Wednesday 6 July 2011

Making hay while the sun shines



That's what I was doing yesterday and it's one of my least favourite activities of all time.



Under normal circumstances I do as little as possible in the heat because when I get hot my face gets red - if I was skinny I'd look like a matchstick with my bright red face and white body!  And the combination of sun cream and sweat attracts dust, grass seeds and bits of hay to the skin like a magnet.  Not very comfortable.  



As you can tell from the job description, hay is best made when the sun's shining and yesterday was 26 degrees.  The weather forecast said there could be rain in the early afternoon so it needed to be under cover before then.  Luckily we had extra hands this year with some of my son's friends so we got it done in good time.
The farmer who cuts and bales the hay takes half of the hay in payment, but he makes his into round bales
The advantage of these is they don't need to be manhandled and there isn't the same urgency to get them inside because rain will run off them.  The disadvantage is you really need a tractor to move them about and they're messy once opened.


The other day my daughter noticed a small whirlwind blowing the hay about
that's not a pale green bush in the middle of the photo, it's the hay.  It must have been in the other field as well because there was a big patch of hay missing there.


When I'd eventually cooled down later I made another pillowcase dress for the dress a girl around the world charity which Louise from Sew Scrumptious is collecting 100 for.
I got a sheet and two pillowcases from the charity shop last week so used one of the pillowcases.  I made the bias binding from a plain blue sheet.




Look at this cheeky blackbird having a bath this morning in the baby bath my daughter had tadpoles in.  I think this explains why the tadpoles had disappeared before turning into frogs.  They probably got flung out (or eaten) if it's been making a habit of it.

11 comments:

  1. I can't believe you were making hay only yesterday, it looks like Autumn through the window today.
    That blackbird is a cheeky little thing, poor tadpoles.
    I love that dress, I'd wear an adult sized one like a shot. x

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  2. Loved this post. It remined me so much of my childhood on a farm.

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  3. what lovely photos, and words.Dress is gorgeous, and you live in a lovely area.xx

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  4. love the top and will be making one or two this weekend. great idea and i am now following you! x

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  5. Delightful post, so much going on. The dress is as beautiful as your others.

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  6. That's a pretty dress and the hanger it's on is gorgeous.
    Don't envy you with hay making!

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  7. Beautiful little dress. Hay making=hard work, I'm sure...but I love seeing those round bales in the fields!

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  8. What an adorable little dress! Just love the little mirror/hanger as well!

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  9. Hello, I've just found you through a mention about the pillowcase dresses over on Amanda's blog. Lovely blog. I will be making a couple of those pc dresses this weekend and I might try my hand at the Blackcurrant cake too. Now following :) x

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  10. Just looking at those photos LBM brings on my hay-fever!

    Nice blog.

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  11. Gorgeous dress! Thanks so much for all your support. x

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