Half way thru the year! Already!

Just a few days ago I turned the page on my "Daily Devotions for Women" and it said that at noon that day the year would be half way completed.  Came as sort of a shock because I hadn't been thinking about it I guess.  Time flies!  I do know that summer's here and it's hot and uncomfortable, we're mowing every week (and could mow every couple days), I'm not feeling like being outdoors because of the humidity and the BUGS (and I like being outside), and the calendar says that I've already breezed through another half year of my life.  You know, life is so very short.  I realize it almost every day now, the older I get ...  We were talking about that very thing at Sunday School yesterday ... But I digress.  

I've been somewhat busy lately and wishing I had more time to just sit back and think.  But God is good and this is probably what I should be doing.  We went to the INUMC annual conference in Indy in mid-June and that was different.  Yes, different.  That's the word.  Just like life is so different now in this country.  More "different" than I ever thought it would get in my lifetime.  But I'm glad I went and I did my duty to my local congregation -- which I was representing.  Wendell was  a district equalization delegate, so he voted, too.  It was fun to spend a day in the city.  When we lived downtown Indy we truly enjoyed it and I felt a little tug of wonderful memories pulling me back when we were out walking to lunch.  Who knows? ...

Wendell's been to the cardiologist again recently and had all sorts of tests and they say he's doing great.  Good news!  On the negative side of that equation though, they put him on a drug that costs over $500 a month.  And we have no Rx insurance ... We'll figure it out.  We have to!

Here's what happening ...

My potting bench is looking pretty good this summer.  My gosh; we've gotten enough rain to keep everything looking good!  I love the little chicken feeder/planter I found at an antiques shop in Vincennes; put some succulents and herbs in it.

Here's my personal chef ... cooking some steaks he got for Father's Day!

We went back to Steve Meadows' gallery in Palestine IL again recently.  I got out of there with just one small purchase ...  But I'm asking for another pothead for my birthday this year [Wendell: hint hint hint].

I made this little lap quilt from left-over scraps from the military walker pockets we made this spring at Project Kindness.  I hope some guy in a Greene County retirement facility will be keeping his knees warm under it this Fall.

Benjie finished quilting these two quilts.  This one was an antique top I found in an antiques shop in southern Illinois on the way to TX last year.  I really love the old fabrics used here and wish I knew the lady who pieced this and then never got around to quilting it.  Just one of life's little mysteries ...

And here's the opposite extreme.  A very modern quilt I finished last fall.  Benjie did an excellent job of quilting it!  The fabric line was called Reel Time, so that's what I'm calling this quilt.  It's much prettier "in person" than pictured here IMHO.

We went to West Baden Spring Hotel for an over-priced lunch last week.  I LOVE this place.  Wish we had been staying there, but not this time.  We drove around Patoka Lake while we were in the neighborhood, which is way high from all the rain this summer!  Wendell was dreaming of fishing all the time we were there, I know.  Here's another couple pictures I took that day ...

(The details you see everywhere in the hotel are outstanding!)

The lobby where you check in ...

Went to the INUMC Archives at DePauw University to take some stuff from our church.  (I'm our church historian.)  After I was done in the library, it was a lovely day so I walked around the campus.  Came across this unusual rock at the corner of the oldest, and the original college, building.  Love, love, love this rock!  Is that natural?!?  That ribbing stands out.

Well, I'll close with this picture of Wendell walking ahead of me on the trail in our woods.  It's sort of a freaky picture; he looks like he's being bathed by a heavenly light.  That's my guy.  

Have a blessed summer and may your trails be full of bird song, wildflowers; may it be smooth, straight and never uphill.