Sunday, September 01, 2013

Here Comes the Rain Again: September First

"Here comes the rain again
Falling on my head like a memory
Falling on my head like a new emotion..." The Eurythmics

August came and went, alternately rainy, steamy, then briefly pleasant with lower humidity.  It was the most comfortable of all the uncomfortable Virginia Augusts of the past fifteen years.

The pond and hayfields are back to normal for the most part.  Gangs of wild turkeys gather each morning and early evening to feed on something in the field.  They've been strolling around the farm every day since the big rains began in June and July.  I know some hunters who are waiting eagerly for the first day of turkey season.

This weird summer I saw twin fawns still wobbly on their feet and too newborn to have developed a fear of humans.  (That is very newborn for deer.)

On each of the low humidity days -- there were a few -- I frantically raked the goat barn, knowing that this would be unbearable in the moist heat.  I didn't quite clean it out, but I'm making headway.  We are promised better temperatures in a few days and I vow to return to the task in earnest.  The flooding has left the barn wetter than it has ever been and I'll have to sprinkle lime to dry out parts of the floor.

Our Spring chicks have developed into hens and roosters.  Small eggs, many green and blue, are appearing in the nest boxes.  The adolescent males are obnoxious and reduce egg laying.  They create scenes of mayhem, chasing old hens and young hens.  They're being relegated to a couple of coops to cool their heels.  Unfortunately, they will soon be soup.



 

No comments: