Heat Wave

The weather is VERY TOASTY. Our AC isn't working. Our fans and ceiling fans are working over time. We have little bodies sacked out all over the floor downstairs, because the upstairs is a convection oven. Sarah and the kids are staying with us during VBS this week.

We re-vamped the slip'n'slide, and the kids had a blast on it today. I took loads of pictures of them, need to edit, and it's late tonight, so will try to post some tomorrow.

In the meantime will leave off with this:

Remember when summer days were long and lazy?
When you believed wishes on posies came true?
When weeds were "pretty flowers"?
When a sky of clouds contained a menagerie?
When homemade popscicles were a treat?

When you couldn't wait to grow up?

"He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said,
out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
~John 7:38
New King James Version

Trip to Bountiful

Jim brought home some cucumbers and red onion .....you know what that means!

We usually have a container of these going in the fridge all summer long. And because we're so very Martha around here...it has to be a vintage glass covered refrigerator container! Actually they DO seem to be colder and crisper stored in glass, than they do in plastic.

Remember those spendy cherries at Seattle's market? Well He also brought home bags and bags of these. At their prices; I figure we had about $60.00 or more's worth on the kitchen island.

I froze a bunch, unsweetened, on trays loose and then bagged them for the freezer. And then sweetened and dried a bunch.

Some of the plethera of tender summer squash got grilled along side our meat tonight. YUM.

Chris got us started on this seasoning. WE love it, but I did sprinkle a bit heavy handed this time.

Last week Jim brought a lovely flat of organic raspberries. I made a couple batches of freezer jam, supplementing just a tad with some marionberries from our patch. This week, it was boysenberries and a bit of raspberries, so I made another couple of batches of jam.

There have been big bags of basil, so last week I froze some trays of individual leaves and bagged them. This week I made pesto and froze it.

I'm really enjoying these new blessings. You never know what the week's bounty will bring, and it's fun coming up with new ways to use things.!

This picture of Ashlyn reminds me of ones of my Mama as a little girl.

Jamaican Jammin'

Jamaican Shrimp Salad, mango/tropical salsas, lime tortilla chips, island rolls, and Citrus Jamaican rum cake. Good thing the salad was chunky.....i forgot the forks.
* Did you know some cultures don't even use silverware? :)

When Sarah was in High School, wearing 'jams" and playing hacky sack were the in thing.

So for her birthday, i decided to do a Jamaican theme.

Kate brought some Ziggy music. It was a fun time together.

We had lots of making funny faces:

These two always enjoy each others company

We have such beautiful girls.

inside,

as well as out....

Even when it's a kick back kinda day;

We're always armed and dangerous....

Matthew never fails to bring the entertaining,mighty, light sabers:

So shout it out!


DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY NOW!

yah man

Hope you had a Happy Birthday Sarah!

XOXO

Clear Lake

No, this is not a beautiful tropical lagoon. It is however, the most beautiful water I have ever seen. To think, that this piece of heaven has been only a little over an hour from home all this time, and I didn't know it.......astounding.



Since it was midday; there really weren't any shady areas on the water around the lake, so we opted out on renting a boat. We instead, hiked until we found a nice quiet little shady cove on shore to relax in.

We spread out our quilt, pulled out our cold drinks and snacks, and kicked back.

TIME FOR REFLECTING

Mother may I go out to swim,?

Yes my darling daughter,

Hang your clothes on a hickory limb,

But don't go near the water.

After sitting on the bank for awhile, I had been hearing people diving and swimming and enjoying themselves on the other side of the trees and shrubbery next to us. Hmmm, I thought, maybe the water wasn't as cold as I thought. Perhaps a little wading is in order.......

OH MY LANDS! Eeeek! My feet were so red when I got out. That water was liquid ice.

I sat down to dry off and couldn't believe those people's ironman endurance!

And then I caught a glimse of reality, when this guy's friends went trekking up the hill, in their matching outfits............

COMPLETE WITH GLOVES!





Again, I say: IS THIS NOT BEAUTIFUL?!

After leaving the lake, we stopped by several water falls.

The first was Sahalie:

I've never seen one with so much volume and brute force!

Koosah was a beauty too.

It was a wonderful time of relaxing, refreshing and rejuvenation.

Perfect.

Necessary.

One never knows when the upcoming week is going to include a little person chucking crayons.... in the toaster.

or

unraveling a couple of rows on a crocheted afghan in progress,

or

falling down a whole flight of stairs.

*

*

*

*

That was just today,

between 4 and 7 pm.

Maybe it's time to go back?

County Fair, Frugal and Fun

I know I tend to be more sentimental than practical sometimes........oh alright...a lot of the time.
Last week it was the library, this week it's the fairgrounds. There is a lovely new facility that's only a few years old now; but I miss the old ramshackled, tattered one. This just seems like the flavor has been stripped away. There are such fond memories of when Kate was in 4-H in the old one.
There is however;still pie competition:
Too bad I left mine at home!


There was lots of FLUFF this year.........

from chickens.........

to bunnies ....

to alpacas

There was an Elvis impersonator *note the lip....

and Wilbur the runt pig from Charlotte's WEB

There was interaction with Bovine; both real

and not......

There was standing in line for the free pony rides

Which were a huge hit!

loved this expression!

Playing in the corn bin again this year. Even managed to bring home a kernel in the shorts cuff!

Went in ALL of the free inflatable play strucures

If YOU had ONE ride to pick from...which would it be?

(Keeping in mind of course, the ferris wheel was out of commission)

Yay! She made the cut!

And now for a magic carpet ride!

OK, pick ONE treat........

We had a frugal, fun, afternoon.

Made possible by our fine friends at:

THANKS FOR THE FREE VIP TICKETS!