Time away -

The storm of Monday evening arrived so suddenly. 

It was a scary hour of terrific winds driving heavy rain, west to east.

Thunder so loud and close made the house shudder, art, foxed mirrors,

 sconces on the walls chattered and slid sideways.

The lightning was blue and made the night sky almost as bright as day.

The power popped on and off briefly but then stayed on in our area.

I ran out to move the cushions and decorative items on the porch

 but realized it was too late and not safe outside in such elements.

Thankfully they were still there, though tossed about, in the morning.

No trees down but Bob spent time picking up small branches, 

twigs and leaves scattered around the garden.

The storms of summer can be brutal just like the storms of life.

It's a bright morning.

We're packing again today and will be gone for a while.

Heading north is always a good feeling, especially in

 summer where we hope to enjoy some cooler weather, 

fewer late day storms, seeing old friends, the vast ocean,

the green mountains, the places where we lived so long ago.

Time goes by, often too fast, and we try to keep up.

This world spins. Life brings joy and sadness and this week

I'm experiencing both.

More stories another time. I sit here listening to gentle music

 for the ear, for the soul, but I must away. 

Early to bed tonight, up very early tomorrow for the airport!

A Summer's Day -

I'm spending a lazy weekend in the cottage per 'doctor's orders' - and it's

 enjoyable as it's far too hot to be outside today.

I'm playing this classical music which makes me think of England, the 

countryside, the history, MY history!

This is my favorite recorded version - click HERE to play.

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

 has to be one of Britain's best composers.

The focus is of course on the stunning music. Here, in the

magnificent Gloucester Cathedral, the cinematography, editing,

and lighting all come together to add an amazing visual atmosphere.

The way the orchestra is spread through the massive cathedral is

wonderful, can you imagine being there and hearing the music

surrounding you?

Fantasia On a Theme of Thomas Tallis

The BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis at

Gloucester Cathedral, where in 1910, it was played and conducted

for the first time by the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.

The 'magic of a summer's day' doesn't happen too often for me. 

I do not thrive in heat, humidity, blazing sun, glaring swimming pools, and 

hanging out around outdoor grills, slapping at mosquitoes.

Afternoon thunderstorms are often welcome. 

I am a winter person I came from damp, rain, clouds, winds, cool.

I love moorland, gorse and heather, wild ponies, quick showers from

overcast skies, river banks, chilly babbling brooks. 

Afternoon tea in a shady, ancient apple orchard on an August afternoon. 

Raincoats, umbrellas, even rubber boots were good. 

No need for air conditioning, ceiling fans, ice!

Noticed this past very hot week. . . . . . . 

Home builders around the neighborhood spread out under trees or across

 their truck seats eating lunch or taking naps - much-needed breaks from

building oversized million dollar-plus houses.

Near death among the garden pots - canna lilies, caladiums, the few herbs

 I was trying to keep going, all on their last legs.

Birds are few as we are not feeding for a while - they look untidy

with their tired feathers.

The baby bunny is now large, golden in color - its ears so long it 

resembles a hare. . . . .which we don't have here. It nibbles the now

 browned out grass and hides under the fading hydrangea bushes.

A chipmunk comes to the small fountain in front of the porch - do you 

know they will eat almost anything, including your tomatoes.

Figs, small, unripe, hard and green are dropping fast and furious, rolling

 down the driveway - perhaps not a good harvest this year due to weather.

This past week was busy. My car required a new windshield as it was

 cracked by a thrown up stone.  

I had the final part of the root canal completed. The dentist, and his staff,

were stellar in every way. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . .and then on Friday I went to the pain

 clinic for another, my second, steroid injection into my worn out spine.

It was unbelievably painful this time and I will admit I screamed!

This is why I'm laying low this weekend in hopes I will get relief 

from the nerve pain down my right leg within 3-5 days.

Sunday afternoon now, 90F but no storms predicted.

The entire week ahead will bring even higher daily temperatures

and little if any rain.  From what you my dear readers share, wherever

you are in the northern hemisphere, you are also having a heatwave.

