The yellow sweet clover is in full bloom right now and it’s everywhere I look. It looks like big yellow rugs resembling shag carpet from the 70’s all spread out on hillsides and fields. It’s not the prettiest plant to lookat up close either but it smells SO GOOD!
I’ve been driving everywhere with my windows down just to inhale its awesomely sweet scent that permeates the air no matter where I go. I don’t know a whole lot about sweet clover, but its gone crazy this year growing everywhere I look. Nothing has smelled nearly as good to wake up to as that clover first thing in the morning.
Along with the intensity of sweet clover has been the Pine tree pollen. It’s not as noticeable this week, but there were breezy days that the air had a yellow haze off in the distance and I could see clouds of pollen blowing off the Pine trees.
Among other contributors to allergies, my husband has been fighting hay fever really bad this week. It doesn’t help that he occasionally has to clean out the baler when it plugs up or driving open cab tractors while raking.
We’ve been having family picnics out in the hayfield for lunch and suppertime the past few days due to haying. It’s about the only time we can spend as a family during hay season. Like a lot of other ranchers when getting hay put up, my husband works straight through before the hay can get rained on and delay things. I try to bring a power packed hot meal for my husband when he spends long days in the field. I started a little tradition several years ago on really hot and dusty haying days and it was such a hit that I’ve turned it into a tradition. When I’d take supper up to him, I’d bring a thick chocolate chip malt in a wide mouth thermos.
The next field to get cut he thinks he’ll be able to have our son and me help more. The alfalfa he just got done baling was really thick and caused a lot of problems with the equipment. To spare him extra work repairing, he wanted to be the one to deal with the thick alfalfa. Hopefully his hay fever will let up. He sounds miserable at night trying to sleep and I miss being able to open the windows.
