We had fish filets for supper tonight with corn, harvard beets, and salad. Then for dessert we had sliced fresh peaches and a scoop of butter pecan ice cream.

The kittens are scheduled to go in for neutering/spaying next Wednesday.

After church today we came home and had spaghetti and salad. For dessert, Sis made a cinnamon roll crust apple pie and we had some with ice cream. It was delicious.

It is 93 degrees outside and feels like an oven out there. I brought the kittens inside to play until it cools off. They are having great fun. Blackie showed them his basket of toys and they are having a good time.

We ate breakfast at the usual little restaurant this morning, then went to Wal-Mart and did some shopping. We were able to get through before it got too crowded.

This afternoon I caught up on my laundry and did some cleaning.

Sis fixed macaroni and cheese for supper and we had Harvard beets, green beans and corn with it.

Now with the dishes done and the kitchen cleaned up, I feel like it has been a pretty productive day.

I took these pictures of the three kittens who stay outside on the screened porch with my cell phone camera. The other little black one stays inside with Calvin. I haven't taken a picture of him yet.

Callie

Buffy

Buffy looks like a smaller version of Calvin. They have the same coloring.

Louisa

We used to call Louisa "Runty", but she got over that so we renamed her. She is long-haired and fluffy.

The wood was picked up out of the yard this morning. Yaay!

After I got off work at noon, Sis and I went to Pizza Hut for their lunch buffet.

A friend came over this afternoon to measure our screened porch. The kittens have climbed up and down the screen and torn parts of it, so we need to get much heavier screen put on it. He will check prices at a couple of building supply stores for us.

I just cleaned the ceiling fan blades in my bedroom...a job that should have been done long before now. What a mess of dust I got down! Then I had to run the vacuum cleaner to get it all cleaned up. Then I had to lie down and rest a few minutes. I'm all in, but it looks much better.

One of our brothers called this morning and said they got home about 1:30 a.m. I'm sure they were very tired.

We are still using up leftovers from when they were here. Haven't had to cook a meal yet as trying to get the leftovers used up before they get too old.

I called the tree service company again today and they said they will come first thing in the morning and take away those chunks of wood they left in the yard. We will see.

Our brothers left Tuesday morning to go back home. They should have gotten home late tonight and will probably call in the morning to let us know they are there.

It hasn't been quite as hot this week. I didn't stay up until the news was over, so I didn't hear the weather forecast. But now my arthritis is bothering me and I am up again. When it gets like that, I just can't lie still. It seems to bother me most at night, so I spend a lot of time up and down, reading or on the computer.

Pictures taken during our brothers' visit

Pictures of us and our brothers taken in our front yard and in the parlor of the church where I work.

Pictures of our kittens

Looking back it looks like these were taken in June, so the kittens are much bigger now.

This next picture was just taken this week.

Two of our kittens looking through the window from the porch into our dining room. One of my brothers looking at them and taking a picture of them.

Fred fixed pork chops in mushroom gravy for dinner today; I fixed a rice cooker of brown rice; Sis prepared corn and biscuits and made a mincemeat pie (the kind with real meat in it. It was a delicious meal. Later this evening we had the rest of the pie with ice cream.

The rain cleared off this morning and we didn't get any more today. There was a lot of flooding and a few high water rescues from the rain last night.

I would like to go to bed, but my leg is cramping so much that I know I wouldn't be able to lay still or sleep, so I'm waiting it out.

I didn’t sleep much at all last night. I had taken a pain pill before going to bed, but it didn’t help. My right leg ached all night and I was awake every hour until finally around 6 a.m. I slept for perhaps an hour.

All four of us went to Bud Jones restaurant for breakfast. Then we came back home and relaxed most of the day.

We had leftovers for lunch. I fixed myself a cold meat loaf sandwich.

My leg didn’t bother me during the day. I did two loads of laundry.

Sis went to the store this afternoon and got a big bag of cat food and a box of dryer sheets.

The utility & phone bills came in the mail today – although the mail was late and didn’t come until after 3 p.m.

Sis fixed spaghetti and salad for supper. We still had some bread left that I had made in the bread machine, so we had that too. Later we each had a dish of vanilla ice cream.

It is actually thundering and raining right now – so I guess I’d better post this and get off the computer.

4:00 A.M. It has rained all night. Still thundering. I am using the computer on just the battery at the moment. We have needed the rain so desperately that I am really thankful for it. I suppose the underpasses are flooded as usual, so I hope people won't try to drive through barricaded areas and put their lives in danger, as has sometimes happened in the past.

I did sleep a lot better last night.

