Damn it’s hot! Tried to do a few outdoor chores, but wound up bathing in my own sweat after only a short time–and that was this morning! Wound up going shopping at Target this afternoon just to get a bit of relief. Guess a lot of others had the same idea, ’cause it was more crowded than I’ve ever seen it, other than at Christmastime.

Got all our trees trimmed back yesterday, which is both good and bad. The fruit trees were way overgrown and were in need of massive pruning. The palms needed their usual July trim to keep the blooms from turning to seeds, resulting in mini-palms all over my yard. So, that’s the good part. The horrendous heat wave has now left us with absolutely NO SHADE for the south side of the house! Timing wasn’t great, but not much I can do about it now.

Had hoped to get lots accomplished while off the past week on vacation, but it just didn’t happen. Garage is about 1/3 done, with lots of boxes yet to sort, and stuff to be put away and tossed. Have taken 2 large loads to Goodwill and hope to get rid of lots more. Right now the garage is extremely hot with little or no ventilation, so I’m not anxious to get back to it.

Backyard looks great! Still need to purchase and install fence slats to keep the bushes in the asshole’s yard behind me from growing through my lattice fence. Bought some slats at Lowe’s last week, but they had to be returned as they were the wrong size. Bummer.

Just put new solar lighting along the driveway out front, which just about finishes everything out there. Have a new chicken on a swing to hang up somewhere on the porch, but gotta think about the best spot.

All the remaining projects–trim in the bathroom, finish up some details on the bathroom tile, refinish kitchen cabinets, and grout the bricks between kitchen and garage–will have to wait for a cooler weekend or for my second week at home in August.

Not as disappointed to be getting back to work tomorrow–the A/C makes it more enticing than sitting at home in the heat. Just heard the weather forecast–mid-90’s all week. Feels like a continuous hot flash while trying to do any type of physical labor in this weather!

Can’t wait to get my new windows installed. Could really use that UV protection right now!