Yuck

 

Saturday was very hot, but we kept windows closed because of the smoke. No AC, but we have two Honeywell air purifiers that help, although sometimes it's hard to tell. I think air pollution makes my heart beat harder, but then I'm kind of a hypochondriac. I have a fancy new Fitbit to prove it. It even has an EKG feature if you really want to scare yourself.

Instead of sensible takeout or cooking on the grill, I made this pork stir fry for dinner that heated and smoked up the house even more. And a plum cake on Friday. All good, but what was I thinking?

We used up all the plums and have 10 jars of chutney and 4 pints of halves to show for it. Today we're making a batch of apple-walnut chutney with store bought Fuji's. No usable apples on our tree for the first time in years. Weird.

By Sunday, things had improved quite a bit as marine air finally pushed in from the coast, but we're not out of the woods until the wet season gets started. Wildfires are still burning to the north, south and east. 

The Pacific Ocean is our friend in Seattle, bringing fresh air and pushing heat and smoke east. Of course that means bad air over in central Washington, especially the Methow Valley, notorious for trapping pollutants. Even in the winter, from wood stoves and fireplaces. It smells good around the campfire, but nothing healthy about wood smoke.

Let's start the week on a happy note with a cute picture of  Maya and "Lemon," a hen who likes being cuddled.