Making hay whilst the sun shines.

Summer in New Zealand.

• 6 weeks of school holidays
• camping at the beach
• fights over who's using all the broadband 
• sleeping late
• no lunch boxes or running around to classes
• swimming 
• wet togs and towels lying in inappropriate places
• hot dogs for lunch
• early sunrises and fabulous sunsets
• sundowners
• old friends come home for the holidays
• hammock time!
• reading good books
• salad ,BBQ and fruit salad, regularly

...and it is also the time farmers grow maize and grass and bundle it up in bales, making hay whilst the sun shines, quite literally. These bales are the feed for cows and sheep over winter. Great, big monster agricultural tractors etc can be seen operating, day or night, at the moment. Look at this sequence!

mower starts to mow….

…still mowing….

…grass is long...

Welcome ! here 's the sweeper thingy….makes  neat rows of the cut grass….

…followed by the gobbler thingy and pooper trailer….

…follow sweeper, gobble up grass , poop out a bale…..repeat…...

….munch munch munch…...

Ta DA!

Cool!huh!

I wish I had that kind of machine to do the house vacuuming! A machine that sucks all the items left lying around by my kids( and self!) and pops them into bundles as befits for each person.

I went painting this morning and spent the last 10 10 minutes finishing up alongside a tractor mowing the field I had just had in my painting foreground. The mower had a "skirt" covering the blades, so I avoided being covered with dust and seeds. Farmers have such cool machinery!Loud, though!

I spent most of the last few weeks painting and supervising the painting of a christmas float at the local school.

Yes, this float….Santa's sleigh! Pride of Parade!! See those elves?…well, they helped me paint it and I had a lot of fun and they are a very cool bunch of youngsters. I really enjoy them . I have taught them a few times during the year and was impressed by what a nice bunch of kids they are, to me and each other.

Painting will slow down once the kids are home, I think. I wish you some slow down time too. Disconnect from the internet and reconnect with those you love.  For those of you in winter, enjoy the cosy times. For those of you in summer, enjoy the warmth of the sun . 

Sounds good, doesn't it?