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IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

The month of August has pretty much come and gone and I can see that summer is winding down. It is beginning to feel like fall around here with clear and breezy days and cooler nights. Even the birds at my feeders are starting to beef up for their migration south. The beautiful yellow finches have lost most of their color too. Speaking of wildlife, we almost had a traffic jam in front of our place this week. We had a herd of elk that have been grazing on the island most of the week and everyone has been stopping to take pictures. It is a small herd of about 25 but the leader is this stunning four-point bull who keeps a pretty good eye on his cows. Wednesday evening they were belly-deep wading in the river on the island. It looked like they were actually going to try to cross over to our side! I'm glad they didn't because it's way too deep for them and besides, I have enough of a problem with the deer on this place without a herd of elk too! Anyway, it soon will be time for the battle of the beasts to see who gets to keep their herd or who gets chased off. Nature is wonderful to watch.

I have been busy cleaning around here this week. I guess with the change in the seasons, I get the urge to get ready for the rains. Anyway, Dave and I tackled the gutters the first of the week. He climbs the ladder and I hand him the bucket and hold the ladder. So far, we haven't fallen or broken any bones but I don't know how many more years we will be able to keep this up. I also got the hose out and washed the inside of the gutters and cleared the downspouts. Then took a brush and cleaned the outside to get rid of all the dirt and mildew that had been collecting. So we are ready for the first big rainfall. But, by January we will have to do it all over again because of the leaves and debris that will have collected. I wasn't satisfied with cleaning the gutters and so when we had a rainy day this week, I decided to clean out my refrigerator before I went grocery shopping. Last week I defrosted the freezer which almost caused a major flood in the basement with the collection of ice that had formed on the inside! I guess I should defrost more often! But after using almost all the towels and rags we own, we managed to get that mess cleaned up. Then it was on to the oven. My oven used to be "self-cleaning" but the lock has broken so I can't use the self-cleaning any more. I tried to get a new part, but the oven is 40 years old that they don't make parts for it anymore. Also I wanted to replace the oven with a new one but I am limited to a 23 inch space and they don't even make ovens that small anymore, so it has to be cleaned by hand.

We are heading into town this weekend. Dave has a football telecast on Saturday and I am going to take our granddaughter Ashtin out for lunch, since she turned 13 on Wednesday. It is hard to believe that our oldest granddaughter is a teenager! She is such a joy in our lives and we will all get together to really celebrate on Sunday. Also, Dave has a birthday on Labor Day so we will be having two birthdays to celebrate!

We will be staying in town most of the week, as I am going to be Lara's "Chemo Buddy" again on Wednesday as she has her second treatment. After that, we will come home for a couple of days before we head off again. We have a lot of trips planned for the first part of September. On the 7th will are going to Siltcoos Lake for the weekend for a mini steam meet. We are not taking our steamboat with us this time but will enjoy visiting with our friends who will bring their boats. We may even be able to beg a few steam rides! We have to hurry back on Sunday as my nephew is getting married and we have been invited to that. After Sunday, we are headed to the Oregon Garden Resort as we have reservations to spend the night on the 11th to celebrate our 47th wedding anniversary. Then it is home for a few days before we leave on a trip to Sandpoint, Idaho to visit a cousin of mine. We had planned on visiting her last spring when we were headed back from Arizona but the weather was chancy and we didn't want to get stuck in a snowstorm over in Idaho. This time we have forest fires to contend with! Anyway that's our plan and hopefully we will be back home by the 26th for Lara's next treatment.

An update on Lara...She is such a trouper. She ended up in the hospital last weekend as she was running a high fever from a virus that she caught. Her white blood cells are really low and she has to be real careful about infections. Anyway, after a night's stay and some antibiotics in her system, she was allowed to go home. She also started back to work part-time on Monday and says she is feeling a lot better. She has such a positive attitude and I think that is helping her get through this.