What's going on here on the farm right now, you ask? Did the crops pause their growing in deference to the wedding weekend events? Hm-m........do you really think that would happen?
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As I type this blogpost, Husband is busy at cutting alfalfa fields in anticipation of baling the summer's third crop of hay. Here's how one already-cut field looked last evening when I returned from the "Meet the Football Team" event at the high school.
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While the hay lies lazy on the ground waiting to be baled or chopped, we say, "We have hay down". Those words can be used successfully around here as an excuse to avoid any extra activities that might come along........"No, we can't do that, or go there; WE HAVE HAY DOWN." Those words have been spoken many times over the years on this farm! They probably won't work for you, but you could try them, I suppose.........."No, honey, I cannot go shopping with you tomorrow; WE HAVE HAY DOWN"........."No, kids, you cannot go to your soccer game tonight; WE HAVE HAY DOWN". You're welcome to try this "hay down" excuse if you want, but I won't accept responsibility if it doesn't work for you!
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10 comments:
When I mow my all-too-quickly-growing and wild looking lawn (also known as the front and back 40), I "have hay down." I am sometimes amazed at the swaths left behind.
Maybe my excuse could be "sorry I can't do that. I need to get the hay down." You reckon?
P.S. That second photo is gorgeous!
When I read your title I thought, "When did Yoda move to Iowa?" But in the body of your post, nowhere to be found is Yoda -- unless, that is, under the hay he is.
I have a question, do you call the machine that cuts the hay a hay mow (rhymeswithcow) or a hay mow (rhymeswithhoe)? I have always said it like cow, but I don't know why. Maybe we need Freckles to answer this question.
Pat,
I reckon that excuse might just work! We actually are in a dry spell, finally, and the lawn has stopped its continual growing. That's fine with me, for a little while anyway. I don't like it to get too dry, and then brown.
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rhymeswithegg,
After I published this post, I realized the words in the title could be used in any order and the meaning would be fairly clear:
Down Hay We Have
We Have Down Hay
Hay Down We Have
Hay We Have Down
Hay Have We Down
Hay Have Down We
Have We Down Hay
Have Hay We Down (this one's shaky)
Have Down Hay We
Have We Down Hay
Good grief.....how many will there be......there must be a math equation to answer that.
We call our haycutting machine a "haybine". Why, I'm not sure, but that's what they're called by the manufacturer.
A "haymow" to us is the second floor of the barn where the hay bales are stored. Our "haymow" rhymes with "cow", by the way. I've never heard of a "haymoe". Sorry.
Sometimes, you never know what might be under the hay swath......weird mushrooms, snakes, a mole or cat that got caught in the haybine (we make sure our favorite cats are confined before cutting fields near the house).......so Yoda might just be there, too. But, let's hope not.
Please, let's not get Freckles involved on the blog for awhile. Blogging went to her head.....she now is snooty and needs counseling. Is there a cow counselor in this area, I wonder?
Thanks for putting an end to the haymow/haymoe controversy after all these years.
You simply *must* go over to www.salon.com and read this week's column by Garrison Keillor about attending the Iowa State Fair. Since he is both a Minnesotan and a liberal arts major, so his opinions might be doubly suspect. Please let us (your readers) know what you think of his column!
I so get where you're at my friend - hay down to me means- don't rain, or be handy to rake hay, or watch the clock (New Mexicans usually bale hay in the middle of the night). But, your hay field looks really beautiful!
Hi, rhymsie,
Thanks for the link to Garrison Keillor's Iowa State Fair article. I've been to the State Fair only once in my life, but attended the National Dairy Cattle Congress in Waterloo every September when I was a kid......it was huge deal around this area. We even got a day off from school to go to it. At one time, the NDCC was one of the largest dairy shows in the country. It is defunct now.
What Keillor describes sounds very similar to what the Cattle Congress was like, the buildings full of booths hawking everything under the sun, long brick sheds full of farm animals, and rows of shiny machinery on display. Yes, that could be a subject for a blogpost sometime.....thanks for the idea!
I guess I'm curious as to whether there are county fairs and state fairs throughout the U.S. I assume there are, but don't know that for sure.
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Hi, odd chick,
That's just very interesting.....the thought of baling hay in the middle of the night! You must not have any dew down there in New Mexico. We have to quit baling in the evening when the hay swaths start getting damp and tough from the dew.
They bale hay in AZ in the middle of the nite too! We lived in the hay growing part while there.Loved hearing the hummmm's then & the scent..somehow it seemed to "mentally" cool the nites down. Sometmes I wished I had a valid excuse like you...
Beautiful photos! Somehow the 'hay down' excuse doesn't cut it out here. Maybe if I actually helped with the hay it would work for me too.
Wow. That new camera sure is taking some nice new pictures. These are beautiful, Jeannelle!
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