For this area we have had a hot, dry summer. It was a really welcome change to have thunderstorms come through a couple of days ago.
The lightning over the mountains is an awe inspiring sight. And the thunder sometimes rattles the whole house. The temperature drops and the heavens let loose and it pours down rain for a while. It reminds us of the monsoons we enjoyed in the Tucson summers.
The hanging flower basket is positioned just right to catch the rain dripping off the porch. The mountains just above us got so much rain in such a short time there was flash flooding that washed out the bridge, but here at AAR not a problem.
Some of our neighbors have had issues with their dogs during the storms. A couple have been scared and run off, others just run around in circles and bark like crazy. They do not appreciate the thunder and lightning. Our dogs don’t seem to have that problem.
Their reaction it to take a nap on the porch.
After the thunderstorms, we have had record breaking heat. I know those of you in the valley are laughing at this – when we talked to Alex last week it was 112 degrees - but around here anything over 90 degrees is serious heat. The rain has made it more humid than usual and, to quote the guy at the store yesterday, “It is sweltering!”
Of course no one around here has air conditioning. I would be surprised it there are ten air conditioned homes in all of Skagit County – certainly none in Marblemount. This is the Marblemount version of air conditioning.
You use the wood stove a lot more often than the fan!
Even in the “sweltering” heat, we have been working on fencing. We are trying to get the chicken side of the garden fence complete. The chickens are very interested in whatever is going on, but they stay in the shade to watch.
The dogs stay in the shade as much as possible too. I saw Molly napping and wondered where Grizzly was.
I took a closer look and saw that Grizzly had found himself an even cooler spot. Down in the ditch that is one of our works – in -progress.
He looked pretty comfortable snoozing down there – and it didn’t bother him at all when we walked over the boards.
The good news about the heat is that our garden is doing really well, and we had our first ripe tomato last week!
Just big enough for one bacon and tomato sandwich each, but it was mmmgood.
