Much ado about nothing.

There is a definite chill in the air. Waking up this morning, I found myself huddled under the down comforter and also wearing flannel pj's with woolen booties, and I was still cold! Once the sun comes up, it burns off the chill and becomes an absolutely gorgeous day, but those first hours in the morning are a bit brisk. I have come to learn that this is August. It is the time of campfires and cold nights. Our garden is still producing (will there ever be enough recipes for zucchini?) and the tomatoes have not yet begun to redden. They are huge and green. One day we will wake up and all the tomatoes will be red. That is when the canner will come out and hopefully we can can enough to get us through the winter. Making our own sauce and using tomatoes as the base for lots of soups will make this a huge savings in our grocery plan, because during the winter those are our primary meals-pasta and soups. It is with mixed emotions that I observe the winding down of summer time, mainly because it doesn't feel as though we had a real summer this year. Turning on the AC one time (premature at that) does not a summer make. I'm not a fan of AC anyway, but honestly, there are some days when it is truly appreciated. I never say "necessary" when it comes to AC because we survived for years without it. We just learned to slow down, make a bigger iced tea and ride it out. I kind of miss those days. Now we just become frozen indoor people. How sad. My point was, even that didn't happen this summer. I have to check the almanac again and see if that prediction was right. I've pulled out my paints again and am working on a study of birch trees right now. Not bad for me. I'm no Picasso, but then, who cares? There is nothing like taking a blank canvas and making it look like something you wanted to capture. It's kinda of cool. And because there isn't alot of other things to do, that is how I am spending my day. As I mentioned last week, we have decided to just put a brake on home improvements for the moment, because we deserve a break. However, the further away we get from home improvements, the closer I get to thinking that "this is fine". I'm tired of home improving. I may need a bigger break than I realized. There are certain things that need to be done before the snow begins to fall. And that is always sooner than we're ready for. Last year it was a novelty, snow in October. This year the novelty will be worn off and the inconvenience will be immediate. Once it's covered in snow, it's gone till spring. We still have one month of summer left, although not the heat and humidity that we're used to. We've talked about putting an umbrella or a awning on the back deck, because the sun is so hot back there, but that is where I go when I need to thaw out, either from AC or from seasonal chills. So the awning is out. Sometimes you'll find us sitting on separate decks-Jerry on the covered front porch and me on the lounge chair on the back deck. How nice to have options. Other than that, we are just watching the tomatoes ripen. Stay cool, or not. Whatever your pleasure.