Passages~~

My aunt died 2 nights ago.   She was the last remaining relative of my parents' generation.   My mother died in 2000 and my dad passed in 1998.   Mom was 82 (she died of pneumonia) and my dad, who was 88, slipped and hit his head while in the shower.   He died 2 days later.   I was able to see him one last time before he slipped away... 

My aunt would have been 96 last month.   She was my mother's sister.   My female line is composed of hardy women.   I have been able to trace that particular line back to the Quakers who influenced even me today (sometimes...).  They were hardy, healthy women who lived long lives.   My maternal grandmother lived to be 100, and I do remember my great-grandmother, who lived to be 94.

This was really hard on our daughter.   She wasn't especially close to her own grandmother, but she was to my aunt.   Aunt Claire and my uncle moved from San Diego to the desert and Jennifer and our son would frequently stop by to see them.   My uncle died only 2 years after moving here.  He was 92 when he passed.   Claire remained in their home here for another year until her own daughter came and moved her to a facility in San Diego.  She was promised she could have her dog there (Claire always had dogs), but then was told "No dogs".  That was a huge blow to her.  Apparently at one point she wandered out and got lost, so she was moved to the second floor.  Our daughter said that the last two times they stopped to see her, she was asleep.  Finally, she took a nasty fall during the summer and that was it.

Our daughter went to school yesterday, but was unable to finish the day, so she came home and I spent the morning and early afternoon with her, going through books of family photos.   I do believe she will be okay today.

... passages...

So, now my husband and I are the oldest living members of our family.   I DO have a cousin up in Alaska who is 2 years older then me, but he doesn't communicate.   We grew up almost as brother and sister, since we were both "only children", but writing isn't his strong point.   He's an accountant.  I haven't heard from him and I doubt that I will.   He is Claire's only son.   He has a sister 11 years younger than himself, but SHE doesn't communicate with us AT ALL. She thinks we are pagans or heathens, but her Christianity reeks of snobbishness, so I really don't care.

Aunt Claire, rest in peace, August 26, 2018...

A Rite of summer passage completed this morning

We have had relatively cooler mornings here the last 2 days (ONLY 80 degrees or so...), so this morning I picked up the weeder and went out back where the grass was 2 feet high in some places!   YES!   Can you believe it?   It really was getting to the point of hopelessness.   And, one of my chores was to thin out my hollyhocks.   I'd say 90% of them were dead and had long ago gone to seed.   I have harvested the seeds for this coming fall and by next Spring I should have a nice crop of them!   So, I picked off the remaining seeds, took my clippers out, and cut off ALL the dead stalks.   It looks SO MUCH BETTER now.  And, I used the weeder until the battery ran out (apparently it was NOT fully charged) and I am now charging it up.   Hopefully I can finish more of the back yard this afternoon.

It is sad to see the hollyhocks depleted like they now are, but August is upon us and this is a month of rest here in the desert.   Most plants can struggle through July, but for some reason, not August.   It is time for the soil to rest and time for me to start thinking about my fall planting.

I also picked up EVERY bowl of water for the dog and completely scrubbed each one!   Good thing Bodie stayed away....I might have scrubbed him, too.   Instead, he found an old cat food can and proudly ran all over the back yard with his "treasure".   He is now sound asleep at my feet as I type this!

More shenanigans tomorrow!

~~Cheryl Ann~~

My hollyhocks from this year.  Hubby applied a watercolor effect to them using Photoshop.   Bye, bye sweet flowers...until next Spring!