summer days, dog days, cooling in the shade days

These late July days have brought some major heat and humidity all across the country.  Some days I find it hard to do anything but stay inside and be still.  The older I get, the less I can take of these high temperatures.  But some good comes of it, and Lord knows I ain't complaining because I love the summer with its sun and light and long days, and I am NO hurry to get through with this season.  So this afternoon, I made this fun little treasury on Etsy as a way to cool my heels while waiting for the evening to descend when I'll go out and let the chickens roam in the garden and sip on a cool glass of white wine.

I've been painting several times a week, and this morning I worked on this painting, Moo Cow, which I've listed in my Etsy shop.  You can find it here.

It's a 9 x 12 watercolor on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press, acid free watercolor paper.  It was inspired by a trip we took yesterday to our favorite nearby winery, Chateau Morissette, up near Floyd, Virginia and just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.  There were several fields of cows grazing and lolling about in the heat.  Ever since I was a little girl, that has been one of my favorite sights... it makes me feel relaxed and peaceful.  Of course, the wine helped too!  Those little specks in the background of this photos are cows.

Here are a few other souls who were feeling a little relaxed yesterday afternoon.  This cat came to visit our patio table and she took a nap at my feet.  Quite endearing!

 A dear friend of mine who was our designated driver but who had fun anyways!

 His lovely wife.  They recently celebrated an anniversary, as did we, so Cheers!

And my handsome husband who definitely is a laid-back kind of guy.

I'll leave you with a few more sights from yesterday afternoon.  Enjoy, and raise your glass in celebration of summer and love and friends and all things good!