Summer is finally here following a Spring that was quite wobbly, a season that left me weary as we endured odd temps, endless windy days and rain. The skies were often gloomy and this could not always be blamed on the Canadian wildfires.
But, if you think we humans are happy to see the sun, especially those of us in a four-season state where Winter lingers well into March, the critters are equally as happy for Summer’s sunshine and warmth.
I’m gonna soak up the sun.
I know many of you enjoy the photos of turtles sunning on a log, just as much as I enjoy seeing them. I’ve commented before that I’ve seen more turtles than ever basking in the sun this year, beginning as early as April. They look so peaceful that I hate to disturb them as I walk by, as inevitably, in a domino-like effect, one by one they plop into the water.
Recently, I came upon a few turtles that exhibited a strange phenomenon. I looked closer and thought “are my eyes deceiving me here or are those turtles’ shells peeling?” I pondered as I took a few photos and remembered a thin layer of MY own skin peeling off after too many hours beneath the sun’s rays without sun protection. So, I asked my friend Google that night if a turtle sheds its shell – yes it does!
I learned that turtles shed the outer layer of their shell, a/k/a “scutes” as they grow. That process helps to ensure their shell, which is made of keratin, a substance similar to human fingernails, remains healthy, free from algae build-up and ensures the shell, just like the turtle, grow together. Fascinating – who knew?!
Below are the turtles with their shells peeling off.
We know turtles like lazing on a log, basking in the sunshine, but what about other non-human creatures?
Well, a few years ago, I did a post after watching a Mute Swan perched on an ice floe seemingly performing yoga moves called “Sun Salutations” – perhaps after a cold Winter, that lovely creature embraced the sun, warming it from its bill to its tail feathers. Here is that regal swan in case you missed it.
On a recent trip to Lake Erie Metropark, I witnessed another Mute Swan enjoying the sunny day. I had parked myself under a tree for a brief respite from the sun and also to observe this swan without it being mindful of my presence.
The swan seemed to delight in luxuriating in the cool water, just soaking up the sun in a blissful manner. It was not preening, but instead positioning itself to bask in the sun. See if you agree as you scroll down through this series of photos …
I stumbled upon these critters catchin’ some rays recently too.
This trio of goslings, fresh from a swim and a bite to eat, were shutting their eyes in bliss.
The first one resisted at first – you know how that is, eyes at half-mast …
Here’s two more shutting their eyes, letting the sun beat down to dry them off, soft and fluffy again.
This Mallard decided a brief snooze was in order as the sun beat down, making its head seem iridescent.
Even Mourning Cloak Butterflies do it … bask in the sun that is (though it might have picked a better background for sun-worshipping).
But what about you and me – do we likewise revel in the sun’s warmth?
As I get older, I may still embrace that glorious feeling of the sun on my upturned face, but I admit to taking more precautions than ever to avoid sunburns. Once a sun worshipper, I now resort to sun hats and sun clothing, all in UPF 50+ to give me protection from the harmful sun’s rays. While out at shoreline parks with my camera in tow, those rays are intense and rather than risk damaging the camera with oily sun protection, this is the easier and more practical method to avoid burning, though I’ll ‘fess up and say I got sunburned back on March 13th after photographing waterfowl on ice floes at Dingell Park.
Yes, I should have donned one of my sunhats … but in mid-March?
As a teenager, since everyone wanted that healthy look a tan gives you, I would lay out in the sun. I don’t remember Mom cautioning me about skin cancer so much as telling me I’d have a face like shoeleather when I got older. Did that deter me? Well, not really, but, once I got older and smarter, I became more mindful of not wanting to have a wrinkly face that looked like my shoes.
Mom did ensure when I was a toddler I didn’t get a sunburn. As I stood in my blow-up pool with my best friend Linda Crosby in the Summer of ’58, I had a sunbonnet on, as did my pal, but …
… I wasn’t wearing a top – hmm. I wonder if I ended up with a sunburn that day?
Fast forward a few years … on a family trip to Oklahoma, we stopped at this nondescript, roadside motel where I posed in the parking lot, the sign touting “Air-Conditioned” in the background. What a unique sunhat I was wearing! So, did Mom reach for a lampshade and glue on ribbons at the bottom to tie under my chin?
I would have been happier had my father removed the plastic seat covers as my tender, shorts-clad legs often stuck to the hot back seat of the VW Beetle, despite that wool blanket I sat on, but often shifted beneath me.
Yep, the weather is wacky these days.
As you know, the Summer Solstice occurred this past Friday, June 20th in the Northern Hemisphere and, even though I may whine about Summer’s extreme heat (ugh) and off-the-charts humidity (double ugh), longtime readers of this blog know I am no fan of Winter either. Yes, I am not only a weather worrier, but also a weather whiner as well.
Now, if I were in charge of the weather, I’d even things out, so we would have four distinct seasons, just as it was for most of my life. But alas, reconfiguring the four seasons is sadly not in my skillset and that administrative privilege belongs to Mother Nature.
