Y'all, I really toughed it out today and worked outside until the heat index hit 100 degrees, then scampered inside to shower, put on clean, DRY clothes, etc. Then, Tim and I went out and ran a few errands. By the time we were on our way home, the HX had topped out at 103, so today still felt a lot better than several days last week! Jay, I think it is the two previous drought summers that made me forget how horrible the heat indexes can be when it is more humid. For the 20 or so months that we had serious drought, our humidity in the afternoon often bottomed out at around 15, but even went as low as 7 or 8 or 10% a few times. You know, 100 degrees with 15, 20 or 30% humidity feels pretty good compared to 100 degrees with 50 or 70 or 80% humidity. Since our rain has stopped here, I expect our humidity levels to fall progressively lower and think our heat index numbers will fall, too, over time. Right now, though, they are awful. One good thing about the recent lack of rainfall is that our mosquito levels are finally falling, although the skeeters certainly haven't completely disappeared. Patti, Please tell your son how much our family appreciates his service to our nation and we appreciate the sacrifices he and the other troops are making to keep us free and safe. Also, I hope you know we will be thinking of him (and also of how much y'all are missing him while he's away) and praying for his safe return in August. I cannot imagine 130 degrees, and 150 degrees doesn't even sound possible. How our troops manage to do their jobs and accomplish their tasks in those temperatures is just beyond me. When it hits 107, 108 or 110 here, I can barely walk from the air conditioned house to the air conditioned car without thinking I am going to die. How they can live and function in substantially hotter conditions is just beyond me! Diane, It was only 95 or 96 here officially, but it sure felt awful, and you probably have worse humidity than we do. I don't think I'll ever get that Bio-Dome over the garden that I've been lobbying for. Today, Tim put up one tarp to give the dog yard a bit more shade. They already have quite a bit of shade....one area with a 10' x 10' metal canopy, another with a 4' x 8' metal roof, another small covered back porch, a few trees, and a "wall" of sunflowers, but they always whine and carry on like they are roasting in an oven. So, he put up a tarp, and I strategically placed a row of container-grown tomatoes to create another wall of shade, and now the doggies have more shade. Yet (play sad song on violin here), I am expected to work in the garden in full sun. Clearly, the dogs are more pampered than me. LOL You can come stay with us any time. I have a lot of bermuda grass to dig up and convert to mixed beds and your assistance would be just wonderful. I am wondering if your DH and wonderful children would stay "on task" on their various projects without you and the baby there to tell them what to do. LOL It actually has been slightly cooler than I expected the last two days based on last week's heat index numbers. Of course, once you've worked outside in a heat index of 109 (the hottest I think I ever remember here in the past is 110 or 111),then 102 or 103 feels "pretty good". I heard a rumor that a "cold front" is headed for OK by the weekend. Yippee! Dawn

I feel for your sadness, that feeling of emptiness in your heart that gets rekindled when we part from loved ones after a short meeting following a long period apart and as we anticipate the long period till we meet again. I regret that you are hurting and lonely. Some time ago I said on another thread that it seemed to me that one of our major tasks as a parent is to enourage, help and support our children as they move toward independence and begin to live their own separate and self-dependent lives, along with their expanded loyalties to others whom they've come to love. Someone there agreed, saying that it is important that our children learn progressivley to live their own lives. At the same time, I think that it is equally important for us to develop other interests and friends, ourselves, so that our lives are full and interesting - that is, that we ourselves become more independent, as well. It's important that we keep growing and learning, building various new issues and systems into our lives ... so that we have scarcely any time to feel more than an infrequent and fleeting feeling of loneliness and loss over the independence of our offspring. In recent generations as our society became more fluid, often our familes are dispersed over wide areas, meaning that our personal contact with them has been much less frequent ... which can be somewhat lessened by such systems as Skype, as was referred to. Some years ago when we were a missionary community in Korea, a number of the children came to refer to other families' members as aunts and uncles ... though, as I recall (we didn't have a child/children old enough to inter-relate much, though some girls from 6 or so to mid-teens on our compound in a small city took an interest in our child just about year and a half old), the other children generally didn't refer to the other children as cousins - though they did play together and attended foreign school together, in addition to the friendships with Korean children which they developed. It seems to me that it might be a wise idea for us to find alternate, semi-grandkids and younger adults locally that we can relate to on a frequent, albeit less intense, basis than with our own family members. It seems to me that one wouldn't jump quickly into such relationships, but let them build over time, as we explored the personalities, likes and interests of the others, for compatibility, etc. I have found that such relationships build easily with other compatible people that I meet in church, especially one where there is quite a warm spirit. I asked at coffee hour a few weeks ago who felt that they needed a hug ... and three or four asked for one. There's a big, old, interesting and wonderful world out there - find a bunch of new interests ... and help build some positive things, to help heal the sickness that it's suffering, these days. May God help you build an increasing sense of peace in our heart, assuaging your sense of loss as you consider the departure of those loved ones: such a task is a co-operative project, I think - that we shouldn't expect God to do all on His/Her own. Have you heard this alternative verse to a familiar old hymn: "Sit down, O men of God, Ye cannot do a thing: In God's own time, at His own pace, He will do everything!". ole joyful

Any of you who live in the SF Bay Area, I'm up in the North Bay and I'd love to share some of the leftovers. I swear, my pants fit better before I started cooking for this party! :) Yes, I made a lot of different things, and I still have a folder full of recipes I WANTED to make too. But my freezer is only so big... Thanks for all the kind words, everybody, both your condolences and the kudos on the food. The latter coming from this group feels like high praise indeed. So many of you inspire me.... I really have fun getting ready for parties like this. Trying lots of new recipes, using old favorites, and getting to graze to eat. johnliu - I honestly don't know how many hours I spent on all this. LOTS! :) I started about a month ahead, making and freezing things (quiches, desserts, etc) as I felt like it. I don't work and it's something I truly enjoy doing. dedtired - yes, I hate no shows. A few people let me know they couldn't make it cuz they were sick, but the rest... GRRR! But the way I see it - they missed out and I have all the leftovers! Other than a few more raw veggies than I could finish before they started getting gross, everything left over was eaten quickly or either still in the freezer or freezable. betty - I'll dig out the ham ball recipe and post. It wasn't in my original thread which I've linked below. annie - (assuming you're the same Annie on the Harvest Forum) the apple pie filling was using the NCHFP website recipe. If you didn't help me with that, I know you helped me with other canning things. And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your salsa! I would be more than happy to send you some of the little apple pies if I thought they would get there in an edible state. Kathy Here is a link that might be useful: Original thread asking for input

The kids loved the hair. It is way milder, more like lavender by now. Just got a text, they arrived home. Now, I have to clean up the disaster left here... LOL, I cut out and went for a bike ride, and just got home. Moni