Edmonton's weather hit a record high of about 35oC and being followed in the evenings by thunder and lightening storms.

Sunday.. Sunny. High 32.
Monday.. Sunny. Low 18. High 29.
Tuesday.. A mix of sun and cloud. Low 10. High 22.
Normals for the period.. Low 8. High 22.

I sat on my front porch the other night and was just amazed at the downpour and sheet flashes of light followed by the rolling booms..."1 and 2 and 3 one thousand” some were pretty close. Is this something you did when younger counting the time differences and 5 is about a mile away?

Needless to say as our Edmonton summers are very short and with the weather good, I have been distracted from doing some of my 'ought tos' such as work in my home office or really wanting to go in to the hospital for my "on call" this weekend...I did though.

Blueberry pancakes with peaches on front porch a perfect summer meal and my attempts at jam making yesterday were some of the distractions.

A tree full of ripening Evans cherries and the three green donated apples from the neighbour’s trees formed the prime ingredients. Boiled, strained, added a modicum of sugar topped off with some pitted cherries produced a few jars.  These attempts at cherry/apple jam most likely to be syrup...didn't set as well as expected. Need some Certo as not enough pectin in the apples. Dishes after jam process

The dogs although not escaping from the yard, do occasionally chew something when I am away that they shouldn't, like the ripped up magazine on dog discipline. Walks continue in the ravine and yesterday somewhere Nanuq lost all her tags.

The yard continues to have its lure as weeding never done, as reflected in the growth in the driveway and the backyard after weeding. My theory is the more perennials the better such as this lovely lily.Powdery mildew also has attacked a number of other plants, such as delphiniums and pansies and basically they are DONE. Pull them, dead head some of the flowering plants, trim the bushes and add a few other plants for a touch of color! E.g. these potted fall mums or lavender planted in center of this photo and/or hanging basket of pink impatiens plants.