Hay Days!

I know, I know.....I should have put a sign on the door when I left...something on the order of  "Will Return the First," with a little manually rotated clock, designating the hour of re-emergence. (the "first" being the first opportunity I get!)

The only trouble is that I didn't plan to be gone!  It just happened.  One thing led to another, and soon there were intervening days without a blogpost from me! 

During the hiatus, I started thinking about why MM and I have been so dog-gone busy out here JOTOLR.  More so than last year, when I could always squeeze in a post.  Finally, today the answer appeared, light-bulb fashion in my slow-thinking mind:  we put off getting the garden planted in deference to those awful storms.  Remember the golf-ball sized hail?  The heavy rains?  The winds? 

Well, we were pretty spooked.  So, we waited to put in the garden until it looked like we would have pretty clear sailing for awhile.  We started planting the first week in June...very late by normal standards.  This set us back about two weeks.  Meanwhile, the grass was growing; the berries were ripening prematurely--due to that other weather anomaly:  80-degree weather in April.  So, we've been charging on all fronts:  getting the garden not only planted, but then the seedlings need constant nurturing--it's warmer than normal for the seedlings and they need more care so as not to expire. (watering, transplanting, fertilizing, and insect patrols); at the same time both the East field and the South field came ready to be mowed.  That meant baling square bales, hoisting them onto the trailer, hauling to the barn, unloading and going back for more.  It's pretty grueling, especially for two old geezers like us!  And, of course, dodging thunderstorms and holding the sky up takes a lot of energy, too!  And where'd those clouds come from??!!  Only a half hour before the sky was clear, wasn't it?

The strawberries produced a wonderful crop this year!  But that meant picking and preserving--in the midst of gardening and berries and normal life...Much as I love strawberries, I wanted to say, "Take a number and have a seat!"

So why were things so hectic?  Well, all of the above usually happens as single events, nicely spaced out so we can adjust to the demands.  Not this year.  Everything happened all at once and separate events, instead of smoothly parading through the calendar,  collided with one another and we've been on a springtime tear ever since!  Fast and furious! 

We've pretty much got it under control now, thank goodness.  But we've been out in the garden at around 6:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. every morning, and finishing up with haying in the afternoon, and loading the hay bales onto the trailer  just at dusk.  Coming in for sandwich dinners, hulling strawberries and then freezing them.  Finally, we collapse into bed, barely able to SEE it, let alone count any sheep! (hay bales).

I believe we're now over the hump.  Of course, with a garden, one is never done until winter!  But there's now room for the occasional breath!

Thanks all for sticking with me!