Everybody's gone surfing!

Well, here it is at the tail end of summer again. Where did it go? Why did it go so fast? The girl will be back in school tomorrow!
This past Sunday we went to the beach. It was quite possibly the most beautiful day to go to the beach in history. It was sunny and hot, but you could somehow sense the end of summer in the day. I don't know exactly what it was, but everyone noticed. A kind of sadness, but somehow it made the day more special- we had the best last weekend of summer vacation that anyone has ever experienced. What a great day.

Another beautiful day at the beach. 

Leif doing his hulk face.

 

Our daughter's little classmate and her dad- who is teaching (or trying to at least) us to surf!

The Daughter having some watermelon.

What a beach!

Surfing Sensei gives us the thumbs up!

Swarm

This morning, walking the dog, my daughter saw a cloud of bees flying around by a telephone pole. She said "Look at all the bugs!" So I did, and thought "Hooray! Bees!" (I am not a normal person. I have been looking for a swarm of bees for two years.)

So I tried (unsuccessfully) twice to get the bees into a cardboard box. Didn't quite take. They reformed on the vine twice. Then in the evening, I thought that I could try again. Maybe they had settled down a bit. I got the majority in the box and installed them in my Warre bee hive. But will they stay? That is the question. I hope so!

The truth

Spiders = Good

Webs in my face = bad.
This is a Japanese spider. It is not one of the hairy kinds, it has a nice hard carapace. I found it by sticking my face through it's neighbor's web near my square foot garden.

People wonder why I'm fat....

...until they taste my pies.

Oh, that's why my back hurts...

Come to think of it, I suppose that all these rocks I cleared from the bottom field while cutting brush may have contributed to the hernia. It is a nice drystone wall for a total beginner though.

Back Troubles

Well, genius McMe was outside double digging a garden bed on the second hottest day of the year, got dehydrated, and popped a disk lifting a rock out of the bed. It is not so bad, could be a lot worse actually, so Thank God for that!

Have you ever ruptured a disk in your spine? It is a funny feeling. Kind of like if you squeezed one of those little packets of grape jelly you find at a hotel breakfast buffet. Squeezed it until it popped open and shot some out. But it happens in your back. Not pleasant.

Nope, won't be doing much lifting for a few weeks.

Compost is Done

Well, it dropped below 50C, so I think that means it is done enough to use. Maybe in the new garlic bed....

Summer images

 

Dragonflies and chestnuts