First Day of Summer

First Day of Summer!

I guess we’re supposed to be in a drought. The weather isn’t acting like it up here. We’ve gotten inches of rain. Have you heard of the great flood in Yellowstone National Park? Kind of a big deal around here. When it first happened we’d see cars with foreigners in them either heading towards Yellowstone or dejectedly away from there. I felt bad that their plans had to change. People come from all over the world to see it and to have the whole park closed for the first time in 150 years? Pretty big deal.

Small silver lining for me? I haven’t really had to water my lawn and garden. It’s been so nice to have the big downpours once a week.

It has been a busy-ish summer for me so far. I’ve been chipping away at the garage, trying to get it all cleaned and organized. It is taking forever! I’ve finally gotten to stuff that needed doing for so long and I got lots of stuff thrown away and we can see the floor now. It’s no longer a death trap in the garage and I can find things! After pictures coming soon. Here’s a before picture. It’s slightly horrifying. So much work.

Then the weeding. So much weeding. The grass had taken over my flowerbed and I was overwhelmed. I finally just sat down and did it. It took me a couple hours.

Halfway weeded.

Done! I can see all the actual plants now.

Then to the backyard. We got rid of the pool last fall. It had a leak and was a pain to keep up with and the water never warmed up. It was too cold to swim in and the kids would come out with blue lips sometimes. So we bought a trampoline. We get more use out if it and the kids can put the sprinkler under it. I needed to cover the dirt that was left. I’d managed to get leftover sod from a city project and now the backyard is looking better. I still have a long ways to go but progress is progress.

I bought some emerald green arborvitae bushes and need to get them planted along the fence. They’ll grow 12-15 feet tall and will be a nice privacy screen/windbreak. But for now they are so small.

Little babies

We also just finished Birthday Week. Three birthdays and Father’s Day. I was so glad to see it over. It’s a lot to deal with making that many cakes and catering to all the meals and presents. I’m good until the end of September when they start up again.

There’s lots of other stuff going on. Fishing, playing, going for walks on high bridges (I was terrified because one, heights, and two it’s over a very high, fast cold river), and just general having fun.

The inside house temperature was 81° when I frosted this. Not my best work but it was melting.

She caught it but wouldn’t touch it. But she did eat it.

They caught a frog. Fun times for little kids. Not so much for the frog.

The river doesn’t look that far down but believe me, its a good 20 feet or so down. Probably more.

The bridge in the background is the one we were walking on.

It’s officially the first day of summer and we’ve already done a lot. We still need to fit family reunions, camping, day trips, parades, and lots more into the mix.

I’m looking forward to it.

More Family History

I was sitting in church this past Sunday and trying to pay attention but failing. I opened my phone and there was an email from a family history site saying to look at who of my ancestors was alive during the emancipation, it being Juneteenth and all.

We all have ancestors who were alive then. I have ancestors who were from the south. One of my lines goes back to Alabama during that time and Mississippi and Virginia before that. In the beginning of the country some lived in Rappahannock, Virginia. I was born in Alabama and my first son was born in that area of Virginia so its kind of fun to think we’d gone full circle.

I was looking at one relation in particular. Ida. She was just a little girl back during the Civil War . There weren’t pictures of her as a baby or little girl but as she grew up there were more. I might even make a copy and enlarge the photo to hang on the wall. Most pictures from back then were serious. It is very uncommon to have anyone smiling. I’m sure parents made all kinds of threats to keep the kids from smiling and “ruining”the pictures. My great-great-grandmother is smiling in a picture and looks like a kind, fun woman. It’s so fun to look at.

How cute! She’s smiling so lovingly at her daughter who is smiling so cute back. I love it!

So, this is your friendly reminder to dig into your family’s past and see what you can find. So many treasures.