Monsoon madness

The old adage "careful what you wish for" comes into play today. The rain clouds crawled down Mingus mountain today, pushing inexorably toward us. Behind them was a solid black sheet, the mountains were invisible behind the mayhem heading our way. Suddenly the winds burst upon the yard; trash cans blew apart, spewing their recycling contents across the driveway. The rain pushed hard from the south, hitting the windows in our bedroom with such force that it was raining inside! The windows are old- from the 1970's, but still, the rain blew in from the top of the windows, as well as the sides and the middle, where the two windows meet.

As I looked out the onto the back porch, there was nearly a solid sheet of water blowing wildly; things were blowing up into the air, but also the rain was pushing into the porch under the eaves as if there was no roof at all. So- our prayers have been answered, we are receiving lots of rain from the summer monsoons. It's not surprising that some of them come with great force and little regard for my comfy home and yard. At least the rains are coming, and with any luck this terrible drought is finally easing!

HOT HOT HOT!!

I know, I live in Arizona- heat in the summer is a given. But blast, it's been 105 or higher, with 45% humidity or higher!!!! Oh, did I mention we don't have AC? Yea, just a really good Swamp Cooler, but in this humidity and heat, it's functionality sucks. Despite most Interior Decorators disgust with the modern ceiling fan, they are very functional and make life bearable- so luckily I have 3 of them, plus fans in almost every other room in the house.

We are surviving, but these are the days I long for an air conditioned office again! Most of the time I enjoy my job-free existence. I won't say work-free, because there are always the requirements of hearth and home, plus hubby, chickens, dogs and gardens. At least I can manage the time and energy of household stuff. Adding a 40 hour work week to that would kill me, I'm afraid. Maybe literally-who knows?

I only spend time in the garden in the early morning, which leaves me time to sew a bit. I'm posting pictures of the couch cover and baby blanket I finished. Given the weather, I am reading a lot- plenty of time that I can't move much allows for more reading. Right now it's 'The First American- the Life and Times of Benjamen Franklin' by HW Brands. It's a really good biography, well researched and pretty easy to read. What an amazing man Franklin was! This bio is honest about his shortcomings as well as his achievements, which presents a much more human viewpoint than we got in school. Granted, in the 60' and 70's history was pretty 'glossy', and human foibles were ignored in great men, witness Jack Kennedy's indiscretions.... Anyhow, it was published in 2000, but I was working and not reading much then, so it's new to me!