Saturday, July 12, 2014

Summer evenings

Along about nine o'clock it begins to get dusk.  - I have opened the house to what I hope will be fresh cool air after the heavy somnolence of the July afternoon.

Yes!  It is cool.  Callie and I traverse the long hallway, through the sunroom, and follow the beautiful scent of the nicotiana growing by the back door and in all sorts of hidden places in the garden.  Although it is hard to hide the nicotiana, - it is three feet tall and waves its branches with their cool white fragrant blossoms to catch any movement of air, so when darkness finally falls they are still a ghostly presence perfuming the garden and
floating their fragrance through any open window.



I have taken to breaking off a small sprig of the flowers and putting it in the bathroom, along with some daisies and sweet peas, and when I awaken in the night I immediately have this lovely feeling of being surrounded by exotic perfumes.

And then, of course, there was the moon last night - just appearing over the crest of the dragon's tail attached to K mountain, and lying southward down the valley.  Beautiful!!!  Like a great white mother-of-pearl button.  The loveliest picture I could find was one taken by Janis Dority, who lives in a valley much like this one, except in California.  I have borrowed it from Facebook, where she posted it.....



Today the weatherman promises extremely hot weather, - probably into the 40s (C).

I have a Celebration of Life to attend early in the afternoon and have set out my
dark glasses and my straw hat so that when the celebration site becomes too warm
I can gather them together and walk home, just a block away,
and the A/C and a nice cool drink of Orange Brandy 
 will welcome me.

I have put a tempting Lancashire Hot Pot in the slow cooker, having discovered 
some very nice lamb shanks at the meat counter yesterday, and made a fruit salad with
end of the week strawberries and bananas and melon and raspberries from the garden....

Looking forward to another sweet evening and dear memories.



6 comments:

Barb said...

Every time I come to visit you and see those pink roses, I sigh, Hildred. I have never smelled Nicotiana - it sounds heavenly. I bet the delectable smells from your meal greeted you when you came back home. A storm is brewing here - they are coming over the mountains nearly every afternoon. All activities outside must be planned to be finished by mid-afternoon.

Penny said...

Sounds like a good plan for the day, thinking of you in the heat, here we are getting colder, never as cold as you get but still wet and dreary and would love some sun.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Lovely post Hildred - I can almost smell that Nicotiana from here. Wish I could share that hotpot too. Have a nice day.

uberrhund said...

Oh what a sweet evening in your garden, thank you for sharing it with us!
I am flattered you shared my moon photo, I was lucky with the wispy clouds clearing away for the night a couple hours after sunset.
It is hot in my valley too for the next few days, you take care and keep cool in the week ahead!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Long summer evenings are lovely (though perhaps a bit too long to be appreciated here where we are now.)

I love thinking about the rich floral scents that surround you on that nightly trip ;>)... I don't think I know Nicotiana and I must find out!

Morning's Minion said...

I didn't have time to start my usual flower seedlings this spring. I did sprinkle out a leftover packet of nicotiana along a strip in the garden at the 'other house.' It didn't germinate, so I will miss the scent of it this summer. Another year....