So, as we begin a slow creep toward Fall, then Winter, I am hoping Mother Nature graces us with an Autumn filled with some Summer-like days before we hunker down for the chilly and cold seasons ahead. But please not as hot as this heat wave we are currently enduring.
Terri’s Challenge today is: “Sunrises and Sunsets, celebrating the Solstice” but since I have no sunrise or sunset pics, I chose to celebrate the sunseekers amongst us.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
I loved your photos, as always.
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Thank you Anne! I like to throw some fun stuff in here between all the long walks, which I am not getting many in these days due to this extreme heat – ugh.
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I’m sorry you are having extreme heat. It will be hot here for the next 2 days, but not as hot as you have had.
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Thank you Anne – we had a stormy afternoon today so we are finally now at 80 degrees after being 95 and a heat index of 105. It is only lasting for one day, then we’re into stormy weather for days and high heat. We don’t usually get this weather here until August and the heat is bad enough, but the storms are bad too.
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Sounds awful!!
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Well I have been luckier than most – I think Ruth might have had some problems in her neck of the woods, but as an example, today they predicted potentially severe weather, so I was waiting on pins and needles and it didn’t happen. Thank goodness. But meanwhile other nearby counties are churning with wild winds and hail, flooding downpours. We have had 29 tornadoes this season … very unusual.
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That is far too many tornadoes! Lise and I love thunderstorms. They have been forecast many of the days she was here, but they didn’t materialize.
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Yes, it is worrisome to me – I am just glad I am not in those more rural areas which seem to have more tornadoes than here, but still scary as they call for severe storms and the weather alarm goes off for it. Today the weather alarm went off so I shut off the A/C and put on the fan – it was very hot and I left it off for about an hour until the storm passed, but it was not severe. We had another storm late afternoon, so again I shut down my computer and the A/C and didn’t return until later than usual. We may still have another storm late/overnight and tomorrow as well. I can’t wait for all this heat and stormy weather to get out of here. I never used to mind a thunderstorm where it was not severe and even a good rain storm to watch from inside – you can sit on your porch, but we don’t seem to get those garden variety storms anymore … all heat-related. Ugh.
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My storms are not nearly as severe as yours .
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I wish our weather would tame down – today we have widespread storms, possible tornadic activity and my area of SE Michigan is in the bullseye. We have a problem with our water citywide with limited water pressure to fix a pipe. We have been having a lot of water main breaks lately. The water does not worry me like the storms though. We had some type of blip this morning where the power was off for not even a minute, but of course the A/C was running and the fridge was running and it tripped the digital clocks. I worry about the fridge as it is 35 years old.
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I didn’t know about the turtles’ shells peeling. Interesting! And what a great series of photos with the swan doing calisthenics. 😃 Your childhood pics are adorable – especially that pointy sunhat. 😆
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Thank you Debbie! I thought it was interesting about the turtle shells too. I thought maybe they had damaged their shells somehow, so I was surprised to learn that info. I thought the swan was amazing because he was kind of in his own little world here, just basking in the sun and laying that long neck across its body to stretch luxuriously. Had it seen me, I’m sure it would have paddled away, but instead it just relaxed and never saw me the entire time. I was so close it’s neck when I zoomed in looks like plush. I’m glad you liked the childhood pictures … the first two were taken the first year we moved to Sandmere Place when I was two. I saw the timestamp was for January 1959, so no doubt pics were taken at Christmas 1958, then developed in the new year. This was a brand-new subdivision, so you can see how small the bushes were. I remember my parents said there was a lot of clay when they moved it. The pointy sunhat cracked me up. I knew I had seen it before, so I looked in my digitized album pics for it. 🙂
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I’ve never been a fan of hot weather and the older I get, the less tolerant I am of it.
The humidity stops you from being able to sweat. Which in turn stops you from being able to cool down! The humidity is the biggest culprit in your area.
Great shots Linda!
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Thanks Wayne! This heat is so oppressive and I have no idea how people can work outside in this weather. Tonight is the annual fireworks at the Detroit River celebrating both Canada’s holiday and the U.S. holiday … always way before the holidays. At 10:00 p.m. it will still be around 90 degrees and with all those people packed in around areas of downtown and Belle Isle, there is sure to be some passing out. The A/C is going non-stop right now. I feel like I am less tolerant as I get older too. I was out for just a few minutes this morning and came in feeling like I’d gone on a long walk. The dew points are high too – when they’re higher than the humidity it is bad news as to sweltering. I’m glad you liked the photos – I was so close to the swan who did not see me and enjoyed basking in the sun, seemingly alone, so that gave me the opportunity to zoom in on him and I was amazed how plush his neck seemed to be.
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I used to work out in that stuff and wonder now how nI ever made it?
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We are back in blazing heat again, with near 90 Friday and the 90s on the weekend. The meteorologist says we are in for a very hot Summer – great. Also, we have an air advisory alert for today and tomorrow from wildfire smoke, but mostly because of so many fireworks residue in the atmosphere, both professional displays and neighborhood fireworks.
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better you them me!
