After an initial application of 25 gallons near the house on Saturday, I saddled-up and mixed another 25 on Sunday – then another and another and the big jug is almost empty but the whole field is covered.
Tuesday at 6:15 the dog came in warm and dry. WTH? It’s 65-degrees instead of 35, and a warm breeze is cutting under the overcast – a storm is coming-in. Biscuits and farm eggs for breakfast, with coffee and a Greyhound. We have been taking vitamin D supplements, 5,000 IU since last fall, and have not had a cold and hardly a sniffle either.
Pressure Drop
Rain yesterday and today, and the average high temperature dropped twenty degrees – it sure feels like Winter has arrived, but some sunny days will return, sunny and cold.
Sunrise Post-DST
After all the heat and smoke and pressure of Summer, the sun has clocked around again and is rising at the right end of the dry-creek feature. As we head into Winter a few days of mild weather remain, and the opportunity to finish some yard-projects before it begins to rain.
We look forward to the changes in temperature, and the chance we might get a little snow eventually. Rain will be an indicator of where we need to dig-out drainage channels – many of the rivulets have been upset by burrowing squirrels and will need repair, and so too the main channel. Mainly rain will bring relief from pressure, after the long, hot and smoky, Wuhan Virus plagued year of political torment and unrest. Fortunately we remain free and the chaos remains distant.
Curiouser
Awoke early in the dark, 6:20AM it’s pitch black still, but time for coffee anyhow. The dark sky had a peculiar cast and the white dog was damp with dew. As the sky lightened it was clear we were in a cloud, and it was cold (43-degrees) enough to remind us that winter is approaching.
By 12:30 the sun broke through and it was a balmy 64-degrees, and the blue skies were a reward for all the hazy smoke we had endured.
Meanwhile “out on the prairie” last week we discovered an interesting artifact that was uncovered by some burrowing creature – not the dog, an old and discarded nest of “miner bees” that live underground…the honeycombs are empty.
That handle sticking up is attached to a 12-inch screwdriver, and it’s resting on a ledge or else it would fall into the cavity. This region is known for its honey and beehives, but miner-bees are solitary and don’t follow the traditional bee lifestyle, much like many of the residents up here in the sticks.
Godspeed Eddie Van Halen
Gonna miss that sound, even the dog…
First Cut: The Dog Lawn
So soon! Just two weeks since the last post and the grass is coming up long, thick, and green. I had created 16’x80’ worth of more work for myself, and it needs cutting before it turns into a jungle.
All is not perfect, there are thin spots, but the improvement is providential and manifest, and the dogs paws are tinted green from the wet cut grass.
UPDATE: With the extended state-wide fire warnings and ongoing fire disasters, this strip of watered-in grass is a second tier of fire protection for the homestead.
How Green is My Pasture
Only partly, where the seed is taking root, and amazingly it’s mostly grass and not a noxious variety of weeds – but there are some weeds. Given the makeup of the “Equine Fodder Blend” as a mix of various stuff, I’m not too surprised at some weeds, horses eat weeds too…
It’s starting to look pretty good, even if a bit thin – like my hair used-to look! Thin.
How Green is My Pasture
Only partly, where the seed is taking root, and amazingly it’s mostly grass and not a noxious variety of weeds – but there are some weeds. Given the makeup of the “Equine Fodder Blend” as a mix of various stuff, I’m not too surprised at some weeds, horses eat weeds too…
It’s starting to look pretty good, even if a bit thin – like my hair used-to look! Thin.
Never Forget
We will not forget the rat-bastardly deeds of terrorists nineteen years ago, may they burn in Hell for Eternity.
Meanwhile we are experiencing our own ash-cloud of disaster, based on decades and decades of piss-poor forest mis-management by the hippie eco-activists who have taken over the Forest Service – and it has nothing to do with “glow-ball warming.” 
From the rifle range this morning around 7:30AM, you can’t even see the other side of the canyon – and with the overhead ash floating all around the State, temperatures here have dropped ten degrees.
Green
In the midst of a dim, gray and brown haze from smoke, shoots of green are popping up after four days of watering – and the black truck has a fine dusting of white ash from the fires. Only going to 94-degrees today so cooler than yesterday, but we grilled corn and chicken early because it’s still too warm for outdoor-living comfortably. UPDATE: Got up to 101-degrees today, but not 110 like yesterday. I’m convinced the temperature and the watering has caused the very fast germination of seed.
