Hello, dear friends.

I hope that you've been ejoying a fun summer, although it has been very hot, near the three digit mark. We have spent a lot of time in the house again this year. We're getting up in age and the extreme heat is over powering some days. Charlie and I still manage to cut grass though. We usually come in afterwards, soaked as if someone trained a hose on us from head to foot.

My flowers really look good this year. The garden? Not so good. It got too hot too fast after the rainy early spring. I did not get the garden tilled so it grew it's best crop...crab grass and ground ivy. It grew as much as 12-14 inches high before it's first cutting. It needs cut again before it gets really high. I may do that later today, after the grass dries.

Does everyone have the wet grass in the morning, or are we the only ones favored with the "after the rain" effect in the morning? It takes until lunch time for it to dry and then it's so hot in the afternoon that we don't want to be out in the heat, but we have no choice. If we cut wet grass, it lies in clumps all over the place, if it can even be blown out of the chute of the lawn mower. Sometimes it clumps up beneath the mower deck and is thick enough to stop the engine from running. We have to get a stick or something and dislodge the wet clumps of grass beneath the mower deck, freeing up the blades again. It usually starts right away and we can get on with the job. But, I'll say it loud and clear...It ain't no fun! That's why we usually wait until afternoon and cut, and we sweat, sweat, sweat! A nice cool shower feels so good afterwards. Then we put our feet up and enjoy a large, cold drink, relaxing on the couch (me) and in the recliner (Charlie). We do nothing else the remainder of the day.

The only thing in the garden this year (besides the grass and weeds) are four cucumber plants that my dear neighbor, Jean, gave me last month. I put a wire cage around them this year because the deer and the groundhogs are night-time marauders. I've had more than my share of their pillaging ways. It's so disheartening to go to the garden for a cucumber or two and find the vines chewed off and the cucumbers gone. I was glad this past winter to help our son-in-law, Tom, drag a couple deer out of the woods after he shot them during hunting season. That was two more I didn't have to fight with over my vegetables. Now, if only I could shoot a groundhog or two while they are in the act of stealing my vegetables. But, when they see or hear me coming, they make a fast bee-line to our shed and duck under the steps and to safety. They are really fast little critters.

Well, no camping this year. Our camper needs some work to be done and so far we haven't had the chance to get to it. I did get up on top and scrub the dirt and grime off the roof. I got it all ready to start caulking the seams around the air conditioner and air vents and it rained just enough, for ten whole minutes, to mess up my plans. We quickly (if that's possible) put the tarps over the camper and tied them down so the rain couldn't get through the seams again. By the time we were finished tieing it down, it had stopped raining. Wouldn't you know? By then it was too wet to get the caulking done. So, we've been stalled again. We're behind, as usual.

Well, friends, take care and enjoy the rest of your summer. School will begin in another week. The house will be quieter for a couple hours and mothers, take my advice and lay down for a nice morning nap. Your hyper little rascals will be home sooner than you think and be bending your ears the rest of the evening until they go to bed. God bless you all.

Evelyn Bonnie