Goodbye, July

It was still dark this morning when the alarm went off.  What a relief when the marine clouds pushed in and the cool air dried off our sweaty bodies!  We had the window wide open, and it felt like a breath of heaven.  Yesterday was stifling in Seattle, not only hot, but smoky from the dreadful wildfires in northern California and Oregon.  So far our state has escaped a major fire this summer, but the season isn't over yet.  It feels like the whole world is burning up.

We have two bunny friends living in the yard. They are half tame and half wild.

From a NW wildlife website:

Every few years the population of domesticated rabbits explodes in many city parks and "wild" areas around urban centers due to released or abandoned pet rabbits breeding.

Pet bunnies are purchased at Easter and other times and later released when people lose interest in them, move, feel the animal is too messy, or when it is no longer cute and cuddly. Unfortunately, domestic rabbits are not prepared to "live off the land."

Well, they seem to be "living off the land" just fine in this yard.  I don't grow vegetables in the ground, so they haven't caused any harm, at least that I can see. They don't seem to care for fancy flowers.  John said he saw one was eating the yarrow, which is a tough, weedy old thing anyway.

We getting back to comfortable and more normal temperatures this week, with highs only in the 70's.  There's a chance of rain, which we desperately need. 

A dfferent kind of hot

Seattle ranks last in the nation in its percentage of air-conditioned households.  Only something like one in three homes has central cooling.  Actually that number seems high, at least in our neighborhood of old houses.  Instead of hunkering inside like a sensible desert rats, we open all the windows early in the morning to try and cool off the house.  We're on the crest of a hill that leads down to Alki Beach, so there's often a breeze coming up from the water. Not necessarily a cool breeze, but the air circulation and lack of humidity makes a big difference.

So very wet in other parts of the country, but Seattle is dry as a bone right now.  We'll get our due when fall rolls around.  It feels like the season has already turned, as the days grow perceptively shorter.

Anyway, coming from a Las Vegas record heatwave puts it in perspective. Our high yesterday was about 88 degrees, and that was the lowest temperature all last week in Las Vegas.

Years ago, it was challenge growing tomatoes at all in the short, cool Seattle summers. Not anymore!  We have another bumper crop of Roma and cherry tomatoes and and a peck of peppers.

I picked most of the peppers yesterday. They have to be charred to peel off the thin skin, which is a bother, but worth it. We ate a few with steak last night-- my, they were mild and good. Last year I waited longer to pick them and they were so hot.  Peppers get really hot when they are stressed by drying out.



This is Sea Fair week in Seattle, so the Blue Angels arrive at Boeing Field today. They'll be screaming around town all week causing all sorts of traffic havoc.  Fortunately, I don't think I need to leave The Peninsula for the next few days.

I had a nice visit in Las Vegas!  Thanks, Dad and Marji for sharing your wonderful home.

Desert monsoon season

This is monsoon season in the desert southwest, so the weather is humid as well as hot, adding to the misery of people and animals. The desert is never a welcoming place, but summer is by far the most dangerous time of year. 

In July and August, a shift in the wind brings moisture up from the Gulfs of Mexico and California causing some pretty extreme weather.  Click HERE for a time lapse video of a micro-burst in Las Vegas earlier this week.

Micro-bursts occur when a thunderstorm suddenly collapses, dropping amazing amounts of rain causing flash floods. The wind from a micro-burst resembles a tornado.  But the scariest thing about micro-busts is they can appear out of nowhere.

We drove out to Floyd Lamb Park yesterday morning, just to get out of the house for a bit. At 9 am it was already over 100 degrees and too hot to walk. We brought some bread for the geese, but they were so listless they barely had the energy to waddle over and check us out.

The park is adjacent to millions of acres of public lands, where the Las Vegas sprawl abruptly ends.  Drifting monsoon clouds add to the beauty of the Mojave landscapes. 

Baby, it's hot outside

We don't have Hobby Lobby in Seattle, so I like going to the store near Marji's house when I'm here. Of course I don't really need anything in that vast, bewildering place, but recreational shopping is one of my little weaknesses. I browse around in their art supply section and look for craft projects for the kids. So I stopped by yesterday, and walked right in from scorching July heat to a full on, air-conditioned Christmas! 

Honestly, the sheer weirdness of that deserted, freezing store brought on an anxiety attack.  I had to go to the Starbucks next door for a Frappacino to settle my nerves. 

We've been mostly sheltering in place during this heat advisory.  It was 114 degrees yesterday, today the same, and so on. To put 114 in perspective, the record high EVER recorded for Las Vegas is 117.   Palm Springs and Death Valley (both over 120) broke records this week.  The overnight low last night was 90, another record high/low. What can you say?

Poet Robert Frost gets the last word:

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.




