Here we are another week that has come and gone. Time just seems to speed up this time of the year.
I thought I could get out of writing a journal last week and just skip me all together in the “cycle”, but I guess you aren’t all that lucky. In preparation of today’s writing I had planned to take lots of extra pictures and have my act together. You know what they say about best laid plans.
Our little garden is growing and has served us all very nicely. And by all, I mean furry Dee members as well. I’ll admit it wasn’t the smartest of ideas to give the race dogs beans as treats. Being as smart as they are, it was learned rather quickly that a human friend was not needed to partake it the garden treasures. I really don’t like to have a fence around my gardens. We have a fence around the yard so that keeps the wild animals out of it but doesn’t help with the dogs. We put up a small section of fencing to protect the beans and Kashi has such a cute little petite face, it’s no problem to squeeze through and help herself to the beans. We had a few dinners of fresh beans and I waved the white flag. Help yourself furry friends. I have actually found her in the garden, all sprawled out, just chomping away. Gracie and I roasted some fresh beets last week and wow they were amazing. So even though our garden is about an eighth of the one in Mohawk, it’s really served us well so far. The tomatoes and cucumbers are coming in nicely and hopefully the season will last long enough for them to mature nicely.
One of the things I’ve realized that I really love to do is container gardening. Plants and vegetables alike. I planted some seeds in these old galvanized pots and they are just starting to produce some color. I suspected I’ll find some of these very flowers past the fence line in the coming years. The day I planted these flowers, Dune was out with me. I had all the packets of seeds placed in the pot, trying to decide what to plant. He came out of nowhere, which is not uncommon as he’s so fast, went between my legs and grabbed a packet or two of seeds and ran like the wind. By the time I reached him, he looked at me and I swear I heard him gulp. It was right around this time he earned the name “Swiper”.
Some of you have reached out to me the last few months wondering how we like living in Jake and what’s in like to be back on my grandparents and great grandparents homestead. I’ll tell you all it’s been nothing short of a dream come true. Sometimes I brew coffee and the smell will take me back to 1978. There are some things that need to be done to make it more energy efficient and the previous owners didn’t really change much other than a new kitchen. It really was like coming home. We are blessed to live in this wonderful community and have made some lifelong friendships. We are excited for what the future holds.
People ask a lot “what about the drive”? Maybe it’s just me but the drive doesn’t bother me at all. Gracie and I have always used drive time to chat and catch up with each other. I suspect that it won’t be long and she’ll be using the drive as homework time. She’s the type of kid who wants to be involved in every activity going on. We’ve tried to minimize that to keep things manageable for our family. Being gone 5 days a week just doesn’t fit us well. I did warn John that we are entering a new phase. Middle School means activities, sports, band, dances etc. So, we’ll see how dad will adjust to that. His little girl is growing up.
As I type, I can hear the rumbling of thunder in the distance. Our days this week were a little bit cooler but that humidity hung on. Not a lot of full sun, beach type of days.
I’ve noticed that the snow lovers are starting to stir a bit. Social media posts with snow shots and people talking about their new sleds. If you look hard enough you can see a few trees starting to change around here. I love all the excitement that fall and winter bring. It’s been a great summer here and although I’m not ready for it to be over, I do look forward to cooler, Fall days.
For those of you who have been long time readers, can you even believe that Gracie is going into Middle School? It seems like yesterday we were just getting home from Texas and adjusting to our new love. She’s super excited about school and can NOT wait to see her friends. She’s missed them all so much. We don’t know what the year will look like, and we will be keeping a very close eye on things. The last thing we want to do is get sick and bring it home to John. She feels a little robbed of the normal excitement and things of entering 6th grade but I doubt she’ll sleep the night before the 1st day.
As summer ends so do the afternoon “hangouts”, the late-night bowls of ice cream, and spending extra time with this old guy. Huckie is getting around slow these days, and you can tell his hips are failing him. I honestly didn’t think he would be around this summer. He’s not in pain and loves to try to run and he can cuddle like a champ. Bleau will go to school with us every day so that isn’t much of a transition for us…for him yes but not us. I’m hoping he’ll remember how to be a good therapy dog! He’s not been in school for almost 6 months and he’s pretty accustomed to lounging around all day being a lazy dog. Grace has already expressed that she’ll miss hanging out with dad. This is the first summer she’s been home all day. It’s been super fun for her!
The only thing left to talk about his John. I think he’s really felt a load of his shoulders with sharing the writing of the weekly journal. So with that I say, thank you all for bearing with us guest writers. I know it’s not the same, but I promise he’ll be back in no time!
Parting words from me…..have a great week and show kindness to someone, even when it’s not easy
Good night from Jacobsville!
