Beyond School Subjects

Aidan and I are learning to use acrylics, and I learned how to spell it, too. Among other things Aidan has learned is how to change a tire...




...when John took off the spare and replaced it with Wendy's repaired truck tire. Her good fortune a couple of days ago was that when it went flat she was only about a quarter mile away.

And Keoni went off to his school's prom last night...

This young man is made of very sturdy material. He got home in time to get two hours sleep before getting up to go take the train into Philly for orchestra practice and then to Ambler for violin lesson. Wendy picked him up and they got the Trader Joe's grocery supplies to bring home.

An early walk this morning proved that it's a good way to start the day. Now it is suddenly really warm afternoon time. A walk this week that included Aidan went into the neighbor's woods so we could catch a glimpse of the bull Aidan has seen. The poison ivy is growing now in abundance so I didn't quite make it all the way to the "bull" pen. On the way though we stopped and a rabbit stopped, perhaps thinking we couldn't see him (or her)...

A shoutout to Carol and Janie: Hurrah! for another new knee, Carol, on this your and Janie's year of joint recoveries. One more modern miracle to go this fall when Janie gets her other knee replaced. Whew! Keep on getting well.

Along with all the poison ivy now growing in abundance along the edges of the wooded areas are the raspberries blooming. We'll have lots of raspberries to pick in a short while.

This is rhubarb and strawberry season. Local rhubarb will be all gone by the end of the week. Its season only lasts two weeks. People put in dibs ahead of time at their local farm market "suppliers". Strawberries will be around for awhile and so will the asparagus. Mmm-Mmm.

I was feeling pretty sad a couple of days ago learning from the veterinary checkup, boosters and whatnot, that Toby has Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. It's not as lethal as the Feline Leukemia Virus, but depresses the immune system. Yes, he probably got it from scrapping with the barn cats. It's spread from bites. He doesn't act sick so for the time being he is OK. It is summer and he has moved along from basic mousing and bird-chasing to ratting. He is happy and doesn't know a thing about FIV.