Feeling the Summer Vibe (at last)

I've definitely been feeling the summer vibe just lately, for the first time this year.  This week, I've even managed to break out a skirt or two from the depths of the wardrobe, which is unusual for me, as I haven't worn one in I don't know how long.  I seemed to have gone right off wearing them.  For some reason, I just felt like wearing them again this week and it was good to add a bit of colour to my daily outfits for a change.

I think my mindset has changed too. Instead of hating the hot weather, I'm trying to embrace it.  That doesn't mean that I'm sat out in the garden soaking up the sun, I don't go that far (partly because gardens here are back to back and not that private).  Long gone are the days when I could lie out all day on a sun lounger turning redder and redder.  Unless I'm next to a swimming pool where I can cool off, it's just not my bag these days.  I think I've inflicted enough skin damage on myself over the years, I'm a lot more careful now.

I had a bit of a potting session in the garden last night and this morning.  I potted up the rest of the tomato plants into larger pots that are now huddled around the greenhouse.  I figured that I may as well try and grow as many tomatoes at home as I can.  I also potted on some pepper plants, so that they'll grow big enough to plant out at the allotment once all of the potatoes come out.  I always need to keep some plants in reserve to fill in gaps and keep the plot as fully cultivated as I can.   I think that will be it for this season, it's just a case of waiting for everything to grow now.

One sad thing to report from the garden is that our apple tree seems to have succumbed to some sort of disease.  It's not looking good and may have to be chopped down this autumn.  It has been in the garden since we moved here 7 or 8 years ago, so it will be sad to see it go, but I must admit I do need to completely replant the side of the garden that it occupies, so that will give me an interesting project this autumn.

On a completely different subject, this morning I let the dog take me for a walk.  Sometimes, she just has her own ideas about where she wants to go and if I'm not in a hurry, I just think why not.  We had a lovely long walk and I took some water and a small foil dish to pour it into at intervals because of the heat.  It seemed to work well and I felt like a responsible dog owner for once. She had a hair cut last week, well she had her coat stripped, as she was getting far too hot.  She looks so different.  We much prefer her with her scruffy long coat, but she was really struggling with it. Happily for us, the dog groomer didn't strip it back quite so hard this time and her coat is already starting to grow back well.   Here's a picture of her new look.

Talking of new looks, I could do with a haircut myself.  I'm still currently debating whether to grow the colour out of my hair and possibly colour it more naturally with henna or something similar.  If anyone has any experience of using henna, any tips would be welcome. In the meantime, I may just get it cut, although the roots do look awful. Maybe I should just wear a sun hat all summer and and a beanie all autumn and winter, and hide it that way until the colour has grown out!

When I got home from the dog walk, I enjoyed reading thrift deluxe's post today about my home city of Hull. She took some beautiful photographs of some of my favourite places and it was lovely to hear someone singing the city's praises, as it tends to get quite a lot of bad press.  Check it out if you haven't already.