It's been so hot for days now...hairdryer in the face drying your corneas hot. So grateful the sheep and horses can seek refuge in the barn, and all the fans are working. It's hard seeing the sheep hyperventilate and look so stressed.
The ducks have been managing very well, the guineas alternate what they do in this heat. A day out ranging in the field, hunting, open mouth breathing and pumping their little throats out like piscine operculums to draw more air in and out. The next day, they lounge in the tall grass in the shade, and maybe fight a bit and chase each other. I broke up a fight again last night--held Chaos for a while until he calmed down. His little legs were so hot they felt like they were burning my hands!
One of the little mourning dove fledgies died yesterday. She wasn't looking good the night before. She had an empty crop. I wonder if she just got dehydrated in this heat and didn't know where to find water?? Her sibling is still around. Very sweet. Mom is sitting on a new nest-under the eaves this time in a much safer location. The phoebe eggs hatched and there are at least two little nestlings. Hope they make it. The odds are against them.
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We tried again to leave Oak unshod on his hind hooves. Especially since he can be a little bullyish with Winston...it's safer to go without. (think bare fist vs brass knuckles) Some boarding stables won't allow horses to be all four shod. So it was a great second attempt, but just like the first time his hooves break off in chunks. Such a disappointment, since the farrier has done such great work spreading the hooves out to better support his, well, shall we say his 'retirement physique'. That being said-he hasn't gotten back to me about when he can come out this week, and it's super annoying that he doesn't return his calls when he says he will.
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| Nice yard art...I might have to try this! |
The garden is in pretty good shape, tomatoes are not looking as good as last year, but G insists it's just because everything is three weeks late this year. We've had some gorgeous red potatoes, the chard and zucchini are amazing, and the basil is perfect. There is a lot more--but unfortunately we've eaten it all before I've had a chance to take photos....Bad news for the blog/farm journal! We really need to record everything about our new test plots--wheat this year, buckwheat, rye that failed, different types of corn (oops that reminds me--we need to get up the electronet around the corn so the raccoons don't eat it this year....)
The other night we were both out there weeding, and Zantar came to join us. Such a beautiful bird...he ran away and hid when our neighbours stopped by, then came out again as soon as they left. He seems to really trust us, and finds us predictable enough I suppose, scary humans though we are.
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Well nothing earth shattering to report I guess. Just trying to deal with the stifling heat and the fact that our air conditioner isn't working. I have to many projects I'd like to get to--and no energy to start them.
Lorpie is spending the day inside with me today. Last night I brought her in at 5pm, and at bedtime I checked on her and she was open mouth breathing with her throat pumping away. I put her in the basement for the night, and although she seemed a little disoriented with her foreign surroundings this morning I'm sure had a much better night down there.
One highlight of today at least--I had some nice grooming time with Mr. Winston. He's been twitching his tail quite a bit lately, so I checked it out. He had two ticks on his tail dock and lots of sloughing skin. So I picked and brushed his beautiful mahoghany tail until it was untangled, and told him how good he was. Applied some healing and anti-itch spray, which stings at first, but all he did was turn around an look at me, and didn't protest. Scratched his bug bites with the dandy brush, to which he made cute snaggle toothed faces and seemed very pleased with the whole arrangement. I braided his mane a new way, and promised him we'd do our very best to take care of him the way he deserves. : ) As I lay in bed last night, too hot, and not sleeping at 04:30 , I wondered how many years he'd have left, and if he'd come back to BC with us, or if we'd have to say good bye. He's 24 now. I still remember my first horse death experience. I was 18 or 19, working at a stable in Collingwood Ontario. There was a 35 year old mare who's name is just on the edge of my memory. She was stocky and shaggy and now that I think of it probably had advanced Cushing's disease. But most of them will by 35! She laid in her stall, and I remember laying with her, my face on her neck. She was so old, and so dignified. I wish I hadn't turned around to look when she was winched up on to the flatbed the next morning...Curse my visual memory.
Fleeces should be arriving at the mill in North Dakota today, and I should have yarn and roving back in a month or two. Excited to see how it turns out! Guess I'd better get on those knitting lessons, and work on my spinning a little more. We might be adding a few fleece colours to our flock as of this weekend...
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| Our fiery orange Lace--who is now oatmeal/white! That day was cold.....really cold. |
Time to get back out there and check on everyone. An hour or two can make a difference in these temps. At 14:30 the chook palace was 99.5 degrees. If our electric hadn't died back in the late winter I'd have fans in there for them. They mostly hide in the shade outside until it cools down in the late evening. Hang in there chooks!!!
Hoping for thunderstorms tomorrow night, and maybe a bit of a reprieve.
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