A Sweltering September Saturday

We got a heck of a lot done on the farm today in spite of the sweltering temperatures.  Today was Day #1 of Donkey Barn construction.  Ian and Bruce worked from morning to mid-afternoon in the oven-like weather with hardly a complaint, despite Ian sweating through at least four shirts.

Meanwhile, the boys and I deconstructed part of the vegetable garden.  We ripped out all the tomato and cucumber plants and bagged them for the compost.

After an exhausting day and putting two hot and grumpy boys to bed, I was at a loss over what to do with the farm animals.  At 6:30 pm, it was still 28 degrees Celsius outside.  It seemed cruel to put the poor animals inside the stifling hot barn, yet I could not leave them outside past dusk for fear they would become the coyote's next meal. The only solution I could think of was to sit out with them until it cooled down a bit.

Now, anyone who has lived on a farm knows that it is next to impossible to "sit" outside.  There is always something that needs doing.  So, I grabbed the wheel barrow and shovel and started mucking the animal barns.  *I am well aware that mucking the barns is on my list of no go pregnancy activities but if you won't tell Ian, my doctor, or my mother, then I won't either.*

The thing with mucking barns is that it varies by season.  In the winter, mucking is difficult because anything wet freezes into an ice chunk.  In the summer, it takes next to no time for the barn to become overwhelmed by a suffocating ammonia smell and no matter how often you muck, maggots seem to spontaneously appear underneath the first layer of poopy hay.  Summer mucking is not for those with weak stomachs.  Luckily I have good, sturdy rubber barn boots, a long handled pitch fork, and a stomach of steel, so barn cleaning does not phase me in the slightest.  I actually enjoy it.  The smell of sweet, clean hay spread on the barn floor is quite lovely.

It was a busy end to a very busy day.  Our new barn is underway, we are halfway through our garden clean up, and the barn mucking is finished for another week.  Now if only this sweltering summer heat would fade into crisp autumn temperatures, then we could really be productive!