Busy

I've been a bit busy.

Last Sunday and Monday night N, J, and I stayed in a cabin at Shenandoah National Park. It was our vacation for the year. Having the kids by myself for about three days really wore me out. I don't know if we'll do such a thing next year. N decided he doesn't like hiking so that didn't leave a lot to do. J (only two) couldn't be trusted to stay with me in the cooking area at the back of the cabin. She kept running to the front where the road was so I was unable to cook anything. I couldn't watch both her and the camping stove or a fire so we had to eat in restaurants and eat snacks like potato chips and cereal.

Monday we went to Luray Caverns. I loved it but the kids didn't. N really liked the maze at Luray Caverns. So did I. J was too small to understand what a maze even is.

Yesterday, K and I took the kids to the county fair. J was frightened of all the rides including the merry-go-round. N wanted to ride everything. Fortunately I had bought ride tickets a few weeks ago at a much better price than one can get at the fair.

K and N went to the hardware store, and J is napping. That's how I found a moment to write.

We still have to go to Kroger this evening, but my shopping list is done. Mostly we are going to eat out of the freezer this week. I think we need to use up a lot of stuff since hurricane season is here. Last September I lost the entire contents of my refrigerator and freezers when Hurricane Isabel took out our power for six days.

At playgroup at the church this Thursday, a couple of the women brought me some old girl clothes from their girls. Now J had a lot more outfits to wear. Most she won't grow into until next year.

Hurricane Charley

I've seen some of the pictures of what Hurricane Charley did to Florida. It makes the damage my city received from Hurricane Isabelle seem like almost nothing.

All I can think of to do is send money to the Red Cross.

Maybe more rain

It's looking like it will rain again. We still have puddles around the yard from the last rain. We could use a couple more days to dry out.

K got a solar beeswax melter in the mail last night. It arrived unassembled. Nothing in the catalogue indicated that it would need assembly. He and N put it together and painted it. I think this weekend he'll start melting wax if it doesn't rain.

Last night we discussed what kind of candle molds we'd like. After looking through catalogues, we decided upon a set of four identical votives that looked like "traditional" bee hives and one of a little raccoon. I wanted the beehives and K wanted the little raccoon. We'll also need a can of mold release agent. I don't know when K will order them or when they'll arrive, but I imagine we'll try making beeswax candles as soon as they get here.

My friend K just got a house. She lives half way across the country so I won't see it for years probably. It's her first house and she and her husband are starting to fix it up to get it ready for them to move in later this month.

My neighbor is still working on fixing up her house enough to move in. She had been hoping to move in this month, but it took her so long to put up her shed that I think she's now behind her anticipated schedule and won't be able to move in until next month. In any event, it's nice to have the house belong to an owner who will take care of it instead of a renter who has nothing to gain by fixing the place at her own expense.

Rain

It was raining some more today. I had N and J out playing in our "creek." Really it's a stormwaterk drainage ditch. Since there was no thunder and lightning, I just let them stay out in the rain. They were already soaked.

The first big storm (five inches in a day) drained of quickly. Now the water isn't draining well. We have lots of pools around the yard. I don't know if we'll get any moisture from Hurricane Alex, but if we do, I think it's just going to pool in the yard.

N got stung by a bumble bee yesterday while we were out cutting flowers for a bouquet. He's fine now, but he screamed for ten or so minutes. He calmed down when I put some Lanacane on the sting and had him rest in bed with his stuffed bunny and pillow (Hoppy and Pillow). Fortunately it wasn't one of our honeybees that got him.

So far my melon hasn't rotted from all this rain, but the ground beneath it is remaining pretty damp so I am getting worried. I'm also worried that the pumpkins will rot. Right now they are mostly orange and beautiful.