Ahhh . . . Cool Summer Comfort

Love this photo of Festus, our cool and only cat.  He's also our "obese" cat, dubbed so several times during a visit to the vet earlier this year.

Yes, Festus is obese, but he's a happy fat cat, purring all the time and living the life of Riley for a cat.

He has his own quarters in the shop off the north side of the house. He also enjoys his choice of cushions in chairs on the deck.

I believe Festus has turned 11 this year, and I'm expecting many good years ahead, as he leads a life virtually without stress and with all his needs addressed.  

This is the petunia basket from Mother's Day (given by Willie and Debbie).  It's definitely a gift that keeps on giving in a stunningly beautiful way.

Oh, its shape is a bit flat on one side, thanks to the warmth of the grill, which, for a time, was mistakenly parked too nearby, but those gorgeous blooms mask out any imperfections. 

Best garden ever----like so many others around this area.  I'm blown away every time I walk down the rows and admire how prolific every variety seems to be this year.

That corn patch has some stalks seven feet tall now, and ears are forming.  This year's bounty is a generous gift of nature, and it's my responsibility to see that it doesn't go to waste. 

A mown hay field---such a good feeling, especially in early July.  The bales all went into the barn yesterday, so one of the annual dramas of summer has come and gone.

No more worries about this year's crop being overdone and definite knowledge of needs for purchasing some supplemental tons to go with those in the barn.

It's a great feeling to have hay in the barn.  Now, all I have to do is make arrangements for my annual shavings purchase.  Once that's done, winter needs for the horses will be met.

An added plus of the field above is that it now serves as a walking and romping area for humans and dogs.  Plus, I'll ride my horses out there. 

While I was gone earlier this week, the deer came to visit my manure-pile garden, snipping the tops off from several sunflowers I'd planted on the west side of the barn.

But they didn't get them all, so I put up another gate to keep them out and to ensure some enjoyment of those blossoms still attached to stems and ready to bloom.

So far, only four have popped out, but they really provide a pleasant contrast to the barn. 

Poppies around the Lovestead have taken on many shapes, sizes and color patterns. This one in my garden wildflower patch was unusual enough to merit a photo. 

Chad Moore's honey bees remain busy and welcome over here at the Lovestead. A volunteer onion from last year's garden has gone to seed and is sporting three big beautiful balls of tiny flowers on its three stems. The bees have been having a heydey.  

When the first echinacea blossom opened, it greeted the bees. 

What a "cool" time! Love it!

I'm sure just about everyone was feeling an extra spring in their step yesterday as the beastly hot weather took a break.We even had a little rain, although not enough here at the Lovestead to cease watering.

It's been so nice to have a night not surrounded by fans and some time to do projects that have remained on hold during the heat wave. 

Yesterday, I dragged most of my hay into the barn (the crew arrived with 40 bales left). As they were stacking the remaining bales, a mother mouse and her family emerged from beneath one of the bales and raced to the barn.

Soon after the crew left, I was loading mouse traps and placing them strategically in the barn.  Time to cut down the population before they think the barn is a nice place to raise some more families.

I enjoyed mowing the rest of the lawn AND vacuuming the house didn't even seem all that bad.A feeling of autumn was in the air, even though we know there's half the summer left.

That false sense of fall directed me to the grocery store to stock up on canning supplies, including jars, sugar and pectin.

With seemingly a zillion plums weighting down the limbs on the two trees, I'm anticipating many jars of that lovely jelly, and it will be nice to have the supplies on hand when they all ripen.

Bill and I enjoyed a salad made from the second crop of garden lettuce and that beautiful cucumber, pictured a few days ago.It was a very pleasant day, topped off by an enjoyable and pleasant evening stroll around the fields and the yard.

We probably won't have much more rain, but happily the temperatures should stay a good ten degrees or so cooler than what we've encountered the last month.

Life is very good, and, for a while at least, our days will be filled with something other than escaping the heat.

Happy Sunday.