Summer time is when the weather and people go crazy!
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We have one day, just a one-day reprieve tomorrow. Today was not bad, but it was cloudy, however … I had an A/C check-up scheduled today. I had a 12-5 window … he just called as I started this comment to say he’d be here in about 20 minutes or so. Anyway, our heat and humidity returns on Wednesday morning and it will be stormy every day thru Sunday!!
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The basking Swans are so cute
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Yes, this swan never saw me Brian, so it kind of did its own thing while basking in the sun and I enjoyed watching it.
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I had no ideas turtle shed the outer layer of their shells! That’s amazing. Thanks for teaching me a new thing about turtles. I’ll have to share that with the kids.
If I had weather like yours, I’d be a “weather worrier and whiner” too.
Our CA weather is unusual these days. It’s not as hot as it is…but I think it will get hot quickly. The summer heat gets oppressive here.
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I was amazed to learn that info about the turtles Esther – I had no idea. I just assumed the shell grew along with their body. I hope the kids enjoyed that little factoid. The heat index was above 100 and heat like you usually have in California. Here, our Sunday was hot and tomorrow is hot, then two days of stormy weather, but the heat doesn’t leave. Spring, now Summer have been nothing special at all. Right now, I’m already looking forward to Fall!
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I am a summer-lover (as you know, Linda), so I enjoyed seeing all these photos of critters enjoying the warm summer sunshine. This week, we may be getting too much of a good thing! Our car thermometer read 100 degrees yesterday!
I have memories of sitting out in the sun, trying to get a suntan too. I can remember the girls in the neighborhood holding our arms together, trying to compare who was the tannest! We didn’t worry about skin cancer in those days, but now…I have 2 bouts of skin cancer behind me. I am careful to slather myself with sunscreen and wear protective clothing, just like you.
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You’re right about the too much of a good thing right now Laurie – the weather here is also oppressive. Just ran out to run the car and to take out the garbage at 8:00 a.m. and I felt like I had walked miles I’m glad you liked my collection of sunbathing critters. The swan just mesmerized me as he did not see me and so he luxuriated in the sun’s rays.
I can remember girls in my class that laid on their garage roof as they thought the dark roof would attract more sun – I did not join them, but yes suntans were something we coveted back in the day. My neighbor/friend Marge, like you, had two bouts of skin cancer too. She liked to garden and went outside every morning – yes, the sun was not as strong then, or so she thought and after two times having areas of her nose removed, she gave up on the garden. I like the protective clothing, though not always a fan of long pants, long sleeves and the hat in Summer.
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Sunbathing! That was part of my childhood, too. Go outside and play in the sun: you had hats, I had sunglasses. I like the swan soaking up the rays. It doesn’t need any SPF, but we sure do.
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Yes Ally, we played outside, no matter the season. In the Winter, sometimes I could hardly walk from being bundled up in a snowsuit, boots and all the woolens and Mom would push me out the door to play and “get some fresh air to take the stink off you.” I wished I had sunglasses pics as a kid. all the fun ones we used to have of our favorite cartoons. I enjoyed watching that swan basking in the sun. I’m sure he was glad the long, cold Winter seemed to finally be behind him.
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I didn’t know turtles shed like that. I knew they outgrew their shells and somehow got bigger ones but not the how. My childhood yard was very shady so my mom didn’t worry about sunburn.
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I liked learning that factoid Kate – what did we do before Google? I thought I was seeing things with those shell pieces and just assumed the shell grew along with the turtle as years went by. You were lucky as to the shady yard growing up. We moved from an apartment into this house in a new subdivision the Spring of 1958 when I was two. I remember my parents saying they moved in during a rainstorm and red clay was running everywhere and what a mess it was for moving day. I see in the pictures, there were tiny arbor vitae bushes, which grew faster and taller than I did by the time we moved to the U.S. in 1966. There were no trees though on anyone’s property unfortunately.
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Miss Linda………………………………..I always enjoy your pictures when you were very young……………………………………and of course all of your delightful animal pictures with a theme to it…………………………………..
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Thank you Ann Marie! I knew I had a few pictures of me wearing a sunbonnet from a prior post, so I went looking for more in the photo albums I scanned in back in 2017. I liked all those critters too, but the swan was a real delight to watch as he basked in the sunshine.
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Count me as another who had no idea about turtle shell shedding. But you can count me as a non-fan of the hot weather!
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It’s always interesting to learn something interesting that passed us by back in our school days. I thought about you in this weather JP as you recently wrote the post how you hated the heat – ugh. I was outside just a few minutes and came in feeling like I had walked many miles. We tied the old record of 95 degrees set in 1911 and 1923. People who were interviewed in the street were bummed we didn’t surpass it – not me as this was bad enough! Our big fireworks on the Detroit River is tonight – all those people, in this heat, temps still in the 90s when it begins at 10:00 p.m.
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You had a lot to say about all things sun this week, Linda. I sure love all the sun-seeking swans and their blissful expressions. Who knew about turtle shells peeling? How cool and well, duh, when one thinks about it.
