Bye Bye July!

 Final post of this month.  July has come and is almost gone and it's been a nice weather month...except for a few tornadoes early on and another tornado scare last week.  Here's what the sky looked like when the sirens went off:

The sky was a funny orange color as the tornadoes just passed us by, thankfully.  And speaking of orange color...wait, we were speaking of orange color, right?  I decided to paint the computer room after the windows were put in.  The light blue was nice but it needed refreshing.  I decided to refresh with a completely different color and chose what I thought was a  pale orange, like a cream sickle.  Well....:

Like Rudolph's nose, you can say the room "fairly glows"!  Even though it's a bit brighter than I thought it would be and I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, I like it.  I guess that's all that matters! Maybe it will help me feel more creative!  So far all it's made me feel is a desire for an orange shake from Arby's!  As we head into August tomorrow, the garden is producing and canning will be the order of the day in the weeks ahead.

Green beans anyone?  We had some for dinner the other night and they were really good. Nothing beats fresh veggies from the garden.

Fresh corn...not from our garden but from a local farmer's...our fresh tomatoes and we had some brats from a new meat market that just opened this year.  We've had fun going there on Saturdays and browsing the isles and getting some yummy findings.  But veggies aren't the only garden fun I've  had. The flowers are blooming and I planted Dahlias for the first time.

Big blooms!  They are really pretty and look cute in a vase with some other cuttings.

Even herbs look lovely in a small vase!  They smell lovely too and are right at hand for snipping and putting into a recipe.

Friday night Jack went and spent some time around a campfire...not this one...with the kids and youth leaders from Church.  So I made this little fire for Annabelle and me to sit around and enjoy.  It was a nice night but a bit on the buggy side so I didn't linger  long.  Like this fire, summer is slowly going out and August brings on the rush for school supplies, sport camps, good-byes to college bound kiddos and hello to getting ready for the colder months with putting up the harvest as it comes on.  I can't say July was filled with tons of super vacation fun but I enjoyed it just the same.  Getting projects done and being back in the groove of work has kept me busy.  Keeps Jack busy too.  As he always says, he's labor,  I'm management!  Works for me!  Bye Bye July!

Summer Thunder

 Do you like a Summer thunderstorm? Here in Ohio we have our fair share of them and sometimes they bring more than rain...hail, wind, tornados. But today it was thunder on the horizon that pushed Annabelle and myself inside as the dark clouds gathered.  It's been a windy day which felt good with temps in the mid 80's.  The weather app said storms would arrived at 7pm and they were right!  The rain came down thick and heavy which isn't the ideal way to water the garden! Mostly it runs off and down the driveway.

There it goes! (along with more stones I think!)  Even with the torrential water from heaven I enjoy this type of storm.  Not a lot of lightening just the sound of thunder and rain.

The birds will be happy with the bird bath full and ready for a swim, bath, drink or just plain bird fun! The geraniums are pretty happy too! 

Can you tell from these pics that there was lots of rain? Well, the grass is super green and the sound of thunder is in the distance now.  Rain is gently falling and I will always be grateful for it when there are many who don't have it.  I hope it comes your way if that's the case in your neck of the woods.  I think if I listen carefully I can hear my grass applauding!  Happy Summer Thunder!

Summer Blues

 The blues we have in our summer aren't like post partum blues or music blues or just plain sad blues. Nope, ours have to do with BLUEBERRIES!   We have had some sad blues in the past when it comes to our blueberry patch.  Actually I like to call it Jack's patch because he's the one who has planted, tended, pruned, mulched and, this year, covered the bushes with netting.  It makes it look like we have ghosts in the graveyard! 

The netting has kept the deer, bugs, and birds away and helped us get a nice first picking

Jack had to first get that netting out of the way...

Yes, there's our little blue buddies!  So we picked for a bit and still  have many that are ripening.

We filled our buckets and enjoyed a nice cool evening in the small patch, happy that we finally had a good crop! I was able to freeze 5 quarts so far. Now that may seem pretty small to some but it's the best we've had in our years of growing blue!

Annabelle enjoyed the evening too and waited patiently for someone...anyone...to play ball with her!

On another note here from the Pines, we had new windows put in. 19 went in on Thursday and Friday. It makes a big difference in how clearly we see now! It will be much easier to clean them and the windows that were here were original from 1978 so hopefully cooling and heating bills will be better too.  That's all I've got for now. Quiet summer so far...but also seems to be busy in just doing what we couldn't get done last year.  Playing catch up but not getting blue about it!  Have a happy week!

Oh My! It's July!

I know the official start of Summer was just a few weeks ago but it seems like it's flying by and like I said,  "Oh my, it's July!"  Not just July but almost July 4th...tomorrow anyway!  I just got home from Chicago this afternoon. I spent last week helping my sister as she's recovering from her open heart surgery.  This one has kicked her butt more than all the other things she's gone through but like the trouper she is, she's doing good and I think this next week will be her feeling more like me week.  Her kids and grandkids have been a huge support and help since this journey began and will continue to do so along the way.  Midge put in a pool in May and her family is there every day cleaning it and maintaining it so the kids can enjoy it this summer. It will be a bit before Midge will be able to use it but she enjoys seeing the kiddos having fun.

This is Ella. That's her brother Parker on the other side of the pool. Ella is a huge help with my sister's dog, Hope. Hope and Ella are so bonded it's almost like Hope is Ella's dog living with Midge! Hope will miss her buddy as Ella is going to Tennessee for 10 days to spend time at a farm/horse ranch. She's animal crazy and so in love with horses. This opportunity came up from friends of her parents so I'm really happy for her and I know she'll enjoy the experience.  Ella and I walked Hope and Annabelle almost every day and we went down to the park by the house. I remember playing there as a kiddo growing up in the neighborhood but it wasn't a manicured, playground fun spot.  It was a wooded area that had weeping willows that had us calling the spot, "Witches Willow".  Many a fun summer was spent exploring there and spinning tales to scare the younger kids.  My neighborhood was filled with kiddos and we were able to play in the streets making hop scotch games or finding an open field for a quick game of baseball.  Now there are lots of kids but you only see them from the safety of their yards, behind fences.  I do enjoy hearing the laughter coming from the neighbors but I think my childhood was more carefree and enjoyable using our imaginations for fun and roaming free.  

Hope with Ella, Parker, and Conner.

Best buddies forever! Did you ever have a pet that was your soul mate?  

The week went by fast and the ride home today was thankfully uneventful.  It was good to get home to Jack and tomorrow a few of the kids will be by for the 4th to cookout and hang out.  Plus the guys are going to help move some desks that we're getting rid of.  We're getting new windows on Thursday and Friday this week and needed to move furniture out of the way of the windows so it was a good time to make some furniture changes.  Sorry guys for making you work a little on a holiday! I promise you won't have to do it on Christmas, but I can't guarantee Halloween! Ha!  Even though we're having a quiet celebration tomorrow I do love this day and enjoy decorating in red, white, and blue and I leave it up all Summer.

Uncle Sam here has been with us for over 25yrs.  I love it! 

Kitchen fireplace gets a patriotic spruce up.

Salt and pepper shakers are used for decoration...so cute.

A few signs to brighten up a shelf.  

My dining room buffet just needs a little something to make it say July 4th...

A patriotic cake plate perhaps would do the trick...if I would put something yummy on it of course!

Finally, my back door decor says it all...God Bless America!  Have a lovely holiday tomorrow everyone and Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends today!  Be safe and be thankful for this wonderful country we live in!