Too darn hot (not complaining!)

Ste Sabine
Yesterday's weather: hot and sticky

Yesterday was one of those days when just to walk from one end of the garden to the other left one in a very unladylike state of dampness. I remember my mother saying that ladies never sweat or even perspire, they 'gently glow'. Well, I was 'gently glowing soaked' yesterday! So, naturally it was a day for strimming, trimming back overgrown shrubs and wheeling the debris back and forth in the wheelbarrow. A long cool shower made me feel normal again - for about twenty minutes. If I go outside today I will get wet for a different reason. It is still really sticky but there is thunder around and it has rained - only a little so far. Also, someone has stolen the opposite hillside. I can't see it at all this morning. Could be fog, I suppose.

The cats are all grumpy too, which is a sure sign that a storm is brewing. I feel so sorry for them in their fur coats when the weather is so hot and sticky. They all have their favourite places for their afternoon nap. The kitten has taken up residence upstairs by the front door, in the fork of a tree or on top of the garage. All three are hot places even if he finds what little shade there is, so we are always surprised that he settles there. Misty tends to follow us around a bit but usually settles in amongst the rosemary and lavender right by the back door where there is shade in the afternoon and Jazz, who used to be found on a garden chair has now discovered the best place of all, a cool ledge in the cellar. She particularly likes this one at the moment because Figgy hasn't found it yet and even if Misty did discover her, she really can't be bothered to jump all the way up there. So Jazz is quite safe.

Today I will be mostly looking for fig recipes (hoping that Figgy doesn't get upset and think I mean him). The figs are suddenly ripening and there are hundreds of them. Not wanting anything to go to waste, but at the same time not needing to eat too many figs at once, I will be looking for ways to cook them, freeze them and preserve them. Unfortunately they are, as usual, very small. I have been reading up gardening tips to see if there is any way I can prune the tree or thin out the branches to encourage larger fruits but I think the tree is so old, like the apple, that it is probably beyond help. I don't know yet whether we will keep the tree forever, but at the moment it gives us a lot of privacy in the summer. I love the shape of it and it brings the wrens and robins close to the kitchen window (only when cats aren't in evidence) so we would certainly have to replace it with something if it went. But that is a decision for the future.