July dog days....

July 6^th – after a great 4^th of July with my son, daughter-in-law and grandson! Good friends stopped by too – and we ate too much but who cares? It’s a birthday party for our country – celebrate! I just cooked a burger on the grill – so hot out there – only 20 minutes to complete the cooking and I feel cooked! I gave the gardens a good drink – after picking yet another bowl full of green beans –the tomatoes are the size of golf balls, one cucumber is ready to pick and about 7 more almost! Lettuce is just about done – maybe one more salad, maybe two – turnips are almost ready! Leeks beautiful – Brussel sprouts – not sprouting the little cabbages yet but the mini pumpkin plant has at least 5 mini pumpkins on it – along with those awful thorns! Real, long thorns! Ouch!

It has to be close to 100 out – it’s over 80 inside so the A/C goes on – getting rid of the humidity so it’s comfortable indoors – it’s so gloriously sunny out! Perfect sunny July day except the temps need to drop about 15 degrees. My flowers are beautiful – lilies, dahlias, cleomes, Echinacea, rudbeckia, 4 oclocks, rose campion, veronica, and pots full of annuals – geraniums, petunias, begonias, - even my banana tree which I thought I had lost is doing great – higher than the split rail fence now – and the knock out roses I rescued from the dump are rewarding me with yet another bounty of red roses – they just keep on growing!! They look wonderful on one side of the fence with the hydrangeas on the other – perfectly picturesque for July!

Lucy needs exercise but it’s too hot for me and too hot for her with that fur coat so I let her romp outdoors and then hose her down until she’s nice and wet and cool – then after a good brushing, her hair curls and dries silky soft – and she groans with pleasure as she lies on the cool wood floor inside. Can’t wait to get my porch up so I can sit outside with her and she will have a cool spot to shelter in should a sudden storm come up.

Hope all are enjoying summer – don’t complain! The gardens are thriving from the heat, humidity and random thunderstorms – never have them been more beautiful – but then, I say that every year don’t I?