I’m with you on sunscreen! I spent my childhood at San Diego beaches and swimming pools. Sunscreen really didn’t exist. My dad worked outside all day in that sun for the phone company (fairskinned redhead who didn’t tan). Yes he battled skin melanoma in his 80s but he passed due to old age. I live in sunscreen. I buy the lotion with 15 spf which I wear year round. Yes, I know a sunny snowy day can burn skin! However I hate hats and make sure to use sunscreen sray on the top of my head.
Lovely sunshine pics this week!
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I’m glad you liked all my “sunshiney” pics Terri. I just assumed turtles shells grew along with their bodies and was surprised to learn they shed the outer layers of their shell. I was mesmerized by the swan basking in the sun, that long neck, with no one to disturb it as it didn’t see me (it would have paddled away). It was amazing to see. I have worn sunscreen through the years as I am fair, but not as fair as redheaded you. I have had a few sunburns, none severe, in my day by not having enough sun protection on. I like hats better in Winter but have gotten used to them now and thankfully the cord straps pull right under my chin because with so many windy days, this wide-brimmed one would have gone airborne by now. The smaller caps aren’t all that effective as they don’t cover your ears.
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I bought a wide brimmed hat that has a chin strap and a “hole” in back for a pony tail! It works great for summer.
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Yes, mine has a pony tail “hole” too. It is great, but I find myself flipping the wide brim up to take photos. The first time I wore it, it felt awkward, like I should be sipping tea and eating scones in some fancy outdoor cafe. 🙂
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😆 ☕️
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Your Cloak butterfly is the same as a butterfly we have here in the UK called a Camberwell Beauty {although I have never seen on} Since we returned home from our wet camping trip to Wales it has been sun hat weather here too.
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That was my first Mourning Cloak butterfly Andy and I had to Google to see what it was. There were beautiful wildflowers everywhere around it – some beautiful purple Dame’s Rocket, but it settled on the ground in a pile of spent Maple seeds. I Googled your butterfly – amazing they have different names but are identical. We are in this horrid heat wave – heat index over 100F (37C) … too early for all this heat.
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“Weather whiner” ha. I think we all have a little bit of that inside of us, especially as we’re enduring extremes. The goslings remind me of my childhood days, after swimming in the Pacific Ocean and then lying on a beach towel to dry off. The combined sensations of the sun, the sounds of the waves, and the feel of the sand lull you into a nap. Fond memory there. I had no idea about turtle “skutes” but it makes sense, the way most of the rest of us creatures shed our skins as well. And because of it, the second photo looks distinctly female, almost like she’s wearing a “skirt” 🙂
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I have been quite the “weather whiner” during this heat wave Dave. It’s been pretty awful and I only ran outside briefly and scurried right back inside. I could identify with that gosling and as for your memories, don’t forget the “beachy” sounds of seagulls cruising overhead. They all lull you into a nap in a heartbeat. I figured you would enjoy that turtle stat – who knew? I just assumed they grew along with their shells. We are never too old to learn new things. I went back and looked and yes, it does look like a “skirt”. 🙂
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I just loved this post and the creatures soaking up the sun – ahhhhh. also, never saw photos of the turtle’s shell peeling, so that was fun to see and learn about.
Laughing with your comment about the large bow under your chin (almost spit out my coffee) and then, wow, you are so right – now we begin the slow crawl to fall and then winter. hmmm – that was sobering to read and in a way, helped me embrace today a bit more.
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Thank you Yvette! It was a fun post to put together but when I saw Terri’s Challenge for Summer Solstice, I had just seen the swan sunbathing and turtles’ shells peeling and shortened that long walk post to put them here. I like learning about things like that … you wouldn’t normally sit and read it in a book, but little tidbits are fun to learn.
Yes, that hat looked like a lampshade with ribbons and a bow under the chin and truly I don’t remember the hat at all, though I remember that shorts set, a bright green outfit and those red-and-white saddle shoes. I was looking for any more pics besides the baby pics with the sunbonnet in the kiddie pool.
It is sobering to think of being on the way to Fall and Winter, less minutes in the day from now on, though after sweltering through this heat wave, Fall is looking pretty good now … 93 degrees at 8:25 p.m. and we tied the old record of 95 from 1911 and 1923.
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thanks for the reply – and saw this to show you
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/animalkind/2025/06/18/watch-these-brave-ducklings-jump-from-bridge-to-reunite-with-mom/84259650007/
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This is a humorous and delightful post that has me smiling. 😊
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I’m glad you liked it TD – it was fun to put together, rather than the usual “I took a walk and saw this, this and that.” We all need to smile more. 🙂
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My husband and I were saying this morning how we hate to complain about the heat because we complain about the cold in winter, but this extreme heat is too much. Interesting about the turtles – I never knew.
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Yes, this heat is over the top right now – I know those people will be very hot crammed together tonight for the fireworks. I thought that little fact about the turtles was interesting too Ruth.
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That was great Linda! All of it, a most enjoyable post, pictures and writing! I had no idea turtles shed their skin, and that Sun Salutations was priceless!
