First week of August

Here we are in August and still more triple digit temperatures. This last weekend was my birthday and the best gift I got was a thunderstorm - thanks! We went to a great place called Krause Springs in Spicewood and enjoyed 68 degree water, shade from enormous Cypress trees, and a fairly peaceful campsite. Although I am feeling really tired lately and it was a big effort to get it together and go camping, I really enjoyed not looking at all of the work projects that need to happen around here. While I have extremely brief moments of feeling relaxed and realizing accomplishment with this hunk of land etc., I am most often cataloging projects in my head and constantly updating the many lists floating around my office.

Yesterday we took Elder in for his eye exam with the opthalmologist after patching his eyes alternatively for 3 months to see if his wanderer would get it's act together and focus. Although we saw some improvement, his test results were the same and he is facing surgery next month. So...we will be living really close to the bone in our uninsured state so that we can give him what he desperately needs. Some of the work projects around here are now being put on hold (eg. electricity in the school building) due to a lack of funding. Oh well, another step back but not a huge one. We can still use the school - just not during the heat of the day.

Lily, is doing really well. She is reading up a storm without me having to force her nose into a book. Granny donated many, many books (along with many other items)to the school and she is excited about having fresh material. I can't thank Shirley enough for providing most of the furniture and school supplies in the school building. There are lots of folks to thank - Nana, who made the curtains and provided many a workbook in the past few years as well as making herself available to be with the kids frequently. The Jones clan for everything from office furniture to their friendship and infectious excitement. I also have a great guy, Tony who is able to do a bunch of work on yet another project to further our vision. I am truly blessed.

Lastly, I am going to post some pics of the process for inoculating fresh substraite for the Shitake mushrooms that the Jones family grew these last couple of months. We documented the whole process, so if you are interested, I will send along the whole set of pics. Let me know. Hope everyone is still enjoying summer.