So long hot dry July...

July is leaving in a blast of hot dry air and August isn't promising anything different. I'm always happy to say so long to July, even though it is my birth month. Summer is my least favorite season and July offers all that I dislike about summer...stinging and biting insects, hot weather, no rain, snakes, etc. At least with August I know Autumn is just around the corner.

I went out this afternoon in near 100 degree heat to pick my green beans. Sadly, July was not kind to the garden and the green beans are not worth picking. They are dry and tough with no beans inside. The cantaloupes are done, the cucumbers have withered away and all that is left are some very small bell peppers, spindly tomato vines with small tomatoes and butter beans that have gone nuts. Yeah, I'm pinning my hopes on those crazy butter bean vines! I tried to dig up a carrot to see how large they were, but the ground was so hard I needed a jack hammer to get it out!

So long July and good riddance! I'll see you next year and I can promise one thing...next year will be too soon for me!

Welcome July, month of celebration!

Granny (me) with my daughter and grandson.

Ahh, July, the month that starts off with a bang and ends with one! Does anyone have big plans for the 4th? In years past we always had a big celebration here with family. There would be horse back riding, burgers on the grill and lots of fireworks in the evening. It was great fun to set up lawn chairs in the front yard and watch all the spectacular fireworks the guys had bought earlier in the day. The photo above is from a couple years back. We set up a kiddie pool in the front yard for my grandson, Jude. He had a blast while we were grilling. Unfortunately, jobs and distance have put an end to that so we will celebrate quietly this year.

However, there are still lots of celebrations this month. My mother-in-law's birthday is in July and mine is at the end of the month. Don usually takes me out to eat and to a movie. I'm not sure we'll do that this year. We both have doctor appointments on the 13th and will probably go out to eat then. We've pretty much stopped going to the theater...the price of tickets is outrageous and we much prefer to just watch a movie at home.

Did you know July is National Ice Cream Month? Don and I are ice cream fanatics. We always keep several cartons of Blue Bell Ice Cream in the freezer and enjoy a bowl every night at bedtime. Sometimes Don will stop on his way home from work and get me a pint of my favorite Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream - Chunky Monkey. Isn't that sweet?

I was quite surprised recently when Don told me he's never had homemade ice cream. I'm looking for a good, old-fashioned wooden hand-cranked ice cream maker now. Dang, those things are expensive! Wouldn't it be great fun to make Don some homemade ice cream in celebration of Ice Cream Month? Guess I better start looking harder!