We finally got in (and cleaned) the pool yesterday, although the water temp was only 80 and the air temp was only 82.  But it was sunny, so it felt refreshing.  I keep hoping we'll get some hot weather early in August, but it's not looking very favorable.

The big July bloom is coming to an end --all the lilies are pretty much done, as is the bee balm.  The hummingbirds have been enjoying the buffet.  The shasta daisy and rudbeckia is still blooming, probably because it's been so cool.  

My lupine look awful, and I'm trying to figure out what to do about them.  Apparently they like things a big acidic, so I need to add some stuff to the soil --peat moss will do the trick apparently.  However, in the meantime, I'm thinking I should try some acid fertilizer.

We haven't had any significant rain since we got back from traveling, so I need to get the sprinkler out today.

Boy, it has been so chilly recently!  The last few days it's not even gotten out of the 60s!  I think we made it to 72 today --but for July, that's strange.  It's really a little too chilly, it doesn't really feel like we're in summer.

We took Emma to Rockton's Old Settlers Days fair yesterday, and it was nice that it was cool.  She went on her first real rides --tilt-o-whirl, ferris wheel, etc.  She had a great time.  Tomorrow Erin and I are taking the girls to a water park down near Starved Rock park, luckily an indoor water park, since it's only warming very slowly.  We're going to stay overnight.

Liatris - John & Irene have this plant growing in their yard and didn't know what it was.  It's a great looking perennial, and I'd like to add it to our gardens.

I'm watering with the sprinkler again.  We leave day after tomorrow for a week, and no rain in the forecast.  Emma and I watered the pine trees and tomatoes this morning.  I think I'm going to move the basil to the front porch and water it good before we leave.  It just dries out too much in the sun on the mudroom porch.  I still want to mix up some of the neem oil and spray the rose bushes before we leave, as well.

We spent most of the day extracting honey down in Byron --about 35 lbs worth.

Rob and Emma have worked hard on the north porch landscaping, and we finished it last night.  The walls are built, the soil filled in, Rob moved some hostas to surround the drywell, and last night we finished mulching the whole area --it looks great.  We'll have to figure out what to plant there next spring --it's so shady in spring and fall, but gets quite a bit of sun in the middle of summer.  I'm hoping Lisa will have some suggestions.

Chilly!

Boy, from 98 to 62!  However, the plants much prefer it, I think (except the tomatoes).  We've had several cool days; it's supposed to warm up over the weekend, but only to normal temps (82ish).  We haven't had any rain in quite a while --I did a thorough sprinkler watering 5 or so days ago, but at this rate I'll have to do it again pretty soon.

Today I'm going to cut the lawn, and I'm going to need a jacket :-)