Hot

   It’s been unGodly hot over here in New England for the past four or five days.  My poor guys have been haying in the miserable heat and humidity – you’ve probably  heard the old saying – Make hay while the sun shines.  What that means is – you need a series of at least three or four dry sunny days strung together to make hay –  it needs to be fairly dry when you cut it.. then it needs to lay down in rows and dry a bit – then you fluff it to air it out and dry some more… then it’s baled and picked up off the field and stored in the big barns.  All that dryness is important, as you don’t want a wet bale of hay, which will mold up (not feedable) and possibly cause a fire in your loft if you’re not careful how you stack it.  So… we had the string of dry days and the hay needed cutting.   It had already been held off due to rains, etc.  You can’t stop the process just because it’s too darn hot.

   When the guys were not haying, they sure as hell didn’t want to sit out in the heat, so we decided not to have a big fourth celebration with extended family at the shore.  Stella (our little seaside cottage) does not have A/C and some are squeamish about taking a dip in the cove to cool off.  My husband has learned there are indeed eels out there somewhere – and that was pretty much it for him. 

   I did go down there in the late afternoon to water flowers, vacuum, and we eventually had dinner when mom and my daughter and husband showed up (he was there for all of about an hour before the humidity got to him).  My son and his posse showed up later on before the fireworks display that is put on for islanders out on the point – and they say it was spectacular.  In lieu of fireworks, I headed back home to tend horses , chickens and dogs here on the farm, all of whom where not thrilled with the bangs and booms happening out yonder.  

    Meanwhile, back at the ranch… my gardens are happy – weedy, but happy.  My first harvest are these dragon tongue beans.  You can pick them at this stage and treat them like you would a string bean,  or let them plump up and shell the beans that grow in the pod, use them in recipes like succotash. 

 Tomatoes just starting to appear – we had a slow start with the wishy washy spring. 

  I try to keep my vegetable garden organic – over the winter I put some rabbit manure in the soil and blended it in well.  I also use this product placed around the drip line of the plant a few times during the growing season.  

    I’m not much of a drinker but there are a few drinks when served at the right time, well they hit the spot.  My sister-in-law served this in a punch bowl  and plastic glasses at her son’s graduation pool party last weekend. It’s easy to throw together and guests love it. Put a slice of orange  floating in each glass when serving.

Wine Spritzer –

1 large bottle of pino grigio (which I usually don’t like)
1 large bottle of polar orange dry soda
orange wedges

Equal parts of each.