Next up...

 

On the last day of the dome...we had a most curious sunrise. A blazing red sky to the east and to the west we had a morning rainbow! See that little bright spot in the sky? It grew fainter the further up into the clouds it went, but it was there!

This is the second time I've seen something like this, almost in the same spot. Perhaps it is a combination of moisture and light at just the right moment?

Friday evening brought nice temperatures finally. I don't know how those folks in other areas deal with nonstop heat, but I know I don't do well with it.

To celebrate the cooler weather, Siera and I rode out on the neighbor's cropland and enjoyed the evening views. She loves wide open flat spaces and gaits out in a super smooth ride. A gaited animal ride is like no other. She was actually very calm and very quiet unlike the ride where we met up with the killer baby stroller and mule eating children on dangerous bicycles.

In the zinnia garden, the Great Spangled Fritillary was busy. 

Not to mention the Swallow Tails!

The morning glories are indeed glorious right now, they are really going gung ho. I haven't watered them in a long time but they seem to be doing fine. They are not close to the house but out towards the pastures.

I may have to put them nearer the house next year so I don't have to walk so far to enjoy them.

After recovering from the heat dome, the flowers seem to be doing fine. The nasturtiums are trying to take over the porch! I'll have plenty of seeds for next year as they are producing a lot of them! Nasturtiums send out vines that look for more space.

Sunday was an all day work day. The summer meadow needs to recover so I've fenced it off.
In the shot below you can see where the hot wire was and the greening of the area that has not been grazed for 3 weeks.

To encourage growth for overwinter and recovery, I'm not letting the critters into the meadow until next summer.

However, in that line of trees is a nice section of forest with a LOT of food.

To the left of this photo is another wooded pasture that has been grazed down but if I make a gate for the mules to go into the forest from that side, I can keep them off the meadow!

In the shot above, the 4 wheeler is in the meadow and I am standing in the older worn out pasture. I made an opening to the forest with a single hot wire to keep them out of the meadow. Now, to get them to use it!

Pounding t-posts was one of the hardest things I did! The ground is so dry and hard that it took a long time and a huge effort to do it. 

Hubby built a post pounder that weighs 20lbs and is a steel tube with a cap on it. We don't use the ones sold in stores.

I think I got a good arm workout!

The good part about the 'gate' and trail into the woods, is that it uses a trail they already are accustomed too.

Well, here it is almost the end of August! Are you ready for September?