After the previous week’s heat wave, last week was a little cooler. Sometimes it was too cool. I don’t like to see the thermometer dip into the 40's at night in July, which it did several times. The days were warm, but I’m still in the mood for some significant summer-style heat. I hope we get more.
I spent a lot of time working in my flower beds last week. The poppies are done and I didn’t want most of them to drop seed, so I pulled up a great number of them. I just kept the ones I’d tagged to save for seed for next year. Pulling them up has left big empty spots that I will not fill this season – mostly because I have nothing to fill them with. My brain is already full of ideas and plans for next year’s garden.
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| My post-poppy flowerbeds. |
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| Day lilies are at their best right now. |
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| The tall phlox has started to bloom. |
Miriam was down at the Thayn’s last weekend and when she came home on Tuesday, she brought Hazel, June, and Mabel with her. So we’ve had three granddaughters here most of the week. That makes for a very active week. Hazel was up early every morning to go on my morning walks with me. Some mornings we just took a stroll around the property. We’d walk through the gardens, the orchard, the woodland garden, and the meadow and then stop to give the chickens and peacock a morning treat. Hazel loves to stop and pull up a carrot or two to munch on while we walk. Other mornings we ventured further from home, up to the hollow, or down past the ponds.
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| A morning walk. |
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| A carrot to munch on. |
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| A morning walk to the ponds. |
Our walks were lovely. Hazel loves the wild flowers that are blooming along the roadsides. She likes to pick a bouquet as we walk. I always quiz her on the identity of the flowers as we go. She’s good at remembering their names – Queen Anne’s Lace, prunella, goldenrod, mallows, and chicory. The mornings are very dewy and the dew and sunshine reveals thousands of spider webs that we examine as we walk. The tall grass meadows are festooned with sparkling webs. It is beautiful to see them.
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| A wildflower bouquet. |
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| Dewy webs. |
All day long there were things to do. Hazel and June helped me pick black currants one morning. They tasted the currants while they were picking and decided they did not like them, but they’ll like the jelly I will make from them later in the summer. We went hunting for ripe raspberries and wild huckleberries in the various patches that grow on the property. On Thursday we went swimming. There was lots of play time at the Shillig’s – on their swing set, driving their little Gator around, riding scooters on their driveway. We’re glad the Shilligs are our neighbors.
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| Picking and tasting black currants. |
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| Swimming. |
Early (3:00 A.M.) on Friday, Rachel and Tabor arrived with Hannah and Josiah. Hannah and Josiah are home from college for a while. Hannah won’t go back to school until after Christmas. Josiah is going to the fall semester, which starts in the middle of September, so he’s only here for a few weeks. Rachel and Tabor left again on Friday. They were chaperones for their ward’s Youth Conference, which was up in Palmyra. They came back here on Saturday afternoon. So we’ve had a full and happy house.
On Friday morning the township started working on the road right by our house. They are replacing the viaducts and there is one that goes under the road right by our mailbox. We went out and watched them for a while. There is something satisfying about watching people work with heavy equipment.
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| Working on the road. |
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| Watching the workers. |
On Friday night we went to the movies to see Aladdin. The girls were excited to see it. Having seen the original cartoon so many times over so many years, I was not so impressed with it. But it was fun to take the girls to see it.
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| At the movies. |
Saturday was a warm, sunny day. We started the day with homemade cinnamon rolls. It was a perfect day for washing the house. We have white vinyl siding on our house and, being on a dirt road, it gets pretty dirty. And the north side of the house, which is shady all day, grows a nice coating of green algae. So once or twice a year, we borrow the Shillig’s power washer and wash the house. Josiah and Hannah both love to do it, so all I had to do is suggest it and they spent a large part of the day spraying off the dust, dirt, and algae. The house looks so bright and clean now. It’s nice having two more willing workers at my disposal.
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| Cinnamon roll helpers. |
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| Watching Josiah work. |
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| Washing off the algae. |
Saturday evening was our branch’s Pioneer Day celebration. We had a dinner and a program of pioneer stories and videos. Hazel, June, and Mabel wore pioneer outfits that Miriam made for them.
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| Pioneer children. |
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| The branch Pioneer Day dinner. |
We’re home from church. We’ve had lunch. Some are playing a game at the dining room table. I love to hear them talking and laughing while they play. We’re having a little thunderstorm right now. When it passes I will go down and do the chores with the girls. They are leaving later this afternoon to go home. They’re coming back up again this weekend to go to the county fair with us. That will be fun.
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| Playing games. |
