It's Been Hot

It's been hot here.  Yes, it is always hot this time of year here in Texas.  However this has been an unusually hot summer.  We set some heat records in July and now again in August.  We have had several days of 105+ and even a few 107's.  This is hot for this part of Texas as we generally stay a little cooler due to our proximity to the Gulf of Mexico.  And this isn't just a few days, it's been like this for the entire month so far.  However, we saw some relief earlier this week with a couple very quick showers and some early morning coolness that made our morning walks very nice.  We have also had some pretty low humidity during this heat which is very unusual.  This morning we woke to thunder storms and have been getting some very good and much needed rain.  Hopefully this is the start of the transition into Fall that we get here in August.

I'm hoping this rain this morning will kick start the few plants (tomato and bell peppers) I bought last week hoping to score some fresh veggies before the cold hits.  Unfortunately the only tomatoes they had take a long time to mature.  It may be too long at 65-75 days.  Wanted 55 but they are not to be had.  This was a spur of the moment purchase as I had thought I wouldn't plant anything until next Spring.  My garden is over grown with Bermuda grass and it is nearly impossible to eradicate.  I have given up trying to.  Although once my veggies quit I will cover the rest of the garden with black plastic and let the sun kill it off.  I will then get out there and clean it out as best I can and bring in some more badly needed compost.  

I have a few project waiting on cooler weather.  Painting some siding, cleaning out the large flower bed of random weeds, clover and hackberry etc.  Last October I had my trees trimmed in the front of the house costing me a ton of $$.  If you know Live Oak trees, you know that when you do that they start sprouting a lot of shoots on the trunks etc.  We need to get out there and do our best to get as much cleaned up as we can.  If not, it will look as bad as it did before our major trim and it will all have been for naught.  We can reach the worst of it with our pole saws and maybe a ladder.  The other we will just have to live with.  Can't afford to have them come back out again.

Went to see a neurologist last week.  Nothing serious.  Been experiencing some hand tremors over the last few years and it has gotten a little worse.  Something called essential tremor.  They control it with beta blockers, blood pressure meds.  I am already on some for blood pressure.  Adding more could make me even more sluggish.  They said if they bothered me enough that is the route to go but left the ball in my court.  I opted to do without for now as it is mostly random and not 24/7.  I was relieved it wasn't something more serious. 

I have been baking bread as a china virus hobby.  I have tried several different things and have settled on one version.  I bake two loaves about every two weeks.  No more store bought bread for us for the foreseeable future.  It ain't purty but it eats good.  I also have been trying out new recipes, mostly from Kent Rollins, with a few twists on his recipes.  I'm sure he won't mind me changing a few things for my own personal tastes.  Look him up on You Tube if you don't know about him.  

Today is my Mother's 88th birthday.  We will go and visit her Sunday and take her some lunch and a small gift.  Not much else planned for the coming week.

Happy Trails