Sunday weekly review 060726

 

Just some pretty snapdragons to share today.

Thunderheads on the Rim~SkyWatch Friday

 Hubby and I used to drive up to the Mogollon Rim in Arizona during the summer monsoon months and rent a cabin for a week.  We both loved this time.  Thunderheads would form in the afternoons and then there would be a thunderstorm and rain...REAL RAIN!   It was wonderful to see, hear, and smell the wet earth.   Living in the desert, this was a real treat for us!

SkyWatch Friday for June 5, 2026

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Why should I bother with this blog?

 June 3, 2026

I have migrated over to Substack where I get comments daily.   I don't even know why I bother with this blog.   I guess it's the fact that it's been up since 2006 and has so many memories for me.

That's all for today.

/cd

Bakery St. Helena

 June 2, 2026

Years ago hubby and I used to drive up to the Napa and Sonoma valleys.   His sister had a 40 acre vineyard up there and about once a year we would drive up, visit her, and visit other vineyards to taste and purchase wines.   We found this French style bakery in St. Helena and made sure to stop by it eveery morning for breakfast and treats to go! The kids loved to visit it!

Sunday photos of the week

 My kitten is watching me in between boxes of fabric.

Cosmos out back in my back garden.

My little free garden out front.   Two guys came by today and took the "Blind Date with a Book".

NOT doing a garden this summer

 I'm not planting a summer vegetable garden this summer.   

I was worn out last summer from having to go out and water the squash and pumpkins every. single. day. and sometimes twice a day.   I planted the pumpkin seeds behind the squash mound to give them some shade and protection and it worked out very well.

Unfortunately our water bills doubled.  I couldn't give away all of my squash and quite a few of them just rotted on the vines (there's only so much squash one can eat!). I have the seeds.   I just don't have the desire.

So, I will forgo a summer garden this year.

Maybe next summer.

/cd

Monsoon clouds 052826 ~SkyWatch Friday

 The monsoons will soon be upon us and I'm not looking forward to them this year.   About this time last year we had about 1/3 of the roof over our house replaced and about 3/4 of our garage roof.   The garage roof had several leaks.   Our house roof was damaged when our gardener and his crew cut down an overhanging branch of our pine tree and shattered about 7 of our roof tiles.   It had a previous spot where a branch from the eucalyptus tree came down, so I hired a contractor to repair and replace the areas on the roofs where work was needed.   I'm glad we got that done because this year we are under a "severe" monsoon warning for the summer.

Phew!

Monsoons are part of our desert environment.   They used to come during July (when our daughter has her birthday), but now they seem to prefer August and September.  They blow up from the Gulf of California into our valley and from that direction there are no mountains to stop them.   We have 8,000 to 10,000 foot mountains to the west and north of us, which is why the Coachella Valley is a desert.   It's difficult for clouds to get up and over those mountains, but, if they come up from the south, there is nothing to stop them.

It is 52 degrees out front right now, which is unheard of for May.   By Saturday, we'll be in triple digits, probably for the rest of the summer.   I always like to track how many days are triple digits, and I'll do so this year.

Photos are of a couple of different monsoon storms from previous years.   I'll update you on this year's storms.

Linked to SkyWatch Friday:  Skywatch Friday: Skywatch Friday - 14 May 2026 Edition

/cd