Flowers, Movies

Hot, Hot, Hot!

65 Comments

It has been so hot this June that heat records have been broken all over Maine. In addition, there has been so little rain that I have had to water portions of my garden every day.

Unfortunately, our hose does not reach around to the front yard. Thank goodness for my little blue cart, which we originally bought for hauling books and display items to various fairs. This summer, with all fairs canceled owing to covid-19, I am using the cart to haul water.

Back and forth, back and forth, I go, feeling a bit like Gérard Depardieu in the excellent movie Jean de Florette. Fortunately, I don’t have to carry water on my back, the way he did.

And, I don’t have ratty Daniel Auteuil conniving to deprive me of water.

Still, hauling gallons and gallons of water out front every day certainly gives me a work out. My legs feel it at the end of the day.

In past years, Clif and I have casually discussed putting a water spigot out front, but in truth we’ve never really needed it. Usually Maine has an ample supply of rain, and I haven’t had to water much.

However, Maine is changing. The day might soon come when we put a spigot out front, just as we bought an air conditioner this year to deal with the extreme heat.

Fortunately, despite the heat, the backyard cools down at night. The evening primroses have started to bloom, bringing a jaunty touch of yellow to the various shades of green.

Around 6:00, Clif and I settle down to a light supper as the birds flutter and sing, coming for their own water and food.

Despite the heat, despite covid-19, we have our patio and backyard on the edge of the woods, a place of deep green beauty and mystery.

 

 

 

 

65 thoughts on “Hot, Hot, Hot!”

  1. Pretty pictures! I’m sorry to hear you have such a workout getting your water. Hopefully you’ll have rain soon. Here is MO we had almost a record May of water. And now, it’s hit and miss~prayers for relief with rain.

  3. I hear you! It surely has felt hot, impossible to be out at mid-day. I try to get chores done early, but still feel wrung out after an hour or so.
    For less than $30 you can get 100′ of garden hose, that would save you the back and forth and wear and tear on your poor knees. You might consider it a well-deserved gift for yourself! ❤

  5. This weather has been oppressive. I’ve been dragging hoses around every other day except to water the plants at the mailbox and a couple of ones I moved this year, I have been filling plastic buckets similar to yours and moving them in my yard cart too. It clouded up a bit today, and I thought just maybe we might get a sprinkle but not so much. I have one tank of recently moved berries that I have a beach umbrella over it to give it some relief from the sun. Stay cool on your patio.

    1. I take no pleasure in noting that with a high of 95, we have surpassed your temperatures. Relative humidity? High. Miserable, miserable weather, but better now.

  9. I love those evening primrose, Laurie. I should try to find some for here. I like that intense blue birdbath, too! One of those would do nicely outside my office window, and provide some good birdwatching for the cats (the “bird channel” on kitty TV for indoor cats).

    We have electric forced air heat here, and had a heat pump installed to make the it more efficient and provide AC in summer, all assisted by the output of solar panels. The power flow goes two ways depending on usage. In Oregon’s sunny summer weather and long days, there is excess generated which goes back out on the grid, and we sell power back to the power company. We will need to have someone clean the rooftop panels this year or next, or figure out how to get up there with a garden hose and long brush without killing ourselves. I am smaller than Rick, weigh less, and will not land with such a hard thud, but I think scaffolding may be a new investment. 🙂

    1. I love those evening primrose, too, They surely do brighten our shady yard. Sounds like you and Rick have a very good system. But do take care if you clean the panels yourselves.

  10. You might check out the expandable hoses. I finally bought a 50′ one for work, and they’re wonderful. I got mine at Home Depot. The fittings are metal, and once the hose is emptied, only weighs a pound or so, and can be coiled up into a bucket. I’ve had mine for two years, and it’s still in good shape. I got tired of dragging heavy hoses around, and it was the perfect solution!

  11. On your patio, in the backyard, on the edge of the woods…sounds absolutely gorgeous. And if you care to send some of that summer heat this way, cool and drizzly Vancouver Island certainly could use it!

    1. Many thanks! And it’s a deal: I’ll send you some warm weather, and you can send me some drizzle. Actually, what we need is a good soaking rain. But I’ll take a drizzle.

  15. It’s heating up here now and I’m finding I can’t stay out in it for as long as I used to – or it might just be I don’t sunbathe any more (enough wrinkles already) so don’t have the same determination to get a tan that I used to have.
    I love ‘Jean de Florette’ and ‘Manon des Sources’ both book and film versions though I do have a good weep.

    1. No sunbathing for me, either. The good old days of tanning are long gone. Yes, the movies are unbearable sad. But oh so good. I’ve never the books.

  17. Watering is hard work however you do it but so necessary in hot weather. I collect rainwater on my veg patch in 2 tanks which each hold 1000 litres (a cubic meter or about 200 gallons) and both ran right down this year. I avoid using tap water as it is metered.

    1. Yes, yes! We have a well, so paying for water is not a concern. However, we do have to worry about it going dry. During past droughts, it never has, but I do worry. Rain is in the forecast, but unfortunately less than an inch.

  18. Your patio and garden looks to be a place of tranquility… it is hard to put a measure on the value of peace and quiet in a garden at times like this.. our garden is also much loved.

  20. I’ve said that to Bruce as we sit on our deck overlooking the backyard, that we are lucky to be ‘stuck’ in such a pretty place. Our primroses are blooming too!

    1. PS: Put the spigot in, it wold be worth it even if it’s just for this summer. But I think with global warming you might need it again in the future.

  21. The evening primroses make a lovely contrast with the blue bird bath. It’s nice to overlook Clif and you having supper outside (or tea as we call it in Lancashire); not nice to think about the world gradually growing warmer.

  22. Sorry to hear about your heat and drought, Laurie, conditions very reminiscent of those in Colorado. We have a spigot in the front and back of the house, which means I don’t get to lift as many weights as you do, but the soil is so dry that the water doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. Let’s hope for more coolness and precipitation for all of us!

  24. Wonderful to see you’ve still been able to enjoy the patio in the evenings, between the heat and humidity I’ve been hiding indoors the last few days, but we finally had a cold front move in today. We have watering issues too and I hope some rain makes it your way soon.🙂

  28. I was very glad when I had a faucet put in on the dry side of the house. Made life so much easier. I loved that movie. Haven’t thought of it for years. Allan might enjoy it because of how until this year he hauled so many buckets to water our town planters, till we resigned for that very reason.

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