Too darn hot

I don't like hot weather. I use to but not now. I don't know if it is because I am older, or whether living in Montana has acclimatized me to cooler weather. Come to think about it, I wasn't too fond of hot weather when I lived in Minnesota but I put that down to the horrible humidity in Minnesota (there is a reason they grow corn in southern Minnesota!) and their nights where the temperature never cooled off.

Here in Montana the humidity is generally low, and even when high, seldom feels like in Minnesota. And most all of our nights are cool. The temperature may be 90 during the day but the overnight low is down to around 50 degrees.

Yesterday the temperature was 88 and today 87 - temperatures 20 degrees above our normal high. It was too hot.

As my front yard has been mowed down short by the cattle it was time today to let them into the NE pasture. Today I fenced off the shrubs and small trees I had planted in the NE pasture last year. Either I fence them or the cattle will eat them.

It was late morning and early afternoon when I worked on the fence. I had to pound several dozen boards into the ground to act as fence posts. Even with my shirt off I was sweating a river. Moisture was running down my body. So much for my morning shower and being clean. And it wasn't all that humid. It was the heat. I was not a happy camper and got into a fairly cranky mood.

The rolls of fencing I had in mind turned out to be too short. *sigh* I have plenty of fence rolls and found another one and rolled it on over to the shrubs.

This roll had two rolls rolled into one. Huh? After I put up the first roll I realized why. The taller fence had larger openings. Cattle couldn't get through but I imagine they could get their noses and mouth through the openings and with their large and agile tongue, goodbye plants. The second roll had smaller openings so I also nailed it to the boards acting as posts.

Ok, cattle, do your best. Oopps... probably shouldn't challenge them.

Once I "cattle proofed" the pasture I opened the gate and let them in. It may be the heat, but they didn't rush in, just ambled in. The rest of the day they spent time in the pasture and then rested in the corral. The water tanks are also in the corral so that is good reason to come back to the corral.

One time the cattle came running back to the corral. I think it was because of the neighbor's dog. It is a house dog but the owner brings it out to do its bathroom duties in their backyard.

One of Dan's heifers is in heat. Three of his steers won't leave her side. They may be castrated but her scent is driving them crazy. She can't make a move without them right there. Every so often one of the steers tries to mount her, but as his "equipment" doesn't work that way anymore, it is a pointless exercise. Still the heifer has to endure him trying "to get it on". At one point several steers felt the "urge", and since one was trying to mount her from behind, the other one tried to mount her from the front.

"Come on guys, let's not have oral sex in my corral."

All four of them hung around the corral and didn't get much time in eating the pasture grass. I hope she cycles out of heat soon.

This evening the leading edge of a cold front passed over. It tried to rain but the air was so dry the rain evaporated before reaching the ground. Rolls of thunder and lightning were in the distance. The break from the hot sun was welcome. The downside was the clouds now trapped the heat in the Valley. It is midnight and the temperature is still in the low 60s.

The forecast is that the high temperature on Wednesday will be 52 degrees. A far cry from 90. A little over a week ago I was still using my wood stove for heat, and may need to again in a few days. In between, extremely hot weather. My blood can't make up its mind as to whether to go thin or stay thick. I prefer cooler weather as with this heat I end up conking out for an hour or two during mid afternoon.