Life in the Bristolwood

Yes, this is a Bennism…whenever he feels like his parents are getting unreasonable, he cries out, “Chillax”! I certainly can chill and relax, particularly after the events of the past two days!

Not much happening here today. The pool is all set and the kids have already tested it out!

This afternoon while I was walking the Scotties in the woods, I saw an oak tree that was being inhabited by literally thousands of those horrible unsavory gypsy moth caterpillars….

For some reason, these things seem to cluster together and if one of them makes one’s skin crawl, I cannot even begin to find words to describe what clusters of them, squirming about does! Gross, just totally gross! And, just in case you wonder where these things came from, it happened in the early 1900′s when a frivolous Frenchman who fancied himself to be a backyard entomologist brought these disgusting things to his home in Boston.  Apparently the monsters got loose and the rest is history.

On a much more cheerful note, I mentioned that our friend, Pastor Bert, allowed us to pick some plants from his greenhouse the other day.  Here is our totally radically red   geranium.

And, the terrific Petunias hanging on the back deck. These are so beautiful!

Angus went several hours with no accidents, then he had another late this afternoon. Mark suggested I call the veterinary hospital to ask what to do. I called an emergency animal hospital where the girl quizzed me, asking iif Angus was lethargic. I said no, so she told me to cook him a bland diet….boiled chicken and white rice.  As soon as he smelled the food ,it was as though he knew it was his and he danced about like crazy! And, of course Murphy thought it was grand that he also got a home-cooked dinner!

As I was coming into the house late this afternoon, Angus was peeking out the window, through the screen. He made me smile, as  the lace curtins seemed to flow from the top of his head, much like a bridal veil…..

 This day was so much more relaxed than yesterday, although the heat feels like a blast furnace!

Please let me clarify that I really am not whining…just “telling it like it is”.

The day seemed okay in the beginning, but kind of went downhill.

We went out shortly after 10 this morning to remove the cover from the pool..warm weather ahead. I worked for all of about 15 minutes before Mark said “Katya, your face is so bright red…go inside and cool off!”

I observed from the house as Mark and the kids worked setting up the filter and connecting hoses. We began filling the pool when the water ran out. Ugh…

The kids had friends coming over this afternoon, so we jumped into the truck and went out to grab some Chinese for lunch. Mark was confident the well would recover, as we took a lot of water from it. By this time,I was beginning to really get way uncomfortable.

The water had recovered when we got home and the kids arrived shortly after.

Poor Angus. Apparently he was overcome by the heat as well. He has had a couple bouts of the runs. Not a fun thing to clean up.

The kids’ friends left shortly after 9. I took them a few miles down the road where one of their dads met us.

When I arrived home, the house was very dark.

After a near record day of severe heat and humidity, the house was stifling…

Mark was miserably warm…it is now 12:30 and the power just returned. Thank you, Lord.

I am posting this from my phone…the family sent me to the camper to sleep tonight, knowing the heat was too much for me. The camper has a fan that can run on battery power, so they sent Murphy and I packing!

The heat is supposed to continue the next few days….