Dog days of summer are here

Snack time!

This is the kind of weather where it's so hard to get motivated, even to ride. Hot sultry weather seems to stuck in our neck of the woods with no relief from the rainstorms that passed through last night. Despite the icky, sticky weather, John mowed the ring area (yes, the grass was taking over) and now we'll need to disc it again before dragging it. Then he mowed around and between our garden plantings, while I weeded by hand, whew! The squash, potatoes, corn, and peppers seem to be holding their own against the wild radish invasion! I even found two zucchini in the nick of time--before they became monster squash with no use.

After the mowing was done, we decided to brave the heat and take the girls out for a little jaunt. Harley has broken out in hives again (something hatched or the no-see-ums attacked), and the fillies have minor cases, as does Vance. So, no saddle for Harley again.

We walked up the power line and down through the woods to the Orris Falls trail, all the while, swishing at the darn deer flies swarming our ponies. They were absolutely awful and the girls were most unhappy, tossing their heads, swishing their tails, even breaking into a trot to get the heck home as soon as possible! I can't say I blame them. All they really wanted was a nice cool shower and to stand in the shade with a fan blowing on them. And that's just what we did, along with giving everyone a little snack. Stamping off flies and standing in the dirt, no grazing in the buggy fields, leads towards weight drop, so the snack/indoor break gave them a nice reprieve.

Then a big storm blew in with blue-grey clouds that burst open and poured. No thunder and lightning, like they predicted, and not a lot of cooling, but the brief respite felt wonderful. I stood in the barn doorway, getting misted from the blowing rain--ahhh!