And the Heat Goes On...

and the heat goes on....

And to think that we have at the very least, four more months of this! Although rain was predicted, none that mattered ever materialized.

The sun has been relentless. Our only hope is that, if the weather folks are to be believed, we will get some rain later this week. Fingers crossed, as our son Jonathan likes to say.

Around here, we are learning what it means to not be in control of our environment, as in the plantings that surround our place. Welcome to condo living as we were told recently. One of our dear neighbors was dying to have the beds in front cleaned out and she was right...the Cast Iron plants were most definitely the worse for wear. A clean sweep occurred,

and in its place we got this.

For us, new to this whole way of living, it was painful as we are fans of variety. The Crown of Thorns plant is gone, as is the Corn plant that bloomed. Now the drain and gutter stand out, whereas before they were covered. The lesson learned is you can't have it all...the convenience of condo living comes with a price which, as time goes on, we will adjust to.

The good news is that we can have about all the nature anyone could dream of. I had planned on writing this yesterday afternoon but I was distracted by all the lake activity outside my window! Although I did not see the otters yesterday afternoon, as they seem to emerge in either the early morning or very late evening,  I did see them on Friday. For the life of me, I can't figure out what this one is doing. At first I thought it had a duck, but now I've nixed that idea. Perhaps just coming up for air.

Speaking of ducks, although many more were born this season, it appears that two have survived, one is still with Mama,

whereas the other is large enough now to swim solo. So thrilling to witness!

The upfront garden, for lack of a better term, is thriving in spite of the heat. Chinese Pagodas are in full bloom and aren't they neat?

Bill has planted a wonderful variety of plants that attract butterflies, much to my happiness.

What what we need is rain and the more the merrier. I take that back...no floods please!

The bouquet Bill and Fallon gave me over a week ago is still looking good.

Perhaps you have been wondering what kind of projects Bruce has been working on at the church and here's an example:

He climbed through that window onto a ladder to repair the wooden window sill which is a far bigger job than it sounds like because he had to scrape out the rotten wood, making and installing a new piece before the painters arrived. The church is over 100 years old and there is more where that came from! He's getting bids on repairing the stately columns leading into the sanctuary, and just yesterday he built something in the church library. In other words, there is plenty to keep him busy.

What have I been doing in his absence? Reading and reading, oftentimes in the shade of the trees by the big pool where there has been a lovely breeze off of the lake.

My least favorite, much to my surprise was the Anne Tyler novel. My most favorite was Our Homesick Songs set in Newfoundland.   Saturday morning I braved the heat and picked up a new batch, hoping I'll have chosen some winners. Saturday afternoon I joined some friends for some pool time and Sandy made this lovely snack for all to share.

I was so hoping the appearance of clouds would bring rain,

alas, it was but a teaser. Sunday we stayed in watching movies, a first for me! All was not lost as far as productivity is concerned because I finally cleaned out the fridge so there was that. Why I put these small tasks off is inexplicable.

Because of the lazy Sunday, early Monday morning I went on a bike ride in search of some huge blooming trees I'd seen. What a delight to see their cheerful color amongst a sea of green.

And while I thought it was an Ear tree, I now think I am wrong as I can't seem to find anything to support that theory. In any case, it is a delight to see them in person. As I was riding down Michigan, I took a side street where I knew there are peacocks. I found way more than even I could have hoped for. While Peacocks have made many appearances in the past, there are new readers (!) of Camera Crazy who have not been privy to those photographs so here we go.

There was this that I've never seen before. BTW--I find the back of Peacocks nearly as interesting as the front.

Perhaps those broke in a skirmish with another male? Then there was this which seemed to have happened for no apparent reason as the chick was hanging with the others.

The light was so very good to show off the gorgeous color and intricacy of the feathers, not to mention the shadow.

As to that peachick, after being dropped by the male, it scurried off to join the others.

 Aren't they adorable? That grass was so deep and thick, it was a wonder they could walk through it!

While on the subject of light, well, this makes me very happy to be living a colorful life.

Our upstairs neighbor, Julie, is out back putting out birdseed that later on will be fought over by the Mottled ducks and the Wood ducks...something always entertaining going on around here.

Stay cool if you can.

your friend,

Gail

p.s. This was a real bummer, a great news story that has come to an end. I'm not in the least bit happy about it either.

p.p.s. Did a search in my blog for rain stories and here's a whole bunch of them, should you have time on your hands!