The Sum of my Summer

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.
Well, this is a picture of my summer, sad to say.

+ computer
+ Kindle
+ library books
+ fans, lovely fans
+ lime Jello, my favorite food on a hot day.  But not my only food, unfortunately!
+ lots of heat
____________

The bottom line is a big fat nothing.  That was my summer.

OK, I did a few things but you've seen all the greenhouses, farmer's markets, and whatever before.

No handcrafty stuff either.  My craft area has been a mess since rearranging rooms when Brad and Kami moved in.  A messy work space doesn't make me feel like creating.  Maybe instead of wasting my time reading I could have been cleaning and organizing.  Do ya think???  But NOOOOO...

And my helpers weren't into it either.  Deiter was too busy being ON the computer.

Do you see that lovely country scene that's on my desktop?  Walking down that dirt road on a nice 75-degree day is what I really should have been doing.  If I were not so old and fat and lazy.

Zip and I did ride around in air conditioned comfort and take a few pictures of houses and flowers.  There's nothing I find more appealing than a nicely decorated entrance.  These make me want to stop, knock on the door and ask if I could please come in and have tea.

 I don't know any of the people who live in these houses, just dreamin'.

                                                 Newville, near the Big Spring

                                                         Downtown Newville

                                                                    Shippensburg


Now I'm going to rant about the weather which has such a strangle hold on my moods.

The summer started out hot.  We had rain, usually about twice a week.  The yard looked good, the garden flourished, the flower beds filled in nicely

Then came July.  The rain stopped.  It got hotter than blazes.  The garden dried up, the grass turned brown and crispy.  For the past two and a half months we didn't get enough rain to dampen a paper towel.  And it drove me crazy, checking WeatherBug daily to see if there was a storm anywhere near Newburg.  But NOOOOO!  There were storms all around us but not over Newburg.  I am so glad that I did not marry a farmer.  I would have been hauled off to the loony bin years ago.

Then there are the weather people on the local news stations with their cheery predictions of chances of showers and thunderstorms.  Chances, mind you, that never seemed to materialize.  If I had been in charge of the personnel at those stations, all the predictors would now be on unemployment.  How can you be so wrong so often and still have a job???

We finally got a nice little shower on Saturday (yes, they predicted right for once, but we got less than they said we would), not nearly enough but at least we know it still can rain.  That little bit of rain and the cooler temperatures that followed have renewed my faith for the moment.  The grass is a tiny bit greener.

Oh, and several of my favorite places have closed or in the process of closing.

The Fabric Outlet in Lemoyne, my favorite place to buy fabric if I ever decide to sew.
The Country Pantry outside of Shippensburg, my favorite bulk food store.
The Mannings weaving supply and school is closing at the end of the year.  One of the best yarn
       suppliers and only weaving equipment and thread supplier in the area.

I will sure miss all of these places.

Has sitting around in front of a fan reading and eating Jello turned me into a whack job???  Probably.  I was on my way down that road anyhow.
But I will end this diatribe with a happy summer picture.

Don't you just love this little fountain in the middle of a residential section in Chambersburg?

                                                        Water, cool water!   
  
Happy, happy!  Fall is on the way!