My Afternoons Lately ...

... are spent doing this.

This is not my husband and me, and we are baling hay, not straw as shown in this picture, but this is what we look like out in the hay fields.

Wheat harvest and straw bales. Photo courtesy of https://www.pinterest.com/pin/111393790758645313/

Old tractor with no cab, old baler that we hope keeps working for a long time, multiple hay racks.
And, we are out there by ourselves; no help.

Yesterday wasn't too bad. It was not as hot as it had been, was cloudy most of the time and a slight breeze came up part way through the afternoon. Today the heat index was 105 degrees. Thankfully it was a small field, requiring only one rack. I am not complaining. I have the pretty easy job of driving, well, steering, the tractor. My poor husband is doing the hard work of stacking the bales of hay on the rack.

http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/viewtopic.php?t=667747

This photo shows how high the hay gets stacked.

The top layer is over his head (he is 6' 3") and he throws those bales up there with what looks like no problem at all. He grew up doing this. I did not. I do not know how to really run the tractor. I do not know how to start it or put it in gear or what levers to push to make the baler run. I do know which lever to push to make it stop and where the brake is. I sit in the seat, he stands by me and gets it all going, then hops off. I pull the lever that makes it start moving forward and he hops on the rack. Not ideal, but it works. My father-in-law used to be the tractor driver, but it has become very apparent the last few years that he should not being doing it any more. He IS 94 and arthritic. It has become physically unsafe for him to get on and off the tractor.

So some of my sewing time has gone to hay baling. I am meeting my Vitamin D requirements and getting to spend some time with my husband.

I have put a quilt on the frame for a friend. I got about half of it quilted yesterday morning before going to the field.

And, finally, I am excited to see this...

...Monarch caterpillar! My husband lets me grow milkweed plants for the Monarch butterflies as long as I break off the pods before they release their seeds. The butterflies lay their eggs on the milkweed plants and the caterpillars eat the leaves. I have noticed the butterflies around the milkweeds for a few weeks now, but this is the caterpillar I have seen. Last year I got to watch this...

Chrysalis

Emerging

Almost ready to take flight!

 I hope to see it again this year.