First cutting, barely May

I cannot believe what I'm seeing out my kitchen window. They're actually mowing first cutting right now, on MAY 3rd! You know you've skipped Spring when hay is getting mowed this soon. (BTW, those roses you see in the photo are covered in hairy caterpillars. Ew! My theory is that roses are weeds and cannot be damaged by anything. We'll see if I'm right.)

I cannot wait for my field to get mowed - it's looking all unruly with Timothy heads sticking up despite my man and I mowing under the fenceline to at least tidy the edges.

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I was given a cool belt on Saturday from a friend up north. I cannot believe how cool this belt is, and how timely, my old belt was somehow shrinking (!?). I also cannot believe that a belt buckle like this exists in Germany and I daresay it must have originated in America. As I was mentioning to Aarene, we do not have logging trucks like this here. Note that I did not photograph my waistline for this photo *giggle*.

(It's not that I condone deforestation, but I believe that in the PNW the forests are managed responsibly - replantings are done with a mixture of species, endangered speices are taken into account determining where the cuts occur. And they give us land to ride horses in as they do their work.)

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I hung out in Baasha's stall during dinnertime and got some neat photos. I like this one because it looks like he's standing next to a television's reflection on the wall.

I wonder what he was staring at over there; I assume the neighbor's horses were running around over the hillside. You can barely make out a black stripe on the middle of his neck - I have no idea where he got that greasy mark. Looks like he's been working on the car at night without our knowledge.

He would grab a bite and jump back to the window and chew while staring out. I love the shadow of the snap that holds his bucket, while you almost cannot see the snap itself. (Photo gimped for sepia effect.)

I thought for sure by the time I go in the house and get my camera, he'll be done staring at whatever he's staring at, but I got lucky. I had to make this photo B/W because he looked so dirty.

This is my man's favorite and I messed up the contrast a bit trying to make it almost a silhouette. (I'd completely forgotten that there's an h in silhouette.)

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These are my first blueberries and they have blossoms this year. I had never seen a blueberry flower before and they are adorable, don't you think? My husband teased me that I'll probabaly eat all the blueberries at once. He's right. Blueberries here never make it into recipes.

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There's my tiger cat with the comically short tail. She's been finding odd places to sleep outside, always startling me. And she's taken to rolling in the dirt - any dirt she can find - much to our amusement. She'll run in front of us on the trail and then drop and roll, making us stop so we don't step on her. Can someone tell me why cats roll in dirt? My parents' cat Popoki loves a good dirt bath too.

She recently discovered how yummy fishfood is. Whether it's the trout or the goldfish, she's there hoping for a handout. It makes sense - fishfood contains fish.

There she is in the greenhouse, thinking about hunting.

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Today was spring cleaning of the house day and I'm done but listening to the next door neighbor mow. Such a pleasant sound. At the moment I have nothing to mow because I took care of the last bits yesterday. Tonight I will grill some chicken on the barbeque and sleep on clean sheets in a very clean house. My to-do list is getting done slowly...

Wish I could send some of this weather to those of you who would appreciate it. I just sigh when I wake up to yet another sunny day in Germany.

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One more thing - Germany thanks you, America, for getting the bad guy.