July 19, 2009

After The Rain...

It has cooled down considerably. Yesterdays rain was almost tropical, as the air was unusually warm. The weather reminded me of exotic islands close to the equator that I have visited in the past.

Today however we are back to the breezy, cool, partly sunny summer, that is so common at these latitudes. It makes for great outdoor activities but is not very suitable for the sun-worshipers, such as myself. Instead of spending hours on the terrace, today might be a perfect day for gardening. I already visited Bauhaus, a large retailer of home improvement and construction products, similar to the American "Home Depot". They had sales on gardening products and I purchased several new solar lamps. Among others I bought this cute terracotta solar lantern. Powered by solar energy, it has a rechargeable battery and when it gets dark, the light inside will flicker, simulating a real candle. I cannot wait to see it alight.

My Jackmanii clematis is doing very well. Yesterdays rain was highly beneficial. No matter how much I water my plants, the vital summer rain has no comparison. It is now about half way into its flowering period and within a couple of weeks, it will reach it's blooming peak.

12 comments:

j. said...

Its been raining all week here too.. A few days ago.. it was so strong and scary.. like a hurricane came through our streets or something.. Im so glad the sun decided to come out today.

I love the color of the Clematis blooms.. so vivid! Sigh.. I really wish I could have plants to tend to.. but they'd probably wither away.. im not a very good gardener. hehe..

xx

V

Kat Mortensen said...

Speaking of "jacks", the orange bowl reminds me of a jack-o-lantern.

Kat

Sumandebray said...

Nice bloom....
We live in apartments and have no garden. We had a few plants in our home. Unfortunately the rubber plant passed away last week. we are very sad about that.
Liked the lantern.... would be interesting to see a night image of that ... I mean in it real glory
Liked your post

Hazel Designs said...

Your clematis are flourishing! I can't wait to see them peak. And I love your solar lamp - very ingenious. I was thinking this would also make for a great outdoor accessory when autumn arrives.

Shelly's Style Shop said...

I love that terracotta solar lantern! ;-) You Jackmanii clematis are very beautiful. There is def no comparison to the rain water vs regular watering.

I hope you had wonderful weekend!

xoxo, Shelly

Jill from Killeny Glen said...

Oh, I like the solar lantern...AND, I love to go to places like Bauhaus to find new gardening products!

The clematis is coming along beautifully and I ALWAYS thoroughly enjoy that shade of blue.

steviewren said...

We have had a cool snap here as well. It is getting down into the 60s at night...which is really nice and comfortable. The daytime temps were in the 80s...very unusual for July, but oh so nice.

Is the color of your clematis really a dark blue like I see on my screen or is it more of a purple? I love the deep blue color.

Zuzana said...

=Valentine,
they were showing on the news, that there was typhoon in your part of the world, so perhaps that was the effect you saw in the streets, I hate wind very much, as it can be so forceful and destructive.
As for gardening, I am sure you would be good at it if you had the interest;))
xo

=Kat,
hehe, the poet in you immediately have associations.;))
But there is some resemblance, I would say.;)) Hope your Monday is great.;) xo

=Sumandebray,
yes, living in apartments means no garden, I hope at least you have a balcony, sometimes that can be enough.;))
I will for sure post pictures of the lantern alight, so keep checking back.;))
Thank you for your nice words.;)

=Hazel,
glad you enjoy my clematis updates still.;)) Yes, the peak will come soon. And I agree, the lantern will be nice in the autumn even if it will be less light for it to get charged.;)) xo

=Shelly,
glad you like the lantern.;))
And for sure the rain is important and I would say almost vital.
I hope your weekend was wonderful too.;)
xo

=Jill,
yes, I too enjoy these stores, it is fun to be walking around and see all the home improvement stuff and gardening things.;))
Glad you like my clematis.;)) The blooming is almost peaking, I can not believe it has gone so fast.
xo

=stevie,
here we have had not s nice July so far I would say; April, May and June were wonderful, so I guess that was our summer.
The colour of the clematis should be dark purple, but can appear blue in some light and seems to be more cobalt blue on pictures.;))
xo

Hilary said...

That's a very cool idea for a lantern. I'm sure you'll get lots of enjoyment from it. It would be quite cool to bring indoors too...

We're having that same cool-warm-cold-hot cycle of weather. Today should be one of the hot days.. but surrounded with less than July-like days on either side. It's just not our usual summer.

Claus said...

Greetings to you from my new home PC!! I'm still getting used to it, and have not pictures in here yet to get inspired and blog away.

Interesting post! Here, it's been summery: windy-ish, sunny, hot...it's what they call "canicula" a period of time (usually of 5-8 days, one in July and another one in August) when we have summer-like weather. It feels nice, but I'm not enjoying it how I would like to: my puppies are sick, and I'm sad about that. Hopefully, they will get well soon, and for good (they are really mischievous, as every puppy is), and I will have the chance to enjoy such pretty weather with them :-) Have a great week ahead!

Zuzana said...

=Hilary,
it is similar here, hot one day, cooling down for days after. Irritating. But, in contrast to you, this is our normal summer.;))
xo

=Claus,
congratulations on your new PC! I love getting new computers, but it always takes some time to get used to them.;))
I guess your winter is ending; enjoy the heat you are getting.;)) Likewise have a wonderful week.;))
xo

Zuzana said...

=Claus,
I of course also hope that your puppies will get better soon, sorry to hear that they are sick.:(