Home again

 Ward and I arrived home last night after a wonderful trip to the far north. I'll soon be telling you more about what we did, but for now, I'll bring you up to speed on what happened at home while we were away.

None of these day lilies were blooming when we left.

Maryland was involved with the heat dome, which brought record-breaking temperatures and storms. Temperatures were around 100°F, with heat indexes even higher. The neighbors let us know that there had been a nearby lightning strike that had fried several things in their houses. My sister, Wally, and Theo gave our house a good look and said everything seemed to be in order. A few days later, when Theo checked in while watering some things, the house was 90°F and the AC wasn't running. He called a repair person who said an AC panel had been burned, and they had to order a part. 

When we got home last night, they were still waiting on the part, and the house was a "cool" 88F. We opened windows and got fans going, which helped a little. But the good news was that we were able to sleep in the basement, which was a good 10 degrees cooler.

This afternoon, the repairman came and found another part that had been fried, but was able to fix both problems. We now have AC! It's going to take a while to cool down the house, but we're making progress. I like my air conditioning. 

We're airing out all our bags before putting them away.

In the meantime, we've been unpacking, washing clothes, getting groceries, picking up the mail, and doing all the other things you do when coming home from a trip. 

But before I did any of that, I had to see how all of the plants did while we were gone. It was a mixed bag. Some definitely suffered from the extreme heat, and others thrived. And pretty much everything had been munched on by a critter, probably a deer, or maybe a rabbit.

The portulaca was in full bloom and spilling over the sides when we left. I guess it made a nice treat on a warm day.

Next to it, something ate all the tops off the sunflowers in this pot.

The dahlia was left alone, but didn't do well in the extreme heat.

But the basil doubled in size. It started blooming as well as the oregano beside it. I've got a lot of work to do here, as well as most of the other beds.

The beautyberry was spared from being munched on and grew like crazy.
When we left, it was not over the sidewalk.

In addition to the squash, the tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, and various other flowers had all been munched on.

Wally and Theo harvested things twice while we were gone, and this is what I found today. All of these probably would have been better if they were picked a little sooner, but we will use them.

I have a lot of work to do outside, but it can wait until the coolness of the morning. Today it was in the low nineties. 

I'll be back soon, as time permits, and tell you about a place that doesn't need air conditioners.

Until next time...