How did eight days go by since my last Steemit post? It sure doesn't seem like it was that long. Perhaps I did more commenting than usual, and tricked myself into thinking I had posted.
So what filled those eight days? I went to a nearby car show to admire my son-in-law's entry (a Mazda RX-8). My daughter and granddaughter came to my house for a visit, and the little one had a blast playing with all the vintage Fisher-Price toys I've held onto for that very purpose. I spent part of a day at the local theme park with my friend. I had tea and a visit at another friend's house. I babysat my granddaughter for two afternoons, as usual. I got a mammogram done. (It had been 17 years; you can see how enthused I am about them.) I got a massage. (Much nicer than a mammogram!)I signed up for a beginning quilting class. I canned 8 pints of Crisp Pickle Slices. I grated and froze a lot of zucchini. I bought groceries. I read a book. And just like that, eight days went by.
The first five days of September remained sunny and very warm here in north Idaho, followed by rain yesterday, and more sunshine today. I am looking forward to the cooler temperatures that are forecast. Summer is overrated, in my opinion. Where I live, it gets too hot for me to go outside except for early morning or late evening. The remainder of the time I hide in my house, or reluctantly get in the air-conditioned car to do errands. Our new neighbors are very fond of building campfires, despite the high fire danger. The smoke from their fire drifts right into our house, so we have to close all the windows and sleep in hot, airless bedrooms until their fire burns out.
People get crazy in the summer. They roar around with off-road vehicles, raising dust and disturbing the peace and making it unsafe to go for a walk along the road. Our area is a popular tourist destination, so traffic gets very heavy on the highways and in the towns. I really think the heat makes people get angry more easily, because there seem to be more fights and disturbances in the summer.
Soon it will be too cold and wet for the neighbors to build campfires, and it will be cool enough to leave the windows closed at night, anyway. The tomatoes are ripening nicely, and soon I'll be canning salsa and tomato sauce, another sure sign of autumn's approach. My husband has the woodpile all filled, and is starting to build piles of branches to burn when the weather is appropriate. I need to dig up some perennials to share; I'm getting rid of the flowers the deer love to eat, so I don't have to bother with deer fence and Deer-Off spray any more.
And now I have rambled on long enough. Maybe tomorrow I'll resume my customary freewriting!
