Autumn is speaking to me.

It's saying, "I'm coming back, Al. Just hang in there. I'm coming and I'm bringing cold, crisp air with me."

Idlewild

Julia chooses the horse she wants.

Julia taking a nap. I was terribly jealous.

The Spider casts a lovely green glow on the trees above it.

This is what it has come to.

Julia got a treat today, simply because she happened to be in a store at the same time I was.

A reminder of lovely, blessed winter

It's the end of July, which means I'm missing Christmas badly. I listened to some carols on my iPod this week, and I kept a little reminder of sparkly red things in the cabinet with my teacups.

I ventured out exactly once today

I am sick today. Stomach bug, hideous, I won't get into it.

I started feeling better this evening, and actually hungry, so of course I went to the Big M, as Julia calls it. After I am sick, all I want is a Big Mac. How atrocious.

It was delectable.

My favorite way to wrap presents...

...is in two different shades of the same color.

Five mile dam

I stopped on the way home this evening. It was after a rain and it was breezy and lovely.

Surveying her kingdom.

Do not reach into a bag that holds an uncapped razor.

I took a large chunk out of my left middle finger today. Oh, the blood!

With my make-shift bandage, everyone thinks I look like I'm flipping people off.

1-2-3 jump!

Yeah, I took my camera into the pool. Aunt Linda nearly died.

The sunset was really pretty...

...but as I was driving at the time, this was the best I could do.

Raspberry shake

I know this is three confections in a row, but how could I resist this amazing shake? Made with vanilla ice cream and fresh red raspberries that Melis and Brian brought back from New Hampshire. Yum.

Celebratory ice cream

Tonight we (Amanda, Jess, Kevin, J, Jen T, and I) went to trivia night at the Windber Hotel. We came in third place (two points behind the first place team and one point behind the second place team) so we proceeded to The Ranger for some celebratory ice cream. Because, why not?

So, this was dinner

Aren't I the picture of health?

An organized drawer is a joy forever

The before. Is that a pack of post-it notes?

The after. I found seven pairs of nail clippers, four sets of tweezers, twenty-four lipsticks, and buttons from shirts I'd long since given to Goodwill. Now I can open this drawer without feeling shame.

Yep, Walmart Game.

This is what the clock looked like when I finally crawled into bed. I know this is technically a Saturday photo, but I'm using it for Friday because this was a part of Friday night's festivities.

Julia loves to blow bubbles

Our neighbor's granddaughter came to see Jules, and they made a lovely mess blowing bubbles on the porch.

Completely, utterly hooked. Hooked!

Now this is creepy

My street at night. That window on the right is always lit up in a red glow.

Sconces

Sometimes the antique sconces in my living room look a little creepy. Sometimes I wish they looked a little creepier.

Another gorgeous fruit salad by Linda

Great. Now I'm hungry.

We had amazing weather for the family reunion...

...and Julia enjoyed every moment of it.

The perfect dinner

We learned to play Telephone Pictionary today.

This is what a two-year-old's hair looks like after you let her run wild at Idlewild all day.

A picnic at Sherry and Jon's house

Mountains, cornfield, gorgeous view.

Linda's fruit salad was beautiful. And delicious.

Delicious chicken made with Zack's secret family recipe. It was fantastic.

Uncle Jon made these steps down to the creek. The top two steps are made of the fingerprint slabs from the old house.