August 2014 - A Look Ahead

July zipped right by and now we have one more hot summer month to go! We kicked it into low gear during July, and we will continue our “staycation” activities during August too. Even though I had hernia surgery last month, it was quite a nice break from our previous abundance of medical appointments. We will continue to spend a lot of time on our cottage’s porches, parking our butts in rockers on the front porch and gliders on the back. Cold refreshments and Kindles will be common companions, but many times we will simply look out at the world and converse about whatever subjects pop into our wee noggins. We will continue to enjoy jaunts to local restaurants, a real treat after our long absence during Mr. Jim’s chemo treatments.

We are counting our blessings. I am healing up nicely from the hernia surgery. I still have some nagging soreness and hope that it will magically vanish soon with hardly a notice. Mr. Jim is doing remarkably well during his chemo break, enjoying food, my company, and life (not necessarily in that order). He’s driving once again and has been my chauffeur when I am taking pain medication. And, I am happy to report that Mr. Jim has resumed chef duties at the cottage. That is quite a relief for me, since my idea of cooking is deciding which box of cereal to get out of the pantry, LOL. When the weather is cooperative, we take a few walking laps around the villa section of our subdivision. Except for house construction down the street of another spec home, activity in the neighborhood is rather quiet.

We have some doctor appointments scheduled for this month. The most notable is Mr. Jim’s scheduled CAT scan and follow-up appointment with his oncologist. We have at about three more weeks to enjoy our “staycation” without cancer ruling our lives.

The monthly photo challenge is rapidly coming up on the calendar for this coming Saturday. While my DSLR cameras continue to accumulate dust lately, I will probably have to pull photos out of my archives for the “animals” challenge topic. I asked a couple of neighbors if I could do photo shoots of their dogs, and I didn’t get any positive responses. Oh well!

We plan to play with our new electronic toys this month - the quadcopter and gopro camera. I suddenly need a crash course to learn how to edit video files too! The hummingbirds are frantically feeding this time of year. So I hope to set up a convenient perch and conduct a few photo shoots of my little feathered friends. As if all of that isn’t enough, I will also spend some time in my studio room this month, catching up on some sewing projects that have languished far too long.

Best wishes to you, as we slide into the last month of summer!