TOO HOT TO BE OUTSIDE

After weeks of cool and rainy, someone turned up the thermostat out there. For all the plant life the heat and sunshine are fantastic, but for at least this one human being, the heat and humidity is more than I can adjust to in one day. I'm hiding out inside and trying to think of things to keep me busy so I don't feel guilty about the unmowed grass and unplanted bedding plants.

Almost eveyone is done seeding their crops in this neck of the woods, although, to the north a couple hundred miles, it's quite a different story. They were way too wet last year, and the heavy snow pack they got this winter didn't improve their conditions any. We had that in 1999, we remember it well.

Glen is finally back to work in the oilfield after almost two months of breakup. Every spring, when the frost comes out of the ground and roads get soft, road banns come on restricting heavy traffic. This pretty much shuts down the oil business until the roads are back in shape again. This year, with all the rains we've had, the roads have remained soft, and the men have remained off work. This past week, rigs are finally drilling again, and here's hoping that secondary industries can be up and running this week. Mitchell works for a company that installs pipelines between well and tanks, or does reclamations which means that they return the land at old oil well sites back to farmable land - both of these jobs require dry conditions, so they haven't been back to work at all. This week looks better. So far.

I spent last Sunday planting my vegetable garden and with the heat of the last two days, things are just popping out of the ground. Looks like the potatoes are all coming at once and the radishes, lettuce and onions are all above ground as well. Can't wait for that first fresh salad!

I've also been mowing lawn (well, mostly dandelions at the this time of the year) steady since the middle of May. I have all my bedding plants sitting on the deck waiting for their move to real soil, but if the heat today wouldn't kill them today, it sure as heck would finish me off. I've never been the kind of person who could tolerate much heat - and the sun just leaves my skin crispy fried.

We have two calves that we have to bottle feed again this year: Circle Bob, (don't ask, it's a long story) whose mother doesn't have any milk for some reason, and Itty Bitty, who is so tiny that we thought we'd augment what her mama gives her. They are becoming real pets.