And now it’s September already. September is a sad month in so many ways. Even though the first week of the month was hot, it’s almost guaranteed that we’ll have our first frost before the month ends. In some ways I like that first hard frost. It gives me an excuse to clear away most of the garden and get things tidied up, but I’m never ready for the cold. It stays too long.
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| A pear tree in the orchard showing color already. |
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| Sunflowers. |
Many years ago, when our oldest children were very small, we would read to them at bedtime. We made our way through many classic children’s books starting with nursery rhymes and on through Winnie the Pooh, Dr. Seuss and beyond to more sophisticated stories. Some of the best books we read back in those days were the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I loved reading them aloud as much as the children loved listening to them. Last week in a fit of nostalgia I decided to read them again. They are every bit as good as I remember them being. I love these books. I love how she describes their life with details so clear and precise I feel like I could make and do the things she describes. My favorite of the books is Farmer Boy where she tells the story of her husband, Almanzo Wilder, growing up on a prosperous farm in New York State. My ancestors were farmers like that. It was an honorable and admirable way of life. If I could, I would live that way.
We had a wonderful surprise during the week. On Thursday I didn’t get called to school. I was working in the house in the morning and I heard a car pull into the driveway. I thought someone was here to buy eggs and I went out to see who it was. It was the Thayn family! Tabor, Rachel, Hazel, and June – here to spend the Labor Day weekend with us! It was a complete surprise. They drove all night to get here. The only one who knew they were coming was Hannah and she never let the secret slip. So we’ve had happy days together playing games, keeping Hazel entertained, just loving being together. We’ve gone on walks on the road and around the yard. We taught Hazel the joys of pinching touch-me-nots (jewelweed seed pods that burst when you touch them). We’ve gone on spider hunts (the spiders are pretty big this time of year and Rachel has a love/hate fascination for them). We went swimming in Erway’s pond. It’s been fun.
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| Heading out for a walk up the road. |
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| Hazel pinching touch-me-nots. |
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| Swimming at Erway's pond (June thought the water was too cold). |
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| Josiah skipping stones. |
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| Tabor and Josiah. |
On Friday our winter’s supply of wood was delivered. We spent several hours on Saturday making a new woodpile. It seems like a tradition now to work on the woodpile when the Thayns are here. The job is still not done, but we can work on it over the next few weeks. Tabor also helped Stacey work on the upstairs bathroom floor. It’s been in a state of disrepair for months now. It was nice to make some headway on it.
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| Firewood delivery. |
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| Stacking firewood. |
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| The finished woodpile. |
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| Tabor working on the bathroom floor. |
With the heat last week, my bees were a little crazy. The heat makes them grouchy. They have to work hard to keep their hive cool. They stand at the hive openings and fan their wings to circulate air. They gather on the outside of the hive (it’s called bearding) to keep from crowding and overheating the inside of the hive. They are so irritable – especially the guard bees. They come after us anytime we’re anywhere near the hive and sometimes when we’re nowhere near it. I’ve had to stop working in the garden and flee to the house several times during the week. I got stung on the elbow on Tuesday and had another bad reaction to the sting. (Remember I got stung on my ring finger knuckle several weeks and had a swollen purple finger for a week.) This time my whole elbow swelled up and got red, hot, and sore. It took several days for it to subside. I don’t know why after being stung so many times with just a normal reaction, I’m suddenly hypersensitive to stings. My garden work has come to a halt until the weather cools down a bit and the bees calm down. Then I’m going to move the hive out into the orchard by the hazel hedge far away from the house and gardens.
It’s hot and dry again today. Today is Fast Sunday. We’re home from church. Dinner isn’t ready yet and everyone is hungry. We’re having fried cabbage for lunch and it smells so good. After we eat we’ll nap and after that we’ll spend the evening together playing games.
Tomorrow is Labor Day. There is no school and Stacey and Hannah don’t have to work. The Thayns are planning to leave in the morning, but we’re trying to persuade them to stay another day. The persuasion at this point amounts to reminding Tabor that he hasn’t gone fishing yet. Josiah has been looking forward to fishing with him. So far no firm decision has been made. They know where I stand.
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| Sabbath morning morning glory. |
