July ends with a soft sigh, a trace of regret, and the slow hush of summer fading

Goodbye, July. Goodbye, summer. 
Sure, we’ll still have hot days—probably right up until Thanksgiving—but the kids are already heading back to school. 
That always signaled the true end of summer for me. 
School starts so terribly early these days; it used to be after Labor Day. 
They say we have air conditioning now, so there’s no need to wait anymore.

Well, that escalated quickly. Unexpected detour to the ER.

Today was just a little too exciting.

Badger felt unwell all day—nothing new there. Certain times, she feels very unwell.

She spent the day in her room.

The day went along as the days do—chickens got fed, naps got taken, dinner got cooked, dinner got eaten, and Cowboy went to work.

♥♥♫♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥¸ ¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪♫•*¨*

“July, with its days of blue skies and time that seemingly stands still, holds a special place in my heart.”

Checking through my indoor camera, and a hooded figure popping out of a dark hallway at 2 a.m., is enough to make anyone's heart skip a couple of beats. 
Raven heading to work. 
I don't know why he had a hooded sweatshirt on, though.

It’s July. I’m not lazy, I’m in energy-saving mode.

There’s absolutely nothing for me to write about.

It was cooler today… I think.

WBIR hasn’t posted the day’s temperature—not that it’s very accurate for us. 
We’re not Knoxville, so what they are—and what we are—is degrees off.

In July, ice cream becomes therapy and air conditioning becomes religion.

There really isn't much one can say that hasn't already been said a million times.

Cowboy always goes to morning and evening church services, unless it's been called off, they're having VBS, or there's a special service of some sort.

Boredom level: maximum 😒

This has been one terrifically long, incredibly boring day.

Badger and I were stuck at home.

It's so freaking hot outside, we didn't dare go out for fear of melting.

It's not just a ring; it's a promise of tomorrow, a whisper of forever. 🌿💍

Raven left for work around 1:30 a.m. and took all his things for the weekend. 
He hasn’t come back, so I don’t guess we’ll see him—or the kids—this time.

 We got up pretty early and headed to M to send off the package Badger had. 
Then we stopped at Walmart to pick up my ring. 

Remember when I wanted it to be summer? Yeah, I take it back. ☀️🚫

It was another miserably hot day—and they say next week’s going to be even worse.

Luckily, we got done in town before the worst of it hit. 
Cowboy still refuses to run the A/C in the car.

“Anger always comes from frustrated expectations.” –Elliott Larson

Health woes—no one wants to listen or read about them, I know. 
Believe me, I know.

Most mornings I wake up with sticky, blurry eyes. 
Usually they clear up by dinner—sometimes they stay that way till bedtime.

Humans cannot live on coffee alone. That’s why donuts were invented!

Badger had therapy today. 
While she and Cowboy were gone, I went through the potatoes Cowboy dug up about a month ago.
They’ve been sitting in my hall, slowly rotting.

I put the rotten ones outside for the chickens, put the larger good ones in the kitchen, and the smaller ones in a bag. 
Those, I walked over to the blessing box.

Good night, sweet prince. Long live the Prince of Darkness

You can have your space or you can have your stuff. You can't have both.-The Home Edit

We had some storms roll through this afternoon, bringing a good, soaking rain. 
We needed it—it cooled the temperature down a bit, too.

Badger decided it was time to clean out her closet.

Remembering Malcolm: The Smile That Marked Our Time

“Then came July like three o’clock in the afternoon, hot and listless and miserable.” — Allie Ray, Holler

I went to bed at 10 pm last night, and I mean I went to bed.
No reading, no watching TV-just laid my head on the pillow and was out like a light.
That's a bit unusual for me.
Cowboy also went to bed earlier than is normal for him.
I think the heat is starting to get to us.

I like my hair like I like my coffee – short and bold ☕✂️

This was a very long, hot day.

Cowboy, as is usual, misheard the time for our appointment, so we were an hour early. 
He tried to blame me and Badger, but when you tell someone something three–four times—well, you can't really blame the messenger.

Rise, grind, repeat

 Some days are just non days, days we don't go out, we don't really do anything.

Even on non days, there still is a loosely followed routine.

Adventure in every lightning strike 🌩️⚡

With the proper motivation, this fat old gal can still book it!
Badger and I had walked down to sit at the creek for a bit this evening.
It had been rumbling thunder all evening, but eh, thunder rumbles—we never get a storm.

