2011 - Day Two Hundred Twelve; Sunday...

OKAY THIS IS GETTING SERIOUS. This is the 47th day this year with temperatures over 100 degrees. Today is day two hundred twelve (and I will understand if you get that confused with the temperature today). As I write this, our nuclear atomic clock weather stations (we have two) report the temperature to be 104 degrees (those gauges are in the shade, too) and they are within .3 degrees of each other. NOW, the reason I am reporting that this is more serious today than on any of the other days is, we saw our first dead cow today in what had once been a stock tank. I think owner mistreatment of the animal is much more to blame for the death than the weather, but the weather has certainly played a role. We took the boy dog for a ride this morning, and we saw the bull laying in the bottom of the tank, and remarked that it looked like it was dead. Several hours later (when we were on our way to Georgetown) I wanted to go back and check on the bull, and indeed it was dead. There was plenty of grass around for it to graze on, but I could see no evidence of any water. COW ABUSE, but I will have to give part of the blame to the drought. And no, I did not record the visual evidence for documentation purposes.

This is a photo of the sunset from last night. I took this picture when I was on my way out to the chicken coop to put the girls to bed. As I was going out to the coop, I felt 13 or 14 drops of rain on my head. It was scary enough that I went back inside to tell Jody about the phenomenon, and while I was in the coop, he came outside and reported seven or eight drops on his head. But, it was an interesting experience. I am not kidding, there were only several drops of rain, not even enough to count as sprinkles.

We have gone through plenty of water today. I have begun watering the slab as well as watering plants. I think I can at least keep the slab from buckling if I water around the edges of the house on a weekly basis. Not sure if I will be able to keep the plants alive, but I will be able to save some of them. We are (I am pretty sure) in the second phase of water restrictions here, and we need to watch the water usage carefully. The cattle are going through good bit of water also, and I just went out to the pastures to make sure their troughs were full of water. No need for them to suffer any more than they already are.

Jody is really a wizard when it comes to orchids. He has the touch, and this is another one of his orchids that is blooming again. The windows in the den and the breakfast room are perfect for orchids and African violets. Bright light but no direct or hot sunlight. Perfect for these beautiful blooming plants.

This will be a busy week ahead of me, and who can really comprehend the fact that it is the first week of August already? Where is the year going? When will the heat end? When will we have rain? Where have all the flowers gone? When did we become annexed by southern California?

Whatever...

Deeds, Actions, Changes, DEAD CATTLE, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!