Early summer morning in the garden

The cool 52-degree air wafted in the open windows this morning as I reached for a sweater to go over my tee shirt. The late July coolness is truly appreciated so after breakfast I loaded the washing machine with towels and sheets to hang out to dry, and then, donning SWAC Husband's wide-brimmed hat, headed to the garden before the summer sun became too uncomfortable. 

My tennis shoes quickly became wet from the dewy grass as I made my way across the yard to the garden gate. The sun was peeking over the ridge so half the garden was in shade while the other half was already in full sun.

We have what I would call a salad garden this year. Yukon Gold potatoes were the exception but they are always so good -- and this year they have grown so big -- that they are always a first choice for planting. Otherwise, it's several varieties of tomatoes, several varieties of peppers, cucumbers, and herbs. Colorful flowers add bright splashes of yellow, orange, red, blue, and purple while attracting pollen-collecting bees.

The necessary June bug aka Japanese beetle trap hangs in the corner of the garden although they have not been much of a problem this year. We didn't get the 17-year cicadas either ... only the usual summer variety.

 It's nice to have a shady spot to relax after getting sweaty in the garden. This is my own oasis of quiet under the shade trees.

By the time I finished in the garden and had hung the clothes out, the temperature had risen 20 degrees to a still-comfortable 72.

I've got to say there's something satisfying about growing your own food, and there's something comforting about consuming it and knowing where it came from. We know there are no pesticides on it and how it's been handled and exactly how fresh it is ... from garden to dinner table. Yum.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
July 29, 2013

Summertime gardening

Flowers in the garden ...

... cucumbers in a pot ...

... Yukon Gold potatoes.

Herbs ...

Digging potatoes while SWAC Niece films for a French documentary.

Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
July 5, 2013

A virtuous man ... loves the quiet of the mountains

A virtuous man when alone loves the quiet of the mountains
A wise man in nature enjoys the purity of water
One must not be suspicious of the fool who takes pleasure
in mountains and streams ...
But rather measure how well he sharpens his spirit by them.
-Muso Soseki

H/T Bob K.
Photo by SWAC Girl

Rain!

It's raining in the Shenandoah Valley, a steady downpour that started shortly after 7:00 a.m. With drought conditions gripping many areas, it's just what the doctor ordered. Temps are the low 70s, cool breeze wafting in the open windows ... I love rainy days.

Baby, it's hot outside

Temps at my house in western Augusta County hit 103.1 today as the intense heat continues in the Shenandoah Valley and from Virginia north to Massachusetts. Baby, it's hot outside ... but as fellow Washington Examiner blogger Joshua Bowman wrote, crank up the AC, it's cheaper now, and it could save your life!

Baby, it's hot outside

So the mid-day temperatures in the central Shenandoah Valley are hovering around a wiltingly-hot 100 degrees and you don't want to stay confined in the air conditioned house or maybe you don't have AC. Where do you go to burn off some energy and stay cool at the same time?

There are a number of "swimming holes" throughout the area from lakes to rivers to pools as well as air conditioned locations for kids bouncing off the walls or to find a place to ward off the heat:

Staunton's public swimming pool at Gypsy Hill Park, Waynesboro's city swimming pool, public pools at Natural Chimneys and Grand Caverns, Sherando Lake and Todd Lake, both with beaches and picnic facilities in the national forest ... Shenandoah River, North River, Middle River, Lake Moumau ...

... city and county libraries, the mall ... take in a movie at an air conditioned theater, go out to eat, check out a museum ... get an ice cream cone ... stock up on Freezees ...

... picnic in the mountains along the Skyline Drive or Blue Ridge Parkway (where the temperatures are usually five-to-ten degrees cooler than the Valley) ...

... take the kids for fast food where there's an indoor playground ... visit one of the many caverns in the Shenandoah Valley where interior temperatures hover in the 60s.

When my kids were younger and it got hot, we would meet other moms and their kids at Sherando or Todd Lake, take a picnic, and spend the entire day as the kids played on the beach and swam in the water, and the moms would visit with one another, read, or work on lesson plans for the fall (we were all home schoolers). I would make our own Freezees with Kool-Aid, Dixie Cups, and popsicle sticks.

If all else fails, think back about six months ago when we had two-to-three feet of snow on the ground and freezing temperatures and many were wishing for summer.

It's here! Stay cool....

100 degrees in the Shenandoah Valley

The Shenandoah Valley is in the middle of a heat wave along with much of the East Coast with temperatures today and tomorrow hovering around 100 degrees. As a result, a heat advisory has been issued by the National Weather Service and Harrisonburg's WHSV TV-3 has posted the following:

*** A Heat Advisory has been issued for Page, Shenandoah, Warren, Clarke and Frederick counties until 11 p.m. Wednesday. High temperatures are expected to approach 100 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday, and increasing humidity will push heat index values higher. It is recommended that residents drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned buildings if possible, stay out of the sun and check up on relatives or neighbors, especially the elderly. ***

It hit 100 degrees at our house today at noon. The air conditioning has been running practically non-stop for days. When the wind kicks up outside, it's nice in the shady back yard but when it's still, as it is today, the most comfortable place is inside in the AC.

It's dry in our corner of the world with brown, crunchy grass and little rain. We're using self-imposed water conservation since we're on a well. We don't normally water our garden so no H2O is being used on that and, as a result, it is dry and the veggies are parched.

Here's hoping we'll have an early, cool Fall as we make our way through a hot, dry summer....

Cleaning day....

It's cleaning day at SWAC house preparing for out-of-town guests and our annual 4th of July cookout....

Baling season in the Valley

All my neighbors are baling hay which offers perfect photo opportunities for me because the mountains, hay bales, and fields are a beautiful window on the world.



