The hay is Down

So now we are holding our breaths  for sun. For the moment it is out of my hands so this morning Fede and I are catching the train and going HERE.  And on Wednesday I will get out my rake and turn the  hay gently into more of that drying sun but for the moment the green hay will rest in the sun while we go to the city. hay-021

hay-024

The hay is cut, Poppy and Tima are quietly gestating ( with all fingers and toes crossed).  The gardens are weeded (mostly) the lawns are mowed. The cows are laying about in the grass and the goats are (for the moment) behind their fences.

gardens

The windblown sweetcorn and sunflowers grow all by themselves softly taking over the Maize fields even while we are not watching.

The hay is cut. That most important ad terrifying decision.  All mine. So we are taking the day off.   We will be back tonight for the  milking. (Last night I tried to start milking without John and OH MY the carry on. Luckily he arrived just in time). All is well.

Love your friend on the farm,

celi

 

 

33 Comments on “The hay is Down

  1. I guess watching cut hay is like watching paint dry. Good choice heading out to have some fun and delicious treats.

  2. That looks like a wonderful place to have a meal but how do you decide. I think Lady Aster might have a crush on Your John. Have a lovely day in the city. D

  3. Lets face it … Lady Astor is Johns cow. Going back to catch up the weekends posts … enjoy your day the both of you. Laura

  4. I’m off to bed soon, and I will dream fresh, drying breezes for your hay, high level gusty winds to blow rainclouds away, gentle zephyrs to tickle the dozing piggies and make the goats dreamy instead of naughty, and a good stiff following wind to chase you home safely after your tastebud orgy on the town!

  5. Good to hear you are taking a day to explore and have fun. All the growing things at home will carry on splendidly. Our John and Lady Astor need to come to some sort of agreement. Her jealousy is not becoming to such a stately lady…very childish indeed.

  6. “The windblown sweetcorn and sunflowers grow all by themselves softly taking over the Maize fields even while we are not watching.” Enjoy your day off whilst the corn and sunflowers do their own “thing”.

  7. Maybe your Lady Astor is like the English Royal one…she liked to have a man around to tickle her fancy!

  8. Sunflowers? In the maize field? I wish that would happen here. The cheerful flower faces would make up for the tall maize plants stealing our view
    What would happen if John were to milk Lady Astor?
    Have a love time in town.

  9. Oh my! You’ll need a train to bring you home after eating all that wonderful food!
    What will you do when Our John is away working. Could he possibly record his voice so that Lady A might be tricked into believing he is nearby?

    • That is a clever idea …. but I believe Lady Astor likes John to hand feed her while he is talking to her 🙂 Spoilt Cow. Laura

  10. That looks a fab place to eat in. Have a great time, and I hope the rain holds off for you. It’s horrid here very windy and wet. June huh! X

  11. Beautiful here in Chicago so I he you have a wonderful day. I’ve heard good things about Eatialy.

  12. Eataly! I will think of you…and feel very close indeed. Let me know your favorite things. Travel safely and happily. x

  13. What a wonderful eating experience Eataly sounds like…. but how in the world do you make a decision about what to eat? It all sounds rather fabulous!
    Here’s another stupid City-Girl question: Why not lift the hay and bale it while you know it’s dry and the weather is good, rather than to go away for a day and worry the whole time that it may rain? No one else seems the slightest concerned about this so it probably is a really dumb question… lol
    Well, regardless of the hay, I hope your day away is filled with loads of fun and good eats! ~ Mame 🙂

    • While the grasses/alfalfa etc. are dry when they are cut the plants themselves are still filled with moisture. If you bale as soon as you cut you end up with moldy hay which can be toxic to the animals who eat it. The moisture inside the hay has to dry before it’s baled and that happens best when laying on the field where the sun and breeze can gently dehydrate it. Usually it’s necessary to turn the hay, as Celi has said tomorrow she’ll rake it, so it will dry evenly. Don’t ever think a question is dumb (only ones I can think of are the ones asked when the person already knows the answer and is just being a brat). If you don’t know and don’t ask, how do you learn? I’m city raised and living yet (to my sorrow), but farming and so forth are in my family background and I asked questions, listened to the stories around the table and did some research. Don’t stop asking questions.
      I’m glad Celi and Fede had a nice day to tramp around Chicago and that they had a marvelous time and great food.

      • Ahhh, thanks so much, Aquila! Wonderful explanation that makes good sense once absorbed 🙂

  14. You’ve done all you can. Like a story, or artwork best to leave it, take yourself off and look at it again with fresh eyes. Eataly looks wonderful.

  15. Hope you and Fede had a great day in Chicagoland . . . bought stuff you cannot possibly raise or grow and perchance even be lucky to meet local friends . . . best of British with the first cut of hay 🙂 !!

  16. Well, you have been working hard!
    Looking forward to pics from Chicago…
    Stunning photo of withered poppy – beautiful!

  17. That sounds like a wonderful place to go! Whatever would you do without John, the cow whisperer?

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s

%d bloggers like this: