In the Heat of August

 There is a lot going on in our corner of the world this month. I could tell you about my MIL's birthday party at a cafe...

Or about all the food we processed for the coming year...

And how much I love "flowerbed gardening"/ how well our tiny garden is producing...  

Or how my flowers are not doing quite as well this summer (any ideas why my big, beautiful hydrangea bushes have 0 flowers??) but I'm 😍over my Danika hardy hibiscus that is blooming it's lil heart out this month...

I could wax poetic about how much we like our new refrigerator since we [finally] replaced the 30 yr old appliance we bought when we got married...

Or talk about how much I enjoyed being in the fire department's parade with my son in his boss's awesome truck... 

Or a wedding I almost invited myself to so I could see my other son as a groomsman...

I could totally spam you with zoo photos with my adorable grandkids...

I mean, who doesn't love a carousel ride [or two] at the zoo?

I could wax eloquent about how much I fear bike accidents and having a son who rides is against my better judgement, but I have to admit this shot of Jeremy in TN on a bachelor party trip is pretty cool. 

I could tell you about birthday season starting at our house. And how I feel about having a son who is 29. TWENTY NINE! How did that happen?! I was 29 myself just the other day...

But a couple of my friends are going through a rough patch due to an accident and a fire last week; they are on my mind a lot. Humor helps when we're going through difficulties, so I thought maybe I would share a "funny" story from this month in their honor. (Hopefully it's funny to you because it falls in the embarrassing category for me.) 

So we were at our son's house helping with some landscaping. I was digging up some overgrown lilies and dividing them. 

I had a particularly large clump to divide. I placed the shovel in the center and jumped on it, expecting the blade to slice cleanly through the clump. Apparently I underestimated how tough those jumbled rhizomes were. Instead of slicing cleanly through, the shovel blade ricocheted off. Before I knew what had happened, I was flat on my back on the gravel. The first stunned thought that went zipping through my mind was "I hope no one saw this!" Followed closely behind by "This is going to hurt" as I lay there looking up at the front bumper of the pickup (visible in the background of the above photo). Very fortuitous I didn't clobber my head on the bumper on the way down!  Go ahead and laugh. I don't doubt it looked hilarious. If anyone saw it happen, they have been too polite to mention it.   

The ironic thing is I was having trouble with my lower back prior to this little mishap. It would seem slamming to the ground popped whatever was out of place back into place because my lower back no longer bothers me, apart from the bruises of course. I'm not recommending shovel-jumping as a method of chiropractic treatment, but I'll take it as a perk of my mishap. SMH 

Where did you go, July?

 Another blogger from our church wrote this post and I feel like I could borrow it almost word for word, right down to the case of Lyme disease. Summer is slipping by rapidly while we've been too busy to notice. I don't care if we never have another July like 2022!  

2 major time-stealers of July were VBS and a move. Our son changed addresses, not us. (I hope I never have to pack up 30+ years of belongings and move!) And they did it while he was dealing with Lyme- the exhaustion, the rash, aching so bad it hurt to move, swollen joints, and antibiotics that upset the stomach. So we were over there a lot, helping as much as possible. Here's my favorite grandkids helping me label boxes...

And loading up our van for one of many trips back & forth...

Then loading a trailer (during a brief rain shower & power outage)...

Good-bye, old house! I liked you. I'm especially going to miss your awesome adult swing. And dropping by on the way to/from town. (I'm not going to miss the mosquitoes that came with living in the woods though.)

 

Unloading at the new house...

Hello new house! I'm going to like your big yard, and having my grandkids closer. 

Sorry, not sorry, Grammie lets the grandkids stay in their jammies all morning.

Avery was old enough to go to VBS at our church this year. Not sure who enjoyed it most-Grammie or Avery?? Crafts was definitely her favorite. But it kept us hopping to go away every night.

Then there was also a holiday- the 4th- and a family gathering.

Which included meeting "Marshall" at the city park...

...and sparklers.

In the midst of all the craziness, we discovered BunchO Balloons. We haven't had time to go to the pool or beach yet this summer, but we love these easy peasy water balloons!

Colton rockin' his water-balloon-throwing outfit. LOL

Someone discovered squeezing the balloons makes them squirt, which last longer than throwing them (since they instantly pop when they hit the ground). 

Colton's first haircut by PopPop. Might not be professional, but it's free.

A year later, we finally got the lattice installed on the back deck. (Originally it was labeled as the grilling deck, but we have yet to lug the grill up there.) Our clay soil is still being amended, in hopes having healthy landscaping around it eventually. Hope springs eternal...

Meet Sebastion. We managed to go without any animals for a couple months -for the first time in 29 years. Until someone brought a kitten home. His propensity for darting in the house every time the door opens makes me plan my door-opening to a minimum. Fingers crossed this is a temporary inconvenience, and that he will earn his keep in time, as yours truly hates mice way more than I'm not fond of pets.

Arianna is house sitting right now. She planned a tea party for Avery at "her" house. It was beyond adorable! I thought I had cool aunts when I was growing up... 

Jeremy also spent a week at the air show in WI. You can check his social media for photos.

 

Good riddance, July! You were crazy, but we survived. 💪