Greetings, All:

 It's really been a while since I posted on my blog, at least a couple of years.  Actually, I've been so busy, I just forgot about it.

A lot's been going on in my neck of the woods, the Mid-Atlantic region.  The last time I posted, I'd gone off the SCD diet.  I'm actually on this diet, off and on, still, since I don't seem to have proper digestion.  The reason for this, as I've found out, is that I don't have a gallbladder. ( The doctors don't tell you when they take it out that you need it for proper digestion.  That would be one less boat, car, private school, house, etc., payment that they wouldn't have.)  I really don't have a very high opinion of doctors, since I've never found one that could actually help me.  All they offer are drugs, surgery, or drugs and more surgery.  Forget it.  I go on Google, type in symptoms, and diagnose myself.  I've had more success with this than with any doctors' diagnosis.

I'm still making jewelry; if I didn't, I'd be even crazier than I am.  Making jewelry is my therapy.  When I put the needle into the bead and out the other side, I'm a happy camper.  I can even calm myself by watching someone bead on uTube.  I didn't get into sculptural peyote and I didn't enter any bead shows as posted before.  I'm just not interested in having someone critique my work;  if they had something bad to say about it, I'd get mad.  Don't take criticism too well.  As for sculptural peyote, it's just too complicated and I can't deal with that at this point in time.

I still suffer from depression, but try to overcome it with positive thoughts and actions  (I don't do too well in this area), beading and reading.  I love to read, which was my first passion.  I have so many books, I don't have room for all of them.  I did sell $2,000 worth of to-do books on Amazon, but have bought that much, and more, back, mostly beading books.  I'm so thrilled when the doorbell rings and it's the UPS guy with my new beading book.  I peruse it for a while then toss it aside and see if I can find another one on a different aspect of beading, or with totally different ideas and patterns.  Some things never change.

This past winter was one of the coldest we've experienced in my area.  We had several snowfalls and we're just not used to that here.  I actually stayed in the house for two straight weeks and nearly went crazier.  I swore that when summer came, I wouldn't say anything bad about the heat; so wrong.  I've already been griping about the extreme heat this summer.  It's been in the high 90's since the beginning of June, temps that we usually don't have until August.  Of course, that means that I still have to stay inside, as the mosquitoes just love me.  When I go outside for any length of time, I have to put on socks and make sure I have my arms covered.  No fun, when it's nearly 100 degrees out there.

Our garden has been very strange this summer.  We have tons of blooms on the cucumbers and squash but very little produce.   We do have bees, a lot of them, but something else is going on that we can't figure out.  I've gotten exactly three yellow crookneck squash, and it looks as though the vines are dying already.

My husband planted the tomatoes in hay bales this year, to avoid the destructive nematodes.  There are 10 bales, in a row.  In the top of each bale he drilled a hole, filled it with dirt and planted the tomatoes.  Then, he put fencing wire around each tomato and also built a frame on each side of the wire, the length of the 10 bales, for added support.  What a lot of work.  The vines are very high and we have right many tomatoes, but they are small;  tasty, for sure, but not that big.   We still eat a lot of tomato sandwiches;  YUM!

I pulled up my Iris plants as they were blooming mostly purple and they were supposed to be all different colors.  I did learn, from Google, that if you don't cut the stalk once it blooms, the bees can cross pollinate and you'll wind up with mostly purple, which is the dominant color.  It's been two summers since I pulled them up and I'm thinking I'll replant them as I do miss seeing them bloom and they do last quite a while in a vase, at least three days or more.

I did get in the pool this summer after a four-year absence swimming.  The reason being that I was concerned about the chlorine soaking into my skin.  Well, I swam with the great-grands for three days straight and the fourth day went to bed, for two days.  I was so tired I could hardly function.  I think it was a combination of chlorine and too much exercise, which I haven't been doing lately.  I don't think I'll be going swimming again any time soon; it's just not worth it.  I'll do something else, like walk on the treadmill and do yoga.

Haven't seen a snake for a couple of years but they're out there.  They've been spotted by other members of the family, though.  We have seen an abundance of other wildlife:  2 fawns, turkeys, bear, fox, rabbit, turtle, deer, and lots of birds, my favorite.   We also had a mother opossum leave 4 babies in the recycle bin.  When she didn't come back for them, I took them down to the edge of the woods and gently let them go.  When I turned around, they were gone. We have an abundance of Cardinals, which are so beautiful.  They come out at dusk and I recognize their little cheep-cheep song.  Of course, the Wren, one of the smallest birds, has the loudest song.  I don't see many Bluejays, which I consider one of the most beautiful birds.  I need to ask Google how to attract more.  We have seen, of course, lots of hummingbirds, attracted by the Echinacea and Periwinkle plants.

I have to admit, I'm ready for fall, which is my favorite time of year.  My grandson is also ready for fall.  He goes on a walkabout every day from two to three and then from five to six.  He so enjoys the outdoors and comes in to tell me all of the different wildlife he's seen on his walks.  My husband told him to be very careful if he saw any bear cubs, and to run the other way, as the mother would definitely attack if she sees anyone with her cubs.  We do have a lot of Black Bear in our area.  They've been seen walking down the middle of Main Street, downtown.  A bear is something I don't want to see.  My neighbor had one come up on his back porch, captured by his outdoor camera.  The bear also destroyed his beehive he had at the edge of the woods.  The deer have completely destroyed his summer garden and he's threatening to kill any future invaders; I hope not, I do love deer.

Well, I guess it's time to bring this post to a close.  I didn't intend for it to be this long, and probably no one will read it anyway.  To those of you that do, thank you, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of the summer.  Be blessed, Nana