By Daisy Luther
This week was a busy one.
First, it’s somehow about a million degrees Fahrenheit again. I guess someone missed the fact that September is autumn, but every day this week reached well over 100 degrees. I had readings as high as 107, so we had to work hard to keep our animals cool enough to survive.
For my babies that are still in brooders, I fill Mason jar with ice and put one at each end of their areas. As the ice melts, it cools the air through condensation, so this drops the temperature some for them. Here’s a picture of our chicken AC (and a little Americauna chicken bootie).
We brought home some new farm babies this week. We got 12 little Muscovy ducklings. Oh. My. Goodness. They are the cutest little things.
Except for the fact that they are little web-footed jerks. The reason the photo above is such poor quality is because they retreat in abject terror every time I go in to feed them. They huddle in the corner and clamber over the top of each other to get as far away from the big human as possible.
They really don’t like me much.
When I open the door they fling themselves out of the brooder in a panic and it’s game on. They flee every which direction, my hens chase them, I chase them, my daughter chases them, and it’s chaos in the bird run. Like….major massive chaos. In case you didn’t know (I didn’t know) those cute little webbed feet have talons that feel like Exacto knives on their duck toes.
But…LOOK AT THAT FACE! It almost makes up for having to run around and chase ducklings on an afternoon that was 105 degrees. ALMOST.
Yesterday, we went on a really awesome outing that I’m counting as homeschool biology. We went to the National Heirloom Expo in Santa Rosa, CA. It was quite a road trip, about 3 hours there and 4 hours back due to traffic. We saw more squash than I’ve ever seen in my life in one place, bought enough seeds to plant for an entire year, and ate delicious, non-GMO, organic food from vendors. I wish that you could get food like that normally. Never have I been anywhere with so many good choices all in one place. This is how food is supposed to be.
One hall was full of sliced open vegetables of all varieties. It was fascinating to see all of the different colors of tomatoes and melons. There are so many options that I’m inspired to plant even more colors next year. I have 4 different colors of carrots to plant in my fall garden and I can’t wait to harvest them!
I did some more canning this week and am eagerly awaiting more produce so I can make my usual fall goodies. (Recipes can be found here.) I need salsa!!!!
In less pleasant news, there’s a new fire nearby. It’s called the Butte Fire, and it’s about 30 miles away. So far it isn’t as bad as the King Fire was last year, nor are we as close. (I wrote about living right on the edge of that fire for 10 days.) I am in awe of the firefighters who put themselves at huge risk to protect us. In weather above 105 degrees, they hold the line at the edge of the inferno dressed in full protective gear.
The air quality even 30 miles away is pretty bad. I took this photo at around 8 am, when it should be nice and sunny. It looks like dusk and there’s a haze over everything. We’ve closed up the house and will be running the air conditioner today.
This weekend, we’re having a little get-together with friends. Although it has been two years since we moved to the US from Canada, my daughter didn’t receive her naturalized citizenship until this summer. Two years and hundreds of dollars for a citizenship document that is her right by birth. Ask me how I feel about “amnesty” for those who cross our southern border illegally. Anyway, we have good cause to celebrate, at long last.
I’m staying away from social media today because the memory of 9/11 has been manipulated by so many. Whoever you believe to be at fault for that, the remembrance should be for the innocent lives lost because someone wanted to make a devastating impact on our country. To give your attention to the evil that caused this disaster is disrespectful to those who died in it and those who lost loved ones in it and those who lost their health by selflessly rushing there to provide aid. Those are the people who should be mentioned today. Forget the conspiracies and the hate, and focus on compassion for the loss.
I hope you have a great week. Let me know what’s going on at your place in the comments below!
