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August 22, 2014

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

After taking a week off with company and such, on Monday morning I decided I had better get back to my water aerobics class. After being gone all week, I had to fight my way back for my space again but it felt good to be back in the water with all my old friends. Somehow, starting my day off with this group always seems to get me in the right mood.

On Tuesday, it was back to the dentist to get my new crown that I had to have replaced. That was a chunk of change! I drove into Hillsboro for that and while I was there, I made a couple of quick errands to Trader Joe's and Fred Meyer. It was pretty warm in the valley and I was glad to be getting back to cooler temperatures by that afternoon.

I had our usual Wednesday morning work party at Waterfront Park this week. We had a small turnout but there wasn't that much to do - just some deadheading and weeds to pull. We are managing to keep on top of it this year. I am also responsible this week for watering the Post Office flowers, so I gave them a shot of fertilizer and a drink. I also did some major deadheading to the geraniums while I was at it. It is almost time to start thinking about replacing the potted geraniums for some mums to show off some fall color.

Don't tell me that the summer is almost at an end, but it sure has a feeling of fall in the air. The mornings are much cooler and the sunsets have been spectacular. I heard a flock of geese overhead practicing their routine before they head south. Those are sure signs of changes coming for me!

I also spotted a flock of egrets wading in Nehalem Bay looking for their meals. I haven't seen many of those birds this year. I haven't seen many elk this summer on the island either, they are probably taking a "munch break" elsewhere.

I have had quite an infestation of fruit flies this year. I finally had to put all my fresh fruit in the refrigerator. I hate to eat cold fruit so I haven't been too happy about doing that. I did come up with a good solution to get rid of those pesky flies though. I read if you put some apple cider vinegar with a drop of liquid soap in a small dish that they will be attracted to that. They get stuck in the soapy mixture and I have managed to capture quite of few flies that way. The only problem is with this is the smell of apple cider vinegar.

I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I am a stamp collector. When I worked in the Patents and Trademarks Department at Tektronix, we were always receiving mail from various parts of the world where we registered our trademark. I became so enthralled with some of the beautiful stamps that I started a collection. I now have a notebook full of stamps from around the world. Anyway, the other day I answered a local ad from someone who was giving away his stamp collection and I couldn't resist. So now my collection has doubled in size and most of the stamps that I received are US. This winter when it is raining outside and I have nothing better to do, I will sit down and go through all of them and start another notebook just with US stamps. I think stamp collecting is out-of-date these days as email has replaced a lot of correspondence, but some of the stamps are like beautiful works of art and I will still collect them.

We have been enjoying the nice summer weather and I have spent a lot of time watering most of my garden. It did manage to rain a couple of days but not enough to matter. I love the sunshine but a little rain is nice too. Why can't we have it both ways, a little of each?

School is just around the corner and all the granddaughters are showing me their new outfits and supplies that they are getting for school. My one granddaughter, Jadyn will be going into Middle School this year and she was showing me all the stuff she got to keep her locker organized. Do you know that they have carpeting and chandeliers that you can put in your locker now? Good grief, I can remember having just a plain old locker and then having to share it with a classmate! My oldest granddaughter, Ashtin who is going to be a sophomore in high school tried out for the varsity soccer team and she made it! We knew she could do it and we are so proud of her. She is going to be having a birthday in a week and has been studying hard to get her learner's permit for driving. It is hard to believe that she is going to be fifteen.

Paige is the only one missing from the photos this time, but we'll probably make up for that soon. We plan to go to Hillsboro to watch her play soccer on Sunday.

Well, that is about all that is happening my way. I hope you are having a great summer.