How is it July already?

 Here it is, late on the first of July, and I'm left wondering how in the heck did the first half of the year pass so quickly? I just had my birthday a few days ago it seems, and it's been nearly a month. Time doesn't just fly when you're having fun, it flies as you age, too! I'm making pasties this weekend. I cheat and use premade pie crusts, and make them small, by cutting the pie crust into quarters and making the pasties that way. Then I eat a couple at a sitting. Good warmed up, not too much in one sitting like a normal pasty that is basically a pie crust filled and folded in half. Yikes, that's a LOT of food. Considering they originally fed miners, those men needed the food to keep them going in that hot, miserable work. It burned a LOT of calories!

The day was pretty warm, and cooled off nicely in late afternoon and early evening. The propane tank is full for the first cold when it hits in several months. The propane company I use was having a good price on an early summer fill, $1.99 vs. $2.29 for prepay for winter. So I saved the money and called the other day to have them come fill up. Cost me much less than I had otherwise expected that way, and it should cover me for most of the winter. 

My bestie and her family are having the annual family (in which I am included) cookout for the 4th and knowing Kat, I just texted to ask what time to come over and what am I supposed to bring besides my appetite. She has me well-trained. I accept I'm considered family, so I don't bother waiting for an invitation, I just ask when and go. Otherwise, I know I'll get a phone call asking when I'm coming over. I save her the call this way. There are a lot of times I don't know what I would do without her. We don't always have a chance to get together over a weekend like we love to do just to play catch up, but we make time as often as we can. The kids even call me Auntie, and they love when I bake because they know they will get the lion's share of anything I make, especially cookies.

Now, with weather being how it is this summer, my friends, be sure to stay cool and hydrated. Don't be out too long, and when you come in to cool down, get fluids in you. I don't want to hear that any of you got sick or anything from being outside too long!

My yard needs mowing, and it's supposed to be some cooler this weekend, so it will get done. No garden this year. I had to many tomato hornworms last year that it kind of dissuaded me for this year. I put in a couple blueberry bushes and 40 strawberry plants and have so far gotten nothing. Everything for me this year is a dud. I'll see about getting some better plants later this summer or this fall and getting them in. Even my bulbs from last year did nothing at all this year! The squirrels got to them over the winter, I think, because I didn't even get one leaf. Never had this kind of problem back home in Michigan. Everything grew like crazy for me there.

Mom is older, and her health is not always the best anymore, so I know one of these days I will have to get myself straight and move back home for a while to take care of her till she passes and clear up the estate. That's going to be a rough move and all because I know it means her days are numbered, likely in months not years. She's awful tough though and could seriously surprise me. Her own mother lived to 86, her only aunt is 91. Her dad was 83 when he passed. I can't remember how old his mother, my great-grandmother, was but I know she was at least in her mid-to-late 70s. So if nothing else, I know Mom and I have long lives to live. Gives me a bit of leeway to play with to get life together to move back home. With luck, by then, I'll have the businesses running well and can have that for a living income, so this old gal won't have to look for work. I know darned good and well that jobs for the older generations are few and far between. But Mom won't move here and I can't go back there without a steady income. I certainly do not want to wait until I'm retired to do it, either, as that's still 8 years off! I want to be back home well before then!

I've been a bit busy today organizing my graphic files for the shops. I have a lot of them - over 30,000! MOST of them, over 20,000, are still in zip files! So I've been moving those to their own folder on the computer, so I can get them unpacked and sorted out as to which shop they go to, while being able to use the unpacked ones without having to do this whole oh, crap, here's a chunk of stuff that needs unpacking to use it, right in the middle of a run of creating new products. Didn't realize until starting the sort out that I had so many! I knew I had a lot but not that many, haha!

I need to stop on things for a bit to get a shower and make supper, but I'm not sure what I want for supper. Got a Subway footlong earlier today on the way back from getting my hairs chopped, as my bangs were starting to get in the way of my eyes, and ate half for lunch and then half several hours ago for a bit of dinner. Actual supper needs to be made and eaten though.

Loads of pictures for you today. Enjoy!