Just trying to survive the heat!

Not much going on here.   Hubby and I, the dog, and the cats are just trying to survive the summer's heat.   However, this summer has been NOTHING like 2018!   That summer nearly did us in!   We had many days over 118.   So far, this summer, I believe we've only had 3 and one was yesterday.   (okay, it was only 117!)....But today it will be 118...So, we just stay indoors all day. 

I go out in the morning, water my plants, feed the birds, change the hummingbird sugar water, and do about a 15 minute yard cleanup.   We have, however, been able to open up our windows until about 9 am. and then I run around and close them ALL.   Poor Bodie (our dog)...it is too hot for him to be outside during the day, so he sleeps ALL NIGHT and then naps ALL DAY.  I've never had a dog who slept so much!   Maybe he thinks he is a cat?

My hollyhocks are drying out and probably next week (or when it is a cool morning), I'll go out, rip them all out, and use the weeder.   I've been procrastinating doing this because they DO provide a nice barrier from street noise and views.   I still do have my sunflowers and my zinnias and cosmos, however.

Here's a link to my YouTube video (the most recent one).   I need to do one either this morning or tomorrow...     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFX88YW_jVM&t=9shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFX88YW_jVM&t=9s

I need to go out and do a garden update.   I didn't realize the last one was a month ago!

That's all for now!
~~Cheryl Ann~~

Just enjoying a few days before the HEAT arrives

All last week we were able to open up our home at night and let the cool 60 degree air inside.   NOT yesterday morning, however.   The remnants of hurricane Alvin came into the valley and it was 78 degrees at 6 a.m. and HUMID!   Ugh.   So, I hibernated all day and finished another journal.

Today, however, it is back to 68 degrees out on the front porch and so all our windows are open.   68 degrees on July 1st!   Incredible.   Northern California is supposed to have a hotter-than-normal summer, while Southern California is expected to have a less hot summer (THANK GOODNESS).   Our last 2 summers have been absolutely HORRIBLE!    We need a break.   Hey, as long as I can open the windows for an hour or two in the mornings, listen to the birds, and feel the somewhat cool air, I'm happy!

KERSPLAT!

KERSPLAT I went Sunday morning.   I had decided to clean off our side porch, sweep it, and hose it down.  I hadn't cleaned it since...last summer or last fall and the dog hair was piling up and there were cobwebs everywhere.   It really needed a good cleaning!

So, after hosing it off 3x, I went to turn OFF the hose, and I even reminded myself to be careful in one muddy spot (I had my flip flops on...)....but, OF COURSE, I went KERSPLAT right down onto the ground.   I didn't even have time to throw up my arms to protect myself.   I landed on my right temple, my glasses went flying (I was able to find them...) and I lay there for a couple of minutes not sure if I could hoist myself up.   Hubby was in the living room, watching TV and I knew he wouldn't hear me if I called to him, so I gingerly got myself up and stumbled into the house.   I must have looked like something out of Predator, the movie, because my entire right side was covered with mud and leaves and I even had mud on my face and in my hair.  I checked and didn't feel anything broken, so off to the shower I went.    After that, however, my right elbow stiffened up and I could barely move that arm.   I put ice packs on it and settled down to watch 5 episodes of "Band of Brothers" and changed the ice every 20 minutes.   That did help.   I took a couple of naps in between.

It is still sore 3 days later, but not as much, and I'm gradually getting back my range of motion.   Like I said, the darn thing happened so fast that I didn't have time to react.

Now, this is 3 years after Gigondas spooked and knocked me down in her corral.  I'm 67 now and I just don't have the reflexes to react to things like I used to, which is why I don't ride my horses.  ANY OF THEM.   PERIOD.   Not going to take that chance, no sir!

So, I'm staying indoors and working on a few journals.   Besides, it will be 115 here tomorrow and it is too dang hot to be outside except very early in the morning.

Well, summer is HERE!!!!

Until this week, we haven't had to have the air conditioner on 24/7.   We now do.   Temps are well up in the 100's and nights aren't cooling down, like they did last week.   Last week we were able to throw open the windows and let the cool nighttime air flow into the house until about noon.   Nope.   NO MORE....darn!!!

I did a video here about my summer garden.   Please excuse me constantly clearing my throat.   I had a NASTY, HORRIBLE stomach virus, which seems to now be a head cold and my voice was all scratchy, but you'll get to see my "babies"...zinnias, cosmos, marigold, and some other plants.  Here's the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vZJmHM0LMo

I didn't realize how NOISY the birds were!   Aren't they enjoyable?

~~Cheryl Ann~~

Yard cleanup on.... HOLD

Well, the yard cleanup is SUPPOSED to begin this morning at 8 a.m.    Yeah, right....It has been postponed now for so many days, I don't even remember WHEN it was supposed to start.   Oh, it was Monday.   Today is Thursday.   Apparently the guy we hired to do the job hasn't been able to find a trailer...LARGE ENOUGH to haul off all our dead tree branches!    His nana stopped by yesterday to talk to us (she and I talked) and that's his story anyway...so, we'll see.

