It was one of my favorite kind of days weather-wise: it started at a cool and crisp 41F, clear skies which turned sunny, a light breeze and the high topped out just under 70F at my house.
I had windows open all day.
Bear and Auggie were out most of the day.
We had several wonderful walks
I had a good work day…
and a delicious supper of stuffed pasillo peppers.
A lovely, beautiful Monday.
It is nearly the 2/3 mark on the way from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox.
It is now dark when I get up at 5ish …this morning 4:50 a.m.
I love the change and although I enjoy the early summer light…to a point…I love when it starts back to being dark in the morning.
This morning, I was sitting in the sunroom with Auggie snuggled on my lap – I’d had my turmeric tea and was thinking about starting coffee as the early dawn light rose.
And then Auggie jumped up and I noticed why…a bat… *IN* the house. I grabbed Auggie as the bat was flitting about the sunroom, threw open the sunroom slider and shut the sunroom doors to the kitchen, which left the bat in the sunroom. The window opposite the slider was open – screened. But I forgot that the slider had the split screen.
With Auggie still in my arms, I ran outside and around to the outside of the slider and pulled down the split screen.
The bat left on the draft.
People try to somehow shoo bats out, but the easiest thing (per Google and my experience) is to open a window or door and an opposite window or door and the bat will immediately find its way out on the draft. It doesn’t want to be in the house any more than any person wants it in the house.
The mystery, though, is how it came in. In springtimes past, they have come down the woodstove chimney. But after 3 or 4 episodes, I finally put a reminder in my calendar to close the damper in late April – opening it only if I have a fire. I checked the stove and all was locked up. BUT…bats are like mice and can squeeze through very small openings so maybe it got in the chimney and found a way out…a mystery.
Continuing with Wednesday morning… I had a hair appointment in town at 9:00 a.m. and a few things I wanted from the grocery. Bear and I headed to town in the Jeep about 7:45 with my plan being a walk, the grocery, my hair appointment and then home and to work.
Adding to the “wild kingdom” theme, we saw a large healthy skunk about a mile down the road home. It crossed the road in plenty of time, but Bear saw it and raised the alarm which caused the skunk to raise its tail but no spritz and we continued still smelling our normal sweet smell.
And then…
A rainbow.
A bit faint, but nonetheless, a rainbow.
The sky to the west was dark and low.
The sun was rising above the mountains behind us – backlighting the valley.
And after watching and taking photos of the rainbow, I turned around…
…the rising sun sending rays through the cloud breaks: lighting the wheat and hay fields.
All of the colors of a rainbow: on the road home.
It IS my birthday!
I did shed some tears but they were the happy kind of tears.
I did not have the kind of sorrow over Bob and all of last year’s events that I anticipated. I am thankful that mostly I am able to remember the “big orange sun” of Bob’s love and companionship and maybe because this summer is so different than last…there is no morbidness in this August – a good thing!
The wee hours of my birthday started with thunderstorms and rain.
…but, in a good way as the thunder was of the rumbly kind vs the sky splitting kind.
And the rain is very welcome.
Auggie moved from his fleece to my shoulder and both he and Bear allowed me to sleep well past my normal 5-5:30 wake up until shortly after 6:00 a.m.! I thanked them both for the birthday sleep-in.
I had hot coffee for the first time in many mornings. And my good dog at my feet. Auggie was on the kitchen chair. It was a perfect morning.
I thought to document the day with photos of my here and there….BUT there was so much traffic, even at 8:30 on the way to farmer’s market…everything took longer than anticipated so I did not stop for photos…
The day’s haul will be evidence of where Bear and I travelled.
Farmer’s Market: The wood owl is a new nightlight, chard, cucumber, lemon-cucumber, summer squash and tomatoes.
Grocery: cabbage, lemons, limes, MT Wheat flour, lotion, cilantro and Dixon, MT cantaloupes!! The cantaloupes are my birthday dessert. Dixon, MT cantaloupes are eagerly awaited here. I have been enjoying Washington State cantaloupes but was so hoping the Dixon’s would be here for my birthday and I was NOT disappointed.
