Catalpa.

The guy across the street has this nice big Catalpa tree like the one seen here. When we first moved in it was winter and in the first spring as it started to blossom I thought at first it might have been a Horse Chestnut tree like the one my Babushka's next door neighbour had when I was a kid as the leaves and blossoms look similar but as time passed and the fruit appeared it was clear what it was as the long bean-shaped pods started to form instead of nuts: it was a Catalpa. The leaves are gigantic; the size of an opened palm of a hand.

The blossoms look like this: they remind me of orchids and the smell is wonderful, like Honeysuckle and now his tree is in full bloom the wunnerbar-gut scent permeates all down the street filling the hazy humid summer air and as the wind blows it wafts past and fills my lungs with such an intoxicating scent I inhale deeply and take a deep long breath and just enjoy. God has given us so many gifts to enjoy.

It's soooo hot now too we have a heat advosory warning and you can't even be outside for too long, just in the mornings before it gets too hot, and only in the shade, so mainly indoors where it's cool unless you're swimming to cool off. I was going to swim yesterday but the pool had just been super-shocked ( had litres of liquid chlorine dumped into it) and I didn't want to risk having it eat my skin off so I'm waiting until today. The girls and my hubby are also in Toronto all day today; him for work and them at Canada's Wonderland theme park so I get a nice quiet relaxing day home not having to keep track of time, schedules, meals, etc. so I plan to laze in the shade in the morning and then have a swim in the afternoon and then possibly a nap. Lazy, hazy summer days.