Promised Stormy Weather Hasn't Arrived Yet...

After I finished cutting the grass out back yesterday I was whipped!  It was warm and humid but there was a bit of a breeze so I got through the lawn in two sessions -- only because the mower ran out of gas when I still had about 200 square feet to cut.  So I had to wait for the mower to cool down in a patch of shade while I myself recuperated with feet up and a glass of ice water on the deck.

Then I spent the rest of the afternoon puttering and reading, puttering and reading.  I'd do a little bit of gardening, then a whole lot of reading, rinse and repeat...

So I didn't get a whole lot done yesterday other than get more bug bites despite spraying myself down 3 times with bug spray!  But I sure did enjoy my day off from blogging and thinking and everything else! 

I should have shut the house down last night and turned the AC on, but it was hovering on the brink of coolness outside -- no breeze -- so I sweated it out and eventually did fall asleep.  I got up at 6:15 a.m. and opened up the doors downstairs and let the early morning coolness seep into the house.  Between the patio door in the dinette and the front door in the living room I have a clear path and get good cross ventilation.  I was able to read my newspaper in peace and quiet as the sun rose higher and higher in the east but still hidden behind the tree line across the street, so the house stayed cool.  It was heaven!  But by 7:45 the sun was high enough to start heating the house, and I could feel the temperature creeping up even as I was just sitting still reading.  When sweat started forming on my upper lip, I knew it was time to shut down the house and turn the AC on.  Ahhhh, relief!

So - no outside today - except for a quick run to dump a watering can of water on the grass seed sprouting where the city took out a tree stump on a corner of my front lot some weeks ago - and a quick trip out back to clean out the bird baths and put fresh water in.  Those baths saw HEAVY traffic yesterday!  I was amazed at the quantity and variety of birds who flew by to get drinks and take dips as I sat out back all afternoon!  Early today (before it heated up) I pulled out the third bird bath and parked it center front about 10 feet from my front window, where I have a view of it as I sit and type this.  Once the birds discover it (it usually takes a day or two) I expect to be entertained with regular visits. 

I checked the weather a bit ago.  Thunderstorms are expected this afternoon and possibly severe weather tonight.  Yesterday was a bust - not a drop of rain!  I watered in the back from about 1:45 until about 8 p.m. as I puttered around and relaxed on the deck under the umbrella.  Occasionally it rained leaves from the Chinese elms overhead.  As I mentioned yesterday, lots of leaf drop again this year, such has been the weather.  Cha ching!  I can just imagine what my water bill will be for the quarter.  Damn!  But the trees, grass and flowers are very very happy with me. They are showering me with love today.  It's lush and green out back so I guess it's worth it, even if it is too uncomfortable for me to sit outside today.  The flowers espeically are putting on a show - the rugosa roses sent forth three new flowers just for me this morning - I could smell them all the way through my upstairs bedroom window which overlooks them to the southeast - and the day lilies haven't even bloomed yet!  That's unheard of - they are about 3 weeks late this year!  Usually by now they are bursting forth and are finished blooming (they bloom sequentially) in about 10 days.  Not this year!  So it's possible I'll have flowers into the beginning of August, which will be wonderful!  It doesn't take much to make me happy...

The temperature at 9:40 a.m. was 82 degrees F and the dew point was a whopping 70!  That's tropical, and it's difficult to breathe unless you're a kid or under 30.  Everyone else is just kidding themselves if they say they're not affected by this kind of moisture content in the air, it's like trying to do normal chores inside a steam bath which is to say, impossible unless you want to keel over!  Hopefully the sun will soon be swallowed by clouds and it won't get up to the promised 88 degrees. 

So, I don't feel like doing a thing again today, but I'm doing laundry because I need clean underwear and fresh clothes to wear this coming work week.  When is my next three day weekend...  LOL!  I had like three in a row and am terribly spoiled now...

Aha - my first bird visitor to the newly planted bird bath out front!

Another pic from yesterday morning:

It's Grandma Squirrel at the edge of the deck, and just at the edge of the dividing line between shade cast from the house and the sun line you can see another squirrel out hunting for nuts.  The sunlight is blindingly bright.  You can see the area just to the left of the patio umbrella where I huffed and puffed a few weeks back, got all bit up and bruised and scratched, cleaning out a small pocket of the island so now you can see the fence once again.  Just clearing out that small area (about a third of it's length) has made a positive difference for the flowers and shrubs that are planted in a bed to the right (out of picture range) because of increased sunlight and air flow.  As soon as the weather permits (that is, the dew point is in the mid-50's and the temperature is 75 degrees F or below) I'll work my way in from the other side with loppers and hand pruners, and also clean up the stumps and detrius left behind from my first pruning foray.  A woman's work truly is never done...