Over 100 outside and picking up bones

It was over 100 today at home and it's supposed to stay that way for an entire week.  Around here we don't get summer rain, it's pretty much dry from now until October or November.  That means lots of watering to keep things alive. 

Since I've been away from home for the past couple of days I made sure I watered everything well before I left.  The baby chicks and ducklings got put into the extra chicken coop.  I knew they'd all die of thirst if they stayed in their troughs on the patio while I was away and I didn't want to obligate the neighbor to come over several times per day to check on them.  In the spare coop I filled their little water basin up and then put a couple of bricks inside it.  That way if any of the younger ducks or the chicks decided to get into the water basin they'd be able to get out and not drown.  They all made it just fine and there was still enough water left that I could have been away for another day.  But that's only three days worth of water, not enough if I get called away for a week or two. 

I can set it up to have the water drip through the main chicken coop and the extra coop.  I will try that over the weekend, since next week I'm out of town from Tuesday afternoon until Friday night.  During this next bit of travel I am going to have the opportunity to meet another blogger, this one just north of Sacramento.  Then hopefully no more travel...unless it involves some overtime! 

Everything is growing like crazy.  I even got my first okra today.  Not bad considering the sheep ate the plants down just a week ago.  Finally the eggplant took off.  It seemed to be in shock for an awful long time after transplanting.  I think the hot weather really perked it up.  I watered everything again tonight.  I'll see about not watering until Monday. 

One of the things I did with the garden is add a mulch.  I have bark in between the rows of garden boxes, not only to keep down the weeds but to make it so it can be walked on during the winter.  Otherwise everything sinks into the mud.  I had thought about adding bark to the beds but one video I was told to watch by a fellow blogger talked about using wood chips.  Woodchips are really inexpensive, especially when compared to bark.  I can buy a huge bag (also known as pet bedding) that will cover an entire garden bed several inches deep for five dollars.  Not all the beds have this mulch.  I have to be careful because this works well for plants that like acidic soil.  I'm not sure how beneficial it will be to plants that don't, other than it sure will conserve the water. 

One of my friends suggested I purchase a tall water tank.  While shorter, wider tanks may be able to be better hidden by bushes, the taller tank will provide better water pressure if water has to come straight from that tank and not through my well's pressure tank.  This is important because with all we have to water, if we couldn't get a good flow out of a hose it would be an awful lot of buckets to carry.  I'd rather use the hose.  So, I'm looking to make some overtime at some point this summer to be able to add a water tank to the property. 

Work was interesting working out of town today.  Unfortunately because of the nature of the job I couldn't bring the grand kids.  They are up at the bug-out place with Mr. and Mrs. Bug-out renter.  They are pulling weeds.  Mr. and Mrs. Bug-out renter will give them lots of snacks, let them stay up late, and most important, let them play in the creek.  They'll be happy. 

On Monday afternoon I set up this project we worked on today.  I was able to arrange having about 25 people come help me.  The two people in charge of this group of workers were not happy.  Their supervisor told them to drive to point X and then get the work order from there.  It was all very secretive, which was just how I wanted it.  Not happy was putting it mildly, until I told them what they got to do.  Let's walk around and pick up body parts.  Mostly legs but there were other parts as well.  They were pretty excited when I pointed out the skull fragments.  It was unusual because there were no teeth or finger bones today, mostly legs and arms.  At the end of the day the  two in charge of the crews were pretty pleased with themselves.  One person remarked that when he woke up this morning he sure didn't ever suspect that they'd learn to tell the difference between a human bones and deer.  Yes, it was an interesting day.  I'm glad to be home.