Hello!
I hope this finds you doing OK.
I had my first ripened tomato from the garden, fresh
peas, and green beans. Now that's what I
think is good food. I love sitting on
my porch after harvesting the veggies early in the morning relaxing while
shelling peas and snapping green beans. I've been making homemade ice cream and
strawberry shortcake too along with salads when it is too hot to cook.
On the farm end of things, I've been out trimming
bushes and hedges so our place looks civilized.
Dwight helped me wire the back fence to keep the bears away from my bee
hive. So far no black critters have gotten back in my woods, although one
neighbor said a bear was walking up our road the other week. I was given seven newly hatched Guinea hen
chicks so got my brooder operating again.
I lost three as they are hard to raise when so little. At a week old the
tiny things were finally as big as a newborn chick. Today they are almost a month old so I moved
the four lively chicks that have feathered out over to the shed where they will
stay. Hopefully they will eat a lot of
ticks around here. I also lost one of my
white ducks so now only have two.
Meanwhile my hens stay busy laying lovely brown eggs. I have one rooster
from the chicks I raised this year- a buff colored one- so I am calling him,
Mr. Buffy. Texie boy, is almost a year
old. Lo and behold if he doesn't like berries. I had to race to get the ripened
strawberries t his spring and raspberries before he sank his doggy teeth in
them. Here when I was out in the garden picking green beans the other day,
didn't I see him over at my blackberries eating them too! Next the crazy dog will be eating my green
beans and tomatoes off the vine. The
heat and humidity doesn't seem to bother Tex.
When I go outside and head down to the woods or hen house, he not only
runs, but leaps and bounds ahead of me.
Would I ever love to harness some of that energy! Tex is turning into quite the guard dog
keeping the wild critters off our property as he races from one end to the
other. He also loves to try and race any vehicles that come down our road as
well along the fence. I nearly got
bowled over when I was out trimming the bushes along the front of the fence one
day when a car came by. So while I
trimmed, I also kept an ear tuned for any cars coming up the road as well.
Another exciting thing that happened was four
teenagers and two fellows from the GAP project came and painted our front and
back porches & rails and cleaned out the gutters one week. Some of the kids got as much paint on
themselves as what they were painting. It was quite the busy week, but such a
blessing.
Then Dawn and her kids came up for a quick visit
while she was down at Monterey doing a VBS. It was so good to see them
again. The next week she headed out to
Iowa for another VBS. I was so relieved
when she got back home safely after eleven hours on the road going and twelve
hours coming back. This week she and her family are up in IN at a camp.
Dwight is to go to the annual comprehensive
hemophilia clinic at the end of the month out at Nashville. He is limping more
and going slower. I wish Dwight would go ahead and get the ankle surgeries over
with. I hate seeing him in pain. I know
Dwight is reluctant to do it until absolutely necessary as past knee surgeries
ended messing him up more and he was down for six months. So I worry and pray.
Take care and stay cool! I’m so thankful to have air condition during
this hot and humid summer weather. Despite the heat my flowers continue to
bloom as my bees stay busy buzzing around, colorful butterflies flutter among
the flowers, and dragonflies dart across the pond.
Until next month~
Dorcas
