Sometimes I just have to write

 I have opened the Blog any number of times this summer, and just sat here.
Here's to another try.
Since Stephen was killed in May, I have posted once.
I can't say any of us have come to any sort of handle on his death. Just stumbling along, day by day as more and more Feces goes on. I have described it as not so much waiting for another shoe to drop, as it has been being underfoot a platoon of combat boots on the feet of Irish River Dancers in a competition.

Basic recap of the last 10 months:

6 deaths in the immediate family circle
4 cancers (Two are terminal)
3 with heart issues (defibrillator, pacemaker, bypasses & congestive heart failure)
3 with liver issues (counted one in death, one in terminal cancer already)
6 broken bones
2 severe lacerations
2 car accidents
Beloved House sold

We also had a joyful wedding... but the bride has been unable to immigrate due to Covid closures. I don't even know which list to put this on... the Happiness List, or Not Happy list!

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I have spent so much time away from 'home' this year, it takes me a bit to figure out where I am when I awaken in the night.
Mr C has held down the fort while I have tried to help out with the grandkids in Texas; first in the aftermath of Stephen's death, and second; so that Paula could go with Ben for cancer treatments.

Becky and Stephen had planned to take their kids to the ocean this summer. I went with her instead, as the kids (including Nickole) got a first look at the ocean in the Gulf.

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I've got our homeschool plans laid out for Nickole. This year, I am trying the Sonlight curriculum. I figure I am playing to her strengths... she loves to read, and Sonlight has a strong focus of learning through literature. She needs repetitive math, so we will use Saxon Math. She tested into level 7/6, which I am very pleased with. She's been working hard on Math. Saxon is very repetitive.

My friend Lori and I are discussing various field trips, and I may join her in another homeschool group nearby.
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Meanwhile... I'm coming late into the garden. After today's harvest, we MIGHT have enough Okra to eat some as a side dish to a meal. Tom canned green beans and made pickles while I was gone in July. He froze tomatoes, which I am just almost caught up with canning. (The frozen ones, NOT the forty or so lbs. ripening on the table from the past couple of days.
Something has been chewing into and ruining the ripening tomatoes, so we have been forced to pick the moment a tomato starts to show any color at all. They sit in boxes on the table to be used as they ripen. The trouble with picking 15 lbs of tomatoes every day is 1) running out of room for them to ripen, and 2) having more ripe tomatoes than one can use in a day.
So I will be canning the fresh ones as they ripen.... just not today.
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The house has been getting the best of me. Looking at what I admire about other people's homes... lack of clutter. I must divest our house of clutter. THAT will take awhile. It took years to get this way, it will take time to get to where it should be.
That's all for now.
May your day be blessed, and you find Good Things to think on.