Busy, but Gorgeous!

Oh the heat is finally gone! It was 56F when we awoke this morning (granted it was 6 am) and it did warm up to 82F, but with a soft breeze and brilliant blue skies. One of the things I had to learn when I moved here was how to deal with the large temperature range during the summer days. Cool in the mornings with the warmest time of day around 4 pm. And dry, dry, dry. No rain from July 5th to fall. However this year, it appears that our rain will be minimal in June (as it was in May, April, and March...).

I spent much of the day with my 3 1/2 year old grandson, later joined by my 7 1/2 year old granddaughter after school. We bought smoothies after school and then played at the playground - just lovely.

I had a terrific walk early this morning - it seems to be the only time of day that I can get a walk in - and came across this Kalmia latifolia or Mountain Laurel. They're rarely seen here, and this is obviously a cultivar being pink rather than the typical white of the species. They're native to the eastern North America, just down to the Florida panhandle. We had them in our yard growing up in Massachusetts. I used to love popping open the buds just as they were about to open because the stamens would spring from their little holes. If you look closely at the photo, you can see what I mean...they're all attached except for the biggest one in the lower center, in which they've been sprung. A budding horticulturalist at a young age :-)