Dear Reader:

I realize for most of you looking at this picture,  it doesn’t hold any special interest…the dappling light is pretty but it is simply a driveway.

To me…it is a complete renovation to this side of my property and house. Before I started clearing it (with lots of help from my firemen/ lawn maintenance ‘guardian angels’ last year) Hollywood could have come in and shot a scene for a Vietnam documentary right here… and the audience wouldn’t have known the difference!

You couldn’t even hardly find the asphalt driveway for the tons of leaves and natural debris falling (from my neighbors’ trees) obliterating any vision of what was underfoot… finally piling up and settling in… beside the brick wall of my house.

Lots and lots and lots of bamboo came down…but it is a constant fight all spring and  summer. I cleared out planting spots on each side of the driveway which now contains moon flower vines, a ginger shell, baskets of flowers and two small hydrangea bushes. It is my favorite spot to walk in the cool early morning hours or late in the evening before the sun finally gives up its domain for another day.

As I am typing away on this blog post it is nice and cool in the house but that has only been the case for the last 24 hours. I, voluntarily, challenged myself to see if I could make it to the Summer Solstice (last Thursday) before turning on the air conditioner. I did it! 🙂

For any of you that live in the lowcountry…your mouth might be agape in disbelief right now…but quite honestly it was pretty much a “breeze” …because of my sunken den, two powerful ceiling fans, door size front windows and french doors coming off the bedroom. Up until just a day or two before I left for the mountains it was easily do-able. The mountain trip came just in the nick of time…because I would have caved!

But as soon as I got back I was thankful the summer solstice had arrived. I woke up early Thursday morning  and bought a new air filter. I, then, turned on the air conditioning unit and everything worked like clock work. Whew!

*Guidepost put this 2 minute video out on the mysterious origins and traditions behind the Summer Solstice- quite interesting!

• Mystical Traditions of the Summer Solstice – YouTube

The last two months I have had the lowest electric bills since I can ever remember. It is amazing how economical it would be for everyone if we all lived in a climate that needed no heat or cool air pumped into our homes. Still… we must pay close attention to the old adage, “Be careful what you wish for…it might come true.”I would miss the change of seasons even though, quite honestly, I am starting to miss them already. These days they seem to all blur together. It is pretty much like the poster (below) says:

I have noticed recently with this on-going heat wave that everyone is trying to come up with some kind of witty response (about the weather) to use when we bump into each other at the grocery store, church, or wherever.

So I thought I would help everyone out by sharing these suggestions I saw in a Southern Living magazine.

It’s not the heat—it’s the humidity.

It’s hotter’n blue blazes.

Is it hot enough for ya?

Man, it’s hot as all get-out!

It must be 90 in the shade.

This one’s gonna be a scorcher.

You could fry an egg on the sidewalk.

You could fry an egg on the hood of that car.

……………………………..

*If you have some more ideas…send them on in….I have a bad feeling we are going to need a lot of “Hot” come-back responses this summer!

With all my extra savings…I plan to start making some subtle home improvements (which really just mean replacing parts of the house that need new parts…soft planks, new tile, replacing old carpet etc. etc.) I have enough home improvement jobs to last me a lifetime…so I will just take on one at a time… for as long as I can.

“Inch by inch, row by row…Gonna make this garden grow.”

And speaking of gardens…here are the latest “show-offs!”

So until tomorrow…Heat wave or not….thank you God for this day, for every day we breathe in and breathe out Your praise.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

The Turners are in Huntsville visiting BB and W.T.! I think Eva Cate and Jakie have been trying on someone else’s shoes. I know everyone is having fun!

Mollie, Lachlan, and Eloise are with family in NH…a lot going on with wedding preparations and lots of family activities. Rutledge stayed behind for his camps he is involved in this summer. Yesterday he finished up Soccer Camp with his buddy Myer and Great Aunt Sharon gets to hold sweet Eloise.

As we were leaving Mike and Honey’s last Wednesday I stopped and took a photo of Honey’s pretty barrel on the deck. It was the cute plaque that drew me to it…which read:

The only change the Ya’s would make is:

” A LOVEABLE TEDDY BEAR lives here with his HONEY”