now to answer that question....

...first though, this is how I grill burgers...I put them on the grill, turn it down low, then sit and drink my coffee and look at the flowers, and hope they don't flare up and burn. Marilyn, you were wondering how my kids out west are doing. They're okay so far, but it's been smoky for them. In Oregon, Kathryn reports better conditions today, but there has been soot on their vehicles, and the skies are spookily weird.

Those are from Kathryn in Oregon...

The one above is from Aaron, where he works (Stanford), in California, at THREE O'CLOCK in the AFTERNOON!!!

Suzanne took the above, also in California. It's hard for me not to just say, well, there are not wildfires here in New York. Come back HOME, duh. But to them, these other states ARE home, which is hard to believe, ha. We had a nice chuck roast in the crockpot, with carrots, potatoes, gravy. The weather has turned slightly autumn-ish, and shh, I like it! Yesterday I got the sewing machine out, and made covers for three throw pillows, with Buffalo plaid fleece. I also made myself a new mask. I left the machine out, because I want to do some more sewing...I rather like it. I do have to go out and about on Tuesday, Adrian is having dental surgery and has to have a ride home, because of anesthesia. Margaret cannot bring a newborn and a two year old, so I volunteered. Jonathan needs a haircut on Monday, and a ride to the airport on Wednesday, as he is going to visit Kathryn (and her husband Darius, and baby Achilles), in Oregon. Ah well. The pool is all done for the year. All of my fretting and fussing to get it all crystal clear, and blah, summer wizzes by, and ugh, it doesn't even matter now. Don't get me wrong, I am super thankful for the brilliantly beautiful summer we had! The pool was an absolute blessing. It's just that is so momentary, such a short season, here in the northeast. We'll get more warm weather, but the pool water will be so cold! Hunting season is starting soon, so Paul and Jonathan will go bow hunting, then rifle hunting...they're pretty excited. My next project: to renovate our bedroom. I'm pretty excited about it. There is GREEN carpet in there, which seemed like a pretty good idea when we built this place, back when I was, what? 27? We moved in here in 1992, so we started building in 91. So I was 26 when we started building, and 27 when we moved in. And heck, lots of people thought green carpeting was nice back then! Our bed was a waterbed, but we got rid of that several years ago, but the mattress (a sleep number bed) is on the base of the waterbed, with no headboard, and you can't clean underneath it. I am ready to take it apart and get a bed frame, and put in laminate floors, and paint the room again. I asked Paul to please Marie Kondo all of his stuff, and I'll go through mine, again. There is a lot of sorting and cleaning to do, and I kind of can't wait. I love RESULTS. I already took everything from my side of the closet, washed all the clothes I wanted to keep, and hung them back up. Now, I need to go through them again, and weed out more. If I haven't worn the summer stuff all summer, then...well, I don't need it! Our room just ends up being the place to put things I don't know where to put, like the Birkenstocks that don't fit me but maybe I'll sell on eBay, and the sewing machine that doesn't work anymore. Paul has his bow, and all of his hunting gear, and his guitars. We have a few suitcases in there, and my beach bag, and his gym bag, and and and. I'll put some hooks up behind the door, and get rid of more things, and it'll be so nice to have a brand new bedroom. We're going to have to take the bed apart, and it all out of the room, to put in the floors...I'll need Jon's help when he gets home from Oregon, but hunting season is starting, so Paul will be too busy, ha. Maybe it's not a smart time for a project... Oh well...the kids are all in here talking, so off I go.