But I'm Not a Dog! and Other Random Observations

The Dog Days of Summer are upon us... We are having a record-breaking heat wave here in Oregon. And before you Southerners sniff at my discomfort, please remember that a good half of our population does not own air conditioning, including myself. Our weather does not usually require extra measures to stay cool.

Now we are on day 4 of temps in the upper 90's, and then yesterday and the next two days into the low 100's, followed by another several days still in the upper 90's.

I say YUCK! I get really, really crabby when I am hot- I think I belong in Alaska.

We have quilts and blankets hanging over all of the South and West facing windows, which yesterday helped keep the house a nice, cool (insert a huge amount of sarcasm here) 85 degrees by the end of the day.

On to something a little more pleasant... a Swallowtail spotted on one of our Butterfly Bushes:


My Mama has said for years that when I was young, I was the dirtiest little girl she ever saw- she even called me "PigPen" once in a while. Well, apparently, this little apple doesn't fall far from the tree...

We have TONS of grapes this year.


Jack still says, "Re-fritter-frajer" instead of "Refridgerator", and recently was overheard telling his Daddy in a rather scary voice, "I'm the Kraken! You're out of the CLAW business!"

I would love to re-live this moment from our recent beach trip:

I am just a few days away from finishing "On the Oregon Trail", which means it will be ready for an early August release...

I never showed you the clever little latch that Matt made for our Greenhouse door... its the ball-claw foot from an old piano stool!


Speaking of the Greenhouse, isn't this a pretty little vignette?

And because of our little hothouse, we have already eaten a few of these:

an event that doesn't normally occur until at least mid-August.

And that's all I have for you today. Now I'm going to go plunge my feet into a bucket of ice water.