When I compare last month's post to this month, the difference is immense. May starts with tulips, a classic sign of spring, but June is fully summer. This year, it's been as hot as you might expect it to be in August. Whew!
I find myself taking a Florida attitude with the heat, hunkering down indoors with little desire to go outside. I'd prefer to be out admiring flowers, working in the garden, exploring public gardens, but it's just not very enjoyable to me with humidity levels through the roof. We went a full week with temps in the 90's, even getting up to 98 more than once. It isn't normal for central Ohio, and our "corn sweat" humidity makes it so much worse. I did work outside one morning, but by noon, I was over it and overheated. Still, I accomplished what I set out to do.
You may recall that we're moving away from this particular Nest at the end of the summer. But it's still our house, for now, and I want to leave the garden and yard in good condition. Whether or not they like gardening is a mystery to me, but I keep hoping they'll be inspired. It's probably best that I don't check Google Earth too far into the future, because I'll likely be disappointed. Que sera, sera, as they say. I forgot to mention that all our hard work paid off, and we sold our home in two days! Closing is coming up soon, then we'll be renting here for a bit before fully moving out. It's a bittersweet journey, for sure. I'm sad to leave this Nest, but excited to build another! And we'll be much closer to our family, which is the whole point of the matter.
Because the house sold quickly, and we then had to wait for closing, we were able to slow down from the frantic pace of May. The only traveling we did was several trips to our new home to scope it out, and to drop off a few things at our daughter's house for safekeeping. While at home, we've been enjoying our carrot harvest, which is my favorite homegrown vegetable. I rarely cook these orange treasures, as I've always been a fan of munching raw carrots. I've also done a bit more cooking, while we work to clear out the freezers before the move. In particular, I'm working to use up last year's garden tomato crop. They were quite prolific, so I'm glad I took the time to process them at the time. But now I need to turn them into good eating. I've already made our favorite garden spaghetti, and will likely make some vegetable soup and chili next. I also received a gift card for The Peach Truck, and once I cashed it in, have been delighted with the results. As of this moment, there's a fabulous looking peach pie sitting in my kitchen cooling off. I'm practically drooling at the thought of trying it. Will post the results soon. EDIT:Seriously, never tasted anything so delicious! If you have a chance to get peaches from The Peach Truck, I HIGHLY recommend it.
I'm trying not to dwell on the things that I'll miss here in central Ohio, although that can be difficult at times. Instead, I'm looking forward to learning my new community. I've already scouted out the book clubs at my new library, and the availability of yoga classes. I've explored where my favorite stores and restaurants are located. I've spent time planning how my new decor will look, and where I will place the furniture. And yes, I've already purchased some of the new furniture, and decorative touches. But the one thing I haven't done is planning for my new garden. I simply can't envision the space I'll have to work with until I'm standing there in the back yard staring at it. That's how I work, I have to be there making pictures in my brain of how I want it to look, with the space right in front of me. Meanwhile, I'm still saying my goodbyes to some beloved flowers here.
The humidity and heat of this steamy summer have given me cool sunsets to enjoy. Most nights, the neighbors might see me out there taking yet another photo of the sky. No matter what they think, it never gets old for me.
Thanks for stopping by my Ohio Nest. As I move to my Michigan Nest, I hope you'll be patient with me as I build it from scratch. There might not be many flowers to show in the early stages, but we'll make it work. One good thing, the house does come with a few beginning stages of flowers. I spotted a Miss Kim lilac, and some mystery hydrangeas, which is a good start. And my current container gardens will make the trip with me, giving me a quick boost. We're moving in early September/late August, so I should have a couple of months to enjoy my pots before fall comes. I'm sure I'll manage to sneak some daffodils into the ground this fall, which will give me an early surprise in the spring. See you at the end of July, we'll still be in Ohio then. After that, it will be off to new horizons!
