Blackberries And Balers

MMM. It's that time of the year again. Harvest time. Everything is ripe or just about so. The apples are falling off the trees. The peaches are succulent, the cherry-plums are sweetening and the pears and Italian prunes are getting closer. The blackberries are black and sweet. MMM MMM.

Have a bowl full. There are many, many more to share. These are feeding the freezer (to pop into smoothies for a delicious anytime treat), the pie crust, and the bellies.

Little hands just can't get enough...

Nor can little mouths...(or big mouths in Weston's and my case)


And now we move on to the 'Balers' portion of this post. It should really be just 'Baler', for there is only one, but does that sound as cool in a post title coupled with 'Blackberries'? No, it doesn't.

So, anyway, my Rancher has been wanting me to learn to bale for a while now, and actually I have, too. So, yesterday evening when he said, "I'm going to go bale that field," I thought, well actually I said out loud, "How 'bout you show me how to do it." He thought that was a great idea, as all my ideas usually are (ahem).

So here we are, all piled in the tractor cab as Rancher man shows me how to engage the PTO, rev the RPMs, and set the tractor to movin' along.

Isn't he a handsome rancher?

MMM hmmm...

Then he set me off by myself. Yes, that's really me driving that beastly machine with my mad farming skills. Okay, so I wasn't entirely alone. Spencer, who has spent numberless hours riding along with and observer his daddy, was sure to tell me how to sit, when to turn, and many other things.

You see, secretly, this is kind of a dream come true for me. From when I was young, I have dreamed of living on a farm, having lots of kids (sweetness #4 is baking right now), growing food, getting dirty, feeling free, and of driving the tractor. Even though the ranch isn't ours, and it isn't nearly as green as in my dreams, we are pretty dang close to fulfilling that whole dreamy picture. Driving the tractor yesterday, listening to Cold Play with one of my children at my side, I felt very content. And my handsome rancher husband was cooking steaks (fresh from the ranch btw). Yummy.

Some of the fruits, rather bales, of my labor. Lots more to go though.

Oh, I kept getting the song "She thinks my tractor's sexy" in my head. I'm adding it to my playlist.