Weekend Heat Wave

Hello dear friends, we have been gripped by a heat wave for the last few days and it is expected to continue for several more days.  Even in the country we are finding the heat uncomfortable!  Our temperatures are in the low 30s with humidex values approaching 40 degrees.  Even the night time temperatures are warm at close to 20 degrees so there is not much relief from the heat.

Still, things could be much worse.  We hosted a birthday barbecue yesterday and had an unexpected thunderstorm with 18 mm of rain but fortunately it blew over and cleared up in time for pre-dinner drinks.  This morning though we had misty conditions which I captured and am sharing!

It took quite a while for the sun to burn the mist off over our forest.  It is still quite hazy even now which is late afternoon.

We are getting so much enjoyment from our temporary fire pit.  We enjoyed a late drink and birthday cake at the fire last night.  The sky was clear and we enjoyed the moon and stars (but I didnt think to take a picture!)

This was a long shot this morning of wild turkeys in our back pasture.

The sheep are heading out for the first stroll of the morning in search of windfall apples.

One of our farm tractors in case you are wondering!

The mists are lifting from our front hay pasture on the other side of Willoughby gate.  This area is a work in progress and is going to eventually to connect our "old" driveway with our "new" driveway so that we can enter one way and drive out the other way.  Even though we live on a gravel road in the country many passing motorists have no regard for the speed limit and we have more than one had a close encounter with a speeding vehicle as we were trying to back out.  This will allow us to enter the road way where we have better visibility.  In all the driveway will be about 500 feet long when finished.

More misty views

These are some of our new laying hens.

 

We have a bumper crop of apples this year.  The crab apple tree in Bailey's garden is drooping with apples

Henry posing for us this morning.

Thank you for visiting and wishing everyone a great week!

 

Misty Mornings

Hello again dear friends, we are in the midst of a heat wave with humidex values around 40 degrees which I find very uncomfortable.  A week or so ago though we had some cool nights that produced some misty mornings.  I took some photos and hope you enjoy them!

Bailey's garden was expanded ever so slightly this year by changing the shape to take into account a new and unexpected landscape design change. More on that some other time!

I haven't done any bike riding because of the heat but as we get closer to fall with cooler temperatures I will start again.

I love echinops even if it self sows too readily.

We don't have a name for this garden and I have been thinking about turning it into a memory garden for another one of our pets. I am still thinking about it.

I am saddened that Ash Alley is now showing signs of the ash borer.  There is no cure so in a couple of years these trees will be bare. 

Our garden arbour.

Usually the ligularia flops around and mopes but this year it looks good.

This is part of Kodiak's garden.

No fire at our fire pit this morning!

We get so much use from our Adirondack chairs.  Lake Ophelia is in the distance and is quite low.  Even with all of the rain lately the water level has dropped a couple of feet. 

 I hope you have enjoyed this quick tour.  Wishing everyone a great weekend!

Bees and Bee Balm

Hello dear friends, a few days ago we heard a lot of buzzing outside and after a bit of sleuthing discovered that the sounds were coming from lots of pollinators in our monarda!  I bought one of these plants several years ago and have been able to divide it several times.  The flowers are now past their prime but I thought you might enjoy seeing the bumblee bee and honey bees at work.

 Wishing everyone a great week!