Amy, We were laughing about that same sort of issue the other day. Usually, we are dry and the clay contracts and we have a hard time getting doors to shut and lock properly. Tim is always having to make little adjustments to the hinges and locks to keep them working well. Beginning with last summer's and autumn's rainfalls, the clay expanded and the house was more or less back to normal and everything was working. Now, with continual rainfall for months on end, the constantly expanding clay has the doors getting harder to close again, but in an opposite way from when the problem is caused by contracting clay. You have to laugh about it or it would make a person crazy. We spend most of our time either extremely dry or extremely wet, and precious little of it "just right". I hope drier weather is coming. At our house, we how are just a smidgen under 35" of rainfall for this calendar year. Our mesonet station is about 4" behind us, but even so, it has almost a year's worth itself. Normal or average rainfall for us is 34" based on all the years the Mesonet station has existed or about 38 or 39" based on the 30-year-average. I cannot imagine what we'll end up for this entire year if the rainfall doesn't drop off drastically. George, Been there, done that, with the water trying to suck the boots off my feet. I'm gonna need a boat if it keeps raining. We have sunshine today, y'all, and have had it for at least a couple of hours so it is hot and muggy outside where Tim is mowing and indoors as well, where I've been in the kitchen blanching and freezing oodles of snap peas and snap beans. At least it is a good year for legumes. My food processing is up for the day, so now the kitchen can cool off but Tim will be out there making mud ruts in the lawn with the mower for a while yet. I hope to be outside in the garden tomorrow morning picking tomatoes, and probably more sugar snap peas. Of course, that depends on whether or not it rains tonight. There's tons of wildflowers blooming all over now, on both sides of the river, so at least the bees, butterflies and other flying things should be thrilled. This morning we had a blue bird world out in the yard with all sorts of the birds coming for their birdseed breakfast---we had indigo buntings (which I've only seen a handful of times, mostly in the last year), painted buntings, bluebirds and blue jays. There were tons of other birds, most notably mourning doves and cardinals, but I was enthralled by the many kinds of blue birds all visiting at the same time. In every direction that I looked, I could watch blue birds flying here and there, jockeying for position in the area where I'd scattered some bird seed for them. Dawn

Everyone should visit a National cemetery or a local cemetery that has a number of interred servicemembers. My grandmother is buried at Beverly National in NJ, which I visit a couple of times a year. I toured the American Cemetery at Normandy this month, and I was overwhelmed. I thought I knew what to expect, but the sheer scope of the loss is astounding. I was very sad on the trip back. A very sobering experience. A way to express appreciation is to volunteer with or donate to Wreaths Across America.

I make a lime pie where I melt semi sweet chocolate bits and line the baked pie shell with a layer of chocolate before I add the lime filling. That reminds me of a similar step used to make "Heart Tarts." They have a thin layer of chocolate, a cheesecake-like center,and strawberries on top. Philadelphians may know their source, the old Commissary. Tart Shells 1 1/2 cups flour 2 tablespoons sugar 6 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening 3 tablespoons cold water Cream Cheese Filling 8 ounces softened cream cheese 3 tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract Assembly 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped 2 pints of strawberries 1/3 cup sieved or seedless raspberry jam 1 Make the shells: In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, butter, and shortening. Whiz for several seconds until crumbly. Add the water and whiz until the dough forms a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 1/2 hour. 2 Preheat the oven to 350°. Bring the dough to a workable temperature and divide into 6 equal portions. On a floured surface, roll each portion of dough into a circle large enough to drape over the back of one of the (heart shaped) gelatin molds. Trim off any excess and prick the molded dough several times with a fork. Set the 6 molds dough-side-up on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until pale gold and crisp. Cool the shells completely while still on the molds. 3 Make the filling: In a mixer or food processor, combine all the ingredients until smooth. 4 Assemble tarts: Fill the tarts as close to serving time as possible. Melt the chocolate in a small pan over simmering water, then divide it among the 6 shells and spread evenly over the bottom of each. Let the chocolate cool 10 minutes before filling. Divide the cream cheese filling among the 6 shells. Stem the strawberries and toss gently with the jam to coat. Top each tart with 5-8 berries (depending on their size) stem-end-down. Yield 6 individual heart-shaped tarts

All wonderful photos! Here's mine - 1960s at Busch Gardens in Tampa. They used to have a storybook village there and we loved it. I'm the one with the camera My mom sure had fun dressing us back then. I wonder if it was around the 4th of July? 😃 And I'm a bit confused by this statement: "National Siblings Day was the 10th and I didn't put Siblings in the heading so I wouldn't be found playing here because I posted this on FB too." ??? And I'm also wondering what a telephone closet is, exactly?