Wicked hot weekend!

 

The weekend was another one of dealing with overpowering heat and not a drop of rain. Other than grabbing some needed grocery items on Friday afternoon, which was a scorcher, meeting up with daughter and her partner on Saturday at a wine bar to celebrate his birthday over a chilled glass of Portuguese Rosé - which was great - we stayed close to home. 

Watering is tiring at the best of times, dragging heavy hoses while batting off mosquitoes and bees (I've yet to find a bug repellent that truly works!) in triple digit temperatures is stupid. . . . . . .but sometimes has to be done for the greater good.

Neighbor is away, the vegetable patch is mine for a while, and I'm not going to allow these gorgeous tomatoes to suffer - he told me to pick them and use them which of course I'm doing. 

The weekend harvest!

These 'Beefmaster' tomatoes are excellent - and we actually made old

 fashioned sandwiches with sourdough bread, mayo, salt and

 pepper - delicious! The flour was out as I also plan to bake some

 whole wheat cheese scones this week - on a cooler day of 

course - as they go well with tomato dishes.

Early Sunday morning prior to another hot day, Bob fired up the grill. 

We cooked corn and red peppers for future recipes and grilled thick

 slices of leftover bread to use in Panzanella (below).  

With a bowl of 'green soup' (spinach, potato and zucchini), also made 

early morning, we had supper ready without having to heat up the kitchen.

Sunflowers are on their last legs. Picked a few smaller heads for indoors

 but they too are going over now.  Two of the really huge heads, still

 on their sky-high stems, I've enclosed in net bags and hope to gather

 seeds for planting/eating - must save them prior to nibbling visitors

 such as this. . . . .

. . . . who showed up Saturday evening to enjoy a dessert of ripe figs! 

A murder of crows visit the top of the fig tree daily now, noisy but fun

 to watch. Robins really love the figs and come non-stop all day long, 

along with many other birds, and of course the bothersome squirrels.

What's happening in your garden?

Today it's a wee bit cooler so I plan to slow-roast some tomatoes for 

sauce and soups - always a tasty treat on a cold winter's day. . . . . .which

 can't come soon enough for me!

Home grown -------

It's 

TOMATO

 TIME!

My next door neighbor is sharing his harvest with me,

meaning I'm not buying many tomatoes from the store or market 

right now.

In return I water and give some TLC to the plants when he is out

of town during the growing season. We've done this several years

in succession and it works well for both of us. Of course I also kitty

sit for him too so don't feel guilty picking his tomatoes. . . . or having

 him pop over with a handful of just picked ones around supper time.

My first thought always is what to do with so many tomatoes all at once.

As they pile up in bowls ripening on the kitchen island I get nervous, so

 out come baking dishes, saucepans, salad bowls and such. . . . . . . and

I get to work 'doing something' with them! 

 After all that TLC in the past few months I feel I must continue to be kind

 to each tomato now grown into such a beautiful fruit in spite of wind, rain, 

burning sun, munching deer, pecking birds. . . . . and an aging gardener

 in a floppy sunhat stopping to water and talk to them, encourage them, and 

bring them along from little yellow flowers to brilliant shades of orange, 

red and gold tasty fruits.

Tuscan Panzanella Salad -

- and, as I recently made Focaccia bread and have leftovers in the

 freezer, I'm going to try using it in what is a favorite Italian tomato salad 

for a very hot summer day.

"Buon Appettito"

Home baked Focaccia Bread

"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating

a homegrown tomato."

Hope you are growing tomatoes, or someone is sharing

a harvest with you. Photos of my tomato dishes prepared

and enjoyed in past summer seasons.

There's still some good in life -

Yes, these days are tough to say the least.

Seeking out little niceties and unexpected surprises

 are often required to bring a smile to the face, 

a warm feeling in the heart . . . . . . . . . and a giggle

 which is always so good for general wellbeing.

Sitting here at the dining room table a movement on the porch caught my eye. 

