Summer Recap...

The time goes by fast when we're here in Ohio, but this summer has been especially busy.  Bill had cataracts removed from both eyes...  that meant 8 trips to Columbus.  He could have had it done here in Athens, but I had mine done at the Arena Eye Center in Columbus 5 years ago and was very happy with the doctor and other services provided.  It's only about 85 miles one way and the drive isn't bad at all, so Bill chose to have his done there too.

We had 2 rentals empty, one we planned to renovate, the other the tenant had lived there 11 years and expected to stay forever.  However, his teaching position at OU was terminated due to down-sizing and he was retirement age, so he moved to Spokane to be closer to family.

Lots of work, lots of repairs, lots of painting, cleaning and all those things required when a rental becomes empty.

Bill's still working on deck here....  the new tenant moved in August 1st, and the inside was done, but with everything else going on, there just wasn't enough time to do it all.  All the outside of this house got a new coat of paint but parts of the deck might have to wait until next year.

We've seen the Spring Migration when we first got here in late March, and are still here at the beginning of the Fall Migration in late August.  We've watched the bluebirds nest, feed their young and watched the young fledge.

It looks like the Cardinals did well this summer...

The young are still getting their "real" feathers, so often we see some strange patterned birds at the feeders.  I counted 8 "this year" cardinals at the feeder at one time yesterday, so I think they did well.

Another bird that hasn't gotten it's adult feathers...

This young Towhee comes without his parents now....  scratching and scattering seeds everywhere.

We drive through a State Park getting home from town, and there's a lake along side the road.  

I love it when the Marsh Mallows are in bloom...

I had never thought about it before, but this year got to wondering about the "marshmallows" we toast over a campfire and the Marsh Mallows that grow in swampy areas.  Googled it...  sure enough...  originally the Marsh Mallow was used to make marshmallows.  Of course there's more to learn there, but I won't go into all that.  Just found it interesting....

One day when I was driving home I saw this fly fisherman out in the lake.  You can see that the upper end of the lake isn't very deep.  I have no idea what he was fishing for...  this is not fast moving water, nor is it very cold.  It's the first time I've ever seen anyone casting like that here.  For all I know he was just practicing.

We bought 2 tomato plants in May.  The cherry tomato we put in the ground.  The bush tomato we put in a container on our patio.  We got our first ripe tomatoes at the end of June.  Looks like we'll get at least one more ripe one before we head out.

We've seen 6 black snakes and a couple of ring-necked snakes this summer.  But no copperheads...  which I'm always on the lookout for.  Bill came across this fat toad on our patio this morning.  He's another "good guy"...  might keep the insect population down some.

I had my game cameras out for about 3 months.  Did real well getting great photos until the crows and raccoons took over.  I still continued to feed the critters, but took down the cameras when I started getting 3,000 to 4,000 photos a night.  The batteries on my game cameras were constantly going dead and I got tired of deleting all those photos.  

I took this photo from inside our motorhome.  We have several apple trees around the yard and the tree next to us has some kind of blight.  The apples are constantly falling off...  no sense in them going to waste....  the deer love having them to munch down on, and I'm happy to pick up a bucket full of them from the ground to keep from running over them with the mower.  The big buck on the right tolerates the smaller spike buck on the left, but runs him off if he gets too close.  Guess rut isn't too far off.

I took this photo only yesterday...

I don't know the species of this baby bird.  Looks like there might be some yellow feathers around his rump.  He was in the poplar tree right outside our rig.  It seems awful late in the year to see one so young.....  I hope he makes it.

The rentals weren't the only thing were busy at...  we closed on selling the house in New Mexico and the one we bought in Mexico, we had another rental re-roofed, Bill & I both got new eye glasses, we had a 3 day yard sale and got rid of a lot of the stuff we should have gotten rid of years ago, we went to most of the June evening concerts on OU campus, and best of all...  we had great visits with our family and friends.  Our daughter had a big party for us and we had all 4 of our kids here at one time, as well as Bill's sister and my brother and sister.  It's been a great summer....

One last photo...

Me, my brother Larry, and sister Cynthia...

Breakfast this morning at Bob Evans....

Still have a few more days of finishing up here on the Ridge and we'll be heading out soon.  

What a Summer!

That's All For Today!