We have reached our sixth day in a row of high humidity, storms and torrential rains. Every time I think I might be able to weed or mow or weed whack, I am faced with a wall of humidity or a sudden storm. Everything is waterlogged. More rain today, then a break for two days, then more rain.
We’re not used to it being this humid all summer long. We usually get a day or two here and there and August always tends to be humid, but from the get-go this summer we’ve been dealing with a lot of high temps and humidity. I can see the effects of it on my potted impatiens on the porch – the leaves on some of the plants are discolored and look mildewy.
The only plant that really likes it is the big fern that sits on the former kitchen island on the porch. He’s digging it, for sure.
We have had a few sunny breaks, like the one we had the other day when we were out and about. And I’m very grateful for them.
Speaking of that trip:
This is the little chair that I bought. It’s quite heavy. As Don said to me when he saw it, “The color!” He knows this is a favorite color of mine. Actually, it’s one of his favorite colors, as well.
It almost looks Mexican with its chunky, boxy design, but no, it has a fleur-de-lis.
Perhaps a plant of some sort should adorn the chair?
It will definitely come indoors for the winter.
It’s been a frustrating week for Don in terms of photography, simply because conditions have not photo or camera friendly. We finally got outside yesterday for a little session, which was eventually halted because of inclement weather. But he did really well, figuring out F-stops, apertures, and all of that stuff that I should have a command of but don’t. I’m real proud of his progress.
This was shot on the porch:
(I’d been pulling weeds and you can see the dirt under my fingernails!)
This is tricky work. It’s a very heavy camera with a polaroid back. Everything is manual. Nothing can be easily deleted as with a digital camera or phone. The viewfinder isn’t aligned with the lens, giving a parallax view, so framing a shot is also very tricky. Much adjusting has to be done. Eventually, all of it will have to be done rather quickly, but now is the time for figuring out what works and what doesn’t. He did a real good job on this one.
The zinnias (grown from seed) are really taking off this year and are the healthiest bunch I’ve had in a long time. Cheery zinnias are one of Don’s favorite flowers. Mine, too.
I’ll share photos from Milne Antiques tomorrow and some photos of the vintage suitcases. It’s a little too dark in the house right now to get a good photo of them.
Happy Saturday.
Oh, that little chair! The color is hands down my favorite! It does remind me of the furniture I saw growing up. I am from El Paso and the chunky Mexican furniture, which I wish I had some of, resemble the chair.
Hope the rain and humidity breaks soon for you.
Have a relaxing day!
I hope it’s out of here by tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
I think this summer has been especially difficult on lots of plants. It’s been rather extreme, to say the least. I’ve lost my dahlias, it was just too hot for them in pots. My Kimberley fern, however, loves the humidity and is quite spectacular.
That chair…it’s just perfect! I think a plant would be terrific…perhaps, something low…something similar to Riley’s dish came to mind. Or just as is….that color speaks for itself. Enjoy your day! ;)
I agree with Donnamae. A shorter plant will allow you to see that beautiful chair back. Nice find, Claudia!
Yes. I’m sort of over adding anything new plant-wise to the porch. So it will probably wait until next summer.
Yes, definitely something lower than the plant in the photo. But maybe not this summer…
Don’t blame you….I’m just going to take quick pics of my remaining plants before they succumb to this weird weather. ;)
I’n fast becoming tired of the whole thing! Part of that is that it’s almost August and part of that is the weather.
The humidity is what gets us in South also. It’s been a tiny bit lower with no rain for a few days, Guess all the rain is up north. :( Love Love that little chair. I do like a plant on it but then the back is hidden and it’s so pretty. I admire Don taking on a new learning curve and he will conquer it. The photo of you is very good.
I had a really great time with Scout yesterday but was exhausted. I forgot how much a 3 yr old can talk and talk and we are in a ‘why?’ phase. We did watch the movie Frozen and ate ice cream and painted a watercolor. Really fun but it will take me today to recoup!
I feel like I’m living in the South! And I’m in upstate NY!
Ah, but if you were in the South, at least my part of it, the oppressive heat and humidity would be steady from April through October, with further outbreaks until Christmas or beyond.
Oh, I know! My sister lives in Florida, remember? That’s why I couldn’t live there – as beautiful as it is. I do not do well in humidity!
wow. welcome to my world. ” high temps and [high] humidity” …
how we can have such high humidity here and blinding heat always puzzles me.
you’d think it would RAIN! but we’re still ‘always’ deep in drought. it’s hard to breathe.
no wonder we have a low cost of living. nobody really wants to live here! LOL!
I too love the little chair. I think I like it with nothing on it.
just the beauty of the little thing. like a piece of sculpture! xo
Thank you, Tammy!
We had a bad thunderstorm last night. That chair is lovely.
Marilyn
Yes, we did, too!
I can’t believe how hot it’s been in the North this year – just like down here. I love your new chair and love the paint in it. I agree about the smaller plant. I just ok AC tire of my zinnias and posted them – but mine have not fully bloomed yet – (although they should have). You see, every time they get a nice bud on them, some animal comes along and eats the bud off And I’m left with a lush green, leafy stalk the just ends! I suspect rabbits!
I’ve had that happen with my day lilies!
I’m am enjoying your and Don’s adventures with your new cameras and lenses, especially as we get to see more photographs of the two of you. I can figure out differential equations, physics, and how to set the stochastics tool for analyzing the financial markets, but say the word “aperture” and my eyes cloud over. I’m pitiful with photography.
I can’t figure out any of those things you listed!
