Big Surprise

We have been so hot and humid that it has been making me feel bad to be outside for very long, heat indexes of 107-115 pretty much every day..until yesterday.  We have had a lot of pop up showers that will dump rain on us, a lot of rain in five minutes time.  These are accompanied by a lot of thunder and lightening...that part usually lasts longer than the rain.  Yesterday was different.

The temperature dropped, we had a gust front hit and it rained without all the thunder and lightening. It is a big surprise to have temperatures only in the 80's in Texas, in August.  August is generally the hottest month of the year here...in bad years it is July and August, sometimes having weeks of over 100 degree temperatures and not a drop of rain.  We are suppose to be getting rain every day this week...and it is not suppose to hit even 90!  I know we have gotten 2-1/2 inches of rain so far this month, but that came with high temperatures following the rain...it made it very humid too...but it helped my trees and garden, and the grass is pretty green now.  It was raining when I got up this morning, a slow gentle rain and all week the lows will be in the 70's with highs in the 80's!  But, we also have a good chance of rain every day too.

I worked in the garden a little bit yesterday, it is a mess.  Weeds are overtaking it since I have not been going out every day and pulling them.  I just haven't felt well, not sure what it is, maybe allergies?  I have had frequent headaches and shooting pains that move around.  Here lately I have felt like someone hit me across the shoulders with a big stick and having sharp pains in my wrists and elbows.  I haven't been taking Aleve every day though...so it could just be arthritis I suppose.  I don't like the feeling though, maybe I will take some aspirin today.  I have things I need to do, canning wise.  If I don't do it soon...the chickens will be getting my crops.  I want to plant a Fall garden, I wanted green beans and corn to freeze or can and I didn't get enough out of my garden before a lot of it fried to a crisp.  I need to put composted chicken manure on the garden and till it in still too...can't do it when it is wet though, so I may start seeds in pots while it is rainy and then transplant them when I get it tilled again.  I pulled up all my corn plants and may pull up my cantaloupe and watermelon plants too.

I am upset that ants are eating my Brussel sprouts, gotta find a solution to fix that too.  I just have a lot to get done.  I have still not finished the run on the breeding pens I built either.  Just too hot and too much other work to do.  I will enjoy the cooler temperatures and I am sure my critters will too.  I need to put a couple of new tarps on today and move some roosters around.  My rooster population has gone down some and I need to try to put some in coops instead of pens, I just don't want them to fight.  I have some repairs to make too all of the feed sacks I put on the pallet coop to keep the rain out have deteriorated and the chickens are ripping them up, I need to clean it off and do something different I suppose.  So, if you ever use feed sacks as a siding material to block wind and rain...you only have about six months in a really sunny environment until they start falling apart, maybe a little longer...but to get them off in one piece...six is about max.  I touch these and they crumble in my hand unless the part was double layered.  I have a big mess to clean up.