November Hill farm journal, 34

Heat.

I could stop there with this post but I'll backtrack a little and lead up to this week's string of 95+ days.

Last Friday I went with a friend to a beautiful chalet in Little Switzerland, NC, where we spent 4 days working on our current novels. It was a nice break for me - part of our deal was that Carolyn made dinner every night, and she's a food writer and wonderful cook so the meals were delicious. I got a huge amount of work done. The chalet is on the top of Grassy Mountain with views of Table Rock and the Blue Ridge, and was absolutely charming - an old stone tower that was at some point converted to living space. The stone walls are two feet thick! The landscape was lovely around the chalet too - with blueberries and blackberries there for the picking in the back. The wildlife highlight was when a huge black bear ambled by the dining room window and left, we think, a nose smudge of the glass of the outer front door!

Back to November Hill on Tuesday and that's where the heat comes in. It is so hot and relentless for the next three days before we dip back to the low 90s. The cats are staying in, the Corgis are on vents for the AC, and the horses are enjoying the shade and fans in the barn during the hot days.

Farm updates:

I got my signs for the front gate, which I need to take a photo of to share, but they are very nice and make it clear that no one should enter without express permission. The surveyors finished up yesterday, revealing some surprises about our strip that goes up to the main road. It's much wider than we knew, which doesn't mean much but does make me wish I'd know where the line was a couple of years ago when an obnoxious relative of the heighbors told me "he owned the road." The truck he used to haul in his ATV to race up and down was actually parked on our property! Oh, well.

One flower bed is neatly covered in cardboard and compost now, thanks to my husband, who did that for me while I was away. It's so nice to see that project starting to take off, even if it does coincide with the hottest week of the year thus far!

The horses are having their feed tubs decreased, as they are getting so much grass right now they are leaving the tubs half eaten. The overseeding we did and continue to do has paid off. I can't say enough good things about our Newer Spreader. I'm finding it to be one of the best farm purchases we've made, ever.

That's about it for now! If you're enduring summer heat, my sympathies. I am so ready for fall!