Can someone tell me....

Why it's nearly 11pm and it's still 82 degrees outside????

It's so muggy and hot here, that my windows are starting to sweat on the inside? WTH?

For about two weeks now we've avoided going outside at all costs.
(It's a good thing I put extra hay in the chicken coop, cuz I haven't cleaned it in two weeks either!)
I do check it every day and so far it's not suffering too badly.
You know why the coop hasn't suffered? I'm letting the chickens out very early instead of at noon..because at noon, I don't want to walk outside! It's too hot!

We have had a few days of afternoon showers. I'm not sure this has helped with the heat, but the grass appreciated it.
What little is left in the garden appreciated it to. The garden is pretty much done for the year of course. I've got a table full of sugar pumpkins that I will need to do something with soon.
The 'hot' peppers (various type) are still going strong and doing well. I think they like the heat.
(Seems the peppers are hotter this year too!)
I'm still fighting ants occasionally. (I can smell snow for our winter!)

The only thing I've semi regretted on a near daily basis is I have to pass an embroidery sign in my kitchen that says "Make hay while the sun shines" and I just don't have the heart to go out in this heat to make ANYTHING!

Sad isn't it?

In loving Memory

I woke this morning....once at 3 am...and again at 4. Not that this is necessarily unusual, but it was significant for me. Today is August 6. Three years ago, on this date...just at 4am, my phone rang. I didn't get to it before the answering machine cut on..time '4:03'..Tony said my name..and hung up. I STILL have that message on my machine.  He waited a minute and called back. I got that call. Click here to read:

In memory of

Deputy Dennis Carl Compton

Badge #535

Colleton County Sheriffs Department

End of watch: 08-06-08

"Mama take this badge off of me...I can't use it anymore"

ANTS!!!!!

They come in the house..you don't know they are there, they are quiet & sneaky. Unlike a mouse, they leave no 'indication' they have been there.

What happens is, you go to get something out of your cabinet, totally unawares of the little crawlers and suddenly, you have 5 of them on your hand, you look down and see several on the counter. As your eyes move up and scan the item you just pulled out of your cabinet, you see several crawling on it and then you make the mistake of looking inside!!
(ACK!)
It's loaded with ants! This could be anything from crackers to marshmallows. Trust me the bag of marshmallows I pulled out yesterday looked like hunks of swiss cheese !

I began pulling other things out of the cabinet that ended up in the trash or fed to the chickens. Crackers, raisins, said bag of marshmallows and several other items that I can't even remember right now.

Strangely enough, here is what they did NOT eat or get into, pasta (go figure) and chocolate chips ..Now, I have to ask..WHY? Do ants 'know' what's bad or something?

Either way, I fought ants, wiping and spraying, checking food and moving items (thank goodness for tin cans) for most of the day.
Then a whole day goes by and I keep checking for ants, no sign. Good, maybe I've taken care of it again (this has already happened 2x's this year). So tonight I'm in the kitchen putting away dinner. I pull out a plastic storage container  ..it was moving!
THEY'RE HERE!
Again.
What in the world could they possibly be after in THIS cabinet. There is nothing there but plastic containers and lids. AND OH MY GAWD..the lids! They were coated in the little buggers!

Needless to say, everything was dumped into the dishwasher, the cabinet emptied and sprayed and again tonight I'm fighting ants.
Someone give me a clue! I've tried everything!
WHY do ants come in?
(just a hint here so that you'll know in advance. I've lived here at this same spot for 15 years..and this is only the 2nd time this has happened. First, the summer of 2009 and now the summer of 2011) What has happened here! And we just got rain, so they're not looking for water..

You know..the summer of 2009 we had an ant invasion from hell. That winter, we got like almost 8 inches of snow...had a white out here for several hours, lots of ice, trees down, etc. (UNHEARD of for Southern South Carolina puhlease!) Then, last summer, no ants. I was relieved. Last winter, no snow, not that cold even.
Could this be a sign of things to come? Is it going to snow on us again this year? hmmm..makes me wonder!