The heat index hit 109 degrees yesterday. Heck, it might have hit 110, but I can only vouch for the temp when I clicked on the weather app on my phone. The same today.
I will be so happy to see the last of this – maybe tomorrow or Tuesday? I’m not sure, but I do know that the grass is too long, the weeds are too many, and we’re sick of staying inside because there is an “excessive heat warning.”
We did decide on the placement for the watercolor of Scout, as well as the pencil sketch. Don and I tend to make these decisions together as the placement of beloved items, whether we’re talking about furniture or wall art, is important to both of us. We decided we wanted her in the living room, a room we spend a fair amount of time in. As it turns out, she’s looking down on her favorite place to sleep, which seems fitting.
As Don said, she’s protecting us.
Looking at her, we think one word: Joy. I also love the fact that the turntable, the albums, the name of the Parrish, which is “Pierrot’s Serenade,” not to mention the piano to the right – all represent music which is so important to us and was a big part of our life with Scout. When she was younger, every time we put on some music and started dancing, she would want to join in. She’d get up on her hind legs and we’d hold her paws and all three of us would dance.
(We love the light streaming in these windows, but it does make taking pictures a somewhat frustrating task!)
Previously, the Maxfield Parrish was the only piece hanging here. We thought we’d hang the watercolor here, move the Parrish, and maybe hang the pencil sketch on the stairway gallery wall. But then we played around with possibilities for the Parrish, which is very special to me and not something I want to hide away, so we went with the Parrish and the watercolor. That seemed a bit off, so I grabbed the pencil sketch and then we knew we had a winner. The arrangement also takes the focus off the alarm pad and the thermostat, which is just fine with me.
We also played with hanging the Parrish next to the Aquitania, but that gorgeous lithograph shouldn’t have any competition in its place above the piano. It needs to be the star.
Just had to get a shot of our newest find. I love, love, love this chair. And it’s so comfortable!
I wish a magazine photographer would come in here and take some pictures. Not so much because I’m craving a magazine feature (I sincerely doubt that this house is ‘magazine-worthy’) but it would be so great to have some photos that were taken by someone who knows what he/she is doing! Wouldn’t that be nice?
What were we doing while all of this was going on?
Listening to some Kenny Rankin – one of our favorite albums.
I know there’s a lot of focus on Scout, because we lost her most recently. But I’d love to get a good photo of Winston to enlarge and hang; difficult because he had a black coat and I didn’t have a good camera then, so our photos aren’t the best. And I’m going to find a place for this photo – my favorite one of Riley and Scout:
I framed this and it’s in our bedroom. But I’d also like it down here in the living room. We need Riley with us, too. Dear Riley, who also loved music. Whenever I played the piano, he would come over and plop himself down. It soothed him. And both Riley and Winston loved it when Don played the guitar.
I’ll work on that.
Oh, by the way, I woke up early this morning and after I snuggled up to Don, I went back to sleep whereupon I dreamed I was Michael Phelp’s girlfriend.
Happy Sunday.
That shot of Riley and Scout is priceless! And I’d say you’ve done pretty well at photographing your space. The art behind glass shots are always a challenge.
Isn’t that picture great? I was sitting in the chair and happened to have my camera nearby, so I caught that moment and I’m so happy I did.
Beautiful memories shared with us. Feel good memories! Enjoy another hot day together!
We will, Doris. I’m staying in!
Love your Scout pictures. Our dogs have been so much a part of our lives that they all deserve a place on our wall. We have pictures of Brady and Tucker up but need to go back in the picture files and print up some of the other 4 who have been part of us. I think that will be our winter project. Aren’t they all a blessing!
Keep cool,
Eileen
They are, Eileen. I need to get going on finding a good picture of Winston. xoxo
I always love visiting in your cottage, so cozy and warm. I took my grands to Branson, MO earlier this week and thought of the new mystery novel you recently told us about. My girls love books and we stopped in to a bookstore while there. I had a copy in my hand and decided to come on back home and get it from my library.
Our weather here in MO has been very hot and humid all summer, much like you are experiencing now. We are having a brief respite, only in the upper 80’s. Stay cool!
