Near The City of Brotherly Love

Brotherly love, at least for a little while...

Aidan strung a banner across the front entrance of the house to greet his brother coming home after his summer's stay at Meadowmount. After about a day and a half the Philadelphia theme wore off. Positions were taken and held, trenches were dug and more human interaction immersion learning began.

It is good to hear the violin practice taking place again. So "Welcome Home, Keoni!" I sure did miss you.

I'm missing the cello music because Aidan popped an A-string while his mom and dad were away. Replacements are on the way.

Great having Nathan join Aidan and I for some of the time before Keoni and his parents returned. He taught Aidan gin rummy. Yea! Now I have a gin rummy partner.

And great doing something with the three young men during this week's heavy rains. We were the only picnickers in the park. Our canoe date at Audubon had collapsed with the thunderstorms in the area. The alternative plan was Bowman's Tower at Washington Crossing, but that, too, seemed not to be a good choice with the heavy rains and lightening. So, we went to the bowling alley after the park lunch.

Not too old yet to pass up the playground merry-go-round during a lull in the rain.

The butterfly bush is blooming like crazy and the butterflies are so beautiful that gather there. Aidan and I took a break after the banner went up to watch them. Aidan, also, is interested in some large bee-type flying thing.

Look! it has a stinger.

The radon abatement was installed this week. We are keeping our windows all closed to see if the system is working properly when the radon test happens Friday. In the meantime, Ugh! Thank goodness for electric fans.

Alas, I saw this evening that the butterfly bush was considerably mangled as the abatement guy had to get behind it to drill a big hole through the foundation. The bush grows like crazy though so it will recover. Still.

I'm getting in some walks around the place. An early one was especially nice this week.

From the farthest corner of the property at sun-up.

The Queen Anne's Lace is making seeds for next year's display.

Everywhere I drive now I am conscious of changes in the green landscape. The differences of the green shades are more pronounced. There are slight hints of browns and yellows, maybe a smidgen of red changing how the green looks. The Queen Anne's Lace could maybe be called the Peak of Summer.

It was good to see my buddies today and we ate a lunch together while catching up on our lives.

A shoutout to my Tucson buddies, relatives and my friends that I reach. I think of you often and am grateful for our cyber connections and occasional phone conversations. I love that you are there.

Austin and the six goats in their pasture one evening. View from north doorway of the barn.

Toadstools in the yard.