Weekend Fall Vibes

 It was a busy weekend with a good balance of work and fun. It began on Friday evening with a delicious corned beef and cabbage dinner at our house with Tim and Kay. Steve saw the corned beef briskets at Sam's Club and asked if we could make it. I questioned the timing as it wasn't St. Patrick's Day but he was convincing so we went ahead and bought it. It was delicious! Everyone enjoyed the meal. I expect it was so good because it is something we only eat once (or twice) a year. 

We woke up Saturday morning to a chilly thirty-four degrees! We had a work day at church planned. Boy were my fingers frozen in no time. Our tasks were to spread mulch and cut back some shrubs. As we got moving we warmed up quickly and began shedding layers of jackets. We were a team of seven people and had the work done in four hours. It always feels good to step back and gaze upon all that hard work.

 Back at home, I gathered up all the summer potted pants and dumped them into the lawn cart. I added all the dead marigolds from the raised beds as well. It was time to tidy up for winter now that the frost had come. The porch plants were still bright and cheery so it was hard to say goodbye to this part of summer. Out they went. This was no time for plant pity; things had to be done.

In the evening we went with Tess and Blake to the Fincastle Ghost Tour. This was put on by the Historic Fincastle Society. Our group walked around town with a host and made several stops where various characters told ghostly stories. One stop was at the Godwin Cemetery in the photo above. We stood below the national champion Honey Locust tree, deemed to be over two hundred years old. As the photo shows, it is growing right around a grave stone. It really is a stately, gorgeous tree. Fincastle is an old town with log cabins dating to the late 1700's. (Two of my friends live in them.) This evening's walk was a foretaste to the Halloween walk we will make next weekend. On Halloween night the town will be filled with trick-or-treaters and happy sounds echoing through the streets. Tonight, we shuffled through crisp fallen leaves and enjoyed the warm glow of lighted windows as we passed by homes.  

On Sunday evening, Tess and Blake invited all of us to their bungalow in town for Tess' twenty-ninth birthday. I can't believe our youngest is this age. Tess made rosette ribbons with fun titles on each for us to choose and wear. Steve chose "Queen" and I chose "Lovely". Others said, "Boss", "No. 1", etc. We ate yummy foods and then went outside for some wood burning. They recently had two large maples cut down with one being hollow. Tess counted the rings on the solid stump and counted ninety-two. The guys used the hollow logs as stoves for the smaller logs. It was fun to be outside and we all enjoyed the fire. We ended the evening with Tess' traditional birthday dessert, fruit pizza. For the first time ever, Steve helped me decorate the pizzas. My happiest times are when we are with our children. This was a perfect ending to the weekend. We look forward to gathering again at the end for the week for Halloween and trick-or-treating.

 

Open Studios, Botetourt, VA and Cake Pops

 

The weather was so pretty on Saturday that Steve and I decided it would be a fun day to go out for a drive. The annual Open Studios event gave us some good destinations. Each year in October, local artists open their studios for anyone to visit. We visited seven artists at three locations. 

Willie Simmons' family opened his wood shop to display and sell some of his prolific work. Mr. Simmons died suddenly in a motor cycle accident earlier this year. His sudden passing was a painful loss for his family and for the community. I purchased some Christmas gifts here. We also visited Ed Bordett's studio in town. His is a fun space to explore as it is in an old Oldsmobile dealership in the heart of Fincastle. The cavernous space has a tin tile ceiling, loads of antiques and all kinds of artist materials. Brett LaGue also displays his art there. I have always admired his Impressionist paintings and his wonderful colors. We bought a demure painting of azaleas from Mr. Lague. We went on to visit three other artists located on a farm with the beautiful view, above.

 

After we got home, I decided to take a broken chocolate cake out of the freezer and do something with it. I stashed it in there over the summer after it didn't turn out of the pan very well. It was too good tho throw out but too poor in shape to frost. I decided it was a good candidate for cake pops. I never made cake pops before. I figured that I did not have much to lose. To make them, you basically crumble up a cake, mix it with fluffy, homemade frosting, form it into balls and dip them in melted chocolate. In this case, I used white candy melts since the cake was chocolate. Voila! We ate them on Sunday when Tess and Blake came over for dinner. The crunchy candy coating with the moist cake interior make them delightful.

