Once again, this summer we have some wildlife friends who are allowing us to watch them grow and live. I mentioned the doe that had visited and munched on my flowers a bit earlier in the summer. Well, evidently the doe has a couple of babies. They have spent so much time in the yard lately that they don't even seem phased by our coming and going at times.
Well, I've had good intentions since my previous posts. Good intentions and pocket change can get you a piece of bubble gum, though.
Since I posted last, we have been busy. Well, busy for us - two old retired folks. It's funny how busy takes on a different perspective once a person retires. I had a good friend tell me that she and her husband noticed that things which once were scheduled as after work tasks became a day's focus once they retired. So, dental appointments, trips to the grocery, etc. that were squeezed in after work became the agenda for the day after they retired. I think Mike and I have adapted that sort of situation as well. Not that he hasn't been super busy. I just don't pencil as much onto my calendar as he does!
When Mike took on the Cemetery Manager job last year, I volunteered to be the Cemetery Association secretary. There had been no digital documentation since 2014. So, ten years had raced by with only paper documentation of burials, lot sales, etc. So, my scanner has gotten a good workout. I've been creating spreadsheets to make information easily searchable. I've been checking one list against the other and sorting out differences. It is a thankless job but one that is already proving helpful.
I've also enjoyed the freedom to read quite a bit. What a luxury! I can put a load of laundry in to wash and sit down and read until the load is ready to be transferred to the dryer. What a treat!
We took the chance to get away between hay crops and went to watch our oldest grandson play baseball in the state tournament. What fun! Yes, it was HOT! It was also great to get away from the responsibilities of home and do a bit of relaxing while also enjoying getting to spend a little time visiting with family that we don't have the luxury of spending time with on a regular basis.
We also got to watch the other two grandson's exhibit their cattle at a local livestock show. It was fun to see them learning and working hard. It was also great to see their competitive spirit being applied in the show ring and sharing some of the hard work that they had been doing at home.
Finally, we also had the opportunity to spend time with one of the granddaughters. Luci came to visit and spent a couple of nights here with us. She was great help to me in a cleaning and organizing project. She also was fun to visit with and catch up on what is going on in her life as a new fifth grader.
It has been hay week here on the farm!
Mike has been moaning and groaning about all the rain without a stretch of sunny weather because he had hay that needed harvesting. We are grateful for the rain and cooler temperatures that May gave us but he also wanted to get the hay out of the field.
Well, on Saturday, the rainy weather gave way to hot, hot, hot temperatures.
As I pulled out of the driveway to go to our eldest grandson's baseball tournament, Mike was beginning to cut the hay.
When I returned on Sunday morning, the field with the cut hay is what greeted me.
Mike had already fluffed the hay with the tedder. That process just sort of picks up the hay and allows air to help to dry it out. He was beginning to rake the hay into windrows to prepare it for baling.
Then, for the past couple of days he has been baling the hay. It yielded fifty-plus bales and one hot, sweaty, dirty guy.
Next, Mike and Stephen will haul the rolls to the barn and get it all stored away. It will make good winter feed for the livestock - ours and son, Stephen's. There will be a day or two of rest and hay will will come again later in the summer when the second cutting is ready for harvest.
Since we live on a farm, we have several animals. Oh, we aren't over run with farm animals. We do have a couple of goats and a miniature donkey. However, most of the animals we see around here are wildlife.
Last year, we had a whole herd of deer who lived here and grazed our front yard and front field. Some of them have moved on. However, we still have a resident deer or two. Mike said that he saw a couple of babies when he was cutting the hay in the front field. So, we knew there was a mother deer somewhere nearby as well.
One afternoon last week I made a delivery next door and visited some of the grands as they were playing and eating outside. When I came back down the hill and circled the buggy round to park it next to the back porch, I saw the mama deer!
She and I just paused and stared at one another for a few minutes. She was sizing me up and I was trying not to scare her. After a moment or two, she turned and ran across the front yard and around the side of the house to get away from me. Then, she slowed and headed up the hill toward the hay barn.
