Monday, August 1, 2022

July Has Ended and August Begins - A Very Busy Month Indeed

DH and I had a totally awesome final day of July, sitting out on the patio on a perfect summer day. It was a bit too hot for DH, but I was absolutely comfortable - probably the most comfortable I'd been on a Sunday so far this summer. We had lots of hummingbirds visiting the feeder, and we had this little guy who somehow hopped onto the patio table and then proceeded to climb the umbrella pole to the very top. When we attempted to dislodge him, he jumped onto one of the umbrella struts and shimmied to the very end of the fabric, finally jumping back to the table and then to the base of the stone wall. I was VERY impressed. If a human attempted a jump of that bodily proportion of height, we'd be squashed flat. The toad, however, seemed perfectly fine. 




We have these small toads in our garden and our 
yard. They're no more than two inches long, and 
they're chubby. We've always thought they're 
rather sweet, and they're quite remarkable. 
Here's our adventurous toad after his long 
climb and rather amazing jump down. 



It's August, and Sharon arrives in a month. That gives me eight cleaning days, so I'm shifting into high gear again. It's not that difficult to clean - I actually keep a fairly clean house. But how many of you dust the tops of your corners and vacuum every room all the time? Yeah. I thought so - LOL. So I need to do a thorough clean and I'll be starting on Wednesday. I also have several appointments this month at the clinic - a wellness visit with my Doctor, and a mammogram. Both fairly minimal, but important. 




The toad somehow made it up to the tabletop of our patio 
table and then started climbing up the pole of the 
umbrella. He climbed all the way up to the top, when 
he was stopped because there was no way to get 
any higher. I'm not sure what he wanted to 
accomplish, but we were worried for it and wanted 
it to be safe. 



I got my Absentee Ballot in the mail on Saturday. I'll fill it out at the shop tomorrow and have Chickie witness it for me, then drop it off at the local Library on Wednesday because that's one of the better drop-off locations for me to get to. I'm really not in the mood to stand in line on Tuesday the 9th to vote, I'd much rather vote early and have it out of the way. 




Upon realizing he couldn't go up, he jumped down 
to one of the struts for the umbrella and worked his 
way all the way to the end of the strut. When we 
tried to rescue him from his predicament, he would 
have none of it, choosing instead to hop back 
down to the table (quite a distance for a little guy 
like this) and then, from the table to the ground, 
as seen in the first photo. He appeared to be fine, 
and hopefully found himself a good meal because 
he had expended quite a bit of effort with our 
umbrella. 



Today at the shop I'll organize the first two batches of crystals I want to photograph in grid order so that I can take photos efficiently after Sharon has returned home. This will be time-consuming, but it's very do-able, and it's something I can easily do at the shop without having to use up my limited "day off" hours. I'll do a quick e-pay of a couple of bills this morning too, to limit things in my "to-do" list and maximize things in my "done" list - LOL. Little baby steps of accomplishment can go a long way to making me feel good. 




Happy Lughnasadh to all. This is the start 
of the harvest festival. We're not sacrificing 
the King today, but we are offering first 
fruits and thanking the Earth for her bounty. 



On that note, have an excellent Lughnasadh (Lammas) - offer your first fruits and celebrate the first day of the Harvest season. I'll be back tomorrow, at least that's the plan. The stories for this round of LJ Idol are due tomorrow night, and voting will probably commence on Wednesday. I'll be sure to give you a heads-up and link for voting, and hope that my "Unconventional" story will merit your votes. Slava Ukraini. 




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