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Thank you Joni! I’m glad you liked it. It was fun to put together too. I had no idea turtles shed their shells either, so I was glad I saw that and learned about it. I see plenty of turtles and that was the first time I saw that shell peeling off like that. I really liked the swan on the ice floe doing sun salutations – there were several swans in that Wordless Wednesday post, but the others were just preening or in the icy water but that swan – you really get an idea just how big they area. Then the recent swan basking in the sun – that never would have happened if I had not been partly hidden by the tree, so it kind of did its own sun worshipping and enjoying itself immensely!
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PS. Your childhood pictures were cute too. I don’t ever remember wearing a hat when I was a kid, except to church. I wish I could find a nice hat now, but they if they look nice, the brim isn’t big enough to do any good.
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Thank you Joni! I remember those carefree days in the little blow-up pool with my best friend Linda Crosby who lived next door. We were inseparable until we moved to the States. The sunhat I wear the most now when I’m near the water is from a site called Sunday Afternoons. It has an especially big brim that juts out, a chin strap (good for windy days, especially near the water) and a hole for a pony tail. The first time I wore it, I felt like it was way too much hat for me and I felt like I should be sitting sipping tea and eating fancy cakes in a cafe on the Riviera. 🙂 I admit to flipping up the brim sometimes or pushing the hat back, but no more burns. I got pretty pink at the River on March 13th – there were ice floes in the Detroit River and it was uncharacteristically hot outside, so I shed all my layers down to a shirt – not a smart move, but I didn’t think it would get that warm! Lots of waterfowl sitting on the ice floes – no swans that day though. The weather is wacky – it is finally just 80F after we had a stormy afternoon and it cooled us off 15 degrees. We were 95 with a heat index of 105. I hope you are not sweltering too much – you wrote that you planned to take it easy this week due to the heat.
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I’m getting my A/C fixed upstairs, it’s working but discharging condensate into the attic instead of down the tubing at the side of the house. Yesterday I woke to the sound of water dripping from the light fixture in the spare bedroom. Reliance came today but they have to subcontract it as it involves someone going into the attic with all the insulation, probably with a mask and haz-maz suit. I’m not surprised they have to subcontract it, just happy someone is coming on Thursday. It’s always something…..but the unit is 15 years old….
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That sounds terrible Joni. I can feel for you with the mess. In 2017, I had a year of disasters, most of them mess or water-related messes. As to the condensate drain, we always had the appliance store repair person come to clear out the lint in the dryer every three or four years. I wipe the lint off with a fabric sheet every time I dry clothes, but we still had it done. The former appliance repairman retired and they sent a new guy out. The former guy put down a tarp on the floor, took the tumbler/drum out and vacuumed behind the tumbler/drum and up into the vent, then put it back. The new guy said “I don’t do it that way – I pull the dryer out and go behind to clear the vents. I wasn’t keen on that idea as it is a tight squeeze with the washer and dryer together and laundry tub and wall, but anyway he did it and I was upstairs working (this was 2017, so I was “at work” upstairs. He came upstairs and said he was done and I paid him and thankfully, many hours later, I had to go down and reboot my modem as I lost my internet connection and so I stayed downstairs until all the lights came back on (usually five minutes) before heading upstairs. I wandered into the laundry room … it was around 5:00 p.m. and he was there late hat morning. He had moved the condensate hose to move the washer to get the dryer in/out and the hose was sticking up in the air – water was everywhere. It was September but a very hot day and the A/C was running a lot. I could not pull out the washer and dryer to clean up the water behind so I called and said they needed to come back immediately – they said we close in a few minutes – so I told him what they did and the guy was mad but came back, but I had to pay him to move it out and move it back the next day after it dried … I should not have had to pay him but I couldn’t move it out myself and Jeff next door just had shoulder surgery (rotator cuff I think it was) so he was no help.
So the appliance repair guy moved it back but was mad about the whole ordeal and didn’t set the washer in the casters so when I went to wash clothes, the machine shimmied all over the place and I had to lay across it while it finished the load to keep it from moving too much. When the load was done, I called to the appliance store – I am sure I was screaming to be honest as I was so angry.
I know whenever they come in for an A/C check or furnace check, I always ensure the condensate hose did not get moved out of place and now I have it strapped with a second set of zip ties to the washer hose to ensure it never moves on its own!
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What a nightmare that must have been! I try and check everything before they leave, but inevitably there’s something left behind or not right. I’m a little worried as I didn’t get a phone call or email saying what time the guy was coming tomorrow, but maybe that’s just because it’s subcontracted out and not on their regular appointment system. I’m hoping so anyway. My A/C still works – I turned it off upstairs today because it was 20 this afternoon, quite a bit cooler, and I was able to walk, but I don’t like the idea of the water in the attic. I wish I had central air ductwork, but I don’t. I have slimline units that sit on the wall or over the staircase upstairs. They are 15 years old and while still working they are probably at the end of their lifespan so the tech said, so I should be getting estimates on a new system. Like I did with the furnace last year, as the boiler was 30 years old. I didn’t want to wait for something to break during the busy season.
