Summer is winding down

It was eau d'summer this morning, the smoke from a forest fire heavy in the air.  Instead of breathing crisp morning air, we were coughing and had burning eyes until the sun rose and a breeze kicked up and moved the smoke out.  The fire is between Foresthill and Tahoe in really tough terrain.  Yesterday they flew tankers on it all day, they flew over the house back and forth, back and forth until sun down from the tanker base to the fire.  Today they didn't have much flying the fire at all and the smoke has really been bad in Reno from what we hear.  Larry just showed me pictures on the internet that air attack had taken of the fire and it is inaccessible.  Very steep canyons and if you can't get crews in I guess they don't make drops.






We got Ian all packed up and then we played Uno until time to leave.  Gracie was not happy with the events, she lay down by the car as Larry and Ian put Ian's stuff in the trunk. We met Scott in Woodland.  Ian is home now and Connor and Chloe were hanging all over him.  Andrea told us they were looking forward to seeing us, but after big hugs for us and flowers from Chloe they were all about Ian...so cute.







After we got back home, Gracie was crazy to see us as usual, but then she ran out to the car looking for Ian.  She sleeps with the boys on their bed when they are here.







Last night was a gorgeous summer evening and before bed Ian and I went out with the flashlights and stargazed.  Ian was excited to see the milky way, the big dipper and wow, he saw his first shooting star.  He was over the moon about that.

New petals breaking out.

Now I hope to get back into some sort of regular routine.  The entire month of July was taken up almost entirely with tech stuff and into the first week of this month, not what we had planned for sure.  I have yet to finish knitting my July mystery square and August is almost half gone...Larry says I'm going to knitting square jail...hahaha.  I have a sock I just need to knit the toe of to finish and a summer shell in progress still.  I have fertilizing and weeding and pruning to get to in the garden, though there are a couple months left the garden will start winding down soon.  (stupid blogger, I did something that made this paragraph different and can't undo it)

Oh, I may have to buy a sewing machine.  I found a wonderful quilt shop, I love fabric and wandering around in there looking at all the pretty colors and prints takes me back to childhood.  I spent a lot of time with Mom in the fabric sections choosing fabrics, she was quite the seamstress.  I'd be crazy, I can't even get to the projects I have with my current interests.  I need a manager.




I snapped some pictures in the garden this morning.  This sunflower is large and the textures and color are gorgeous.  The finches sit on the leaves and rip little pieces out of them and leave the veins.