(DF) HOT, DRY, BUGGY, ETC.; but we are still here

As you may have noticed, Anna and I have not posted recently, so I wanted to take this opportunity to say that we are still here, still alright, and most importantly, still together (we just celebrated the first anniversary of our relationship on Thursday).  Though it was not the celebration we had planned, we did get to spend it together and it is wonderful to look back at the year that has so quickly passed.

Now for reasons (not excuses) why we have not posted recently.  To begin with, Anna's computer is still down and her stone-age laptop, like my stone-age desktop, just doesn't handle working in temperatures in excess of 100 degrees.  By the time either of us is forced by the heat to take a break,  it is already to hot for the computers to work.

Time and energy are other factors to be dealt with.  With the long stretch of record breaking heat and record low rainfall in our area, most of our time is being spent watering plants, trees and livestock.  No, we are not getting a lot of production, but in this heat, the goal is to just keep things alive until it cools off and rains.  Today is wonderfully cool by the way, at least so far.  It  has just passed the 90 degree mark, and though quite humid, is still better than the 100 degrees plus that it has been this time of day for awhile.

Between the heat, drought, and what I jokingly refer to as a grasshopper plague of near biblical proportion, it is amazing that anything is left to do here.  Actually though the grasshoppers are most plentiful, they aren't quite on a biblical scale.  However, it looks like the small apple trees will have to be replanted thanks to the grasshoppers eating all the bark off of them.  Managed to keep the deer off them just to save them for the bugs.

On the up side of the situation, my tomatoes have been producing up until the last few days, and okra is still going.  I have actually had a chance to can and dry some tomatoes and have dried a bit of okra.  As an added treat, I found a wild plum tree which I didn't know was there and was able to make several jars fo plum butter, which will be great this winter.

Bottom line is that it could be worse, we have a lot to be grateful for and there is hope for more production in the fall (if the drought breaks in time for a fall garden).  We are keeping notes and taking some pictures so we can bring you all up to date when it cools off and rains so we aren't spending all our time hauling water.  
We are learning lots of things to help us through such times and are making some interesting adjustments, all of which we well share soon, so please bear with us and check back from time to time until we are back to our regular posting schedule.