The temperatures have dropped as of yesterday and life seems a bit easier. Sort of. We mowed yesterday, though it was still surprisingly humid. There’s lots more mowing to do and I had planned on doing that today, but we’ve had unexpected rain, with more due tomorrow. One good thing; I got to use the weed trimmer in the secret garden – it was so overgrown back there! The Dude was barely visible!

If it stops raining this morning, I might try to mow the “Lilac Side” of the front lawn because I don’t think it will be too impacted by the rain. We’ll see.

On Wednesday, we came back home from grocery shopping and as we were unloading the car, I saw a Monarch Butterfly. She was laying eggs on the milkweed! It was so cool to see that. Timing is everything, isn’t it? We stayed far away as she was skittish and watched her go from plant to plant. I guess I won’t be removing any milkweed unless I’m sure it’s egg-free. At his point, I should just leave it alone until fall.

Change of clothes for these two, who were wearing sweaters during the plus 100° heat.

As I said on IG, with so many girls wearing shoes, available footwear is almost non-existent. So this time, I matched outfits to  the boots they were already wearing.

That’s Zoe on the left and Madeleine on the right.

I think I need to order at least two more pairs of shoes from my friend Cora. She makes the most wonderful footwear and she lives in Connecticut.

I’m about to finish a Jack Reacher book by Lee Child and his son, Andrew. I am wary about this trend of double authors, which seems to happen when a prolific author gets older and, presumably, more tired. But the 3 or 4 that I’ve read have been pretty good. Maybe not quite as good as the original run by Lee Child. Nevertheless, I’m enjoying them. I have the newest Robert Macfarlane on my pile, Is a River Alive?  He writes about nature and is one of my favorite authors. This just came out and I only have about a week in which to read it, so I have to get going.

I hardly buy any books anymore, but I did succumb the other day, as Jane Casey has just published a new book in her Maeve Kerrigan police procedural series. I am an unabashed fan and have read them all, but our library system doesn’t always order her books. So far, there is no indication that this one is in the system. So I ordered it from Amazon. The last one ended with a real cliff-hanger.

But I won’t let myself read it until I finish the Macfarlane.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

The end of the peony.

What can I say? The heat has been unbearable with heat indexes of up to 108 degrees. We are thankful for the A/C but it doesn’t stop the lethargy that has taken over both of us. Our brains feel like mush. I run outside to water everything in the morning and afternoon. I keep adding water to the birdbath, which has been very busy lately. And, of course, I water the pots on the porch.

One more day of this. The weather advisory has changed from “Extreme Heat Warning” to “Heat Advisory.” I don’t know that there’s much difference in the end. Tomorrow, the temperature will drop 20 degrees and relief will come. I know so many of you have been dealing with this. Hang in there, things will soon change.

Don didn’t want to do anything but hang out on his birthday, and frankly, that’s all we could do with the heat. We’ve decided no more presents from here on out. We don’t need anything. Whenever Don asks me what I want to do on my birthday, I respond “Just be with you.” And that’s the truth. He feels the same. So that’s what we did. The ice cream at the end of the day was extra special and we really enjoyed it. I sang Happy Birthday to him, adding a candle to his piece of apple pie. I am, of course, always happy to celebrate this man who unexpectedly came into my life 31 years ago. That guy completely turned my world around! I’m so happy I get to live this adventure with him by my side.

He is the best.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

This little rose emerged, a bit battered by the rain. I thought I should take a photo of its resilient beauty.

Everything needs to be weeded around here. It’s completely overgrown. But with all the rain, there’s been no time to really get at it. And in two days we are entering what the weather app calls an Extreme Heat Warning. It will be 99° on Don’s birthday – which is Tuesday. Heaven knows what the heat index will be! This will go on through Wednesday and then we’ll get some relief. I’m going to run to the grocery store this morning to stock up since we’re not going to be running errands during the heat wave. And I’m going to try to weed whack the area around the secret garden. It’s like a tropical jungle back there.

Right now, the windows are open and I can hear birds singing. I saw a bunny rabbit first thing this morning. So darned cute! We do have a groundhog the year, but I’ve only seen him about 3 times. Lots of little chipmunks, and squirrels, and birds at the birdbath. I expect the birdbath will be very busy for the next several days.

This will be a short post, as I have to get going early.

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.