 

Stepping Into Fall

We left the summer vibe behind when we drove home from Holden Beach last weekend. Falling leaves and chilly temperatures greeted us upon or return to the mountains of western Virginia. It feels good to be in autumn. Our evening walks on the beach have been replaced by walks up our road. During our last walk, we came out of the wooded section and saw a beautiful rainbow over the Peaks of Otter. It was not raining but the sun was setting through some clouds which (I guess?)  is what formed the rainbow. We stopped and studied that rainbow for quite some time, enjoying all the colors and light, before we headed home.

 

Holden Beach, NC

 

This is our third year at Holden Beach in October with Kay, Tim, Sandi, and Dan. We have been lucky to have perfect weather all three years in a row. (You never can tell when booking a beach trip during hurricane season.) Days typically get into the low 80's and evenings and nights are cool.

Dan loves to fish. This year Steve asked him to bring an extra fishing pole so he could give it a try too. They caught a lot of little Croakers, as Dan called them. He showed me one so I could hear it croak. It sounded like a purring cat to me. All were released back into the water. Other fisherman up and down the shore caught similar fish. One neighboring fisherman caught a thirty seven inch Drum up near the pier. Anyway, while the guys fished, I sat in my beach chair or walked in the waves. The water was nice and warm. We recently invested in a Cool Cabana for our beach trips. We saw Chelsea's back in August when we went to the beach in Massachusetts. It provided nice shade when we needed a break from the sun.

There was a beautiful Harvest Moon during our vacation. I especially enjoyed our evening walks.

The sunset on our last evening walk.

 

 We always have a lot of fun with our friends. We get together almost every week at home so we are well acquainted with each others' idiosyncrasies. We all have a sense of humor and everyone likes to have fun. We also have our serious moments when we discuss our lives and when we pray together. As we get older, we do not take these friend trips for granted. They are precious and they have given us many cherished memories.

Who knows what they were discussing. It could have been anything from world politics to the Three Stooges.Whatever it was, the view was nice.

Mom's Meatballs and Sauce, Painting the Kitchen

Grandson Jack, who is nearly thirteen, came to stay with us last weekend. Amid the weekend activities I asked him what he would like for dinner on Sunday. I gave him a list of options and he chose spaghetti and meatballs. Our meatballs and sauce recipe comes from my Italian mom. I recall my mom and Aunt Katherine both making their sauce the same way so I assume it came from their mother, my grandmother. Grandmother Irene was an immigrant to the United States from Italy. My mom did not have this recipe written down. She dictated it to me and I typed it on a recipe card in the early 1980's. It has endured a lot of wear.

Recipes for meatballs and sauce are as varied as Italian regions. Every Italian family has their own sauce and meatball recipe. If you have been raised eating a particular sauce and meatball, (eating it at least once a week throughout childhood), it is hard to accept the taste of any other. So, I am not offended if this recipe is not to someone's liking. It does benefit from adding the red wine. The only change I have made is to the meatball recipe. I make breadcrumbs from the bread slices and sprinkle those with water. This makes a more uniform consistency. My least favorite part of making meatballs is frying them in olive oil. It is time consuming and I dislike standing at the stove frying things. In the past I have tried baking them instead. I thought the taste was not the same. They need the olive oil for flavor.

  

Jack helped me make the meatballs. In my opinion, if you are going to make a batch of meatballs and sauce, you might as well double it and freeze a batch or two. It is the same amount of work either way. 

We cooked in a chaotic kitchen setting because we are in the midst of painting the kitchen cabinets. I procrastinated this job because it requires all the cabinet contents to be removed in order to sand the wall and base boxes. The cabinet contents were scattered between the living room, dining room, basement, and our bedroom. Once we finished the sanding, we washed all the shelves and replaced the shelf liners. Now it feels like move-in day, all fresh and clean! I purged a lot of unused items and then put everything else back in place. The next step is to prime and paint all the sanded doors and drawer fronts. This will take another week or so. The last time we painted these was about fifteen years ago. I used a paint sprayer that time. I did not like using a sprayer. Aside from having to create a spray "room" with plastic sheeting, I was not adept with a sprayer and I hated the whole process. This time I am rolling the paint on with a four inch roller. The finish is uniform and lovely. I also feel that I am much more in control. We are using Benjamin Moore Advance for cabinets, doors, and trim in a satin finish. We are using the same color as before, Dove White. 

The kitchen is nothing fancy but it is highly functional. We bought the refrigerator in 1991 when we built our house in New York. The thing won't quit. We are ready to upgrade it and the laminate counter top to granite but that's for another day. Steve and I were both brought up with the mindset, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." So, we tend to wait until something needs doing rather than doing it just for the aesthetic. I cannot say if this is sound advice, it is just the way we are.

