2018 Life Logs, Day 182—Hot July 1
Date: Sunday, July 1, 2018
Weather: Sunny and Hotter Than Yesterday; High 90, Low 64 F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
July decided to enter making a statement. The temperature reached 90 degrees today, so it was a hot July 1. I love hot, so it wasn’t a problem for me, but I did have to venture into the basement to find fans. I never really needed a lot of fans when I lived on the harbor as it was always windy, but I do have one. And there were two floor fans here when I moved in. Unfortunately, when I brought them upstairs, only one is working, so if this is going to be a hot summer, I’ll need to invest in a couple of window fans. For now, however, things are fine and that is because the nighttime temperatures are staying in the 60’s. That cools things down and makes for nice sleeping without a fan.
When I got up this morning and raised the shade in the bedroom, I was greeted with a lovely sight. There were at least three, maybe four, Northern Flickers hanging out around one of my raised garden beds.
They were pecking at the ground and appeared to be eating insects. Whatever they were doing, I love having them on the property. I have only seen one at a time prior to this morning and always on a dead tree in the side yard. They were being bold this morning. I had to take photos through the screen as I was sure they would fly away if I tried to raise it. So the photos are not great. They are beautiful birds and I hope they continue to hang out here.
Heather and gang went to a pool party this afternoon and I invited them over for dinner afterwards. So, I spent a bit of my afternoon preparing for that. I didn’t get the last of the plants I bought last week planted, but I’ll get that done in the evenings this week. The Goldstones arrived early and Jed brought their hammock and cleared an area in the side yard between two trees that is perfect for a hammock. I think I have a hammock that I bought in Indonesia, so I am going to have to find that and buy what is needed to hang it between those two trees. I’m not a hammock person, but the kids will enjoy it. While everyone was relaxing, Sam and I took the van and drove to Peter and Karen Baranowski’s to borrow one of their kayaks. Sam and Jonah have neighborhood friends who would like to come kayak with them, so we needed at least one more kayak. Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco, arrive in two weeks, and it will be nice to have the extra kayak then as well. Thanks for the loan, Peter and Karen! While we were there, Peter showed us the two-pound quahog clam he found today. It was huge and Sam was quite impressed. When we go home, Sam took it out for a trial run and I think Jonah and Ollie went out as well. Jed was on kid duty on the dock while I was getting dinner ready, so I didn’t really see who did what, but I do know all three boys were complaining about wet pants, so I think they all went out. We had a nice dinner together and then Heather and Jed took three tired little boys home. They didn’t get home until almost midnight from the Revolutions soccer game last night and none of the boys slept on the way home. They definitely needed to get to bed on time tonight.
Camp Oma will continue this week, but with only one grandmother as Marti returned to Maine today. It was so much fun to have both grandmothers for a week. Jed reported that Marti made the drive home just fine and she got quite a surprise when she got there. Jed’s brother Toby, who lives in Portland, Oregon, flew in unannounced for the week and was there when Marti arrived. Marti’s brother, who lives next door, is having a big 4th of July party and Marti was a bit concerned about getting all the tables set up. So I know she will really appreciate having Toby’s help, as well as just enjoy visiting with him.
