Summer

We've been sailing through this summer, here it is August-don't know how it got here so soon! We thought we were going to have a very hot summer, but after the fourth of July it cooled down to balmy.

I'm still teaching a class on Wednesdays, it morphed from knitting to crocheting and from adults to kids. It's a good thing, there are plenty of latchkey kids out there, having something to do in the summer is a very good thing. Sydney has been staying with us. He's here all week and goes home on the weekends. His mom moved to Atlanta so we get to enjoy his company. He's been taking classes at the shop too, gets him out of the house and away from electronic screens.

On Tuesdays through the summer the Bozeman city band plays at Bogert Park in conjunction with the Tuesday farmer's market. So far Stan and I haven't missed any.

A lovely way to spend a summer evening, listening to a variety of music, watching the kids play, inhaling the scent from the barbecue vendors, and munching on freshly picked Montana Flathead cherries.

I get a little knitting done while I listen, unless it's too cold, it is Montana after all!

I haven't done much sewing, a few wedding gifts, but I really have the itch to make some new clothes for myself. The Manhattan Potato Festival is next week so first I want to be sure I have a good stock of items for the shop, she should have lots of traffic that day. Then some new tops for fall.

I've knitted something special but I can't reveal it until after Saturday. It's a very special gift, I can't wait for the recipient to see it-she might cry and I might too!

Something New!

I have never seen anything like this!  Our ornamental crabapple tree is blooming, in September!  The only thing we can come up with is either the bad July hailstorm traumatized it, or the extra hot late summer weather.  Pretty cool, though!

Proof that it's on the same tree with the ripening apples.

I tried to get my camera set so the date stamp would be on the picture but I failed.  You'll just have to take my word that it's blooming on September 5, 2013!

Is It Really Summer?

Today was absolutely beautiful-it got all the way up to 70.  We planted the garden and just enjoyed the day.  I did some baking-not too hot for that, thankfully, and barbecued.  I have to show you our trees.  They are breathtaking this year.  Right now we have 3 lilacs, one pink crab, one white crab and a chokecherry bursting with blooms and perfuming the air.

 It feels like a fragrant park in our yard right now.  Soon our Spirea and peonies will open up.  In the back I have two beds full of day lilies and irises.  There are two lilacs back there, too, that are doing their fragrant thing.

Every photogenic beauty has to have a close-up, right?

And the cedar waxwings are still pruning the old apples out of the pink crab.  They are so darn cute!

Tomorrow is supposed to get to the 80's but then it's going to get cold again.  I love summertime in Montana but all this chilly weather and especially that icy wind really makes me miss Mazatlan.  Oh well, we had today.....

Trees

I spent some time on my deck this afternoon. It hasn't been too hot, so a late afternoon iced coffee and knitting session is a lovely experience. I'm almost finished with Gram's socks. Just finishing the ribbing on one, then I just have to turn the heel and knit up the leg on the other.

I did finally sew buttons on a baby sweater, though. This is a pattern I downloaded from Ravelry. No special goal-it went in to my gift stash for future babies.

The buttons aren't a perfect match-better than the picture-but not bad. I used the gray from the trim to sew them on to direct attention away from the not-quite-perfect color. I scoured Bozeman and these are the closest I could come.

I think this sweater will be one I make often. It's done in a bulky yarn so it goes pretty fast and it turns out pretty cute if I say so myself!

I love sitting under the trees. The birds serenade me nonstop and I love the shadows the sun shining through the leaves makes.

Add my own homemade mocha blended coffee and it was a perfect afternoon. Too short, but perfect.

Freaky Summer Storm

I was having coffee with a friend at my favorite place when Hubby called. He asked what the weather was like in Bozeman. I described it, calm and cloudy, and he told me that he was witnessing the biggest hailstorm Manhattan has ever seen. Golf-ball size stones that shredded our garden and drove apples and leaves to the ground.



The ice loving dog-she must have thought it was manna from heaven.

Good size hailstones.



I don't think the storm ever hit Bozeman, even though it was heading that way. I did hear from Jenn and she said Livingston got hit as hard as we did, and they also had a huge power outage.

An update-the insurance rep came right out (Safeco-nice, huh?) and told us that our roof was trashed, so right then and there he cut us a check to replace it. We will get a bid when our roof guy gets back from camping. That really was some kind of storm!

They're Ready!

The raspberries are ready-Stan picked a handful a while ago. What a perfect berry!

Then I ate it!

Going Fishing!

Grandpa decided to take the kids fishing, one at a time. Sydney is staying with us for some spoiling so he's the first in line. I had to pack his own cooler, he couldn't share with Grandpa, and we had to have the string cheese and Nutella sandwich. Some crackers, a can of pop and a carton of chocolate milk and he's ready to go.

After the truck was packed, Sydney said, "Now what do we do?" "Now we get in the truck and drive to the lake," was Grandpa's reply.

Not a problem, "why isn't Grandpa in yet?"

"Okay, now we can go, don't forget to shut off my airbag, Grandpa!"

"Bye, Syd, catch some fish!" "I'll try, Grandma!"

Summer Things

Beautiful peonies:


Fresh strawberries:



Playing catch with Grandpa:

But I could live without the mosquitoes!