Then it rained but that’s OK
Just as we pulled the last 120 bales of hay under cover in the old crib, it began to rain.
Perfect timing.
But I have no pictures – I am not even sure how that happened. We just worked and worked all day (then did admin at siesta time), and then got the last of the hay in, I made spaghetti carbonara for dinner (because it is fast and easy) then later after the dishes I reached for my camera to load my photos of the day and there were none. I had forgotton to take any.
I have used an old stock photo for the header (from September 2015).
Today will be better. Though it is still raining this morning. The rain will clean the cows off. After chores I am off to collect Nick from the railway station (one hour from here) then we will be back to a full complement. He asked us to leave some hay for him to load – not a problem there!
I am happy to report that we have over 800 bales under cover. (Thank you to Laura for keeping count this year.) There are about 150 left to stack. I am feeling confident.
The meat chickens have traveled over the tracks and are now cruising through the hay paddock – fattening up on all that good alfalfa and lots of milk from the cows – the piglets are still so small they do not drink much though you would think otherwise from the clamour when I approach with a bucket, so all the birds are getting good amounts of yogurty milk too.
Here are another couple of pictures from this time last year.
The crops were almost dry! We are much further behind this year. 
This must have been later in the month as the crops are all gone. Look at those skies.
Just so much wetter this summer. Greener. 
Some things remain the same though.
Even though I have two workers here we are still not finding the time to get into the garden to get it ready for the fall planting though we have been picking the butternuts to save them from the bugs and picking tomatoes of course and slowly weeding. We will probably pick the last of the tomatoes and squash today between showers. This will change when Nick arrives – then there will be a full time Gardener every day.
Our next major job is to prepare the West Barn for the winter.
Whitney is in the kitchen again today. I set a high priority on cooking good clean food from scratch every day in the kitchen, this is most important to me. This is why we have the Kitchen Mama rotation. Our second breakfasts are legendary, we always have cookies and home made bread, yogurt and soft and semi soft cheeses on the go. Dinners have to be from the farm so we still eat a lot of kale salad with our fantastic meals !
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
36 Comments on “Then it rained but that’s OK”
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I like the idea of a second breakfast 😉
I’m glad you had all the hay in just before the rain. I’ll bet the cows loved it. We are very dry here in western Carolina. Not a drop fell on us after all from the backside of Hermine, just glowering clouds & high winds. I’ll be dragging the hoses again today. Your meals sound divine.
Pleasure 🙂 Now could you please send some of that rain down our way – it is our turn now. The beans don’t seem to dry quite so dramatically as the corn. Laura
Yes!! Send some rain to Oz as well please, we’re on level 3 water restrictions now. Living in the desert by the sea …
Love the Barn with Storm Cloud backdrop pic! ❤
Your Second Breakfast is like our Little Lunch. Something good and clean and filling, especially on those hideous 1.30am early start days, when breakfast has worn off and it’s hours till a normal mealtime again. The Husband’s favourite is a fresh, hot BLT with chilli sauce, thrown up to him when I meet his truck at 9.30am before he heads out for the second run. Easy to eat behind the wheel…
Oh, good news you got the hay under cover. A very good haul this year, despite the rain! We finally got a good rain last night. Good rain? Good heavens! lol… I have truly never seen it rain so hard ever, and it went on for well over a half hour at that rate. On our way home from an event, driving up a hill and the ground had the flooded conditions you expect at the bottom. I have searched the news sites this morning to see just how much water fell, but it doesn’t seem to have been reported.
Your barn photo is outstanding. It’s good to recycle now and then; some deserve to be seen again. Hope you have a great day too! ~ Mame 🙂
Oh sweet friend – those pictures are beautiful. The sky one – I could almost reach out and touch it. Unbelievable. XOXO – Bacon
breakfast is my favorite meal- 2 each day would be perfect!
Aarrgh! No more rain! We’ve had the wettest winter in forever; dams overflowing, soil waterlogged, most paddocks have the consistency of custard, can’t put machinery into fields to reseed, springs popping out of the ground everywhere. Enough! (Second breakfast sounds wonderful 😊)
Well done with the hay…what a lot, but I know you need it.
