The end of July. It is 80° F first thing in the morning. Too hot and humid to go on the exercise bike for 38 minutes, the way I do most days. Even though we have Eva, our AC unit, in the living room, there’s a limit to what she can cool. The exercise bike is at the other end of the house, away from the lovely Eva.
The heat is supposed to break on Wednesday. Until then, I’ll skip the exercise bike. The road to nowhere can wait.
Fortunately, as Judy from NewEnglandGardenAndThread noted, the flowers don’t mind the heat.
The daylilies continue to punctuate my mostly green yard with bursts of different colors.
Tootlepedal, here’s a yellow one for you.
Knowing we can depend on Eva to bring the temperature down inside, Clif and I brave the heat and humidity to have drinks and appetizers on the patio.
Little Miss Watson gets her own drink.
And Bertie, the flying pig, is surrounded by blossoms.
Readers, it surely has been the strangest summer we’ve ever had. It seems endless, as though we have been suspended in some kind of hothouse heat trap. Part of me wishes it would end, and then another part of me thinks ahead to colder weather when there will be no drinks on the patio, and Clif and I will be mostly inside.
There is a bright note to all this. Because of all the biking I’ve been doing—and the weight I’ve been losing—my knees are getting better. As soon as it’s too chilly to sit on the patio, I’ll dust off my sneakers and start going for walks at least a few days a week.
The walks won’t substitute for going out and about around town, for visiting with friends, for having family come to stay. But at least I’ll see something besides the inside of the house.
After all, there’s a limit, even for a homebody.
Notes From the Hinterland 
The daylilies look beautiful Laurie and the patio looks very inviting! Hope you’ll find a way to enjoy this warm weather, it will pass only too soon 💜 xxx
Your flowers are lovely, and your patio always looks so inviting. I’d be tempted to spend a lot of time out there at that table.
Lovely blooms, even the pig looks particularly happy. 😉
Glad Miss Watson is staying hydrated, and drinks on the patio sounds fine. We love our deck for the same reason. Outside in glorious weather (in general, not today!) is one of the things I love best about summer.
Stay hydrated and cool!
So glad to know that your knees are benefitting from your efforts to lose weight, congratulations! Your flowers are spectacular.
Beautiful garden pics, Laurie. It’s definitely too hot and humid for outdoor activity, but the weird thing )just up the road from you) is that even though it’s so humid there’s not enough rain to keep the lawns from looking like it’s the end of a dry August. A very strange summer indeed.
Thanks, Jane. Fortunately, we’ve received enough rain to the lawns and gardens looking green. Strange summer indeed. A day or so ago, a shark attacked a swimmer in the midcoast region, and Maine had it’s first recorded death from shark attack. If I were superstitious…But then again, we don’t need omens, do we?
Wow, first shark attack in Maine. Have those cold waters warmed up that much?! Sadly, we seem to get omen after omen, every few days. 😥
Yes, the waters have warmed up that much. The lobsters are heading north, and so are the Great Whites. What year!
The good news is that you can swim in the ocean in Maine (and NB) without suffering from hypothermia within minutes. The bad news is pretty well everything else. And my beloved polar bears are running out of sea ice, without which they will not survive. Mankind has much to answer for. 😦
Alas.
Hi, Laurie – The weather this year definitely has been strange. Our warm weather just began this past week. I seriously want an extension…or a refund! As always, I love your positive attitude!
A-w-w-w, thanks!
So good to hear your knees are getting better.
Your day lilies are stunning. Do you eat them – I love their slightly cucumber flavour and the petals look spectacular on salads and curries.
Many thanks! No, I’ve never eaten them. They are so spotty in my shady garden that I couldn’t bear to pick any.
We’re waiting for a break in the weather too Laurie – humidity is at 85% today 🌧 Your garden looks so pretty 🌸
Many thanks!
I think we would agree – it is ‘wicked’ hot. 🙂 Your daylilies are beautiful, and I’m so glad Eva is on the job. I thank you sincerely for the hearty laugh as I read about postponing the ‘road to nowhere.’ I do have a treadmill in the coolest room of the house so if I would get the desire to walk the road to nowhere, I’d be okay. Right now, the urge is not striking me. 🙂 And, a big ditto on getting tired of the inside of the house no matter how many things have been cleaned and rearranged. Try to stay cool and hopefully it will get better by midweek.
Wicked hot is right! Alas, haven’t done much cleaning and rearranging. I mostly have been writing, writing, writing. But I do plan on taking a break soon to do some cleaning at least. Sounds like blast, doesn’t it? Podcasts, here I come. 😉
Reminds me–I need to name our AC system.
