I’m a finalist for the Country Living Magazine Blue Ribbon Blogger Awards! I’m tickled pink (isn’t that a great phrase, and isn’t it great that I have a reason to use it?) HenBlog is one of three blogs in the pet category. That’s right! Pet. What’s amazing is that my friend, Melissa’s blog Tilly’s Nest, is also a finalist. Who would have thought that two blogs about chickens would be in the running?

The judges will be picking the winner next week, but YOU can vote for the Reader’s Choice Award. I would so appreciate it if you vote for HenBlog. (You can vote once per day.) I’ve been writing this blog, without a break, for six years and it’s your response to my work that keeps me going. Besides, Agatha is ready for her turn in the spotlight. Do you think Country Living would welcome a chicken at the awards ceremony in New York City?

UPDATE: Survey Monkey (where you vote) has a glitch and isn’t allowing anyone to vote more than once. If you “clear your cookies” it will work. If you’re like me, and the only cookies you know how to make disappear are the ones in your pantry, then there’s no fix. I’ve emailed the Country Living web editor, and will let you know if she can resolve the problem. I appreciate everyone’s vote, and will let you know if the situation changes.

Please vote! And remember to vote every day!

Some people relax in August. I’m told that the last month of summer is for slowing down and putting your feet up. My feet didn’t get any rest at all. They took me the proverbial far and wide. They walked with my husband and sons in Maine. Next, I flew to San Francisco with my oldest son to settle him into his freshman year at college,

where my feet took me to Golden Gate Park and stumbled upon an historic carousel. It not only had horses, but also dogs, mules, a chicken and goats!

I came home in time to batten down the hatches for Irene (who swept past here to wreck havoc in Vermont). Then it was on to Washington DC.

My youngest son and husband are space geeks. We spent a day and a half at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, where we touched a moon rock. A real one. How amazing is that? We walked to the Spy Museum, where I discovered that spies can use eggs to send secret messages. Write on a hard-boiled egg shell with special, invisible ink, and the message will be revealed when you peel the egg! Unfortunately, the museum didn’t provide the formula.

We also went to the National Zoo, where I thought about adding other birds to my menagerie. What about a mouse-eating heron?

Or the elusive and lethal Cassowary? (Which, by the way, is probably a dinosaur. Read about it in Sy Montgomery’s book, Birdology.)

I think I’ll stick with chickens.

My feet have walked me to so many places in August. They need a break and I’m hoping to  stay put in September, but I have a feeling I’ll be rested and up and walking far and wide before the end of the month.

It rained and it blew and it rained some more. Water poured off the roof, leaves came down and the pond filled to the brim. The chickens were annoyed to be kept inside. The goats were mollified with hay.

But, we never lost power and didn’t sustain any dramatic damage.

The weather the rest of this week is supposed to be gorgeous up and down the Eastern Seaboard. That’s great, because we’re heading down to Washington DC to take our youngest son to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and go on a tour of the Capitol. It’s been a long-planned for trip. We’re amazed and relieved that DC was spared. I’ve a feeling that DC won’t have the usual summer crowds as nearby communities of several hundred thousand people don’t yet have power. It’s our civic duty to help the economy by visiting!

A pet-sitter will be here taking care of the menagerie. I’ll catch up with everyone next week!

Last night, while watching The Weather Channel, IT Guy typed some code into his laptop, and now you can see the wind speed here at Little Pond Farm (along with the temperature that we’ve always had on the top right of the HenCam screen). That is, you’ll be able to keep tabs on our weather until the power goes out.

Today is the lull before the storm. The animals are acting 100 % normally. Obviously, I can’t rely on them to let me know that a hurricane is brewing.

The animals are relaxing on this hot, humid day, but we humans are busy. I’ll be bringing in those dog beds and the furniture from this deck off my office and that will concern Lily. She hates change, almost as much as she hates seeing me pack a suitcase. She’s an aware, smart dog. Unlike Scooter. As long as there’s a lap to sit in, Scooter is content. He was quite satisfied last night, keeping us company, while we watched reports of impending disaster.

Today I’ll be filling the chickens’ waterers and also a large bucket in the barn. The storm will last less than a day here, but if the power goes out, the well’s pump stops, and we won’t have water. There will, however, be plenty of water coming down out of the sky. If we get the 5 inches predicted, the pond will overflow. The Beast and her minions will have new territory to explore. That will make them quite happy.

I just came back from almost a week away. I was all the way across the country, in San Francisco, settling my son into college. There’s always catch-up to do when one gets home. There’s laundry and grocery shopping, and the dogs claim to have been neglected and require lots of scratching.

The garden has truly been neglected. Of course there’s always the humungous squash,

ripe tomatoes,

and green beans (Blue Lake and French Climbing) that need picking.

It’s overgrown, but it could wait.

Except there’s a hurricane coming. The current prediction is that it’s going to pass right over the top of my house and coops and garden Sunday afternoon. Those tomatoes are going to fly off the vine.

There won’t be any corn left standing.

Today I’m harvesting everything I can, and then I’ll do what I can to preserve it.

Before the rains come (they’re predicting more than 5 inches) and the winds hit (up to 70 MPH gusts), Candy will be tucked into a hutch and put inside the HenCam coop. It’s a sturdy little building where she can ride out the storm safely. We’ll fill a bathtub with water and have lanterns and candles ready for when the power goes out. (It undoubtably will. The question is for how long.) Lawn furniture and planters are getting stowed in the garage. I’ll stop in the library tomorrow and find something to read. Something light-hearted. Any suggestions?

I hope that everyone in Irene’s path stays dry and safe! We’ll be fine. We’ve got tomatoes, bread and cheese to last a week.