Rain dance?

 I'm watching the radar tonight. There is a respectable storm building out west. Please, please, please send rain.

Yesterday I got a text from my neighbor that some of the chickens were out. Confirmed; five teenagers were running amok in the sheep pasture. Of course they weren't going to listen to me so I waited for dusk. Back and forth I went with a flashlight and couldn't find them until...I looked in the coop. There they were, innocent as could be, roosting for the night. I tightened up the fence where it had sagged a bit and today the miscreants stayed in. 

The first batch of chicks are young adults now; there was even a pullet egg today. The second batch are the aforementioned teens and the latest are children, still hanging around mom, but also exploring on their own.

It's a pretty good life.

IF

 If this is global warming, I hate it. Day after day of scorching heat and no rain. The grass is brown and crunchy and I spend the smallest amount of time outside that I can. Even inside my little window air conditioner can only bring the temp down to 80. Since anything over 74 is uncomfortably hot, I am not happy.

I asked my mom what the summer equivalent of hibernating is and she said 'coma'. It's true. All day I sit doing needlepoint. It was after midnight when I finally vacuumed last night. Sigh, still haven't done the dishes. 

Someone remind me of this if I complain about the cold this winter. :) 

Parsing

I've been reading the Little House on the Prairie books. It's a nice escape from our modern world.

When Laura is studying for her teaching certificate I'm always fascinated by her ability to do math in her head and the words they can spell! My spelling is atrocious, as you would know if spell-checker stopped working. 

Often, young people complain that they must learn things they will never use. Personally, math is something I've always used, but parsing a sentence still seems like the most useless skill ever. I love to read and write, but dissecting sentences... just, no.

On a bright note: I'm still slowly learning Norwegian. I don't know if I'll ever be able to pronounce bread and figuring out where to put 'ikke' hasn't sunk in yet. :)

Sweet potatoes and books

 When I picked up my bag of sweet potatoes today I found this happening:

Normally, I'd be annoyed, but not today! I was planning on growing sweet potato leaves as a spinach substitute and here they are, already started for me.

I was asked what reference books I keep on hand and it's easier to take pictures than to list them.

Some books were gifts, some I bought from personal interest, and some for writing references. I like having the ability to flip through a hard copy when looking for answers.

Aronia, Baby!

 I finally got a good harvest this year!

This is from just one aronia berry bush. I took them over to my parents where my mom will rinse out any stray spiders and the odd stem before freezing them. She uses them in muffins, cookies, smoothies... pretty much anywhere the fun purple color and boost of anti-oxidants are welcome.

This is a bumper crop. I don't remember how long ago I planted them, but this is the best yield I've seen. There are two more bushes to harvest but they won't be as prolific due to being shaded by the lilacs; I'm guessing another two gallons full.

If you are interested in growing these there are some good points: 

1. The rabbits don't chew on mine, even in the middle of winter.

2. The birds leave them alone. 

3. I haven't seen any fungi or disease signs.

4. No pits to deal with.

5. No thorns. (I'm thinking of you, gooseberry.)

Highly recommended. 

Stuff and Fun

We've been enjoying this bizarre phenomenon called cooler weather for three whole days! Combined with the extended dry phase, I was motivated to begin moving firewood into the woodshed. The last delivery never got stacked and has been sitting in a pile all summer...not anymore! The whole thing is stacked inside and all the bark and small pieces raked up and put away for kindling. My yard looks so empty. 

Oh, no! A headless chicken! Not to worry, it's just dustbath contortions.

These little cuties were hatched out and are being raised by a hen.

And here she is: Angry Snowflake. Apparently the key to being a good mom is the temper of a Klingon.