July 4th Saturday

It is very hot. Too hot. I would rather be cold. I am good at wearing sweatshirts and down vests.

Yes, I am complaining.
I am sweating and I am sunburnt!

I fed horses this morning, filled water tubs......then........

I knocked the hornet's nest down.

You ask why? Why would I knock down the hornets nest?

Well, I hate poisons around the barn, so spraying it was out of the question.
Secondly, I hate to just kill things because they are in the way. Hornets have a purpose in this world. Okay, I am not sure what that purpose is....but still I would rather remove them, move them or get them to move without poisoning or burning.

Yes, the hornets were mad. No, they didn't get me. I went in with the broom, held it like a Louisville slugger and pretended I was Mickey Mantle......I hit one out of the park and then I RAN. The whole nest (big like a soccer ball) came loose and flew down the paddock. YAY! Just what I wanted.

All was well for a moment......then Beaver saw that "something" had landed in a nearby paddock and he crashed out of his fencing to "get" it.

Big mistake.

The hornets were investigating the loose parts of their nest and also looking for the perpetrator.

Enter Beaver.

Two stings on the leg and he left for higher ground....perhaps a lesson learned that curiousity killed the cat and that hornet nests are NOT edible.

Then to work on the remodel of the loafing shed. Aren't we always building one or remodeling one ? It seems like it. This particular loafing shed was not big enough to house a whole BIG horse and it needed the roofline extended. So we sunk two six by six 12 foot posts, cemented them and then sunk two four by four 10 footers.....hard to explain but it worked nicely. Sully was able to use it for shade today. It is now big enough for two horses (if they get along!)

Sully was very curious as to what I was doing and he would come up, sniff, look and then run off if I reached for him....then he would come back again. By early afternoon, he was standing right next to me and liking the scratches he received....he let me rub his ears and scratch his withers. Then he stood in the shade and watched me work on the metal roofing.

We still need to patch some old nail holes in our metal roofing......a perfect hot weather day job.....but by 2 o'clock today I had had enough and I went home. Yeah, I have a lot of home chores waiting for me too......my pond project needs finishing, flowers needed watering.......dogs needed playing with.

I will go back to the barn tonight and have my usualy fourth of July vigil. Honestly, private fireworks need to be banned. I find it interesting that it is against the law to drive drunk.......but you are welcome to ignite fireworks If you are drunk, you may purchase fireworks, blow your hands off, blow your neighbors hands off..maybe start a forest fire or a house fire...........what a mess. I had my neighbors start a fire on my deck one year....drunk, disorderly and igniting fireworks......could have burned my house down...luckily I had sprinklers on my cedar shingle roofing. This is simply the tyranny of the majority. Aren't we beyond this?

I will be much happier come 2am tomorrow morning....and then even happier to know that it will be a whole year before we have to do this again.

please keep your pets safe, turn on the radio, exhaust fans.......keep them inside.

Last year and many years before I have found pets who have run all night to get away from fireworks......many times these pets were dead. One in particular......chewed his rope and ran down the road, where he was hit by a car.....dragging 3o feet of rope. I found him around 2 am when I returned home from the barn........too late for me to help him..... Rope will not hold a scared dog....what were his owners thinking?