Just checking in...
By now you know what my summers are like, what with Camp, garden and throw kitchen renovations in to the mix, so you're not surprised at the lack of entries into my journal (not that I'm that good at it to begin with). *how's that for a run-on sentence?*
Camp is slowing down, due to school having started here in the deep south. Next week has a few hundred kids, but that's it for a month or so. From now until January it'll be school groups and adults. My new job duties make me the Sorting Hat for Space Camp. I take the list of people attending for the upcoming weeks, group them according to age, gender, interests and put them on teams, then decide where each will sleep. It's a challenge! It's a good thing I like detail work. You know your job's insane when you have to have not just two monitors, but two computers on your desk!!
By the way, anyone around here an expert on Microsoft Access? No one, I mean no one, in our company knows anything about it! I'm the only one who uses it and I'm learning by hook and crook. If you could give me some tutoring on it I'd love you forever!
The garden has kept us moderately busy. My Vietnamese friend is coming over this evening to learn how to make salsa. Her family eats it by the gallon and she wants to make her own. Meanwhile, I've been gorging on our grapes. They have really produced this year. I believe they are scuppernongs (sp?). They are black, thick skinned and delicious! It also looks like we are in for a bumper crop of pecans again. If you want all the pecans you can pick up feel free to come down for a visit between Thanksgiving and Christmas. We'll let you take all you want.
Annoyingly, the kitchen renovations are at a standstill. We are having a new window installed over the sink to replace the one that leaks air like a sieve. I ordered the window on the 20th of May. After many telephone calls and near threats, the installers finally arrived with the new window on the 15th of July. It was the wrong size and type. They had brought a 'replacement' window, which included no framework. The installers said they might be able to 'jerry-rig' it, but we said no. We've said from the start of the renovation that we would do everything the right way with good quality materials, so no making do with a poorly fitted window. Now the window is due to be delivered to the installer on August 19 (a 'rush' job). Meanwhile, I can't tile the backsplash because the tile goes around the window. *sigh* The good news is the cabinet doors came in on Wednesday. I picked them up from the cabinet maker's shop. They are all sanded and Hubby will apply the first coat of primer this afternoon when it gets too hot to work outside. I've ordered the glass for the upper doors. It's called 'waterfall', which is moderately opaque, so I don't have to keep my upper cupboards in absolute pristine condition. All the hardware for the cupboards and drawers arrived this week. The hinges, knobs and drawer pulls each came from different sources, but they go together wonderfully.
The weather has been a long stretch of miserable. Three weeks (at least!) of temperatures in the very high 90s to low 100s. You know it's hot when it is too hot to safely allow the children to do their water activities. The water temperature for our 'lake' at work was 83 degrees yesterday. We cancel all outdoor activities when the heat index is over 100. No one's been able to launch their rockets since early July.
Thankfully, we've had just enough passing thunderstorms to keep the garden and lawn green. Hubby seeded the lower slope of the back yard with some high shade grass seed last month and decided it needed water to help it sprout. Our water bill (normally around $20 a month) is a whopping $175 this month! That combined with the electrical bill, which is up because we've had to run the AC day and night, makes the utilities this month astronomical! At least we're not burning much gas, as cool showers feel better than hot!
I chose this icon because this week was the Perseids meteor showers. Since we moved to the country, with wonderful, no light pollution, stargazing opportunities, we've not had a clear night for this most spectacular of meteor showers. Not one single summer! Thursday was a miserably hot, clear day, but the moment the sun started setting the clouds rolled in. :( One day I will see it. I will!