As Our Life Goes On

A siesta is defined as a short nap taken in the afternoon after a midday meal. This is a tradition in countries where the weather is very warm. Today we both felt the need for a siesta but could not believe it when we awoke to find that 2 1/2 hours had been spent resting rather than the half hour that was planned. We have been getting up very early for a number of days in a row and the lack of sleep just seemed to catch up with us today. We both got up feeling somewhat rested but it is still very warm outside. There are plenty of jobs to do here in the house where it is much cooler. Read more about the siesta by clicking the link to Wikipedia below. SIESTA

My niece on the right is urging her daughter to blow out the birthday candle. It was a very warm day for this outside party which was well attended by many adults and children. The other kids and her mom helped her to blow out the number 2 candle so that the cake and ice cream eating could get underway.  The kids loved jumping into the small pool to cool off.

We have had several of these old Power King Economy tractors. Their size makes them ideal for small properties. This particular tractor is in need of some repairs. We found a local mom and pop company that carries the parts in Twinsburg. The lady from the company called back this afternoon and said she believes that most of the parts are in stock. The bill for the parts will be over $250.00 but since my husband can do all the work himself we consider this a bargain.   This is not an easy machine to work on. There were a lot of parts that had to be completely removed to get the place where the work will be done.  These are very popular tractors in spite of the design. This tractor proved to be a little power house when it came to plowing snow last winter. That is the reason for the rehab work. It is a bit hard to think about snow when the temperatures are approaching 90 degrees but thinking ahead is always a good idea.

The old chicken coop shed. We had a warm day a few days ago with low humidity and it seemed easy to work around the yard and do shopping and other chores. Today was different. The extreme humidity made the day extremely uncomfortable from early morning until late in the day. The garage doors need painted as well as a couple of storm windows and window frames. The forecast does not offer any relief from this heat. The day was not wasted though. I sorted through my clothing and packed a big bag that will be donated soon. My closet, drawers and shelves look neat and organized. Now if I could only get my husband to get rid of some of his clothing. Men keep their clothes forever.

Often we buy products by how they look on the shelf or how we like the advertisements. This product was recommended to me by someone who has had to clean tough dirt. We burn wood in a wood burning stove in our living room. When the stove is opened to add wood there are puffs of smoke that come out of the front. This smoky dirt travels up to the ceiling and the surrounding wall areas. This type of soil can be very difficult to clean. A friend told me to go to the Walmart automotive department and get some Super Clean. Rubber gloves should be used while using this strong degreaser and cleaner even in the diluted forms for light cleaning. I was happy that this product actually worked. We have hard water and this cleaner cleans up the hard water stains along with dirt and grease that other cleaners have not worked on. I used it in a diluted form in the kitchen today and it did a great job on the textured surface on the refrigerator. It leaves a nice clean looking shine on chrome. It

The lower humidity made it a more comfortable day for running errands and working outside and inside. There are still some of the early apples on the tree by the road. The tree attracts deer, woodchucks and lots of crows. We love watching the wildlife but the woodchucks are overrunning this area.

The day seemed to fly by. There are tons of chores that need to be done around our house. The basement is a focus spot at this time. Though much has been cleaned up on one side of  basement the other side remains clogged with stuff that needs to be sorted and either stored or removed. It cooled off a bit late this afternoon so opting out of inside work and staying outside seems to be a good choice. The decorative grasses are over 8 feet tall in places. Too bad we are too old to play hide and seek. These tall patches of grass would be great hiding places.  At times deer bed down in these areas at night.

The dragonfly really did not like having a picture session today but kept coming back to the same place on the branch to light. The iridescent colors of the Japanese beetle seemed to glow in the sunshine. The slow moving daddy long legs moved even more slowly than me on this hot day.

I do know that spiders eat many insects so I clean up the webs and leave most of the spiders alone. Today as I was damp mopping the dusty floor I discovered one of the large wolf spiders on the wall behind the dryer. We grow them large here in our home.  I just don't like these huge spiders and the thought of one of them running across me as I sleep makes me start itching all over. It was not the largest wolf spider that I have seen in or around our house. The spiders were living in the house when we moved here many years ago. There are plenty of places in the basement ceiling for them to hide. Though we know that there are more hiding in the house there is one less at this time. Click on the Wikipedia link below to read about wolf spiders. THE WOLF SPIDER I did not take a picture of the dead spider!

