Hay. The best air freshener of all.
I had to turn the field twice to accelerate the drying because of all the rain in the forecast. And Jen and I went back out and gently spread out the bigger clumps by hand so it all dried evenly.Which as usual made my skin erupt in welts and itchy red spots, even though every part of my body was covered, due to my allergy to hay. ( It subsides after a few itchy hours but is a little irritating to be a farmer allergic to grass). But we got the hay in by late evening and it is beautiful hay. Fragrant and dry and not too heavy at all.
And last night we were so tired after loading the first trailer full into the barn that after eating a simple dinner of pasta, asparagus and cream with a quick salad from the garden we all left the dishes in the sink and went straight to bed. No reading, (Fede reads aloud to me every night to prepare for the oral portion of his English exam on the 12th) no writing, no last wander around the sleeping grounds, I did not even download my pictures. Just straight to bed.
Later today, after we have finished unloading the next trailer load of hay (Berit is coming down from Chicago to help) we will attend to all those details.
We had Jen (the part time guest worker) helping yesterday too – she picked chamomile flowers for the oil). I will begin today’s work while you read. Only a little late!
And because the rain that was threatened has been taken right out of the forecast now we will begin watering today.
Have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
41 responses to “Hay In The Barn”
Ton looks a little embarrassed that you are showing his bath.
Well done all of you – getting the hay in, in spite of the weather is no mean feat. The camomile looks wonderful and poor TonTon 🙂
Oh our boy doesn’t look at all happy about his bath. I thought you were going to make chamomile tea. I love the smell of chamomile.
Have a beautiful non itchy weekend C.
🙂 Mandy xo
That dog’s eyes speak volumes, c! Good morning to you all. xx
Reblogged this on charlotsite's Blog.
Help and company lightens the load. Are any of your young people blogging about there adventures?
None of them are bloggers so far. c
Hay well done 🙂 Oh no, did Ton get skunked or was he just muddy? Laura
YAY for a successful hay day! I thought maybe she was going to make flower crowns, but oil is better for your soaps, etc. Poor Ton, but a good boy for standing still for his bath.
Good job everyone! We had hoped to start our hay this weekend, but rain is in the forecast.
Brilliant that you got the hay in. They did here, too, after a brilliant drying day yesterday. It’s good that you all had an early night: haying is tiring, and you need all your strength every day.
Love,
ViV
Thanks god for the hay! – Poor Ton Ton though… But he must have been feeling wonderful after, didn’t he?
Oh Ton’s expression is priceless. Standing with legs together straight as pins – tolerating it but not really….. That is how my George is and as soon as we are done – he shoots off like a cannon launched him and finds the first place he can waller….. Gracie was much more refined with her baths….. she would enjoy all the rubs and then OH the towel drying was joyous. I wish I had filmed it now.
Happy you got the hay up before any rain!!!!
so Wonder Woman does get tired…I am happy to hear that…I am pleased that you managed to get all your jobs done eventually…and chamomile oit;;;how do you make that xxxx
Hum – learn something new so often on this site: Uses for the oil: https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/chamomile-roman-essential-oil/profile
Thank you – I will have a look – I use it in soap.. c
Around here (Brockport, NY) a few farmers got first cutting up at the end of May, but now we are waiting for the ground to dry after many inches of rain. It’s been a long time since we did any stacking, and I’m happy to pay someone to do it. Being a farmie is hard work.
Nothing feels as good as a big job well done. Even the weariness feels better and the sleep deeper. I find I’m curious about the process of the camomile flowers into oil. Maybe I’ll look it up and see how it’s done. I just loved the rear shot of the dog and man. Great view. 🙂