Our skies, lately.

And now, after the deluge, we have smoke from the wildfires in Canada. I could smell smoke this morning and Don, who doesn’t have my rather spot-on sense of smell, scoffed at me. Sure enough, we have an air quality warning and the weather app says “expect widespread areas of smoke and haze, reducing visibility at times.” We had an air quality warning yesterday (my eyes were burning at the end of the day) and we have another one today.

Why does Don ever doubt me?

The lawn needs mowing but I’m not going out there today.

I’m tired of being stuck inside because of torrential rain and thunderstorms and now, smoke.

I did manage to get outside for a bit yesterday (hence, the burning eyes) and I took some photos of these beauties:

These day lilies are so gorgeous. I love day lilies with a ruffly edge and this intense color is gorgeous. The blue in the background is the color of the bin lids I use to try to keep the babies out of the garden. They’re still hanging around. I caught a quick glimpse of one of them yesterday, but sightings have been down because of all the rain. Our resident bunny mom is here no matter what the weather, several times a day. She’s a gem. She doesn’t get in the garden beds, which I greatly appreciate. Like Henry, she is gentle and has good manners.

Okay. I’m off to write out some checks and to water the porch plants before the haze gets too intense out there.

Stay safe.

Happy Thursday.

I took this photo last week with my telephoto lens. It’s the prop plane that flies over our house several times a day. It’s from the well known sky diving facility in our town. After they’ve jumped, the pilot flies over our neighborhood as he starts to circle back to the “Ranch.” Sometimes we run into a jumper who landed in an unexpected place. Last year, Don gave one of those jumpers a ride back to the ranch.

I mowed about 2/3 of the front lawn yesterday and Don mowed the rest. It was in the eighties, so we were both quite tired when we finished. I also did some pruning.

The laptop arrived and I’ll spend the weekend figuring it out.

Today, I want to honor my nephew, Meredith’s second oldest child. Today, he is graduating from law school. Not only that, he will take the bar exam in July and the start his new job with the District Attorney’s office in August!

If you knew the very tough time he went through as a teenager, the struggles, the pain, you would feel the same way Don and I do: this is a triumph, a victory that seemed impossible a number of years ago. At that time, my sister’s fierce devotion to him, getting him the help he needed, never giving up, helped him through to the other side. And everything that has happened since has been a testament to his inner strength, to his commitment and goodness. I am so proud of him.

God bless you, dear one, as you begin this new journey. And God bless my sister, who is the best mother there could ever be.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.