The Appalchian Mountains are a back drop to this field.

I didn't see the robin in the field (lower left) until posting the photo.

Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
24 June 2010

Summer in my yard....

Cosmos in SWAC Daughter's flower garden in the front yard.

Coreopsis (Moonlight) in the front yard.

Stormy sunset from our front porch.

There's a storm across the Valley....

Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
June 2010

Will it hit 100 degrees today in the Valley?

It's a hot one out there and it's already 99.5 degrees at mid-day in western Augusta County. Will it break 100? High humidity and little wind are making a very hot day in the Shenandoah Valley as air conditioners hum, sprinklers perk up parched plants, and pools are busy with the squeals of children

It's a hot 2nd day of summer in the Valley....

First day of summer almost passed me by....

It's been one of those days ... busy running with back-to-back stuff going on all day ... and I almost didn't get around to blogging a first-day-of-summer post.

Each year I write about my first day of summer years ago when we went shrimping in South Carolina with friends. Our son was one at the time and we spend all day in the hot, blistering SC sun waiting for the tide to go out, catching the shrimp, then waiting for the tide to come back in to float the boat so we could return to dock. It was a memory to keep for a lifetime.

Today was quite different with a Board of Supervisors staff briefing to attend, meeting afterwards, and then a cookout with friends that lasted until dark. Dark tonight was later than any other because it's the longest day of the year because it's the first day of summer ... which made me think about the post about shrimping.

We will enjoy summer in the Valley....

Father's Day, World Cup soccer, outdoor grilling

Today's menu was simple and male-friendly: ribeye steaks on the grill, seasoned corn on cob, baked potatoes with fixings, garden salad, and dessert (chocolate brownie topped with mocha ice cream). It was a Dad's Day feast.

With the hot outside temperature, it's also good for watching the World Cup inside at mid-day before a late-day volleyball game when the sun gets lowers and temps are a bit cooler.

We're settling into summer in the Valley....

Canning garden veggies ... tomatoes, pickles & salsa

Bread and butter pickles, red and yellow tomatoes
Banana peppers, mild & hot salsa

The variety of garden vegetables piled on the kitchen floor was diminished significantly over the weekend as canning continued in the Mitchell kitchen. Alex and SWAC Husband were busy bees with the latest jars of goodies now put up for winter ... banana peppers, mild and hot salsa, red and yellow tomatoes, bread and butter pickles. There's more to come as veggies continue to roll in from the garden.

It's been a great growing year ... rain, cool nights, warm days, and an 8-foot fence around the garden to keep out the deer who helped themselves last year. There's enough produce that we're still sharing with friends who do not have gardens.

It will be nice to have a taste of summer in the dead of winter.

Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
August 17, 2009

Shenandoah summer night on the deck

It felt like fall in the Shenandoah Valley today with temps in the 70s, lower humidity, bright sunshine, and a slight breeze.

Tonight there's a coolness in the air ... friends are sitting around the deck ... there's a cheerful, crackling fire and a bottle of wine ... the mountains are silhouetted against the sky with the setting sun ... lively conversation and good times.

The next two days in the Valley are supposed to have temps in the 90s. Real summer weather will be around Saturday and Sunday ... and then it would be nice to slip back into the coolness we have been accustomed to this summer....

Update at midnight.... There's a full moon over the Blue Ridge Mountains, illuminating the mountains and making this an absolutely beautiful evening in an absolutely beautiful corner of God's world.

Out and about in Staunton

Met a friend for lunch today and, of course, had to take photos....

Beautiful golf course with Blue Ridge Mountains in background....

Staunton's Betsy Bell & Mary Gray mountains are visible in the background of the Staunton Country Club pool.

Looking up toward the club house.

Met another friend earlier this week for lunch at The Depot Grille at the Wharf in downtown Staunton ... and, of course, took photos. Our table was across from Statler Brother Don Reid and his son.

The Depot Grille is located in the historic train station in downtown Staunton.

It's summer and everyone is out and about in the Shenandoah Valley as we enjoy the summer days of August. It has been an unusually cool summer with more-than-normal rainfall ... very comfortable. The grass is usually brown and crackly by now but this year it is still green and needing to be cut on a weekly basis. The garden is exploding with fresh vegetables that we are sharing with friends, and the grill has been the center of much entertainment in the back yard.

It's summer in the Valley....

Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
August 3 & 6, 2009

Hey, Phil ... in a word, "yes"

Fellow SWAC blogger Yankee Phil asked a question: Do other bloggers get into these non-blogging moods?

In a word, the answer is "yes."

It's time to enjoy the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer! Your boys are out of school, Scout camps are going on, family vacations are in high gear, the pool and lake are calling, the mountains in this area are always calling ... who wants to spend all day in front of a computer if you don't have to?

Best of all, it's not a job but a hobby so we don't have to!

Enjoy. You'll get your groove back soon enough ... probably when school goes back into session and family routines go back on a regular schedule.

Meanwhile ... give your fingers a holiday, answer the call of the mountains, and have fun following your boys on a hiking trail. It's summertime!

Shenandoah Valley hay bales

It's hay time in the Shenandoah Valley.

Photo by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
June 24, 2009

Historic Downtown Staunton shops

Beverley Street in historic downtown Staunton, Virginia,
in the central Shenandoah Valley.

Botanica gifts and furnishings.

Back in Thyme has gifts and furnishings.

Berry's Natural Way on Beverley Street
has health food and natural products.

The "umbrella" building at corner of Beverley & N. Augusta Streets.

SWAC Niece and SWAC Daughter walk toward
Shenandoah Pizza on Beverley Street.

Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
June 2009