It’s a gentle rainy morning here and we are happy about that. After an excess of rain throughout the spring and early summer, we’ve been having very hot and humid weather with no rain at all. The culvert has dried up. Phileas has disappeared. We’d love to see him come back, but he sure isn’t coming back if there isn’t any water. He may be hanging out near the pond on our next door neighbor’s property. Let’s hope so.

Mama Catbird is sitting on the nest, though she disappears at times, no doubt getting something to eat.

I saw this first thing this morning:

The first two blooms on one of the Rose of Sharons. If that doesn’t bring a smile to my face, nothing will!

Truthfully, it’s been so hot and humid that we can’t really do anything ourdoors and we feel incredibly lethargic. Our brains are mush. And that is going to be the case throughout this week. So any brief respite – some rain, running outside to take a picture of the blooms – is very welcome.

These mulleins are growing up in the back forty. The one on the right is taller than me and I’m 5’8″! (Used to be 5’9″)

The mullein flowers.

Since I got Nina a year or two ago, I’ve been looking for a proper neck joint for her. She was capable of looking straight out but she couldn’t tilt her head at all. The problem was that the neck joint that came with her was impossible to remove because Dragonfly Blythe (the customizer) had glued it on. I tried and tried to remove it, believe me. I ordered another Obitsu 24 body, and ordered a neck joint from PalmaDolls in Spain. I did all the ‘surgery’ but the neck joint didn’t fit properly and her head was too loose. So I would go back to her original body. I did this off and on for a long time. I’d give up. Then I’d try it again. Still didn’t work. Finally, I contacted Palma and sent her photos of the neck opening and the body and she sent me a slightly wider neck joint. Saturday, I replaced the old joint with the new joint. It was still too loose!! Palma suggested I try cutting up a little strip of an expired credit card and inserting it on both sides of the joint.

Well, I did that yesterday and lo and behold, it worked!

As you can see, Nina is tilting her head. Now she has much more flexibility.

Hurrah!

I have opened up her head and changed out bodies and neck joints so many times that I’m surprised she isn’t suing me for malpractice! Poor kid.

I’m deep into John Connolly’s new book, The Children of Eve.  And, after a long wait in the queue, I finally have Michael Connelly’s newest, Nightshade, as well. So I’m all set for this week.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Photo taken from the glider on the porch.

I heard screeching this morning and stepped outside. From my position on the porch, I saw some big bird of prey in one of the pines across the street. I suspect it was an eagle, but the photos I took just show him in silhouette because it was early morning. I suppose it could have been a hawk, but it sure sounded like an eagle. While I was adjusting my lens, the bird flew away.

After that, I decided to sit on the glider because the humidity had yet to make itself known and I figured I’d take advantage of that. After about 15 minutes or so (I’d already checked on Mama Catbird who was sitting on the nest) I heard a catbird call from the direction of the maple. It was a warning call. (The eagle was long gone at this point.) So I got up and peered into the hydrangea and there was mom, out of the nest, perched on a branch just above the nest, ready to fight off any predator. It was pretty neat to see, but I didn’t want them to stress about me, as I’m definitely not a predator, so I went back inside the house. A few minutes later, I snuck back out there and mom was back on the nest. I guess Papa Catbird thought I was a suspicious visitor, rather like robins do when you walk near their nest.

It’s so humid and hot that my sinuses and allergies are complaining loudly. I don’t know when this pattern is going to break, but it can’t come soon enough. My back is slowly improving, thank goodness.

Yes, they’re everywhere – in front of the house, in the big garden bed, in the little bed by the porch, on the driveway side of the house, and on the far side of the house. Coneflowers are a gift; they reseed everywhere and if you love country gardens as I do, they provide most of the set design from mid-summer until autumn, The black-eyed susans are about ready to bloom, and some of the David phlox has bloomed. The rest of the phlox will bloom later because the nibbling deer delayed things.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

My back is still acting up, so I’m having to limit my activities. It’s so annoying! No mowing, or vacuuming, and only the most careful bending over. It’s slowly getting better, so I’m doing a lot of reading. I’ve also been keeping an eye on Mama Catbird. So far, all seems to be well.

The level of water in the culvert is very low after a long period of it being rather high. How does this impact our Phileas? Don says he briefly saw him yesterday, and I saw him the day before. But we haven’t had a whole lot of rain recently. I hope we’re not heading into the drought segment of the summer.

I took this yesterday:

This is taken from the entrance to the porch, so we’re looking at the side of the house, the entrance to the side door, and part of the funky patio. So far, it’s pretty lush out there! And the coneflowers are everywhere. As you know, they are my favorite part of the summer garden. The splash of purple in the background is the patch of balloon flowers (more this year than ever) and those are zinnias in the metal tub on the patio.

But it is so darned hot and humid out there! We’re feeling trapped in the house. I don’t know when the humidity will lift, but it can’t come soon enough.

A wee little package arrived yesterday.

New shoes for the girls. I usually buy a pair or two of shoes from my favorite shoe maker, Cora, about once a year. The pair on the left is a new design, with a pointier toe. The pair on the right is a favorite design. She threw in the socks, which was a delightful surprise.

Since I was sitting here nursing my back for long periods, I noticed that Zoe, who was wearing a cute denim dress, looked hot. It was way too heavy for a hot and humid summer day. So we switched to a summer dress.

You might notice that she’s wearing the new shoes.

Much cooler!

Gosh, she’s a beauty.

Today, more resting is on the docket. (I’ve also had to delay washing the bedsheets.)

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.