High Summer: defined as the period of six weeks and two days from the sixth Saturday before August; the hottest part of the summer.
Well, that is confusing enough. This makes me wonder if high summer is already over. It was awfully hot last week with temps near 100 degrees each day. And, this morning's walk over the hill was absolutely delightful. Why I didn't even work up a sweat and my shoes didn't even get wet. Now, that's a first in a long, long time. (But, checking out the ten-day forecast, it seems to me that high summer might not be done with us yet!)
Well, no matter, this is how I have been spending these days of summer. It's really not such a bad thing driving around in air-conditioned comfort, listening to old Merle Haggard songs. :~)
FiddleyBits over on YouTube had an even better idea for overcoming boredom while working in the fields. This video is definitely one of my favorites. But, oh my, the vastness of that country ~ And, of the tractor too. I am afraid a gps guidance system might get confused here in our rolling hills and I would run into something, like a tree or a pond. For all you quilters out there I think you would enjoy this too by clicking here on FiddleyBits. (You can skip the ad and get right to the video.)
She says: Multi-tasking with my 1885 Wilcox and Gibbs hand-crank sewing machine and our John Deere tractor with a gps guidance system. Probably a historical first! Started string piecing a quilt pattern by Bonnie K. Hunter called "Talkin' Turkey."
35 comments:
Your countryside is so beautiful! Our hay only gets cut once, in June, before the milkweed begins to grow. Now the milkweed and Queen Anne's Lace and a myriad of other wild flowers predominate, the field is abuzz with all manner of bees and other insects, a few monarch butterflies are here to enjoy all the flowers. The hummingbirds continue to entertain us with their antics at the side porch feeder, and the hummingbird moths are enjoying the late summer phlox out front. Life is good in the country!
A HOT summer for you. Doesn't get that hot here! I always say our summers are like one long spring! Enjoyed the photos.
High summer must be something like the "dog days of summer". The hottest weeks. Hope you're enjoying riding around in comfort and listening to Merle.
Well if you have to work at least it is in air conditioning. We had a very cool July and August so far is lovely fall like 70 high with dry air. My favorite kind of weather. I am staying away from the news and the tv so I am not sure what is coming.
cathy
What a really neat post! You are living my dream! Probably wouldn't be able to handle the work but I have always dreamed of living on a farm; a real farm. :) You look adorable in that big huge tractor. The FiddleyBits quilting video is amazing. I can't even imagine being in the middle of a field that size, driving a machine that size, and sewing a quilt. I would love to have a sewing machine like she was using.
I have never heard of high Summer, but I spent many Summer's on my grandparents farm baling hay. Oh the memories. Janice
I love the mental picture I have of your wildflower meadow.
I always pay attention to those temps when I read your blog posts. I will agree about the one long spring.
You sound as though you wouldn't mind listening to a little Merle too! He's wonderful!
Your August sounds almost fallish. We will have to wait a bit longer here.
Henny, I love that little machine too. Don't you know they are hot collector items. Thank you for stopping by.
Summers spent with grandparents are some of the best memories. Thanks for the visit.
I can imagine those wide open spaces are not new to you. Today's technology is almost too much for me. I would like to just slow down and enjoy the good old simple times. That little machine in the video is all we would need to sew a little dress for the dolls. Millie does sometimes go with me except for when it is too hot. She is one of those kind of girls who looks after herself first. :~)
Since I can barely even back up a car, I greatly admire your ability to drive a tractor and rock a cute hairstyle, too! I bet it smells so good when you are haying. Love those round bales. They are HUGE! I can't imagine being in such a fancy tractor that it drives itself, but I guess they are making cars that drive around and people just play with their phones while the car does the thinking.
That is awesome! Many around here have gps tractors too.
Nothing like haying time I always loved the smell too of fresh cut alfalfa fields. Glad that you are able to stay in air conditioning when driving around bailing and can listen to tunes as well, much safer when being out in those hot fields. We used one of those old Ford tractors and pulled a vintage bailer that makes the square bales back when we were haying.
