Iced Tea Anyone?

(Nancy, considering all I had to go through to get a good shot of this iced tea setting,I can't imagine what you must be going through to get all of the spectacular shots you post,but then, you know what you're doing. I don't. It's trial and error for me, and I usually come up with more errors than anything else.)

I awoke at 6 this morning, as usual, but the thermometer outside was already on 80 F. No wonder the AC kept kicking on during the night. We keep it set on 76F,and usually it holds pretty steady at that, with the good insulation we have in our new house, so that means it is really hot outdoors.We went to the APA yesterday, passing through some beautiful hollows, going and coming.The air is usually 5 or 6 degrees cooler at the bottom of the hollows, but yesterday, the truck thermometer only dropped 1 degree when we got at the lowest points in the hollows.It was 96 degrees in the shady hollows.Now that's hot!

We hurried through breakfast this morning, so I could get some yard work done,before it got too hot. Pop was chomping at the bit to go and hang out with his Buds anyway,so it was no problem getting out a little earlier to beat the heat. The problem was, it was already hot at 6 a.m.I went ahead and tackled a few minor chores in the yard. I tried to do a little each morning and evening,so as not to get overheated.Then I come in and do a few minor chores in the house,and,yes, I do take a nap and watch my one Soap.When all else fails,I will do housework,but it's not my favorite past time.

73 Ford

We have 4 trucks,no cars, and the 73 Ford is getting a bit worrisome in that it has a lot of problems. Pop wants to junk it, but I keep begging him not to, since I use it for moving my stuff around. It's great for going after red mulch,wild mulch,gravel,flower bed border rocks,landscape timbers,manure,straw,dirt,animals.You name it. I use the old Ford(or Ole Rose)to get the job done.He helped me get it started this morning, before he left.He said it would be good for the day now. The carburetor needs replacing, but Pop says it's not worth it, because it would really need lots more than that to fix it up right.But anyway, I got it running today, to move from bed to bed to put down more red mulch. The beds are looking much better, but I have quite a few more to fix yet. I can only do a few a day in this heat. I reworked the mailbox bed this past week. It looks a lot better. Some FOOL ran over,well really they plowed our mailbox over. Now that was a chore in itself. The mail box was made of huge links of chain,welded in the shape of our initial,N.with two boxes on it,a newspaper box and the regular mailbox, surrounded with field rocks that had been mortared in the ground.We never found out who did it.Nevertheless,Pop reworked the chain part, and put it back up as best we could, and I reworked the bed surrounding it. This time I used store bought concrete border rocks.Now let's see them run that over.

reworked mailbox,still rough,but usable

Mock orange 

Wagon wheel bed 2

Wagon wheel bed 1

These are a few of the beds I reworked this morning.It makes it much easier to mow around them and I think they look much neater,plus the mulch helps hold in moisture longer and keeps down the undergrowth.

saving this bed for last

I am saving this bed for last. There are a lot of flowers that came up in the grass volunteer.If I ever knew their name, I have forgotten it. I do like the flowers, but next year, I hope to put them in a better place. This is the front entrance to our house,which we never use, but still,it makes the view look a bit unsightly and unkept.

This is a close up of the flower with the forgotten  name,if I ever knew it.Possibly moonbeam.

I think it is a member of the coriopsis or tick seed family, but there are so many names to different flowers, I'm not sure.Any suggestions welcome.

Since it is to hot to breath outdoors,much less work, I'll stop for this morning. The Fed Ex man has just brought my cement mixer. I may tackle the job of putting it together, in the basement,where it is nice and cool.