Summer Chat

Hello, friends! I hope you all are doing well. It's hard to believe summer is winding down!

We've had a good summer - it's just went by too quickly! The weather here hasn't been bad at all! The last two nights have been cool enough for us to open the windows...I love it! I'm sure I've said it before, but I don't do well with heat and humidity.

Our neighbors who have the chickens brought over six eggs for us a few days ago. They're all gone now, but they were yummy. :-) When our neighbors first got their chickens they asked if we minded if the chickens went in our yard. Our houses are very close together...we have less than a half acre of land and our neighbors have just a little more than that. We told them it was fine and they said they would share the eggs with us. The chickens have been enjoying our front yard now too. It's so funny watching them run. :-)

Our blackberry bush put out a lot of berries this year! I gave a quart bag full to our neighbors (who have the chickens) and I also froze some. They'll be good this winter! :-)

Katie went to Guatemala again this summer on a missions trip. They ministered in some schools and visited a girls' home for young pregnant girls who had been rescued from s*x trafficking. Oh my, there is so much that goes on in this world that grieves my heart. I can only imagine how God must feel.

A couple days before they left, Katie was playing a game with the group. While she was running she tripped over a tree root and smashed her knee against a concrete wall. This is a picture of her poor leg. :-(  I'm so thankful she didn't break anything!  You know how bruises are, they get worse before they get better. Now it's starting to turn green and yellow. This was Katie's third foreign missions trip. I'm thankful for her heart that wants to serve the Lord and I'm thankful she has these opportunities, but I'm so glad when she's back home.♥

On their flight home, one of the girls started to complain of pain in her back and side. Come to find out, she had a kidney stone and UTI, so one of the ladies stayed with her in Houston while the rest of the group flew on home. The two of them flew back the next day. I'm glad it didn't happen while they were out of the country!

Katie brought back this clock for us. She said there are little shops there where people make things to sell.

Well, you know the lilac bush I showed you in my last post...it is dying! Yes, I am very sad about it. The leaves all turned brown on one part of the bush and the branch just broke off...now the rest of the bush is starting to wilt. After doing some research on the internet, I found that lilacs don't like low-lying areas. They don't like their roots to stay wet, so I doubt I will be getting another one as long as we live here. We're only a few feet above sea level.  My husband put in a clothesline when we moved here, and he hit water while digging the holes for the posts. He didn't have to put any water in the holes to mix up the cement. *sigh* I really love lilacs, but I'll just have to enjoy the other plants I have. My rose of sharon bushes do very well in this area.

We were able to visit with our families for a week this summer, and had a nice relaxing time. We went shopping a little one day, but most of the time we just sat and talked. We got out the picture albums and looked through those and just enjoyed being together.

One evening while we were there, I went out to the back yard to pick some blackberries. After about 15 minutes I heard the neighbor's dogs barking like crazy! I looked up and saw something black and furry running through the woods! I went right into the house and looked out the windows in the direction it had run, but I didn't see anything. I'm pretty sure it was a bear. I talked to Mom a few days ago and she said the neighbors down the road had counted seven different bears. It's a bit unnerving to say the least. Then she said while Dad was sitting on their back deck, he saw a big bear going through the woods. I've been praying they'll all be safe. I sure don't want them to meet up with any unexpectedly.

 At a park about a half hour from where my parents live, there was a lady attacked by a black bear the weekend before our visit. She had to have 14 stitches in her back and 14 in her leg. The bear slipped on some wet leaves and she managed to escape, but then it started chasing her again. Her son told her to 'act big' and make a lot of noise, so by hollering and raising her hands, she intimidated the bear enough so that it left her alone. Wow! She said she didn't think she was going to survive it.

Mom and Dad sent us home with all these lovely jars of yumminess...green beans, pears, lime pickles, tomatoes, and strawberry rhubarb jam.♥ We also took a walk in the garden on the morning we left and picked some tomatoes, squash, and a cucumber to take home with us.

Well, I'd better close for now. I hope you all have had a great summer!  Fall will be here soon.♥  Thanks for stopping by! :-)

Take care,
~Melanie