Beautiful Summer Days

July 11th - Sunday - Beautiful Summer Day w/ low humidity

As most of you know the weather here on the eastern part of the United States has been very hot. We had six (6) days of above 90 degrees, with relief finally coming on Friday night with thundershowers.

Lou and I have been getting up very early so we can be at his house to pick blueberries before the heat of the day is unbearable. On Thursday, I had a mid afternoon dental appointment, and Lou went along with me, think we both needed a break from the day to day work we had been trying to get done. We stayed in the rest of the day and I made two lemonaide pies to have for refreshments after square dancing on Friday night.

The group of friends that we dance with on Friday night are very faithful and showed up right at 7:00 pm just as the heavens opened up with rain. I had the air-conditioner in the garage turned on, as we all prefer the cooler, dry air to dance in; however, the electricity went off also, so we danced anyhow and still had a good time. After dancing we enjoyed the pie, which was a new recipe and very tasty. I made a blueberry topping to serve over it along with freshly brewed coffee, it hit the spot for all of us.

Saturday was certainly a reprieve from the hot humid weather we

had experienced, it was a joy to be outside; however, Lou and I needed to get the berries that we had picked frozen. We prepared eight quarts for the freezer, then we were off to the grocery. We also took time for Lou to secure his hunting licence. Had to go three different places to find a place that he wouldn't have to stand in line for two hours. At one point he was about to give up, and perhaps not hunt this year; however, he looks forward to the time he spends with his son, Preston and several other men that he hunts with, and now he is glad that he did stand a wait a bit. Now to send in the application for the doe licence.

After the groceries were all put away, we grilled hamburgers for dinner and ate outside and enjoyed the weather in the final hours of sunlight.

The "varmints" have really been giving us a "fit". We have the three raccoons that come each night and they have now destroyed our fern bed, along with my ground cover by the back deck. Lou and I tackled that bed, cut all of the fern out, replaced the feeders and put down fresh mulch. We finished that job as it was getting dark. We didn't put any feed in the feeders hoping they will move on to happier hunting grounds. The red squirrels are living inside of one of our feeders, the rabbits are eating our garden and the woodchucks are digging out around the rocks in the flowers beds. When we get a chance we are going to put up an electric fence and see if that will deter some of the "varmints".

Today, Lou and I went to Williamsport to attend church. Our pastor is away for a month at school, so we thought we would sneak out one week and attend a church where a former pastor of Lou's is now the active pastor. We attended St. Paul-Calvary United Methodist Church and finally got to meet Rev. Robin L. Baer. Lou had told me so much about her and he had shared our courtship with her, so finally we were able to meet. I was very impressed by she and her church and her church family. It was a very warm and welcoming congregation. Pastor Robin preached from Amos which was to my delight. I feel we never hear enough from the Old Testament and all too quickly her message was over and we all received communion together. It was a delightful day all the way around. After our service we ate at Red Lobster and spent some time shopping in Williamsport.

We knew we needed to be home by 5:00 pm as Lou had to mark out a grave at Whitneyville and was to meet with Allyn to help with the digging of the grave.

It looks like we are going to have a problem getting back and forth to Lou's house for the rest of the summer. The Charleston Road is going to be closed going into Whitneyville, due to a replacement of a bridge, we haven't really figured out how we are going to travel back and forth.

Tomorrow the blueberries will call us and Tuesday we are going to meet Preston and Susie for lunch in Williamsport. We are excited about that, as we haven't seen Susie since we returned from Florida and we never seem to see either of them often enough. Will be a fun day for all of us.

The picture of Lou and Estee is another of the "spoils", Lou has gotten her so she will drink water from his hand when he uses the hose. The picture of the red rose, is called Black Velvet, it darkens as it ages and truly looks like a piece of velvet at its peak.