We may get out of the 90s today; looking good so far. We’re at 50% humidity; sounds like you are so much more with a ton of rain. I haven’t been happy with SoCalif summers for a good long while now.
But I’m about to go out doing errands in the heat and I wish I’d done it earlier but, well, I didn’t. Just couldn’t ‘get going’; I’m tired. Emotional/stressful last few days, as I’ve got this husband in pain mode; root canal scheduled soonest; but it was a lot of running around in the last couple of days trying to get everything figured out and scheduled. Too much driving. At least he’s on pain medication now; medicine that’s actually working, poor guy. I don’t want to go anywhere tomorrow; I want to just be home, cool in the house. Quiet Sunday.
Prayers to Redding, in the north of our state; wildfire is consuming us these years and I’ve felt fearful for beautiful Yosemite National Park which has a special place in my heart after so many family vacays there when I was a kid. Yosemite really is for everybody; you can stay in the more deluxe places, like the Ahwahnee Hotel but there was always tent camping; cabins. Some cabins had bathrooms; some didn’t. Not only a gorgeous national park with powerful, awe-inspiring waterfalls but also, as really they all are (our incredible national park system of the U.S.), very educational for anyone. I used to love the evening talks by the rangers (and the cafeteria; and the gift shop!); happiest childhood memories. I pray she stays safe, that remarkable valley.
The fires are horrific, as they are every year. Praying for every person and every animal and living thing in the path of the fires.
They’re calling it a firenado. The image of fire descending upon you like a tornado is beyond terrifying.
We went to the beach this afternoon (again[!] but had to be over that way for an errand, so…BUT, big mistake, too many tourists, air is murky and it’s a sauna out there, so we parked at the gated part of the marina for a little while [don’t ask us how we got in; thanks to the nicest guy live-aboard who had the most darling long-haired doxie-dog; anytime there’s a dog around with us, it’s a conversation starter]; was more pleasant there although we still got too warm). As we sat there eating our lunch (well, my husband was basically sipping his lunch, ala a smoothie, chewing being an ouchie right now), we spoke of the Gold Rush country of NorCal where we’ve spent some time (in younger years, we actually did white-water rafting on the American River near Placerville and Coloma, but we’ve both been up that way many times even before we knew one another) and the backcountry is so densely wooded; there’s much to burn, and it gets darn hot in summer. (Red Bluff and Redding [half-hour apart] can be blisteringly-hot, even in June. Dry and hot.) My first family used to like to go to Clear Lake (north of Napa; not all that far from Cal State U at Chico; Chico & Clear Lake are about 90 mins from each other; we’d had long-time/good-friend neighbors who moved to Clear Lake permanently, year ’round) and all that area (even with the bodies of water [creeks, rivers, lakes] gets vulnerable to wildfire. And it was already so bad in NorCal last year with fire, nobody’s really had any real time to even recover yet before even MORE hits in that part of the state. Can’t help but hold our breath here in the south as well. Hard to hear about the SoCalif community of Idyllwild being evacuated; I had an ex-boyfriend in said younger years whose parents had a weekend home there and it’s very pretty, lots of good skiing in winter, nice escape out of L.A., but there’s a price to pay, unfortunately, to live in those mountain areas.
I dunno; is there any place to live in California that is NOT wildfire prone? I don’t think so; not anymore. I’m thinking north of the Bay Area on the water, like San Mateo County…Pescadero, Half Moon Bay; probably a false sense of safety but I just recall long green bluffs leading to the ocean where trees become more sparse (it’s a bit of dairyland there, and they get a lot of fog and mist) and there’s of course the big, blue, beautiful Pacific keeping things cool and lovely. Then, further north on the sea, Tomales, Bodega Bay…I think I’d feel further away from fire in those places…yet we typically burn right to the sea it seems…
I’d meant to say how interesting is your little aqua chair. I’ve seen a lot of kids’ chairs but nothing quite like that one. You got it right, how its blockiness is very rustic Mexican (not Spanish; not Mediterreanean) except for the mystery of its fleur back. Where do these things come from? Oh, the thrill of the find!
xo
Claudia, Love the pictures. Your little chair is a great plant stand. My gosh, I am almost dreading the thoughts of August…it’s usually the hotter days of summer. This year’s June and July have been very hot. Stay cool. Blessings, xoxo, Susie
Maybe it will surprise us and be cooler than normal?
It was extremely humid here in Maryland yesterday but much better today after a horrible storm last night. But the mosquitoes are just horrible.
Love the sweet little chair.
We have a lot of mosquitoes this year, too!
another terrific find, claudia! love the contrast between the block-y shape and the sweet fleur-de-lis back … and that color! i like the idea of a shallow dish with plants or a short stack of books, magazines on it … but it’s wonderful as is!
lovely photos, too. hopefully the weather will soon cooperate for more photo-taking and comfort.
hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend, too.
kathy in iowa
I will find some sort of use for it!
I hear ya on the rain. We had that in late May-early June here for three weeks and it ruined my Lamb’s Ear and even the tomato plants. They are now tall and spindly instead of full and lush.
Love your little green chair. And the zinnias. One of my faves – though I couldn’t find any at the garden centers this year, for whatever reason.
I planted mine from seed. Always do!
You have such a good eye for beautiful things- love your new chair
Well done to Don for continuing to master his new camera- the hard work and effort is part of the fun and satisfaction
Siobhan
He’s working so hard!
Thanks, Siobhan!
That is a Fab. picture of you Pretty Lady!
Judy A
Thank you, Judy.