Dinner was good last night, even with relatively tasteless supermarket tomatoes.

The old recipe said smash up a couple of the fried tomato slices right in the sauce, and that gave it a bit more flavor. Along with the red chili flakes. I remember Mom and Grammy making a rather pasty white sauce. Anyway, with corn on the cob it made a nice vegetarian dinner for a hot night. 

Along with Hobby Lobby, what's a trip to Vegas without Pollo Loco?  So I think I'll take a break from cooking tonight and run over there for take-out grilled chicken.

Everyone loves a Weiner

And Wieners love everyone. A thought entered my mind this morning as I lay in bed with my little companion.  How dogs are completely and utterly self-centered, yet so blissfully unaware of Self. What a gift. 

It's 88 right now in Las Vegas and the sun is just coming up. This is the coolest it will be for the next 24 hours.  In Seattle we have windows and doors wide open all summer since hardly anyone has air conditioning. 

Of course it's the opposite in the desert. It is a bit discombobulating to look outside at a nice summer day, then open the door to a raging furnace.  It will be 112 again today. Ninety degrees in the dry desert is still pleasant, but over 105 it's simply too hot to be outside, even in the shade.

So, I better get going on my morning walk.  Yesterday I walked up to a park a few blocks from the house and a big flock of Canada geese were enjoying the freshly watered green grass.

We took a trip to Trader Joe's yesterday morning.  I made pasta sauce with hot Italian sausage which seemed to be a big hit.

Tonight I'm attempting one of Mom's old specialties: "fried tomatoes and milk gravy".

Hot enough outside

To make raisins. No kidding, and they're intensely sweet hot off the vine, if you can stand to run out there and pick them. The mockingbirds love raisins, but birds are smart enough to wait until the relative cool of the morning.

No walks for Doodles, the sidewalks would roast him like a wiener.  He does his outside business quick. My sister Marji always says that living in Las Vegas in the summer is like North Dakota in winter.  Going outside is like opening an oven (or freezer) door. And you won't see the local desert rats baking in the sun drinking margaritas like tourists.  Followed by a trip to the emergency room.

However! Even for warm weather lovers like me, this week will be pretty intense and the hottest streak of the year so far in Las Vegas, approaching 115.  I seem to break weather records wherever I go.

Dad did great holding down the fort alone this weekend.  He and Doodles appear to be joined at the hip.  Just saying, Marji, your dog is a real little opportunist. So much for canine loyalty.

I was happy to get here about noon. My flight was on time and the Uber driver out to the house personable and a good driver (what more can you ask?)

However, I sat way in the back of the plane, trapped in a window seat next to an enormous tattooed guy who did that man-spreading thing like Donald Trump the whole way. I had a creak in my back trying to avoid body contact while he slept without a care in the world.  Some men.

The landing wasn't as rough as it can be, descending into the scorching valley. We had "Captain Jennifer" at the helm again.  Gosh, I've flown down here so many times I'm getting to know the Alaska pilots.

It was too hot this afternoon to go to the grocery store or out to eat, so we had quite good Chinese delivered (free!) from a restaurant down the street.  Just try that in West Seattle. You gotta love this town sometimes.

Everyone loves a parade

The family is in town this weekend. Yea!  The girls are checking out all the "new stuff" in the garden.

"We're not in Kansas anymore!"

"Nica," Nova, Tom, Amanda and Nova

On Saturday morning we watched the annual West Seattle Grand Parade together.

Candy comes if you are patient...

 Grandpa and Uncle Dave

The parade always starts with the police motorcycle drill teams whizzing by your toes.

 Followed by various fancy costumes, dancing and pageantry...

 Hugh school bands...

 Pretty local high school girls!

 Finally, the arrival of the raucous Seafair pirate boat.

 Not too scary these days...when Amanda was Nova's age, she would hide behind the mailbox.

And what's a parade without a few important messages.

Amen.
(John gets credit for the parade pictures)

Amanda and "Nica" relaxing after the parade.  We thought the country dog would totally flip out, but she was very good indeed. Later we had a picnic in the backyard-- a fun and busy day.

Bringing up baby (crow)

The crows made a nest again in the tree across the street.  Once they left the nest, the youngsters followed their parents around for a couple of weeks begging for food, making that gosh-awful noise that sounds like they're being strangled. Maybe they are. Anyway, I think mom and dad finally got tired of them and left them here in the yard.  Probably told them to watch for the lady who sometimes throws a pancake outside.  They have been hanging around since. Crows are so smart, each generation teaches the next. No wonder there are millions of them in Seattle.

Busy days ahead.  I get started on a new project at the Log Cabin Museum this afternoon.  Just from the first look, I suspect will take me many months.  They only have a part-time staff and in need of organizational help. More on that later.

