And summer is done...

August always is over in a blur.  Between work (covering vacation time from coworkers), house projects, running and my own vacation plans it gets a little busy around here. 

First up.  Happy Birthday to the Puddlethumper household.  Both K and I celebrate August birthdays.  On the tail end of the hottest days of the year, we grilled some salmon and celebrated in style out on the deck.  Mom came over and it was ever so pleasant out on the deck in the evening.  We opened a bottle we'd gotten from our trip out to Lake Chelan.

I was driven to finish putting up siding on the new porch and paint.  I wanted it done before the end of the month.  Fortunately it went quick and after siding the whole house I do consider myself pretty good at this task.  I was able to get a coat of finish paint up before some of the rains came.  The area up around the soffit still requires some work but will need some tricky cutting of boards to get them to fit.  And we'll need ironwork for railing and the front section of the porch to complete this project.  Plantings are probably going to wait as I think about how I want to approach the changes to the pathways around the house and the new access via the stairs to the side yard.  I'm really pleased with how it looks now though.   

And if that wasn't enough, a very good friend of a very good friend was recently diagnosed with cancer and started chemotherapy immediately.  What I found knitting this chemo cap is that it really focuses your attention on the person's battle.  Good thoughts to her!  And F You, Cancer!