As the heat of July blended into an equally hot and dry August, he found himself too busy and weary to think of anything but working and sleeping and squeezing in eating when he could.He sowed the buckwheat, hoed thistles out of the corn, drew the wheat, and fought potato bugs off the beets. Annalisa was equally busy, tending to the new baby and Gretchen, drying fruit, and preserving vegetables for the winter.If he thought he’d worked hard to sow the fields, it was child’s play compared to the harvesting and threshing. He was grateful several other neighboring farmers worked together as a team to accomplish the daunting tasks. They moved from farm to farm, cutting and shocking the wheat and oats.When the time came to do the haying at Leonard’s, Carl almost refused. Leonard had cleared more land than most of the other farmers, and his harvest was bigger. Carl couldn’t begrudge the man for being a diligent worker, but he couldn’t shake his dislike of Leonard for causing the bruises Idette often wore.He’d rather see the man’s hay rot in his field for the way he treated his wife.
