A perfect day.

I have no idea what the outside temperature is, but it cannot be even close to 100 degrees.  We've had the doors open since this morning, and the clear and crisp breeze has been flowing through the screens and all around the house all day long. The air-conditioning system hasn't kicked on once, and it's very comfortable in here, upstairs and downstairs. Gorgeous day.

The neighbor across the road has all of his livestock in his pasture that can be seen from our porch.... all of his cows and goats, and his one horse.  He used to have three horses, but he sold the other two.  He also had many more goats, but he raises the goats for their meat, so I think they've eaten more of the goats lately.  We haven't seen or heard any baby goats out there for at least a few months.  The cries of the baby goats are just like those of a newborn baby.  The first time I heard that crying sound, I was frantic because I thought someone had abandoned a baby somewhere on our property. Without anything to buffer noises around here, whatever is heard on one property can also be heard on the surrounding properties as well.

The hummingbirds are still around the yard, and I re-filled their feeder with sugared water and red food coloring.  I've never seen a hummingbird that glows in the dark, so all that fuss about red food coloring hasn't bothering those tiny birds. Yet.

It was so comfortable and pleasant outside this morning that I started to pull up weeds from the box-garden.  My husband used to plant vegetables in that particular garden, but last year the vegetables we planted didn't exactly do very well (except if you happened to be a raccoon). We put down garden fabric and mulch in that box-garden, and put in flowering plants.  We did not, repeat: did not, plant weeds. At the end of last Spring, we had virtually no weeds in that garden.  By the end of June, we had more weeds than plants.  And they popped up right through the garden fabric, and right up through the mulch.  We tried to keep up with the weeding, but the Summer got so hot so quickly and the weeds kept multiplying overnight it seemed....... so we gave up for the most part during July and August when the temperatures were over 100 degrees.

But this morning... the sun was shining but it wasn't broiling....... the breeze was blowing but it was a cool breeze.... and I thought it was the perfect time for pulling up weeds.  I filled a large bucket with weeds before I stopped.... and I'll do a little more each morning.  I told my husband that we need to buy fresh mulch for that garden.... in the hopes of keeping new weeds from popping up. (Is that even possible?  Just how many inches or feet of mulch would one need to accomplish that?)

I have read (and loved!) all of the gardening memoirs of British author Beverley Nichols...... he always had a live-in gardener to plant flowers and pull weeds.  Mr. Nichols did the garden designing, his gardener did the actual work.  Now isn't that a civilized way to establish a beautiful garden? One would sit there with pencil and paper... map out the locations of plants and flowers and trees... drive to the nursery and pick out everything on that list and have it all delivered. Then you would go home and perhaps have a cup of tea, then speak to the gardener.  You would then show your drawings and planting design to the gardener..... and then point to where such-and-such should be planted.... and the gardener would dig and hoe and plant and water.... and voila! One would have a gorgeous garden.  Beverley Nichols........... a city-man after my own city-girl heart.