Hot. Hot. Hot.

I think I"m getting old. I  say that because I remember hearing old people say things like, "When we were kids, we didn't have color tv and we got along just fine." Or, "When we were kids, we had to walk where ever we went, and we were just fine."

Today, though, as I read all the heat advisory warnings and I glanced at the thermometer, I had to stop and think, "When did 90s become too hot?" And then it happened. I started thinking back to when I was a kid. We didn't have air conditioning back then. (We still don't, although my parents do NOW!) Really, very few people did. Businesses around town weren't climate controlled and walking around town you'd see windows open, people on their porches and kids on their bikes. A drive around the square would bring you to all the Old Timers sitting on the benches and talking up a storm. And we were just fine! Oh, dear.

I remember in the dog days of summer - when it didn't even cool down at night - my brothers and sister and I would sleep out on the back patio - until that pincher bug grabbed Nise, but that's another story. We'd all four lie on cement and sleep under the stars, but not until we had exhausted all conversation. Amazing how siblings can chatter.

So tonight, it's warm. But there is a lovely breeze and looking out across the field, I see the intermittent glowing of lightning bugs, and I am thankful. And I miss Denise, Darin and Matt tonight....cause there are stars, and lightning bugs and I think the DDT got rid of all the pincher bugs.

Small Town Livin' (written a year ago)

When all this cancer stuff started in April, my husband and I decided that we would wait to tell people until we were sure what was going on. My work buddies and I were at the Mexican restaurant in town, and I spotted a lovely woman I know who is battling breast cancer. I went over to say 'hey,' and I blurted out to her that I might have cancer. What the heck! Anyway, she hugged me and kissed the top of my head when she got ready to leave, and she told me she would be thinking of me.

Fast forward this little roller coaster we've been on for the last couple of months. My parents were at my house eating dinner with us, when we noticed Madeline drive up. She came to the door and explained that she had been worried about me and decided to try to find me!! I was speechless. And I felt extremely loved.

I think one of the benefits of living in a small town (and maybe one of its curses) is that just going through life, you get to know people in a way that would be impossible in a city. Thank you, Madeline, for loving me and showing me how much you care!

I Am Tired.

I've thought today that I should change the name of my blog to I Am Tired. I most certainly am very, very tired. And relieved.

This week has been pretty exciting in my life. We had tornadoes on Tuesday, literally all around us. It was a charged kind of night in more ways than one. On the way home from work, I learned that there were tornado warnings everywhere. There had been a tornado outside of Greenfield and it was heading east. We're East of Greenfield. The sky was ominous to say the least.

My heart stayed in my throat for most of the evening. Jordan is in Creston and there were two tornadoes that touched down there. Alyssa, Ross and Abe were in town in three separate places. Aly and Abe finally made it home before Storm Number Two hit, carrying huge hail! Actually they were walking to our house when all of a sudden huge balls of ice started falling from the sky! You should have seen our yard COVERED by golf-ball sized hail.
 Incredible.                          

Thankfully, no one sustained injuries. Many of our neighbors and friends have lost some property and live stock, but our neighbors are safe.

I am hoping to have a night very soon during which there are no storms, no lightning, no thunder and no radios going off warning of impending danger.

Cause. I. Am. Tired. 

Worms, Dogs and Sundays.

I thought some of my worms had died. Today, I spent some time stirring the almost wormless trays and cleaning out the stinking water basin, and I found that the worms had migrated up to the top tray! I still think we might have lost a few due to the compost getting too wet. I guess there is a learning curve to creating a worm farm. Terry used some of the 'worm tea' on his tomatoes! (We'll see if it's as magical and 'they' say it is!)

I'm hoping stirring up the trays and getting them not so wet and compact will be good for the worms. They have certainly eaten a lot of stuff! I'm a little disappointed in how slow they decompose stuff, though. If I didn't live with a household of carnivores, we'd have to have four or five worm farms to keep up with all our veggies waste! Hopefully we'll get in a groove with it. I was able to free up one of the trays, so that seems like it is good news. That and it doesn't stink. Well, the 'tea' stinks, but the rest of the compost smells like dirt. Which is offensive to some, I suppose. I like it.

Poor Molly. She is dejected. I have misplaced my shedding brush and she looks horrid. She has all this matted fur under her top coat, so today I almost shaved the back end of her and then washed her good. She looks kind of like a goofy poodle only goofier because she ISN'T a poodle. Poor dog. I'm hoping to find that brush soon! She has probably gone and found something stinky to roll in (like the 'worm tea' Terry put out on his tomatoes). That would be just like her. Lovely.

Today has been nice. I've puttered and I'll scrub a couple of rooms, but for the most part, I'm having a nice restful Sunday. Tonight all my kids are going to be here for supper. Yes. They all live back at home, but we rarely see everyone together. Tonight is LASAGNE!!! (I know how to get my boys to come home. lol)

Random Thoughts

I just spent some time going over my older blogs and the statistics Blogger provides. Evidently there are 3 people in Belgium who have found my blog. I thought that was interesting.

Sometimes I get pretty overwhelmed with my job, and it seems to sap my creative energy. Last year, I made a pact with myself that I would work at maintaining that creative flow. Last summer I started working on my garden - trying to reclaim its beauty. I've continued this year (when it isn't raining or a bazillion and 4 degrees outside) to work toward that goal. Last year Terry and the boys built a deck on the front of our house. This year, I pulled plants I want to save from another area of my garden to plant around the deck. It's so pretty!!

 This clematis I planted last year. It's made it to the top of the deck and is getting a lot bushier. I love its color!  The coreopsis daisy that is behind is one of the plants that I reclaimed. My good friend Donna gave me a couple of starts from her garden years ago. I divided it up and planted some around my deck. Lovely.

This is a beautiful lily that I planted last year. I think it was on a clearance shelf a the end of the year! It's it beautiful!! The varigated sedum behind it is one of the plants that was here when we bought the place. You don't often see this variety. I've divided it and shared it so many times!! 

This is Ben's Tonka truck. About 25 years old and has lived outside all of its life! I plant flowers in it ever year. This year I put in some rocks and then some moss rose. It's a nice reminder that he lives on.

Coral Bells, hosta, sedum from my friend Donna, more hosta, creeping geranium and creeping phlox. Oh...and the angel guiding the little boy? Precious.

 More of the clematis in completely full bloom. Such beauty. And, of course, what garden isn't complete without a random stuffed animal thrown in for good measure?

My co-worker Denise gave me this hibiscus last year. She actually gave me two, but the white one didn't make it. Might have been the chickens pecking at it. This is actually about a foot and a half. I'm anxious to see how this grows this year. It had the most beautiful hot pink blossoms!

More to follow, I'm sure. My goals this year in my garden: 1) to get the water flowing right; 2) to finish the pathway 3) to add a little 'patio on the lower part of the garden. 

We'll see how that goes. I'm less than ambitious most days. ;-)