Summer 2012 aka The Drought

And I thought the summer of 2011 was bad, when our pond dried up and was nothing more than rock-hard dirt with cracks running through it. Oh ... and a few hundred large weeds.

The drought of 2012 is proving to be much worse than anything the summer of 2011 handed to us.

And yet, in spite of the shriveled up cornfields and the wilted soybeans that dot our local landscape, there really are some bright spots to be found.

Such as our garden.  We've tried our best to water everything, but some plants just won't thrive when temps reach well over 100 degrees.

But the plants that have done well?  Our pumpkins and cantaloupes are doing great.  And we didn't even plant any cantaloupe this year!  These are volunteer plants from last year's cantaloupe scraps thrown into the compost bins.

It looks like we'll be getting quite a few cantaloupes in the next few weeks. We've already eaten one, and it was so juicy and good!  And the chickens enjoy the cantaloupe too - they get the less than perfect, slightly buggy cantaloupes.

And the pumpkins.... I didn't plant the small Baby Pam pumpkins this year. Hubby wanted GIANT pumpkins, and that's what we're getting now!

The tomatoes are not doing well.  Green and bushy, but no tomatoes.  Same as last year.  It's just too freaking hot for them.   The serrano pepper plants are beginning to produce some peppers.  And my mint plants are doing pretty good.... you know, for my mojitos!  :-)

We planted super sweet onions this spring.  We've never tried to grow onions before -- we were pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and how delicious they are!

  

I've been making Onion Strings the last week or so, to use up the last of our onions.  Onion Strings are just very thinly sliced onion rings.  Hubby has become rather addicted to them!  We'll be planting more onions soon for a fall harvest.  

Here's his lunch today - fresh Onion Strings and homemade egg salad (from our eggs, of course!) on a Nature's Own Multi-Grain sandwich round.  Less bun, more filling - he really likes his flat buns for lunches.  

No, this isn't all he ate for lunch - he had angel food cake with strawberries and whip cream for dessert.  :-)

The stray cat we adopted a few months ago recently decided that a freshly watered flower pot makes a cool napping spot.  I caught Midnight snoozing in my serrano pepper pot the other day....

The guineas enjoy hanging out around the sprinkler, so we have a small green spot in the back yard, amongst all the brown.  It's rather lush looking.  Hey, anything to keep the birds happy, you know?  The chickens, not so much.... they run away if they get sprinkled on!

Finally, a snapshot that says "hey, we do have a few things to be thankful for"..... cantaloupe, eggs, and strawberry jam!

How is your garden doing this year?  What fav veggies are you getting, or better yet, what is providing you with an overly bountiful harvest?

And can we all say 'Adieu' ....  'Adios'.....  'Hasta la vista' .... to summer.

It can't end soon enough for me this year.

Really.  I'm ready.

My arms are wide open and welcoming to autumn!!!!

 

Life on the Hot Kansas Prairie

Silly kitties!

The black and white cat is Baybee, a feral kitten I rescued in Ohio many, many years ago.  She's a senior kitty now.  

I think y'all know the white cat -- CiCi aka Seesers who I rescued off the side of a Kansas country road about 2 years ago.  She's always finding trouble.

Lately Seesers has decided that she much prefers Baybee's cat house to her own.  Imagine my surprise to find them BOTH in Baybee's cat house a few days ago!  Baybee was tolerable this particular day, but the next day I watched her cat-swat CiCi right out of her house.  :-)

I didn't think we'd be able to integrate the two cats but over the course of the last year, they've learned how to co-exist in a fairly civil fashion.  The best part about pairing a young kitty with an older cat is that it provides both cats with exercise.  And it provides us humans with entertainment also, especially when the two of them play hide and seek.

Aside from watching the kitties play, I have been busy with a myriad of other endeavors.  Here's a small list....

• making my own yogurt at home (it's the best, and SO easy!)
• making freezer strawberry jam this year, in addition to regular canned jam
• making fried onion strings with fresh onions from our garden
• making fresh chicken dog food for Tori, who has developed some sensitivities
• tearing apart the guest bedroom to create a studio for me
• renewing my Ebay commitment and listing/selling more items
• attempting to create a new, fresh website which will house my blog
• fixing an occasional mint mojito with fresh mint from the garden when the above mentioned website set-up doesn't work quite right....

What I like about Ebay is that you're not just recycling items you no longer use, you're also earning some cash.  I've also sold a few unique serial number dollar bills that I've encountered in my turnpike job and let me tell you, THAT is fun!

So, what have you been up to this oh-so-hot summer??

Sometimes Ranch Life Sucks

This post is a brief tribute to a few of the animals we've lost lately.


Fluff was not just an all-around fabulous barn cat.... she was our favorite barn cat.  She had the sweetest disposition, and loved following us around as we did chores every day.  As is common with farm animals, we're not sure what happened to her.  She didn't show up in the evening to eat, and when I didn't see her the next day, I knew she was no longer with us.  There are so many predators out here -- coyotes, owls, and numerous other threats.  Even though Fluff was a very savvy cat - she seemed to realize the dangers - something finally caught up to her.

We miss her all the time.

The recent heat proved too much for our little Ameraucana hen, Midge.  I noticed her in a corner of the coop last Monday evening, but later when I checked on her, she was up on the roost with the rest of the birds, so I thought she was doing better.  Alas, the next morning she was laying on the floor beneath the roost.  No more bluish-white eggs to add variety to our dozens, just brown eggs now.  Perhaps next year we'll add a few hens to our flock.  For now, 4 hens and a rooster-that-will-not-be-with-us much longer is enough.

At any rate, just thought I'd mention that even though we love our life out here, sometimes it's not all rosy like I might paint it.  True farm people are used to these occurrences I'm sure, but let's remember.... I'm not a true farm person!  I'm a fake, a fraud....  I'm a city gal relocated to the country, and add to that my love for animals, then it makes it tough for me when something happens to one of the creatures in our menagerie.

Even with the doses of real life, though, I still love our prairie life and wouldn't trade it for a minute of city living, nosireeeee!!