We’ll do our best, Deb. I hope you enjoy that mystery set in Branson. I think you will!
your home is charming and cozy – and worth featuring in a magazine. hope that happens for you!
love the photo of your scout and riley together … so sweet! glad you have it. am sure you will find just the right one of your winston, too.
thanks for all the inspiration in your words and photos.
it’s been sticky-hot and humid here, too, but heard we might get a break in the temperature soon. hope so, for us and you. while i am glad the sun is out later, i am very much ready for fall’s cooler “sweater weather” and will trade evening daylight for not feeling crabby and wilted by the time i get to my car to go to work.
hope you all have a good sunday and week ahead.
kathy in iowa
I doubt if it will. If I could afford it, I’d simply pay a photographer to take good photos. Our rooms are smallish and hard to photograph.
I was just out weed chomping, because it seemed cooler outside, but it isn’t!. So I’m back in and drinking some water!
Take care with all that heat and humidity, Claudia…hydrate hydrate hydrate. Wish I could ship you some San Francisco fog. It’s been so thick, rolling from the ocean onto the City. I live on the east side of the Bay, so I can see the fog slowly sliding over the San Francisco hills. I don’t get the fog until very very early morning, and it’s a high fog, meaning we can still see down the street. Sometimes during summer fog, one can’t see across the street in San Francisco. Love the precious artwork and photos of your doggies.
I’m drinking water right now, Wendy.
I love that photo of Riley and Scout! I need to get some framed shots of my sweet Charlie up. I miss him so much. It isn’t quite as hot here today but still a stay at home and read under the fan day for me.
hugs,
Linda
I just went outside and watered and weed chomped. But it’s worse out there than it seemed to be when I first went outside, so I’m back in and drinking some water.
Somehow I always feel like our area is always hotter than up north. I feel for people who don’t have air conditioning when it’s so hot. I love the way you placed the pictures on the wall. When you share pictures of your home I always think how warm and welcoming it seems.
I think it used to be, but with climate change, the summers are much hotter up here than they used to be. Everything is shifting and changing. Thanks for your kind words, Janie!
What a sweet pic of Riley and Scout! You captured the love between them…beautifully. I’ve taken pics before of our living room to show my mom, since she doesn’t get to come visit any more. It’s always interesting to me what the camera picks up. Our humidity has broken a bit…still going to be warm…but what a relief, if only for a day or two. Drink lots of water! ;)
Yes, it’s a challenge. Light pouring in the windows, not a whole lot of room to maneuver in….
I’m drinking water right now, Donnamae!
I think you found an outstanding spot for Scout’s picture. You’re right – she’s still protecting you there. Oh, and I love your metal lawn chair – my mother got a pair of chairs EXACTLY like it, except for the cushion material, from her mother when Grandma moved from her own house to an assisted living facility where my cousin was the activities director. I spent many hours doing embroidery or reading in them on my parents’ screened in porch. Great memories. My younger sister has them now – and they ARE so comfortable. Could while away an entire afternoon in one, no problem. I think I could probably even nap in one! Have a cool & restful Sunday… 🍉
We love that chair so much. I wish we could find one like it for the office/studio. It would be perfect up there! I love rocking in them.
We’ve had some of that same heat and humidity here and it’s gets so tiring. You don’t want to do anything outside or even inside, when it gets so hot. We have lots of mosquitoes also and I have the bites to prove it. I love your picture of Riley and Scout together. I also found it interesting that you hang your pictures at a normal height, despite being on the tall side. My husband and I are both tall (5’10” – me and 6’4″- him) and all of our pictures are hung much higher than average. We figure it’s our house and we spend the most time there, so hang them where we can enjoy them. I know there’s a rule of thumb for hanging pictures, but I am a rule breaker nor a trend follower. Heh.
I hang them at the height that works best when sitting. I’m usually not standing, so we hang them lower. I just like that look.
The humidity has broken a bit today, but still really warm. Even a little drop does help. We have a play to attend this afternoon, so we know it will be cool in there. It is like winter ~ we are inside most of the days!! (But I can walk and drive in sun and heat!!)
Stay cool, enjoy your lovely pictures, and dream a little dream….. the MP one is good!!
