A Tour Around the County

We have been in a drought, a "moderate" drought as the weathermen call it. 

Remember last fall???  (I don't, very much, actually) 

The Farmer's Almanac warned that our area was going to have a bitter winter, 

with lots of snow and prolonged cold. 

Did.Not.Happen. 

We need moisture.

This was my favorite little pasture pond last week. 

Look at it tonight!  In fact, that was this afternoon before the last big rain tonight. 

If you squint, you will see four blue winged teal on it. 

Hmmmm... maybe two mallards, two teal (one was to the left). 

This is the drain at the park where we walk all the time on the 5th: 

It's not your eyes, the picture is blurry.  I was watching this daily, 
knowing that the water source for the animals in the park was 
drying up day by day. 

This is the drainage ditch that goes into it. 

I take weird pictures. 

Oh, yes. 

My side yard. 

And my back yard. 

There were a LOT of good smells in the park. 

Turn up the volume and hear the frogs! 

Not Fire

Dust.

 

 

Henspa Progress

Another gorgeous fall day in Leavenworth County, but now winds gusting to 20 mph, so I am waiting to water the gardens until morning.  According to the weatherman, the winds are blowing in some rain for Friday and Saturday. 

 

I'll believe it when we see it, because this is making my stomach hurt daily:

 

That crack is one foot from the backyard steps.  I have the porch hose dripping into it tonight, not deliberately, but I did not tighten the hose in the cold some time ago, and it drips slowly... so it may as well do some good here.

 

But, in happier news, the henspa is really progressing, despite Keith having to be out of town all last week.

 

 

 

He's cutting boards for the dividing wall inside.

 

 

As you see, instead of linoleum, we went with rubber mats, which will be sealed down tomorrow.

(Michelle!)

 

These were so heavy I could not help Keith move them, and he got a workout having to do it himself.  He also got a workout cutting and trimming, but they will seal down nicely.

 

 

You can see the dividing wall here, it will be the "feed room side" beyond the wall, so that the dogs can't run straight into the coop when we open the door.   There is still a lot construction material around, but that will soon be hauled to the recycling station or re-used on another project.

 

Keith's making progress!

 

 

 

 

 

Now I'm Taking it Personally

Okay, I can tolerate the fact that the gardens are fading before my eyes.  I live to water, you know that.

And I can tolerate the fact that when we are home, we do water at least 3 to 4 times a day, so that there is cold life-giving water for the birds to drink and stay cool with.

But this, I take personally.

Yes, that's an older bird, Martha, but one I especially liked, and one that laid daily.  In fact, I have expected Buffy, the Polish, to be the first to go, as the heat is bothering her terribly.

I think the sustained heat is beginning to take it's toll, and I won't be surprised if some of the other older birds can't take much more.

Despite the 108 temperature, we got a bucket o' eggs today, but it does not make up for losing the pretty black Martha.

Addendum at 10:17 PM:

Martha wasn't the only one.  We found Wilma, an older Welsummer hen also still laying, out in the big henyard, I don't know how I missed her while doing the water.  She was in the dust where many of them are laying, trying to conserve their energy during the day.  We thought she had been attacked by a possum, as she appeared to have no head. 

When I picked her up...it dangled, and we realized it was another heat death.

Tomorrow the prediction is for 105, and I expect more.

Almost There

It's been a long Saturday, and on top of it, I'm under the weather badly.  Don't know if it's the weather, or what, but I'm having a repeat of the sickness I had shortly after my sister died.

Depending on whom you believed, it was either :

OR 97 degrees OR 103 degrees at 2:00. 

As soon as I got home from getting my hair cut, I started on water for the third time.

That's a frozen water bottle in the metal waterer.  NO metal waterer is exposed to the sun here, this one sits on a cement block in the four x four pen, and stays cool all day.  The addition of the water bottle helps it stay cold.

