And there we go!

The 31 days of May comes to an end.  Hope you enjoyed.  Now back to normal blogging.  There's still lots going on round the farm, so stay tuned.  Oh, and Beaky says, "Hello!"  It sounds more like a "cluck cluck squak," but I'm sure that's what she means.

Humidity

We spent the weekend up north in the ANF (Allegheny National Forest)at my parents. It was good to spend time with family, something running your own farm (however big or small), doesn't allow you to do as frequently as you'd like unless you live close by. Unfortunately, at the moment, we do not. The weather, for the most part cooperated (as if we really had any say in it to begin with). The only rain we had was a fast moving thunderstorm that swept through last night around 10pm. Though it was quite warm this afternoon, there was still a pleasant enough breeze to allow us to enjoy eachother's company in the pavilion.

It wasn't until we drove through the little town of Zelienople, on our ay back home, did we happen to look up and see that the thermometer was reading 99 degrees Farenheit. Yes, 99 degrees. We were so comfortable in the AC of my little Beetle that we simply weren't pondering how stifling the temperature would be once we stepped from its icy confines. Fortunately for us, however, the temperature dropped to 91 by the time we reached the top of our hill. The temperature around bedtime is hovering in he mid 80s but the humidity has picked up. We try not to AC the whole house if we can prevent it, but we did put the small window unit in the bedroom window. I can tolerate the heat and humidity during the waking hours, but I find it awfully hard to sleep when I feel lime I'm suffocating.  So we put our small window unit in the bedroom window just for the night.  Quite frankly, in this kind of weather I'd be just as happy with a hammock on the back porch.  The problem is, I don't have a back porch.  Nor do I have any trees nearby to sling up my hammock.  I sure do miss it!  A partially wooded lot is a requirement for my own place.  I sure do miss shade.  I sure do miss my parachute hammock.  I think I'm going to pack it up and carry it around with me, looking for places to hang it, even in (especially in) odd places.  If you've never tried a parachute hammock, visit Ticket to the Moon's website and check them out.  They are super portable and ridiculously comfortable to boot!  If I had my way, I'd probably sleep in it every night.  Another house requirement: the capability to hang my hammock.  Yes, inside!

Foraging

Here's Grey Baby.  I love her color.  All the buns love some 'free-range' time.

Dog Nosed Kisses

I love my dog, I really do.  There's nothing better than having your own warm fuzzy four-legged friend to cuddle up to on a cold day, to snuggle close to you when you are sad, rejoice with canine excitement when you are happy, to wake you up in the morning (or in Kenai's case, the middle of the night to ask if he can come up on the bed), to ride in the car with you, chase the chickens, and alert you when someone pulls in the driveway.  I'm not sure how people get along without them.  Someone once commented to me that, "it would be a inconvenience to always have to take them out or find someone to watch them if you wanted to go somewhere."  Maybe since I've never been without a dog that I can remember, I don't even think of those things.  My husband and I went on a mini-vacation two springs ago and left Kenai with my parents.  He of course was well taken care of, but when we would go to bed at night in our big king-sized bed, we felt like something was missing.  Kenai is such a permanent fixture in our family that going somewhere without him is hard.  And yes, he sleeps right between us at night, all 75 pounds of him.  Not the whole night; usually right when we go to bed, then he'll get down until about 4am, then hop back up.  He's like clockwork.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Farm at Dusk

Sure looks peaceful, doesn't it?

Follow the country road.

Dandelions Abound