We are in deep summer on Dogstar Farm.  Hot temperatures slow things down, especially with me!  My greenhouse soars to 118 degrees F by mid-morning, with door open, both windows open and the fan on 24 hours a day.  Last night I left the door open to try to keep it cool but the temperature still rose to 115 degrees by 10:30 a.m.  I have ordered a shade cloth from Lee Valley.  I will fling it over the greenhouse when temperatures are in the 30's C.

In order to beat the heat we take to the lake.  The water temperature, according to our fish finder, is now a balmy 17 degrees C.  In one spot it was over 20 degrees C.  That is where I jumped off the boat and into the water.  I can tell you, it did not feel like 20 degrees, rather more like -20!  I did get used to it though and had a quick swim around the boat to cool myself off.

 The usual selfie!  Feeling good!

 Enjoying the wind in his fur!

As you can see from the above photos, the lake was calm as glass.  Very unusual for Francois Lake, which is a 100 km long, narrow lake.  The winds pick up quickly, making boating difficult for small boats and novice captains!  You will also notice the sky is not blue.  Normally, the sky would be a deep, clear blue.  Right now we are receiving smoke from a huge 13,000+ hectare fire west of Quesnel.  We see the smoke billowing up each afternoon from over the hill south of us, across the lake.  Even though it is many kilometers away, we are still impacted by the smoke.  Yesterday we could smell it and feel it in our eyes and lungs.

The above pictures were taken on the beach just a week ago - notice the beautiful blue colours of the sky and lake!  And here we are, enjoying something that is now, or will be on Thursday, prohibited in our area:

Marshmallow roast for dessert one evening!  What a great visit we had with our two beautiful grand daughters, daughter and son-in-law.  We hope we will continue to have times like these after their move to Halifax, which we just found out about today.  So congratulations are in order to son-in-law Chris, who is now promoted to Sergeant in the RCMP.  We are very, very proud of you!  And now is the time for a huge THANK YOU to all the Mounties who place their lives on the line every day to provide us with safety and a peaceful life.

Now, before I close, here are a few pictures of my roses, who never fail to delight me with their colours and fragrance.  Dogstar Farm is such a beautiful place in the summer!

Here are a few more pictures of the yard, greenhouse and the trails.  The wild roses were exceptional this year.  I made 2 batches of wild rose petal jelly and 2 batches of wild rose petal with lavender jelly.  Every jar tastes like summer!

 Beautiful colours of the wild roses.

 Calm afternoon.

 Wild roses at their peak!

 At the pond.

 Thimble berry.

 Wild columbine.

 Thimble berry

 Beautiful Indian paint brush and wild clover.

Along the eastern fence line.

On the way home.

You can see how lush everything is.  It gets so jungle-like where the cow parsnips grow tall, over my head.  I hope you've enjoyed our little tour of Dogstar Farm.  Bye for now.