Meanwhile, back at the ranch ...

... the Rain Goddess was dealing with ... rain. What we probably should have had in Alaska, Linda got here in Arizona. More than 2 inches fell, and it made all the plants grow about a foot in just a week. Thankfully, it was warm, so she was not totally distressed, but undoubtedly this was not what Linda had signed up for when she came to ranch sit in July.

The animals must have much enjoyed her company because we only got moderate wags from the dogs, and the horses have become monsters. Spoiled rotten with cantaloupe snacks several times a day ("one person can eat only so many cantaloupes ...").


The garden is a bit of a mess, other than producing a lot of cantaloupes, zucchini and some tomatoes. I had not seen mildew in my 5 years of gardening here, but most plants seem affected. I had planned to take a lot of the plants out and sow the winter garden in the next couple of weeks anyway. And is Arizona green! Like the rolling hills of Ireland. Time to take those horses our for a bit of grazing.