Chickens

The early morning light on the chicken coop as we walked by this morning caught my eye. In truth, the chickens themselves who caught my attention this morning, for they hadn't been let out to scratch in the dirt and they were complaining bitterly about it. Unfazed by Ozzie, they usually come over to the fence to say hello to us so perhaps they were disgruntled by their inability to do it this morning. I can't feel too sorry for them. They do have one of the most elegant coops around and it would appear that several of them were still inside....

Day two of another heat wave meant that the garden project came to an end before lunchtime today. I went outside about an hour ago (3pm) and was shocked by the blast of heat that felt like a physical blow....even the lizards were sitting still instead of darting in and out of crannies in the rock walls....

The doves' repetitive cooing has blessedly halted, although there is still a bird somewhere with a distinctive trill....Even the usual visitors to the spa/fountain in the front are absent, probably because the water is too hot! The fountain in the back, which is just a big deep pot appears to have sprung a leak  somewhere, so it is turned off while we investigate.  

The leaves of the silk trees and the Chinese PIstache were just beginning to show a blush of fall color, but are now shriveling up in the heat and falling off.  OilMan has put he red umbrellas up over the tomatoes and the dahlias to keep them from burning. They tomatoes may turn into sauce while they are still on the vine....

A hush has fallen over the neighborhood, usually busy with Sunday dog walkers, cyclists, mowers and blowers as everyone has retreated inside and turned on the air conditioning. our driveway is too hot for Ozzie to walk on without burning his feet. The only movement I've seen this afternoon is a couple of wild turkeys halting their descent of our steps to peer into the house. It would seem that they are just too dumb to stay out of the sun....

A brief consultation of my weather app says there is a severe heat advisory through tomorrow....