Squirreling away memories in every adventure 🐿️🌲

I'm starting to get a bit suspicious the animal kingdom has it in for me.
I went outside this morning, I like to get that morning sun on my face when I first wake up, went to the carport side of the house, and heard a loud rustling in the tree.
Then I heard angry chattering in the tree.
I look up-a squirrel looked down at me-and then he took a mighty leap onto the tool shed roof, chittering all the way.

Raccoons: the masters of aww-dorableness

Oh my word, I just walked up on a raccoon!
Badger and Cowboy fuss, and fuss, and fuss at me 'cause I feed the strays late at night.
To avoid raccoons, they need to be fed before sunset.
But-this new set of strays only pop out around 10 pm, prime raccoon 🦝time.

"Never regret anything because at one time it was exactly what you wanted."

Today was a total stay-in-the-house kind of day.

I had a major stomach upset.

I'm very sensitive to kale, which we had at supper last night.

Just a cozy Sunday at home.

Today was one of those stay-at-home, be-a-little-bored kind of days.

Of course, Cowboy went to morning and evening church services, but Badger and I stayed home.

Badger has stayed in her room the majority of the day 🤷🏻‍♀️

Food truck feasting: it's nacho average meal

Cowboy didn't get home from work until 3:47 am-then he had his coffee and snack so it was after 4 am when he got to bed.

Badger and I had already made plans to walk back over to the yard sale, so that worked out really well in keeping quiet so he could sleep. 

Treasure hunting, one yard sale at a time

Badger and I were up and out the door by 9 am.
Some cat rescue place is having a yard sale in the school cafeteria.
We didn't find anything except some books, the knife Badger had her eye on was just too expensive.
The person running it said they'll be there until Sunday, and they'll bring new stuff in each day.

"Is it just me, or is the feed getting a little overwhelming?"

I'm tired of living in this time we're in.
No, no, I don't want to die, sheesh.
I just want to go back to when I grew up, the late 70s -early 80s.

♥♥♫♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥¸ ¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪♫•*¨*

Keep calm and coffee on—it’s only Wednesday

Cowboy had to go to the doctor for blood work this morning.
I stayed home, the elevator in that building gives me the willies.
He'll go back, I think, in two weeks for the results and what they want to do.

You can't change who you are, and you shouldn't be asked to

Badger had therapy today.
While they were gone, I straightened up my closet, finally put away a couple loads of clean laundry-what? I'm lazy, so what.
And gave the house a general tidying up. 

Bad dog energy! 🐕‍🦺💨

 We had a disaster this morning!

Lady and Duffy had to go out to use the bathroom, before we left for the dentist appointment. 
We know better than letting Lady out without a leash, but, you know, we're lazy.
It's just a lot easier to leash Duffy, because he's a runner, and can not be off leash, and let Lady run loose. 
Heron has Lady mostly well-trained to stay in the yard, and with her people.

Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be

A daughter feels her mother’s absence forever—time softens grief, but never erases it.

"Good food, good mood, happy ( early) anniversary!"

I am stuffed to the gills and exhausted. 
After Cowboy came home from morning services and got his nap in, we headed to Austin's Steakhouse for our early anniversary dinner. 
Of course, we took Badger. 

I'm here for the fireworks and hotdogs 🌭🎇

I think it was around 2 a.m. when Cowboy got home from work, so he slept fairly late. 
Oddly enough, Badger was up with the chickens this morning. 

Cue the fireworks—and the mosquito bites

Oh my gosh. 
This has been the most boring 4th of July-not that any of them have been all that exciting.

Peacock brought Turtle 🐶up early; he was going out with friends, and Madame Turtle can't be left alone during fireworks. 
We’ll get to that little issue of hers soon enough.

"Stars, Stripes, and Freedom—Happy July 4!"

"Grief doesn’t follow rules; it crashes into your life and reshapes everything."

Another town day come, and gone.

I'm just going to be flat out honest: Hippie Aunt sent me a text day.
It seems like she is having a very hard time, she's still grieving badly.
You know, she lost both a brother, and a sister within a month of each other. 
She's 72 years old, she's the last member of her immediate family.
Her parents are gone, all of her siblings-three of them-are gone now.

Taking care of me because I deserve it.💖🛀

We'll call today a mental health day.

We did absolutely nothing but stay inside—watching TV, reading, playing on the computer.

There are times when I don't blog to remember anything, I blog just to keep track of the days.
Time has a way of rushing by.

When your head is a human barometer 🌩️

I'm self diagnosing myself with atmospheric headaches.
I had a busting headache all day, one of those that sends you cowering to bed, hoping you don't upchuck.
The storm broke around 4 pm, with rain moving in around 7 pm, and my headache finally eased off.