Melonheads and Other Odds and Ends

According to an article sent by a concerned friend, our road was once inhabited by beings referred to as "Melonheads". This was by all accounts a (very politically incorrect) reference to the somehow deformed (and deranged) unfortunates that resided (according to local legend) in this area and devoured pets and small children. I guess Bob and I fit right in!
On a cheerier note, the picture above was captured using (hooray!) my new smart phone. I am on a steep learning curve- me being a Melonhead and all- to figure out arcane skills like "texting" and using "apps". You will remember that I had what I affectionately called my "dumb phone" which delivered a pretty good phone call... but I never did figure out how to do really basic stuff, like delete old messages or text. And it had no camera! No Internet! So this new phone is way cool and already impressing me.
My birthday was really pretty tremendous this year. I got the aforementioned phone and other useful and fun things from Bob. And then my family visited: Hello Cathy! Hello Beatrice! Hello John! And despite the day being overly hot and muggy, we had a good time, debating who the next viable presidential candidate should be and how soon The Orange Menace will be deposed. Yuck.
But my family came through bigly and presented me with fabulous wine and plants and delicious foods. I am fat and happy.
I spent the day planting my gifts (A yellow Rhododendron "Capistrano" and an Aralia cordata "Sun King" and Sapphire Flax and Dianthus "Miss Aroma": The first two are in the shade border and the latter two are in the Blue Border.)
I will no doubt succumb to a healthy case of poison ivy because poison ivy seems to be having a good year and it's pretty much every where. First thing this morning, Bob started weed whacking the driveway and I attempted to pitch in and lend a hand. I quickly begged off though, as the poison ivy at the edge of the driveway was some of the healthiest I have ever seen and there was plenty of it. I felt bad leaving Bob to battle the overgrown and jungle-like driveway verge, but I really don't want to spend the rest of my vacation scratching and oozing.

See You in Hell!

Flaming day lilies to accompany the incredibly hot weather we endured this week! The flowers didn't seem to mind; possibly because I ran around watering and checking up on everyone. How hot was it? Do I have to remind you? The heat index- a new-ish gauge of climate changes real life effect on us all- was over 100 all week. Everyday was a 3 tee shirt day.

The containers look really good (if I do say so myself...) despite needing waterings several times a day. The lawn is a tad crispy in spots but can also be attributed to the massive amounts of trees/logs/sawdust that continues to occupy our time and energy.
And piles? Anyone want to see our piles? It's been so hot that there was a recess taken from all that dragging and stacking and piling...

Bob and I have taken turns hauling this pile from one area to another. We have lacked the energy or impetus to remove it entirely and take it out to the woods.

You see what we're up against! More piles; they will be with us for a long time. No wonder we're getting out of town for the weekend. Actually, it has more to do with Bob having a sculpture to install in North Bennington (VT) at an outdoor sculpture show. Here's a link:
www.nbossvt.org
We had fun last year and it will be good to get away. A friend (thanks Joe!) is staying with Lil' Robin the Good. I think she knows something is up and she is not impressed!

* The title of this blog was originally going to refer to both the protracted heat wave and the resignation of the evil Scott Pruitt as head of the EPA. (Don't make me gag!) But as I stated writing this entry, I realized I wanted to spend as little time as possible discussing evil motherfuckers like Scott Pruitt. Suffice it to say, there is a particularly hot 'n' steamy ring of Hell for him to occupy and there won't be any second hand mattresses or special moisturizers to make his stay in hell easier!

Over Heated/ Stay-cation/Expanded Birthday Version

Not sure what kind of insect this is- other than very large!- but it was adhered to our picnic table. This is how big it was: at first I thought it was a baby bat! I think the extreme weather has encouraged some strange Southern bugs to infiltrate.
Well, the hot weather has caused my brain to go on a stay-cation. It's so muggy and the air is so vile that thinking is nie-on impossible. Lots of vague empty spaces...
What was I saying? Oh yes, something banal about the weather. And it does seem that it's always like this for my birthday, whether it's celebrated on the right day or delayed for a month due to unforeseen medical episodes involving family member's faces...

But my birthday celebration was delightful! Good food and a splendid concord grape wine, lovely gifts including several choice hostas (Empress Wu! and Curly Fries), nuts, flip flops adorned with jewels, clothing, more wine; the list could go on and on and my family was most generous. Thanks to them all! Lil' Robin the Good was on her best behavior and soon took a real shine to my family, rolling around and exposing her underbelly like a trollop. But even she is crashed out on the floor now, trying to escape the heat as best as she can.

Bob's sculpture looks ready to be beamed up to another planet- hopefully one with nicer weather. We couldn't even see the (supposedly) spectacular meteor show last night as it was decidedly overcast last night and rained every so often. I actually woke up at 5:00 am and went outside my studio to see if there were meteor shower remnants to catch but no such luck!

And what else? I should have gotten this blasted, wasted attempt of a blog post up two day ago but the office (ie; the room in which the computer lives) is so hot that I haven't been up to a long enough stint to actually finish the post... you get the picture.

 So it feels like 104 degrees (according to the Weather Channel) and my studio is an oven and I'm retreating back to that air-conditioned bedroom. Sayonora!