Our brothers took us to a restaurant for BBQ for supper tonight. We've been having a great visit.

The weather remains extra hot and dry.

Our brothers are spending a couple of weeks with us. It is great to see them again.

The tree service company still hasn't come and taken away the wood, but they did stop late this evening and saw off the part of that was sticking out into the street and moved it to the side.

Another hot day. We're waiting for family to arrive from out of state. They should be getting here in about an hour.

The tree service company came this morning and cut down the big oak tree that had been beside our driveway. It was quite a job . . . and they still haven't gotten all of it taken away. The trunk was so large that they weren't able to cut it into manageable-size pieces. They said another crew will come Monday and haul away the rest of it.

They had a hot day to work in. According to the computer, it is still 103 degrees at 7 p.m.

On June 22, I posted pictures of the tree before it was cut down.

My doctor visit went well and I don't have to go back for 4 months. He prescribed a different pain pill to take at bedtime. I took one tonight, but it hasn't worked yet, so here I am, up again. Other than at night, I am having very little pain and don't have to use the cane or take pain pills during the day. He said the x-rays showed no hip problems, but some in the back, and some arthritis.

I had lost 3 1/2 pounds since my last visit.

We had our lawn mowed by a different man today. He did a good job.

This evening we met with the Spirit Sisters group at church and worked on our prayer shawls. I always enjoy that.

Nothing more to eat or drink now until after my fasting blood test and doctor visit tomorrow morning. Well, I guess I can swallow enough water to take my blood pressure pill in the morning.

I had much less pain last night and was only up a couple of times. I thank God for the improvement.

Wednesday nightIt was hot again today. Not much happened today. It was quiet at work too.

Picked up my prescription at Wal-Mart this evening. We stopped at IHOP for supper, but even though the restaurant was nearly empty and we didn't order a big meal, they took so long to bring our order that we asked the waitress about it. She said, "Oh they are having a meeting." We cancelled our order and went to another restaurant nearby where we were served right away. This has happened to us at that IHOP several times before, and I don't think we will return to it.

I was feeling so much better today that I didn't use my cane at all. But tonight the pain is back as usual and I can't sleep. Last night I didn't get to sleep until 3 a.m. Nights seem to be the worst.

I called the doctor this morning to have him call in a new prescription for my blood pressure medication. I'll have to check with the pharmacy in the morning to see if it is ready yet.

There were 31 at church this morning. It was good to be back.

Afterward we went to Bud Jones for lunch. I had one of my favorite meals: turkey and dressing, mashed potatoes & gravy, cranberry sauce, broccoli & cheese, green beans, roll, and pumpkin cake. Naturally I couldn't eat all that, so brought some home in a take-out container.

It was horribly hot today. This evening after it cooled off a bit, we sat out on the screened porch in back and played with the kittens. They sure have grown. Calvin went out on the porch with us, but he was grumpy and lay there and growled at the kittens. They weren't bothering him, not even paying attention to him, but he growled anyway. Finally we put him back inside and he was happy again. He just likes to be boss of his domain.

We took the rental car back this morning and had breakfast at Wendy's. This looks like it will be another very hot dry day.

We got home around 12:15 this afternoon. We stayed in Ft. Worth, TX last night at a motel. The traffic was bumper-to-bumper and inching along when we got into Ft. Worth yesterday afternoon. When we got to a Holiday Inn Express, we pulled in and spent the night. It was a little pricey, but we were tired and really needed to get off the road.

We left around 7:30 this morning and it was close to 5 hours by the time we got home. So we have been doing laundry and resting this afternoon. The cats were all glad to see us home again. Calvin just talked and talked. I think he was scolding us for staying away for a whole week.

We had a nice time at the reunion, but it sure feels good to be back home in our own surroundings.

ThursdayOn way home from vacation. Will update this later. A lot of problems as well as good times.

Tuesday – Sis woke up feeling very bad today. It was almost like she might have had a mini stroke. She got to feeling better after a few hours. We didn’t go on the tours that were scheduled. Later we drove around Galena, IL a little bit, then ate in a Chinese restaurant called the Beijing Buffet.

This evening the auction was held at the family reunion at the motel. That was a lot of fun. We got some homemade currant jam, apricot jam, rag pickles, and homemade mincemeat, as well as a few other things.

Me and Sis - taken shortly before the auction started.

Monday – We went on tours of a farm and toy museum in Dubuque, Iowa, and a doll museum there. We went out to the Field of Dreams site and had a picnic lunch.

Sunday – We got to the motel in Galena, IL late this afternoon.

We all had supper together in the motel meeting room.