All in a Day . . . .

Our July weather is presenting us---especially the farm folks---with somewhat of a double-edged sword.

It's comfortable---not too hot, not too cold.  For those of us who hate heat, it's been a delightful summer. 

For those who hate heat but like to have food on the table for livestock, it's not so good. 

With weather forecasts showing several days of suns or clouds and sun, it's been shocking to see rain clouds roll in and dump. 

While on an evening drive yesterday, I saw several large fields where hay is in different stages of harvest.  In some cases, there were combinations of wind rows and bales. 

It takes time for hay to dry, and the cool, somewhat moist mornings aren't helping. 

Seems like any given day of late has provided a small smorgasboard of weather behavior.  And, that's what makes it hard on farmers trying to get that hay in while the sun shines. 

Fingers crossed that this pattern or lack thereof will make way for some consistently good weather for the hay harvesting. 

For now, I guess our personal enjoyment is satisfied, but winter will come, and we're all hoping to have barns filled with good, quality hay. 

This week is also 4-H horse show week, so I'll be seeing a lot of Terra.  

She's getting Lefty ready for the weekend show by bits and pieces each day:  hoof sanding, clipping, lunging, riding and practicing showmanship. 

Lefty, with his perennial skin problems, presents a bit of a problem for grooming perfection.  

We figure, however, that if Terra works as hard as possible to make sure all aspects of his appearance look the best and does a job of topnotch showmanship, all will turn out okay. 

In the midst of attempts to get ready for winter or for horse show, our little piece of heaven is putting on daily shows of rural and recreational beauty pretty much wherever we look. 

The good news with our unpredictable weather is that as long as we don't have a long stretch of hot, sunny days, we may not have to deal with several weeks of smoke from forest fires covering up all that beauty.

I don't think anyone would complain about that. 

Happy Wednesday.