It's another steamy day out there today. I managaed to get some of the lawn cut later on yesterday afternoon, but there is still so much to do - hopefully the temperature will drop later on and I can get at it again. Meanwhile I'll hide out in the house and find other things to do.

We celebrated Canada's birthday last night by having family and friends over for a bonfire and fireworks after the sun went down. Being as we're not exactly fireworks experts, we are never sure of what we're getting until we light them. This batch was really nice with lots of variety in colors and design. The little kids were impressed, and the cattle right across the road were not. After the first few went off we could see them in the twilight, turning tail and running for the other end of the pasture for saftey. There was absolutley no wind by that time of the day, so the smoke just hung in the moist air - it was a neat effect to see the fireworks shooting out of the low smoke cloud, and up into the clear sky above. After the pyrotechnic show was over Mother Nature took ove with dozens of fireflies drifting around the yard showing off their natural glow, and the full moon rose just before midnight. There were a few mosquitos, but not enough to drive us inside.

Glen has been gearing up for haying. He has a neighbor's son hired to come and cut the hay with his crimper. This machine cuts the crop and makes several crimps in the stems so that the moisture can dry out faster. To make the best hay, you need it to dry out just enough to hold the nutrients but as quickly as possible so that it doesn't have time to get rained on, or start to rot or get moldy. Last year the weather was perfect for making hay - I wonder if we can manage two years in a row? We have a lot to do this year as Glen has planted another whole quarter section done to tame hay now. He will get the guy who is cutting it to leave a day or two between aech 80 acres or so. It would be a very bad thing to have all 300 acres laying on the ground if it rained.

It's hard to believe that we are into July already. Now that we don't have kids in school, summer holidays kind of sneak up on a person. I have been trying to talk Glen into some kind of a holiday in the next two months, but he's a pretty hard guy to get off the farm. Too much depends on the weather and how fast the hay can be put up and hauled home. He tells me that if I want a holiday I will have to make my own plans, so it looks like I will head west and go camping in the mountains with my sister for a week. I'm looking forward to it.