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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

I bet you guys thought I had dropped off the Earth; I suppose in some 
ways, I have.  As I approach the two month mark on working off the farm, 
things aren't much better than day one and there is no end in sight to 
the insanity of it all.  I long for the days of relative relaxation, 
working in the garden, feeding the birds, mending the fence, etc.  I 
have no personal time anymore, as I come in, fix dinner, clean up, 
study, and go to bed.  Weekends have been just as crazy, with my parents 
moving(moving prep, moving, yard sales, etc.), housework, and other 
necessary chores and projects.
I still have a garden, at least for now.  The last time we got any rain 
to register in the rain gauge was back at the end of March, and the 
ground is cracking already.  We haven't had enough rain to even wet the 
deck, so little that calling it a trace seems to be an exaggeration.  I 
have hand watered my corn and tomatoes, just enough to keep them alive, 
but with weather this dry, I am watching the well closely.  Rainwater 
supplies are gone. I soaked some green beans in preparation for 
planting, but when I went out there, even my raised monster beds were 
dry 1 foot down into the bed.  I planted the beans in the raised beds 
anyway, but the ground was so hard that I thought it a waste of time to 
try to plant in the ground.  Of course, there will be no fruit this year 
due to that cold snap we had back in March when we had a hard freeze at 
a crucial time.  That, combined with the lack of rain, has really put a 
hurt on many plants, even the established trees.
We had a forest fire on the other side of the ridge a few weeks ago-that 
was scary-my worst fear, but so far most people are playing it smart and 
not burning.  Today, all of north Georgia is covered with smoke from the 
fires in South Georgia over 300 miles away.  It's so thick that I can 
barely make out the horses in a pasture 1000 feet away.
Well, I thought I would drop in and say hi while the rice/jambalaya 
cooks down...to my steadfast friends who have written but received no 
personal answer, I am sorry...I love and miss you all..

Bev
--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm   Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the 
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.