untill about 10.30 at the moment as it's too wet in the mornings still)

Thanks for the advice Gentle. I do try, and I think he does too, but sometimes life gets in the way of my best plans. He's done the 9 days straight of milking but now he has to cover the full time herdsman having time off because his wife is in hospital (poor lady has had an 8 hour operation today!). Anyway, despite him milking twice tomorrow, I have been promised he will sleepwalk round come to the local agric show with us tomorrow. We are going in two cars so that he can come home earlier than me as I'm sure I won't have finished shopping by 1pm
Congrats on the calf chocolate
Oh, and I met Lala yesterday for coffee; she's lovely!

Lala waves back.
Yes congrats on the calf chocolate.
Zombie DP has now finished cutting and is ploughing subsoiling and planting (I think...)
Insisting he has to work yet his brother has day off for "pre booked event" but I thought no-one was allowed to book anything this time of year.
Tried to make real effort yesterday dressing up nicely killer heels etc... he did not even notice then somehow managed to make me feel bad when I had to point it out...
Day out with my friends today which will be nice.
Seriously dont think I can take much more of being so invisable.

Hello ladies. I hope you don't mind me coming to this thread so late. I'm in the Midlands and we finally FINALLY finished combining the wheat last Wednesday. DH has been straw carting ever since. I saw about 5 minutes of him yesterday as he was cultivating until after I'd gone to bed. He's out drilling today and will be until dark, which means I can't go on an evening out that's been planned since July.

Lala Your last post stuck a chord with me, I often feel at the bottom of the pile of priorities, and once spent hours having eyelash extensions done which DH didn't notice. I am a lot bit on the chubby side at the moment, though and he manages to notice that!

Gentle Your comment about 3 in the marriage reminded me of the night we told DH's parents that we had decided to get married. "FF" said stbFIL "Farm First" He denies that it was the first thing he said on hearing the news, and I have conceded that maybe it was the second thing, after "congratulations!"

What I get irritated about is that for DH it seems to be Farm First, any other jobs his blood family need doing second, his hobby third and me and the kids fourth! But heaven forbid that i say anything, because like Lala, I somehow feel bad for pointing it out when it happens, too.

Sorry that turned into a bit of a rant, but it feels good to say it!

Hello Rosina and welcome to the farmer's WAGS ranting boards...sorry you can't go out tonight, you'll have to stay in and play on Mumsnet all night
Liking your FIL's comment on Farm First! Yes, hobbies do manage to get a look in don't they? I speak as one who had a lovely evening alone last night not watching Ice Road Truckers or some other unspeakable crap drinking red wine whilst DH went to skittles.
Lala sorry the killer heels didn't work.....perhaps try stilts next time? Hope you have had a good day out.
On the plus side, have been to the show today, spent a fortune and seen not only the drop dead gorgeous vet (yummy) but also the really lush bloke out of Tractor Ted in Winter from when they go to the market . You mums with tractor obsessed DCs will know what I'm talking about.
And Rosina, when my DH rang his parents to say he was getting married, there was complete silence at the end of the phone. After a VERY long pause, DH said, "oh, she's really nice, you'll like her". To which the reply was "Well, it's a bit late now!". (Although, to be fair, they hadn't met me and probably thought I was a bit of a chav like his previous girlfriend)
Not long for you arable lot to go now. Autumn is like impending doom for us dairy folk.

ah do you block calve in the autumn Ladyflip? ...... at the moment we are on all year round calving, but there is a real trend starting amongst a lot of the farmers round here to make ore use of the grass and switch to block calving.....

We had a calf show yesterday..... was a bit of a mixed bag, and started off thinking the judge was a bit of a knob, we had a second and a 3rd, and so things started to look up, then we won a class, so i started thinking a little more kindly towards him lol..... But then We only went and got all coloured breeds champion

My little ds burst into tears!

Hello ladies!
Had a rare and lovely night out with DP last night. Think we sorted a few thing out... think we are both a little old for clubbing though...
Dp has managed to break the plough and the roller this week!!!
The end is nigh I hope think...
Harvest not dp and I lol!

and the last trailer of straw is in the yard and waiting to be unloaded

Hurray cazboldy, you're nearly there.
Glad to hear Lala is sorting out her farmer.
We have half our straw in but contractor hauling it here for us. We calve all year round but friesian calves in autumn block so much busier (and its lovely to see all the little girls grow up). Sadly, our herdsman's wife is still not very well and will have to have another big operation at some point in the future.
Was promised an afternoon yesterday but the vac pump broke so he had to be on hand for fixing. We did manage to persuade him out for a walk for some blackberry picking though.
Had farm assurance visit last week, which along with straw arriving, reseeding pasture and herdsman being off with sick wife meant things were slightly strained.....next big row is my Dad's 70th birthday which is due to coincide with my sister in law's new baby. Will in laws get to go to Wales to new baby, or will we get to go to my parents' for long arranged party?

Our barley is still not ripe, still green in places. Other farms in the area are almost demented trying to get some semblance of a harvest but it is pretty grim overall. The ground is absolutely saturated and I have heard of combines with caterpillar type tracks being used.

I just wanted to mention a phoneline for anyone who works/ lives on farms and who may be affected by the worst year ever.
Gatepost offers confidential support and an ear to anyone who is suffering rural stress or depression.
0300 1114166

and an article about Gatepost

Lala, I'm glad that you sound a lot happier.

Ladyflip - the farm assurance visits are nerve wracking. We always felt like we had been caught scrumping apples or something by FA then a huge list of things which had to be done. Hope things are less intense for you now.
You have some lovely family celebrations soon.

How long do you go on before you accept that you're simply not what he wants?

Lala - sorry noone has replied sooner....... you need to talk to him xx