Thursday, September 16, 2021

July 2021

WOW - July was another HOT month.  Still, no rail, until the 20th of July (finally - it started out on Tuesday as a light sprinkling on and off that day.  The next day we finally got a good downpour of rain most of the day, and some cooler temps for the few days).  Unfortunately, because our ground was so dry, none of the rainfall was collected in our reservoirs - the rain was all soaked up by the ground.  July turned out to be the hottest and driest month ever on record.
Dave and I enjoyed a nice quiet day at home on the 4th.  We grilled out and had a quiet day at home.  The neighborhood supplied us with quite a show of fireworks that evening.

July also brought Barbara some sad news on the 6th. Her brother, (David), passed away, at the age of 61.  He lived in Oklahoma City and in the early hours that morning, he was found dead on a bus bench.  They're not sure if he died from a heart attack or OD'ed.  David was the 4th of 7 children, (the middle child.  He was always getting into some kind of trouble, (but it was mostly just BS kind of trouble, not really bad).  The local police department knew David well, and they delighted in hassling him for little things.  David dropped out of school just a few months after starting high school and he liked, (no, strike that - he LOVED) to drink.  He hung out with kids that he knew since grade school and they all would somehow find money and someone to supply them with beer.  As he got older, Dave started doing drugs.  The police would pick him up, hassle him about the state of his condition.  Sometimes they would drive him home, sometimes they would lock him up for the night and release him the next morning, as he was sober enough to get home.  David left Ohio for Oklahoma when he was about 20.  The family would hear from him every couple of years.  He would manage to come home about every 10 years, but he always left when the local police started hassling him again.  It was sad that he died alone, on a bus bench,  Hopefully he's found his peace now.
Our granddaughter finally got a car!  Now we won't have to run her to all her appointments and back and forth to work.  She finally has more freedom to come and go without depending on us.  Hopefully the next step is to get her into her own apartment.

Our great-granddaughter came to spent the day and night with us.  It had been so long, since we'd seen her, and she's grown so much.  Dave noticed as we were walking through the mall, she's almost as tall as Barbara.  First, it was the grandkids who would measure every time they came over, to see if they were finally taller than Grandma.  Now it's the great-grandkids starting to see when they are taller than grandma.  And so the circle of like continues.




The garden has been doing great and producing very well.  It has really loved the heat this year, and with an extra watering, (when the temps are 100 or above), the plants are really happy.






An example of a usual garden pick.
2 days later, I still pick another load of tomatoes.
I've have pressure canned several turns of tomatoes, made several quart bags of tomato sauce, (in the freezer), and frozen quartered tomatoes.  I've shared garden tomatoes and tons of mini salad tomatoes with friends and neighbors, (by the bag fulls).  And they keep coming.
This has been my first year for a good zucchini crop.  I can pick the 3 bushes cleans and 3 or 4 days later, this is what I pick again.  I have frozen shredded zucchini for baking this winter.  I've give quite a bit away.  I made a couple dozen of my Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins, Zucchini Bread, Fried Zucchini, Zucchini Fritters.  And they keep coming.

We keep hoping for a break in these hundred degree temps, and for the skies to clear out smoke from the California fires, and also some rain would be nice.  But mostly, we keep hoping for this COVID virus to start dying out and for our family and friends to remain healthy and safe.


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