Can you share your kale salad recipe? Kale here is a bit different, a little less tender, but I’d love to try all the same. Love the moody skies. And 800! What a magic number!
It is not really a recipe – more of a method, I gather the kale and cut the stem out, then roll them like a cigar and slice them crossways as THIN AS YOU CAN. The thinner the strips of kale are the better. I also do this with some red cabbage and red onion – everything ultra thin, then grate in beetroot. Then I add nuts and feta. (or dollops of goats cheese) My dressing is cider vinegar, olive oil, garlic, whole mustard, pepper and salt. and a little honey. Maybe we will meet up in Feb and i will make it for you!?
Love that idea!!
C didn’t tell you the secret which is putting the dressing on the salad and refrigerating it until meal time. The vinegar softens the thin strips significantly and it Is delicious!
Oh thank you Kim! It always helps with two brains on the job. c
When you state the number of bales, are you talking round or square bales? I’m supposing with cattle it’s round bales, but 120 round bales would be an awful lot of hay.
I use the square bales (though they are small rectangles) . I don’t have a tractor that could lift a round bale so they are no good to me – also there is a lot of waste when you give cattle the round bales and I cannot afford that. .
Beautiful photos today C. even if they are from the past! So wonderful that you got all your dry hay in just in time. That must have been a huge relief! Yes, would love to have your kale salad recipe too…we have lots this year…purple! I throw cabbage and carrots in mine but would love to have another recipe!
If I remember my Tolkien correctly, the Hobbits always ate second breakfasts.
Best i check my toes for hairs! c
Wow!
That last photo of the barn is spectacular!!! I absolutely love that light. Whenever I see it, I ask whomever is with me and few of them can notice the steely light which affects all in a photo in magnificent ways which no other light can do. Kudos, Miss Celi.
Now, the repeat of a note to you.
ALWAYS take your phone with you everywhere you go. Do you have a pocket you can use to carry it? Would you like a nifty little bag whch would hang around your neck and hold your precious phone?
Taking your phone with you everywhere you go is so important. Now you are young and fit, but still you could be hit with a crisis and having that phone with you could be life-saving. Please don’t make me recommend this again. I care about you, Celi, and want you to be able to handle all circumstances which might befall you.
Much love, your necessarily nagging Gayle
If I hung my phone around my neck I would strangle myself in minutes. Farming and dangling objects do not go together – not to worry Gayle – I am a big girl. I look after myself. No fretting.
It’s difficult not to fret when a loved one is concerned. However, I will give it my mightiest try. Love, Me
I miss some good clean food! One of my favorite parts of working there for sure
Darling girl – hope you get time to come visit in the winter!
I have one of our daughters and her husband staying with us until their house is ready. They tell me they have forgotten what good fresh farm food tastes like and are glad to be having it again…sweet corn, green beans, chicken, mashed potatoes, fresh cantaloupe.
Linda
wonderful!
You mentioned that you made spaghetti carbonara yesterday and I was wondering how you make healthy spaghetti. The only kind I know comes in a long narrow box.
I use the stuff in the long narrow box too! c
Second breakfast is wonderful. I can’t eat much first up early mornings just need coffee. Kale salad sounds great, and is simialr to the coleslaw you inspired me to make which the G.O. eats where he never did before.
Great! Both are laden with superfoods – I love that coleslaw .. c
Love the term ‘second breakfast’ . . . always used in Austria and surrounding countries ‘Erstes Fruhstuck’ and ‘Zweites Fruchstuck’! Personally have eaten like this since my move to the country – small breakfast, main early meal as ‘second breakfast’ – unless friends or colleagues here – and what I laughingly call ‘high tea’ late in the afternoon, unless a dinner party planned. Very healthy and practical 🙂 !!
That’s wonderful hay news!
So pleased you got the hay in Celi .. Great last year’s images btw 😄