Tuning in on Tuesday.....

 The start of a hotter day looks like this.  The humidity is high and the sky looks glazed. We really didn't cool down so much so we got a head start for the hot temps. 

A hazy shot of the flower box.  I had bought the planter, big bucks, to bury in the ground to make a mini pond for goldfish.  When the raccoons came and ate all of my fish from a larger round above ground pot I decided I could not do the plan.  The planter sat empty for a while and then I though dump some dirt into  it and grab some zinnias  while thinning out the zinnia bed.  The bonus for this afterthought is that the humming birds like the flowers and we can see them directly out of our living room window. 

I don't think the butterflies mind the heat but there fewer of them than user as we move through our drought.  I mostly have painted ladies butterflies this year.  We are at 91° F right now at noon.   We are headed to 97° F. or higher.  I went for needle points this morning for my insulin pen.  I went early to keep out of the heat but it still was hot.  I bought lots of grociers of things we were out of and I got a pizza for supper tonight. I have one more aquarium cleaned now and will be transferring fish this afternoon.  It nice to get some jobs done that don't require me being outside.  I did watered tomatotes early this morning but then came inside.

Thanks for stopping in today.

Steamy Steam....

 

It is morning and the humidity is high. Tthe camera reacts to it and I had to keep wiping off the lens. The camera did warm up though after a while and I could take shots freely.  This afternoon it is 9f° F. and 61% humidity.  It is like walking in a steam room when I went out for the garbage can. 

 

 

The hydrangea is next to the house and is showing wear in this heat. The last of the flowers are barely hanging on to finish its season.

Most of my geraniums are out of bloom because of the drought and now heat.  This one is protected under the deck and it looks colorful even though it is weathered a little. 

My sunflowers seed that were planted later in the spring are getting ready to put on flower heads. They are planted near the tomatoes and tomorrow when I run the soaker hose they can get benefit from it. 

My brother in California did survive during the hurricane and earth quake.  He got some good rains to wash away a lot of dust a dirt off his back yard.  His palm trees are still standing as the storm ended up being just a good rain storm for him.  The winds were not any worse than a normal thunderstorm.

I have been cleaning aquariums today.  I have an empty extra one that I set up and transfer fish from their tank to the temp.  I was cleaning the one outside this morning but I won't be returning outside to clean the next one.  I can clean the next one inside in the downstairs bathtub.  I have three tanks so it is a two to three day job to get them all clean and shiny again.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Stay cool if you need to.

Sunday's Steam.....

 

 

 

 It is a good day to just stay inside. Our humidity level is so high that it affected the sunlight this morning.  The heavy humidity makes 94° F. feel like 108° F.  We were are at 75° F. when we started the day.  It is suppose to be worse as we go through the week.  We are as hot as my brother in Arizona and my other brother is dealing with the hurricane named Hilary.  

Thanks for stopping by today.

The Heat Zone.....

 The morning glories have been fertilized and new top soil sprinkled in to get them greened up a little.  The heat and humidity is overwhelming today.  I am sure the blooms have shriveled up already.

Earlier in the morning I found my fritillary butterfly warming itself in the sun while perched on some hosta leaves. 

 

The shot through the grasses shows it opening and closing its wings to get its body warmed up.  I have not had this kind of butterfly for a lot of years.  Even though we are in a drought zone some of our rains must have helped to bring them in to our area. 

 

 

The bottom photo was one I took a couple of days ago. It seems to want to pose for me as I have rarely shot a pose like this.  It was a friendly butterfly. 

I rescued another iris this morning, digging it out of a shaded location.  It was also in clay saturated soil.  I saw that they were trying to put out new sprouts so I now have it in good black topsoil. I'll be watering it regularly to protect it from the future heat.  I do know that rhizomes are pretty tough so I am not too worried about moving them this time of the year.  

