How are you all doing in your corner of the world? Summer is here in full swing. Today we may even have entered into the monsoon season at last. There are showers all around us, but never really quite reaching us here. Lots of virga… the heat keeping the moisture in the air. The extremes have taken a toll on all of us here – seeking relief from the heat has been our pastime of late. We’ve already talked about a few things we have doing to help the chickens beat the heat, there are other issues – though – that we have to think about due to weather. Continue reading
stayin’ cool
29 Saturday Jun 2019
Posted in Weather
as the saying goes… every day. I suppose so. Sometimes what we learn really helps us, sometimes what we learn merely makes us laugh. Sometimes we can act on it. Sometimes it keeps us from acting. Sometimes we need to learn something over and over again before it sticks with us. What did you learn today? 
That’s what the goats are singing, but we are – slowly but surely – thwarting their escape plans. I talked a little bit about this already; Sue purchased all the materials and we’ve already laid out the posts etc. Today we made a good start at getting it going. 
That’s how I felt around 8 p.m. last night. I suppose I shouldn’t get so tired when we work on this particular aspect of the farming, but it always take a great deal out of me. I think it takes a bit out of Sue as well, but she said it is getting easier. I must confess, that it is a bit easier – I think the first time we processed, we did 7. We’ve done 15 in one day… I think that was an exceptionally long day. Yesterday was only considerably long. 🙂 
OK – I don’t have any new photos for you and not much out of the ordinary is going on here, except Scooby has been regularly escaping from their dedicated space lately. Dang goat. (OK – yes the photo is a stretch, and I know that g.o.a.t. stand for “greatest of all time” but I thought it was funny to find it on a hat. If you like it, you can get it from Dang Chicks 
Yes, it is that time of year when many people – especially those with kids out of school – take a summer vacation. They go visit their folks in Kansas (Hi, Mrs. Higbee), they send kids off to camp or to visit their relatives, they go camping, they go to beach, or Alaska, or, or, or. I just want to remind you that, when you go on vacation, your local egg supplier is left with extra eggs to sell. Just sayin’. 
When I postponed writing until today, I didn’t even think about it being Father’s Day; however, it is only fitting to wish all the fathers out there (especially mine!) a very happy day to you! Nothing about the rest of this post has anything to do with Fathers’ Day… shall we get to it? 
So, hey – we’ve got things going on. We’ve got a freezer full of veggie-sicles for the chickens. We’ve got watering going on because the trees are hot and dry. We’ve got a clean house because the keeper was here today (yay!). We’ve got the old cabbages cleared out and fed to the chickens making room for some new plantings. We’ve got chicken pies in the oven getting cooked for dinner. What’s next on our list of happenings? 
Even though summer doesn’t begin until June 21st, we are heatin’ up all the same. Monday we had our first peek at monsoonal type moisture; accompanied by a rather destructive micro burst in Bisbee. Today we have rather high clouds and are a bit muggy; hopefully this is a good portend for our monsoonal season. This is a photo from the National Park Service… but it is a good example of what we will be seeing in just a matter of weeks. 
Beauty is everywhere – yes, even in the desert – or maybe, especially in the desert. We can become immune to it, if we see it every day. I find that happens to me when I stay too focused on the work-a-day world. I try to remind myself to seek out the beauty and the humor. This time of year, after spring rains and before Monsoon, can definitely seem bleak; it becomes quite warm and dry, we’re at a dull brown/green right now, but if you go up into the Huachucas – the Sky Islands – you see a different world. This is a photo of an Elegant Trogon – they come up to southeast Arizona to nest in wooded canyons this time of year. They – and other birds – are beautiful additions to our bleak season. 
Wing and a Prayer 