It's been a wonderful summer around these parts. Many hot days, but usually cool enough at night to sleep with the back door open and the ceiling fan on! That's the way I like it--warm and cool. "Summer"--meaning outside weather actually started in April this year, which is very early for Delaware County. Usually we get 2 months of summer, but so far this year, we've had five!

The cleanup after the fire is complete for the most part, although the new garage still isn't on site.


Can't really see much of it here, but there it sits on the dealer's lot a few miles away. The zoning board of appeals granted a variance so that we can put it four feet off the property line instead of 10 feet, but not I can't get hold of the contractor to get things moving. He called on Monday afternoon--a few hours before the ZBA meeting and asked me to call him on Tuesday morning with the good news. He's well-known around the area, and from what he heard, he expected the variance to fly as it did.

So where the hell is he? A three inch base of crusher-run needs to be placed where the building will go, and the area where the old garage was needs gravel with some of the topsoil from where the new garage will be dragged over to fill the low spots. I will really be nice when it's don--just as I pictured it, so hopefully, soon. It would be nice to have a few weeks of growing season left to get the new grass established.

Aside from that, not much is going on--but I get to be outside most days, so I'm a happy (backyard) camper. Hope you guys in the south are staying inside. The 100 degree temps have made the news. Ah.. forgot to mention the garden.... maybe next time.... but the squash are doing really great! We spend Saturday afternoon blanching and freezing it!