TOO DARN HOT!

It was 88 upstairs in the farmhouse Monday night, and Mike remarked that we should sleep outside. He would take the hammock, he said, and I could have the chaise. Aloud, I said nothing. To myself, I said, “Yeah, that’s not happening. I’ll take my chances in the house.” The subject of sleeping outside wasn’t mentioned again, and I slept as well as I ever do in the overly warm bedroom.

But Mike thought the woodshed might be too warm for Bess and allowed her to stay outside on the porch. He thought she might bark during the night, but she didn’t.

We see about a dozen hummingbirds at one time, all of them the one species (black-chinned). Tuesday morning, we watched as they queued up to drink from the feeder on the kitchen porch. Sometimes they would even share a perch. It finally occurred to me that the feeder on the front porch was empty. Once it was filled, the congestion was relieved.

I found a hummingbird feeder at Walmart last week that I really like. The opening is wide enough that I can fill it without using a funnel. More to the point, it’s easy to clean with a regular bottle brush.

Mike left at 6:00 for a neighborhood mountain bike ride, saying that he hoped it would energize him. It wouldn’t energize me, but whatever. Bess and I took a turn around the pond, and I took the pictures here with my phone. It was already 80 in the shade, so I closed the house.

Without the cool mornings and evenings, the house grows warmer. Our plan was to return to town early tomorrow morning (Wednesday, June 30), but we realized that it might be better to go back this evening. Even though the Valley is hotter, the house is air conditioned, and we might sleep better. I saw other advantages, such as traveling with that load of wood at a less-trafficked time.

And so, that’s what we did. After a light supper, we loaded a few things (and Bess) and headed back to town. As we approached mailbox corner, it occurred to me to ask, “Do you have your phone,” and he didn’t! Mike’s phone is his right hand, so back to the house we went. He was angry with himself for the distraction that led to his leaving it on the table, but I was grateful that I thought about it before it was too late.

I hated to leave the hummingbirds and the raised beds. The hummingbirds will be all right; they’ll just move on and I won’t see them again. I had watered well and filled water bags and plant nannies, but a few days away in this heat could mean our plants (one tomato and two zucchini) will wilt and die. Hopefully the newly-planted fruit trees will survive.

We drove back to town in temps around 110. The old pick-up has good A/C, so we were comfortable. The A/C in the house was set at 82. At some point Mike turned it off and opened windows, but we turned it on again at 6:30 this morning.

The excessive heat warning has been extended through Sunday. Today will be another 114-degree day, and then the 10-day forecast is for a drop of 10-15 degrees – in other words, still hot. KW