I had just put a water bottle and fresh water in the waterer, and no, Buffy the Polish girl is not dead... but she is suffering in the heat terribly.  She is hunkered down where it is wet in the bedding.  The gallon jug was frozen solid in the deep freeze, and one red hen immediately figured it out, and claimed the side of it.  Notice how Rambo and the other red hen hold their wings out from their bodies, in order to dissipate the heat.

You don't think Lil thinks she's a human, do you?  She appears to have taken over the spare room, where Keith had been napping.

What is this picture, you wonder?  Well, it was taken just about an hour ago, at 5:50... and you see Jackson, whose color has turned a beautiful mahogany since he came here 3 months ago.  However, he is dogging Rambo something terrible.  In the twenty minutes I sat and watched, he ran Rambo into the henhouse not just once, but three times.  He won't let him be. 

I wondered why Rambo was inside during the afternoon.  I am not sure what to do about this, because I have to let the turkeys out of the little henyard, where they sleep, so the Turkettes can lay in their nests.  He is really picking on Rambo, and actually follows him into the henhouse to make sure he stays in.  Rambo can usually get out the side pophole, but before he gets back to the pasture, Jackson rounds him up again!

I am going to write about something happening around our area tomorrow, something I was going to write about originally today, but it will take a different slant now.  I think a lot of you are going to be experiencing it, too.

Right now, I'm going out to do a rain dance!  

Monday, 97 at 8:12 PM

Hey!

This isn't bad!  I'm actually out there enjoying myself tonight!  I don't know if I'm used to it or what?

However, I have just run short of water and decided to give the pump a rest.

Let me address a couple of comments we received last night...

Cheyenne said: "get a drip hose".  We have one, Cheyenne, but our well pump will run and run and run if we drip water, until the water is all gone.  We risk burning the pump out.  We discovered this last year when we got the drip hose and almost lost the pump.  I actually laid it out last week, thinking I would use it off and on, but have yet to connect it.  I agree wholeheartedly about watering from the roots.  I have a hand faucet for the hose that I switch out with the one you saw pictured last night... it produces a fine spray, and I usually connect this, and leave it at the base of the plants for a half hour at a time, the pump can keep up with that.

About twenty minutes ago, I was out watering and noticed the pressure had dropped considerably.  There had been a one hour hiatus after I had watered the birds, which I do as soon as I get home from work.  This tells me that our water table is getting low, because the 120 foot deep well is not replenishing as fast.  Heretofore, I could do the birds, come and water the hoop house, and then water the two biggest garden beds without worry of losing pressure.  I have come in to do the post, and then will go back out and try to water a little more tonight.  Tomorrow morning I'll go out at 5:45 and do the porch plants and the hoop house. 

Tonight, it was the pear tree's turn again:

I can't fill the buckets too full, because then I can't lift them out of the wagon. (I am, after all, just a woman)  I had to bucket out (with my egg bucket) the blue bucket because I had filled it too full.  This was trip number two. 

The Japanese Redneck (Hi, Ramona!) commented that they had used greenhouse plastic on their greenhouse.  We will do that in the future, we think.  This whole thing was an experiment this year, and we are ready to go whole-hog (though not with a huge one).   Despite this weather, we liked the whole experience.

Don't I always look so charming in my chore clothes?

Guess what I'm eating right now?

I wish I could tell you they are from our bushes at the foot of the pasture, but no... ours have literally burned up on the bush, I went down Saturday night to check.

These, my friends, are a gift from Kathy next door!  They are sweet and delicious and HUGE!

Keith is out doing an errand so guess what?  I'm sitting here popping them while typing and I hope there are some for him when he gets home! 

I'm going to stop right now and go out and lock the turkeys up.  The two batches of chicks are putting themselves away, I found them in their respective hutches last night, all going to sleep at dark.  One turkey, Clarabelle, was still out in the high grass laying an egg, so I'll check to see if she is back, and then lock everyone up.  We are taking a chance and leaving the popholes of the big henhouse open the last few days, it's just so hot in there even with the fan running.