Still August

August is moving right along.  I've been busy but not overwhelmed.  Right now I'm waiting for my friend from college to arrive--he's driving from Conn., was here last year and we had a good time.  He'll be here this afternoon and we'll maybe go to the boat house to sit on the porch and visit a while.  I have no plans beyond that, he likes Lake Placid so we may go there tomorrow in the rain.  Today is a nice sunny day, temp is 62.  It was 52 earlier but is sizing up to be a great day.  I should be mowing the lawn and pulling weeds but nooooo I'm hanging out.

I've spent most of this week cleaning my house because I did no cleaning all summer.  The dust!  The cobwebs!  The dog hair!  My oh my what a messy house I had/have.  It's cleaner now but still cluttered.

I've been having a busy time, lots of dinners with good friends.  I was visiting with friends who have a porch right on the water the other night and we had a huge, huge storm.  It poured so hard that we had to shout to hear each other, but it was just wonderful and of course after that there was a rainbow on the far shore.  Very pretty.

I've been walking with Carol pretty regularly.  We either walk from my house down the hardtop or we walk from her driveway down another road.  That road is tough walking though because it's uphill all the way home.  Great exercise.

I took my contractor friend down to camp to look over the situation with the main building, which seems to be leaning.  No, not SEEMS to be, IS leaning.  One of my cousins was there so that was a relief for me, he could ask the questions and listen to the answers.  My assignment was to find a contractor to submit a bit for the work.  Whew, I did that.  This is the woman who built the boat house and does wonderful work so I'm totally pleased to have her look it over.  She's not sure she'll put in a bid but it's so nice to have that task taken care of.

I've had a couple of nice dock days with Linda but none of our perfect dock days when it's hot, calm and quiet.  Those come in September.

The dogs are fine but yesterday Bear found his way to some children renting a camp down the hill from my house.  He had a great time and they walked him home, very nice kids.  I made brownies and took them to the kids and Bear was thrilled to see them again.

Not much else going on.  Life is good.  I have no big plans for the rest of August but in September I head back to the Homeland--visits with my Rockford friends.  I'm looking forward to that.

Busy time

I'd forgotten that August is such a busy time in Hawkeye.  I always consider July's weather to be the best of the summer but I often forget that it's August that is hot and humid and escapable elsewhere.  We had a fairly miserable bunch of weather in July and August seems to be sort of variable but mostly days with sun, no, rain, no, sun, no drizzle, no, hot.  On it goes.  I guess I missed one of the best dock days of the year yesterday--I went to the boat house (I've been staying at home) to enjoy the day but then it clouded over and was windy so I came home.  As soon as I got home it got sunny, still and hot (too hot to enjoy my deck) so I did indoor chores.  But not very many of them, it would seem when I look around my house.  I have company coming next week so I'd better hustle and do some serious cleaning and straightening up.  I haven't had a very industrious summer AT ALL and things are out of control.

I had dinner with friends the other night, made a delicious vegetable tian--verified delicious by others so I didn't have to rely on my own evaluation.  Tonight I had dinner with other friends and took a good salad, verified by my own evaluation.  Tomorrow I'm dining with other friends (I guess that would really be tonight, since it's 1:30 now) and Monday dining with other friends.  What's up with that???  I've had a fairly quiet summer socially but all hell seems to be breaking loose now.  I have a friend coming to visit from Conn. on Thursday.  I don't know how long he'll stay for but I do know that I have some real work to do to get ready.  I don't even know where to begin!

The dogs are fine, getting along and settled in.  Bear still wants Treasure to play with him A LOT and very roughly but she prefers a quiet approach to entertainment.  They do run around the yard together from time to time but mostly she just makes unpleasant noises at him and he leaves her alone.  So maybe it wasn't the wisest thing for me to get another dog after Tess died, and maybe I would be better off with only one dog, but this is the balance I've achieved for now.

I'm still walking in the mornings with a friend.  We walk outside now that it's summer, either down the road near my house or down the road near her house.  I saw my doctor recently and yes, my cholesterol levels are very good, and my lung capacity has improved a lot but no I haven't lost weight since I last saw him.  boo.

August already

 Loon baby (we call him Fluffy) with a parent, probably the mother, off of the boat house.  They're very vocal this year.  Fluffy makes some pretty funny sounds attempting to warble or yodel.

OK, to be truthful this picture was taken in July, but it suits August as well.  This is the view from the boat house.  Very, very pretty.

I've been busy but not too busy.  Lots of time spent with Linda sunning on her dock and swimming together.  Plenty of trips to Plattsburgh for lunches with good friends.  Walking with Carol outside on beautiful summer mornings.  Visits with summer friends aplenty, all really nice.

Today I walked with Carol, then talked to my mother for an hour.  She's fine but (as always) minds very much being so old.  She doesn't have the energy of, say, an 80-year-old and she minds this.  At 91 she's most impressive and doing very well.

I'm having lunch with a friend in Plattsburgh today, then will get some groceries and supplies.  Tomorrow morning is a walk with Carol then coffee with friends then in the afternoon a meeting of the shoreowners' association.  A chance to visit with lake neighbors and work on some of the things that concern us.  This organization is nearly 50-years-old and has accomplished a lot in its history.  I hope to write a comprehensive history of it, I'm the keeper of many of the old papers and archives and sorted through them recently.  It's a most impressive history, I think.

Sunday I'm hosting book group and will roast a big fat chicken to serve in the boat house.  There will be people in camp so I'll do most of the dinner prep at my house.  That's easy.

The dogs are just fine.  Bear love love loves to launch himself off the dock to retrieve sticks.  He's a great swimmer and I love that because it's a good way to wear him out in the evening.  That means, of course a wet bed but it's worth it I think.  Treasure is doing well and sometimes even allows herself to enjoy running around with Bear.

My sister made it safely home to Naples.  I miss her, what a really nice 3 weeks we had together.

Summer marches on.  Fall approaches.  I have cucumbers on my deck and have even eaten a few.  They're tasty all right.

My thoughts are with my Midwestern friends as one undergoes surgery for a brain tumor today.  I'll be visiting with them in September.  Another friend was recently diagnosed with cancer.  Life is complicated but I am a very lucky woman.