It's definitely summer...

Today is July 19, 2011. As we sat out on the deck early this morning with our coffee the temp was 68 it was so still as to be oppressive. At bedtime last night the humidity was 30; this morning it was 86. Now three hours later the sky is still grey and the air heavy, but we've had a little misty rain which has made it seem a bit cooler somehow; but now we have fog as we look into and over the forest surrounding us.

My shoulder dislocation seems to be healing quite well and I see the ortho tomorrow. I wore the shoulder immobilizer for 10 days and have now gone a week without it. It's been okay but I noticed yesterday that my arm and shoulder was feeling the effect of perhaps being a bit too active. I need to be a more cautious for a while yet so I don't cause permanent damage.

A week ago, we and Saku, headed to Lake Pymatuning (Jamestown, PA) and spent several days with brother Dean and his wife, Helen. The drive there is like from Minneapolis to Chicago except that much of the trip is through the mountains of West Virginia and lower PA. We had the most beautiful weather - in the mid to upper 80's and around 90 the whole time, cooling off at night to make sleeping easy. On Wednesday we went into Cleveland where Bob got to experience the Westside Market (it was a good thing we live so far away). We did manage to bring home some veal shanks for Osso Buco which Bob prepared for last night's dinner along with Rissoto Milanese (YUM!), some divine smoked pork chops, and Kielbasa. I've never been especially fond of smoked pork chops, finding them too dry. These, which are cut to order, were lightly smoked and beautifully moist.

Having decided to make up a gift box for our "chicken lady" as thanks for her keeping watch while we were gone, we were all delighted to find that the new Penzey's store in Cleveland is just across the street from the Westside Market. Linda is a prodigious berry picker, and resultant pie baker, so we included a large jar of Vietnamese cinnamon and fresh nutmeg. If you haven't tried Penzey's spices, you are missing out on wonderful products. By the way, did you know that the McCormick of McCormick's spices is the McCormick of farm equipment fame? I didn't until we moved here. That homestead/museum is just a few miles from us at Raphine.

I'm getting off the beaten track. On Thursday, again with a picnic lunch, we went for a tour through Amish country on the Ohio side. We visited the general store in Mesopotamia and ate our lunch in the village park, after which Bob and Dean and Helen walked to the Amish auction taking place a block distant. I'd seen much of this countryside on previous visits over the past 30 years, but had never gone through actual farm neighborhoods where house after house is only of the Amish. We were fortunate to find haying underway with horses pulling young men standing on the rake as they go back and forth through the fields. We also saw children with miniature horses and buggies, many children playing in the yards, the little girls in their light blue dresses and little caps, and all of them barefoot and just like one wants to see children playing; along with women sitting in the shade on porches spending the afternoon visiting. And then there was one standing on a stepladder washing the siding on the house.

On Friday morning Bob and I went into Meadville to pick up a collapsible clothesline at Home Depot to bring home with us. Doesn't everyone buy such items while on a trip? I've not been able to locate one here, and when I saw how Dean had installed theirs, I was more determined than ever to get one. He put the cylinder into which you place the pole, into the deck floor. The perfect solution for us here in VA where the ground is very hard and/or rocky and trying to dig a hole is often futile. What's more, we can put it on the little deck now off our bedroom which is adjacent to the laundry which is in our master bathroom.

Friday noon we packed up a picnic lunch, hammocks (Dean and Helen really know how to enjoy themselves) books and towels and in our swim suits and water shoes, went down to the lake where we spent the whole afternoon. After lunch Dean showed Bob about kayaking and they went out onto the lake for awhile, with Bob returning to say he would never canoe again. I didn't kayak because of my shoulder, although I could have gone out in a double and had someone else paddle; but I was content on shore. Saku loves the water and he was having a great time, plopping down with feet in front and just letting the water run into his mouth. Helen took him, on his leash, out to the end of the docks, he dog-paddling and loving it. Isn't is interesting how dogs seem to know when you're on your way home again? He was excited and anxious for the drive to PA, and quiet for the whole return; of course, he was probably also tired, but he was really good for the whole trip and will accompany us again next summer.

We took an alternate route home, heading east at Morgantown and into Maryland before heading south again at Hancock. The vistas on that stretch are magnificent, and being on a freeway there is far different than one across Iowa or Indiana.

We're still waiting for our first eggs, and are hopeful the chickens begin producing soon. We discovered that it was deer which ate our tomatoes. They, too, can apparently tell when the resident dog is away as they got three more tomatoes while we were away, along with the tops of the romaine, and the tops of some of the hosta. We've been told that this time of the year they are fattening themselves and will eat just about anything they can. We're not big gardeners by any stretch, but it would be fun to produce some things. We'll have to put our heads together and see what solution we can come up with for next year. I have some ideas. In the meantime, our chard is continuing to grow, we will soon have some peppers, and the leeks are looking good. And the herbs are really flourishing.

Next week my friend, Manako Fujiwara, now of Geo. Mason Univ., is coming to visit for a couple days. I do hope it cools off a bit by then. It just occurred to me the other day that I've known her for 18 years; where does time go?