It’s always fun to personify inanimate objects. 😉
Way to go on riding your exercycle (almost) everyday. And walking is excellent exercise, my favorite form of transportation these days. I love that you named you AC unit!
Thanks! We have a penchant for naming inanimate objects. 😉
Biking is excellent exercise for knees so I am glad that it has had a good effect on yours.
Very encouraging. Thanks, Tootlepedal.
Your daylilies look wonderful, Laurie, and the colors so bright and cheerful! My favorite photo is Miss Watson, though. 🙂
Our heat finally topped off in the mid 90s yesterday by early evening. Today’s cloud cover is keeping us in the high 80s.
Thanks, Lavinia. Miss Watson is a sweet cat. Phew! Warm where you are, too, that’s for sure.
“It seems endless, as though we have been suspended in some kind of hothouse heat trap.” You’re so right. Same here. It makes me think that we are not really prepared for a great reckoning with the environment. Just like we weren’t prepared for COVID, except environmental disaster could last much longer.
I do love your pictures, however! Thanks for sharing. And those lilies are gorgeous.
So true. Sigh. Lilies do brighten up the day, though.
I also hate the extreme heat and humidity…even though I’m living in Australia! I have always been an autumn and spring type person.. I love your lilies, and hope I haven’t left it too long to plant some. Enjoy your writing.
Many thanks! Heat just saps it out of a person.
Had to remind myself how hot 80F is…that is hot. Your lilies are lovely, and I know you will enjoy walking out again.
And that was first thing in the morning. Well over 90 by midday, and the humidity was terrible.
You do live in extremes of weather. Good to see your day lilies, and congratulations on the fitness.
More so than when I was young. Never had hot weather like this. But I have read the the climate crisis is really affecting places in northern latitudes. I suppose it’s better that way. Those in the south really couldn’t take much more heat. Still…
We have had cool and damp for the last few weeks though there is some sun today. What a pity we can’t share – I’d love some of your heat (but certainly not all of it!) and you could cool down a bit. It is great that your weight loss and exercise are helping your knees.Keep enjoying your flowers – the pictures are lovely.
Many thanks! Wish we could share the heat and coolness.
Yes, there is a limit. I always thought of myself as a homebody until it became a reality. Your flowers are beautiful. The daylilies are in bloom here, too. Ours were finishing when we left the Eastern Shore so it’s nice to have this extended season with them. I did notice that the goldenrod has flowers ready to open. Hints of autumn, here and there.
Love this: “… suspended in some kind of hothouse heat trap.” It feels the same here, too, even in NE Ohio. I keep wondering if we went up to visit the lake (Erie), about an hour’s drive north, would it be cooler? It usually is by the water, but the heat seems to be everywhere this year.
North is usually cooler. But, I have, alas, read that the climate crisis is affecting northern areas the hardest. So you never know. I never dreamed that Maine would be this hot for this long.
Disturbing news about northern areas. My home town of Seattle (not all that northern) has been breaking heat records and even here at the beach we get much sunnier summers now instead of the mostly grey ones that I actually prefer (one reason I moved here). We get heat refugees from Portland, Oregon. When it gets super hot there, we get socked in with fog about two days later and I love that. But the heat refugees don’t bring their warm clothes and so local souvenir shops sell a lot of sweatshirts and sweat pants with various Long Beach, Washington logos on them.
Yes, sigh!
I hope it will cool down, so the two of you can enjoy as much time outdoors as possible, before the approaching return of winter in Vermont (just kidding, there still is a lot of time! 😊).
Thanks, Tanja!
Lovely daylillies and good wishes with health plan.
Thanks, Rupali!
I agree with you about the heat. Yesterday, my thermometer topped out at 97 near the coast. This weather is keeping me from exploring new trails. Looking forward to much cooler weather. Love the flowers. We seem to be finding flowers that I have not seen in the area before. Must be the crazy weather.
Boy oh boy, that’s hot for the coast. No wonder the sharks are making their way up.
Your yard looks beautiful and wonderful to see Little Miss Watson enjoying a drink with you guys!🙂 We finally had a day without the high humidity yesterday and our temperatures are finally dropping. It has been a strange summer and with everything that’s going on, I’m already beginning to wonder how strange autumn could be this year.
Many thanks! The humidity is not bad here, either. Hot but dry. Definitely easier to take.
So glad to hear your knees are getting better. I too have been losing weight, and my knee pain has mostly disappeared, though I still don’t kneel like I used to.
Losing weight only goes so far. 😉