Well, so much is going on here in the beautiful countryside of Orange County NC.After the great spring, suddenly in early June, it is cooking HOT! Susan's outdoor hours are really down to 6:30 til about 10:30 or so on these days when the temperature reaches 100 degrees F. Seems like weeds grow much faster then non-weeds - I guess this is another impact of the Fall (of man ).
But the tomatoes are coming on strong in the kitchen garden, the lettuce is still here a few more days (we are praying for a little overlap for the lettuce/tomato sandwiches, the string beans are looking good, squash and okra are planted and beginning to show their heads. Today we saw a double-winged dragon fly land on out mosaic table that has in it double-winged dragon flies - amazing coincidence? Or what?
Yesterday, we watched a hummingbird slowly meander through 7 great lavenders about to burst forth with blooms. Two days ago, a deer showed up at our backyard pond looking majestic.
We seem to see more deer in the close up yard than ever and it is still exciting to watch them.
Our barnyard animals are doing fine - the goats are growing bigger, of course, but we like not having to bottle feed them twice daily. The chicken egg production averages about 3 a day which is still more than we can eat so we give them away when we can.
Della (the black lab) is mostly a house dog now and Daisy (the Great White Pyrenees/Newfoundland mix) is being slowly allowed to stay with Muffin, Heidi and Chloe (the goats). This Saturday, the Critter Corner from Seawall school in Chapel Hill will move out here for the summer - this will add two goats, three chickens and two ducks to the mix for the summer.
Susan is working on recovering the lower garden from massive weeds - I mean huge. Taller than she is. I'm helping but she's the main one. The weeds go to the chickens for composting and then to the gardens for mulch. God knew how to do it.
Oh well, that's all for now. We'll try to be more regular on this.
Dwight
