The house never cooled off last night, despite all the windows being open as widely as they could be opened. It's already shut up for the day. On the plus side, the air conditioning is on. Okay, so it's set for 82° F, which means it won't kick in for another hour or so. But it's on, which is good, since the high temps for today are supposed to ( Read more... )

I was awakened from a strange dream this morning. Still trying to parse it ( Read more... )

Science has never drummed up
quite as effective a tranquilizing agent
as a sunny spring day.

~W. Earl Hall

I know, it's not spring yet for most of you. I'm sorry. But it's absolutely gorgeous here. I'm going to go enjoy it for a bit.

I spent time earlier hosing things down. Not plants -I got those yesterday- but the patio and some other things. Waste of water? Yup. But it's supposed to hit above 100° here for two more days (111° yesterday). It occurred to me that bricks absorb both heat & water, so I hosed off the West side of the house. I was right. Even though I was ( Read more... )

It's raining. At first I thought it was going to be just a few drips, but it actually came pouring down for about 5 minutes. That's almost unheard of for this time of year. I'm grateful that we'll have cleaner & clearer air for a day or two.

Even if I did finish watering all the plants just before it hit.

Hot here today - mid 90s in the shade, maybe even higher. (That's 35° C, for those who prefer their degrees in Centigrade). 10:00 at night and the temperatures have finally dropped to the low 80s.

I seem to have adopted a new drink for hot days like this - apple cider** with a squeeze of lime, over lots of ice. When I want to punch it up a ( Read more... )

Many thanks to owlmoose for letting me know that there's a word to describe one of my very favorite smells.

Petrichor"(from Greek petros, stone + ichor) is the scent of rain on dry earth; more specifically, it is the name of the yellow organic oil that yields this scent. The term was coined by two Australian researchers in 1964 for an article in the ( Read more... )

Dinner tonight? A lovely salmon steak, incredibly tender, brussel sprouts, & sourdough baguette. Didn't do anything creative with the brussel sprouts, but this weekend I think I'm going to try to create a version of a salad I've eaten that has grilled brussel sprouts, pancetta, and pine nuts ( Read more... )

This afternoon offered one of the most beautiful skies I've seen in a long time. Rain here and there offering all shades of grey skies, sun other places showing rich blues. The clouds, both wispy, and soft and mounded, turning champagne and gold as the sun lowered, standing out against the darker sky.

Hurricane Rita is now officially a category 5 hurricaneOh, goody ( Read more... )