Snippets

We've been absent lately. The sun has finally decided to shine here in New England. Not consistently, but there is sun, so we'll take what we get.

• I can't remember the last time (if ever) that we watched the Fourth of July fireworks in jeans and long sleeve shirts. And could have used a blanket to curl up with.

• I LOVE spending my afternoons at the lake. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! We have a beach pass for the local swimming hole and most of the times, there are just one or two other families. And five life guards. Sooooo relaxing! Yesterday there were 31 people, but most came as we were packing up to leave.

• Having fruit in the backyard rocks. Last night, the girls and I went out side and picked a bowl full of raspberries. Yum!

• Having farm fresh veggies rock! We joined a farm share (not CSA because we don't have to volunteer). We get an email once a week with the weeks offering and prices and then place our order and pick it up on Saturdays. My kids have been asking all week to snack on turnips and beets.

• Thunderstorms, while cool, suck. Don't get me wrong, I love thunderstorms. But lightning sucks. We were sitting in our living room the other night with the screen door to out back open. And all of a sudden, BAM. lightning hit about 10 feet from out back deck. It scared the crap out of everyone.

Where we think the lightning struck. The plants in theis area are all laying down and scorched.

• Hiking is great. We've done a ton of hiking lately. Our last trip was about 3 miles. It took us awhile, but we stopped to enjoy the sights (Israel Putnam's Wolf Den, and Indian Chair and creatures - snakes, frogs, toads, ect.). We stopped for lunch, we letter boxed. We enjoyed ourselves. But it was tough terrain. up and down, up and down. At one point, about 3/4 of a mile in (and in a valley) Einey took off running. And tripped over a rock. And fell. She banged her hip and her shoulder on a rock. She had a hard time standing. We were at a loss of which would be the easiest way out. We ended up chopping an adult Tylenol in half and carrying her a bit. She rested and within a 1/2 hour was walking on her own again. So we continued on. Whew!

After the fall...

• If Moe uttered these words outside of our car, I'm sure DCF would have been called. "Dad, why do you always hit so hard". Apparently when dad had her last week while I was at GS camp with Meenie and Einey was at a party, they were playing punch-out. Apparently, he hits harder then her.

• Einey is almost finished with her three week course of antibiotics for Lyme. She is back to her normal self and hasn't run a fever since she started the meds.

• I pulled a tick off of Moe's eye yesterday. It was stuck right on her under eyelash. Yuck!

My favorite garden. Last year I pulled out my veggies here and put in some cheap plants I found. Please ignore the weeds, it's been a tad rainy.

• I haven't had much time to garden. I need to weed, order mulch and finish digging my pond. I have most of it dug out, but need to do a tad more. It's been a bit rainy to work outside. The last time I was working, I had to push the wheelbarrow full of dirt six times up and down a hill to dump it in the back corner of our yard where I needed to fill in a bit. After I had just lugged the lawnmower up and down. I was tired!

After a 5 hour hike.

• School is starting the end of August. The other day I got our tuition bill and then promptly lost it. Somehow, this is the only bill I ever lose, but I do so every year. I realized I lost it when I went to make an inquiry about a minor discrepancy. I also haven't made a doctotr's appointment for Moe's pre-kindergarten physical. I need to call the nurse. She had a physical last October, which should cover her start - since it's within a year. She doesn't need any shots (even at her five year physical). but she needs bloodwork (why they need to know her white blood count baffles me). But if we do it before October, the insurance won't cover it as a well visit. And I'd have to bring her back in October for her five year phsical. So yeah, need to see if they drew blood last October. And the nurse is only at school two days a week. I have yet to order uniforms for Meenie. I need to do so soon.

That's about it, if you need me, I'll be in the woods or at the beach.

Off on adventure...