What's Happening Around Here

Summer was going well and the herd was happy on pasture:

 But then we endured a heat wave and a drought, which turned most grass, both in the lawn and pasture, brown and crunchy. It finally began raining again, though, and slowly things began growing:

 The tractor went back to the shop for maintenance, an expense I didn't need but which hopefully will prevent a bigger expense in the future:

 I tried the bug zapper on the giant wasps, but they were wise to my tricks. I did get one fly, though, and it popped so loudly that I jumped. Apparently I'd never before really zapped one:

 Since the chickens can't go outdoors anymore and scratch, their toenails had grown long and ugly. I used the dogs' nail clippers to cut them back. The Barred Rock bantams' legs and feet are yellow:

 And the Easter Egger bantams' legs and feet are sort of black. They all needed trimming:

 More Frans Hals Day lilies bloomed. In fact, they began blooming profusely:

 And several sunflowers bloomed near the bird feeders. I may plant some next year because they are such a pleasure to see:

 The wild Bouncing Bet flowers, however, were fading. Their season was drawing to a close:

 One Sunday morning I was amazed to find the church looking like this. I learned that Vacation Bible School began the next day and the theme involved camping, boating, hiking, etc. - a natural fit for this part of the country. They had set up an amazing display with artificial rocks, campfire, river, waterfall, etc:

 And as if that wasn't enough, I found a hallway filled with life-sized trees made of balloons downstairs:

 And upstairs, in another room, a full campsite was set up, complete with tents, trees, river and bridge. My church joins with a number of other local churches to put on Vacation Bible School each year, and by all accounts it was a big success: