Our last week of August, a grand mixture

 Another week gone by, another month gone by, another summer gone by.  And you know how I feel about that, so enough said.  At least we have autumn beauty to look forward to before the dark and cold.   At least we don't live above the arctic circle where it's dark almost all day long in the winter.  Can you even imagine??? 

My hanging geranium finally has blooms again!  It had taken about a month off.  I love it!

The main thing blooming around here are the marigolds out front.  There are a few lilies here and there and the begonias back by the heat pump behind the side porch.  I took a picture tour this morning.

Now for some pictures from my week.  On Saturday Destiny and I took Elizer to Build-a-Bear at a wonderful mall in Camp Hill near Harrisburg.  He was eligible to get the birthday bear for $2.00.  He had fun pressing the pedal that filled his bear with "stuffing."  Then we picked out clothes and shoes for the bear and a baby carrier.  Those things were extra, so of course that  two dollars turned into quite a few more dollars, haha!

We entered the mall through Macy's.  I LOVE Macy's and miss it so much since they closed the one at our pathetic mall.  After Build-a-Bear we walked around looking at things in Macy's.  Elizer was full of energy and we had not brought the stroller, so to give Destiny a chance to look at housewares I took Elizer to the beds nearby.  As soon as he saw them he took his shoes off and climbed onto a bed.  He even pretended to be snoring!  What a ham!

Soon he wanted to try out another bed and needed to jump on it.  Before long Destiny came and took him off the bed.  I tried to fix it just the way it had been.

While I was fixing it Elizer took off running and Destiny tried to catch up.  When she did, she scooped him up and headed for the door.  I couldn't even see where they were and soon had a text from her, "We left."  So I left too.  We will not be going to a mall without a stroller or a leash anytime soon!  

That evening we went to the Grange Fair.  It's a HUGE deal in this area.  People own tents that have been in their families for generations.  Others come in their RV's and it becomes a village.  This was the 148th year!  I was only there once before, in 2012 with Sam and Jenn when Sammy was a baby.  

The first thing we did was ride the ferris wheel.  I told Destiny that I don't think I have been on one since Hershey Park when she was maybe seven years old!  Here's what we looked like then.

And here's what we look like now, 15 years later, haha!  It was not a huge ferris wheel, but it was fun.   Dick guarded the stroller and diaper bag (bottom right photo), and every time around Elizer was looking for "Pawpaw."  It was great getting such a wonderful view of the fair grounds.

Elizer also went on a few kiddie rides.  He loves anything with a steering wheel!

This was a kiddie roller coaster.  It was actually bumpier than we had thought and I think he was scared.  He did not cry, but he didn't smile either. 

After the rides Dick took Elizer to watch the tractor pull while Destiny and I got food.  We both wanted chicken on a stick.  We were given the number 34, and then we heard them call humber 7 so we knew it would be a long wait.  I left her there to wait while I went to order something for Dick.  I got him fries and a walkabout cheese steak. 

Then we went to find Dick and Elizer and could finally eat!

By that time the tractor pull was over and they were doing a truck pull.  Good grief!!  The trucks were SO LOUD!!! 

 

We didn't stay for all of it,  Destiny had to work the next day and Dick and I had to get up for church.  It had been a fun evening, but whew!!!!  SO MUCH MONEY FOR EVERYTHING!!!  No wonder we haven't been there since 2012.  Just ridiculous.

Once a month Brenna, our flute player, comes to play at GBRV.  Having her there is so very special!!  Here's a video of our offertory, "This Is My Father's World."  We do not have AC, so a fan was messing with my pages.  Dick rescued me at one point and I was hoping he would a second time, but I guess he wasn't watching.  

I actually took a nap that afternoon.  Dick went over to Anthony's to check his trail cams.  After Destiny got off work we went over to their place and I made BLT's.  We ate on the back porch.  

Dick took Elizer to the little playground at their community.  When I looked at this video he took I thought, "Wow, Elizer is not a baby at all anymore."  

 

More cuteness here.  Last evening Destiny texted me these pictures after she got home from work.  My heart just melted.  

Then she Facetimed me and I took these pictures while we talked.  Again, looking at the picture on the right I'm thinking,  "He is not a baby anymore."

This week school started in Reading, PA for granddaughters Alaya (1st grade) and Jada (5th grade.)  Destiny's younger sisters - so beautiful!  

On Monday after I picked up Austin from school we walked in Boalsburg again for fifteen minutes.  It was a HOT day!!  Thankfully there were trees that provided shade and breezes most of our walk.  I'm kind of sad that van transportation has been set up for Austin now and I won't need to pick him up anymore.  But I will try to get my meals over to their place in good time on the days that I cook for them so that I can still take him somewhere to go for a walk.  He plays Pokemon Go on his phone, thus his interest in walking.  Sometimes we grandmas need to learn new tricks to stay connected!

One project I have been slowly, but surely working on the past two weeks is the curtains in the camper.  When Lori refurbished it last summer she had hoped that strong adhesive (as suggested on Pinterest) would hold them up.  However, the heat worked against that idea.  So I hand-sewed the curtains to the strips (with clips) that were still there from the old curtains.  No, I did not do that standing up!  Dick got the strips down and I did it at my dining room table.  A number of clips were missing, so we ordered some from eBay.  So I'm hoping to later today sew those clips on.  I would NOT want a seamstress to closely examine my work.  It is most certainly not up to my usual standards.  But this job had obstacles I don't usually deal with.  Curtain rods were not an option for various reasons, or it would have been a lot easier.  I'd kind of like to sleep in it again before Dick takes it down.  We'll see if that happens.  

Meanwhile I have also been dealing with an ugly leg.  At the beginning of last week I noticed a hard lump on my knee cap.  Then I noticed bruising around it, and as the days went by the bruising went down my leg all the way to my ankle.  On Friday morning I decided to go to urgent care to get it looked at.  The doctor who examined me said she thinks it's a cyst on my knee and the bruising is because I'm on blood thinner.  She referred me to orthopedics.  The first available appointment is September 29th!  I sent the pictures to my primary physician just in case she would think I should have it looked at sooner than that, but I haven't heard back from her or her office, so I assume it's nothing to worry about.  It really doesn't hurt that much except when kneeling, which I try to avoid.  

And one more thing.  As I said last time, I needed to wear no contact lenses for two weeks prior to my consultation for cataract surgery.  So I obeyed and wore glasses for two weeks.  I kind of got used to it.  Yesterday was my appointment and I knew I would have my eyes dilated, so on Tuesday evening I went in search of clip-on sunglasses to wear after my appointment.  I did not find those, but found ones designed to wear right over top of glasses.  I LIKE them!

Turns out I probably will not be needing them.  I am now allowed to wear contacts again since my consultation and measurements are finished.   I will have my left eye done on September 27 after which I will most likely have 20/20 vision in that eye.  So for two weeks after that I will wear a contact in my right eye only.  Then I will have my right eye done on October 11.  The down side is that I will lose the perfect up-close sight I now have with my naked eye.  But reading glasses will come to my rescue as they have been doing all these years anyway.  It's pretty crazy what they can do for someone who has had the most near-sighted eyes of anyone I have ever known!  My contact lenses are minus nine.  My left eye actually needs minus 10.5, but I couldn't read piano music when I wore them.  

And that's enough about me.  Gotta get busy around here!  Have a great Labor Day weekend!