Hello August!

The dwindling pond

August and the dog days of summer have arrived! Only thing good I can say about August is that it's one month closer to Autumn! Just today I noticed the days are getting shorter. Normally I do my evening chores as late as possible in hopes that the temperatures will be a tad bit cooler. Usually that means I'm back in the house by dark, which has been 8:30ish. Today it was 8:00ish and dark already.

The heat has been a real bear, but fortunately all the animals seem to be dealing with it okay so far. I expect it will be worse before it gets better, but the rabbit gets his bottle of ice to cuddle with, the chickens, ducks and goats have shade and fresh water and the dogs stay inside in the air conditioning. They're not about to lay around outside during the dog days of summer!

Hermione and Teagan

Even the cats have found ways to stay cool. Some of them refuse to go out, some of them prefer lounging on the cool concrete floor in the garage and, as you can see, Hermione likes to spread out on the floor with the dogs so she can cool her belly on the floor. More often than not you will find her sprawled out like this with her belly spreading out on each side of her body. It's like she has plastered herself to the floor.

Guinness, our Husky mix, is the only dog to lay like this.. He likes to lay on the back porch with his rear legs sprawled out to the sides. Being a large dog, it's a funny sight to see.

Even the two barn cats have given up the relative cool of the barn for the garage. Harley and Murphy both can be found snoozing in the garage. Murphy sleeps like the dead in the most awkward positions. One of these days I'll have to share a photo of him. Coming home from the grocery store Monday evening I found him down by the pond sprawled out in the middle of the driveway. He never even twitched as the truck got close to him, which scared me badly. I just knew he'd suffered heat stroke or something and was lying there dead. Jumping out of the truck I called his name and he slowly raised his lazy head and yawned at me. WHEW...I moved his lazy self off the driveway so I could drive on up to the house.

Speaking of the pond, it is getting awfully low. I haven't been down there fishing since Don killed the huge water moccasin. Nearby Arkabutla Lake is so low that I see dead fish floating on the edges of the lake when I go to Hernando to do my shopping. It continues to be terribly dry and hot here. Today I dug up an onion for supper and the ground in the garden is dust on top and dry as a bone beneath the surface. It was so hard I was barely able to get the shovel into the ground around the onions. No way would I have been able to just pull it out of the ground!

So I welcome August and hope it passes swiftly! I'm yearning for cool Autumn days and autumn rain pattering on the roof.

Signs of the Seasons...

Today I noticed that the berries on the holly bush at the end of the front porch are starting to change colors. Right now they have a pinkish tint to them, but before I know it they'll be bright red and ready for Christmas!

I've noticed other signs that Autumn is moving steadily toward Winter. We've had a couple frosts so I went out this afternoon to check the broccoli in the garden. It's doing great, but the frost killed some volunteer potato plants so I dug them up. Got two medium size potatoes for my efforts so we'll be eating them for supper tomorrow night.

The butter beans were also killed, but the catnip still looks good. I'll need to harvest it soon as I'm sure the cats would enjoy some toys stuffed with catnip, especially Possum, the new kitten (who is growing like a weed).

My garden spiders are slowly dying off as well. It always makes me sad to say goodbye to them, but they've lived their brief lives and next Spring their children will replace them. The only one still hanging on is the one of the porch. I guess she is better protected from the chilly nights.

Almost all the leaves have blown off the persimmon tree and there are only a few stubborn persimmons still clinging to the limbs. The dogs continue to root around beneath the tree looking for sweet persimmons, but it won't be long before there will be none to find.

However, the dogs have other things to enjoy now. They love lying in front of the fireplace when I have a small fire going (the photo is Guinness from a few years ago made just before Halloween). They also enjoy the cooler days and have been quite rambunctious the last week or so.

Elvis has also been quite frisky, hopping around his cage and greeting me at the door when I bring him treats. I'm sure his rabbit fur coat feels better to him when the temperatures drop!