It's already hot and will become much hotter as the day rolls on.  

This little guy is preparing for another scorcher with a lengthy guzzle from the

 fountain (which by the way no long founts but makes a good bird bath!).

 I grabbed my phone a managed a few shots.

Notice how plump he is - I smiled.

A long drink warmed my heart as it cooled his thirst -  

and just look at his funny back legs position, 

I truly giggled out loud when I saw that!

Quarantined, locked down (or up!), self-distanced . . . .  

. . . call these crazy days, which have now become

 months, difficult, different, whatever. 

We can't give up.

Perhaps no longer the best life, but still we should 

try to make it a good life.

My dear blog friend Elizabeth says it all so

 well in today's post on her always fabulous blog -

PINE CONES and ACORNS

Read her great post then go enjoy all the lovely things

 she shares such as food, recipes, fashion, books, and

 so much more. 

Garden Snippets - July brings tomatoes. . . .

The heat and humidity of July in the southeast has us mopping our brow, the 

mosquitoes are swarming, and the garden gets harder to care for.

Removed all the back garden odds and ends so the guys could get rid of ivy,

vinca, and hundreds of acorns which had already started putting out leaves

 saying, "look at me, I'm another huge oak tree in your garden's future!" 

Didn't want them tripping over elves, angels and stone chickens!

I mentioned they were fading fast last week, and now although this bloom is pretty,

 they are mostly turning brown from the heat and looking sad!

The Japanese maple has angel wing seeds - they are lovely. . . . . . 

. . . . . . and once again the Magnolia liliiflora is blooming.

Second time around this year - first before the leaves even opened, 

now with plenty of leaves to shield flowers from the sun.

Roses aren't doing too well - I think they enjoy sunshine, not constant heat day after day.

A candle of HOPE - for the front porch.

Pale beauty.

"The dill is as high as an elephant's eye"

Summer supper - Heirloom Tomato Galette - turned out well and so 

easy to make.  

Summer gardening, birds, lizards and cooking.

This post is a mixed bag if ever there was one.

Well, the July festivities are over and life is settling back into the new normal.

With some sunny spells, high temperatures and humidity, plus rainy days 

imminent, I think summer is really here.  But there's nowhere to go if, like us, 

one is trying to do the right thing and stay at home, except for going out

 to purchase necessities.

The porch is nice late afternoon. . . . . . . .with a chilled glass in hand and the

portable fan cooling. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . and we now have a resident little green gecko.

The hydrangeas are fading fast, some even crisping up, so I've started

 cutting a few, before they turn brown, for drying indoors. 

Morning glories are really this bluest blue!

This little sweetie is a baby Mockingbird. I felt terrible when I realized 

I was accidentally giving him a shower with the garden hose one morning!

He just stood on the azalea bush under the fig tree totally silent so perhaps 

actually enjoyed it - it was a hot day - I heard his parents in the tree

sounding quite annoyed.

He remained there for at least half an hour whilst drying off, never made a

 sound or changed his expression!

The new pink mophead hydrangea bought this year is still in its pot.

Blooms are fading to a lovely cream shade even though I've kept it 

under the fig tree in shade since the 90F days arrived.

Come fall it will be planted out, most likely in the back garden.

My lacecap hydrangea is blooming and doing really well this year.

It has grown large and is now enjoying not only my garden but my neighbor's

 (the other Bob!) side of the split rail fence. Fortunately he doesn't mind one bit!

The acer is huge, far too big and spreading now - I've been cutting it 

back because it was covering the hydrangea, it will need a good pruning

at the right time. 

All that gardening means a good appetite at the end of the day!

I've been making pesto a couple of times a week so have started new 

pots of basil as I'm going to be running out of fresh leaves to pick soon.

A simple but delicious summer meal is angel hair pasta swimming

  in fresh pesto, with lightly grilled cherry tomatoes and shrimps.

A grind of black pepper and some fresh basil leaves chopped

and scattered. . . . . . perfect.

Hope your week is going well.