Hi to the girls and I am off to check out the video-hugs Kathy
Modern and up-to-date equipment is unbelievable to me. I remember driving old tractor, with baler throwing square ones onto wagon. Long time ago! Then putting them on the elevator putting them all up into the hayloft. Yikes! How things have changed. (I should have kept my little crank sewing machine! Sorry now.) This was an interesting enlightenment of how far the world has come in so few years. NICE PHOTOS!
Ha Ha on that cute hairstyle. It looked like that when I got out of bed that morning.
Given your liking for old machines, I am surprised you don't have two or three of the old hand-cranked ones around the place. Thanks for the visit!
And, then it was hurry up to get those square bales hauled in before they got rained on. I'll tell the girls. They are in a tizzy to get new dresses made for the first day of school. Remember those days?
Thank you, Nook! I remember those days gone by when haying was done that way. Dad always wanted hay put into the loft, but that was a job for my brothers. I would love to have one of those little crank sewing machines. Did you sew your old machine?
You have an uncanny gift of evoking the most bittersweet of memories..... For us it was called the "dog days of summer"....we knew they had arrived when a film developed over the deep pool and lily pads appeared. Farming has come such a long way since the days of my youth....no enclosed tractor cabs....and a square baler that inevitably broke down more than it ran. It was responsible for my father severely injuring his leg and my brother being shy one finger tip as well. I love Merle and think I have all of his albums (yes, I still have albums LOL). ~Robin~ (You are too stinkin' cute!!)
If we could put your green tractor with my red one, it would look like Christmas in August! With all the bumps and holes in our fields, there is no way I could sew in the tractor. Anyway, it has no GPS and I have to stay alert to catch the hay in the rake. I remember putting square bales up high in the barn; that's how I hurt my back and spent the next fourteen months with sciatic pain. :( Who styled your hair?
Hello there! Just to let you know, for your viewing pleasure over on YouTube, Fiddleybits has more videos. Looks like more about old machines. Who styled my hair? Ha ha! Pretty cute don’t you think?
Oh wow, another fan of Merle! I love it! Farming IS a dangerous occupation, even today with its sophisticated machines.
That video was amazing. So glad you have ac in the tractor! The older I get the less I can tolerate the heat and also the less I can multitask. A new email messed me up and I couldn't access my old blog so I am now www.self-sufficientsam.blogspot.com So good to see you again! Stay cool!
It's been real hot here this summer, too. I know how hot and hard the work is in the hayfield. Hopefully, the weather will cool off as summer turns into fall. Stay cool.
6 weeks and two days? Wonder who came up with that formula. Can't imagine an air conditioned tractor although I know they are the norm now. I grew up on a farm but there was no cab on the tractor so we ate the dust and sweltered. Don't know which I hated more - the hay or the grain harvest.
I was a bit confused about that formula. I should think the grain harvest would be great fun. Little I know. Right?
Hello Again! That video is amazing. There is just something about that vast prairie all around while Fiddleybits un-concernedly sews quilt blocks. I hope you are having a good summer!
Hello! I call you brave for powering around in one of those machines! It's amazing how modern they are now. Of course I remember riding with my grandpa on his old red tractor while he cut hay. Those days are sweet memories now. So good to see you!
Sweet memories for sure! I hope all is well there with lots of art all around. I cut some of the cloth!
I could live this life in bliss!!
Hello, again. What an awesome posting. Putting up hay is a hard, hot job. Hopefully, fall will cool off the weather.
Oh my. I once won a prize at an outdoor event for crocheting a blanket in the passenger seat while my husband negotiated canyons and huge boulders with his 4x4. Frankly, it was the only way to keep myself from peeing my pants. I hate that sort of thing.
Hats off to the tractor ladies out there!
Post a Comment