I Prefer -15 Degrees

So do the chickens. It’s easier to keep them warm than to cool them down. The thermometer read 100 degrees yesterday afternoon, so I rigged up a misting station for them:

One of the hose nozzles has a “mist” setting, so I anchored it to the fence and turned on the water. I thought the chickens would stand under it—they love to stand out in the rain—but they preferred to splash in the puddles that formed after an hour or so. Whatever. The aim was to cool them off and I think it worked. I dug a few bags of frozen strawberries out of the freezer for them, too, although Dave now assumes that every time I come out there, it’s to deliver more strawberries.

Dave really is a great rooster. He may end up being the best rooster we’ve ever had. He knows his job and does it well. If he thinks there’s a threat, he hustles the hens into the coop. He makes sure that they know when I bring treats out. He knows his name and will stop and look at me (out of one eye or the other) when I talk to him. He’s a bit standoffish with humans—even me—but he is never aggressive. And he is handsome and he knows it.

It appears we have a rooster among the pullets. One of the White Rock chicks is starting to look and act like one. If he starts to crow, we will be sure. I was hoping not to have to train any roosters this year, but if he watches Dave, he might learn something.

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I stopped at Cathy’s yesterday morning on my way to town to run errands. If I hadn’t been on a schedule, we probably could have sat around for several hours, catching up. I don’t think I’ve seen her in person for almost a year, although we message back and forth. I took a jar of Rhubarb BBQ sauce to her, and she gifted me with this:

She was shopping on Renaissance Ribbons and saw this ribbon and bought it for me. It will make a nice embellishment on a sewing machine cover or some zipper pouches. How cute!

The husband is out working in this heat. I don’t know how he does it, other than he is very good at staying hydrated. Most crews are trying to pour early in the morning to avoid the worst of it. Last night over dinner, I showed him the pictures of the concrete buckling on I-5 in Seattle. And there was a 20-acre wildfire in Issaquah yesterday, which is a suburb east of the city. (That’s where DD#1 worked when they lived in Seattle.) Things are a mess over there. DD#2 happens to be in San Diego at the moment, visiting a friend, so she’s missing the worst of it. My Portland friends have been through the wringer, too—I hope you’re all okay?

I run the sprinklers out in the garden from 6-9 every morning, just to keep things from drying out.

The upstairs gets too hot in the afternoons for me to sew, even with the fan on (which also blows pieces of fabric around). I think I will go out to the old garage and work on some machines today. It’s nice and cool out there. I could also clean the basement.

The long-term forecast improves only slightly; I expect it will be in the 80s and 90s and dry for most of the next two months. That’s not atypical for Montana in the summer, but I don’t enjoy it.