Is There Life after Watering?

No, I don't always water like this, but I had other things to finish up and wanted to get a lot on in a short time.... I usually water at ground level, the best way.  But wow, the plants need it desperately now.

Here is the pear tree that looked so dead last night... this is what ten buckets of water did for it.  Our problem is that we can't do all the trees every night.  We have to do the water for the birds... the water for the plants in the hoop house... the flower beds, in a superhuman effort to save them... and the trees.   At least this tree has perked up and the branches are standing out, compared to last night when the whole thing was wilting.  Tonight I concentrated on the apple trees, so we are going to alternate trees each night.

I did some surgery on the hoop house this afternoon. 

Though it looks sad, we are actually pretty happy with the whole experiment.  I'll be home next year to take care of everything, and we are going to try to find a real greenhouse to put up in the same footprint.  All in all, despite the horrid planting year, we are very pleased with this.

Everytime I came in for a few minutes to rest, these two greeted me at the door.  We love these little dogs... they are loyal and loving, and brave enough to take ANYTHING or ANYONE on if they think their Mommy and Daddy are threatened.  Gertie and Abby have blessed us with their prescence here.  (poop on doorstep from the swallows nest above it... the swallows are currently tending their second clutch of the year)  The pugs cannot come out during the daytime except for a few minutes.  Gertie, especially, is going stir crazy, because she loves to roam all over the yard, being the farm dog.

I found that today was not as bad as yesterday... I was able to work outside for four to five hours, spread out over the day.  We took a break at 1:30 and went to meet Amber, Jesse and Baby Jace for late lunch at a restaurant in Johnson County.  (Keith's daughter and son in law).

I did initial chores at 6 AM, and changed water for all the birds.  After church and an errand in Lawrence, came home to do water again...After we got home from lunch, I watered the birds again, and then began work in the garden.  I emptied a few beds, and then pulled some beautiful onions.  They are drying on the deck.

I found this when I went into the barn to look for eggs.  We must have walked by it 20 times in the last two weeks, as it was just outside the gate to the barnyard.

Uh huh.  Sixteen beautiful eggs in a nest under a sapling, just about three feet from the gate of the horseyard, where we have had the hackneys going in and out, and the palomino mare last weekend!

ARGGHHH   I hate waste!  I took fifteen eggs and removed them (into the trash) and then left the white egg you see in the middle, to encourage the girls to keep laying there. 

Mr. Barrios came back today to put the ridge shingles on the henhouse, it took him 20 minutes, so I showed little Eddie the chickens while he worked.  We had a good visit after, his mare is doing well but he has been doctoring the wound on her neck.  It seems the man at the place where he keeps the horse tied her very tightly that Friday night, frightening her and causing her to rear back, hurt herself, and break her halter and get loose.  I was glad to hear she is recovering from the wound.  We are so grateful to him for the great roof he put on the henhouse, and now Keith is planning how he will finish the rest of the construction.  I hope to move our layers into it before the end of the summer.

I saw this when I came out of the pasture from taking care of the Mille Fleur pen... this is the most patient dog.

Note the crossed legs.  She is waiting for a mouse to show it's nose... and then it's toast.  I keep finding dead mice all over the yard.

That's our Lilly Ann!