A Lively August

There was a minute there where most of Dad's family was in town for a visit. I haven't gotten to see all of those cousins in quite some time and what a thrill it was to look at their sweet Union faces. All of Dene and Michael's kids are in college now (which just doesn't seem right) and it was neat to see them turning into adult versions of the kids I remember. They're all like real people suddenly. 

I particularly enjoyed hearing about Uncle Michael's strange rearing tactics, now that the kids are old enough to reflect on such matters. These are the juicy things you don't get to hear about for the first twenty years. I wish they all lived closer.

Buddy also enjoyed all of the extra company and activity. 

Brett finished our big smooth dining room table. We elected not to cut it to size because we like the slab so much. We carried it into the house, Brett did a little strategic jimmying, and then we stood back to marvel. It's too big for the room, but we still can't bring ourselves to cut it. Instead, we turn sideways to squeeze by when needed. We think it's worth it. 

We now eat dinner at a table like a real family. Brett eats all three of his meals at the table most days. We put it straight to work with a celebratory dinner party and then I moved into one end of it with my books and papers and laptop, while Brett spread out his latest construction plans for work on the other end and it turned out we needed all eight feet of it. 

At last weekend's wedding, Mom and I got stuck in the rain while we made this tropical arch display. Mom had the great idea to wrap up in towels we found by the hotel pool but we both felt foolish out there; decorating in a storm like everything was fine. 

It stopped raining in time for the ceremony. 

I have a good number of "succulent" weddings each year, and after those parties I take all of the disregarded succulents that the bride just had to have and I toss them into a few wooden planters to give them the illusion that I will be tending to them. I know they are trendy and "low-maintenance" but I can't keep succulents alive. I think they are fussy and unreasonable. The succulent death toll in this house must be close to one hundred. In March, I moved the succulent coffins to one side of the house under a tree and by golly the little squirts are growing. One of them has even flowered. 

As for the girls, Grace has been thoroughly enjoying her summer and requesting extra cuddles from me in the morning. Brett and I have wondered if she has early onset dementia. 

Pippa has been able to decrease her medicine to a much lower dose and this has resulted in a slight upswing of her bad mood. With a little effort, we can get her excited to play for a few minutes but that's about it. I miss my happy loving girl. She got a good report from the vet this past Friday, so we can drop her dosage one more time and if she can hold a healthy platelet count for a few weeks, she may be able to move to medicine that doesn't make her so grumpy.

She no longer wants to cuddle with me and when I pull her up to snuggle, she gives me her butt.

After weeks of toiling and procrastinating, I finally translated the newspaper man's musings into a cheeky article about the beaches here in town. You can read it here. 

Meanwhile, at the Barton household, Covid has struck. Stricken? Lee went down first, Liv followed, and Ellen brought up the rear. They are all on the up and up now. Livvy was only sick for one day and Lee is just about back to normal. Ellen is still breathing like fatty but yesterday she decided she turned a corner. We haven't seen any of them since they tested positive. I did drop off groceries for them one day and Ellen stood lugubriously in the glass door like a creature in a zoo exhibit. 

We've got a few fun things coming up as I readjust to working on a weekly basis. I've enjoyed a full month of aimless wallowing. I'll tell you what sorts of things I've been thinking about in my next post.