Summer's Day

While out in the back garden this morning I caught the lowly Barn Flower

looking splendidly gorgeous, don't you think!

It was a lovely morning, - still a cool breeze and the sun barely up and stirring up the fire he

plans to roast us with later in the day.

I don't have an apricot tree in my garden any more but the neighbours on both sides

have wonderful trees that very generously lean their branches over on

my side of the fence and drop the fruit as it ripens with a rather

disastrous splash. 

To avoid this, and because they are both nice neighbours, they

are also very generous and bid me help myself...

which I do!!!

I have canned a couple of dozen small half pints, just enough for a wintery dessert,

and made three apricot pies yesterday, as well as a crisp.

But this morning I was thinking about our youngest son's passion for dried apricots

and how he used to split buckets and buckets of them, laying them

on the roof of the chicken house (amongst other places)

until they dried in the hot summer sun and were a wonderful

soft leathery morsel to set aside for winter.

I decided I would try my hand at drying apricots again, found a wire cage that

Charles had conveniently included in our move down town.

I picked a pail of beautiful tree ripened cots, hanging over the picket fence

and I sat in the shade, split them and laid them on the wire, in the sunshine.

They are covered with cheese cloth to keep the flies and ants away, and I even saw a small green

grasshopper thwarted by the thin covering.

However, considering the skunks that are growing up under various back yard sheds,

and their night time perambulating,

I think I should probably put the drying cots to bed in the garage tonight.

Hopefully they will dry nicely and I can do more, and more and more,

as long as the sun continues to shine so energetically!!!

We had a lovely sunset last evening - I took my camera when I walked to get the mail

and here is what I saw....

 

In addition to the wonderful light reflected by these clouds

I walked back through it from the post box with a small parcel containing

five Wallace Stagner books that I am replacing on my shelves.

All the Little Live Things,   Crossing to Safety,

Where the Bluebird Sings to the Lemonade Spring, 

Angle of Repose and Wolf Willow

All books that I have read before but have a great yearning to read again, 

along with some of  Ivan Doig's and more of Wendell Berry.

Besides being wonderful reads, they take me back in time.......