It keeps raining almost every day. I was about to say that it is unusual for the season, but I am beginning to realise that may be this is the new normal.
When I was younger, July was traditionally the hottest month of the year. There is even a special folk word here – goreshtnitsi, for the hottest days, which occur every July. But things seem to have changed recently. In 2018, our first summer after we moved in here, it was pouring literally every day, causing a massive invasion of slugs in the yard – quite disheartening for my gardening attempts. Last summer it was not so bad, but still not so hot as before.
The flowers enjoy the rain, but if it gets too wet, they suffer from diseases. And if there is violent wind or hail, sometimes they are damaged physically, despite the song lyrics.
After the hard rain yesterday, the stems of the delphinium were bent.
Actually, they looked beautiful this way, but I was afraid that they could break, so I provided them with some support.
The animals don’t like too much rain either.
Our neighbor’s dog – Topo, who lives in the yard, stays in his dog house if it is wet, although it is a bit too small for him. And he is really scared of thunder – once he was stuck out in the storm soaking wet, alone and terrified, and we brought him inside to dry and comfort him. The cats are are more streetwise and they usually find a place to hide, but sometimes they get wet and it makes them really miserable.
The squirrels moved into our attic, like they do every time when the weather is bad. They keep peeling the bark of the big linden tree and bringing it inside through the openings under the roof, to make their den more comfortable.
I used to love Isabel Allende’s books, and I was eagerly waiting for each new one. But then at one point I felt like they were too sad and heavy – my imagination is way too vivid, so I experience hard stories almost like they are real, and I can get really upset. So finally I started to avoid them – but now, during our social isolation, I am in dire need of new books to read, and in my search of e-books I came upon Maya’s Notebook.
It was good as expected, though some parts were really dark…
I finished a new bag – Evening Breeze. It is made of denim and decorated with ethnic fabrics and embroideries, mostly salvaged from thrifted items (table runner, pillowcases, skirt, purse), including a Hmong fair-trade embroidery patch. I made the fringe from braided stripes of recycled silk, cotton cord and wooden beads.
The bag is now available in our shop.
I made this African print dress from parts of a second hand top and skirt, mixing them with some more wax print fabrics from my stash and leftovers from other projects. (I dyed the top yellow first, because there was too much white for my taste.) I am really happy with the result!
