Big Green Combine

I am dreading the fair this year. We move the cattle in this Friday. After a week of 100 degree weather, I really don’t look forward to hauling, setting up, and sitting with 10 head in it. But my hands have black dye stains, the steers are almost broke, and the heifers get their final clip job tonight. That pretty much means we are set to go. So I just need to suck it up and git-r-done. Thank goodness we just stay overnight and go home. Some of these ridiculous counties still make the cattle stay 4 or 5 days.

Z is taking a bull and a steer. Theo will show a cow/calf pair, steer, and heifer. And Bella is taking two heifers and a steer.

Wish the kids luck showing and that the forecast is wrong.

I was going to start a series of posts today on putting up hay. But it rained. So we couldn’t mow. This got me to thinking about the old saying “Make hay while the sun shines’. I never had trouble understanding the phrase but some people do. I remember our minister mentioning it in a sermon. He didn’t know what it meant. I could be real cute and say that you make hay while the sun shines because you can’t make it at night. But I won’t be a smart a$#, this time. So what to do when you want answers? Google it, right. I mean, I have to check the authority to see if I’m correct. So what did I find?

Meaning

Make the most of one’s opportunities while you have the chance.

Origin

This proverb is first recorded in John Heywood’s A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue, 1546:

Whan the sunne shinth make hay. Whiche is to say.
Take time whan time cometh, lest time steale away.

Many proverbs exist in other languages, but this one doesn’t and it’s a reasonable surmise that the phrase is of English Tudor origin.

Of course, mediaeval farmers would be as well aware of the wisdom of not leaving it too late to gather one’s hay. Modern machinery and weather forecasting make haymaking reasonably quick and stress-free. Tudor farmers would have taken several days to cut, dry and gather their hay and would have had only folk rhymes like red sky at night to guide them. Forecasting the weather two or three says in advance wouldn’t have been possible, so all the more reason for them to ‘make hay while the sun shines’.         source

I love that old English. It’s so historical. And I must point out that it is still impossible to forecast the weather. The old weather proverbs are still better at predictions than those paid to do it. Anyway. So the answer to “Why make hay while the sun shines” is because it might rain tomorrow. That should clear it up for everyone.

As soon as it dries out and we get to putting some hay down, I’ll take some video take you through the process. And I’ll show you our latest big purchase. I told William it clashes with the rest of them. Can you guess what it is?

Bella’s champion steer is now in our freezer (well, half of him). He was a little over finished as we waited for Z’s steer to catch up, since it was younger. That one went to a few other families that truly appreciate good meat. Beef is a staple in our house. Evening meals don’t very much week to week. Mondays are usually steak night. Then it’s taco Tuesday. Wednesday is hamburgers. Roasts for Thursday. Friday we mix it up a bit with pizza. On the weekends we finish up any leftovers. The kids’ favorite nights are Mondays and Fridays.