 

A Spontaneous Act of Kindness

 I witnessed the loveliest thing at church on Sunday.

An older couple sat in the pew in front of us. The lady was slightly bent and walked with a cane. She wore a smart dress and a denim jacket with the collar turned up. Her husband stood close to her and I noticed a slight tremor in his hands. In front of them sat another older lady who I know just a little bit. She devoted all of her time to operating a food pantry for veterans. She wears her hair very long and dresses in flowy clothing. This week she was wearing a beautiful, turquoise necklace and large, dangling, turquoise earrings in the shape of a cross.

As we sang the last song of Mass and began to leave our pews, I noticed the lady on front of us lean forward to the other lady and compliment her earrings. Without blinking an eye, the earring lady took them off and gave them to the admirer. This lady gestured as though saying, "No. No." But the earring lady lovingly pressed them into her hands.

 At that point we were walking away so I did not see if there was any further interaction between these two strangers. I thought it was the loveliest thing.

Williamsburg, VA...A Crafter's Delight

 I could visit Colonial Williamsburg many times over and never tire of it. Two friends and I drove there for a three night, mid-week, girl's getaway. We rented an Airbnb which was a ten minute drive away from Colonial Williamsburg. 

The three of us have gone away often together and we have our travel routine down pretty well. We typically go exploring during the day and settle in with sewing or hand work for the evenings. On this trip, we met up for lunch with a mutual friend who lives in Williamsburg. She recommended Carrot Tree Kitchens . It was a very nice, bustling place. I had a slice of spinach and feta quiche and a cup of tomato bisque soup. It was a rainy day and this was a cozy, satisfying meal. After lunch, we headed over to Liberty Hill Needleworks . Oh my, this is a wonderful shop for cross stitchers! I was here last December and thought I shouldn't need anything this trip. But that thought went down the tubes fast. 

 

A wall of linen, nicely arranged by count and color.

All types of floss plus another wall of DMC and yet another of silks.

After that bit of fun, we checked into our Airbnb. It was pouring rain and we got soaked to the skin carrying in our suitcases and gear. We changed into dry, comfortable clothing and settled in for an evening of stitching and gab.

The following day, we headed out to Willow Grove Primitives.  What a fun and well stocked shop. It consisted of two buildings, one being an historic house. It was nice to see that much of their stitchery, applique, and hooked items were crafted by local people. I found a pretty fall garland and three stuffed pumpkins made of gold flowered cotton. Next, we went to the New York Deli for lunch. This place is a must. We dined here last December and I could not wait to come back. After lunch, we stopped at Lightfoot Antique Shop where Kay found two nice antique frames. From there, we went to the Premium Outlet Shops. This conglomerate of stores seems to still be doing well as far as outlet malls go. I found two shirts for Steve at the Columbia outlet and nothing for myself anywhere else. After this full day, we again headed back to the Airbnb for an evening of stitching. For dinner, we had ordered Greek salads to-go when we were at the New York Deli for lunch. They kept in the car until we got home.

 

Now that's a Reuben!

 

The next day, we once again headed out early. The rain stopped and the day was beginning to brighten. Our first stop was back to Liberty Hill Needeworks. I am not sure why we did this, but Kay wanted to go back. I wasn't planning to get anything more until I spotted a pattern that had been on my wish list for a year. I don't know why I had not seen it when we were here two days ago. It is a sampler titled, "Louisa Barney 1892" by Reflets de Soie. The pattern is so beautiful to me that I decided to add it to my purchases. The Needleworks shop owner and her staff gave me a huge amount of time to get this pattern set up. I decided to stitch it in silk floss and they needed to convert all forty colors from DMC to Needlepoint Inc. Due to the cost of silk floss, I bought only fifteen colors for now. This is enough to get started. I may have to stretch this project out over a couple of years. The pattern is so beautiful and I know it will give me joy to stitch it.

After the Needleworks shop, we drove over to downtown Williamsburg. We were all hungry and decided to at at the Cheese Shop on Merchants Square. They make delicious sandwiches on all kinds of wonderful bread. We dined at the tables outside and enjoyed our lunch while we watched passersby. We ducked into the candy shop next door and each bought a milk chocolate covered caramel turtle to eat while we walked up the main avenue to take in the town and sights. (What great restraint it was to walk out of this candy shop with only one candy!) There were many people out and about. As always, it is easy to imagine oneself in Colonial times when walking around this place. Since we were just here last December, I did not take many photos. 

