A Bit of This, A Bit of That

Moving day is just one week away, and the moving experience is …well….let’s just say less than moving!

A last round of people-or-pet health care providers and groomers, a flurry of activity with banks and businesses, a moment of panic as I think “how will I ever manage without a garage or barn or basement or attic????”, numerous trips to thrift store and dump, and the endless job of packing, packing, packing – all tasks made more difficult by the extremely HOT weather that has arrived. Here on the hillside temperatures are about five degrees warmer than in the valley (or five degrees colder in winter), and yesterday when it was officially 31 in the valley, the thermometer showed 36 in my back yard. (For my American readers who are thinking “BRRRR” – we’re talking Celsius, not Farenheit! Thirty-six degrees Celsius is 98.6 Farenheit. And no, I don’t have air conditioning.)

But it is slowly coming together, and I am still making time for visiting with friends, walking in the pastures with the dogs, and enjoying the tremendous show of flowers in the fields and gardens.

On Monday, my friend Kate came to visit with Lady Grayce, who was adopted from Turtle Gardens. Kate’s other dogs, Finn and Lucy, are also TG alumni, but they stayed home this visit.

Last time Grayce came to visit it was raining, and I promised her sunshine and a romp in the fields. This time, we had sunshine, and so we had our romp in the fields. Grayce, for all her size, is one very active dog – getting her to stay still long enough for a photoshoot was quite the challenge.

Sadie follows Grayce up the hill

Grayce runs back to check on us


Grayce keeps an eye on Charley


Grayce and Kate

Happy Grayce

Beautiful girl

Ellen brought the dogs over Tuesday night and we filled the kiddy pool to play “bobbing for wieners” in an attempt to cool them down. Eleven year old Cisco was the only one brave enough to submerge his head for the yummy treats – once he got the knack of it he hovered them down lightening fast. Ellen, Cisco could have a great career as a pool cleaner!

This morning I awoke early to the drum-drum-drumming of a woodpecker on the tree near my bedroom window. As I got up to look, I heard the familiar hahahahahah of a pileated woodpecker (the kind Woody Woodpecker is supposed to be), and caught a glimpse of him flying across the yard. In pj’s and with dogs on my heels, I tried in vain to get a clear photo, but these are the best I could do.





You'll find a better one of the woodpecker in one of last year's blog entries here. Searching back through the entries, I realize I have seen Woody in March, December, and now June - which suggests he is here year round and not just passing through.

With the extreme heat, flowers are blooming and then dying quickly. A couple of days ago, I checked these white irises and they were but a swollen bud – today they are in full bloom, and I missed the yellow ones altogether:



These rhodos fascinate me - while not a particularly healthy bush, the one trunk has produced both pink and purple blossoms:



Some pansies have self seeded in strange spots – I found this lovely orange one under the picnic table, and others scattered along the path to the laundry stand:



And then there is the pasture, where the white blossoms of daisies and berries (black, straw, salmon and thimble) intermingle with the acres of yellow.





It is too hot to pack up the stuff in the attic or finish the garage, so I am hoping for cooler weather sometime in the next few days. Meanwhile, I'll just keep puttering around taking photos!