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I usually check too but I was probably on a rush, so didn’t go downstairs, but thank goodness my modem went offline as I don’t go downstairs everyday to be honest and I don’t wash clothes every day – can you image after a few days of water running everywhere. The guy was mad, but so was I. I hope they come soon for you and at least your A/C is running, but I’d worry about the water and mold too. Can you put a fan up there? I had two big fans I kept in the basement from when I rode my exercise bike downstairs in the Winter – the furnace coming on made it really hot, so I unplugged the two fans and he set them up, but then I worried running them all night as they were old fans, so I set the alarm and got up every few hours to make sure they didn’t overheat or anything. My furnace and A/C unit were put in in 2012, so 13 years old now.
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No, to the fan. the opening to the attic is maybe 2 ft X 4ft in a closet ceiling so they will need to send a fairly slim guy. Plus he stuck he got on the ladder and stuck his head up there and said there’s a foot of insulation which was blown in and has to be raked aside to find the tubing. I would be afraid to put a fan up there for a fire, but I don’t think it will be necessary as it will just eventually dry out on it’s own once they find the leak. My grasscutter explained how the attic works and why the water gravitates to the light fixtures – he had a roof leak and knew all about it. I’m not worried about mold as the house is so airtight no air would circulate from up there anyway once the ceiling opening door is back in place. I had to take all the clothes out of the wall to wall closet, and four boxes of moms art from the bottom, and empty the linen closet where the motor is installed, so that will have to be all put back, but it will give me the opportunity to clean out that closet!
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Well that is great news that the house is airtight so you don’t have mold issues – you definitely don’t need that. But that is a tight squeeze and hopefully the guy got there and did the “fix” for you. It would be mighty hot in those close quarters though and if he was in a hazmat suit due to the insulation I’m sure he got the job done and out of there quickly. That’s a lot of work for you – good thing it is inside and the A/C is working properly! We have had a stormy day here with another one on the way tonight and tomorrow morning – not a stellar Summer so far!
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The subcontractor didn’t show up today, but a different one is coming tomorrow morning at 9am. I spoke with him this evening to make sure. I have no words for the Reliance call centre – I spoke to them 3 times today and got a different story each time…..a wasted and frustrating day.
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That is annoying – customer service is not like it used to be. I’ve been having tech issues not with the laptop but with my internet service. I have a good connection but am unable to get onto many sites and have to keep switching browsers and cannot get into my regular e-mail half the time. I am frustrated with it. They are doing service in the area tomorrow, so perhaps that will help the situation. I hope they are able to do the “fix” tomorrow for you.
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The tech has come and gone, all fixed, about an hour. He replaced the broken tubing, and it’s draining properly again. Now I can spend the rest of the day putting all the stuff back in the closets….It’s hot, humid and rainy for the weekend….I’m not liking this summer at all.
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Joni – Well that is good news it is fixed already. Don’t work too hard in this heat though. I am not liking this summer at all either. I have not walked except out to run the car – just doesn’t make any sense in this heat. I am way behind in my walking goal, but I’m being practical and it’s not worth it to make myself sick in this weather. I am going to try to catch up here as we have severe weather coming in this afternoon around 3:00-ish. I am nervous enough about the hot weather spiking severe weather and when they mention possible tornadic activity, concentrated in SE Michigan, it gives me even more to worry about. It is 1:20 and 87 degrees already. It will be less humid and in the low 80s tomorrow but right back to 90+ on Sunday with storms that day and Monday before the weather moderates. It was a lousy Spring and not a lousy Summer.
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I might go out and deadhead the germaniums after supper if it cools off – and pick my lettuce which is way out of control now after all the rain. I’m just relieved the A/c is fixed before the long weekend.
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Yes, you’re lucky as they would be shorthanded for sure due to the long holiday weekend. We are still expecting this stormy weather later this evening. One meteorologist says it may fizzle out, but the weather radio remains lit for storm warning, so I remain on guard and worried.
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I waterer my pots before supper, it was hot but a breeze, and then after supper we got about 5 minutes of heavy rain, but it’s all moved out now. an unsettled weekend though, and I want to get strawberries tomorrow?
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Well at least because you already watered the pots, the rain did them good. I lost my internet last night for about three hours due to the power outage. An animal chewed the main circuit and the back-up circuit failed as a result of working so hard in the heat. We had an okay day today, 88 degrees, in the 90s tomorrow and storms, maybe bad again on Monday, then some normal weather for a while. It looks like our holiday weekend looks better than yours perhaps … it was always that way when I worked.
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Was the animal at your house, or just at a main switch somewhere? Today was nice, pleasant, with a breeze, until this evening when I weeded the garden then it was humid again. I tore out all the lettuce which was way overgrown. I went to two farmers markets to get strawberries, the first was out, so I had to drive 45min to the other one, and I was up early, so I’m beat. Our July 1st is hardly ever good, it’s tuesday so many people have 4 days off, but rain Mond and tuesday. I’m happy for a bit of rain, so I don’t have to water too much, just the pots.