A stop at Murdoch’s Ranch and Home Supply for some new collars for Auggie, an Auggie toy, a pig’s ear for Mr. Bear (not pictured as he had half in the Jeep and the other half when we got home!) and for me!!! – Apple licorice and Cinnamon licorice. There is actually no real licorice in either and mostly sugar and corn syrup and even HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP! But it is MY birthday and I love this stuff so… Happy Birthday to me!
Bear after enjoying his home half pig’s ear.
By the time I unloaded and put all away…
… with the traffic and everything taking longer than expected…
it was after noon.
And it was my birthday…
So I opened the birthday wine.
While I was pouring, Bear came in shaking his head.
But today, I was able to extract the foxtail myself.
Hoo-rah.
It might not look like much, but in one’s ear…OWW!
So.
Today. August 16, 2014. The 59th anniversary of the day I was born.
My mother emailed me her memory of the day.
I’ve heard my birth story before, but I never tire of hearing it again.
I was born in Toledo, OH – Midwest in the United States. Typically HOT and HUMID in mid-August and 59 years ago no air conditioning in most homes and hospitals.
Family brought a fan to my mother’s room. My mother relates that the nurses attended closely to cool in the breeze from that fan.
My father was present for my birth but right after had to leave for National Guard duty: band camp as he was part of the National Guard Band.
He sent a letter to me.
Actually, it was a love letter to my mother.
The letter is written in pencil and it has faded and looking at it today, I realized I needed to preserve it so I’ve entered it and saved it.
It is a beautiful letter and the words, the subsequent actions of both my father and my mother…I was and am a dearly loved child. No one could ask for more. Reading the letter, and another from my mother to me when I was an adult and reflecting on all of my years and the love of my father (he died almost 33 years ago) , my mother, my two step-fathers (my first step-dad died in 1996)…
It’s my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to – it has been a wonderful day.
It has cooled. We’ve had some rain. It is suddenly very pleasant outside.
Late afternoon on Thursday…
All of us outside.
Exploring.
Chasing bugs, butterflies and grasshoppers.
Airborne!
Happy Day.
Saturday was wonderfully cool, clear and beautiful…
BUT.
At the construction site to our East there was grading and ??? and hauling of dirt.
It was noisy outside.
Bear, Auggie and I stayed mostly inside.
It was warm enough to close the house and run the A/C and so have none of the heavy equipment noise.
And early Saturday morning, I prepped a mix of swiss chard/onion/garlic and other spices, a ricotta-egg-parmesan mix and cooked some jumbo pasta shells.
Auggie had his usual.
But I had stuffed shells.
With Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce. (tomatoes, butter, salt and an onion…slow simmered for 45 minutes, then remove the onion – HEAVEN!)
Jumbo pasta shells filled with the ricotta-chard mix, nestled on a bit of the tomato sauce, drizzled with the tomato sauce, baked and then under the broiler with some fresh grated parmesan.
Major deliciousness!
Meanwhile, some progress on the plumbing issue – washing machine drain – a temporary solution is in place with a permanent solution to be determined before Winter.
And I uncovered a bit of firewood that is ready to be split – it has been covered for 2 years and I was a little leery about what else might be living under the tarp… nothing scary and the wood looks good!
After 3 or maybe 4 weeks of procrastinating, I took up all of the little rugs, dust mopped, vacuumed and EVEN damp mopped the floors. And I dusted. It is relatively clean in the house!
…Speaking of Winter. We are now half-way through Summer. In Montana, that is getting close to Fall: another 7-10 days and the visitor traffic will diminish substantially. It might still get warm-hot but daylight is decreasing/dark time is increasing…it gets more and more difficult to be uncomfortably hot for more than a short bit of the afternoon. The light at the end of the summer tunnel is in sight. Hoo..I say HOO-RAH!
The work week evaporated…
Saying goodbye to new friends,
Getting back to our “normal” routine,
Plumbing issues!!
A slow levelling jack on Wild Thing!
Hot, hazy & smoky weather-wise.
By today, Friday, we were DONE…
Done.
A hot, hazy, smoky week – done.