Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Gone swimmin'.....

After a hot morning of spring henhouse cleaning, I decided a dip in the swimming hole was in order.  If you've ever cleaned a chicken coop, you know what an icky job it is -- dusty, dirty, stinky, and chokey.  I do think the chickens appreciated my mad cleaning skills.   So instead of taking a shower, I went to the swimming hole first and it was splendid!  I rode my bike up the dirt trail and guess who else was thinking about swimming? 

 The horses were all gathered on the bank trying to keep the flies away.  They were very curious about me, but they didn't decide to join me for a swim.

 For pond swimming, you must first get past the muddy bank and the squishy mud that is on the bottom of the pond.  I really don't mind it a bit, but some go swimming with tennies or those water shoes.   I don't like the extra weight of shoes when I swim.  The water was the perfect temperature!  
Refreshing, but not a bit too cold.
I did the side stroke and the back stroke.

This is Tex.  He needed a drink.
This is the *beach* where you can lie down in the sun on your beach towel or you can stand in the breeze and dry off.  I had to let my feet dry before slipping on my Birks to ride home.
By the time I got home, I was mostly dry and getting hot again.  
We reached 102 degrees today.  The hottest day of the year so far.  

At home the peonies are finally blooming (they are late) and so are the poppies.

And the straw flowers in my barrel are opening nicely too.

 The prairie roses are blooming on the bank.

 And the scarlet globemallows (they look orange to me) are blooming along our roadside.

 The sweet clover is abundant and so fragrant.  
The bees love it.


And lastly the alfalfa is beginning to set blooms.  The alfalfa, as well as the crested wheatgrass you see in this picture, make up the majority of our hay crop.  Big, round bales of hay are laying next to our house and out in the fields.  It smells so good!

15 comments:

  1. Way to go! You DID go for your swim! Do the horses ever get in the water? Your peonies are lovely, Jody.
    Package mailed! LOVE!

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  2. You brave girl, you. I don't think I'd like swimmin' the same place the ponies swim (but when it's 102* I might reconsider)

    Joyce

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  3. One-oh-two! Holy Cow! Don't send that temp this way please. ;-D I'd be a tennis shoe girl I think? Sounds like you had a wonderful time though!

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  4. love seeing the flowers, espcecially the Peonies.

    i think if the temps were that high i might consider living in the pond~!

    :-)
    libbyQ

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  5. Pom Pom,
    Yes, sometimes the horses get into the water to get the bugs off them. Just tonight they were in the stock dam by our house (where I do not swim).

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  6. G'day. Good on you for going for a swim. Your flowers look just beautiful. I can relate to the henhouse cleaning. I too have chooks and it is a job I must do before we move to our new home in three weeks. Take care. Liz...

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  7. I can just feel the mud between my toes! I only wish I could smell the good smells of the pond, the horses, and all those beautiful flowers!

    xofrances

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  8. You know people pay money for mud treatments! :0)
    102 degrees....ouch. I'm glad you have a place close by to cool down....

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  9. I doubt the contrast in your post was intentional but I really enjoyed it! First we had the dirty sweaty you being refreshed in the mucky pond and drying off on the dirt beach. Suddenly we have cool home, beautifully decorated and fresh, vibrant flowers... Lovely post!

    Blessings, Debbie

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  10. We are having those same temps....I can't managed to keep my flowers blooming ...everything is trying to die no matter how much I water....your swimming hole looks wonderful and the horses are beautiful...blessings

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  11. Oh my goodness!! 102?? It sure jumped from the slow spring to hot summer!! We're having temps in the 70s and I'm loving it. 102 would be a rare day here. I'd be jumping into any kind of swimming hole! :)

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  12. I didn't realize you lived in Gene Autrey country too ;). Blast this hot weather! Your (very brave) pond swimming reminds of my younger days. We had a little farm with a river running through it ;) (didn't live there but it was only about 20 miles from our home). Anyhoo, I loved riding my horse to the river and swimming in that cold spring fed water -- twas heaven on earth. I still miss that place --- best childhood memories of all were created there. We still love getting ourselves into a nice cold clear river whenever we can, but all around here are so low these days -- with the drought ;(.
    Your flowers are lovely! I'm trying desparately to keep our few from burning up, but they're a bit scraggly. Supposed to get rain next week -- happy dance!
    Blessings & happy swimming,
    GG

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  13. Now, Gumbo Lily, I live in a northern, repressed and mostly frozen land. These temperatures are incomprehensible to me- but I have a (excuse the pun) burning question- one that I was determined not to ask all the way through, and then hoped a commenter would ask instead- but maybe they don't need to ask because they don't live in northern, repressed and mostly frozen lands- so- does one strip down to a swim suit to swim in the swim hole, or, there being only ponies, does one just simply strip down????? Just in case I ever find myself in such sticky circumstances!

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  14. Mags,
    I wore my swimming suit. Now you are relieved, I'm sure. I suppose I could have skinny dipped, but no. I never have and probably never will. Knowing my luck, if I did, someone would drive out and find me there. EEEeeeeK!

    Jody

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  15. What a lovely sounding day! (In Texas there would be snakes in that pond!) Your prairie sure knows how to bloom up pretty, and such variety, too! I hope it doesn't get any hotter for you guys.

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