Thursday This and That

I'm proud to have my own tennis shoe full of posies.   A few weeks ago, my sisters had so much fun selecting summer decor and flowers at Moose Valley Farms in Naples that they decided that's where I'd pick out my birthday gift.  Barbara had already picked out a yellow tennis shoe and filled it with her choice of flowers, so, of course, we had to see what Mary and her gang had on hand in the shoe department.  Well, they had one already decorated with much more artistic skill than I could ever muster.  So, it went in the cart, along with a few more solar lights for the flower pots on the deck.  I found a spot where the pastels would stand out, as most of the deck flowers now blooming are putting out some strikingly bright colors.  First red geranium popped out a couple of days ago.  Anyway, I love the tenny-runner flower pot.  

This year's belt buckle honoring our dad's memory arrived yesterday from Lone Star Silversmiths in New Brunsfel, Tex.  We changed brands and added a little more pzazz to the special award at the end of each Spots of Fun Horse Show.  I like the change, too.  The horse show is scheduled for July 13-14 at the Bonner County Fairgrounds, and I'm seeing from long-range weather reports that we may have a slight break from the upcoming heat wave by then.

For now, it looks like we're headed for a several "wet-T-shirt" days, starting this weekend. The ACCU Weather Service put out a warning a day or so ago that we could expect temps as high as 105-110 early next week.  

I'm noticing this morning that those predictions have been revised a bit, but, still, for those of us who feel like we're dying when the thermometer zips up past 85, it might as well be 110.  

This year I'm ready, though.  Don't know how many times a day I'll have to jump into New Big Blue, but she's ready, and I'm not planning to win any fashion awards once the oven-like weather begins.  

I jump in the pool and just leave my wet clothes on after climbing out.  It's a survival technique, and it does work.  

When it gets beastly hot here, that's about all that works, unless folks are fortunate enough to live on the water or can afford air conditioning. 

We have neither,  so New Big Blue will be the Lovestead savior.

Gardens should grow well over the next couple of weeks, and I've already got corn almost four feet high on the west side of the barn.  Some is even tasseling, which is pretty darned early for June in North Idaho. 

Bill and I enjoyed our first strawberry sundaes last night with berries picked from the garden.  Sadly, we may not have many such treats as the berry count is down considerably from what it looked to be when the blossoms came on. 

Regardless of low numbers, the flavor each year makes every spoonful a true delight. 

Speaking of firsts, I saw my first fawn this morning, while Bill saw his first of the season last night.  His sighting occurred when the little one jumped from the deep grass in the southwest corner of the woods and ran off.

I had walked through that area just a few minutes before but had no idea of its presence.

My sighting occurred this morning while walking north on South Center Valley Road.  A deer was waiting in the road next to Gary Finney's mailbox, just staring at me.

It remained there as I continued to walk forward and finally bolted and turned back into Gary's place.  It had a friend in Meserve's field across the road.  I watched them both run off and disappear.

As I moved further up the road, something caught my eye to the left.  There was a mother and her baby, just standing in the field near the pond, again staring back at me.  

Mom finally decided it was time to head west, and her baby hopped through the deep grass close behind. 

It was definitely an added bonus to the morning walk, as was the blue heron over by the pond. 

Now, it's time to get out there and return to the habit of hose dragging to water all the gardens.  

Happy Thursday.