Dunrovin Station: June the month of birthdays, tomatoes, shearing, and just like that...BOOM...it's SUMMER.

While May might have been the month of May-be it's Summer, May-be it's not, June left no doubt in your mind that we were on the heat train. It actually started in late May. Day after day of rain, and days in the upper 80s, prodding us towards 90 as if we wouldn't notice. The alpacas, still in the full Winter fleece, were roasting and needed their legs and bellies hosed off almost daily. We happily obliged.

The shearing team came and in anticipation of Angus being, well, Angus, we purchased some calming liquid for dogs online. 2-5 drops for a dog. What does that translate to for an alpaca? And how do I count drops for something that doesn't stand still and spits?

Half a dropper and see what gets in there and stays in there, sure why not. Within an hour, dude was mellow. Not dopey, not a blob on the floor, just a nicer beast. He was perfectly happy having his halter on and being led to get sheared, and you know what, he's been nice and playful ever since. Huh. Coincidence? Grateful to be naked again? Decided it was easier to be sweet than get another does of what-ever that stuff was? No idea. But I'll take it.

Here they are in all their relieved, but embarrassed nakedness, well, Stormy, Sterling, and Nova anyway.

Not only was it HOT and humid during the day, but the humidity was insane DAY and NIGHT, which the tomato plants love. I planted the tomatoes on the 2nd only to loose 20 of the plants a week later to an incredible windstorm with winds howling into the 60 mph range again and again. Most of the storms came at night, which was creepy, but when the lightning flashed the view was FANTASTIC!

With the tomato plants replanted and snuggled in their spots, it was time to take jar inventory for the upcoming season. Everything was boxed up tight, but well marked in the basement, but a chance stop at my favorite thrift store netted me jars for 12 cents EACH! DEAL! I bought every one they had, boxes and boxes of them.

We also bit the bullet on the chicks. With the heat, the broodies stopped being broody. Who could blame them? The coop was hot. Who wants to sit in there on a heap of eggs, bored, in the heat? I went to the farm store to get chicken feed at they were just unboxing some puffballs. I only wanted 6, but as you can see I came home with 7, two leghorns, two California whites, two I forgets, and Edith. LOL. You see, I was picking out the two leghorns and when I picked up the second, little Edith ran over like I was snatching her only fried in the world. I just couldn't LEAVE her there!! So she came home too. So we have Edith (cream), Aunt Gail, Linda, Annie and Ollie, Louise and Tina. This is my Bob's Burgers batch of chicks. LOL.

June brings Doc's birthday and mine 5 days later. We managed a lovely steak dinner at home with all the trimmings. It also brings the annual snapping turtle migration. Here she is for 2020, passing through. We just speed her along, so she doesn't stop and have any chicken nuggets along the way. Yes, she's HUGE.

The girls are still keeping us up to our eyeballs in eggs.

The mid-June means the Cornhusker State Games Torch Run. This year, everyone was on their own;no cheering crowds, no bystanders, no police escorts. I did 2.3 miles in a little village called Dwight. It was hot, humid, and lovely. And yes, my "torch" was edible at the end of the run. HA!