 

All the gardens are lovely here. I like the simplicity of this boxwood and Gomphrena.

This man was playing a lively fiddle tune. I hooked arms with Kay and got her to take a turn with me : )

Sadly, our week was coming to an end. Our plan was to make one more stop on our way home the next day. We wanted to go to Millstone Quilts in Mechanicsville, VA. Kay and Pat had been there several times in years past, but not recently. It is getting harder and harder to find reproduction quilting fabric and they knew that this wonderful shop carried a lot of it. The old mill building was fun to be in, albeit a little dark. There were several rooms of fabrics within two and a half stories. I was able to find yardage I needed for backing on a Jo Morton quilt I am piecing. There were so many beautiful prints that I was quite overwhelmed with wanting to buy everything. In addition to the backing fabric, I carefully chose some fat quarters to use in specific doll quilts I hope to make. We agreed that we will need to come back to Millstone Quilts again some time.

Back home to reality. There is work to be done! 

 

 

 

 

Reworking the Perennial "Step" Bed

 

 

We have garden steps that go nowhere. 

Twenty-two years ago, the vision was to replace this barren hillside with a garden. In reality, it  would have taken a crew of men with machines plus an expensive amount of plantings to bring that vision to fruition. But all was not lost. We found ourselves always climbing this little portion of hill when we wanted to walk up to the gravel road at the top. So we put in a mini version of the hillside garden. Back then, Steve got free railroad ties at his workplace. He brought a bunch of them home and then axed and shoveled out the clay hillside to set the steps in place. We then topped each step with pea stone. Over the years I have tried several different plants and shrubs to cover the area. It still a largish garden I always struggled with what to put there. It gets weedy very easily and it never looks pretty at the end of a hot summer. 

Lately, I let the weeds go for a long while and everything got really overgrown. When I knew Steve would be away for a few days and the weather would be cooler, I decided to tackle the task of cleaning it up. I drove the pickup truck to the landscape store and got a load of garden mix soil. I pruned back the shrubs and dug and weeded and dug some more. I pulled out old landscape fabric (what was I thinking using that stuff?!) and shoveled new dirt onto the area. I transplanted things I wanted to keep and added a few new plants to fill in.  

It took two days of hard labor. It also gave me great  satisfaction to complete the job. When I finally turned on the sprinkler to water everything in, that was my, "Hallelujah! The job is done!" I sat in the shade of a tree with a can of sparkling water and watched the sprinkler oscillate back and forth. The air was cool with a little breeze and it felt so good to just sit there and be finished. 

One of my best memories of the day was going back to the run-in shed, where we used to store hay for the horses, to get the garden cart. It has been years since any horses have been in there but it still smells like hay and horses. I love that smell.

I skipped the gym the next morning. I figured I had earned it, the hard way.

Ecclesiates 3:4, A Time to Cry

 Grief came to visit this week. It often lingers in the dark corners of everyday news. Most of the time I address it with prayer and introspection, determining to do more good and counterbalance the evil in this world with good. Love more, love better, love unconditionally...look to our Lord and Savior for guidance. But Wednesday's news of the assassination of Charlie Kirk darkened the sun and stilled the breeze. It caused a vacuum that momentarily sucked all common reason from the world. 

My heart is so heavy for what we have lost in the death of this good man. Evil attempted to take away our freedom of speech and open, civil debate. This same darkness wants to take away so much more. 

I found comfort in Charlie's widow's words of faith and encouragement and in her vision for her husband's legacy. And I find eternal comfort in knowing that darkness has lost. It was finished the moment Jesus defeated death on the cross. 

Erika Kirk's Words 

Wind's From the North!

 

The sky is clear and the upper and lower fields are mowed.

 Oh what glorious, cool air comes through the windows on the north side of the house! We have waited all summer for this change. It lifts our spirits and fuels our creativity. It induces me to clean and freshen every room in the house. I open windows on opposite sides of the rooms so the air flows right through. We keep some windows open at night and let the sounds of crickets and owls lull us to sleep. The screen porch is our evening haven now that the heat and humidity are gone. It was tolerable to sit there on a hot summer night but now it is downright pleasant. 