 The sounds of a hammer dulcimer, fiddle, banjos, guitars, mandolin, accordions and concertina filled our home after a pizza supper. Appalachian, British Isles, Irish and old time music was played for over three hours before the group called it a night. It was good to get together with our local friends and our friend from Virginia for just those few hours to renew friendships. The extra folding chairs are now put away until our next big party. The heat has sapped our energy so this may be a good day for a siesta.

Thank goodness the huge rusty relic above is not at my house. It's interesting looking though. A friend that we have not seen in quite a few years is going to be our guest around suppertime. We could not stop at that small of a gathering. We invited a dozen or more people to come and see him also as he has not seen any of them in many years. This action of course involved inviting all of them for a dinner. Purchased pizzas, veggies and fresh fruit will be on the menu along with plenty of cold drinks. The house is fairly cool so the party will be mostly inside on this incredibly hot day. We are hoping that the electric will not fail today.

This month's electric bill was very large. It was an estimated bill however. The meter reader pulled up into our driveway and sat in his air conditioned truck squinting at our meter. I guess he could not quite see the readings from 30 feet away and getting out of his vehicle in the heat was not something he was going to do. With no relief in sight the next electric bill will probably be enormous. We put a second air conditioner to work at the first part of this week and now it is tolerable in the house. The recent rain was needed but the extreme heat wilted the Shasta Daisies.

I went into the "great big national bird" supermarket today to pick up some bread and a few other staples. I only bought a few things so that I could go through the speed checkout. I was waited on promptly by a young man. The fast service was appreciated but then he started talking. He said that the hot weather was making the business slow and he was glad about that. He was only interested in getting out of there with as little work as possible and going home early. I asked him what would happen if the business dropped off enough so that he was no longer needed. He replied that he was in a union and the employer could not get rid of him. Wow! I would not want him working for me. I have been self employed for quite a few years and that attitude offended me greatly. I do hope that the market gives occasional training seminars and shows the employees how to give great customer service. A simple good morning and thanks would have been much more in order.

This old coal mining relic is sidelined and on display at the Tour-Ed Mine in Tarentum, Pennsylvania. The museum and mine are close to the turnpike, Route 28 and also close to Pittsburgh. It could be an interesting destination for an educational trip. Click on Link below for the Tour-Ed website. TOUR-ED MINE

The Burdock Plant ~ Versatile and Pretty The pretty and versatile burdock plant is is bloom. If you've ever hiked through grassy and weedy areas in the Fall you have probably spread some of the seeds from the seedpods by carrying them on your clothes to different areas. Dogs and horses can often be seen with their tails matted with the pesky pods. I find the purple blooms quite pretty. when we were kids we made little baskets from the dried seedpods and also little animals. We chose the easy animals such as turtles and rabbits. The sticky burrs led to the invention of Velcro. The plant has also been used for food and medicine. Read more about this plant by clicking on the Wikipedia link below. BURDOCK 

Some people view this beautiful flower as a weed but in my world it is a flower that I enjoy seeing both in my meadow areas and along the roadsides. The Queen Anne's Lace or wild carrot has been used both medicinally and for food. It makes a very pretty bouquet when combined with goldenrod flowers. You can read more about this plant on Wikipedia. Click on the link below to see the Wikipedia description. QUEEN ANNE'S LACE

This young wild rabbit was very wary of me and took off to hide as soon as I got done taking this picture. It seems to enjoy the clover that we allow to grow in our lawn. We have not seen as many rabbits as we used to but there are quite a few coyotes and other predators in the area that probably keep their population down. As Russ was riding his bike up the road a couple of days ago a large coyote walked across the road into the field and then turned to watch as Russ rode by. When we moved here years ago we never considered that we would see all the wildlife that lives in this area now.

This seems like a good day to take a rest from blogging. The weather is a bit cooler and the lower humidity makes it tolerable enough to go out and catch up on some of the numerous outside chores.

