Degrees of Comfort

 

There's a distinct hint of fall in the air this morning. 

It's welcome too. 

My three horses started grazing on their fall pasture a few days ago.

That means walking the lane six times in the morning and six times in the evening. 

Yesterday afternoon when I went to down to the field to lead them up to the barnyard, Lefty was missing his fly mask. 

It's mystifying to me how a brand new mask, still fastened tightly shut with its velcro straps, can come off from a horse's head out in the middle of a field where he can't use anything to pry it off. 

Lefty must be a Houdini, or maybe the cow birds who like to hang with the horses helped him. 

Finding these masks will be a challenge in the hay field because the grass is tall and thick. 

The nice part:  I have an excuse to drive the 4-wheeler to go search.  And, that's pretty relaxing on an evening after dinner. 

Last night's search involved driving the brush-hogged trails and then going cross country.  

I had covered most of the segments of the field when I suddenly spied the mask in the grass.

I'm sure this will happen again, and I won't mind the evening drive.   

A cooler day and more time for projects meant a welcome change of pace yesterday as I cut back stringy petunias and snapdragons and did some fertilizing. 

I'm hoping this will yield healthier looking plants and at least one more color show before the flowers give up.  

I also had time to snip off several branches on shrubs that have been stabbing me every time I pass by while mowing the lawn. 

Gary Finney's Percherons grazing in the field just up the road. 

Almost there. 

The plums need a couple more days before it's time to pick.

They'll go into a kettle for another batch of jelly.  

Happily, my sparse cucumber crop yielded a couple of cukes ready for last night's dinner plate. 

Over the weekend, Bill and I shared one cob of corn.  Those four bites apiece were pretty tasty, and we're looking forward to some more maybe later this week.

Not much else to report, but that's nice cuz the relative down time is as welcome as the cooler temps. 

Happy Tuesday.  

Loving this year's sunflowers. Wish we could keep them growing all year long.