We have also begun to refresh the garden. The fields are mowed for hay which makes the entire property look brand new. The sweet scent of cut hay is everywhere. We tackled the tired vegetable beds and pulled out all the sodden, rotten tomato plants. What a disappointment they were this year. The pole beans came down too. They produced like gangbusters but were all spent now. Steve is harvesting hot peppers every day. He dehydrates some and grinds them into powders. He also makes a lot of hot sauce. I know it involves brine but I don't pay enough attention to his process. I took a turn with the dehydrator and filled it with sweet basil. I also made two batches of pesto which I will store in the freezer. 

Grandkids romped around the hay bales.

 

 

 

We had a happy Labor Day weekend with three of the four daughters and their families here for a cookout. It was an easy picnic with meats on the grill, a few sides, and two kinds of fruit cobbler with ice cream for dessert. We took walks, played outside, ate good food, and shared stories and dreams for the future. Tess and Audrey have declared that they enjoyed the family gathering for Violet's birthday party so much last month that they want to keep the gatherings going throughout the year. I say, "Amen" to that! Next month is Tess' birthday, Halloween, then Thanksgiving and Christmas. We will have plenty of opportunity to celebrate.

Dried basil leaves ready for crumbling into recipes and three jars of pesto for the freezer.

 On the quiet front, I finished stitching a large-ish cross stitch pattern. Now I must find a frame. I also took two quilts to the quilting studio and just picked them up this week. I need to bind them and then give them a wash so they pucker up. I will include them in my next post. Tomorrow Kay and I are driving to Lewisburg, WV to browse the antique shops and have lunch out. It is a very pretty drive with barely any traffic. It is my reward to self after having a routine c _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ py today. ; ) 

PS. I can't decide which font I prefer. ??  

 

Visiting New Hampshire and a Day at the Beach

 

Photo from our 2022 visit. It looks exactly the same today.

 

 

 

The Follansbee Inn at Kezar Lake, NH has become like an old friend to us. This is where we stay when we visit our daughter and her family in New Hampshire. This year, we made our annual August trek to the beautiful state of New Hampshire in our old pickup truck. It is not the most comfortable for long range travel (and I questioned its road worthiness) but we had a load of furniture that Chelsea wanted and I was happy to endure the truck ride in order to clear it out of our basement.

The common rooms at the inn are lovely and comfortable and the breakfasts are a culinary treat. We always enjoy the dock and the beachfront area. Guests have free use of the inn's kayaks, canoes, and paddle boards. We spent two days exploring the lake, swimming off the beach and dock, and relaxing under the big pine trees. One afternoon we formed a three boat caravan and Simon guided us over to an inlet at the lake where we paddled through rushes and lily pads. We looked for water birds, turtles and little fish as we paddled along. Our three grandsons are already energetic outdoorsmen and keep up quite well with their father. 

Other activities we enjoyed were the League of New Hampshire Craftsman Fair, a beach day on Plum Island, MA, dinner in Newburyport, MA, a home cooked lobster dinner eaten on the picnic table, an afternoon of candlepin bowling, reading books to the boys, and quiet evening chats with our daughter and son-in-law. I had hoped to get away from the Virginia heat but it was also hot in the north. We were able to sleep with the windows open at night and that was nice.

We spent a total of twenty-eight hours driving to and from New Hampshire. It is a long, painstaking drive in the moment but it is always worth it in the end. We try to have an audiobook, which helps with the long drive. This trip we listened to Peter and the Starcatchers on Audible and it was fantastic! The narrator was excellent and Steve enjoyed it as much as I. I don't often give five-star ratings but this was a full five star book for me.

It is always sad when we have to drive away from our family. Our final morning leaving the inn, we drove to the highway instead of to our daughter's house. I fought the lump in my throat, as I always do at times like this. I feel like I straddle two worlds, the north and the south. My heart longs for one but our life is rich and full in the other. There is no solution and I have come to accept that this is how it must remain. 

The dock at Follansbee Inn

 

Watching the family from my napping spot under the pines

Scotch eggs, roasted potatoes, pear tart, fresh fruit

 

Egg- brie- prosciutto and pear quesadilla, beignet, roasted potatoes, fresh fruit

Our three grandsons at the League of NH Craftsman Fair. 

The beach at Plum Island State Park

Steve at candlepin bowling

Playing with Violet and a Sad Day for the Mimosa Tree

 

Violet's pal, Muttsy, comes with her on her weekly visits with me. She loves him dearly. This week he was wearing a little harness but had no leash. I told Violet to choose some fabric she liked and we would sew Muttsy a leash. I found a perfect sized leash clip in my toolbox and we sewed it to one and. On the other end, we made a loop for holding. Lucky Mutsy! 

