Cross Ventilation.

 

Cross Ventilation!

 

It has looked hot to me, but not wearing feathers makes the mornings extra special for sitting out on the deck around the workshop. Not so sure my girls feel that cool, even in the morning. So today a small section of the siding on the long coop was removed right behind their perch. It is not too large so it can easily be covered late fall or early winter, but for now it will give the girls some added ventilation in the coop. Just can’t stand being miserably hot, so feel for them. As it is, they gave me eight eggs today to fill out a carton for a dozen. Proud of my silly girls. Even the dumb clucks who are walking around with their feathers in attack mode make me appreciate the hens. Broody or not, they are pretty good critters for watching and for laughs. Took all the nests out of the little coop so the broody hens had no idea what to do with themselves! Giggling. The nests were fine in the middle coop, and the hens who are laying eggs made good use of them. Meanwhile, moody, broody dumb clucks settled down in the diatomaceous earth in the little coop. Not sure just what they think they are going to do down there in that dirt, but they don’t want to move, so there’s that. Oh well.

 

Made an appointment with a Dr. Baird after a recommendation was made a few years ago by one of Jennifer’s friends here. Jenny Berend Wells told me that it was a good place to go. Have not seen a dentist in years! Would not have done so now except for my own stupidity. Need an adjustment to a partial plate and won’t EVEN tell you why!

 

My two dogs were still scratching even after all the things that had been applied to help them—including the use of Benadryl. So, a bath made their fur feel better, but the funny part of it was Thompson. Had them in the big bathroom and told Thompson to get out. He quickly made it out the back door to the grass and rolled—naturally. Then he hit a bee line and came BACK inside to the bathroom and stood there waiting for his towel drying. He KNEW he missed something! That dog! When Sylvia was finished, she got her towel drying and then barked at Thompson who was already happily lying in the big middle of my bed! Never a dull moment around here!

 

Had spaghetti squash for lunch with fresh garden tomatoes and salsa on it. The tomatoes came off the vines on the ramp next to the front porch. And yes, they are totally wonderful. Just not enough of them! Have three small ones left and one smaller, plus a really small one. They will do to make me drool for more until maybe someone might just kick me in the backside and make me go down to the Farmers’ Market this weekend. Getting out is hard right now. Getting into and out of the truck is such fun, and then there is walking. Oh well. Have to make up my mind as to whether or not it is worth it.

 

Want to go to Megargel and try their Double B café. Will have to look at a map and see how to get there, among other things. Connie said it sounds like fun even if we don’t get to eat something like cheese cake and brisket sandwiches. Getting out CAN be fun if someone else is driving. But her truck is even higher off the ground than mine! Oh well. Stay tuned for the adventure along about the middle of next week!

 

Have been looking at some gardening books for this part of North Central Texas. By gardening, think flowers. Some things are just impossible for my hill, and other things are impossible for me. For instance, lantana makes me ill with allergies. And any kind of low growing juniper or bush that conceals the ground has a tendency to worry me because of snakes. In fact, have planned to trim my nandinas back from their bottoms because they are hiding the ground. Anyway, trying to think of something that will be carefree and still work from one season to the next is not the easiest thing to do. Last year the front flower bed was totally filled with poppies. The two years before that it was zinnias. This year the blue bonnets and some coreopsis have taken over after the blue bachelor buttons started to die back. The poppies did well enough this year, but the rain made them and the blue bonnets look mildewed after they began to die back. Ugly! Anyway, that mess is mostly cleaned up even if it is not as grass free as it should be before anything else is planted. Wish my get up and go were not quite so lacking. Maybe sitting down on the little green stool would work for my back. Hmm.

 

Had to go out and clean the hens’ water for the second time today. Danged birds keep using their water dishes for bird baths! Guess if my common sense had not taken a hike, a real hen water bowl could be used instead of those deep dishes. But the water dishes for chickens don’t allow my dogs to walk into the bowl and get a drink. Would you like to know WHY the dogs walk into the bowl? Once a dog has had its nose burned by hot water—which happens when the water is exposed to sunlight all day in a Texas summer—that dog will “test” the water with a foot. It took us forever to figure that out with the last dog, but then it finally made sense. It is hard to find a perfect place to put their water bowls. The crepe myrtle speckles the water with white blossoms, but the hens don’t care. And yes, the dogs have a very nice water container in the kitchen, so they don’t have to strain the blossoms through their teeth after the breezes fill the bowls full of white froth! Don’t animals make life interesting!

 

Have things on my mind this evening and probably should just go read a book or something. Some of the things we tend to think about might never happen in our lifetime, but it does not stop us from considering the possibilities. Suffice it to say that the “news” about all the different problems with vaccinations is beyond crazy. My daddy had a saying that every person older than 20 has probably heard—da**ed if you do, and da**ed if you don’t. In the case of some businesses, the way they treat their employees who prefer to have a choice—well, someday we are going to look back and think that we were all idiots to accept something that was not proven and then treating others horribly if they refused to believe whatever lies we were hearing at the time. Meanwhile, this old woman is going to pray for the children who have been vaccinated and are having repercussions as their immune systems attack their own defenses!  May God bless our children and young folks.

 

Rest well, my friends. Pray for the peace that seems to always elude us. But meanwhile, know this: you are loved.