Working in the heat must have been really getting to me. I went to be early last night, and ended up sleeping for about 10 hours.

I did wake up briefly at about 4am and could hear the rain and see lighting out my windows, as I tried to convince myself to get out of bed and go to the washroom, only to fall asleep for several more hours.

So I was late heading outside for my morning rounds. The cats were waiting for me.

They do love having access to the sun room again! Especially when it’s really hot out. That concrete floor stays pretty cool.

Of course, there’s a cat in the bin.

The cats that weren’t in the sun room were very wet, just from walking across the grass! It was even still, almost, barely, just a tiny bit, raining.

The rain barrel by the sun room was completely full, though! Which means I slept through quite a lot of rain.

I also spotted this guy through the sun room window.

He was tucked into the bin we keep under the laundry platform bench, where the bucket of clothes pins can be kept dry – and for extra shelter for the cats. The folding closet doors we used to put transplants on for hardening off is still there, and the cats are enjoying the shade it provides on the bench, too.

To be honest, when I first spotted Sad Face in there through the window, with his chin on one of the bricks, I wondered if he were dead, he looks so rough. Then he lifted his head.

His behaviour has definitely changed over the past few days that I’ve seen him. Could be the heat. Could be injuries. Could just be getting old, on top of everything else. He’s hanging out on the laundry platform a lot more, and not running away as quickly. Aside from the wounds on his face, he does not appear to be injured. No limping or anything like that.

This morning, I left some kibble for him on the platform, as much to keep him from chasing the other cats away from the food bowls as to let him have food without moving too far. I did need to get the diverter for the rain barrel, though, and it’s kept on the laundry platform between uses. I tried to be slow and careful in moving it, but he did move out of the bin and disappear. Not long after, I found him under one end of the bench, curled up against the bin – and another cat was eating the food I left for him. He seemed totally uninterested in food, or even moving very much at all.

As for my morning rounds, everything seems to have really enjoyed last night’s rain. I was messaging with my SIL while outside, and they were in the middle of a downpour at the time. From the looks of the weather radar, they were being hit by the same system that passed over us last night. They really needed the rain, too! So that was good news.

The newest transplants all seem to be doing well. While checking the pots of transplants under the market tent, however, I discovered that the trays at one end of the picnic table were just barely outside the tent roof, and full of water. Among those were the small Jiffy Pellet trays that had zero germination rates. The rain had actually uncovered some of the seeds. They don’t look like they’ve been rotting away, but show no signs of germinating, either! I was able to drain the excess water, push the seeds back into the pellets and top them up with a bit of soil. It’s still possible for them to germinate.

Some of the squash and gourd transplants are getting big enough that they need to get into the ground, but it’s too wet to work on that right now. We’re not expecting more rain for possibly a few days, so we should be able to get started once things dry off later today.

Which is fine. I’ve got some indoor projects that need to get finished, too!

The Re-Farmer