We decided we wanted to go see the Mimosa tree and see the hummingbirds and butterflies on it. We walked up the hill to the back road and past Darys' house where the Mimosa tree lived...except it was gone! To our dismay, only a rotted stump was left. It must have fallen and been taken away. It was a glorious tree and we will sorely miss it. 

Below is the tree in July, 2015. This tree is so beautiful to me that it is hard to believe it is considered a weed tree and cannot be found to purchase in nurseries. We  saw little shoots growing at the stump and I may go dig one up and see if I can grow it. There were several more baby Mimosa trees on the road bank but they were surrounded by poison ivy. I think it is time to go Mimosa hunting.

 

In more Muttsy news, Muttsy got to swing with Violet. Then he watched her swing for a while. We had some cloud cover which made it bearable to be outside and swing for a little while under the shade. 

 

 

 

The July Garden, Too Wet

 The garden is massively overgrown this summer. It is not often we see too much rain like this. Combined with the heat, it brings an uncomfortable humidity. Not shown in the photo are the ugliest tomato plants I have ever seen. I think I will harvest what fruit remains on them and then pull them up. 

I bought pole beans by mistake this year. I had never planted them before and always used bush beans. When I realized my mistake, we scrambled to give them something to grab onto and climb. They overtook the snow peas that were planted on the arched trellis and completely covered over them. Steve now likes the pole bean variety better because he can pick them without bending over. I canned Dilly Beans for him this week as a reward for all the beans he keeps bringing in. We gave bags of beans and tomatoes to Audrey and Tess and we have eaten green beans at every other meal. My dad always grew green beans and having them reminds me of him and his garden and all the goodness we ate in those summers long ago. I like to cook them as my mother did, cooked until tender,  then added to a saute of fresh tomatoes, garlic, and basil. 

All the marigolds and dill were volunteers along with the basil plants that are growing on the gravel paths. I let those three plants go to seed last year and the birds loved them during the winter. I think the birds dining habits scattered the seeds which created a more widespread propagation. There were marigolds everywhere and I had to transplant several to get them off the pathway.

 

The Days of High Summer

 

It has been a very hot summer here in Virginia. One big, long, stretch of heat with no nighttime dips in temperatures to give us a break. We perform the bare minimum outdoor tasks like harvesting from the garden, mowing the grass, watering flower pots, and minimal weeding. Any other yard related work we say we will do when the weather cools down...in another month or so. The one, happy, outside activity I do enjoy is the aquatics class. It begins at 9:00am in the outdoor pool at the gym and the water is always refreshing. It is a happy place where everyone is in good spirits and the exercise feels good.

Fresh vegetables abound and our meals revolve around the seasonal produce. Local corn is in season and we have been finding ways to enjoy that. We  did enjoy some corn fritters for dinner one night. They aren't the healthiest of foods but they are a treat on occasion. Another absolute favorite summer meal of ours is tomato pie. We have eaten them twice for dinner so far. Our tomato plants are scraggly and ugly this summer but they still produce tomatoes. Steve always adds some of his hot peppers to his side of the pie. : )

It turns out that summers in the south are a good time for indoor projects. I started piecing another quilt. It's an older pattern by Jo Morton called "Cut the Mustard". Getting the points to line up is a challenge for me as I am not an expert quilter. But I am going slow and ripping seams and re-piecing when need be. Four squares down, thirty-one more to go. I cannot seem to get inspired to work on my rug hooking. I know the mood will come back around at some point so I will just have to wait for that.

Other highlights of this month have been Tuesdays with Violet. She is so much fun to play with and the day always goes by quickly. She prefers movement play over quiet play so we hit the softball, target shoot with Nerf guns, swing and climb, play "Bear Hunt", a throw foam balls into the basketball net. All this occurs in the basement because it is too hot outside. She hasn't even wanted to go to the pool this summer, even though I suggest it. I will be sad when school starts and our Tuesdays together come to an end.

We went to one Salem baseball game with Tess and Blake, which ended up being rained out by a thunderstorm. It was still fun anyway. We also went to a trivia night at Big Lick Brewery with them and that was a lot of fun.We have dinners with friends and others with family. We dog sat Bok Choy,  had Claire and her family here for a weekend, went to a couple of movies at the little Buchanan theater (two movie tickets, two bags of popcorn and a can of beverage cost $17.), played Scrabble, and sat on the porch in the evening a little bit. 

Summer is passing nicely in its simplicity.