July 2023 Happenings

Brent
This is hard to wrap my head around, even as I type it weeks later…. Brent died!  Mom and I found him on the floor of his bedroom.  It was terrible. It is terrible.  He was only 54!  The coroner’s preliminary report was a massive heart attack, but they are doing a more in-depth report to see if it was actually Parkinson’s related.  

Brent, I’m so sorry I didn’t do more for you. I have so much guilt about the last years of your life, about whether I did enough to show you that I care and that you mattered to me!  I am so sorry. I love you and hope you are in a happy place now, with dad and Johnny and Grandma Jean and Warren.  And I hope I get to see you again someday!!!   Thank you for being such an amazing person. I really looked up to you. 

Here’s some pictures of him, to help me remember the Brent I knew…

 

Brent’s family came up and we had a casual, family only “memories service”. We looked at pictures of him and we all shared a few prepared memories. It was so nice, and so focused on how great Brent was and how he added so much to all of our lives.  (Sidenote: I want that kind of service when I die. Not a formal, everyone-can-come funeral, but a family only, casual get together.)

 

It was a truly sad and happy day.  Sad because we will miss him but happy too when we remembered how great it was to have a Brent in our lives!  We love you Brent!

Fourth of July
Jac put on another big fireworks extravaganza this year.  He got *just a few* fireworks:

As before, it was very exciting being so close to the action. 

 

Thanks Jac…you put on a great show, for me and for your neighbors!

 

Jac’s House
After the landlords raised the rent yet again (the fourth time in about a year), Jac decided it was time to move on.  To my house!  The goal date is September 1st, and that means widdling down all his belongings enough to fit in my little house. What a daunting task! But room by room, he made good progress.  Here he is saying a final goodbye to A HUGE PILE of clothes before I whisked them away forever. (I dropped them off at D.I. on my way home that day).  Good job Jac!

Backyard Makeover Continues
July brought more backyard improvements.  While I worked on the enormous garden (yes, I admit it, it’s a bit huge), Jac built a little ramp for Oliver to run up/down to get in and out of the house:

 

And he built the box needed in preparation for the sheds:

 

and the box for the remaining troughs (for the west side of the yard):

 

And if that wasn’t enough for one month (wow!), he also installed a complete drip line system!  Connected to the sprinkler system’s timer, it goes on daily by itself and means I NEVER HAVE TO WATER AGAIN!  That could be my birthday and Christmas present for the next three years.  I LOVE IT!!!!  And he did it just in time to make sure the plants survived while we were all on vacation in McCall.  Again, what a sweetie and what a stud!

Vacation in McCall
Last year was so much fun that we decided to do it again…and bring mom along as well.  You can read about it by clicking here.

The Garden Bounty Began
After all this work, it was so exciting to finally see the garden producing! Here’s Jac digging for tomatoes:

And here’s what was picked just two days later:

What are we going to do with all this produce? Well, besides give some away to family, we are dehydrating it

and canning it (soon!), and…eating it!  SO YUMMY!  Here’s the very first thing we ate from the garden this year—grilled zucchini and yellow summer squash.  Amazing!!

Also in July:
A huge tree branch almost killed me…    😉

 

Jac made Peking Duck, on some random day, like it was no big deal. YUM!  My first time eating duck.

 

 I scoured the thrift stores to stock our games bin.  All these games for about $25.  We’re set for a years worth of game date nights (some with Cindy and Jerry too!)

And this….our little fort.  Jac was having a very crummy day at work, so I made a little getaway from the world, right in the front room.