hmm, i can’t say.  i am taking a little bit of time off this morning; we’ve been taking very long walks, but my ankle feels a little bit funny, so i’m just sitting here on the couch, instead.  i should be outside, because for once it’s lovely out there, but then i’d probably just start pulling weeds again…

here’s kevin, hard at work staining the dock.  he power-washed it, which made it look brand new, and then stained it, so it’ll stay that way for a while anyway.  he just stained the deck off our bedroom, too, after i spent four hours power washing it.  we’ve been very busy making improvements around here this summer.

i’ve been looking at this picture for such a long time and i have NO IDEA WHERE IT WAS TAKEN.  who is this turtle???  maybe kevin took it someplace else.   although i have a vague recollection that it was me who took the picture, but that vegetation doesn’t look familiar to me.  it’s a mystery.  MYSTERY TURTLE.

this looks like it was taken right after the turtle picture, but WHERE ON EARTH IS IT???  no idea.  our lake?  but that’s nowhere near us, and the turtle picture was taken from the shore.  MYSTERIOUS.

i do know where this was – a walk we took on the trail by scheel’s; i took pictures of these thistles before, but inadvertently managed to somehow delete them.  but luckiy they were still there when we walked this way again.

here’s mom, who helped amy with some gardening project.

and aunt sandy, who said this was her “hillbilly” picture, but to me she just looks a little bit deranged.

since it rains all the time, we had a spectacular rainbow over the water.

and there were cool patterns in the clouds.

we went to the movies…i think this was the latest jurassic park.

here’s proof that we at least had a few lilies that weren’t consumed by the perpetually hungry deer.

ta da!  kevin made a whole new front walk; the old one was so old that he could just pull the boards right up; the nails had completely rusted away.

numie and noodle love to bask in the sun.

i put this miniature palm tree that i bought on impulse last january in florida out on the porch, and because it was hot and humid, it finally threw out six new leaves!  they unfurled pretty quickly, and it was neat to watch.

here’s how it looks this morning; uh oh, now that it has started sprouting, i forsee it getting bigger and bigger, and we’ll never have room for it in the winter…

…but GOOD GRIEF, no need to worry about winter right now!

i must go outside and enjoy the day for a little bit and NOT PULL ANY WEEDS.

ok then,

mrs. late july hughes.