Oh, we have had a hot uncomfortable week! 90’s day after day until a reprieve on Saturday when it didn't make it up to 70 degrees - there is that weather roller-coaster again!
It will not surprise anyone when I say that milking the goats when it is over 90 degrees is not the same pleasurable experience that it is at more moderate temperatures. Nestling up to a doe who’s normal temperature is over 101 with the addition of a lot of annoying flies is just not a recipe for a delightful time. Having milked at -30 degrees, I would venture to say that milking in the 90's is almost as uncomfortable as that.
The trees are clearly stressed. The birch have pretty much given up; many of them had their leaves dry up seemingly overnight. I hope they are going dormant early, not dying. This one is in a neighbor's field, a tree I admire no matter what the season (it looks especially beautiful covered with frost). Now half the leaves are gone - no golden yellow leaves, they just turned brown and started falling off.
We did get some rain Friday night, less than half an inch but welcome for sure and another .2 last night. The lakes and rivers are very low; we are told that you can wade across the Mississippi in places without getting your knees wet. This picture is of the Ripple River near our place.
The sunflowers are done already. I only had one bucketful to take to the market Saturday.
Although it seems early to be listing signs of impending autumn, here are a couple:
On the up side, the garden is producing some of my favorite things!
That pepper is the first red one - it's a frying pepper called Carmen that I especially like. That first melon is always the best! I brought in three more today. I do love homegrown melons! There have been only a few ripe regular size tomatoes so far but there are a LOT of tomatoes out there and soon we'll be buried in them.
The squash and pumpkins are ripening too.
The striped pumpkin above is a Kakai Hulless Pumpkin, bred especially for it's tasty seeds. I am looking forward to trying them!
So that is what is happening around here. Thank you for stopping by the blog. Until next time, be well friends.
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