14 June, 2020 - Unexpected Sun & A Silly Video

Dear, Mom -

This is another day where I just don't have a whole lot of news to report. I didn't get up too much outside the house, except for mowing the yard before the rain returns tonight. It is supposed to be rainy until Wednesday, so I got the yard done because it will just continue to grow like crazy if it doesn't get cut. You can see how well my snapdragons are doing in this following picture. They are the same flowers from last year!

The tall, green stalks in the middle are our white daisies. They are pretty when they bloom, but honestly, they don't smell good and they aren't much to look at once the wilt. We've had them there for about 5 years or so, and I just haven't replaced them with anything else. What I should do is buy some bee balm or another tall, stalked flower and grow it all along the wall. You can also see how horrible the trim around the window is. I need to remove it, caulk any cracks behind it, and repair it with some natural wood that I will stain. It will give some character to our house instead of making it appear so rundown. 

Our poor house needs a lot of work at this point, but I decided to just focus on one thing at a time and it will get down as we need it to. We do need to hire someone to find a leak that comes out of the roof in the kitchen. We have to make sure we have buckets in there when it starts to rain. Sometimes it leaks, sometimes it doesn't. Like over the weekend with the torrential down pours we had; not a drop in the kitchen. Now watch, we'll get a light sprinkle and we'll start hearing drips. I've been on the roof trying to figure out where the water seeps in, but to no avail. They say water can travel against gravity, too, so it could be in lots of places. Anyway...

Holly commented on these pretty yellow flowers when we were at the dog park with Elsa today. It turns out they are a variety of St. John's Wart. The pink stamen tips are so vibrant.

They remind me, in a way, of hibiscus flowers when they are in full bloom like this. They aren't a large flower, though, the picture just makes it look that way. The bud is really precious:

We did give Elsa the dog a bath today. She has been very itchy due to allergies, just like me. We are going to have to start giving her allergy medicine so she isn't miserable. She is so soft and fluffy after a bath. She looks a lot more like a sheep dog. Her hair flows when she runs and she smells really good.

She doesn't really care for the process of being bathed, but she is not a resistant dog or bitey, so she toughs it out then gets a treat when she's done for having a good temperament. She runs around, shaking and flipping her tail, trying to dry off. Once, she flipped her tail against something really hard and ended up spraining her tail. It was horrible. She could barely hold it up for a week. I could tell she felt better after her bath, so I hope she gets sleep tonight instead of feeling itchy. The following is a video (I hope it works) of me playing with Elsa while she tries to act fierce while protecting her bone from me. She acts like she will bite you, but she won't. It's all for show. We can take the bone or food from her and she won't resist. She'll just act really put out for you having done so.

That's all I got for today, Mom. I hope you had a nice time out in the sun yesterday. It is important for you to get outside and breath in the fresh air. Just feeling the breeze and sun on your face must be delightful. I am sorry I didn't talk to you yesterday. We can always try for today at some point. I have to work a bit, but that will probably be right around noon. It doesn't matter. You can call me whenever and I will let you know if I can have a chat.

All my love to you, Mom. You're the best mom in the whole world!💖 Sally