August

A bowl of orange tomatoes and green and red peppers sits on the counter.  It is a still life waiting to be painted.  Large bowls and baskets of peaches, apples, and pears have dwindled down as I've tackled the peeling, cutting up and freezing.  I've squirreled away what I had room for and made a few jars of no-sugar-added jams for the Winter.

There is a mystery regarding the fruit trees.  I had to pick a lot of unripe fruit in order to get any for myself.  At first, half-eaten peaches and their stones were left all over the ground under the trees, presumably by the deer and groundhogs, possums, etc.  I picked as much of the low hanging peaches as I could deal with, leaving the high fruits beyond the reach of deer.  I soon noticed that there were no longer half-eaten fruit and no pits at all under the trees.  No deer were coming at dusk anymore.  However, most of the high fruit was being rapidly and efficiently picked during the night.  Lights and wind chimes had no effect on the thievery.

I wondered just what (or who) was picking fruit during the night.  It was obviously animals who either took the whole fruits away or ate them stone and all.

It wouldn't be turkeys or other birds, because they would, presumably leave the pits.  Could it be bears?  Giraffes?  Troupes of baboons?

Although I could train a camera on the trees and find out, I'm thinking I'll just let the mystery be.  It would be a shame to eliminate the fanciful imagining of night visitors to my peach trees.

August

August's halfway over and it hasn't been too bad this year.  Today is a bit humid for my taste, but it isn't quite up to ninety.  The nights have been reasonably cool and actually we had a lot of lower temperatures this month during the day.

The morning glories I let grow in my vegetable garden are living up to their name.  Beautiful blue flowers greet me.  There are so many butterfly bush volunteers that at mid-morning the butterflies are all over the fenced-in area.  If you were so inclined and had nothing better to do, you could pull up a lawn chair and watch the zucchinis grow!

I have serious zucchini fatigue this year.  Luckily the chickens like them.  And yes, I've made zucchini bread and even zucchini lasagna.  Enough.  The best thing I did with them is make "noodles" with a little gadget and froze bags of them.  Hopefully, I'll enjoy them when it is cold and there is snow on the ground.  By then, zucchini will seem like a good idea.

Listening to the old timey bluegrass radio show today, I heard one of the Carter sisters sing a song about going back home to Texas.  It was probably a recording from the 1930s.  She sang, "I am weeping like a willow; I am mourning like a dove."

I've never heard that song before.  It's probably famous in Texas.

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.

 

August

The sun was a red disk when I woke up this morning.  The kitchen is on the Eastern side of the house and I always look out at the sunrise as I grapple about for coffee.  What this bodes, I don't know, but it is unusual.

A slight tilt of the planet has given us the first tugs and pulls of weather change for late summer.  There are occasional days of lower humidity.  We are promised slightly cooler temperatures for the weekend. 

Plants respond immediately to the less roasting temps.  They begin to flower again.  The eggplant on the porch has six lavender blossoms promising fruit.  The pepper plants are also blossoming.  Four-O-Clocks in pots bloom in a variety of colors.  Rose of Sharon and Hydrangeas are also displaying some nice flowers.  The intense heat, however, seems to have negatively affected some plants which would normally be in bloom.  Butterfly bushes, for instance, bloomed early this year but not as spectacularly as in some years.

Meanwhile, in the veg garden, tomatoes are ripening and we've already consumed a good amount.  Peppers are large but still green.  I've processed all the peaches.  Now, apples and figs are ready to pick.  This is keeping me busy in between other tasks.

Our cows have dropped three calves in the last month.  The goat herd, which had a year off from producing young, are cavorting with a borrowed buck who has the status of rock star.  He is always followed by a small cabal of groupies, which changes as they settle.  We've agreed to keep him until October, so there will surely be births during the coldest months of winter.  It will be interesting to see if there are any November births from the last buck.  There didn't seem to be much activity when he was here, but you never know.  Sometimes they can fool you.

August

Today is the day the heat and humidity is supposed to break.

We got a little rain over the weekend, which was most welcome.  Many July Bugs are lying on their backs with their legs up in the air.  Is their life cycle over for this year?  The blackberry bushes have suffered from the intense heat and lack of rain.  Most are browned with shriveled berries.

I've got two carboys of blackberry wine brewing.  There are enough berries in the freezer to prepare a third.  'Not bad, considering that there was NO blackberry wine at all last year.

I planted three cucumber seeds in July and have picked far more cucumbers than we really need.  I hope to restrain myself from trying to make cucumber wine!

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to more rain, reduced humidity, and lower temperatures.  I've got plans for outdoor jobs that need attention.