Lucy and Charlie to the Farm

 Our Virginia brood of grandkids were in town for a week.  And we got one night in at the farm.

S'mores are a farm tradition.

For August, the weather was just glorious.  Highs just short of 80F and lows below 60.

We managed to dip a line in the muddy pond and we caught some bluegills and one small bass.

There was almost 3" of rain again this week.

We got a bit of touring done on the Ranger.

We also went for a short hike and encountered some overgrown areas on the trails.

This resulted in an infestation of small red bugs - we were initially uncertain whether ticks or chiggers.

It took a little time but duct tape was very effective at removing them.

It was a team effort.  I didn't have even one on me.  A testament to the effectiveness of permethrin.  My clothes have been thru the wash several times since being treated.

Amy had the additional risk factor of 1" of exposed skin at the ankles.  I think she will regret that.

Anyway, Amy took a photo of these on the tape, enlarged it, and could see the distinctive white dot of the Lonestar tick.  These little nymph or seed ticks are the least likely to transmit disease but are still no fun.

There must have been some chiggers because Amy had a 1" band of bites around the ankles the next morning.  Here she is being comforted by the dogs.

We went home and out to dinner at our club.  They travelled home today.

Meanwhile, our Chicago brood of grandkids are on an epic western RV adventure.  So far they've done The Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, Jackson, the Tetons and the Snake River.

Today they move into Yellowstone and then on to Cody and Devil's Tower.

I had a quick look at the pumpkin patch.  The grass and weeds have taken over. 

There are entire rows where I can't find my plants.  And some of the rows that have plants are turning yellow (too much water?).

We're in the "survival of the fittest" stage.

There are some things growing in there.

It's often hard to find them.

This week zucchini harvest.

Our top notch hunting dogs found this semi-rotten mole. Must have had an encounter with the lawnmower.

Some patchy brassica in the soybean field.

The hint of a few sprouts in my no-till experimental fields.

Here's a sampling of the Ranger ride shots.

Lucy isn't cold - she was having a momentary freak out about bugs.

I had these visitors show up on camera this week.  I did get a notice from South Central Power about a contractor doing utility pole inspections.

We had bobcat sightings this week for the first time in several weeks.

Coyote.

Fox.

The geese just made one more visit and haven't been back for awhile.

Turkeys including poults.

And fawns - including twins.

And a few bucks.