Silaging Part 2

The last Blog post left off with  us awaiting the arrival of our contractor. Meanwhile Henry was out Rowing Up

 and after afternoon milking we finally started to see the grass come in.

At the silage pit James was champing at the bit waiting for the first loads (and finding time to Tweet  - all the photos on these last two Blogs are are taken and Tweeted on his phone).

If everything is running smoothly with no breakdowns there's usually time to stop and get out the tractors for meals (ice cream boxes packed with homemade goodness!), sit down and admire the view.

But, if there's a rush to get done before the rain, meals are eaten on the go - apparently these sausage rolls made a bit of a mess in tractor cabs.

We knew there was a very small window of fine weather, so only cut 60 acres. By Wednesday night it was back to rain and checking the BBC weather. And on Friday afternoon we started it all again - mowing and scaling late into the night.

All day we could see the weather moving round us - sometimes two systems at once - but it never really touched us.

And that's it for First Cut - 70 acres yesterday in 12 hours. Time for a rest - but no time - sheeting up tomorrow then onwards and upwards!

Green green grass - ready and waiting (and wilting)

At last the mower has moved out into the field. We had hoped - and expected - to have started silaging a few days ago, but for some reason we were moved down the contractor's running order. So now it's a race to get as much in the pit before the weather changes. It's a stressful time for farmers - poised and ready to go, but waiting for the weather. And then knowing when to start mowing - and how much to mow - so the grass is just nicely wilted when the contractor's forage harvester arrives in the yard.

But despite the stress, or maybe because of it, James has not given up Tweeting. Do you follow him? His tweets are one of the reasons I don't write as much on the Blog. By the time my fingers hit the keyboard, it's old news. So log on to Twitter and search for James Robinson (@JRfromStrickley). Or if Twitter is new to you - click on this link

Because James is so handy with his camera phone, I haven't been out in the fields. Here's a few photos from his Tweets - for the accompanying text you'll need to look on Twitter.