Dealing with the heat and my 24 hours as a farm and ranch hand
This week was a repeat of last week…took time midweek to head to town and stock up on supplies so we could hunker down over a forecast hot 4th of July weekend:
Full frig and freezer!
Version 2 of the long, long cat … a cat inside to escape the outside heat!
Good news, bad news: The good news is that all fireworks have been banned this year. The bad news is that the fireworks have been banned because of the severe fire danger from heat and lack of rain. I don’t believe I’m saying this, but I’d rather it was green and moist and I was complaining about fireworks for a week. The fire danger is off the charts. I have the motorhome fueled, filled with water and stocked with food and clothes. We can roll quickly if necessary. Hopefully, it will not be necessary.
Meanwhile, my across the road neighbors, home to the chickens that supply me with THE MOST GORGEOUS EGGS – the neighbors went camping. They had hoped to do a 2 day trip but because of the 4th and fire danger, decided on an overnight. They asked if I could collect eggs, feed the horse and pony, the chickens and the barn cats and water the garden…in addition to eggs, I also get extras from the garden. So, I said: “YES”!
So, for 24 hours, I was Ms. Farm and Ranch Person. This is SO out of character for me. I do not like to be out in the hot and dusty and stinky, etc. BUT, the chickens are not only beautiful and supply the most wonderful eggs but they are a kick to be around. The horse (Bernita) and pony (Lexi) and cats (Oscar and Gerti) are so much fun also…
Lexi and Bernita. Lexi aka “Miss Piggy” LOVES her food. Bernita has restraint. They now love me because in addition to forking (pitch fork!!!) over their hay, I took carrots – YUM!
The cats. So funny – these cats are like Auggie: Norwegian Forest Cats!
Oscar, the gray. Oscar kind of has Mr. Bob’s build… wide body!
Gerti, a calico is a bit slimmer but still fluffier than Auggie and shorter tail.
They are both sociable and followed me around as I did the chore routine.
Some of the “girls”. These are last year’s chicks. For whatever reason, this year’s prefer to stay in the coop per Mel. But they are all together in the coop overnight so it is not a “get along” thing ??? Chickens are funny, I think. I can’t remember the breed names, but I think these are an incredibly beautiful group of hens and it was fun to feed and talk with them.
The “inside girls” … this year’s chicks in the coop. So, the other funny thing is that inside the coop there are nesting boxes for each chicken. BUT, the eggs are almost always in the left side boxes…rarely in the right side per Mel and Jesse.
On my watch, Friday night there were 6 eggs on the left side: 3 in 1 box and 2 in another. Saturday morning there was 1 egg on the right side but above the boxes! Saturday, 11:00 a.m. ish there were 2 eggs in 1 box on the left side.
Hmm.
But, there are 15 chickens so I told them a few of them were slackers!!
They said: “bawwk, bawwk, BAWWKKKK!!!”
The garden – lush and beautiful. Jesse set things up so I only had to turn on 2 faucets and all of the garden got a good drink.
After Saturday morning chores, I headed home and gathered my boys for a walk in the woods while it was still cool…
Mornings – still the best!
The long, long cat and the hot, hot dog.
This week.