We went to the animal fair...

My SO and I took my granddaughter to the county fair this past week. She seemed a bit bored, but I get an inordinate amount of joy checking out the animals. In a previous lifetime, I kept chickens, cooked rabbit (I called it "chicken surprise", with the surprise being it wasn't chicken), raised a couple of goats, etc. So while we avoided cow patties and refrained from petting any of the critters until after we ate some carvival food, I reminisced about my livestock experiences.

Or two sheep or one cow

At one point, I considered creating a mini-farm after retirement, with mini animals (pygmy goats, miniature donkeys, bantam chickens, babydoll sheep, etc.), but that is not the kind of thing one can do solo. Also, finding affordable land meant moving quite a ways out of town and I've become accustomed to the convenience of city life.

While researching how best to control flopping of tall perennials, I came across several references about how ironweed never flops. HA! Even in full sun, I've seen it lean. Along this fence, the plants probably do not get as much sun as they would like, which would be one contributing factor. The other may be that the soil is too rich, even though I don't fertilize.


We had another hot week, so mowing and trimming and a bit of weeding were the order of the day. Next week promises to be absolutely lovely, temps in the 70's with lows dipping into the 50's. It does not feel like we are on the cusp of August.