While out this morning my neighbor showed me his phone pictures of his second home in Arizona.  The purpose of sharing it was that his one large cactus that was growing in his front yard had fallen over into the neighbor's yard. He was called by the neighbor and Doug had to call a guy to come take it away. Judging by the size of it on the ground it must have been at least 9 feet tall.  He was glad he had a garden guy who could deal with it and he didn't have to drive down to deal with it.  I guess if they land on peoples houses that the cactus can do damage to houses. 

My sunflowers may fall over but I don't have to worry about  that here in corn and bean county.  We will be inside for most of the time the next few days. Heat warnings are out there for us for a while. I can water early morning but it is going to be very hot for the next few days.  We live in Iowa and we have had temps like that many times before. Some of you bloggers think I live in the south but we aren't.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Friday's Finds....

 

I have a fritillary  butterfly out with my zinnias.  I had to look it up to find its name.  There are numerous kinds of them and I am not trying to be specific with its name right now.  It was a little jittery around me so I had to zoom to get to it rather than stand close to it. 

I am thinking that I should be watering these.  In a couple of days we are going to head into the high 90s and maybe 103° for a couple of days.  I know they won't die but I bet the blooms could last a little longer.

I ventured into the back side of the zinnias to get to the tall weed.  It reminded me of something my dad call pig weed. I may be wrong but I get lots of weeds that come from the remains of a former cornfield. I also found the milkweed type vine clinging and climbing over it and in the zinnias. It felt good to get it out of there. 

I rescued an iris this morning that had been planted in a good spot at first.  As the things grew up around it I find it was in a bad spot.  I move iris any time in the summer.  The iris was struggling and quit bloomnig the past too years as it was in too much shade. I mixed good black soil in with the clay soil to plant it out in the sunny area.  I will water them for at least a couple of weeks to get them settled. 

 

I caught her in the sunshine yesterday.  The feathers reflect to give it color.  Most of the time I can only get shaded photos of my humming birds in the afternoon so I have to station myself in the window in the morning.  I spent the morning in the yard working at lots of different projects.  I had to spot mow some of my yard early morning when it was cool.  We have a strong wind that keeps us comfortable this afternoon.  Thanks for stopping by today.

The Things.....

 The jet stream was a long one. The jet itself was way north of me and I could photograph it. There was one more jet out there leaving a trail.

The seasons are changing as the leaves of my morning glories are all turning yellow green. I can't believe the light change caused it so quickly but it has.  It has been watered almost every other day and they are doing their best for me.

Before I start mowing I move these two so I don't have to stop the mower.  They look like they like the stairs and I do look twice when I see them there.

I have five tomato plants but most of them have stopped producing.  This one is my yellow variety and we will keep getting some tomatoes from it.  The roma is done as well as the other two which are my normally chosen varieties. The drought is somewhat the problem and me not watering them often enough to keep them blooming.

Our neighbors to the north have seen a fox wandering around in our yards during the daytime.  I have not seen it but they describe it as a very young fox and have seen it come from across the street.  I have picked up a rabbit  that has been mostly eaten in my yard.  The neighbor guy says he also has picked up rabbit remains.

I mowed almost all of my yard today.  The grass was tall and green and it looks good.  I did run out of steam so left a section to finish tomorrow.  The cool strong winds do make it pleasant to be outside. I have lots of bushes to trim and weeds yet to pull but that can wait for another day. 

See you tomorrow.

Many Shots...too Little Space.

 

Painted lady butterfly that spent some time in the flowers was very cooperatiive.  It really was not scared of me and fluttered all around me. 

 

 Yesterday afternoon two swallowtails discovered my phlox. I could see them from the house as they really were active flying all over the blooms. They were so jittery as they didn't have solid flowers to land on and they moved from one to another quickly with a lot of fluttering of their wings.

I am surprised that certain flowers even have nectar but the marigolds have lots of bumble bees this summer.  I have not seen any honey bees so far. 

It was a pleasant day today with cooler temps and some wind.  I didn't work so hard today resting up from the things that I did yesterday.  The yard needs to be mowed and maybe I can start that tomorrow. I have more views of butterflies than I can post.  I did have one more show of last nights sunset. 

Happy trails to you until we meet again.  Thanks for stopping by.....