There are current plans in place for this old cast and wrought iron fence. We bought it many years ago in rural Western Pennsylvania. It was part of a fence that surrounded a country schoolhouse. There is a gate with the fence so it will have to be placed so that the gate is in a convenient spot.  The fencing was a heavy load for the old 1981 Suburban. It has been moved to a couple different places around the yard but the next placement will be behind the house near or between a couple of the small sheds. Some bars have been cut to set into the ground as base supports for the post ends. Holes will have to be dug for these and a method setting the heavy fencing over these will have to be devised. It will not be an easy job and the upcoming hot days will not be used for this job. There are many other pressing jobs to be done.

Click to watch video! There's nothing like coming home for lunch and finding a flat tire waiting to be changed. That is what Russ found today. I actually drove quite a few miles this morning before parking the car in the garage. About 30 minutes after I arrived home I went out to collect the mail. There was a loud hissing coming from the garage. I checked the tires on my car as I could smell a rubber smell in the air and there it was. My right rear tire was losing air very fast. I pulled the car out into the drive to make the tire easier to change. It was quickly changed by my expert mechanic husband and the car is ready to go again. I was so glad that this flat did not happen while I was on the road on the way home. The wren near the driveway sang through the whole thing. I just watched. It is a hot day and too hot for changing tires.  

The birdhouse shown in the picture is one that has been hanging in another tree in the yard for quite a few years and as far as I know there have been no birds that were attracted to it. I moved the house to another place and this year a wren has chosen it to nest in. The house is located just across the driveway from our garage in a flowering crab apple tree. The little bird wren sings from early morning until late afternoon. Yesterday I heard an answer to the call and saw another bird near the house. Perhaps there will be a family of wrens in the house soon.

click on pictures 2 times to enlarge The birthday party of our friend's young grandchild gave us a great reason to party in the country today. Our friends live in an nicely updated 1880s or 1890s farmhouse. Walking through the yard and garden areas is just like turning the pages in a Country Living or Better Homes and Garden magazine. It is just beautiful. It was relaxing to sit on the swing and watch children play and just to let the breeze blow over us to keep us cool on this hot day. The bees were busy in the beehive and the cows in the field behind the house can be seen in the last picture. Yes, the air smelled like that good country air.  Non-native purple loosestrife flowers are also apparent in the last picture. This is an invasive species of plant but they are beautiful.

When I first saw the odd Shasta daisy it appeared to have been chewed at the petal line but on further examination I found that those are just extremely short white petals along the large yellow center. It seems out of place among the other long petaled white daisies. The Japanese beetles have found their way into my garden. Only a couple of them were evident but more are sure to follow. It is very hot and uncomfortable outside today so some of the outside chores can wait until later in the day.

A grey cloud cover kept this morning very dark. It was a welcome sight when a sudden downpour watered my small garden plot in the back yard. There has been very little rain this week. The plant roots are close to the surface because of the abundant rains earlier in the year and the flowers seemed a bit stressed. The sun is peeking through as I write this blog and the next few days will be extremely hot and dry so hand watering will be necessary for the flowers.

Some things are made to last. Newer merchandise is designed not to endure. I will continue to seek out and buy the sturdy older items that will last until I decide that I am tired of them. Just turn me loose at a garage sale or flea market. I will be there to find the items that people have gotten rid of because they are only into having new items.  PS: I like older tried and true people too!

This is one of those busy days. Time did go slipping by and that is not such a bad thing except there is little time to devote to writing a blog this evening. It feels good to have some paperwork and other tedious jobs done.

This almost glowing orange tone fungus is growing near the base of one of the wild cherry trees on the edge of the yard. I find it interesting and somewhat beautiful in some strange way.

A miniature donkey grazes in the pasture. We had a great time at a covered dish garden party held at our friend's farm on Sunday. The quiet country setting was relaxing and peaceful and her newly installed deck, stone patio and garden areas next to her 1821 farmhouse were inspiring. Lots of friends, old and new, served up some of their best covered dishes. It is difficult to stop loading your plate when such a large amount of great foods are in front of you. Great food, good friends and a relaxing setting away from home made for an afternoon that was greatly enjoyed. Some music was played under the large maple tree after the food was served. Friends chat and eat on one of the patios.