Back porch living

Our back porch is like an extra room for us when the weather gets warm.  From spring until Fall we practically live on the back porch.  

Enjoying morning coffee and eating our meals on the porch~ often times breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Reading a good book on the back porch. I just finished "Whistling Past the Graveyard".  If you liked the "The Secret Life of Bees" and "The Help" you will like this book.  

  

Otis in his rocker.  

We love the back porch for many reasons.  Watching the birds, hearing the wind chimes when a soft breeze blows through, and just being close to nature.  So until the weather gets too unbearably hot to be outside, this is probably where you will find us.  

Harvesting beets this morning

I was out in the garden early this morning before the heat came.  It's going to be another hot and humid day here in NC...98 degrees today.  Whewww!  

I picked a basket full of beets,  

an arm full of tomatoes,  

and a few onions.  

I think we'll be having these yummy healthy veggies tonight for dinner.  

How's your garden growing?  

Winter, in this heat??

It's 100 plus degrees outside and hotter than all blazes, 

so, yes, I am cooling off today inside and reading the most wonderful book... 

 "A Week in Winter" by Marcia Willett.  

It takes place in England and the Cotswalds and it's all about an enchanting old country house called "Mooregate".  

It's the kind of book that makes you want to curl up on the sofa and enjoy a cup of tea, 

or in my case a cup of coffee....yes, even on a hot day like today.  

I found this book at our local library for $1.00.  

Love a bargain!

Hope you're staying cool!  

No frost on the pumpkin here.....

it feels like summer.

Temperatures today hitting 88 degrees. Unseasonably warm.....balmy, humid, and chance of thunderstorms.

I'm rather liking this because in a way, I'm not quite ready to let go of summer.

It's officially autumn.....

....but you'd never be able to tell it here in my neck of the woods. Today it will be 96 degrees, hot and humid.

Last evening I went outside to see the harvest moon around 10:00 pm. It was a beautiful moon and so bright and light at that time of night.

This morning Otis and Riley and I enjoyed the back porch for awhile before the hot sun set in.

I'm still decorating with the American Beautyberries. They're like flowers to me! I've added them with some pine cones in an old red tin pot I have hanging on the back picket fence.

I've also added a rustic branch type wreath to the kitchen window and added some nandina berries and an orange pumpkin.

That's about as much fall as we've got going here.

I'm so looking forward to some cooler weather now that it's officially autumn!

Enjoy your day!

Donna

Some days......

are made for catching up,


cleaning, laundry, bills.

That's what I'm doing today.

Hope you're having a good day whatever it is you're doing.

Stay cool too, if you're having these hot temperatures that we're having, it's a good day to be inside.

Hugs,

Donna

Reading

With this HOT HOT weather we've been having lately, it's rather nice being indoors today and staying cool in the air conditioning.

It's given me time to catch up on some reading.




This morning I brewed a fresh pot of coffee and headed for my comfy spot on the sofa and opened my book to where I last left off.

The book I'm reading is "At Home on Ladybug Farm" by Donna Ball. It's about three very different women buying an old mansion in the Shenandoah Valley and their dream to renovate it and start a new life for themselves.

It's a really good book, and one of a series.

Another book I like to read in the mornings is Simple Abundance. This book was given to me by my dearest hubby many years ago and I'm still enjoying it. One lesson for each day of the year.





Hope you're enjoying whatever it is you're doing today! Have a good weekend.

Donna

Goodmorning

I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July holiday!

We enjoyed it with family, cookouts and fireworks.

It's going to be another hot week here in the south.

A tropical heatwave.......(reminds me of the movie Grumpy Old Men).

This has been the hottest June here in decades and maybe July, too.

So before I dig into all the work that needs to be done today,

I'm enjoying a little time on the back porch.

Enjoy your day today!

Donna

It is sooooooo hot today

Temperatures right around 100 degrees.

Otis and Riley are inside today,

trying to stay cool.

Otis is draped over the couch....

And Riley is chillin' with his bones.

It's just one of those days.

Planting herbs

Call me crazy ~ yes, I'm outside today in this 98 degree weather planting herbs, but I was at the garden center this morning and just had to pick up a few more. One can never have enough, right? I bought cilantro, flat Italian parsley, boxwood basil, and German thyme.

My lemon balm below is taking over the one raised bed in the garden.

Rosemary,

one of my favorites.

I now have three bushes.

Fresh mint...

for my iced tea which I'm enjoying on the back porch,

trying to stay as cool as this blue lady.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Donna

Dangerously hot

Today's temperatures are to hit 99 degrees with a heat index of 106.

Whew!

Summer sizzle

Another scorcher today. Temps nearing 100 degrees and muggy.

The National Weather Service has put us under a heat advisory. How about a nice big glass of iced tea?

"What dreadful hot weather we have!

It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance."

~Jane Austin

Morning breeze

Early morning is the best time to enjoy a cool breeze here at Mourning Dove Cottage. The rest of the day is almost too hot to be outside with temps in the high 90's. It's really been hot lately!

I like to open all the doors and windows to let in the fresh cool air.

And while I was enjoying a porch morning, look who stopped by for a visit.

Enjoy your day.

Lazy days of summer

Ok, Otis and Riley. We've been lazy long enough.

Let's go for a walk.

It's been so hot lately, we haven't been out much.

Sometimes our short walks can get very long.
We must stop and sniff everything.

And, of course, there's a fire hydrant.

And finally, the park.

And so we enjoyed ourselves this morning, thanks to the drop in temperatures, if only for a little while.

Have a great weekend!

It's so hot

This is the only activity going on outside our house.

Not much else is moving. A few birds cooling off in the bird bath, and the hummers flitting about.

It's so hot, and things are very still (even me!)