Stay calm, cool and hydrated and make the most of each day.

Far too hot and we need rain!

The daylilies are over.  I don't have many as they are not my favorite, however they were pretty this year as they now seem to have changed to double blooms......don't ask me how!

Sunflowers I do love but it is another summer with none surviving in my garden - all the seeds I planted were devoured by wildlife. These were from another summer a few years back when the deer and squirrels apparently weren't as hungry!

The two fawns are still around and looking healthy. They stick together and make a beeline for my neighbors tomatoes - I admit to chasing them off. Well not really chase, when they see me coming with the camera these skittish babies are gone in a flash!

This one is under the fig tree, looking back at me sneaking out the front door.  

Speaking of figs. . . . . .they have actually become a nuisance this year - just too many, too high to pick - so the over ripe ones are now falling and covering the lawn and splattering onto the driveway. This means constant hosing down to prevent walking them into the house. What will we do?  Bob is talking of taking the tree down!  Me, no way could I do that, I love this tree. However, what we thought was a good pruning last year - but seems to have made the tree put out more very healthy growth - must be repeated, and in a more drastic way, especially cutting back the horizontal spread. I will be discussing this with my tree guy later this fall. I must add that the bees are loving the ripe figs. I will do a lot to help bees, and if we leave them alone they stay away from us. 

Brown Thrasher enjoying figs.

Our heatwave continues, no rain this week. Heat index made it well over 100F the past two days and will again today. Thunder rumbled off in the distance last evening but not a drop fell from the cloudy sky. Forecast shows possible rain each afternoon, hopefully some will come.

The garden really looks sad as far as blooms - nothing pretty to cut and bring inside so I'll buy flowers later today when I stop at Trader Joe's!  Even the basil appears to be giving up the ghost. . . . . .perhaps I can make one more batch of pesto for the freezer this the weekend. 

I am not a summer person. I prefer cool, even cold air. I grew up in rain, fog, mist, often clothed in a waterproof Mackintosh, Wellington boots, wool sweaters, armed with an umbrella much of the time. Yes, here in the southeast, August is my most disliked month and I'm ready for autumn which can't arrive soon enough!!!

It's raining figs!

They're sweet, tasty, healthy, and there are pounds and pounds of them 

ripening on the huge Celeste fig tree in our front garden!

Yesterday afternoon we had some heavy rain which lasted long enough

to give the parched garden a good soaking.  Longed for rain always

looks and sounds wonderful and it caused the temperature to drop

 by 20 degrees which was awesome! There was thunder and lightning

 but we were thankful the predicted strong damaging winds didn't 

accompany the rain.

Here's the tree in the rain - I noted many birds leaving the feeders 

and sheltering in the branches when the rain was heaviest.

People stop in their tracks when they realize this is a fig tree - it certainly

has become a talking point around the neighborhood.

Fig and Finch

I will definitely be pruning again in late winter when the branches are bare

and I can see where to remove old wood.  The tree is impeding parking

and walking up the driveway now!

This morning, the tree in the sunshine - and the grass looks greener since the rain.

Many figs end up such as this one - a meal for a bird!

Birds enjoying dining in the tree include many cardinals, finches,

robins, catbirds, and blue jays.

On the ground, enjoying fallen fruit, are mourning doves, brown thrashers, 

towhees, and of course the never ending visiting squirrels!

Glorious figs - summertime sweetness!

Meadows and memories. . . . . . . .

I first shared the cover of this book with you last month, along with others I am reading this hot, humid and unusually wet Summer in the southeast.  Last Saturday evening, into the late night hours, we had a tremendous storm which dumped 4 inches of non-stop drenching rain on the city of Raleigh and surrounding areas. I can honestly say I don't remember getting that much rain in just a few hours ever. Fearful the cottage would float away, there was nothing we could do but watch much of the back garden relocate to the front, a moat form, and a river rush down the driveway turning the cul-de-sac into a lake. We are now way over the average rainfall for the year, with oppressive days close to 100F and extreme humidity. Where can I move to? A safe place with perfect weather doesn't appear to exist!

