Timber!

It's the end of summer and now we have the hot, sticky weather.

And although heat and humidity are not my favorites,

I am reassured by the fact that this can't last for long... not at this time of year!

Yesterday was a crazy busy day on the farm.

People coming and going... deliveries, tree trimming, etc.

Over the past year we have had several trees die.

The trees that were at risk for falling on structures (barns, sheds, fences)

were cut down yesterday.

A large pine tree in the dry lot had to come down.

It seems that a few equines have been nibbling the bark on this tree...

to the point that eventually the tree was bark-less!

Now, I'm not going to name names, but I bet you can guess who the responsible parties are.

While the tree trimmers were working,

the horses were on lock-down.

Moonbeam and the Littles in one stall.

Donnie and Scarlet in the other.

"Where's Scarlet?" you ask.

Well, Scarlet was not having anything to do with "time out", so she remained out in the dry lot...

supervising from a distance.

Once the tree was down, she meandered over to check it out.

You might notice that we left the trunk where it stood...

a scratching post.

And when the work was complete, everyone had to check it out...

and mark their territory.

Amazingly, each took their turn urinating on the freshly chipped pine.

"There,"  they said, "just how we like it!"

In the midst of all the hustle and bustle, I did manage to preserve another

10 pints of tomato sauce.

Today.... more grape jam!