We've been "on vacation" the last few days. Ray and I still get up pretty early. Today it was after 6 for me and after 7 for him. The sky was bright by then and I spent a little time reading e-mails. My plan to get rid of 100 a week has been hiding for a while and I am back up 7500...I am not required to delete them, moving them to a file is oK too.

Ray hadn't been up too long when the phone rang...it might have been 8. Most people know that I am up early and they are welcome to call. This was my friend and neighbor Nancy H.  She has been having her chickens attacked by a raccoon, which she regularly faces down at 2 in the morning, trying to protect them. She lost one a couple days ago and another was injured. Last night, she had to get up and rescue the remaining 2 and lock them in a crate for the rest of the night. She was calling to ask if they could come stay with us until she figures out what to do to make her chicken yard and coop safe. (or get rid of the raccoon). Ray says call Mike and have him come with his gun...but I think Nancy's a vegan, I'm not sure she would go for that...It's hard to figure out the balance between farming and Nature. Just by existing, we are upsetting the balance...but then again, we are part of Nature, too, right? Using our resources to stay alive...harder to figure, though, if we don't really depend on the chickens we raise to keep us alive.

Anyway, now we have two lovely black Australorps, moved in with Gladys. She doesn't seem to object to them like the younger ones, but she's been back in the nesting box for the last 18 hours or so. The poor babies, though, are still in their coop, while Nancy's girls have the run of the run. If they would hang out in "their" (Gladys's) coop, I could close the door to that one and let the babies into the run. Or I could move the tractor around to the babies' front door and let them into that, at least.

Ray is gone to work for a bit and I am almost glad for the quiet for once. He won't be gone long and we'll figure out what to do when he comes back. If I try to move the tractor by myself, it may collapse. My Dad will probably stop by later, I'm not sure when. He is having coffee with his friend David this morning.

The garden is in pretty good shape, not much to do at the moment. Every space, pretty much, is planted. The sweet potatoes went in Tuesday. They are great. They look awful, like they were dead. But they are among the sturdiest of plants and thrive in heat and drought. The biggest challenge is the voles. Something has decimated them two of the three times we planted them. The blueberries look like they would be ready any day, but I remember this from last year. It seems to take forever...and then! magic. We have tremendous broccoli plants, but they have not put out any "fruit" yet. It seems let to me, but I don't know that we can do anything. Daddy regular dusts with DiPel to keep the cabbage worms down. The potatoes had bugs, too, but we hand-picked and sprayed them. They eat the leaves, but don't harm the potatoes themselves. They will be ready in about a month. Some of the onions have already died back, a month early. We dug them up and dried them, but they are small. Garlic is still going strong. Peas are about done. Not sure how much more asparagus we can take. The yield is low, even though we added manure. There are baby green beans that we will harvest in a few days and yellow-orange flowers on the cucumbers, melons, and squash. The eggplants were pretty much destroyed by flea beetles. One is gone. Four more are still alive, but I don't hold out much hope. Peppers are getting bigger slowly. We still have lettuce doing well and have harvested lots of radishes. Looks like we might have some pretty good carrots this year. Beets and chard were slow to start and won't like the hot. We'll see. All in all, enough to keep us busy.

As long as Ray is not teaching, I am pretending I don't have to worry about looking for work, or dealing with some other things I've got going. Even though we are home, we are trying to be relaxed. After breakfast and sudoku, we have a walk, trying to beat the heat. Then I spend a little time outdoors in the garden, weeding and checking things. Mostly, it's too hot by 10:30 or so. Lately, I spend a lot of time just watching the chickens.

If I'm on track and in the mood, I will plan and prepare meals early in the day, trying not to use the stove or oven when it's hot. Yesterday, I made a lentil and potato salad for potluck. I did the cooking part while the windows were still open. Ray's persnickety-ness often annoys me, but it can be handy. He goes around opening all the windows in the morning (or the evening) and closes them and the shades when it gets to be hotter out than in. If I don't use the stove, it stays very pleasant in the house during the morning and early afternoon.