It has been really hot everywhere, and seems like we will have more days in the 90s this year than ever before. I hate this heat, it just makes me miserable. When it gets above 78 degrees F (25 C), I am ready for it to cool down. I am happiest when the temps are in the mid-60s F (15 C). I often say that in the cold, I can always get another sweater, but there is a limit to how much I can take off, LOL! Nevertheless, the garden seems to be OK, with our normal mountain pattern of rain most afternoons around 4 pm. The humidity is high, which the plants love, and I don’t. But if the flowers are any indication, they are delighted with the conditions. My hydrangea is covered in beautiful flowers, many this lovely lavendar that is my favorite.
In the front flowerbed, the pink phlox are beginning to bloom. Only one for now, but more are on the way.
The white impatiens are prolific in all three pots under the little tile tables on the veranda. It’s been too hot to sit outside in the rockers to enjoy them much.
In the vegetable garden planter, my tomatoes are coming along, but the squash isn’t. I have a lot of blooms, but no squash, and it looks like the borers have gotten to the vines in spite of my diligent efforts with the Sevin dust. I only put the dust on the soil and base of the plants so I won’t kill the pollinators on the flowers.
Still waiting for the grape tomatoes to ripen.
There are lots of basil leaves this year, and we’ve been enjoying them in Caprese salads and Italian meals.
The lobelia has such intensely colored blue flowers, spilling over the edge of the white planter.
Yesterday, our British car club gathered for a run around the mountains to Troyer’s Amish country deli. Our drive leader’s Sunbeam Tiger is on the right. We had several MGs join the drive this day.
We have such a variety of older British cars, fun to see them all together. The red Jaguar Mark II sits next to a dark green replica of an MG-TD. A Triumph is on the end.
Off we went, driving out through the apple orchards loaded with green apples, and past full fields of ripening corn.
We wound around the mountains, on arbored roads, heading east through Chimney Rock to Lake Lure, stopping at a visitor center after about an hour of driving for a break.
After about 20 minutes, we headed out again in a different order, passing pastoral scenes of old barns and green fields, with many horses grazing along the way.
We went north to Fairview where Troyers is located. We’ve gone there in the past, see my post on Troyer’s for more photos of the old house and gardens. We had our lunch under their large pavilion, chatting with friends and enjoying our thick deli sandwiches. Mine was roast beef with Amish Butter Cheese, yum! I went inside and got more of that cheese to bring home, along with some cherry wood smoked ham.
Back home in the sewing room, I needed to do a tracing of a basic shape for a Victorian house for a project I have in mind. But I don’t own a light box. But, I do have these clear boxes, so I put my desk light inside one.
It wasn’t perfect, but good enough, and I don’t have to store another thing! I just put it back on the shelf and returned my lamp to its place. I was using a photograph to get the proportions right for a wool applique.
So, a little design work needed, and I’ll be ready to begin a new wool stitchery. I was inspired by a program our guild had this month on wool applique. I think this will be a fun idea with a Victorian house, and there is a lot of opportunity for creative embellishment with this kind of theme. We’ll see. If I like it, and it works like I have it in my head, you’ll see it this fall. This next week is pretty quiet, so I plan to get some headway on several projects. I’ll need some handwork for TV time.
If you have the channel FX, see the series The Old Man (link to IMDB). It is complex and intricately plotted, very well written, and amazingly acted starring Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow. We are really enjoying it, but if you haven’t seen any of the episodes yet, set your recorder to get it when it re-airs and see it from the beginning. If you have a service that does Video on Demand like YouTubeTV or HULU, you can get all the previous episodes now. It is rare these days to find a series as well done as this one, with intrigue and schemes woven in two timelines, with many twists that you won’t see coming. Outstanding.
What are your plans for this coming week?
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From My Carolina Home 
Everything looks so beautiful on your drive & in the garden. Great job cobbling your makeshift light box. It must be better to draw on a horizontal surface vs the vertical window I’ve tried. I say the same thing you do, you can always add clothes but there’s a limit to what you can remove when it gets hot. While it’s been hot here & I don’t have AC, I haven’t found it unbearable. I feel fortunate, so many have high 90s and above.
Great results with flowers, veggies and basil. Sadly, this year we are struggling….blossom end rot on tomatoes….bugs on so many plants, despite spraying…..
Love to see all the plants flourish. I love your hydrangeas. The blue violet is my favorite shade for those too. We got a pea plant this year that is a super producer. It has been so nice to have crunchy pea pods in our salads.
We will be going to a friend’s cabin for a few days this week. I have been busy sewing binding to a few quilts so that I have a few things to hand stitch while there.
your plants are doing so well with the humidity! here with the heat that we have been having it is humid in the morning but then by noon our humidity drops to almost nothing — which is not normal in Arkansas in the summer – like yesterday (and almost every day for the past 6 weeks) it will be 96 by noon and down to 30% humidity. I actually had to bring my houseplants back in the house as the heat and low humidity were ruining them. I had bought a tropical plant – I think it is called a Brazilian Jasmine and it was covered in flowers – I had it on the porch in the shade and I was misting it daily – all the flowers started to fall off and it was not looking good – I brought it in the house but I don’t know if it will came back good now or not – the heat was helping the plants it seems to be baking them instead
I bet the movie is good. It looks good.
I am happy to see your incredible flowers in your gardens. I love Hydrangeas.
and the wonderful driving adventure, what good fun.
The light box is a good idea. I found some led string lights that work with battery and taped them to a box like this. It worked about as well.
You are peppy. I am not so much. I am just running from one thing to the next these days.
I envy your life style.
I need to get back on the happy wagon!
