Sunday

Michael and Megan stopped by after lunch with friends. We took a trip to the farm stand then came home and had a nice visit. Julie was really cuddly with Megan. I think Julie is a little cold now that she doesn't have that heavy coat!

Michael is assembling a humane rodent trap for me. We saw a rat on our deck recently and I refuse to kill it (it's too cute) but I don't want it hanging around, either. If it shows up again, I will try to catch it and release it in some nearby woods.

Park, Saturday, August 26

Mike and I have driven through Hecksher Park ("Home of the Whitetail Deer," say the signs) several times this summer and had yet to see a single deer, until this night. We spotted a family eating grass on the side of the road:

Julie Gets Groomed

Before:

Soooo Fluffy!

After:

Her bandana says: "I am Beautiful"

Happy Dog!

Baby Raccoons

The same Mama Raccoon comes each year with her latest litter. I recognize her because she has no hair on her tail.

Four babies this year!

The Eclipse on Long Island

Katherine used solar glasses borrowed from a friend and took this picture with her phone:

Still not what I expected but pretty cool anyway.

So today is the "Great American Solar Eclipse," as the news calls it. Here is a picture of what it looked like over Oregon around 1:07 EDT.

We aren't on the direct path of a full eclipse and will get about 70%, but that should still be cool. I watched the total on TV and it was amazing. Just this big, black disc in the sky with light shimmering around it. Then when it started to go away, these amazing rainbows came shooting around it.

Alas, I did not get my solar glasses but I made a pinhole camera. I hope I can see a little something with it. Not sure if there will be another solar eclipse in my lifetime, but if there is I will have the glasses ahead of time. At least I didn't spend much on them.

We are going to hit our own peak in about 20 minutes, so I will check out the eclipse with my little pinhole camera then. It is made from an ice cream cone box!

Here is a full eclipse from somewhere around Missouri:

Call from Mom

My mother called today. It was a bit unnerving seeing the 614 area code, as I thought it might be bad news from my sister. Happily, it was my mother calling. She wasn't quite sure who she had dialed, though, because she asked if I was Martha. She also asked if Mike and I were in Columbus, or in New York. I was able to make her understand, after a little effort, that we were back in  New York. We've been home almost a week. Sue says she has no concept of time and it's true.

The good news is that they found one of the hearing aids. I'm glad. The damned things cost $1,000 each!

Cousins

On Thursday, Aug 5, some of my cousins came to visit. I have not seen them in years, and one I hadn't seen in decades! They are my father's nieces, my Uncle Larry's daughters. Their dad passed away fairly recently, and their mom a few years ago. Aunt Shirley was a nice lady and always lots of fun.

That's mom and me in the front. In the back, left to right: my sil Annie, cousin Kathy, sister Sue, brother Bill (Annie's husband), cousin Donna (I hadn't seen her since I was a kid!), cousin Ann and Mike. It was a wonderful visit. Donna has a little farm and brought delicious corn and tomatoes we all enjoyed with lunch. We talked about old times and some family memories. I learned that a great-great uncle of mine was  shot because he had an affair with a mayor's wife. Skeletons in the closet, lol.

Family

Sue and Neal came back Wednesday, and my brother Bill, sil Annie and nephew Gary joined us for dinner.

Der Dutchman

So Mom was well enough on Tuesday to take her to her favorite restaurant, "Der Dutchman." Sue said all Mom kept saying before our visit was, "Mike will take me anywhere I want to go." Happily, she was alert enough to enjoy herself. We went around the gift shop after lunch, then to a place down the road called "The Cheese House," which is an Amish grocery store. There is a consignment shop next door that I love to check out. I bought a cute doll rocker and hand made doll cradle, both only $10. And I found a little glass candle holder shaped like a squirrel.

We dropped Mom off at the home and after staying with her a bit we left to rest at Sue's. We were watching Mom for a few days while Sue and Neal took a much-needed trip in their RV to a lake.

Later, we had dinner at a place called Steak and Shake:

Then we walked along the Scioto River for a bit:

I never look good in selfies.

Ohio

Mike and I just got back from a week in Ohio visiting my mother and sister and bil. My brother, sil and nephew came, too!

Mom has her ups and downs but still knows who everyone is, at least. Frankly, she has too many 'downs' as she has fallen a few times. She fell the first day we were there and we went to the emergency room. She had a huge bump on her head, but otherwise checked out okay.

One of the aids found her on the floor in her room. She lost her hearing aid and we think she might have been looking for it. She was obsessed about it all week (we never found it) and would even start looking in trash cans at my sister's house. Mostly, we just play along with her.

Sue says Mom has fallen a few times in the past few weeks. They are keeping a close eye on her.

She doesn't have a good concept of time and though it was June the other day, when it is August. But she did remember we were going to take her to a favorite restaurant. Happily, we were able to do that Tuesday. That's another post.

Here I am with Mom: