August 2017




It is September 4th at 9:32 PM as I begin to write this post.  
I'm sitting outside in our screened tent in a t-shirt.  
No jacket... 

Today we hit a new temperature record of 36.4 C for this day since 1951.
Back then, I wasn't born so it didn't matter.


Today though, it mattered since the barns were hot and the hens were hot and I was hot.

Thankfully, all is well here on the farm.
The temperatures are supposed to be high again for Tuesday and we ship birds in the evening so it would suit us just fine if some marine air miraculously blew in from the ocean.


Besides all that though,  August was beautiful even though it didn't rain, the roses and vegetables all thrived.


To begin the month we were socked in with smoke.


We have had the worst forest fire season on record in beautiful British Columbia. 
It is the first time that I remember ever seeing Smoke in the forecast.



The sun  took on a beautiful glow in the sky.


It looked like the sun could set all times of the day.


I have enjoyed my flowers so much this summer.  
Having fresh flowers in the house during the summer months is one of my favourite parts of this season. 


Next year, I plan to plant more packages of zinnias.



It is hard to believe that it is time for our caregroup to start up again.
We missed each other during the summer and so decided to have a midsummer lunch on a patio.  
In true Mennonite fashion, the ladies took one booth and the men took another.
All that means is that we ladies love to visit. 


During the annual airshow, I took the littles to the airport to participate in an airplane building contest. It just so happens that our littlest is quite a paper airplane expert. He has a book that he has mastered and he was ready for the challenge.



He was still tweaking his plane at the start line.


He won.


When the officials asked to see how he folds his airplane,  he was happy to do a demonstration and repeated it a few times when they couldn't keep up to his instructions. 

It was very fun!


Who knew that the local university airplane hangar has such a cool sink.  After taking one of the littles to the washroom, word got around about the cool sink and soon they were all in the washroom cooling their hands. 


One afternoon we were enjoying dinner on a local restaurant patio when smoke began to billow up into the air.  It wasn't a big shock to my beloved that I wanted to see what was happening.
He's a good date that one. 


We have quite good seats to the airshow from our front lawn. 


I did notice that one of the branches of the tree was hindering my view so I recruited the tree trimmer to do some trimming.  





 See?  How much better is that? 



There was a consensus that camping with Grammie and Grandpa is a summer tradition worth repeating.


Remember when we started with  just visits to the campground?  Then two  stayed with us overnight and then  three and then four and then five s? 

Now...look at how big they all are.  


They all swim like fish now and it makes me much less of a nervous grammie. 


They love to gang up on Grandpa in the pool but he gives as good as he gets. 


We They all got to be part of the meal choosing committee.

We took lots of group selfies and they figured out really quick that if they gave me my selfie, that it would be time to dig in.  


There were paper airplane lessons....



for Grandpa. 


I found these really great sticker kits.


I remembered when they were all about putting hundreds of stickers on a page in no particular order. 



They spent hours doing these pieces of artwork. 


Money well spent! 


This was the mornings in the trailer before the rest of the campground was awake.

I'd just like to say that I was happy I remembered the DVD's. 

I would make a pot of coffee and we would sit and watch them watch.


I tried to get as much help as possible with the meals. 


Rollkuchen and watermelon at the waterslides was a big hit.  


Oh the waterslides! 

Let me tell you...
money well spent. 


I went sliding the first day and realized that I was not needed so on the second day I set up camp towards the top of the hill and cheered them on, fed them, watered them, listened to them and sometimes even found them a place to relax for awhile. 


These are post watersliding feet.

These toes are evidence of lots of running up the hill.  


The only very disappointing part of the grand-camping adventure was the moment I realized that the welding helmets that were on the list, somehow didn't make it along camping.  


Fortunately,  we had enough cereal boxes along for Grandpa to make a box where the eclipse could be viewed. 



I began to see the eclipse in all kinds of places.



Even the leaves on the trees somehow made these amazing eclipse reflections. 


We put our "hiking" shoes on to hike up to Bridal Falls. 


By the time I got there, they were scrambling to the top to get a better view. 

I admit, that I sort of lost my cool in my certainty that someone would fall on my watch. 

They didn't.  False alarm.
Again. 


On the way back down, I was last again and watched as they scrambled down the steep place without a trail (beyond the fence that no one is supposed to go past).

See?  I'm still not over it.  


They all got their love of twizzlers from their grandpa.

They get their twizzlers from their grammie.  


When we got home, the grass was browner than ever.


The little bit of green still grows and somehow the lawn still looks so much better when it is buzzed over.  



You know summer is nearly over when it is time to pull the onions.

Last year I didn't have to buy onions until spring.  It is so wonderful to be able to eat what we grow.  


We had this sweet girl over for her 24 hours holiday.  


We fit in as much as we can but always leave enough time to sit and chat about whatever they want to talk about. 


She is really very capable in the kitchen.  
I show her what to do and she can copy me so easily.  


Her meal pick was homemade noodles. 
She loves noodles.
She loves her grandpa.
And together, they both love noodles.  


We went to enjoy high tea together. 


I loved how her eyes sparkled. 




It was one of the best tea parties I've been blessed to enjoy.  


When we got back to the farm, she went straight into the shop to work on her fidget spinner with Grandpa. 


They posed for this one and that is why they are laughing.  

Oh Grammie!  



While we were enoying our high tea, she wondered if we could take home all the treats to eat them with Grandpa during his coffee break. 

Of course! 


She put on a show for us. 


She helped me pick tomatoes. 





Tomorrow is a school day.
Summer holidays are over.


Every morning we pray for our littles and as we think of them in the morning we will pray as we always do, that the Lord will protect them and lead and guide them.  Lord, please give them courage when they need to be brave. Help them to have a healthy fear of those things that could harm them.  
Help them to be kind to others and help others to be gracious to them. 
Give their teachers wisdom as they impart their knowledge into the lives of these children we love so dearly. 

all for now...
with love, 




Comments

  1. All so perfectly beautiful! What a fun filled August you had at the farm and camping and out with friends you missed. You are building many wonderful memories with your grand children...and yes they are sure growing! Your gardens are beautiful!

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  2. Oh that is warm! I don't think we've had more than a handful of days in the 90s F and I shall not be pleased if the hottest days of summer arrive in September.

    Your pictures and your always witty commentary tells the tale. You will be glad for your journaling the grands' doings in both. You and Terry are remarkable grandparents to those remarkable grands!

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  3. Loved everything about this post, but the prayer at the end topped the sentimental feelings of this day. So glad we can commmit our precious kids into the care of our loving Father.

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  4. I agree with what Anneliese said about the beautiful way you closed this amazing post with that prayer! It is so obvious the love you have for these precious grandchildren and the fun and memorable times you share! Your flowers and gardens are just beautiful. I love the zinnias too and have a nice row of them this year - they are so cheerful and colourful. Praying for relief from your heat, dreadful fires and smoke! Stay safe.

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  5. Lovella, you have a gentle and funny way of inviting us in to share your daily joys and it gives me, for one, great pleasure in knowing that we as grandparents still have much to contribute to the lives of our precious grandchildren- Thank you for sharing and thank you for being an example.

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  6. Lovely post...from beginning to end! In the end, it's often the little things that are the big things...and you have so nicely depicted the everyday and ordinary things of the month, along with all the special occasions. Beautiful pic's of your grands...and such a touching prayer to commit them to God's care as they head back to school.

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  7. Another great month of what really matters! Loved seeing all that happened in the month of August! Great prayer for your grands. Might just copy and paste! Blessings on your September!

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