Still Hot

Monday, June 20, 2022

Hello friends,

              Still hot, but a little more bearable today.  I’m still spending the greater part of the day in the air conditioning if I can help it.  About 8:00 in the evening we begin watering.  The garden, the blueberries, and blackberries, and then the flowers in front of the creamery, down by the sign, and Mom’s peonies.  Finally, we pour pitchers of water in the flower pots on the back porch.  That’s the only water that comes from the tap, everything else is pond water pumped through our water system.  Thank you, Bill, for setting all of that up!

              I want to comfort your fears about cattle dying in Kansas.  I saw the horrible pictures of the dead feed lot animals all lined up to be disposed of.  Scary stuff.  Our cows are not happy about the heat, but they have shade, plenty of water, and when it’s particularly hot we spray them with water when they come to be milked.  At first they close their eyes and try to get away, but then they realize that it feels GOOD and they just stand still and enjoy.  The chickens have shade in their house, under their house, and on the opposite side of the house from the sun.  They don’t seem to be venturing too far from their shade, but hey, I can’t see them very well in the tall grass anyway.  I’m told that their shells could be thinner when they pant to keep cool.  I haven’t noticed that yet….