Anyway, back to the book which is helping to keep me sane these days. I seem to always have two or three books on the go at the same time - but this particular beauty I'm finding hard to put aside even with other exciting ones waiting in the wings. 

It's somewhat difficult for me to describe Meadowland. If you, unlike me, didn't grow up in England and spend much of your childhood playtime in the countryside, in all honesty this book may not be your cup of tea. Unless of course, you, like me, love rolling country fields, farmland, animals both domestic and wild, sweet birds and their songs, and everything growing underfoot, in hedgerows, woodlands, along river banks etc. John Lewis-Stempel's eye for detail and the poetic imagery of his sentences are brilliant as he charts a year in the life of a field on his farm located on the Herefordshire/Welsh border. Meadowland is somewhat folksy and funny at times, but books have been written about entire countries that contain less interesting facts about flora and fauna in just one English meadow. I learned so many interesting new facts about so many creatures. When it comes to grass, now knowing more about the amazing stuff going on beneath it, a whole new world, I decided perhaps we should stop mowing because, as Lewis-Stempel says, "a lawn is a meadow in captivity."

Are you enjoying a good book during these hot Summer days?  

Brilliant blues of June. . . . . . . . .

Yesterday I worked out here. This morning, up early, I poured my coffee,

 sat on the front porch and just enjoyed the view.

Then of course I grabbed a camera and took some photos as the 

sun peeked through the humid morning air.

Mother Nature certainly worked hard whilst we were gone for

three weeks. Apparently there was lots of rain, then hot temperatures, 

meaning nonstop growing and blooming. As I write this, mid-afternoon,  

the temp. is 90F but feeling like 99F with the humidity, it's scorching out there.

Thunderstorms later according to those who supposedly know about weather. 

Kind neighbors mowed the grass while we were gallivanting

around Ireland. Bob mowed yesterday while I did a lot of clean up, pruning,

 watering etc. Now I need to shop for some Summer annuals for pots. 

I was not really expecting the hydrangeas to get this huge as in early

Spring they looked somewhat thin and sad. You can imagine my 

delight to come home to this magnificent show of blue among all the

 brilliant greens.

 

We already spy many, many figs. . . . . guess I'll be making jam again come late Summer!

View this morning from my wicker chair on the porch.

I have lots more to share with you from Ireland.

Life is busy right now as we get ourselves organized and settled

 into some semblance of normal routine. 

Thanks for all your kind comments on my recent Ireland posts - I'll catch up

 with you soon.

Gathering in the Hydrangeas. . . . . .

This has been such a disappointing Summer regarding the hydrangea blooms.The exceptionally cold Winter here in the southeast, followed by a torrid, parched Summer which seems endless, has everything and everyone suffering a malaise. Even as I write, afternoon temperatures are still reaching the mid-90's in central North Carolina - this has meant fewer blooms of a much smaller size, and the colors fading earlier than usual.

A couple of weeks ago -

All my hydrangeas are blue, either Nikko Blue or Endless Summer. 

They are old bushes and were cut almost to the ground when house painting took place several years back. 

They soon rebounded and the past couple of years did well. I was able to cut huge bunches for drying and sharing with friends.

This past weekend they were starting to fade fast to beautiful shades of chartreuse and pink, so I decided to start cutting in hopes they will dry and remain pretty for the Winter months. Some are already too far gone, turning to brown and looking wrinkled and old. . . . . rather like the gardener, yours truly! These, facing inwards towards the front porch have been saved from sunburn and they are now here. . . . . . 

. . . . . . . . on the dining room table and hopefully will dry gently and hold their petals without curling and crinkling.

How about you? 

Are you in an area where your hydrangeas have fared well through the Summer months?  

Will you be cutting and drying to make Autumn and Winter displays for your home?

I strip all leaves and put mine in just a little water, 
leaving them until it evaporates, then letting them 
dry naturally, this usually works well.

Any tips on saving lovely hydrangeas are always appreciated.