Late Summer Doings

 Hello visitor (HUG!) and thank you for stopping in!  I'm back from my visit to Washington.  Before I left I made a little envelope to keep some of my bigger Bible verse cards. I'm happy that I can figure out how to make such an easy thing! I add it to my other collections of cards - so many! 

 My sister and I took a few walks around our childhood neighborhood and saw beautiful late summer plants. 

 The whale watching was WONDERFUL.  I love being out on the water and the guide pointed out all the individual islands.

 We didn't get real close but here are the orca fins!

 And the fat old sea lions.  Don't they look like grizzly bears?

 We dined at my brother and sister in law's lovely home.  

 Here's my peppy mama.  She's 88 and so glowing and bright.  I love her dearly. 

 Purple glads on sale at the grocery!  Three bunches for $10. 

 The garden grew while I was away.  Isn't it funny that in the bag of zinnia seeds, the yellow blooms are together?

The sunflowers are SO tall!  Gorgeous!

I saw some YouTube videos about a planner named The Happy Planner and I became intrigued.  They sell them at all the big craft stores and there are many accessories.  I use my phone calendar, but I'm going to add everything to this paper planner so I can jazz up the pages and play with stickers.  Sound fun?  It is! (I was doing a little backward planning!  Ha!)

 It's apple time.  Crab apples are hanging off the neighborhood trees.  Bigger apples are falling off the branches, too.  

I'm taking a wee knitting break because I have soreness from overuse of my knitting muscles. LOL.  

I am happy to be home sweet home because I love having all my "stuff" around me (not junk, I'm trying to clear all that away).

I have work to do in the flower beds and one day when I feel like getting dirty, I'll get to work out there.  Today I am going floating with the girls.  I could float around in a pool all day.  Could you?

God be with you, kind reader. 

Soon September!

Kind August

 Sunny days are the backdrop of recent doings.  Our backyard is a welcoming square of earth.  We eat outdoors and the grands fiddle around in the grass and in the flower beds.  The garden can withstand it (no stomped blooms) but Noah did get stung by a bee last week.  Ouch.
These two spent the night and look who decided to join them. 

 My little August reminder appeared at the back door this year.  Hi Katy!  

 A purple annual.  Remember that poem titled "When I am Old I Shall Wear Purple"? Do you have any purple?

 I need to finish this hat.  I made a few mistakes in the pattern but I can't really see it, so I must keep progressing toward the top. 

 Here are a few of our gardeners.  They are very good!  They like jobs. 

 Here we have another sign of fall's approach.  Crab apples with a slight blush. My favorite color. 

 Scott is teaching Sam how to golf.  Aren't golf courses beautiful?  I hope Sam loves hitting the ball off the tee.  It's such a great outdoor sport. 

 And here we have the expert on indoor activity.  

 Have you seen The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society on Netflix?  It is beautiful and completely captivating.   

 King Cuddle Bug

Tomorrow I am going to Washington.  One of my friends is on my flight, so that's going to be fun, chatting with her while we wait at the gate.

My sweet sister is picking me up at the airport and then we'll go to lunch and enjoy each other's company before heading north to our mama and brothers. 

The next day we'll be on the boat watching whales!  Yay!

I'll miss Bill and Tim.

August has been soft and kind.  The temperatures are not so scorching during the day.  The flowers are outdoing themselves.  

I hope you're doing well.  Thank you for stopping in to say hello. 

Flowers and a Little Jane

 Hi friends!  Brace yourself for a lot of flowers.  Our flowerbeds are bursting this year.  I'm not sure why other than all the sunshine and a bit of afternoon rain.  This is such a pretty time of year! 

 I can't believe how high these mammoth sunflower seeds grew!

 My neighbor gave me a lot of Blue Willow!  Do you like this tray?  I might serve salmon on it tonight. 

 Here's the summer view.  We've been enjoying the back yard so very much.  We dine outside at dinnertime and we sometimes sit in our rockers and chat, too. 

 Bill was in the Philippines for a week and I began my Jane Austen festival.  I viewed (we bought a new telly FINALLY) and I read a bit.  I colored. 

 I started the same Jane Austen Knits mitts that I began last year but with different wool. 

 I have to read my book club book, too!  I like sitting by the wool and the sheep poster.  

And more knit, knit, knitting.  

 I pulled just a few Jane books from the shelves and I'm keeping them close for when I have time to lazily read. 

Jeff and Christie took the boys fishing when Christie's family came to town.  CUTE!

Here's Brad (he went with Bill) teaching in the Philippines.  Funny face!  

 I rearranged my winter flowers.  Aren't them gorgeous?

 I began the Jane Austen doings the day Bill left and then three grands came for a few days, so I had to hop off that horse and ride the Granny horse for a while.  We had a lovely time, watching movies, shopping, eating out, and resting (they were tired from camp).

Jeff sent me this photo this morning.  Superman likes to ride around the neighborhood now.  Aw! 

I can't remember if I told you that as I was scurrying around getting ready for book club last month, I recovered two fence chairs just for fun.  I used the high power staple gun.  

 We had to get a new bed frame because the other one was so noisy (iron) and now we are stable, not waking up every time the other one turned over (CREAK!)

 See what I mean?  Flowers like hot summers.

I've been eating SO MUCH fruit.  Yum!

 Here's a little Jane Austen-ing from last Friday.  

 And plums from my neighbor's garden.

 The Jane mitt pattern - pretty, right?

 Yum! We had to have a summer evening Dairy Queen run.  I don't eat ice cream anymore because dairy just doesn't agree with me.  It's not even tempting. 

 This one missed Bill terribly.  He likes having two laps to choose from!

 The crab apples are a reminder that fall is around the corner.  

 The school playground nearby will soon be full of children but we had fun climbing there on Saturday. 

Tonight Kelli and Jenny and their families are coming for dinner.  Tomorrow night Jeff and Christie and the boys will come.  We are happy as clams, I tell you.  Tuesday Sam and Plum are coming to spend the night and the next week I am going to see my mama and sibs in Washington.  When I get back I think I will feel a bit fall-ish. Are you feeling fall-ish yet?

If you got this far, bless you.

Thank you for visiting me.  I love it when you do.

(HUG!)