fields and roads

Could be one of our coldest Julys, but I don't mind. Less swimming and shorts-wearing, but comfortable days and nights, happy kale. The summer is flying by! Our weekends are often busy - one of us in the city or we're visiting with friends and family. Next week, after a night in Toronto, I'll be driving north to my folks and then driving with mom to Massachusetts for a family reunion. Then Toronto again after that to record in the studio with the band. A total of almost 2 weeks away... great things, but wew!

These frequent stints away make me wonder about the possibility of having more animals on the farm. Chickens and goats being the current fascination/topics of research. Let myself splurge a little on books: "Chickens in Your Backyard: A Beginner's Guide", Rick Luttmann; "You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start and Succeed in a Farm Enterprise", Joel Salatin; "Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats: Breeds, Care, Dairying." I'll just be hanging on the beaches of Gloucester reading about milking goats. Sounds about right.

The earwigs have been bad this year. They are everywhere and totally freaky looking. Getting tired of squishing them! NAST.

What else? Ah yes, we've got horseshoe pits going finally. Think we'll have a round with the neighbours on Friday. Garlic soon ready to pull. It's smallish, but surely tasty. We'll prob be saving a large part of it for replanting this fall, keeping a lot for ourselves, and selling the rest cheaply to friends. It's been so easy to grow - perhaps we'll try planting even more this year. D talks about how it'll keep the vampires away - he's on a 'True Blood' (HBO show) kick lately.