APB Concert

You are all invited! Tickets are on sale now.

This is a several-year-old photo, taken when David was new to the band. Use a magnifying glass and look carefully, and you should be able to see him about one third of the way over from the right. He's the very short person.

Presently, David is scheduled to open the show with a solo, as well as have at least one other solo. It should be a good concert.

Summer Garden

I'm not usually very successful with growing vegetables in our yard, but so far this summer, things are going well. I changed the location this year to the steep back hill. It's a challenge to care for them ~ I have to be a mountain goat and try to keep my balance as I weed and water. Several times I've nearly pitched backward into the gardenias below!

Here is our first crookneck squash:

And one tomato plant of our twelve. This is "early girl", which I planted thinking we would have some tomatoes early. Ha! The first to ripen were "Rutgers Heirloom".


We also have one watermelon plant which I don't have a photo of. I don't really expect it to produce anything because we're not deep enough in the south. But I thought I'd see what happens.

The last of our gardenias until fall. They bloomed for about five weeks this year. Now it's time to prune them.

Cleaned Up and Boxed Up

I can't believe it! After two years or so, we can finally see Greta's bedroom floor. How did she perform this amazing feat? She invested in a number of large plastic boxes, loaded them with treasures from her closet, and under her bed, and assorted other hiding places throughout her room. Then they all took a hike to the attic. Below you can see the result:


I do hope she's on a roll now and will make it to the finish line!

Peep says hi

Actually, the baby is 18 weeks old today. I get weekly emails telling me what Peep is up to - apparently kids these days are so technologically advanced they come equipped with email before they are born!

This week the baby is five and a half inches long, or about the length of a large sweet potato. Most days I feel little movements every few hours. This morning, however, Peep is being a wiggle worm. Right now it feels like popcorn is popping or my heart is beating hard inside my belly.

I am having a hard time finding things to wear right now - I can't fit into most of my regular clothes, but my maternity clothes are still too big.

On Monday I'm having an ultrasound! In the last one, at 5 weeks, the Peep looked like a grain of rice with a flicker (the heartbeat) that consumed his/her entire body. We are excited to see him/her again!

Little Peep

Who is "Little Peep"? That is what we call the new baby-to-be. I believe Jared came up with the name.

~Heather is beginning to show. She is at that stage where people are beginning to wonder, but don't want to ask for fear of insulting her, just in case she's not.

~Heather is happy to finally be beyond the sickness stage she experienced for the first few weeks.

~At 16 weeks, Little Peep is currently the size of a large onion. (Last week s/he was the size of an avocado!)

~Heather felt the first kick about a week and a half ago, and she has felt frequent kicks since then. She has lots more developmental details, but I will let her share them.

On Our Street

As I walked yesterday I noticed many beautiful details all up and down our street. It was a wonderful, warm summer morning, not yet too hot. I thought you might enjoy the walk with me. First, pansies by our front door, even before I begin walking:

Pink Knock Out roses ("rosa radicon") by our driveway:

A cute little stone wall with liriope growing between the courses:

The old fence around the pasture is beginning to fall down as wild vines tumble over it:

Nearby, a wild shrub blossoms with spidery yellow and white flowers. I see many of these on my walk:

At the end of our street, a view through the woods into a sunny green meadow. We haven't seen the meadow in years because the woods were so overgrown. But it was recently cleaned of most of the underbrush and now we enjoy it again.