Square? Baler

Amazing...

The country can be soooooo beautiful.

From Dusk to Dawn...

and then some.

This is the little tractor,

that pulls the "Square" baler...

First you cut the hay.

This is a wind row.

(No, it's not windy~but it is in a row.)

((No, the wind did not blow it in rows.))

When the swather cuts the hay, it is placed in a row.

(((Where do they get their terms?)))

And this is the "Square" baler

that makes the "Square" bales.

(REALLY????)

I'm not kidding!  This is for real!

It picks the cut hay (sorry, wind row) up,

and binds it up.

And then...

The hay haulers get to work!

(And I do mean work!)

It's a hot, sticky, scratchy, make you sneeze job!

It's not for the faint of heart.

*Sorry about the fuzzy pic, if you've ever ridden on a hay wagon you would know why it's soooooo fuzzy.  It's a very rough ride!

This is another of my favorite Bolay Boys'.

Didn't he do a fantastic job of stacking?

Just hayin' around,

MFSD

*Please note:  A big thank you to Handsome Man, who provided these pics.

I try to stay away from the hay~has something to do with hayfever~ and...

it's a hot, sticky, scratchy ~ Make You SNEEZE Job.

A "Me" Day

I had a "Me," day.

"Me" day lunch with my Mom at Shady Lady...

(it's a local Tea Room & Restaurant)

Yes~I had lunch first, a delicious ham & asparagus quiche,

but the highlight was the Chocolate Pie!

Yum!

Oh, Mom had some too.

I am so blessed to have my Mom close by so we can go and have lunch together; anytime we want.

Well, at least during the Summer months.

Mom's are great!

They love ya no matter what.  (Thank goodness!)

"Me" day included getting a pedi.

I love getting my toes done.

Feet need a little TLC once in a while, too!

Happy Toes!

(Don't you love the color????)

((Bright Light Big Color, by OPI))

Foiled again...

"Me" day was a little time spent getting a touch up on my hair.

One of the glories of aging is having to cover up the gray.

Okay...I don't have to~I choose to.

Camouflage with foil.

Happy Hair!

Happy Girl!

This is the ooooooooh~ahhhhhhhh moment.

My happy toes love the warm swirly water!

My "Me" day ended with reading in the sun room.

This is my favorite spot to read.

Warm, sunny, cheery...invites me every time.

Our Book Club is reading, Nora Ephron's,

I Feel Bad About My Neck

and other thoughts on being a woman.

(More about this later...)

It has me thinkin'

From Head to Toe, I had Happy Time.

I can camouflage my toes for happy feet.

I can camouflage my hair for happy me.

But those wrinkles at my eyes, neck, hands...

Well, those I don't get so concerned about~

I've earned everyone with happy & sad times.

(Grateful that there have been a million times more happy times than sad.)

What is a "Me" day for you?

Some days you just gotta.

Me,

(Well...at least a part of me)

MFSD

Reflections of Georgia

Georgia, on my mind...

Atlantic Station

Downtown Atlanta

You can walk about, shop, or eat.

We went to see the Bodies & Titanic Exhibition.

Then...

My cousin and I found an ice cream shop,

Kilwins.

Not only ice cream but~

chocolates,

rice krispies & apples covered with about anything

you could imagine.

Candy and Chocolate were everywhere!

Ohhhhhhh Myyyyyyy...

We sat outside and enjoyed the jazz music that was piped in through speakers built into the sidewalks. 

We ate our ice cream. 

We people watched.

We talked.

We sat in the moment.

Reflecting on a fun trip,

MFSD

Killdeer Babies

Awwwww...

They are so tiny!

Killdeer

Charadrius vociferus

Order:  Charadriformes

Family:  Charadridae

If only they would stay out of the middle of the road.

It was an early morning, I was leaving for town, watching the road,

(I'm not a farmer/rancher so I keep my eyes focused on the road, mostly.

Except when I see a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at post or baby birds in the middle of the road.)  Anyway...

I see a Momma Killdeer hop up (in the middle of the road) and three tiny, tiny babies hop up from under her and begin dashing around the road. 

I swerve so as not to end their already brief life; thankfully I miss.

Aren't they adorable!  So again I've got to learn a little about these birds.

Here we go:

They are a shorebird that you can see without going to the beach.  (Obviously, I don't live at the beach!)  They are the least water-associated of all shorebirds.  They run across their terrain (open grounds with low vegetation) in spurts and stop frequently (maybe hoping to have stirred up some insect activity?).

They are slender and lanky, with a long pointed tail and wings.

More bird watching,

MFSD

Information taken from:   http://www.allaboutbirds.org/

Roses

My youngest daughter and her husband gave me this rose bush on Mother's Day.  As I've said before I'm not a gardener...but, I have tried to keep this beauty alive.  I am so thankful for the gift.