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No, it was a main switch, a substation that powered most of the area, homes/businesses and streetlights as well, although strangely, the way the power grid is, in the past we have not had power on this side of the street, but the other side of the street had power, so it was the same for our City, according to comments in the neighborhood forum on Facebook. Parts of the City were dark and others had power. This is not the first time an animal, likely a squirrel like last time, has chewed on the wires. The last time, the squirrel was electrocuted and they found its body when they went to repair the problem. What will you make with the strawberries Joni? My mom used to buy strawberries and rhubarb and stew them and we’d use it on toast or on ice cream. She’d make enough for a few weeks – she didn’t “put them up” and all that, but it was good. She liked red currant pie as she had that at her grandmother’s farm when she was young. Only one market used to carry red currants and just a few pints of them. We’d have one pie a year, but then that farm market went out of business, so that was the end of red currant pie.
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Well I promised 2 or 3 of them to an art friend who doesn’t drive and wants to make strawberry pie, so I left her a message last night and will have to take them to her today or tomorrow. I dropped one off at a friends house on my way home, so that only leaves me two boxes, plus a third I had bought at the first market but they are really sour. I am going to freeze some, stew some with my rhubarb (which I picked and thinned out yesterday) and if there are some left I may make a bit of strawberry shortcake. I also slice them up with some blueberries and mandarin orange slices from a can to make a mandarin salad with raspberry vinaigrette, as I have tons of lettuce growing. I’m supposed to be having the art ladies here this week for pizza to pick up some of mom’s items from the house, and will serve that with the pizza, whatever day it doesn’t rain so we can sit on the deck, but it’s really hard to get 4 people together with everyone’s busy retirement schedules! The berries are not very sweet this year, although they look lovely, probably not enough sun.
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That’s nice you still get together with your mom’s art friends. Are they going to help you put together the small gallery of paintings you mentioned having – this was the same paintings that were on exhibit at the onset of COVID? That’s funny – they’re all retired and still coordinating schedules. I don’t think strawberry season lasts that long does it? We used to have some U-Pick places years ago, but none were close. The last time I bought strawberries, years ago, I put them downstairs as the basement is very cold when the A/C is on – you could hang meat down there even though I keep the A/C at 76 most of the time. I figured they’d be fine until I was ready to use them – I had bought some angel food cake and Cool Whip … well one day later I went downstairs and they were moldy. I don’t understand that as the store is air-conditioned, but they’re not in a refrigerated area. That was the last time I bought strawberries.
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No, they are just coming for a social visit. We haven’t gotten together since last June when I was starting to clean out mom’s house and they took some stuff away. I have those 30 exhibit paintings stored all together in one of the closets but haven’t applied to any other place to exhibit yet. I thought I’d like the summer off first with no responsibilities! Yes, I visited on of the art ladies today and we are trying to coordinate a day. One bowls on Fridays, one golfs twice a week, etc etc. everyone seems to have an endless roster of activities they can’t miss. It’s worse than trying to work out a food menu around everyone’s allergies, so pizza it is. I think berries will go moldy eventually when they get overripe no matter what the temp. I only have two boxes left, both in the fridge, so that will do me. They are not very sweet this years and while I enjoy them I won’t buy any more. I made freezer jam for mom last year to mix in with her vanilla yoghurt, but won’t do that this year as I can live without it. I figured it was healthier and less sugar, but I can’t get the No Sugar Pectin anymore, it was discontinued.
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Yes, take the Summer off Joni – you deserve it and you have enough to do with tending your garden right now. I remember you were going to give them some supplies … you had just stocked up on the color white as your mom used that color a lot. Yes, I probably should have known better with those berries, but the basement is so cold when the A/C is on, I figured they’d be fine. I hate when you buy stuff and suddenly it is discontinued.
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I’ve given away most of her painting supplies to other artists. And yes, my small bowl of berries on the kitchen cupboard were starting to mold this morning when I looked at them, so that’s what 3 days? Even with the A/C on – the rest I put in the fridge and will take out a few at a time. On to my closet cleaning out….it’s way too hot to go out today.
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Well, your mom is happy to know her painting supplies which gave her pleasure are being used by other artists. I’m sure acrylic paints are expensive. I’m still using the watercolor kits that come in a little case with 37 cakes of color inside. I think it is easier and less messy than the tubes of color for watercolor at least for me – maybe if I painted all the time it would be different. But the courses I’m taking, she only uses about 8 or 10 colors in her palette box and she mixes them – she says that’s all you need. There is a new kind of watercolors out that look like paint swatches like you get at the paint store when you try to pick a perfect color of paint for home. So it looks like that and you moisten them. I mention that because I am still following the group that does plein air painting at the parks where I go and one of the artists was trying that out so I Googled it. Less stuff to tote around with you. I like inside where it is cool for now. 🙂 I remember you went with your mom a few times when she did plein air painting.
