It Was So Hot Today...

... that a squirrel melted. I know, I crack myself up but when I glanced out at the patio and saw the squirrel lying flat out like that all I could think was that it had melted. It was a real scorcher today--90 degrees with a feels like temperature of 97. Needless to say, I didn't go out much.

I spent most of the day rereading my new manuscript and trying to figure out where to put new parts with Rose and Iggy into the mix. I wasn't very inspired today. I blame the heat (even though I was inside in the air conditioning). That's my excuse anyway. At least I read through the whole thing and did a little rearranging and a little bit of new writing. A very little bit.

Another day, another watercolor of a European bird that looks nothing like its North American counterpart. This one is supposed to be a Goldfinch but my Goldfinches are all bright yellow with black caps and no red face. I like this one and I like the way the nest turned out, it's just not what I expected.

The Stella d'Oro lilies are loving this weather. They're busting out the blooms like crazy. Look at all of the flowers on this one plant and there are about five plants blooming the same way.

The female Oriole visited the jelly a couple times today that I saw. She dipped her beak in a few times and came up with a bit of the jelly stuck on it. She tried to wipe it off on the side of the dish but had no luck so she flew off. Maybe some lucky nestling got a taste of jelly.

I had to stop and think about what to put on the Gratitude Journal page today. It felt at first like I didn't have much to be grateful for, at least, not things that I could draw. But I managed to dredge up a quartet of things that made it on to the page. I'm listening to Kristen Hannah's The Women on audiobook and it's keeping me up late at night because I don't want to turn it off.

The air conditioner tech came today to do the annual tune-ups on the a/c in my side and the rental side. He reminded me that the unit on the rental side is 21 years old, very old for an a/c unit, so it will probably need to be replaced soon. It's always something.

--Barbara