Mid-Summer Report

Well since nobody reads my blogs it is almost pointless to post anything, still . . .

We are surviving a horrendous heat and humidity wave, which feels more like a stagnant pool than a wave.  I grew up in San Diego and know about waves, they move, advancing and retreating.  This is staying completely still.  Topdad and Jet got an A/C installed in the dining room window which, surprisingly, keeps all the public rooms on the main floor cool enough to be comfortable.  Climb halfway up the stairs to the second floor and it's a different story.  Oh, well, I just remind myself that people have lived here in Iowa for over a hundred years without air conditioning, I'll survive.

Topdad announced today that school starts in a month.  This summer has just flown by and I feel like I haven't accomplished anything.  I've kept my family fed, the laundry done and the house clean; but all those lovely projects I wanted to work on are still languishing in boxes.  Ever the optimist, I'll hope for better conditions after school begins and I actually have the house to myself and no one clamouring for attention or food.

Noble called on Saturday to let us know she had survived BEAST (playing war in the field).  She had her final physical fitness test this morning, and though we haven't heard the results we are praying she passed with flying colors.

I went to the storage unit this morning, after a lovely bike ride with Topdad, (and then a short walk with the dog, Charlie), to retrieve the last of my sewing stuff.  I now have everything in the sewing room and look forward to a fall of creating.  I've been looking on Craigslist for a dress form to help with fitting things to myself.  No luck yet, but I'll keep looking.

Riding my bike on the trail is lovely, the wildflowers are so beautiful! The trail is flat and I can ride a long way.  It's just the trip there and back that is hard.  My cruiser bike and my old legs don't handle the hills very well yet.  Must keep building muscles!

I really admire other sewers who can cut out and sew a dress in a day or two.  I wish I could watch them to see their technique.  By the time I've cut something out I'm too tired of it to begin sewing.  I have to wait a day.  Then I'm so persnickety about everything that it takes me a long time to finish anything.  I just like the inside to look almost as nice as the outside!  I'm fascinated by haute couture and all their special finishing techniques.  Especially the old school designers, their clothes really were very well made. 

I've learned something about gardening this year.  Most flowers need sunshine!  The ones I planted under our big maple tree haven't done as well as the ones at the sunniest spot in front of the porch.  Next year I'll have to find some shade loving varieties for under the tree.  And find a sunny spot for the sun loving ones.  Also I'm growing an oak tree.  In the early spring when I was cleaning out the area under the tree I found an oak seedling, the acorn probably hidden by a squirrel in the fall.  I carefully dug it up and put it in a pot to protect it.  When I figure out where I want it permanently I'll plant it and put a block ring around it to protect it from errant weed whackers and lawn mowers.  We planted a six foot oak tree in Midvale in honor of our twentieth wedding anniversary and then had to leave it.  Oaks take so long to grow!  But this one I can say I grew from an acorn.

I think that's all the news that's fit to print.