5 Mins to Whine & Complain

We have been in a heat wave since last weekend here in ND. The "feel's like" temperatures are over a 100 every day and the humidity is awful. Even at night the temps are still in the 80's and there is not much relief. Now being a born and raised Florida gal, you would think that I could handle this. The difference? In Fl, there is air conditioning. I could turn my thermostat down and still carry on as usual. Chores, done. Cooking, done. Being nice to my kids, done. >:-} Up here there are usually only a handful of days that get unbearable and so a lot of the older homes do not have AC. Our home does NOT have AC. I am the first to admit- I am not good with heat. I turn into a miserable, whiney, hard to get a long with baby. I prefer cold any day of the week! The last week or so has been totally wasted on me. I cannot function. There is no cooking or cleaning being done, and whenever one of the kids wants to hug me, I wince. I hate feeling like this!!!!!!  The house is in chaos and we are all sitting around like grumpy slugs. My son's therapist sets aside 10 minutes everyday to listen to him "whine and complain". After he vents all his frustrations and injustices, he is able to go on with his day and function better. Today I have decided to adopt this practice. Today's blog is my whine and complain time. I am hot and I hate it!

I suppose this post is not really farm related, except that I wonder if all our animals are as miserable as I am? I look out the windows at them and I feel sorry for them. Maybe one day if I strike it rich I can install central air in the house, and then in the barn.

The Dog Days of Summer

Where does the time go? I apologize for not updating lately. Spring turned quickly into summer and now we are all bearing the heat. It seems especially hot & humid this year and we are all miserable. Even the barnyard crew seem to be suffering and laying low. I find them in the shade or in the coop usually and I know they will be happy when it starts cooling off again. We have noticed an increase in coyote activity in the last month or so.... We hear them every night howling and sometimes it sounds like they are surrounding our farm. In the last week 2 of our 4 guineas have disappeared, and I assume the coyotes are getting them. So sad :( There is no trace of them, they are simply gone. The first one about a week ago, and the 2nd we noticed was gone this morning. I wish it was easier to get them into the coop at night with the chickens where they would be safe, but they are free spirits and turn their nose up at our protection (or they are just too simple minded to know what's good for them). Our sweet barn cat, Poe has also been absent lately. We are HOPING that he is off on a romantic adventure, the alternative would be very sad to even contemplate. I will keep you posted. Otherwise everything is business as usual. The garden is doing well despite my meager gardening knowledge. The corn did get planted (finally) and it is a couple inches high. The squash and zucchini plants are huge and leafy!! As soon as we can actually eat something I will really feel a sense of satisfaction! The kittens are growing rapidly and are getting quite playful! We have a total of 14 between the 3 mamas and so in another few weeks we will feel overrun I am sure! For now I am happy that they are safe in the sun porch, as I know that is offering them protection from predators and the elements. Anyway- that is all the news that is newsworthy... I miss the days where there were multiple blog posts running around in my mind... it just seems that there isn't much new to report. Hmmmmm..... maybe there will be more after we make it through the dog days of summer.