August...ing

Hello! Sneaking in with my August ups and downs just at the last minute. If I am going to be honest with you, it has all been a bit of a blur. I can't remember what we have been up to but I know we are all happy, alive and enjoying time together. As ever, in the latter part of the Summer holidays, I am yearning for my own routine to be back in place. On the other hand, it is nice to carve out some time to spend with my teens before they return to school and now college.

Stressing - about making hay. It has been so hard to decide when to cut and dry our hay. You need about a week of dry days to make it and of course we keep having little (and big) showers which means we had to keep turning it and hoping it wouldn't get wet again - it did. When you bale hay you can't let the baler pick up any green growth from the field because it will cause heat in the centre of the bale. This can make them 'go off' inside or in a worse case scenario, combust in the shed of over time. In the end we strung out the hay making over about 10 days and had to leave quite a bit on the field to avoid picking up any green. Hay is money in the shed for small holders because it feeds our sheep over winter when the grass is not growing. If we didn't cut hay we would need to buy sheep feed every month but we got there in the end. Usually, we sell our excess hay to people with horses but this time we had to keep every bit. A little inside farming knowledge for you there!

Eating - steak. I hardly ever buy steak but now that everything else on the plate comes from our garden I thought I would treat everyone.

Emptying - my yarn basket. I love doing that at the end of a project. I like putting all the stich markers away, putting the needles back in the case and starting a fresh. I have some yarny things to share next time.

LOVING - my gladioli which have bloomed in the last week. They are truly magnificent. I used them in my big yellow jug to enter the floral class at our local show. 

Winning - the show champion cup again for the third time! I have now volunteered to be show chairman next year so I won't be able to enter any classes but I can still join in the fun.

Picking - so many vegetables to get three the same size that I had to make Glutney. It is a superb chutney recipe that uses what ever fruit and veg you have in gluts.

Hosting - an afternoon tea for friends to celebrate my blokes 50th birthday. We had cake, scones, tea, bubbles and great company. My friend Beth let me pick some of her dahlias for the table spread. I have moved them to the window now we are back to normal.

Leaving - you with the obligatory farm photo. Time for a sit down and a relax. I really need some relaxing time.

Thanks for dropping in. Jo xxx