Thursday, June 28, 2018

This is Reality

Okay, folks. 

This. Is. Reality. 

It's hotter than two weeks ago. 

Lawrence, 15 miles from me, was 100 today. 
They are talking heat indices of 115 for tomorrow. 


That's what the smaller of the two pools looked like at 3. 
I had gone out at 1:30 and put some cool water into each. 

Notice that the henyard has pretty much dried up in the sun. 


All but one duck-dabbled hole had dried up.  It was stagnant scum. 


The ducks can hear as I start to fill the pools, they like fresh water. 
The teenagers were so excited they started jumping in with only two inches in the pool. 

The big white bullies came running from the yard. 


And ran the little ones out of the big pool. 

I have decided now that there really ARE four drakes. 

They are without a doubt the largest Pekins I have ever had. 
EVER. 


These little ones are so delighted with the water. 


I bucketed that whole pink pool onto garden beds. 
I am determined to keep all my new perennials alive. 




And this is how I looked when I finished and sat down to wait for the pool to fill. 

I had sweat rolling off of every bit of me. 

What I do is go out and work for 20 minutes or so in the heat, 
then go back in and cool down inside.  The dogs are literally out 
for only five minutes at a time. 





Smush-faced dogs need to stay in and suck on their teddies. 


I put a frozen bottle in an open water fortex in the little hen house, because the 
water literally was getting hot in their water fountain. 

They were perplexed at first, that's Singleton looking at it. 


He has turned into a beautiful cockerel.  He is now starting to get some brown 
shading on the tips of his feathers.  He was Biddy's first hatch this year. 
(and the little two better be the last!) 

It didn't take them long to realize the water was COLD, and they started 
drinking it.  I'll bring that container in tonight and re-freeze it, 
and will go buy a couple more tomorrow. 


Yesterday was our annual meeting at The National Agricultural Center, and 
I led a tour before the reception. 
I posed with part of the Oz Exhibit... we are participating in 
a presentation of The Wizard of Oz to be presented August 1 to 5, at 
Providence Medical Center Ampitheater (right down the street from us) by Theater League. 
We are going to turn the grounds into Auntie Em's house and farm, and characters will 
be roaming around.  

It should be great fun for families IF we don't have this terrible heat by then. 

Tomorrow morning, Lauren, our intern, and I are leading a tour for a day care 
group.  I am praying it isn't horrible at 10 AM, because I think those poor kids 
are going to get a shortened tour so they don't bake in the sun. 

Everyone hydrate and stay healthy! 










5 comments:

  1. Hari om
    I remember summers !ike that in OZ (the actual one!) and have every sympathy for you having to care for your animals...and those kids! Be safe in that blaze. YAM xx

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  2. I was out after work yesterday and walked every row in the garden and pulled up the invasive plants that have seed heads. This is the only way to finally annihilate them. I did this for years with the plants from h.e.double-hockey sticks. Finally, by hand pulling them I got rid of them. They would get huge. Had vicious thorns and thousands of seeds per plant.

    I was soaking wet and had a full contractor bag full of the weeds. I'll do it again in a few days to get the ones I missed.

    YOU BE CAREFUL!

    Happy weekend.

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  3. The heat can be oppressive for sure ! You too, try to keep cool. It's a job in itself these days !

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  4. You are so cute with the tin man there, Mary Ann! Please be careful in this heat because I know you can't stay inside, you have all that sweet flock to take care of.

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  5. It has been unbearably hot these past two weeks, it must be tough with trying to tend to the animals. Stay safe in this heat, thanks for the share. Keep up the posts!
    World of Animals

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