It was a good dream, Chris. When I told Don about it, he was amused.
I really enjoyed my visit with you today. But then, I always do. Your cottage always makes me feel so welcome, and I think you have done an excellent job placing Scout’s pictures. I miss that little girl, too. We are so blessed to have been able to share our lives with such special beings. Hope the heat breaks for all of us soon. We are debating about going to the salvage store, but it is just so darned hot. Try to stay cool and thanks again for just being you.
I know! It’s too hot to go anywhere! Thank you for your kind words, Dottie.
You’re so much better off with Don than Michael Phelps for about a million forty-two reasons.
Hmmmm….Michael has a lot more money!
Don laughed when he heard about the dream and said that in this contest, he won! He got me. Aw.
I love today’s post in many ways and I have a big smile on my face.
Your dreams are killer-fun. I’ve had one recently about Hugh Grant…you know, these people are so much in the news these days (Hugh is promoting that movie he’s done with Meryl Streep), I guess it seeps into our semi-conscious as well!
Next, you will simply not believe this, truly you will not, but I JUST YESTERDAY bought the CD of that very Kenny Rankin album in Don’s hands. I know, it’s unbelievable. What’s been happening is that I’ve slowly been trying to replace my favorite LPs with CDs (as back-up) because I’ve found that some of my fave music (and movies) are often now not available from a variety of sources. Oh, you can find them ‘used’ in the secondhand market but they are often VERY expensive. These are ‘comfort’ things to me in the oasis of my home, just as important as my books or other collections, although I know it might sound odd and self-indulgent to others. But I do need to surround myself with things that make me happy and some material objects do in fact make me happy, often also because they bring good memories. Anyway, Kenny Rankin is one of, if not THE, most loved…by me…singers/guitarists of my 20s particularly, and then throughout my adult life. And I’ve worked hard to amass every single one of his albums. I might have written of him previously here,,,I seem to recall him coming up before?…but absolutely a highlight in my life was when, I guess about ten years ago, I was able to attend a charity concert he did at a church in Beverly Hills. The acoustics (it being a church and clearly designed to accommodate a choir) were incredible and, of course, Kenny needed no accompaniment. He was to pass on mere-few years later to my deep sadness…too young, when his voice was still in finest form and his guitar work was simply stellar…but at least I got the opportunity to thank him on his blog, back in that time. Just yesterday…YESTERDAY, Claudia(!) [talk about coincidence!!]…I caught him on YouTube doing his own rendition of “On Broadway” (Drifters, remember? George Benson did a version, too) which unfortunately he never recorded. It was my most treasured takeaway from that charity concert, hearing him do that song ‘live’ and I encouraged him at the time to somehow PLEASE record it. The man was so gifted; perfect pitch, bell-like, rich, resonant voice like only Streisand really has…but sometimes his guitar playing gets the lesser notice and although I believe he was self-taught, I always love to hear him at the guitar; just excellent. He was amazing just sitting in a chair, nothing else as props, just him, that voice and his acoustic guitar.
Okay, I know I went on and on about that, but he’s a voice of my youth and throughout my years…and I’m so steeped in him right now because I sampled a lot of his music yesterday while loading my shopping cart. And to think the gal-pal I went with to the concert had never heard of him…mind-blowing. She became a quick convert.
To your photos, they are more than fine; your photos are always good! With the pulled-back shots you can see how your aqua colors pull things together from room to room and of course they also pick up the soft tones of the Scout art. I love those pops of color! It all looks just great. It’s healthy that you can have the photos and artwork around you of the dogs. I’m kinda ‘not well adjusted’ about that…it seems to upset me more than it helps me. My dearest, much-loved dad was the same way. I pick up a lot of stuff from him in that vein as I’m a bit of his carbon copy (younger people don’t know what a carbon copy is, in the paper/typing-‘copying’/duplicating world of old). He sorta ‘forced’ (not the right word…’urged’/quietly asked) Mother to move all the framed photos of family to the rear rooms of the house. (He was very sensitive and sentimental, and losing his son in his lifetime was just too painful.) I hope I get over this some day; I know it’s not ‘normal’ and I actually do enjoy, from time to time, looking thru photo albums. And I have several in my wallet for my handbag. In the 80s when I did a lot of family history research and had many old photos copied and blown up for larger frames, I had a ‘wall of fame’ in my home…the ancestral wall, so to speak…so, I don’t know what’s going on with me now except that, back then, I was sure I was still going to wind up with lots of children of my own, which didn’t happen, and now I’m the last of my family and my branch of the family tree breaks with me, which I find unsettling although there’s nothing I can do about it. Also, I’ve had a tremendous amount of loss in the past 20 years, which is what happens to us all as we age, and I haven’t coped with it very well; just have lost too many loved ones, and our family was very small to begin with, although I try not to dwell on it too much and instead be grateful of the day before me, loving my husband and my dog most of all!