It has produced so many beautiful blooms.  I'm going to try my best to keep it going.  If you have any tips or suggestions for feeding*caring for it, please share.

Simple gardening,

MFSD

Family Fish Fry

Family Fish Fry

I am so blessed with a beautiful family.

It's the best of times when they all come home.

This summer we all got together and had a Celebrate Dad Day.

When ever there is a gathering

food is a very important part.

I love cooking in the kitchen with my family.

Everyone pitches in and it can get a little crowded...

(that is my favorite part!)

This was our second annual Fish Fry.

My oldest daughter and her husband bring up

a mess of catfish that he has caught.

(He's a great fisherman.)

They also bring up fresh veggies from their garden.

She fried up delicious okra and yellow squash.

Oh yeah...

curly fries, too!

You'll notice someone is sneaking in for a taste!

That would be daughter number two,

she's a great cook, too.

(Yeah...I know it's a lot of fried food~but I've got to admit it was worth every calorie and bite.)

~We did use Canola Oil~

lots of Canola Oil.

To compliment all the fried foods...

My Mom made a yummy

Spinach Strawberry Salad,

with almonds, dried cranberries & a light vinaigrette dressing.

I also made the Grape Salad,

you know~the one with cream cheese and splenda.

The Table was set,

and appetites ready.

I had to take a quick picture before everyone sat down.

We kept it very simple, paper plates and all.

Remember this is country cooking at it's best.

A lot of wonderful hands worked hard to put this meal together.

I love having my kids home.

I love sharing the kitchen with them.

Oh, and yes, we had homemade ice cream!

I hope you had some Family Time and Kitchen Time this summer.

What traditions do you have with the family?

Favorite Foods?

If you haven't started one, do.

Looking forward to a third annual fish fry,

MFSD

PS

Thanks, kids!

Baby Calves

Cute.

Adorable.

Curious.

Frisky.

At the ranch,

MFSD

Sweet Dairy Sweet

A sweet stop along the highway,

The Covington Dairy Sweet.

You know it's Summer when

The Covington Dairy Sweet opens

Mon ~ Sat.

They keep summer hours 11 til 8 pm.

I love this place!  It's so Sweet!

(Sorry, this will be a very "Sweet" story.)

They keep their menus

posted on the windows.

Handprinted to allow for

menu changes

(subject to availability)

and price changes

(subject to attitudes that come to the window)

Smiles & Happy Conversation

are welcome!

Lots of other words of wisdom are posted~

for your reading enjoyment while you anxiously

await your sweet (I told you) treat.

Your order comes in a crunchie white bag.

(I love the way it sounds as they hand it to you, CrUnChIe.)

The thick yummy milk shakes frost the cups.

My bag held a good ole hamburger

and fried okra;

complimented with a rich frosty chocolate shake.

I know it's not low~cal; but worth every one!

Visiting Dairy Sweet takes me back to

 drive up and get out to order times.

Crunching your sandals in the gravel while you wait.

Oh my...

More Summer loving...

MFSD

Hay Season

It's Hay Season

at Bolay Farms.

As you can see,

busy, busy, busy.

(I'm waiting in the air-conditioned pick-up.)

The first trailer is for hauling the round bales.

*Much too big for hand lifting!

Then you can see Handsome Man getting the square baler ready.

The square baler received an inaccurate label~

you see, it pops out a tidy rectangular bale.

(I guess a rectangular baler might be a bit much.)

This is the Hay Wagon.

(It's got stories, lots of stories!)

The Original Bolay Boys:

Handsome Man & Brothers,

made this wagon to have a summer job of custom hauling hay.

(If you've ever been around hay~you'd know why people would pay for the hauling.)

Well... later, the Nephews took it over and the legend continues.

Every now and then, the Originals get back on the Hay Wagon and haul a few.

214 bales hauled on this evening.

(I don't know how they do it!)

((Handsome Man was tired, asleep before his head hit the pillow.))

(((How does he do that?)))

This is the round baler.

It makes the big round bales.

You've got to use the trailer to haul these.

Not bad, huh?

Gotta love a man in chaps!

I do!

(Oh...this one was taken before the 214 bales.)

Did I mention how nice our equipment, trucks & hay wagons are?

As I've said before, "it's all about the journey, not what you drive."

We build character!

(Atleast that's what we told our girls.)

Hanging in the hay fields,

MFSD

Ice Cream Social

I scream, You scream, We all scream for Ice Cream.
Homade that is...

Recently our church hosted an Ice Cream Social.  We do this to get our Vacation Bible School kicked off.  As you can see the ice cream comes in many different ways of transport.  Ours is in the old fashion style, the bucket.

There were so many varieties of flavors.

