Making hay and a dog shirt...

Here's what's happening right now on the ranch -- Haying!
This is a picture of the swather that cuts the hay down. We'll use all this hay to feed our livestock through the winter and part of next spring.



Then we go over the hay with this little tractor (my favorite) and an implement called a rake. (this photo doesn't show the rake) It goes down between two windrows that the swather makes and turns the hay over into the center, making a larger windrow. The hay is left to dry to just the right moisture level (about 15 %) and then it is rolled up into big round bales. I get to run this little tractor with the rake now and then, but I nearly have to fight my boys for a turn. While I rake hay, I watch the meadowlarks feed on the grasshoppers and the butterflies fly in pairs through the pastures. No iPod for me!

I just made this onsie for another newborn baby, Braden. He was born one week after our little grandangel, Hazel Peach. I hope they'll grow up to be good friends. It's so much fun for me to be stitching for Littles again.

I'm not sure where I found this pattern, but it might be from Doe-C-Doe, but now I'm not certain. Oh well, she's got lots and lots of wonderful vintage patterns on her blog and on Flickr Hoop Love. Have fun looking!