Hot and cold, and inbetween

Before I start my weekly litany of the week that was, I want to say thank you to everyone who commented about the photos in the last post.  While I may be the one holding the camera, it does most of the work.  I just take a bazillion photos and only select the best of these to share...there are a lot of duds in the bunch. But I appreciate your kindness. :)

Another enjoyable week is almost in the books.  There wasn't any big lottery win nor did Covid-19 finally disappear (as once was promised), instead I enjoyed  the routine of my days, lovely weather including a dramatic light show, and a visit with a good friend.

Last weekend I received an order from Amazon containing the new curtains I purchased for the sun room.  The old ones were at least 10 years old and showing wear and tear, the result of a kitten (Sheldon) who liked to climb, and fading from the sun.  I had been looking locally but everything was so expensive and no one had 12 curtains of the size I needed in stock.  I was thrilled to find two curtains for the price I would have paid for 1 locally, there was ample stock,  and good reviews on Amazon.  Too, I had a $50 Amazon gift card that paid for the taxes, and with free shipping it was a no-brainer!  I got them hung on Sunday morning, and I'm so pleased with them.

These are considered theatre style curtains, as they are lined.  As you can see they definitely keep out most of the light!  I'm not sure that cats are happy but I certainly am.  On Tuesday, I had the curtains closed for much of the day, and my a/c didn't cut in until 7:15 p.m. when normally it would have been running by mid-afternoon.  I didn't even close up the sun room door to the house. It wasn't a terribly hot day and later in the week I was back to shutting the sun room up earlier in the day.  When the cats come in and lay on the cool linoleum in the kitchen I know it's time! 

That evening I looked out to see what appeared to be a very big robin on the back fence.  I grabbed the camera so I could zoom in and see it better.  I'm assuming it is a fledgling robin just losing its baby feathers (probably not the right term but you understand).  

It was a bit shy, keeping its head turned away from me for many of the photos but with I did manage to capture the side view.

Tuesday I did my grocery shopping circuit, mowed the lawn, did some weeding, and spent a bit of time out on the front patio.  The next day my friend K came for a socially distanced visit on the back deck in the afternoon.  It was a hot day but with the breeze and moving the chairs around for some shade we had a lovely visit.  It has been a few weeks so we had lots to catch up on.  The cats may or may not have gotten their dinner later than normal.  

On Thursday, the forecast was for heat and thunderstorms throughout the day.  It was quite nice for part of the morning, so I headed up to do some more weeding.  I noticed that the siding on the garage looked dirty and there was a streak of something (I thinking bird doo-doo) that needed cleaning.  So I grabbed a bucket of water and a mop and scrubbed it off.  It wasn't the best idea as the dirt behind the siding kept running down the wall.  I had to work at it to get it reasonably clean.  This wall doesn't generally get rain since it's shaded by the overhang above the walkway leading into the house.

The thunderstorms didn't materialize during the day.  After my clean-up I sat outside on the front patio and read, but I didn't stay too long.  It was so humid out there it wasn't comfortable.  I kept an eye on a local website that tracks the thunderstorms, and provides a link to the radar.  Shortly after 9 p.m. the storms arrived and the light show began and didn't end until after 11 p.m.  I did take a brief video of it, but it's too big and I've no idea how to edit it so you'll just have to imagine a constant lightning in the sky.  Much of it was sheet lightning, or cloud to cloud, rather than the dramatic strikes.  We got enough of those too, and lots of rumbling thunder.  

Friday was an indoor day, it got hot early in the day and the humidity was high from the rain the night before.  I didn't do a whole lot, caught up on some television programs, played on the computer, worked on a jigsaw puzzle, talked to my daughter and brother on the phone, did up a few dishes from the night before and prepped dinner.  These are the simple joys of being retired.  As friend J once said, when retired I plan to do nothing all day and if I get half of it done I'm satisfied.  It was that kind of day.

We had a lovely cool down overnight Friday into Saturday, so I headed out early for a walk.  It's been a few days and it felt good to be moving.  I walked my usual route and was surprised to see more duck families with young chicks.  Perhaps the first brood was lost to predators?  I won't share more photos of the ducks since I've done so in the past several posts.  Here instead are a few photos of the flora.

I'm so happy to see the reeds growing along the side of the pond again.  

After my walk I was ready to relax for a bit. Perfect timing for my friend S to call!  We spent about an hour catching up.  She's back in the north after spending some time with her newest grandchild, and has just eight weeks to go before she retires.  

Later I mowed the lawn again.  With the heat and the rain the grass is growing like crazy - it was a mere four days since I mowed last.  I still have a few spots where the grass died, but these are filling in nicely.  I also removed several plants from a container, moving them to the leftover bed.  They weren't doing well in the container, in fact, I'd lost one, so I'll see how they do in the ground.

The other day, the weather man suggested that the weekend would be chilly and I though to myself, what an idiot - it may be cooler than we've had but not chilly.  This morning, he proved me wrong.  Shortly after 6 a.m., the temperature was a mere 12C (54F).  I had left the windows in the sun room open and with the breeze blowing threw, it definitely felt chilly but has warmed up nicely since then.  Definitely a day to get outdoors, spend some time on the deck, and I've a book that's calling out to me.

Have a great day, and week ahead, everyone.  Take care and stay well!