Saint-Aignan in summer (29)

I've had this sedum plant for nearly 20 years now. It was growing here when we moved into the house. I transplanted some of it into this planter box and it has thrived with almost no care from me except infrequent watering in summertime dry spells. It's a sedum that flowers in August and September. One French name for it is orpin, and in English it's called stonecrop. Right now, It's about ready to burst into bloom.

On the left is a photo I took a couple of days ago, and on the right a picture of the flowers from a few years back.

Saint-Aignan in summer (28)

Just to reassure you that we are not deprived of fresh fruit even if the local trees are basically barren, I took these photos at the open-air market in Saint-Aignan yesterday morning. This is just one of four or five produce stands at the Saturday morning market. We also have a really good grocery store specializing in fresh local fruits and vegetables that's open six days a week and is just a mile or two from our house.

   

This hot summer has been a banner year for melons, as they are called in French. They are fragrant, juicy, and sweet. We are eating two or three of them every week, sometimes with salt-cured, air-dried ham, and sometimes as dessert with port wine. There are also all kinds of plums available, along with figs, nectarines, apricots, and much more.

Saint-Aignan in summer (27)

On July 27, I posted a table showing how many days with temperatures above 30ºC (86ºF) we have had over the years since 2005. Before 2022, the highest number was 20 hot days, in 2006, and the lowest number was just two, in 2007 and 2014. In 2022, we were already at a total of 22 hot days when I posted the data. Since then, we've had seven more 30+º days, bringing the 2022 total to 29. That's got to be some kind of record.

Around the hamlet this year, there have been almost no plums, even fewer cherries, and very few peaches
on the fruit trees in people's yards. It's just been too hot and dry for them. But there are a lot of apples.
Here's a photo of one of our apple trees that I took two days ago.

Saint-Aignan in summer (26)

It is so much cooler here this morning, and breezy. Today's predicted afternoon high is "only" 29C. That's 85F and nearly ten degrees F cooler than yesterday's high temperature. Mornings have been fairly cool, but yesterday morning it was muggy for about the first time this summer. We had a shower around noontime, and this morning everything outside is wet, so we've been having sprinkles of rain overnight. We have also been warned to expect thunder and lightning today. We slept comfortably upstairs in the loft last night.

    
The north-facing window and the sliding-glass door in the living room

    
The kitchen and the guest bedroom

    
The bathroom and Walt's computer room

Yesterday morning I threw open all the windows and doors on the main level of the house to let refreshing morning air in. I went around and took pictures of all of them. I have all the windows and doors open again right now.