A week of extreme temperatures, soaring into the low 40s celsius (104F+) and making life for many very difficult. We’ve created a ‘cool room’ in the living room, where we stay planted during the hottest part of the day. The bedroom needs the same treatment, but building codes prevent us from doing it right. I’ll be thankful when the government understands what is needed — not draft-proof, heavily insulated houses built to retain heat — that is not what the future requires anymore.
1) Thankful that the dealership fixed my car’s charging potrzebie [1] — applying updates and patches — and I told them I’d return for bottomless free latte and brownies if it disconnected its ‘hand shake’ again.
2) Thankful that the rainwater barrels are full again, and that my arms are still strong enough to carry big buckets of water to revive heat-stressed plants. We have four of these 160 litre (42 gallon) barrels. Very useful, assuming we get rainfall.
ps: Southeast Water just declared a hosepipe ban, which means we can’t use the hose unless it’s connected up to a timed drip-irrigation system for food, which it is. I’m thankful we worked around this restriction.
3) Thankful that the ants are smart enough to stay in the garden, and not come into the house. They sure love watermelon though!
4) Thankful for leftover coffee (useful in making iced coffee), and heatwave dinners that require no cooking in a really hot kitchen (it’s 38C in the kitchen as write this).
5) Thankful for tough garden gloves when I’m pruning roses. It’s thorns are huge!
6) Lovely views out the window of the blooming hydrangea. It’s a tough plant that can withstand almost anything, but this heatwave was too much for it. It wilted and drooped, but thankfully recovered by morning.
7) Self-seeded poppies and wildflowers in the garden.
8) Thankful that readers enjoyed Brigid’s Diary — two more episodes to finish the current series. I’ve enjoyed the historical research, memories from visiting each of the cities and towns in the story, and writing the weekly liturgies and stories. The house in this week’s episode is in Cagnes-sur-Mer, the house is called Domaine des Collettes. It’s where Renoir spent his last years. It is now a museum.
But if you follow ‘Still Life’ you know that Brigid and Felreil always reappear — different timelines and locations, sooner or later.
9) Thankful that the Apostle Trees only drop pollen once a year and for a short time. It works its way into every crook, crack and cranny.
10) “Whittlespeck“. A project that I’ve been working on and off and on again for a long time is finally finished. Done. Dusted. Published. I’ll probably publish it on Amazon sometime next year.
[1.] under the applied principles of ‘Potrzebie System of Weights and Measures‘
Welcome to TToT (Ten Things of Thankful) blog hop! Join bloggers from all over the world as we come together to share those things that we are thankful for. Ten is in the name, but no one is counting; feel free to link up no matter how many (or few) you can list. Make sure to go read and comment on the posts, too. The TToT has always been big on making this a friendly community, and getting to know each other through posts and comments is a huge part of that. We’re thankful for you!
Thanks also to those who help get the word out about this blog hop, especially our Board of Co-Hostinae: Mimi, Kristi, Lisa, Dyanne, Denise, Misky, cai , Knit Cat and. Andrew
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