Dad went for his third chemo treatment on June 22.  He appears to still be doing just as well as he has been.  Lots of time still spent out in the garden, mowing lawn, tending the abundant peonies, as well as spreading gravel where he intends to put up a small greenhouse at some point.  I have noticed that he's not talking as much.  Don't know if it's from "thinking deeply" or tired.  It's hotter than heck lately and that alone drains everyone's energy.  Last night (June 29th) J said that Dad mentioned he was starting to get mouth sores. It begins.  With summer I've been offering up more fruit with supper each night.  I think the juiciness of the fresh berries and cherries and watermelon, that I keep cold in the fridge, will feel good to him.  If anyone's had some experience with what kinds of foods are comfortable to eat with those mouth sores, I'd love to hear suggestions.

I'm angry with myself for being unkind to what I thought were some sort of pesky wasp or hornet.  I noticed a bunch were hovering along the roof line and that they were carrying larvae and sneaking into little holes they'd drilled into the siding of the house where it meets the roof.  So I took some wasp & hornet killer spray and hosed down those that I could reach and see.  Dad came out after I'd already done most of the damage and realized that they were actually Mason Bees.  Apparently they were bringing their larvae in to those little holes and would then seal them in with mud.  Dad heard that they were better pollinators than the typical bees we have around here.  So... shame on me.  I felt especially guilty when I read that they rarely sting.  We did find a wasp sitting on the start of a paper nest on the other side of the house which we felt less guilt about spraying down.  (Insert evil snicker here.)

I'm trying to get out of the somewhat newly formed habit of having a diet soda a couple of times a week, which started because I'm no longer guzzling cow's milk and sometimes water just doesn't fit the bill.  I've tried several flavors of Zevia.  It's okay.  I can handle the Ginger Root flavored one with a bit of cream added and over ice as a mock rootbeer float.  If I'm desperate I can force down some Black Cherry.  But the flavor that I actually enjoy is the Grape.  (Rather unfortunate that they charge over a buck more per 6pk than the other flavors at our area stores!)  Since I can't really afford to indulge in it too regularly I thought I'd better find an alternative.  So I looked in the cupboard and found a small bottle of strawberry flavored stevia drops.  The next trip to the store I picked up a bottle of club soda.  Then I combined the two over a stack of ice.  While not exactly like a strawberry soda, it still fulfilled the desire to sip on a sweet drink.  At first I thought that I would end up dumping most of it out.  But by the end of watching an episode of Breaking Bad on dvd, my cup was empty!

Rummage sale is all set up for tomorrow.  I'm hoping people actually show up.  I didn't put an ad in the paper this year because it costs too much for the little bit of traffic I may get from it.  (We're in a somewhat rural area.)  So this year I only posted a sign at the grocery store and we've made up 5 road signs that will point from down on the highway up our road.  I also listed it on Craigslist a couple of days ago.  Keeping my fingers crossed.  Also hoping the weather holds out as last I saw on the weather we had a 40% chance of rain.  It's also Heritage Days weekend in our town and I'm hoping that out-of-towners will pop on by spontaneously. 

Hope all's well with everyone and remember to have a safe holiday weekend!