Annual Haying

 It has been a LONNNGGGG time since I've blogged...an embarrassingly long time...so embarrassing that I nearly thought of just stopping the blog entirely...but I miss it, and having been on the roller coaster throughout the "seasons" of parenthood when the children are small, I can recognize that I'm finally in a "season" in which frequent blogging may be possible...

So...

I apologize for my delay... I do, however, have a darn good excuse...I was on maternity leave :-)

It's another BOY!  Adrian Peter (keeping with the papal theme) was born at home on July 3rd at 11:51 p.m. He weighed 8lbs 11oz, making him our SMALLEST baby yet! We are thrilled, and I will post the entire birth story in a few days.

Now, back to haying...

We have been enjoying absolutely marvelous weather here for the past few weeks...weather in the upper 70's, with a slight breeze and blue skies...if only it could be this perfect here all year (though if it were, we probably wouldn't savor it as much!)

We have a large field behind our house that a farmer hays for us...having lived her 2 years now, I'm beginning to get familiar with the process...

First the hay grows out...

Then the farmer cuts it...

Then he lets it sit for a few days to dry out...

And then he attaches a special machine to his tractor to form the hay into large barrels which he'll pick up in a large truck sometime within the next few weeks...

You'll notice the sunflower seeds I planted LAST YEAR finally came up THIS YEAR!