rest is not idleness

It was cooler today but even still I managed to dip myself into the cool waters. Sometimes I want the water to be really warm, but often, I revel in the colder water. It’s refreshing!

Final tally for the rainfall: 47mm in 24 hours. The grass has started growing again turning a brown wasteland into a green carpet.

7 years ago today we were at the family reunion in Medicine Hat. It seems impossible that so much time has passed.

Spike is running up and down the hall like an aged maniac! His bedtime snack must have hit the spot ;-) 

 Headline tonight: 4,862,171 cases with 158,929 deaths in the US. There are a total of 117,031 (116,884 yesterday) cases of Covid-19 in Canada today, with 8,947 (8,945 yesterday) deaths today.

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”

~John Lubbock

swirling skies

I sat on the edge of the sofa, eyes glued to my tablet as I toggled through a few weather apps. We had a tornado warning so we wanted to be prepared. Grace was already in her carrier and the dogs were leashed, ready to be dragged down the dreaded stairs into our safe room.

Blobs of red streamed over our little dot on the map, finally, by 5:30 we were in the clear. I think we all breathed a sigh of relief and immediately the dogs started thinking about supper.

Aside from the excitement in the late afternoon it was a laid back day. The sound of rain on the leaves of the trees outside our bedroom window lulled me into a long doze before I finally extracted myself from bed. 

Adia got to earn lots of treats (Spike too) this afternoon practicing ‘mat’ and long downs. It went well - she made it to 5 minutes with distractions - not bad for a first day of retraining. I foresee lots more practice over the next few days!

a rainy day for Adia too

oh oh… 8:30 and dogs are back on their leashes as we wait for another series of thunderstorms to pass us by… 9:00 it’s passed us by again but I’m leaving the leashes on the dogs for a bit, but will retrieve our flashlights and my phone from the closet in the basement.

I feel that having a proper room in the basement to retreat to and just chill would be good. As it is I’m sitting on the edge of my seat for hours.

 

 Headline tonight: 4,813,647 cases with 158,365 deaths in the US. There are a total of 116,884 (116,599 yesterday) cases of Covid-19 in Canada today, with 8,945 (8,941 yesterday) deaths today.

“The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color.”

~Natalie Babbitt

wild flowers in our hair

After enduring the hottest July on record, today’s relatively cool 29C has been a blessing. It was sunny with only a light breeze but even so it seemed like August. The din of the cicada rings out in the still air. A bird occasionally sings but they are mostly silent in the heat of the day. The smell of basil lingers in the air - we harvested the majority of the two plants on the deck and are trying an experiment - frozen ‘as is’ in a bag.

It’s not a blast oven outside but I’ve still been in the pool three times by 5pm (4x by 7 and probably the fifth after I post this). With the cooler nights the water temp is dropping overnight, but an ‘early’ morning swim can’t be beat. 

The swing was the primary location this afternoon, the gentle sway almost sending me to sleep. I’m over the vaccination effects, although I felt strangely tired today.

We had the first alfresco supper on the deck in over a month. With all our pots of plants bursting with flowers and other greenery the deck is a lovely place to eat. 

After supper we lingered a while before getting the dishes in order then jumped in the pool. We have to eek every last ounce of summer out of our day! Soon we joined Olaf & Steph, and eventually Kirsten, Shawn, and Graham, for a few hours of online chatter. So much fun!

Yesterday we did a food run into the city to pick up a box of chicken hearts for the dogs and a deke into Costco (yikes!). On the way home we had the brilliant idea to text Jo Ellen and Don to see if they were free for an ‘under the apple tree’ visit. We were happy to read that they’d be here. With the hot weather we haven’t seen them for almost 2 months - where does the time go?

On Thursday I made cookies and dried some hearts, then crashed on the bed. I was wiped out and it could only have been the shingrix vaccine. Trudie called in the afternoon to invite us over for a ‘socially distant’ supper which of course we jumped on. I dragged myself but was so grateful to be with people that I made it to almost 9pm before I crashed.

 

 Headline tonight: 4,764,318 cases with 157,898 deaths in the US. There are a total of 116,599 (115,470 yesterday) cases of Covid-19 in Canada today, with 8,941 (8,917 yesterday) deaths today.

“Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair…”

~susan polis schutz