August--the 8th month of the year and I can't believe that we have already arrived at August but more than that, how the time is flying by already this month. It seemed like we just kind of slipped from July to August quietly and not noticed at all.
I will say that our summer so far is a far cry than the ones we have had for the past two years. We didn't have the extreme hot temps in July and so far have only had a couple of days so far this month that we reached the 99 or 100 mark with an index of 108 to 110. The humidity has been terribly high causing my asthma and allergies to really give me fits so I've been staying inside a lot.
And we've had the strange phenomenon of rain this summer. The past two summers have been dry and we have had to live with fire danger warnings. The grass turned brown and crunched under foot but this year we have had the rain, so the grass is green and that just means more mowing and with the cost of gasoline, it is expensive to mow the yard these days. And when you have as big a yard as I have, it really gets expensive. I have an acre plus I mow the area out back beyond my fence that I jokingly call the Back 40 but is only about 1/3 of an acre. So each time I mow the whole yard and Back 40, I'm looking at almost $7. But I will say it is nice to look out over a green yard instead of a brown one.
This past week hasn't been too good. A couple of days ago, Foxy was outside and not sure what happened but she injured her leg. The vet said she had pulled and stretched the ligaments around the knee cap. She is on anti inflammatory medication and I'm trying my best to keep her quiet and not moving around that much but she gets excited when it is time to go out and this evening she must have been feeling better or forgot as she jumped up on me wanting to be petted. I had to scold her which of course hurt her feelings but I didn't want her to injure the leg more. We go back to the vet on the 22nd and depending on how she is, she may have to have surgery on it. So I'm keeping fingers crossed she will heal it on her own.
School will be starting up next week. I can't believe it. I remember the good old days when school started the day after Labor Day and got out the Friday before Memorial Day. But then we didn't have all the breaks and holidays they have during the school year now.
Michele took the kids shopping for school last weekend and I can remember getting new clothes for school but in my day, we ordered our stuff from catalogs, Sears, Montgomery Ward, Alden's, National Belles Hess and probably others. We usually would get our shoes locally and I know I'm dating myself when I say I could hardly wait to get those new saddle shoes, and later as I got a little older, the penny loafers.
And of course, going to school on that first day with the new tablet, pencils, erasers and crayons and a ruler. We didn't have backpacks but we carried all our stuff and made it there with everything in tact.
August is an odd month. Usually the hottest of the summer and in this modern day, gives up its summertime days for school time. When we used to lie under the shade tree and look at the clouds in sky, now we are huddled in an air conditioned house watching a TV or on a computer or some electronic device, while we wait for the first day of school. The ice cream freezer is put away, the watermelons have disappeared and we are saying goodbye to summer. August is just a hot month and has no distinction of its own, unless you want to refer to its days as the "dog days of summer."
So for now, we'll suffer through the August days as we look forward to September and the beginning of fall. But let's not rush it too fast, we don't need winter coming around too quickly.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Friday, August 9, 2013
OOPS! I'm Slipping
OOPS! I think my good intentions got lost somewhere along the way. I was sure I came in to post about our 4th of July celebration but it must have been one of those moments. You know the kind where you walk into a room but suddenly not sure why you are there. I was sure I came here but I think I must have dreamed it.
Well, now that I am here, I'll rewind the brain back to July 4th to tell you about our celebration. Melanie had to work and Zach was with his friends so it was just Michele, the grandkids and me but we did have fun. They came out that afternoon and we fired up the old grill that hadn't been used in a couple of years but we still had the gas and Michele is a great cook inside and outside. We had burgers and chicken kabobs and they were so good. I made up my potato salad and kidney bean salad and we had chips to snack on with dips but the best part was the homemade ice cream that we had for our desert. Mint Chocolate Chip. MMMMM, it was so good. I told Michele that we should make it again and we won't have to go to McDonald's for their Shamrock shake as we could make our own from this mix as it was that good.
The grandkids and me had to fire off some fireworks early in the afternoon. And seeing that I had bought a large 500 string of firecrackers that we intended to break apart but never could figure out where to break them so decided to light them so they all went off in the string. We were being kind of onery as we have a neighbor who doesn't care for fireworks and is a cranky old man--- the one we call whacko. Anyway it was for his benefit.
Well, after they all went off, a neighbor down the street fired some firecrackers off and yelled out, "We won." Not to be outdone, Hailey got the 50 shot Saturn missile out and after it had shot them off with reports and whistles, she calls out, "No, we won." It was all in good fun and kind of a competition for a while.
We didn't spend a lot on fireworks and after it got dark, we sat out in the south yard to light up the fountains and sky works. It wasn't the greatest but we had a few good ones and we were able to celebrate our nation's birthday just the same.
After we ate and before it got dark, we all gathered in the screened in porch and played a couple of games. That gave us a lot of laughter as well. Of course, I had strung all the lights plus we had a CD player and Brianna brought out some CD's. I think I was the only one who got up to dance, the rest were too bashful. LOL! But we still had a lot of fun with it.
We left Gretta and Foxy in the house to console one another since neither one of them like the loud sounds.
The party ended around 10:30 as it had been a long day and Michele had kind of overdone it and her back was hurting but it was a fun day and now we will be looking towards next year and hope that we can have Melanie and Zach with us.
Well, now that I am here, I'll rewind the brain back to July 4th to tell you about our celebration. Melanie had to work and Zach was with his friends so it was just Michele, the grandkids and me but we did have fun. They came out that afternoon and we fired up the old grill that hadn't been used in a couple of years but we still had the gas and Michele is a great cook inside and outside. We had burgers and chicken kabobs and they were so good. I made up my potato salad and kidney bean salad and we had chips to snack on with dips but the best part was the homemade ice cream that we had for our desert. Mint Chocolate Chip. MMMMM, it was so good. I told Michele that we should make it again and we won't have to go to McDonald's for their Shamrock shake as we could make our own from this mix as it was that good.
The grandkids and me had to fire off some fireworks early in the afternoon. And seeing that I had bought a large 500 string of firecrackers that we intended to break apart but never could figure out where to break them so decided to light them so they all went off in the string. We were being kind of onery as we have a neighbor who doesn't care for fireworks and is a cranky old man--- the one we call whacko. Anyway it was for his benefit.
Well, after they all went off, a neighbor down the street fired some firecrackers off and yelled out, "We won." Not to be outdone, Hailey got the 50 shot Saturn missile out and after it had shot them off with reports and whistles, she calls out, "No, we won." It was all in good fun and kind of a competition for a while.
We didn't spend a lot on fireworks and after it got dark, we sat out in the south yard to light up the fountains and sky works. It wasn't the greatest but we had a few good ones and we were able to celebrate our nation's birthday just the same.
After we ate and before it got dark, we all gathered in the screened in porch and played a couple of games. That gave us a lot of laughter as well. Of course, I had strung all the lights plus we had a CD player and Brianna brought out some CD's. I think I was the only one who got up to dance, the rest were too bashful. LOL! But we still had a lot of fun with it.
We left Gretta and Foxy in the house to console one another since neither one of them like the loud sounds.
The party ended around 10:30 as it had been a long day and Michele had kind of overdone it and her back was hurting but it was a fun day and now we will be looking towards next year and hope that we can have Melanie and Zach with us.
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