Saturday stuff.

We went for a walk this morning before it got too too hot. It was already too hot when we started out, but it was definitely too too hot when we got back nearly an hour later. Along the way, we saw a few of the neighbors. One neighbor who has livestock (horses, cows, goats) told us that he has had to sell off some of his animals because it was getting too expensive to feed them. No surprise there... we've heard the same thing on the local news every night. This particular neighbor used to have four horses.... I've only seen one in his pasture for weeks now, so I'm guessing that the other three have been sold.

The neighbor also raises cows and goats-- not for pets, but for the meat. Cabrito-- that's what he calls those goats. He says it's a delicacy and a tradition. I call it what it is-- baby goats. He is also selling a lot of his goats because all of the pregnant females gave birth to sets of twins, which gave him too many new mouths to feed. Within the next month or so, he'll be selling the babies..... which means that the mother goats will be over there crying in the fields as they look for their babies. Ditto for the mama cows, when he takes their calves away. (Those are the times when I just stay in the house and try not to listen to the sad sounds of the neighbors' livestock.)

One of our other neighbors has had workmen over there to expand their pond. They're making it bigger-- more like huge. Actually, they've made it into an island. There's tons of dirt that they had dug out with those digging-machine things.... the dirt was taken out of the field in the shape of a circle, leaving a round island in the center. The 'island' has a big old tree with a wooden swing underneath it. When they finish digging out all the dirt, they will have to build a wood bridge to get from one side of the field to the island part in the middle. Then, of course, they'll have to fill the pond with water so it looks like a pond and not just a deep round circle in the dirt. Speaking of deep-- they've dug down about twenty feet into the earth. That's going to take a lot of water to fill that big a pond. Not too smart, if you ask me, being that we've been in the middle of a drought for so many months. Maybe they know something we don't know? If they start building an ark in their yard after the pond is finished, then I'll start to worry.

The stray cat was back this morning. As we were walking down the hill, there she was by the edge of the field near our pond... just sitting there in the sun, in about the exact same spot where she was the first time I fed her. Back up the hill I came, to get her some food and water.... she started eating as soon as I put the little dishes in the grass. We went on our walk and when we got back to our hill, the dishes were empty except for 259 fire-ants. I will make it a point to look for that little cat every morning now. I will also make it a point to move the food and water dishes up the hill a little bit each day, towards the house. One of our neighbors told me that she wouldn't mind having an outside cat, so maybe this little stray could fit her wish. I don't want another cat, but I can't just walk by a stray one who needs food and water. Especially in this blasted heat.

My chickens are still laying eggs on these hot days, which is surprising to me. There are times when I go outside and the hens are just standing in the shade with their beaks open... they look like they're trying to breathe in any sort of air that they can, whether the air is broiling hot or shady-cool. I make sure they have clean water out there, and I've been saving them every bit of vegetables and salad and bits of fruit. Scarlett is still plopping herself down at my feet at least once or twice a day, waiting for me to pick her up and bring her Royal Henness from one part of the yard to the other. (She has me trained quite well, don't you think?)