It's so dry...

I'm not going to bore you with some old weather joke you've heard a dozen times.  
Actually, it's depressing.  Thanks to the fact that we get our water from a well (and have a new pump), at least I can garden, but this relentless heat is horrible.  We humans get used to being able to control so many things, but Mother Nature gets the last word on the weather.   
We have enough hay in the barn that we could start feeding it to the cows right now and we could get by.  So far they are dining in the alfalfa, although it gets dryer every day.  
Our son is coming to visit throughout next week.  I bought Worlds of Fun tickets for daughter-in-law Debbie and granddaughters Lyndsay, Natalie, and Monica.  
According to the forecast, it is going to be well over 100 degrees every day next week.  When I first mentioned buying WOF tickets, Cliff suggested I buy waterpark tickets instead.  But did I listen?  Oh no. 

  The tomatoes are still going strong.  I had a Facebook friend come and pick everything that was ripe, or in the process of ripening.  They went away with five-gallon buckets full.  I was glad to get a break from canning, and I hate to see anything wasted.  So everybody was happy with this deal.  Also, these folks are the kind of people that I know would share tomatoes with me if I didn't have any.  
I've learned something, I think, about zucchini, the one garden vegetable that in the past has been impossible for me to keep alive, thanks to various bugs.  

Yes, the plant does look sick.  But every time it starts dying, I spray the ground all around and under the leaves with bug spray and it adds new foliage and keeps growing!  I don't spray the leaves at all.  I've had a steady supply of zucchini for weeks now.  I happened to read something on the Internet about spraying the ground; it seems to work for me.  At this point, I've had about all the zucchini I want.  I keep vigilant, though, because in the past what happened was the bugs would kill the zucchini plant, and then move on to the cucumbers and melons and kill those also.  We've been having delicious little cantaloupes this year, first time in a long time.  
In spite of the drought, it's been a good garden year for me.  
I finally put some jeans on over my burned belly yesterday and we went shopping.  It was uncomfortable, but I got by.  I don't think I'll go anywhere else unless I can wear a nightgown.  Cliff and I can see that the the area is healing, it's just a slow process.  I won't be lifting any more canners full of boiling water off the stove, I'll guarantee you that.  


We took Max to the butcher shop Tuesday, and Bonnie wasn't a happy camper when I took the following video that evening.  Today, though, her bawling has almost ceased and she's going about the business of trying to stay alive in this heat.  I feel so sorry for the animals.