As to the berries, that was my reasoning with the strawberries – the A/C is on, so they should be fine. I had allergy shots and then went grocery shopping – no refrigerated foods though today. I wasn’t out and even with the insulated chill bags, it was too hot. I was sorry I went as I was so hot that it too me a few hours to cool down and people said “what a great day this was” – it was 84F at 11:15 when I was driving home from the grocery store. Not my idea of pleasant for goodness sake. And I brought a fly into the house into the basement so I closed the basement door – I wish that hadn’t happened as I have canned items down there on shelves.
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So cute you look little girl 🥰 pics. Wonderful turtles,Swan & others photos. I like.So beautiful your sunhat. I like you wearing that hat. Beautiful your childhood photos & sharing memories. I didn’t know about the turtles’ shells peeling. Interesting! Interesting your post. Linda!
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Thank you Raj – I’m glad you liked the post. There was a little bit of everything, turtles, birds and me. 🙂
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Most welcome ,Linda! Yes, everything is little bit. But I like much. How are you doing? 😊
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A very nice collection of wildlife reveling in the sun’s warmth.
Just yesterday my dermatologist sprayed liquid nitrogen on a few spots on my upper back, saying he was removing sun damage. It’s been many years since my back saw the sun but I guess the damage takes a while to show up.
I think our parents used sun bonnets more to shade our eyes than to prevent sunburn on the rest of the body. It bothers me when we’re out and about and I see parents wearing sunglasses themselves but have no glasses or sunhats on their kids. I had my kids wear baseball caps in the sun.
Agreed! The swan was definitely enjoying the warmth of the sun.
Interesting about the turtle shells. How neat that the peeling not only allows the shell to grow bigger with the turtle, but it gets rid of any algae growing on the surface.
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I’m glad you liked this post Barbara – it was fun to put together all these critters reveling in the sun’s rays. That sounds right about the sunbonnets and sun hats – eye protection and yes, kids should have eye protection if they’re not wearing a baseball cap to protect their scalp and a brim big enough for eye protection.
That’s interesting it took that long for your sun damage to occur. It has been years since I have purposely sat or laid out in the sun and that sunburn back in March certainly was a surprise. But then I had on a heavy coat when I left the house that morning, never suspecting it would get that warm and the stop at the River to see if there were any ice floes was just an impromptu stop, never dreaming I’d linger for so long as there was so much to see. That swan fascinated me – it languished in the sun and how it laid its neck down on its body to stretch out and enjoy the sun – much like we humans would welcome the first sunny day in the Spring when you finally shed your coat and feel the warm on your bare arms after many months of being bundled up. Like you I was fascinated with the peeling shell and the purpose. I’ve seen many turtles sunning at big parks and I’ve never seen the peeling shells before.
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This is my favorite post Linda! Are those snapping turtles? They don’t look like the painted turtles I have seen but they jump in the water so fast I couldn’t get a good look. I never knew they shed their shell but it makes perfect sense. Those beautiful swans, I could sit and admire them for hours. And last, stop thinking about winter and enjoy summer. 🤣
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Thank you Diane! It was a lot of fun putting this post together with the various critters and my own flash from the past too. 🙂 No, these are Map Turtles. We have a lot of Map Turtles around here and used to have them at Council Point Park too. They really like sunning themselves on logs, especially in this area where it’s in a little cove area with several fallen logs. I had no idea about the shell and just assumed it grew along with them. Both those swans, the Winter one and this one fascinated me. Clearly this swan that was sunbathing did not see me as he never would have relaxed like that, but instead would have paddled away. He was having a good ol’ time basking in the sun. Ha ha – yes, with all the storms (we had a few today as well – not severe, but I prepared like they would be severe since they called for that) and heat, truly I am thinking I’m ready for Fall – (yikes, did I really say that?) 🙂
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I’ve never been a sun worshipper; I’m too fair-skinned.☹️ I’ve always been a
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Ugh. I hit the Send button by accident. I’ve always been a little envious of people who tan easily, like my husband.
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I’ve done that myself quite a few times. 🙂 Yes, I imagine you being a redhead are very fair-skinned. I have mousy-brown hair, but am fair-skinned too and have had sunburns over the years, even though I know you can get burned on a cloudy day or not at peak UV rays time (10:00 – 2:00 p.m.). I’m more careful now. Before I switched to long-sleeved sun protection shirts, I got burned on my forearms as I was holding the camera up and facing the water!
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Old appliances can be worrisome.
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Yes, everything is worrisome these days. Yesterday an animal chewed on the main circuit of a substation here in the area. I had a little blip where I lost power in the morning, but it was momentary, then, the power went out and then I lost my internet because of it. It turned out that the back-up circuit got stressed out from working so hard (it got to the high 90s with a real feel of 99) so it blew the circuit. This is the second time an animal, (likely a squirrel), has done this.
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What a mess!
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Yes and I thought I’d read something about it in the newspaper – I pay for the local newspaper to read it online as I want to know about the crime and such for walking, but not a peep and this was a widespread outage. Sigh.
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