Finally some relief from the heat!

The last 8 days we have had temps in the 90's with high humidity and little to no breeze. To say the least, it has been miserable. Very little has been done outside....just the main essentials of feeding and watering...and watering....and watering. All of the animals have been hiding in the shaded spots...not really wanting to eat much. Even the chickens when I let them out in the morning...they will mull around for a bit, but then head straight to the thicket to take cover from the sun. Today however....we have a cold front moving in. Rain...beautiful...wonderful rain! I can almost hear the ground sigh. The high today is supposed to be 78 degrees. Yes, we are liking this weather. This morning after morning chores, I stopped at the garden to take a peek and see what was going on in there. The strawberry patch has completely been taken over with weeds. I decided to start in on pulling weeds and finding the strawberry plants. The humidity is so high out there that even moving slowly makes you break out in a sweat. I was able to get one row cleaned out pretty well. Once I get it all cleaned out....my plan is to lay down a layer of cardboard and top it with the stuff from the barn. Hopefully I will get this finished before winter sets in. I had to stop with the one row because my back was really hurting. I walked over to the green beans and saw that there was quite a few out there needing picked. I got to work picking them when suddenly I was gagging....weird...I didn't feel sick to my stomach...then I realized the odor. It sorta smelled like castor oil. STINK BUGS! They are really thriving this time of year...and because I was picking in the garden, I guess upsetting them, they were stinking up a storm! YUK! I hurried through the rows...picking as fast as I could. I was able to get about 3 quarts after cleaning and snapping them. This time of year I start putting the green beans in quart jars. I can about 60 pints for us, then the rest in quarts to have when company comes for dinner and to send over to our son's. Those grand babies LOVE grandma's green beans. The owner of the feed store in town, where I buy my animals feed, told me last week that his sweet corn should be ready in a few weeks. He plants about 3 acres of sweet corn. Once he gets what he needs for his family, he lets a select few people come pick what they want. He told me I would be allowed to come get corn in a few weeks. I will hopefully be able to put up at least 60 pints, and a few dozen in the freezer. Then I will put up a few quarts for our sons family too. Once winter sets in.. I will get busy canning the tomato's I have in the freezer.