Saturday I bought a pumpkin, which I will carve on Halloween. Since we live so far off the road I'll put it on the fireplace mantel for us to enjoy. I just can't imagine Halloween without a jack-o-lantern, even though they signal the end of October.

November is quickly approaching. I see the signs of it everywhere and I welcome its arrival with open arms!

Was I missed?

Last week was a long one, but the hard work paid off and we made over $3000 on our annual yard sale. My brother (as usual) made the most, but I made more than I did last year so I'm happy!

I'm also happy to be home and it seems I might have been missed. My little dog, Aislinn, has been getting in my lap to nap...something she didn't do before I left. The other dogs were all wiggling and giving me kisses when I got home Monday night and Don was waiting in the driveway to give me a hug when I got out of the truck!

This morning Don brought me the lovely wildflower bouquet above. It's a mix of Joe Pye Weed, Calico Asters, Goldenrod, brilliant red Sumac leaves, Brown-eyed Susans and a white flower I haven't been able to identify. I'm not handy with flower arranging so I just put this bouquet in a vase just the way Don brought it to me. I think it is gorgeous and love having a bit of Autumn in the house to enjoy.

Personally, I think Autumn has just as pretty a display of flowers as Spring does with all it's golds, reds and purples, which are some of my favorite colors (red being my absolute favorite). I also love the way Autumn paints the leaves on the trees with reds, rusty browns, gold and yellow colors. All this glorious color set against a bright blue sky is just breathtaking.

I hope you get a chance to go out and enjoy this time of year. Soak it up...it's fantastic!

Welcome Autumn! Glad you're here!

Today is the Autumnal Equinox...the first day of Fall! It's my favorite time of the year. I love the cooler temperatures, I love the smell of the air and the beautiful colors of the trees as their leaves change hue and eventually fall to the ground. I even love the cold dreary rainy days of Autumn...those are my favorite kind!

Autumn is a time for celebrating the year's harvest (which is why I chose this photo of my precious grandson that his Mommy made at a pumpkin patch last year). Unfortunately, due to the extremely dry summer, we don't have much of a harvest to celebrate. We did get the sweet potatoes dug, but they are pitifully small. The only things left in the garden to harvest are the rest of the carrots and possibly some butter beans.

We have lots of birthdays to celebrate in our family during the Autumn season, plus one of my favorite holidays - Halloween! There's Thanksgiving too, but it's not much of a holiday for me any more. Don and I decided since one of us needs to stay home with the animals he could go to visit his family on Thanksgiving while I stay home (then I visit my family at Christmas while he stays home). It might seem odd to some, but it works for us.

Today I hung one of my Autumn flags on the front porch and took a long walk into the woods just to soak in this glorious Fall day. For me, the only thing that spoils this time of year is being surrounded by gunfire and having to run trespassers off our property. Hunters who do not have permission (and no one ever does) to hunt on our property are not tolerated and fortunately the word has spread. We don't have even half the trouble now that we had when we first moved onto the farm.

Despite weekends that make me feel like I'm living in a war zone, I still relish this time of year. My only regret is that Autumn doesn't last longer. If it were up to me, we'd have three seasons...two months of Spring, eight months of Autumn and two months of Winter. Yes, I love it that much!

Happy Fall y'all!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Autumn! It's almost here and you can definitely tell it. The trees are all starting to turn and it rained last night! We needed it so bad and we got a gully washer. We never got over 70 degrees today either...my kind of day.

Don was off today so I walked to the barn with him to feed the horses and then we spent some time at the pond. The ground was littered with fat juicy ripe persimmons and the dogs enjoyed feasting on them. I even snacked on a few myself.

It even SMELLS like Autumn now that its rained. I just sat there and took deep breaths...heavenly!

Of course, Autumn doesn't officially arrive until Wednesday. I'm just grateful I can feel it coming!

I wanna be a star....