I agree with you about the heat. One of our reasons for moving to Maine from Long Island, New York was to get away from the hot, humid summers. Sadly, with warming temperatures world-wide those hot, humid summers have come to Maine.
Your car clubs do sound like fun. Now I can’t wait to see the old house on your project.
I understand completely about the high temps and humidity. We walk around 6:30-7am on these days, and while the humidity is near 100%, the temps (and sun angle) are at least bearable. Not much sitting outside for me either, just enough to water a bit and watch the hummers, butterflies and bees.
Your drives look so fun. I love country roads – plenty around here too. The comradery and shared joy of your vehicles makes more a great gathering.
Thanks for the tip on the series, duly noted!
It definitely seems to be hot everywhere this summer! I’m with you on being happiest in the 70s. Your lobelia looks much happier than mine – I’m guessing it must be your humidity. Looks like a fun and scenic drive you went on, and lunch sounds yummy! I’m interested to see your wool applique project. I have a little kit waiting for me to start – should take a look at that!
How did you get involved with the mini car community?? I love taking scenic car rides, but never thought of a group ride. Friday, we took a ride to PA to rescue a puppy and on the way took my sewing machine in for its 2 year/2 million stitch checkup. So, this week will be another trip to pick it up and do a bit of fabric shopping (I see a disaster for my stash busting).
Another way for a DIY light box is to use you cell phone’s flashlight feature and if you have a clear extension table for your sewing machine, that works, too.
Have a great week!
I love seeing all that green from your drives – it is so brown and dry in Texas right now 😦 My garden is also struggling (our highs have been 98-104 for many weeks) and I covered it with shade cloth to try and keep it going. My tomato plants are still healthy but struggling with producing fruit. Squash vine borer is also a big problem here – I have kept 3 zucchini going by checking for their eggs every few days: they’re pretty easy to spot and then remove and crush. Fingers crossed, so far so good. I hope that when our heat eventually breaks that I’ll get some fruit from them. The light box idea is a brilliant one and I fully intend to steal it 🙂 On the quilting side – I’m not spending much time in my sewing room but I found a completed vintage double wedding ring quilt top at our local thrift shop for $16. The arcs are definitely flour sack fabric, and gloriously scrappy. It does have some damage to a few of them, but is in otherwise remarkably good shape. I’m thankful I took your repair class earlier this year so I feel confident enough to fix the shredded pieces and then get it finished. Stay cool and thanks for being a bright spot on the internet 🙂
Good morning. The Old Man sounds very interesting. We have Hulu so I am going to check it out. I am very interested in seeing your wool project. I love to do applique and there are no edges to turn with wool applique! I was just in Sacramento where the temperatures were above 100, but it was a dry heat. Back down in Southern California close to the ocean we are experiencing what we usually call June gloom (but I guess it is July gloom now) with a marine layer that doesn’t clear up until late morning or so. It definitely has been keeping it cooler here. Have a wonderful day.
Carole, it seems my comment didn’t post. Your lavender hydrangea is beautiful and all your flowers look healthy. I always enjoy your drives and the pretty scenery. Wishing you a wonderful week!
I love the heat but I’m not sure I’d like it where you are — I think it’s more humid in the south. And here, it has only been in the high 80s and mid 90s and with a breeze, which helps a lot. Your garden looks terrific. I fear mine at home will be dead when I return. Not sure what’s up this week. We’re at the lake but may drive to Minneapolis to see Rick’s aunt when she is released home from the hospital as she is in Hospice now and we want to see her before it’s too late. But we don’t yet know when she will be released, so as soon as she is, we hop in the car and go.
The drive looks pretty…. Stay cool….. We are going to 21c today and it’s winter …..
Hoping to get more churn dash blocks done this week ……
I am in complete agreement with you, Carole…my favorite weather is having highs in upper sixties to lower seventies! I could live with that year round and be perfectly happy!! We are in central Virginia and our temps this summer have been way too hot for me…I keep telling myself that every day gets us closer to fall….
I don’t have any hydrangea plants currently (we had several, but lost them all a couple of years ago, and never replaced them). Our next door neighbors have quite a few hydrangeas and they are all blooming in great profusion this summer. And the individual blooms are enormous! So pretty!! I may need to think about adding a few back to our landscape. We have an area that needs a new plan, and using hydrangeas would be perfect….
I always enjoy seeing your posts with your car club events….I was out yesterday afternoon and came upon a whole group of ‘57 Chevys…I am guessing it was a car club get-together…it was fun to see! Thanks for sharing your car club outings!!
I’m like a gopher in this weather – only popping out of the basement when absolutely necessary! Looks like you have had a fun week! And can’t wait to see what you do with the Victorian house! Thanks!
My husband is building new shelves for my sewing room closet/aka our daughter’s former room. I’m looking forward to reorganizing…again. I had to clear out some boxes so he could start the project and found 2 big boxes of old photos. I have had so much fun seeing pictures of all the grandkids when they were little! Yes, you could say I am sidetracked today. 🙂 Hopefully I’ll soon be able to work on the 2 quilts I have waiting.
I hate the heat too! We have been near 100 for 10 days and I am definitely over it! It is a lovely 78 with some rain today, so I have got to finish hems on the wedding dress before things heat up again! We had to take everything up about 2 inches and there are four hems; rayon lining, light satin, organza and net!
My pride and joy in the 80s was a beautifully restored 1964 MGB fire engine red of course. I loved it to pieces, and only sold it when my marriage broke up as it wasn’t really suitable as the family car.
Love the purple in your hydrangea!
I’ve used my tablet with just a white screen! But I did buy a light “box” tablet after that, it was only about $20