Stained glass window

 

Kevin and I are church hunting. The church we have attended the last couple of years is almost certainly dying in less than a month; the pastor of 34 years is retiring, and it is a teeny tiny church and we don't think we'll be able to find a pastor to fill his shoes.

So last Sunday, we visited a church within ten minutes of us. The sanctuary is old and beautiful, and the window above is the largest of the windows.

Kevin was moving around during the sermon and finally whispered that he realized one of the words at the bottom was Kendig.

So I moved around as well, and sure enough, the bottom says: In Memory of Julia H. Kendig. Harry R. Kendig and Family.

I found Julia and her husband Harry. They both were born in the late 1800s. Harry lived to a ripe old age and he and Julia (and a bunch of other relatives) are buried in the giant cemetary which rings the church we attended.

So that was interesting. Probably a relation? I haven't found a connection between Harry and Kevin's paternal grandfather, Albert. I might poke around some more because it is fascinating.

In other news, we have a new refrigerator arriving on Friday. Our current one is not as cold as it should be. We are vaguely indignant that this one is dying at only 3+ years old, but such is life.

We have had a mild stomach bug. Irritating.

The first week of September has been warm; today is supposed to hit 90. It WILL cool off soonish but for now, our pool is delightful.

I think that is about it!

Late August

 

Petey the Pigeon got to spend two full days in the sun room this last week. You can see him at the far left of the picture. The weather cooled down so our sun room was not too hot. He had a fabulous time. He got to fly all over. 

The younger girls spent a lot of time hanging out with him, doing school and just being friends. He never excretes on top of us, which is good. We have disposable table cloths protecting the hot tub, and newspapers on his favorite perches.

Now it is hotter again and our sun room is too warm for him, and he is back in his cage. He is noticeably better at flying than he was back when we first got him.

I am tired today. Last night there was a lunar eclipse and the skies were delightfully clear. The three younger kids all stayed up until around midnight to watch it. I loved that they could do that and then sleep in this morning!

I stayed up too. It was awesome. I love eclipses.

This week, Kevin spent hours and hours editing the last book I finished. I took over food shopping and prep for the week (he usually manages all that). On Wednesday, Lydia had to take her car in for some work, and I ended up driving her to work and then picked up her car later and picked her up at work. I don't mind at all, and am glad that my young adult kids have parents and sibs who can help out when things like this happen.

It does feel like a busy week though. It is easy to forget how much work it is to care for kids and house and home when Kevin has been doing so much of the work for the last few years. I am grateful to and for him!

We have a very hot few days coming, but September will be upon us soon, which means that the nights are closing in on 12 hours long, and the pool is going to get cold, and the leaves will turn, and all that.

I will not have to worry about chiggers soon! I have not had a chigger bite in two years, but it didn't just happen. I take twice daily showers.

Petey in the Sun Room

It is a cool day so not too hot in the sun room, and Petey is wandering around. He likes it. We have covered precious things with newspaper as he is, of course, defecating.

He is such a nice bird.

 

August

 My parents visited this last weekend!  We had great fun!

The kids were all here for two dinners. It was lovely having everyone together, including my folks.

Yesterday we went to a garden and a farmer's market with the three youngest kids. Life is definitely different with the older five living outside the house, and Angela working full time. There is a huge difference between 5 and 11 people, obviously. And this weekend, we had 13 people some of the time. It was fabulous.

Petey continues to be a hit. Kevin keep trying to give him fruit and tasty leaves and he says, no thanks. He is a picky eater. He only eats bird seed. He only eats SOME of the bird seed. His food is a mix, and he deliberately tosses it on the floor of his cage and then hunts and pecks for his particular favorite bird seed(s).

He is very cute though.

 

I took the three younger kids to a local water park. They had a great time. The water was very cold. There are these buckets in the middle of the park which fill with water and then dump on the kids. Daniel, in particular, thought that was great.

Isaac and Miriam dressed up for church.

This week, Kevin's mother, sister, and niece are coming to visit, so that is fun.

I am writing away vigorously, as usual. I am reading up on French Christmas customs, which is fascinating.

Petey the Pigeon

 Last week, Miriam found a tame pigeon hopping around near her work at the Air Force Base.

Kevin told her to bring it home.

With the help of some coworkers, she did so.

Meet Petey the Pigeon.

Isn't he a handsome boy? I have a friend who is a Bird Expert, and she has a friend who is a Pigeon Expert, and the friend says she thinks that Petey is a racing pigeon.

We also think he is young. He doesn't have bright orange around his eyes.

Do we know what we are doing? Not really. But we are trying to be good pigeon owners.

Also, Joseph and Miriam moved out. That is obviously way bigger than acquiring a pigeon. It is weird. We only have four kids in the house right now. Wow.

They are less than 15 minutes away so I am hoping we will see them often.

It is good for them to move out. It is kind of sad, too.

But it is good.

I am also excited about having less stuff in our house!

Nearing the End of July

 So first things first, Joseph and Miriam did NOT move out today. There was a problem with the apartment they were supposed to move into, and now they are SUPPOSED to move next weekend. We will see! It is not biggies since they don't have to leave here any particular time, but it is annoying when apartment complexes do this kind of thing. When Lydia and Naomi last moved, they ended up squatting here for more than a week because the apartment they wanted got delayed.

Pool is still lovely. Rose is the one in purple. I was looking at the picture and it took me a little bit to be certain that it WAS Rose. She looks so long and leggy! She is almost as tall as Miriam now.

Daniel figured out that Jet, one of our black cats, had a weird swelling under his chin. I took him to the vet yesterday and it was an abcess. They took care of it and gave him meds, and now he is sadly in our sun room. He does not like it, but the spot needs to heal.

I continue to enjoy putting puzzles together. I "finished" this one today, though there was a bite out of the left side of the puzzle. This was one of the puzzles I got from our local library -- they have a trade in kind of thing -- bring in a puzzle and take another one. This was one was missing at least 8 pieces! And all but one is along the left side. I still had fun, but it looks like a shark took a bite out of it.

New book doing well. 

Mid July

 

A new book launches tomorrow. That is always exciting.

Miriam and Joseph are moving out, which is even more exciting! Joseph has been planning to move out for a while but his finances are a bit dubious, so it wasn't happening. Miriam decided a few weeks ago that she would like to move out as well, which is reasonable. They talked and worked together and found a two bedroom apartment about 15 minutes from us. It looks like a nice place and easily affordable.

They will move out by the end of the month (probably) which will leave ONLY 4 kids here! Which is a little crazy!

Lydia started a new job which pays better. She likes it pretty well though the schedule is very different than her last job. She starts at 10 a.m. and is done at 6:30 p.m. most days.

Poor Lydia was also the victim of a catalytic converter theft more than a week ago! Some thieves hit her apartment complex. It sucks.

She has a friend whose husband is a mechanic and he is going to fix it for her, hopefully this Saturday.

It is very hot again.

Kevin's back is hurting a lot. It has been a problem for a month, sometimes better sometimes worse. It seems like a muscle or tendon issue, not a back issue proper. Mostly lower right side.