the worst day so far

ok, hands down, today is THE SMOKIEST day we have had so far.  there are 3 VERY large fires just north of here, the closest one being about an hour away.  there is ash falling from the sky and my poor air conditioner can’t keep the smoke from getting in.  open the door for a second and the whole house smells like a campfire.  yuck.

here is a picture of the sun the day the smoke really started hitting the valley a few weeks ago.

today the sun isn’t really even visible at high noon through the smoke.  it looks like a foggy january afternoon, but then you go out and get hit with 108F heat.  holy crap-ola it sucks.

on a happier topic, check out the garden spider my husband spotted in our yard.

it was about 2 inches long, including legs.

i also have a female jumping spider that has taken up residence in my grape vine.  they don’t spin webs, but the females build little nests to take care of their eggs in.  it’s hard to read, but she is a big black furry thing, about 3/4 of an inch, with a white spot on her back.

here are some other random pictures from my garden.