July Jungle

68°f/20°C, mostly cloudy all day, with some hard rain late afternoon. Rain yesterday too. 

It has been rainy, muggy, foggy, cloudy, and did I mention rainy? Last July we begged for rsin, this July we need it to let up and let things dry out. Some of my flowers in planters have basically drowned, and I worry about blight hitting the garden. Conditions are certainly right for it.

I feel like a weakling, but we have been pretty much running the air conditioners non-stop, just to deal with the humidity. I tremble to think what the electric bill will be, but it has felt necessary to keep us comfortable. Most years, I turn.off the AC at night and open doors and windows, but last night the humidity was 93%! To me, that is just unbearable. I did turn the AC off for most of today, as it stayed fairly pleasant until the rains came. 

Since it was cooler than it has been (74°), I got out and did more strintrimming, cutting back the jungle i created when I planted oregano as a ground cover. That stuff takes its job seriously! Next I tackled the bindweed that was exuberantly taking over the raspberry patch. I have the wounds to prove it too, as the raspberries were not at all appreciative of my efforts. 

My reward was a small bouquet of a few things in bloom, and a stem of drift roses. I couldn't get to my zinnias as I planted them in the center of the big flowerbed and getting to them would be tricky. I just befuddle myself sometimes. 

Other than that, today was a good day to dust. I got the best part of it done before sitting down to finally finish repairs on this yoyo quilt. 

I have only had it for, ummm, maybe 8 years? It really didn't need much, just a few of the circles tacked back together. These were quite a fad back in the 80s, I think it was. Now it's ready to go to the booth, along with the big buffet. Derek will be here tomorrow to help us load that beast up. I know we can do it ourselves once we get to the booth, but i don't think i can manage getting it down our 5 steps from the porch to the walk.

That's about it for today. I'll leave you with this image of the new mural in Sutton, WV, which is very near the site of the Braxton County Monster sighting back in September 1952. I was lucky enough to meet Mrs. May, who never changed her story of that night, in 2002 at a 50th anniversary event.

West Virginia was the first state to launch a state-wide mural project, so murals are popping up in cities and towns across the state. I will have to keep my eyes open to spot more of them.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.