Long Island

We're here with Jon and Jill and the girls for a couple of days. Arrived in the evening on Saturday, too late to see Harper, who was already asleep, but briefly held Penelope and grew to love her even more. What a sweet, lovely little girl she is. Another granddaughter. So blessed. Went to church early this morning with Jill and the girls. Jon had to go to work early, as usual, and wouldn't be home till later. I admire Jill who gets the girls ready each Sunday and brings them to observe the Sabbath. The love and commitment to the Lord and His body is evident as we entered the sanctuary. Great sermon from the Book of Jonah. A concept about the whale that I had never thought about. That's why we have church. Sharing insights that maybe we don't get from our own private study. Coming together each Sunday to seek the Lord, pray for each other and study the Word. So important and necessary. Home for lunch on their beautiful back porch overlooking the garden, woods and beautiful swimming pool. Surprise! Jon joins us for lunch and then all the adults are off for their naps too. Monday, Rob is off to the track helping Jon put a new motor in the Spa. I imagine they will head off at noon time for a little lunch. From the time Jon was a little over 2, Rob had him helping with projects around the house and garden. OR cap, hammer and Oshkosh overalls and all! He loves working with all the boys and various projects, installing counter tops, plumbing, electrical, carpentry. I don't think he'll be bored after he someday retires! Jill went to work at the clinic and I stayed home and Harper and I explored their beautiful property. Even engaged in a little science project when we found a caterpillar crawling on the driveway! Lunch time with Penelope exchanging smiley faces and giving her a bottle and just holding this beautiful little girl the Lord has given Jon and Jill! Tomorrow we're off to Manhattan, hopefully not for more adventures but enjoy the few hours we have there in the best city in the world. It will be interesting finding parking for the Ram truck we came down in! Exploring the neighborhoods on the upper east side!

Rain

We need rain!

It's been bright and sunny here for weeks!
Temperatures in the high 80's or 90's, which is very unusual for this area.
Great pool weather and lake swimming and sun bathing.

But we need rain.

I drive to Madrid to sit for my 4 lovelies while their mom goes to exercise class and the fields are polka dotted with those huge round hay bales.  The farmers have cut several times already. We had a rainy spring and then immediately it turned to summer so everything grew quickly!

But now the fields are starting to look a little brown.  A little desperate for some moisture and relief from the sun.

My hostas and daylillies have really enjoyed the rainy spring and the subsequent sun, but after a couple of weeks of no rain I had to take out sprinklers and begin to give them the water they craved.  I was a little tardy on that activity and they began to get brown edges and curl up which is not too flattering for hostas.  And now I dread the arrival of my water bill....both at the house and Inn!  The sprinklers have been going for hours in the cool of the morning and evening.

But I do love these nice sun shiny days.

Especially in the mornings sitting on the back patio overlooking the back garden, listening to the cardinals and noisy wrens and watching the goldfinches and nut hatches flit back and forth from the trees to the bird feeders and every once in a while take a dip in the bird baths.

Could we just have a gentle rain for a few hours every night around 3:00am?

And then I think we could achieve a little bit of heaven on earth!