Gosh, I sure hope your weather improves SOON. It’s not fun to get hemmed in by weather. We have all the standing fans going inside the house right now (my husband isn’t a big fan of the A/C although it’s getting turned on soon, by me!) and I just moved the food and water to more shade for the outdoor/feral kitties, trying to keep ahead of the sun for them. A raccoon knocked over a huge pot of apple mint last night and broke the pot, so my husband has been trying to salvage what he can of it. The creatures are out at night looking for water as we are SO dry and hot. It’s about 11:30 am and we’re already 90 degrees. It’s hazy and humid, but nothing like what you’ve got. Your heat index is just alarming. Have a cool drink, listen to Kenny Rankin, read, take a nap…dog days of summer!
Oh, it’s been pretty horrible today – terribly hot. I stayed in after doing a few things outside and got into a mess putting together the drawers I got from IKEA. A frustrating day because I had put them together incorrectly and once I realized it, had to go back and do it all again. Yikes. Glad you like Kenny Rankin too!
Perfect spot for Scout’s picture. That is where she should be watching over you and Don, just like when she use to be at your feet on her blanket by the couch hanging out with the two of you. Also love the picture of Scout and Riley, it is so cute. I am sure you will find a picture of Winston that you can frame. They will always remain with you in memories and your heart. Stay cool!!
hugs
They are in my heart, that’s for sure. I miss them so much. Thanks, Nancy.
I played some Rankin this morning to drive out the shuffle of Adele in my head. Did you ever see him live? I saw him at a very small venue many years ago and he sat on a stool not 10 feet from me. I was in heaven. I miss him and treasure what he left us.
We all need to get ready for extreme heat and extreme weather in general. It’s coming. 107 all week here, CA last week was heaven!
No, unfortunately, I never saw him live. He was incredible and gone too soon.
Your photos are always beautiful and you do a wonderful job of capturing your cottage!
Thank you, Karen!
The more I see your sweet little cottage the more I love it….That is a priceless picture of a moment between Scout and Riley…you were so lucky to capture it….We are expecting more thunderstorms along with the sweltering heat again today…I am also tired of being stuck in the house..I want to do some cooking outside on the grill..
We just had another whopper of a thunderstorm. I want this weather pattern to leave!
The watercolor is beautiful in that spot. In my sewing room I have a sketch that reminds me of our tabby cat and I framed the condolence card the vet sent when she had to put down our last cat. It is a black cat looking back at a sunset. Little memorials to them. But I also had all three of our favorite cats visit me after they passed. The last one visited me often until his playmate showed up one morning, and they went off together. So I am sure Scout is with you, you just may not be able to feel her. Don’t think I am crazy, please.
I don’t think you are crazy at all. In fact, I prayed and prayed for all my dogs to visit me, but I’ve never once felt their presence. I would give anything to feel them nearby.
Way, way too much heat! I would think even running to the car would be hard. Hope your humidity lifts soon.
One more day? Maybe two? Can’t wait for the weather to change, Tana!
I wish I had your eye for hanging pictures. That green chair reminds me of something from my childhood. The print and color is beautiful.
Aren’t dreams strange? I am amazed at how weird mine are and sometimes is a little scared by what is going on in my brain.
Me too, Kay. My subconscious is a very bizarre place!
A true collection of beautiful memories. The pictures are wonderful. A very good post!
Thank you, Sydney.