It’s a Hot, Hot Day in July
Down on the farm . . .
It’s hot here in Tennessee. Just kind of the usual summer hot, and I’m used to it, but still, the humidity is a THING when you’re working outside. And there’s lots of work to do outside. The flowers are loving the sun and the afternoon thunderstorms offer a respite and a breeze – and some clouds to thwart the heat for a little while.
I’m so interested in the flowers. Cosmos, Zinnia, Dahlia, Sunflowers, Poppy, Coneflower. I’m not sure my experiment is teaching me as much as I would like. Mostly, I’ve relearned what I already thought I knew. Dahlias don’t like wet feet. Zinnias are hardy and bright. Cosmos are airy and light. One new thing I’ve learned. Deer love the top leaves of sunflowers. I had a great row of them only to wake one morning to find the stems sticking out of the ground after a deer crunched off all the top leaves. I’m not sure it’s a recoverable situation. The score is: Deer 50, Sunflowers 0.
The Zinnias are amazing though. Easy to grow from seed, these colorful blooms are sturdy and quite robust. The deer don’t seem to like them . . . yet.
July residencies are underway right now. I’m happy to say both weeks are full. The writers hail from TN, TX, NY, OH, PA, CA, NC, and AL. Quite a spread. Also, we have a couple of Day Writers coming this month to enjoy a quick day of writing. Writers in the Nashville area are more than welcome to apply for Day Writing privileges. (It’s on the website if you want to read more!)
For those of you interested in implements for the tractor – I love you so much – because I’m spending a lot of time on the tractor right now and learning a lot about tillers and land planes and quick hitches. Nothing is as easy as you might hope. In fact, most of it is difficult and requires some troubleshooting. I don’t have a lot of experience around machinery and diesel engines, but I’m figuring it out. I’m holding my own, even though I had a break in a hydraulic line the other day. (I swear it wasn’t my fault!) I wanted to level and repair the barn driveway so I bought a land plane. It did the job perfectly. I struggled to get it hitched initially, but eventually, it worked. Now the barn driveway doesn’t have those huge ruts in the middle of it.
One sad thing to report: Oliver, our tabby cat, who has been with me for 7 years, is no longer here and I don’t know what happened to him. He didn’t show up for breakfast one day and that was that. Oliver was very much a homebody and wasn’t one to wander. All I can say is that he was here one day and the next day he wasn’t. In my mind, I keep expecting him to just reappear one day. What a joy that would be. We still have Lucie and Pippy. Lucie is obviously sad about Oliver’s disappearance. She’s been very clingy to me which is not her usual personality. Here are some pics of Oliver in happy days.
I hope everyone is enjoying summer and finding ways to stay cool in the heat. It’s days like these that I’m grateful for the swimming pool!
Blessings,
Sandy