August is just about done. It flew by so fast and hopefully this is just about the end of our wickedly hot and humid summer. Perhaps cooler weather is on its way….or perhaps tropical storms and hurricanes. Time will tell…

I usually try to work in the yard a few days a week early in the morning. Gotta say, that didn’t happen much in August. The heat is taking a toll on me and some of my flowers. But others thrive.

In August I read three books–I outdid myself! I recommend all of them.

The first was “French Braid” by Anne Tyler. I have probably read most of Anne Tyler’s books–starting with “The Accidental Tourist”. They appeal to me. And I probably couldn’t tell one novel from another if I was quizzed. They are always about a dysfunctional family. Or perhaps they are all about loneliness. I like her writing style and I usually like the stories. I read this one really really fast which is unusual for me.

Next up was “Matrix” by Laura Groff. I had read her book “Fates and Furies” several years ago which I found disturbing–but interesting. This book was not quite as disturbing. I downloaded if from the library and was very happy to have the Kindle version so I could easily look up all the words that I was clueless about. And there were words that had no meaning. Had to guess about those. Remember when we took those tests about figuring out the meaning of the word as how it was placed in the sentence? There was a lot of that in this book.

The final book was “The Turn of the Key” by Ruth Ware. I enjoyed reading this book about a nanny in a new position that gets spooked. And there is a twist in the plot. It was a good book to read on the airplane.

Speaking of reading on an airplane. I had planned on doing some traveling this summer just to get out of the heat of Florida. But, between the arrival of our new grandbaby and the northern granddaughters getting Covid, I didn’t get to make the trips to the cool cool north. I just got back from the only trip I made this summer and that was to visit the new grandbaby and family in DC. He’s 3 months old and is smiling and kicking and waving his arms around. Just what a 3-month old should be doing!

My baby Athena is now 4 months old and growing like crazy. (And getting in lots of trouble)

Despite Athena’s help, I made a bunch of bags plus finished a quilt. More about the quilt next week. I think I may have killed my Baby Lock Unity. I just had it to the shop for its spa treatment in March and now it’s puckering the fabric. I made all the bags on the Brother and was sewing the quilt together on the Baby Lock when it started gathering the fabric. I watched all the YouTube videos about this issue but nothing that was recommended helped. I tried changing tension, rethreading, changing feet, putting in a new needle. How long is a high end quilting/embroidery machine supposed to last? So frustrating. Guess I’ll be quilting on the Brother in the future. Or perhaps I’ll just need to quit quilting! Insert sad face!

That’s about it for August…..

And I’m closing with this beautiful sunrise.