Soggy

     Holy humidity, Batman!  We've had a long stretch of rainy humid days but thankfully the sun will return shortly -  The ground is soggy, the air feels like - well a friend described it best - a wet dirty sponge.  I've got the fans on in the horse barn and the A/C on in the house.  It's too wet to trust the fan outside the chicken coop so they'll have to make do with the puddles that have formed in their coop yard.  We haven't been down to the cottage because the weather is just too yucky.  On occasion the sun peeps out and I take the dogs for a quick walk, only to witness the clouds fold right back in and another shower appears. 

   Our lone bunny, Cloud, she's not the friendliest - her brother Harley liked people better, but he passed on last year.  She lives next to the chickens  and has her own yard to run around in, when it's not storming out.  I've explained to her multiple times that her life quality would improve if she would only learn to trust us, but she'll have none of it. So, her hutch and yard are a no cuddle zone. 

      Some of the girls are molting and look like hell right now.  I also discovered mites in their coop and had to treat the whole thing, and them, with diatomaceous earth and I bleached the coop throughly as well.    DE is an all natural way to rid them of the mites that sometimes infest a coop, some people even eat it for digestive health.  It appears to have worked on the mites, two weeks later we are mite free.  I hope. 

 My giving tree - the ancient pear that stands in the mini's paddock, has more fruit than ever this year.   Considering the tree is half hollow and has lost major limbs in recent storms, that she still bears fruit is simply amazing.   The mini's love the fruit as it drops, some of which I have to scoop out each morning lest they get sugar overload from eating them all.

1,000's, I'm telling ya.  

     On days like today, when the weather may call for thunder and lightning,  I leave the horses in their paddocks where they have easy access to their stalls (and fans), shelter from any severe weather.  They prefer to be out on pasture, but I don't like to leave them out in the fields with potential lightning.  So they are bored as they wander around the smaller paddocks and their stalls, picking at their hay, while the much greener grass is on the other side of the fence.

    Opie peeking in the feed room, asking for a treat, please.

 

   My daughter's retired show horse, Max, likes his creature comforts.  If the going gets too buggy or hot or soggy  out in the fields, he much prefers the fans and soft shavings and hay offerings in his stall.

     The dogs nap as the rain falls, asking to go out occasionally, and only when it's not raining.

  Dear old Ben isn't fond of the rain or humidity either -  He's now on five heart pills -  living  on borrowed time, but he's comfortable and with these pills he's leading a decent life.  So we'll spoil him until his final day.

  One  good thing about all this rain is the lush gardens outside my doors... 

  I've made several batches of pesto from all the happy basil plants, my freezer is now stocked well into fall.    (This picture taken a day before the rains came - what a difference)

  The recipe and card I use was given to me at my wedding shower 30 years ago.   I love that idea.  Each guest to the shower brought a favorite recipe.  I still have most of them! 

 There are several variations of pesto out there, but this one is my favorite.  What's missing on the card is 2 teaspoons of pine nuts, and 2 cloves of garlic.  I make big batches and use lots of garlic. 

Delish! Fresh from the garden -   If you like pesto,  give it a try -