A Hayfield, A Visitor, and A Cake

It's once again time to cut and bale the hayfield...


The weather, however, is not cooperating!
One thing I have learned is that there is no controlling Mother Nature.
Just when you think you are getting good at this farming thing,
she sends weather, weeds, or pestilence to humble you!


Our hay field is now a clover field.
There is so much clover, and so little grass that we have decided to not use our hay 
for our animals this year.
Too much clover makes drying the hay difficult.
Too much clover gives the horses "the slobbers".
No, this year we will need to buy hay.
(and buying hay may be tricky in light of the present weather conditions)
We will donate the hay in our field to our neighboring dairy farmer.


With that in mind, we are rationing our hay.
All of our four legged friends are spending as much time as possible on pasture
to avoid using hay.


We are keeping our fingers crossed that the sun decides to come out in August!


Look who decided to come home to the farm for a visit....


Amanda, having returned from her honeymoon in Iceland,
has returned to work and will be working locally 2 days a week.
(She and her hubby have moved 2 hours away...so the rest of the week she will 
be working from her home.)


A couple of weeks ago, you asked if our lambs were weaned yet.
I have decided not to separate Gracie and her lambs for the purpose of weaning.


Every once in a while the twins try to nurse.
Gracie allows them access....for about 20 seconds...
then she walks away.


I've decided to just let nature take its course...
and Gracie doesn't seem to mind.
However, if I separated them.... I know she would be unhappy.

Things are just so absolutely lush and beautiful right now.
The gardens are so happy thanks to the almost daily dose of rain.


Flowers and vegetables abound.
Everything is so amazingly colorful.
Oh, how I love summer!

To celebrate this glorious time of year,
I baked a blueberry citrus cake yesterday.
The frosting was a little loose and ran down the sides...
(nothing a little time in the refrigerator couldn't fix)


Fresh, organic blueberries, lemons and oranges combine to make this
delicious summer dessert.


And because we are not celebrating anything in particular...
I simply decorated it with the words...


I found these pre-printed flags with the letters of the alphabet...
HERE

Comments

jaz@octoberfarm said…
i bet your cake was wonderful! the work on our house has started and i feel a bit like anne frank. i go out early before the workers arrive and then late afternoon after they leave. we have big storms coming in tonight. i have mushrooms growing everywhere! how was iceland?
This N That said…
Sorry about your hay...seems like you can't win in that department. Your cake looks yummy. We got none of that rain yesterday. It went right by us and up to you. Happy TuesdayL
NanaDiana said…
Bev- How wonderful to have Amanda there for a bit. Glad you let Mama and babies stay together. They do wean themselves over time---well, Mama weans them that is! lol
Great looking cake!!!
That clover makes for good milk when you have dairy cows! xo Diana
Lynne said…
I agree, everything is so pretty right now . . . let's enjoy , it changes very fast.
Love Gracie and the babes!
An American in Tokyo said…
Ooo, how lovely!
Do you mind sharing your cake recipe with us?!

Over here, we are still waiting for summer to arrive.
If the weatherman is correct, we should be hitting warmer weather in about a week! I can't wait!