June 25, 2012

Not Even The Dog Claims These Days of Summer


Though I’m not alone - it has been a while since my last post.  The daily grind around here - has been just that.



By now - I’m sure everyone’s pretty much soaked by all the talk about the heat covering most of this country.  We’re fighting our own dose of “ crunch “ spreading around our place - as well.

Man - this is turning out to be a precocious summer.  And all this heat only sets up other challenges.  For the two of us - it’s meant quite a bit of improvisation and re-arranging of schedules and tasks.

Of course - having Hubs come down sick during the week of Father’s Day was like a huge hammer being thrown into the pot.  Naturally - the chips don’t just come falling.  They burn.

My Putt-Putt got sick at the same time.  We had to run to Lenoir City for more meds for Dwayne - feed and other supplies.  We were sitting at a red light in Lenoir City when we noticed smoke coming out from under the hood of the car.  Dwayne turned off the compressor for the air conditioner - and the smoke stopped.

Ended up changing out a pulley.  But - while allowing the motor to run long enough to make sure things were okay - we both stood there watching the smoke show up again - looking like it was flowing out of a chimney.

It was the alternator - burning to death - literally.  And of course - none in stock.  The parts store had to hot-shot it next day.

We’ve been doing all we can to focus on watering specific areas to keep grass green and plentiful for the Boys.  Even with those efforts - they are beginning to include more hay in their diet.  Thankfully - the wide-blade grass is coming along really well were the garden once existed.



The baby Barn Swallows hatched and are coming along so nicely.  They should be ready to leave the nest soon! As far as we can tell - there appears to be 4 babies in this brood.



This may be a pretty sight.  But there’s not much going on in the “ great relationship “ department with The Girls these days.  In fact - we are feeding them for no reason.

We’re getting no eggs.  And our supply has shot down to forcing us to begin buying eggs again - for the first time in almost 2 years.

I’m pissed.  I will never invest in Buff Orpingtons - ever again.



As for other projects - we’re in the middle of recovering 6 Dining Room chairs that we purchased last year - finally!  The issue has been finding the foam.  We ended up conceding to doubling up on 1” foam purchased at WalMart - in the Sewing and Crafts Department.  A layer of pure cotton batting was used - as well.  The last 2 chairs will have to wait to be finished during the next round of days off.

The Boys are growing like weeds!  They now spend nights outside the barn - which I’m sure is a lot more comfortable - especially right now.

And they want to show off how they love raising their heads to be brushed!




Well - it’s time to get out there and turn on the water before it becomes too warm to bother.

I guess giving up the garden this year didn’t get me out of all the hassle - afterall.

But before I head out the door -

Carlie wants to show the world the one thing she deems reason to feel most proud.



We won’t discuss the little matter that took place down in the driveway yesterday.  Carlie says the fact that she handed the neighbor’s dog’s butt to him after he chose to come after Zucker - is a bit embarrassing.  She just doesn’t feel right about totally destroying a male’s dignity.

But - Oh - yes - she did!


And Mama is still doing a jig over that one!

3 comments:

Queenacres said...

Love the color you picked on the chairs! Love the barn swallows too but most of all I love those EARS!

Have you tried putting cayenne on the chickens' feed?

Unknown said...

No, I haven't tried the cayenne. But I surely will. Thanks for the heads-up. Maybe it'll keep 'em out of the freezer a little longer? LOL

Deb said...

LOL So glad your furbaby took care of the neighbor's dog! :-))