Cinnamon bon

2 ~ Vanilla

Milky Way Chocolate

2 ~ Strawberries

& Peach

One of our members makes these delicious,

Cake Bites.

(You can't eat just one!)

I got a quick shot of the dessert table before everyone got around it.

This was just the beginning...later,

the table was filled with even more!

As you can see...

my bowl was full.

(I had a sample of each flavor.)

Ohhhhhhhh...Myyyyyyyy...

It was a fun evening!  Lots of friends & fellowship!  We even got a musical treat~our priest played his guitar and sang a few favorites.

Being Social at the Social,

MFSD

Disking or Dusting

Handsome Man has been busy in the field.  (You can keep him out of town for a little while~but then he's got to get back to the field.)  He took this picture for me while he was out disking ~ in the field...

The purpose for disking is:

cultivation.

It's the first step to breaking up the ground

and getting it ready for the next crop.

(I had to ask Handsome Man about this.

I'm not a farm knowledgable gal.)

There is a lot of dust.

A Lot!

We need a rain.

Corn rows.

We have lots of corn rows.

You can see they need a drink, too.

Thankfully, we received enough rain earlier

that the stalks produced.

So...we will have corn.

This is field corn.

It is not sweet corn, the yummy kind, you & I like to eat.

 Field corn is used for

cattle feed.

Some we (not really, "we," obviously I do not help) they, as in the boys will be grinding for our own cattle, stored in grain bins,

and some will go to the Mill.

Getting close to another harvest,

same trucks,

same combines,

different headers.

Cows are thinking, "YUMMY!"

Farm reporting (from the house),

MFSD

Coming Home

Coming home, food.

Oh, yes...food.

Chili's

I am a cheeseburger kind of girl.

I could (if allowed) eat a cheeseburger everyday.

My waist (no really it's my clothes)~won't allow it.

I've also discovered my liking of fried stringed onions.

Is "liking" a word?

Anyway... I do, I really do!

I had a delicious Shiner BBQ Cheeseburger and

Handsome Man had the Classic Cheeseburger.

(He's a Classic kind of guy.)

Hello, Oklahoma.

Hello, Arbuckle Mountains.

Do you see the raindrops on our windshield?

They were a welcome site!

Please note:  Handsome Man did pull off on a Scenic Turn off~

it wasn't very scenic.

We were also ready to be home.

Rolling in the Stang,

MFSD

Downtown Dallas

Dallas, The West End

Old Red Museum

(originally the courthouse)

built in 1892.

A great place to get information about Big "D."

Past & Present

I fell in love with this building~

I love the red stone.

I love the clock tower.

I just think it's amazingly beautiful to have retained it's original integrity for over 100 years!

(Can we even build something today that will withstand the passing of time & still speak of our past in over a hundred years?)

I hope so...

You will find a monument built for

John F. Kennedy

on the lawn beside, Old Red.

This monument is meant to reflect & symbolize the freedom of JFK's spirit.

We stood at the corner where the motorcade turned to go down the road that would forever change our history.  You can see the sixth floor window

that was used to assassinate Pres. Kennedy.

Yes, I'm a happy girl.

I love history.

I really enjoyed the trip.

This is a part of the drive close to where

our President was shot.

So sad.

Looking back from the corner you can see the older buildings that were present during the assassination. 

Also, notice the newer buildings that have been built since.

We are resilient.

Taking a step back, to go forward,

MFSD

PS

Happy Birthday, B!

Dallas Trip

On our way to the Big D

Dallas, that is.

They say everything is bigger in Texas,

well, yes~I would agree.

We took the pony for a drive.

(She loves the road.)

Sorry~I really have Mustang Fever!

I think they're really a sweet car.

(I mean it~I'm crazy about my Stang; well...next to Handsome Man, that is.)

Coming in to the city...

Wow!

It's been a long time since I've been through the Big D.

Thank goodness for GPS!

Handsome Man handled the driving

(these people are really in a hurry

or...they're just crazy),

and I handled reading the GPS and watching for the exits.

Oh, and yes~being wowed by all the fascinating structures.

When you're on a road trip...there is the food.  First stop was a Black-eyed Pea Restaurant.  I was so hungry, I forgot to take a pic of my dinner, Oops!

It was delicious!  I had grilled chicken with veggies (red & green peppers, onions, yellow squash and a variety of melted cheeses) on flat bread, Yum!  Handsome Man had his all-time favorite, chicken fried steak; it looked great too.  But, as you can see my focal point (after eating and realized I forgot the picture) was the Texas Star.  They were everywhere.  You have to admire a state that is so proud of it's heritage; stars were everywhere. (I know I'm repeating myself~but they were~everywhere!)

I'll be sharing more of our Texas Tour, tomorrow :)

(and yes, there are more stars)

Driving the country,

MFSD