Livestock and Wildlife!

 Livestock and Wildlife!

 

Everything from the bumble bees out front to the hens under the deck have been seeking shelter from the heat today. The wild birds have taken over the water bowls in an attempt to drink, bathe, and otherwise reduce the amount of heat under their wings. Very understandable! Supposedly it was 101 degrees, but the gauge on the deck was closer to 105 degrees. Whew! Went down to get the mail at 2:15 and nearly burned up just touching the mailbox! Lance told me that the temps are supposed to drop in the next few days. Could not be a minute too soon. Even the sage plant has wilted!

 

The dogs ran down to the corner of the east lot when my truck left the road to go to the post box. Came back to find two very hot dogs out back. They were definitely ready to come back inside to lie down under the AC. It certainly is understandable why the hens would not want to sit on those nests in the coops right now. Summer. Honestly! The veggies are the only reasons summer is worth enjoying at all.

 

Reminded myself of Keith Mattson watching the sunrise this morning. He often sees only clouds but manages to regale those who read his posts with at least one sunrise and one sunset. Or he will post pictures of his “psychiatrist.” That is a bird for anyone who wonders. Apparently, the psychiatrist has an office at a nearby lake. The pictures are cool and often close ups of various insects or birds. His pictures are as good as those posted by Ardie Jenkins. Both excellent photographers.

 

Ate the three squashes that Lance picked up at Walmart the other day. Did vegetables ever really appeal to anyone else the way that they do to me now? Beets, cabbage, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, carrots—need to pick some up soon—and other veggies make life interesting. Lance got some humus that need carrot sticks to complete a meal. Would never have thought that such foods would be my best enjoyment years ago. Mom’s tuna fish salad was about the only food other than her homemade chicken noodles that made my life happy. Noodles was my nickname as a child because it was the one food that never made Mom demand that it had to be consumed! English peas were the only food that made me feel as if it would immediately come straight back from whence it was put. Think Sterling felt the same way about English peas. Go figure. Mom should have known better. My children never had to eat any specific food if they could not stand it. It was easy to remember being forced to eat stuff. Bleah.

 

Finished off the excellent piece of cake brought over by Cindy Jones. She advised me that it was NOT chocolate cake despite the fact that it contained all the good things that made me think it was. But then, she also told me that her mom knew how to make pecan pie with beans!!! Simply cannot imagine!

 

Gathered eggs just now and brought it three more. The girls are really doing a fine job despite the heat. After six p.m. and the temp is still over 100 degrees!

 

Thompson killed another dove and did not even get scolded. Really do resent the fact that they eat as much as a grown hen! Did not see a rat out there this morning before daybreak, but the doves come all day long. Sigh

 

Still watching Murdock Mysteries. Some of these shows are really neat. It is like watching history unroll from the viewpoint of people who lived back then. It made me wonder how old Grandmother Pollard was when her parents brought her to Texas from Indian Territory. She told me she came in a wagon, but not sure if she was old enough to remember or just told me what her parents told her. She did tell me that she attended the Academy of Mary Immaculate when she was just a girl—nine years old maybe. She was a boarding student who came up here on the train with her daddy. At least, that is my memory of her story. She loved to dance, and her daddy took her out to the Pavillion at Lake Wichita when she was just a girl. They rode the street car to get there. She would be terribly disappointed to know that the Catholic school here has shut down and the land to be sold. Of course, Notre Dame was not on the land where the Academy was years ago. Think they have an imaging office and a surgery center there now. Times change and things go away. Sad, but true.

 

Have to go back out and shut the water off soon. Have the hose on the Jerusalem artichokes. The petunias are the only flowers that are holding their own right now. Everything else needs water and cooler temps. Sigh

 

Sharon Dickerson is having a heart test of some sort this Friday. Please remember her in your prayers. Just about any test is enough to make a person nervous, but one’s heart, head, well, just about ANY body part being tested can make a person nervous. My sister-in-law said that she was scheduled for eye surgery recently and became so nervous that she got sick. So sorry for situations like that. A person really needs a friend or family member to be there for them for medical procedures.

 

Yours truly has to clean floors tomorrow. It has become obvious that dirt and dog hair are about to take over the place. Walked into the living room in socks and could not put on shoes with dirty socks! Yep, time to clean the floors. Deep sigh.

 

Amazon got the new Britta water filters here today. Was trying to tell Lance about them but my phone called them Brittany filters. Told him the phone was using PRESUMPTIVE text rather than predictive. Still think that pretty well describes the situation. He thought Brittany was pretty good.

 

Thompson just informed me that the dog food bowl needed to be refilled. Poor, neglected dogs. The dogs have one of those gravity-fed water bowls next to the deep freeze right inside the kitchen door. From my desk it is a clear view of all the splashes around its rug. Not sure which of us is messier—me or the dogs. Oh well.

 

Really don’t know a bunch today. Took Patty her mail and walked the two critters around so they could go out the front way and mark their territory. It was too hot to stay outside and visit, so maybe some other day we will talk. Patty seems to be doing fairly well, but know how lonesome she must be. Just not having him there with his noise and assorted habits can be pretty depressing. Been there, done that.

 

Let us to remember those whose lives are in imminent danger, those who are trying to protect them, and those who are trying to keep the peace even here in Texas. May God protect us and those we love.

 

Rest well and find those things that allow us to be grateful for life. You are loved.