BEAUTIFUL WEATHER

The heat has finally broken and we have been having pleasant temperatures of 60's in the morning and up to 90 in the evenings. Once the sun goes down, it cools off to about 75-78, and with a light breeze it is just right for sitting on the front deck and watching the birds fly through the sprinklers. The other day Andy and I saw two quail walk across the yard.

Andy has finished building both decks, one outside of the Texas room with a boardwalk to the back patio, and one outside of the Oklahoma room. I have to say that I am very impressed with his workmanship and design. And the placement of each gives a different view at different times of the day.

We had our first real paying guest -- the guitarist Edgar Cruz from Oklahoma City. Andy had arranged for him to come to Watonga to give a benefit concert for the Cheese Festival, and we offered one of the rooms for him to stay. He stayed in the Texas room, and was complimentary when he left. He especially loved the roadrunner mosaic in the shower. After the concert, in the evening, we all sat on the back patio and drank beer and ate homemade salsa from our garden, and the salsa met the approval of both Edgar and Drew, who came to town to meet and see Edgar perform. Drew stayed until Monday, so we had a nice long weekend visit. While Drew was here, we drove to the Ringwood Winery to show him another part of this area. That winery is 40 minutes away, a pleasant drive, and is very picturesque. It has a very large building where the wine vats are kept and a separate bed & breakfast inn.

The gardens are blooming. We finally have some black-eyed susan and shasta daisies getting established. A pink hibiscus and purple verbena brighten up the front. The summer phlox and canna lillies are also in bloom. Red Turk's cap is blooming, and I planted a new pink Turk's cap that is just now putting on some buds. The Hostas will be blooming in another week or so, as they have buds on them now. And the Rose of Sharon have lots of buds just about to pop open, but the marigold are in full bloom in the bed where the irises and daylillies have already played out. I even have a single BLUEBONNET blooming in theI guess the big blooming season here is August and September! I still have lots of areas to fill up with color. I had a "vision" of where to put in a new bed in the front of the property, so I'll start on that this fall.