The house is finished.  The roof is on.  The siding is in place. The door-frames have been replaced and the doors sanded and painted. The gutters have been cleaned.  The window frame has been stained and finished.  Now, we need to work on the shed.

I received another set of bookcases for my library/ writing/ computer room. Of course when you visit, you can sleep there.

I received an email today, which asked, “Anything else new in your part of the country?  Hot and dry or hot and rainy?”  It is hot and dry!!!!! We haven’t had over 100 degree temperatures for 6 years. This July we have had over 100 degrees almost everyday.  The farmers who planted corn in March or early April may have a crop but the drought has caused very few kernels on the corncobs for those who planted later. Because of the poor Midwest crops, the news channel on TV said that food will be higher next year. Since most of our gasoline is mixed with gasohol, fuel will raise in price too. Where the lawn is green, the photos were taken on June 21 to 25. 

Where the grass is brown, the photos were taken last week. 

I told Terry that I wanted him to be careful with my hibiscus.  He put a large garbage can over it and saved it.  The hand-sized flowers have been doing well since I watered them everyday. I have planted day lilies and Asiatic lilies next to the garage where my iris flowers have returned after the hailstorm.  My tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower vegetables are small even though the plants are large. Some Queen Anne’s lace came up voluntarily by the patio so I asked Terry not to cut them down.  They have survived very well even though I haven’t watered them much.  Maybe my brother is right when he calls them weeds. Only weeds grow well in this weather. Because it’s hot, Terry and I get up at 5:30 am to paint and fix the house and water the plants so we siesta around noon.

Paint Ball Time

On July 7 we went to my brother’s place where he has several acres set aside as a paint ball shooting area. The whole family was invited but it was the younger ones who participated.e mask

 Terry took these photos while I sat in the cool log cabin with my nieces and sister-in-law.

Everyone was divided into two teams, given instructions and a face mask. Most of them wore camo clothing. How you could tell if you were shooting at friend or foe, I don’t know but several grandchildren delighted in shooting their grandpa.

Afterwards, we met for a picnic with lots of food and lemonade and tea to drink.   

Girl's Day Out

 

Last week I was able to have a girl’s day out with my daughter-in-law Shelly and great            granddaughters Angelina and Mercedes.  

 

Lunch was at the Tulip Tea Room where they ate Dutch delicacies they had never tasted before but declared delicious. 

While in Pella each girl stood in one of the huge Dutch shoes by the Ver Meer windmill.

  They went on a tour of the windmill where I got a photo of them high in the air. 

They asked me to take this photo of them in the historical village.  

We were alone in the Scholte gardens so they decided to run along the sidewalks. 

We didn’t see any live butterflies in the butterfly garden in Knoxville but they posed for photos until they were all tuckered out under the gazebo. 

Storm Damage Repaired

Terry worked on the house while I was gone with the help of relatives Richard, Shawn, Raymond, Ryan and Jim. First Terry built sides on the trailer so it would hold old shingles and siding so they could drive it to the dump. Then they had to remove the old roof and toss it in the trailer.

                                                A new window was placed in the living room. 

The house was wrapped and sided. We still need to paint the trim, touch up the stain on the decks and replace lights, trim and gutters. 

                          The before photo shows a house with a brown roof and light yellow siding. 

                          

The after photo shows a rust colored roof with gray/green siding. Someone who just drove past and didn’t                                  pay much attention wouldn’t probably notice the color change. 

 We have seen deer, rabbits, cardinals and bluebirds in the yard. The corn in the farmer’s fields isn’t knee high by the 4^th of July but already tasseling. My little garden has already produced a few ripe tomatoes.  The broccoli and cauliflower are growing huge while my cabbage plant measured 28 inches across. 

 The temperatures were as high as 100 degrees yesterday but they had many days of 90+-degree weather so the guys worked early morning, took a long siesta and worked until dark. We have had some rain with a faint rainbow in the photo.

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Texas Trip

 My daughter Karol and I traveled in seven states, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas in seven days to visit our Texas relatives and friends. We spent four days on the road and three days visiting.

I’m not sure if this photo was taken of the Dallas highway system or of Houston’s.  Karol drove through these towns while I navigated. 

 We saw my granddaughter Ann and her husband Jimmy and daughter Baylee in northeastern Texas.

Karol is clowning around with her nephew Jake near Livingston where Sherry 

and Art welcomed us to their home.

In Houston, we met Jamie and two grandsons at Steve and Marsha’s house. This makes four generations in one photo.  

We also took a ferryboat ride from Galveston to see the Gulf of Mexico.  We watched dolphins and sea birds on that ride.