The Cat Days of Summer

During the Cat Days of Summer, when the temperatures climb to 90 and the insect popular explodes, the sheep, horses and chickens while away most of the day in the barn, and the cats overtake the back porch.

Trick snoozing on the back porch.

The concrete is cooler than their usual napping places in the barns.

Leslie the Cat on the back porch.

House flies, gnats and even the lumbering, buzzing horse flies seem to leave the cats alone on the back porch.

Roxie perched on the stoop.

If snoozing on the back porch, they have to exert little energy to find their next meal--cat food served on the porch.

But their is one cat who chooses a different place for his siesta. Dewey Kitty comes inside and stretches out where I, too, would like to while away the hot summer afternoons.

Dewey Kitty snoozing under the ceiling fan in my office.

Chore Time: Rising with the Temperatures

As the water from the bucket splashes and runs down my leg,
as sweat runs down my face and back,
as I swat flies,
as I try to remove the hay chaff that is sticking, clinging, to my skin,
I realize that chores time, in late August, when it is 90 degrees,
takes longer than chore time in December,
when the ground is frozen and the temperatures are in the 20s.

Water consumption soars with the temperatures.

At 70 degrees, the sheep, the horses, the chickens, sip. At 90, they gulp. So I must provide more water.

And in late August, when they are growing their winter coats, the sheep and horses need more water to stay cool. So I carry more water.

In August, the forage growth slows, so, in order to save pastures, I pull the sheep and horses off of them and feed hay. So I carry hay -- a hot task made hotter at 90 degrees.

Hay has little moisture, so the animals need more water.

Hay also takes less time to consume, leaving grazing animals with time on their hooves. So, I try to give them an hour or two to graze and move around -- which means moving them on and off pastures, closing and opening gates.

Which all takes time, time, time.