As soon as I saw her the theme music to Project Runway went running through my mind. Obviously our pup Aislinn is an aspiring fashion designer. Check out this adorable orange poncho she created in the short time I was outside feeding the ducks and chickens!

While I was outside feeding my feathered friends I was composing today's blog in my mind. I'd intended to write about the corn field being harvested today, the Autumn coolness in the air and it being time to dig up my sweet potatoes.

My mind changed the minute I came in and laid eyes on Aislinn. She was sitting primly in her crate wearing her stylish new poncho. She fashioned it by chewing a hole in the middle of her blanket (which is actually a dust cloth I bought at Dollar Tree). Maybe this is what she intends to wear for Halloween.

Aislinn is incredibly difficult to photograph as she is never still. There's no way I could even attempt to take her photo outside the crate. As soon as she's out Aislinn is off at full speed around and around the house. She has an all out bouncy joyful run that is a delight to see. In fact, Aislinn is just a pure delight and we are very grateful that she came into our lives.

Hmmm...I wonder if she'd make me a new outfit if I gave her a tablecloth to chew?

Ye ol' persimmon tree...

Down near the pond in our front yard is one of my favorite trees...a persimmon. I was checking it out this evening and, unlike this photo that I took in late Autumn, it is currently full of leaves and big green persimmons (dare you to take a bite of one).

One year I made persimmon butter from the fruit of this tree, but we weren't that fond of it. Now I just let the wildlife and our dogs have them. Drake, our elderly Black Lab, absolutely loves persimmons. The other dogs munch on them too, but none of them are as nuts for persimmons as Drake. I've thrown a few to the chickens, but they don't seem to like them much. Sometimes Don and I will snack on a few when we're sitting at the pond enjoying the nice cool Autumn evenings.

When the house was being built we would come out on the weekends to enjoy our place. I would pack a picnic and, while Don cleared brush, etc. I would sit under the persimmon tree reading a book. Our beloved Border Collie, Huck, lived for those weekends. Sadly, we lost him to stomach cancer six years ago next month. Huck is buried under the persimmon tree along with other precious dogs we've lost...Tippy, Brawn, Bonnie and Aoife. Five markers make a semi-circle around the persimmon tree and we hope it will be a very long time before another marker is placed there.

One of these days when I am gone I'd like to have my ashes scattered around the persimmon tree. Until then I will enjoy it's beauty and delight in the sweet musky taste of its fruit each Fall.

I can feel it coming...



What a beautiful day today! We had a high of 82 degrees with a nice steady breeze. There's a big orange moon peeking over the tops of the trees right now. While I was out feeding the ducks and chickens just now a fIock of Canada Geese flew by overhead.

Now, I know it's the middle of August, but I could feel a hint of Autumn chill in that breeze and I loved it! Autumn is my favorite time of year (summer is my least favorite) and it always gives me a thrill when I catch that first promise of Autumn's arrival. I'm pretty sure that's what the geese were heralding as they flew overhead.

I can officially say I was thrilled today while at the pond catching fish. It was a lovely way to end a pleasant Sunday and I am looking forward to more of the same!

So long hot dry July...

July is leaving in a blast of hot dry air and August isn't promising anything different. I'm always happy to say so long to July, even though it is my birth month. Summer is my least favorite season and July offers all that I dislike about summer...stinging and biting insects, hot weather, no rain, snakes, etc. At least with August I know Autumn is just around the corner.

I went out this afternoon in near 100 degree heat to pick my green beans. Sadly, July was not kind to the garden and the green beans are not worth picking. They are dry and tough with no beans inside. The cantaloupes are done, the cucumbers have withered away and all that is left are some very small bell peppers, spindly tomato vines with small tomatoes and butter beans that have gone nuts. Yeah, I'm pinning my hopes on those crazy butter bean vines! I tried to dig up a carrot to see how large they were, but the ground was so hard I needed a jack hammer to get it out!

So long July and good riddance! I'll see you next year and I can promise one thing...next year will be too soon for me!