I start jury duty Monday.   I had to go in yesterday and the judge let those of us (about 20 out of 100) go who didn't have EXTREME hardship sob stories.  He was going to hear everybody else's stories over the next 2 days.   And, yes, it is a LONG trial...sigh...

Temps are heating up here...triple digits by the weekend.   We HAD to turn on the air conditioner yesterday when it got to be 86 in the house.   SUMMER IS HERE!

That's about it for now.
~Cheryl Ann~

Yard cleanup

We had winds so bad last weekend that we lost a branch of our mesquite out front and about HALF of our Chinaberry in the back yard.   A crew is coming tomorrow to cut them and haul them away and do yard debris CLEANUP in the back yard.   We need help!   Hubby and I are both tool told to be cutting branches that size and we have no means of hauling them away.   So, there goes part of our tax refund.   BUT, the back yard will be cleaner and I'll be able to see the back fence again!

My hollyhocks survived all the winds, but they are looking, well...a little thrashed.   Poor things.   I keep watering them and they keep blooming, however.   I DID plant 2 curved rows of cosmos, zinnias, marigolds, and a light small sunflower out front, along with 2 mint plants and a Thompson seedless green grape vine!   And, it is in a semi-sunny area that will get afternoon shade, so they should do well.   Everything has sprouted.

I NEED to get up and visit the horses, but it won't happen today or tomorrow and I'm on jury duty "standby" for next week, so maybe next weekend I can get up to see them.   I let the ranch owner borrow our battery pack weed eater and I need to get it back.

So, things are moving along...slowly.   Life during retirement is sometimes slower, but I had to babysit 2 days last week, so I lost track of time!   Only 9 more days of school this year....YAY!   Then school starts up again about August 7th...right during the middle of our monsoon season when the humidity is... unbearable!

Have a great weekend!
~Cheryl Ann~

Hollyhocks and rainbow

I've been busy here.   I made a journal for a friend's birthday and that nearly did me in!   It turned out to be HUGE and I could barely shut it.   And, guess what?  Now I'm making another one to put in my ETSY shop:      https://www.etsy.com/shop/DesertsandBeyond?ref=pr_shop_more

It was a grimoire (grimoire "light")...I'm not into spells or stuff like that, but I did find a digital journal kit with herbs, so I included 20 pages of them.  AND, the most exciting part:    I found a video posted by a mixed media artist on a STUNNING journal cover: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7JUF_Dn-6M&t=543shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7JUF_Dn-6M&t=543s

I nearly passed out fron all the work for the cover, but it is absolutely GORGEOUS!   And, yes, I'm planning on doing one for this next journal.    You can see my YouTube flip through here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lXbUIre5dI&t=5shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lXbUIre5dI&t=5s
This journal was a real work of art! 

But, I digress...
My hollyhocks out front are just STUNNING!   They are 8 to 9 feet tall. They sway in the wind and they don't break off, like my sunflowers did.   The sunflowers were decimated by the winds which come from the west.   They broke, they dried out, but NOT the hollyhocks!   They are thriving.   I planted last year's seeds and I'm going to do that again next year and plant them ALL across the front of the yard.   They really do make a beautiful hedge.   I went out yesterday morning to feed the birds and I could smell rain and I looked up and there was a gorgeous rainbow.   OF COURSE I took 10,000 photos of it, but I'll only post a few here.

 Hollyhocks and rainbow and palms

 Hollyhocks by the mailbox

Hollyhocks and palms

I put in a seed order with Botanical Interests and I now have over a dozen packs of seeds to plant:   cosmos, zinnias, Mexican sunflower (although I collected last year's seeds also), and a couple of herb packets (rosemary & lavender).   I really LOVE lavender and rosemary!   My rosemary bush out back is thriving in its 3 year here.   One chilly morning I went out to water it and it was so cold that when I sprayed it with water, mist rose from it and the most delicious smell!    We have had a cooler than normal winter and spring here and we are ALL hoping that this summer will be cooler than normal, too.   I remember a couple of years when we didn't even have to consistently turn on our air conditioner until AFTER July 4th!!!!!!!    July is our hottest month here and August we usually have our monsoon season, but that seems to be changing and it now starts in June and lasts through September.

Our pup is doing just fine.   He has grown into a good looking young dog (he is now 18 months old).   He sleeps with us every night ON THE BED and he snores.   he still loves to chase the cat, however, but one swat will calm him down.   He slept on the bed with me yesterday afternoon when I watched "50 to 1" on Amazon (about Mine That Bird, who won the 2009 Kentucky Derby at 50 to 1 odds).  Good flick.   I LOVE horse movies, as long as the horse doesn't die.  My grandfather used to take my mom and aunt to Santa Anita to see Seabiscuit run there.   He told me stories about Seabiscuit, Whirlaway, and Citation. I, however, remember Native Diver, who also ran in Southern California.

But, I digress (again)...

So, eveerything is pretty normal.   I feed the birds in the mornings, do a little yard cleanup, take the kindergarten granddaughter to school, come back, eat breakfast, and work on my journals for the rest of the day.   I DO NOT watch the news (too depressing)...

Cheers!
Cheryl Ann