Visiting Brenda and Irv in Colorado

Dale and I are visiting Brenda and Irv in Colorado. I love this bird that is in one of their planters. Cardinals have always been my favorite.

200th Post - Lots of Mushrooms Popping Up

This one on the boulevard a few houses down.

Deb's Blooming Boulevard

Deb has some gorgeous lilies on her blooming boulevard.

Deb's Tree - July 2011

Fertilized Today

Huge Drop In Humidity

I just took a walk and it's gorgeous out this morning! There's been a big drop in humidity which is a huge relief.

Record Dew Point

Yesterday I noted that the dew point was at 84 and that made it the most humid day in the Twin Cities, ever. I read in the paper this morning that we've had three days in a row where the dew point has been at 80 or more which, according to local weather guru Paul Douglas, has never happened before either! I was talking with Dale yesterday about how despite the miserable heat and humidity that life obviously just goes on. You just can't stay inside all day. I took a few walks and found that I was getting used to it somewhat. I made the walks much slower and shorter than usual but still enjoyed the outdoors despite the discomfort.

Setting Records

Dale tells me that the dew point today reached 84 which is the highest EVER. We had a heat index of 118 which was one degree shy of the record.

Neighbor's Flowers

A lot of our perennials didn't come back this year. Here are a couple of shots from neighbor's blooming boulevards. Dew point is supposed to be 76 today.

More Lilies

Dale went to get groceries today but found that the car was dead. We let it sit about 15 minutes and then decided to push it into the driveway to get it out of the heat of the garage. Dale tried starting it again and, jubilation, this time it worked! We both hopped in and decided to run to Kowalski's right then and there for sustenance. After getting our groceries we came back out to the car to find that, dagnabbit, it wouldn't start again! We took a bus home, groused, made dinner, groused, decided we'd have the car towed, groused, ate, felt somewhat better and then took the bus back down to drop the key under the car mat so that we could have it towed away. When we got back down to where we left it we decided to give the car a try (just in case) and, jubilation, it started! We hopped in, drove it home, and parked it in the front yard. It's shady there and this will allow the car to be out of the heat of the garage. We're hoping this whole thing just the car reacting to the extreme heat and humidity we're experiencing. Anyway, after gettin out of the car Dale noticed how nicely the sunlight was hitting our front yard lilies. I decided to capture the moment on film.

High Dewpoint

It is so nasty, wet and sticky outside right now. Dale got back from the Island late yesterday so this morning we hauled office materials he brought home with him back to his office. As he and I were driving home we heard on the radio that the dew point is 72. Yuk. As it turns out the most work I could handle doing in the yard today is moving the hose. Anyway, here's a photo I took a few days ago. I couldn't help but think back to a few months ago when that mountainous snowmound blocked this view. Extreme heat or cold - that's the continental climate for you!

Front Yard - Planter

Here's another shot of the front yard planter. The flowers have grown a little bit.

July Full Moon - The Full Buck Moon

From the Farmer's Almanac: "July is normally the month when the new antler of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month's Moon was the Full Hay Moon.

Summer Rain

Okay, I'm not quite sure what is going on in these pictures. Today was a perfect summer rain. When I woke up this morning it was thundering in the distance. This went on for about an hour at least and the storm never sounded like it was getting any closer. Eventually it rained and it was that wonderful kind of rain where it just falls steadily for hours. I sat on the porch and listened to it. I got back in bed to read and listened to it. I even went upstairs and laid down on Sophie's old cushion and listened to it fall on the roof. It was glorious. It let up somewhat around two p.m. but has never gone below being anything less than a heavy spinkle which is what it's doing right now. Anyway, back to the photographs. I'm not sure what is going on with all the "bubbles". It was dark enough that the flash went off so maybe it's light reflecting off the raindrops. I'm also not sure why they are more bright in one picture and not the other. Who knows, maybe they're garden rain fairies...

Lone Lily

A few years ago I planted a bunch of Asian lilies in this spot. Every year most of them came back and I'd always add one or two more each year. This year this lone lily is the only one that came back.

More Tiger Lilies

A few more tiger lilies have popped open.

First Two Tiger Lilies of the Year

Clematis

The clematis plant over by the driveway did not come back this year. Thankfully the one by the grill did.

Dragon's Blood

Dragon's Blood is a ground cover that I really like. It does well with lots of sun an I love the flowers it puts out.

More of Dale's Island Backyard

Dale's Backyard on the Island

Dale's up on the Island and this is what his backyard looks like. Photo taken from the deck of his apartment.

Flower Pot Repair

This pot stayed out all winter and cracked. I glued it back together with Gorilla Glue. I'm going to try to sand of some of the excess dried glue.

Lawn

Gorgeous day today. Mowed the lawn.

July 4, 2011

I made rhubarb crunch from the rhubarb that grows in the back yard. Dale loved it and so did I!

Cocktail Hour

Dale and I sat in the back-

yard tonight. It was too gor-

geous for words.

The Yard of the House on Stevens

I've been digging through some old photo albums lately and scanning some pictures. Here's a couple of shots I found from the yard at the house on Stevens. The photos are most likely from 1984. In the first photo

you see the Blessed Mother near one of two trees on the south border of the backyard. Both trees were eventually torn down. During that period I was usually in charge of the impatiens in the flower box on the front side of the house. They'd usually grow pretty tall with the help of lots of water and a part of a banana peel I'd plant under each one for fertilizer.

Deb's Porch

Gone! They knocked it down this morning and wow were they fast. Deb showed me a computer generated picture of what it will look like when rebuilt. She's going for a smaller mud room rather than a new porch. Also, very hot and sticky.... again, although not quite as bad as yesterday.