July 13, 2015 A Cool Weekend

Setting sun through the smoke Friday evening.

Friday 7/10. I was on my way to Mrs. Gridder's and to go garage saling by 7:30 am.  I had no idea how many people sent to garage sales on a Friday morning!  We found lots of great-priced treasures, and I was back home by 12:30 with four bags of books, clothes and sheets.   Lots of cute summer tops and couple pair of jeans.  There was a cool wind that kept it all comfortable til we were almost done.

Friday night was JB's turn to go out, as he was going to attend a pre-release game night for Magic cards.  He wanted to be there by 10:00 pm and left early enough to make a few stops beforehand.  

Our high for the day was 87, but the breeze made it seem cooler.  Clouds had begun to move in by the time I got home.  It was actually cool enough to do some weeding after JB left, and the forecast is for at least the next week to be back to normal temperatures.

Instead of watching anything, I started reading Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card.  It is a companion book to Ender's Game, which I also want to read, but I don't know if I want to read the book or see the movie first.

Saturday 7/11. JB didn't get home until after 3:30 this morning!  He really enjoyed himself but doesn't think he'll do the midnight gaming again.  By the time we got up at 8:00 am, it was 64 and mostly cloudy with a breeze.  There was less smoke and the air smelled like rain.

Ah, now I remember how it feels to be cool!  I could actually wear socks and shoes instead of flip flops without getting heat stroke.

It was so nice and cool that after breakfast I went out and cut a wheel barrow load of the last pile of branches.  Then stacked it in the woodshed.  JB went back to bed.  And I did some more scanning of photos.

Larry found a large rattle snake by their house today that had twelve buttons!  They are certainly out and about this summer

Our high for the day was only 75.  Cool enough to finally make pizza again for dinner.

Sunday 7/12.  It was 57 and overcast this morning.  I actually had to wear my bathrobe when I went out to feed the chickens, and it felt so good.

After our big Sunday breakfast, I did some serious house cleaning which was way overdue.  After lunch JB mowed a couple swaths down through the slope above the house and then the drive up and around the south ridge.  A very dirty, dusty job.  I cut up and stacked another load of branch wood and did some weeding.  It felt so good to be out doing physical work.

Tomorrow we plan to go Down There together to look for a weed eater that we will get instead of a lawn mower.  Our son has one that takes different attachments, so that is what we will be looking for.  We will also do some grocery shopping. 

My friend, Jane, and her husband are on a cruise of the Mediterranean and today she posted some photos from Monte Carlo, where they are now.  I have been on cruises to Alaska, but the Mediterranean is the only other one I wanted take.  So I am officially envious.

The overcast broke up by noon, but huge dark clouds continued to float over from the southwest.  We received about ten drops of rain, and by dinnertime the sky was almost completely overcast again.  Our high for the day was a lovely 76.

Larry and Elsie drove up for a visit which we enjoyed on the porch in the cool evening.  They picked 20 lbs of their blueberries today and plan to do the same tomorrow.  A bumper crop this year.

Monday 7/13. It is 58 and cloudy this morning.  We plan to be on our way Down There by 9:00 am.

Thought for the day: Every act of violence rends the fabric of time. . . Smithsonian magazine July-Aug 2015, page 65