Saturday 12 June 2010

One swallow does not make a Summer!
















Yesterday the sun shone - all day. It was warm and there was a pleasant breeze. Today it is fine but a bit cloudy/sunny. Tomorrow, if I read the weather forecast rightly, rain is coming down from the North.
No matter. THEY (the farmer and our neighbouring farmer) have decided that TODAY is the day to begin silaging our grass crop. So it is all stations go.
As I write the farmer is fixing a new set of cutters on to his grass cutting machine - he has been trying to get a new set for weeks but they only came yesterday. Come mid-day they will all be working flat out to fell the grass. If it rains tomorrow 'too bad' is all they say. And then on Monday, unless it is pouring with rain, the foragers will move in to collect.
It is worth pointing out that a bit of damp weather is not so critical when the grass is being foraged (cut, left to dry and then stacked into an open heap for the cows to help themselves in Winter (it will be covered with tarpaulins and old tyres until then). Grass which is being baled up needs more drying on the whole.
The farmer positively revels is these busy farming days - just like the old times before he semi-retired I shall walk up to the fields with Tess after lunch and take some photographs. Note this will be bravery in the course of duty as it means running the gauntlet of a field of young, very-frisky heifers.
So - text now and photos later (hopefully).

On a tragic note, a little farm boy of ten has sadly been killed on a local farm last week. He was a boy with a passion for rugby and farming, who loved to help on the farm in every spare minute.
Farm accidents do still occur, however careful we are. Sleep peacefully, Gary. Our thoughts are with your family.
Evening update: We set off down the pasture - the heifers were lying in the buttercups and hardly noticed us as we walked through their field. The farmer was well on the way to finishing the big field so I took a photograph and kept on walking out on to the lane.
What a glorious afternoon. The lane was alive with cock blackbirds foraging for food for their young - there must have been one every fifty yards or so - how hard they were working.
As we came level with the beck I just had to take a photograph to show you the beauty - a patch of herb robert, buttercups and cow parsley, with the water behind them - as beautiful as any garden.
I took the opportunity to pop in and see a dear friend, M, who was gardening. I interrupted her work and we sat all afternoon in her front garden, chatting and having a laugh together - lovely afternoon - thank you M.
Then we (Tess and I) walked back across the fields by the side of the beck again. It has got to be the best day of the year for buttercups - they were everywhere - so feast your eyes on my photograph of them where the beck goes under the wall.
We had to walk through a dairy herd, but these are pretty staid ladies and not a single one took the slightest notice of us. The heifers were laid down in the buttercups again and merely watched us through a fringe of golden yellow. What a lovely afternoon we had.
See you tomorrow.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am so terribly sad to hear of the farming accident Weaver. There were many when I lived in a country town here in South Australia...tractors, ride-on mowers, reversing vehicles, and of course young ones driving recklessly on country roads. A tragedy always for the families. Your post though, made me smile when you mentioned the big job ahead with the grass. I was mowing my little pocket lawn at the front of our city unit,with the hand-mower today.Our situations seem worlds apart both literally and figuratively. It's why I like visiting here so much.

Anonymous said...

Pat, I would love to have the wide open space of a farm rather than a crowded suburb and the smell of newly cut grass. I also understand that the work load would be enormous.
So sorry to here of the farm boy's tragedy. Such sadness for the family.
Hope you are feeling better these days Pat.

Pondside said...

Farming accidents do still occur - the life can be hard and more dangerous than city folk could ever imagine.
I look forward to you photos of the busy-ness!

steven said...

hello weaver! best of luck dodging the heifers and i look forward to the pictorial and textual results. steven

CHummelKornell said...

God Bless the family of that little boy. Your words draw me back to my youth growing up in an Iowa farming community. I still to this day can smell the scent of new mown hay and of the wonderfully richness of the newly plowed Iowa earth. Oh, for a slower, gentler time again.

BTW, Weaver, you may always call me Connie!

Heather said...

How terrible to lose a child in any circumstance - my sympathy to his family. Do hope the weather holds for the farmer to get the hay in. I look forward to your pictures but watch out for those heifers!

Unknown said...

Hello Weaver,

Glad you've had a lovely day. We saw lots of cows laying in the field this afternoon, surrounded by buttercups too. I has been a sunny morning but has dulled as the day progressed. Still much better than a few days ago though! So sad about the young farm boy. We can never know what is up ahead.

angryparsnip said...

Sorry to hear about the farm accident, especially sad when it was a child.

The title of your post today reminds me of when I lived in San
Juan Capistrano and always loved when the Swallows came back, like the old song around St. Joesph's Day.
They built their nest under the eves of the houses as the area they use to live in was developed.. Quite sad when you think of it. All the farm land that I saw when I first moved to California was more valued as housing and not farms.
A super big mistake.

cheers, parsnip

Cloudia said...

enjoyable visit.....







Aloha from Waikiki

Comfort Spiral

Bob said...

So sad to hear about the young boy.I used to worry about robert on the farm as a lot of the farm machinery was old. The owner of the farm had an accident and lost a leg.The gardens and fields look great at the this time I just wish we could enjoy it with a bit better warmer weather.Vicki.

BT said...

What super photos Weaver, I just love the beck and those flowers. So pretty. I'm glad the heifers remained sitting among the buttercups. I'm always a bit nervous of 'cows' as they are pretty big close up! I love to see the farmers in their tractors cutting the grass; they are all busy doing the same around here. The smell fills the air.
I was sorry to hear about the little boy. How sad.