It is currently 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside at this moment but the temperature is expected to reach 106 today. Thankfully we have air conditioning but it still can reach up into the 80's in the kids' bedrooms by the evening since they are farthest away from the A.C. units.

The animals are faring but my heart goes out to them. The horse looks exhausted and all I can do is cool her off with water and offer cold, soaked hay to munch on. That helps her and the goat and pony to stay hydrated at least.

Willow in the heat

Travis is back to working from home temporarily due to being exposed to Covid 19 cases at his place of employment. He is stressed to the max like I haven't witnessed him in years since the kids were little and we went through the recession of 2008.  That lasted us years because we lost our house to foreclosure and had to move to a single wide trailer in 2012, but later were able to save the house and move back in in 2013.  We worked on paying off bills and getting our credit scores cleaned up. Then we bought this place last year. 

Anyway, here we are stressing again about employment.  Travis's job is not in jeopardy per say, they are just asking so much of him with no extra pay or help that I am not sure he will be able to handle the job for much longer. Ever since Covid hit, his work life has gotten harder and harder with more responsibilities and less people to help see the company through. 

I could be wrong on my interpretation but that is the way I see it unfolding.  Last night I awoke and Travis was nowhere in the house that I could find.  I thought that was odd and I found him sitting in the dark on the front porch, thinking about work. Well, that and he was just hot and trying to cool down. It's so neat to live in the country and be able to see the night sky so clearly and listen to all the night sounds from nature.

On my end of employment, many public schools in Oregon have now decided to start remote learning in the fall but my district has updated us on nothing. There are no plans set in stone yet. I was offered a new position of reading assistant, which is awesome and I will actually be quite disappointed if I am unable to fulfill this role with children one on one, but also will be happy to still be employed if we go remote/online only.

Megan and Blake were both looking forward to going back to school so are disappointed to hear that Travis and I have made the decision to stick with online learning for this year, but they seem to understand and agree with our reasoning.  Thankfully, they have done online school before so it not a great stress on them, or us as parents, because we have worked through this system before. For some parents, I am sure they are living in shear panic from these changes!

Enduring the heat with the dog

Trevor is done with his orchard work and will be hanging out at home, driving and running errands if needed and looking for job opportunities, but to be honest, I am not super excited about sending him off into the working world in the midst of a global pandemic.  However, that is coming form me.  Mom.  The kids remind me constantly that I worry too much because I'm Mom.  Haha!  They're probably right.

Anyway, I will post more about the animals next time but for now we are just keeping cool and enduring the heat. Same goes for the gardens. At least we can be very grateful that our well supports our family of five with water, but also gardens and livestock.

What a blessing!

Feel free to follow along with us on InstagramFacebook, and YouTube.  There are always many adventures on our little farm!


Until next week, everyone soak up some sun and have fun with your families.


Amy Darr
3 Corners Farm
Mosier, OR. U.S.A.