I'm also preparing for Amanda, Tom and the kids to arrive late tonight.  The girls are excited about watching West Seattle Grand Parade tomorrow morning.  Then on Sunday after everyone leaves, I need to pack for my flight to Las Vegas early Monday morning.  I'm looking forward to spending next week with dad while Marji is on vacation in Colorado.

Sleepless in Seattle

A French box bed

The marine layer is back at night, a big relief in a city where few people have air conditioning.  The moist, cool air pushes in from the Pacific, the curtains suddenly stir in the open window and it feels like someone turned on the air conditioning. They did. Except the air is heavenly fresh and clean. What a relief after a long stretch of hot days.

I ran across this interesting photograph of an antique French box bed. In houses with just one room, the  box-bed gave some privacy and helped keep people warm during winter. Looks pretty stuffy, huh?

Closed-beds were only about 5 feet long. People were smaller then, but they also slept in an almost sitting position leaning back on stacks of pillows. In the Middle Ages, people were superstitious about sleeping lying down flat (the position of the dead and of effigies.)

Well, I finally had some good "lying down flat" sleep last night. 

A canning gimmick

Time to think about summer canning already.  Our plum tree, which has produced hundreds of pounds over the years and caused neighborhood feeding frenzies, hasn't been the same since a professional arborist pruned it back "for fruit."

Go figure.  I can't blame him entirely, because the tree is also badly infested with aphids. Maybe I should bite the bullet and have dormant spray professionally applied this winter. I can't stand the thought of spewing pesticides around in the summer when the yard is teeming with beautiful insect life. 

As if there's not enough to be depressed about these days, a new study shows that the number of flying insects on earth has plunged by a shocking three-quarters in just 25 years. The insect biomass is collapsing. Insects are not just pests, they are the very foundation of the food chain and essential for life on earth as pollinators.

It tickles me that fearless little Maya is fascinated with every sort of worm, bug and creepy crawly. It gives a person hope thinking about the good things young people will do with their lives-- maybe Maya is a budding entomologist? I hope I live long enough to see the girls grown up.

Long story short, there won't much home grown fruit this year for plum chutney.  The tree simply doesn't get pollinated as thoroughly as it once did. You can blame the weather or the lack of bees. The few plums this year are concentrated on one branch, about to snap off from the weight.  Weird.

OK, I got of the track here a bit. I wanted to show you this slick canning gimmick I found at the grocery store.  It's actually a little kit made by McCormick  and Ball for canning salsa. With the spices pre-measured, all you do is follow the recipe. We go through salsa by the gallon around here, and it's shaping up to be a good summer for tomatoes and hot peppers.

Hail, Spartacus

"Spartacus Burgundy Gold"

My new dahlia started blooming early this week. Dahlias love hot weather as long as they get enough water, and bloom right into October when the rain finally knocks the plants over.  By then you're tired of them anyway.

On the other hand, the poor lilies and clematis are on fast forward in this heat. Their bloom cycles always seem way too short.  

Here's the ebay picture that sold me on ordering a Spartacus tuber, sight unseen.  At first I thought I'd been ripped off with a plain burgundy, but the yellow highlights slowly appear as the flower opens. He turned into a big healthy plant and the flower is pretty cool.

A couple of summer peaches at the Twisp Saturday farmer's market this past weekend.

July 17th is Peach Ice Cream Day, a delicious flavor that's hard to find at the grocery store.  You could always get peach at Basken Robbins, but our West Seattle store, in the same spot since 1980, just closed and will be replaced with who knows what.  Ditto the local KFC, which is becoming an upscale burger joint.  More to Urban Village tastes, I guess.

Hot and oh so dry

Seattle set a new heat record of 93 degrees on Sunday, the hottest day of 2018 so far.  It's going to be above 90 again today, then finally cool down somewhat by the end of the week. Not a drop of rain in sight, so watering by hand and sprinkler is a big daily chore.

The house is hot and stuffy at night even with the windows open so it's hard to sleep, at least for those of us who are sleep-challenged anyway.  Some lucky people could sleep in an oven through a hurricane.  I guess they don't feel obligated to solve all the problems of the world in one night.  Sleep-deprived or not, a busy week is shaping up for me, with some fun and other not-so-fun things to take care of each day.

Well. Enough complaints for one Monday morning.

Still too early for this! Thank you, John, for the unflattering photo taken on my new iPhone. Realism is overrated.

Cooking is a challenge on these hot days. Yesterday I roasted a whole chicken on the grill.

It sounds ambitious but is surprising easy with the indirect grilling method. A medium chicken takes just over an hour, about the same time as an oven if you don't open the lid too often. We had it for dinner last night with some light German potato salad.  Perfect meal for a hot night. Tonight the leftovers will be just as good with some corn on the cob.