The Heat

Today was the 16th day of 100F or above--mostly well above. Here is the official National Weather Service Record at DFW International:

June had 4 days of 100 degrees F.

July 1 @ 102F
July 2 @ 100
July 3 @ 101
Then----

July 14 @ 100
July 15 @ 100
July 16 @  101
July 17 @ 104
July 18 @ 106
July 19 @ 108
July 20 @ 108
July 21 @ 109
July 22 @ 109

The rest of this coming week will be at 100 to 104 and it will not be until next Monday that we see temps fall back to 95.

Traditionally we get 18 days of 100-degrees F a year. It's just not as oppressive as this has been.The overnight temps never fall back below 80 and this morning, it was 85 just starting the daylight hours off.

Still, I have started out early and head for the barn at 4 hours or 100 which ever comes first. Tonight, I went outside at 9 to watch the space station cross Dallas, but the heat was still at 103 at 9 pm. Plus there was some blotchy clouds right over the path. I could see the moon and the evening star but the space station which at this time of year is usually visible for 6 minutes as it crosses the sky, was obscured.

So, I came back inside not so disappointed ---just glad that 6 minutes went so fast. There were lots of pictures to submit from the week after editing. Some interesting ones so be sure to check out the website's last tab and click on the portfolio under those that are linked. I do not have Dreamstime linked and  Featurespic and Alamy are listed on the blog so click that on as well.

I have been down to the Convention Center twice as Mary Kay Seminars began on Friday and run through August 4th.

This is next to my Kroger store. A lady stepped on the accelerator rather than the brake and drove into the Dry Cleaners. It was reported that she hit some equipment as well and that was the reason for the HazMat Crew Once they arrived on scene, the police and fire truck left and went back into servcie.

The is not your average cell tower. It sits atop a massive high tension power line net work which is like twice as high as a normal cell phone relay tower. But, the most amazing thing here is that all the Purple Martin Swallows (the largest of swallows) are lined up on  the lightening wires but if you go to 100% you will see as many inside the reply pods on braces, wires and even on the relays at various points. In short. There are birds all over the place within the structure. The monk parots normally nest there in the winter because of the heat it generates. They were flying around chattering like crazy and  were not happy that the martins had taken over.

 

This bunny I found today. It is the second one that I have seen this week and birds have been highly successful as well. From the Road Runner at the National Cemetery to the Red Tail Hawk chasing the crows out of his territory yesterday. SO, I can only conclude that the hot weather has had its effect on nature's critters including the snakes that have tried to get to cooler places. I almost stepped on a 5 footer a couple of days ago. Snakes do good things for enviroments, but they are not my favorite little helper. I would just as soon to not see any.

Get Up From The Computer!

Yes, the 'experts' all say that when you are setting at the computer, you need to get up and move around. Generally, I'm up and down for the coffee pot when I'm working at the computer anyway. Come lunch time, I'm up making lunch and putting the dishes away from the dishwasher, too. So, I'm normally not to concerned about not getting up enough.

With the hot weather--it hit 100 again today-- being out when it is that hot does cause me some problems with my meds. One of the warnings on most of the meds all have warnings about being out in the sun, dehydration and a shopping list of other little annoyance  things. I don't need that so cutting back when it is hot is top priority. But, as the work gets caught up--I'm highly efficient in that department-- is when usually I am heading out to shoot the next item on the shoot agenda. Alright, the fact of the matter is: I got extremely bored today.

When that happens, it's usually kitchen creative time. That is when the pantry door is opened and I stand in front of the pantry focused on the shelves to see what I can whip up. There is a good history of good things coming out of  my kitchen when that happens. Dinnertime really becomes a banquet of sorts. All healthy of course. Sugary things are limited to an occasional  bakery buy now and then.Keeping  those things in the pantry is pretty much a no no for me.

As with any self-imposed rule, exceptions can be inserted from time-to-time. And, they are. Such an example was the opening and later shuttering of the Fresh Market in the remade shopping center at Gaston and Garland Road. It was a South Carolina market that was popular in the Carolinas and could have been here, but Dallas people don't need to go to South Carolina like the snow birds do. The laid back approach to 'Whole Food' class of shopping was the same except  for that overly laid back approach at Fresh Market. In short, while it was open here, of course I shopped there for certain things I could not get here in Dallas that had that South Carolina feel.  Keeping in mind that Whole Foods and HEB Central Market have that Gulf  of Mexico feel rather than the Carolina one and there is a difference for sure.

At that final week of Fresh, I picked up a box of frosting mix that I had found more close to what I enjoyed as a kid. It went top and back in the pantry until I would discover it serendipitously sometime in the future. A couple of weeks ago while in the grocery store shopping and looking for something that had been moved from the last time I shopped, I ran across a box of dutch chocolate Pillsbury cake mix. One, it was a name out of the past that jumped out at me. Two, it was dutch chocolate. Three, I could not stop it from jumping into my cart!

Today, at the pantry door, it all ganged up on me. As a result, I have a 13x9 sheet pan cake with a tin of 6 cupcakes baked to perfection and iced! Tonight, its french bread pizza with a salad. Somehow, there is a cupcake missing our of the tin already.  Dang Hot weather!

That South Carolina Feel Is Unmistakeable. I would have liked to have seen Fresh Market make it here in Dallas.