We're already in the third week of September but it seems like August just began last week. Once again, so much has been going on and I've been bad about writing updates here, so I'm going to do another summary. To sum it up, August was a month of highs and lows.
Bruce and the boys had a fabulous time on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and he's got some photos up on Facebook. It was a good bonding session for them, plus Bruce got to spend a little time with his friend Chip, whom he's known since he was a teenager. They had lunch with Chip and his wife Judy on the first day of their trip, and then Chip and his son Austin joined Bruce, Jason and Jonathan for one night of camping.
After three weeks of vacation, Bruce started his new job on August 16th. The type of work is the same as at his last job but the new boss is much better. However, his commute is even longer now, which is a major drawback in the summer heat.
Belle had to have surgery on August 11th. Apparently, she decided she hadn't had her share of drama for the year. She had two cancerous growths removed. She has mast cell cancer, which is apparently common in some dogs, and hers is Grade 2 - not as great a result as it could have been but not as bad as it might have been, either. We're supposed to keep an eye out for the appearance of more growths, which will have to be immediately removed. The wounds from her surgery healed well, which is a good sign, because apparently in some cases, if the cancer cells are malignant, the wounds don't heal well. She's been very lively and seems to be learning from Beau to be more light-hearted and less serious.
We had a ruby-throated hummingbird visit our feeder for about a week, probably on his way south. That was a little thrilling, because they are beautiful birds and it made a nice change from seeing only the green hummingbird. See how things evolve and how greedy I get? At first, I was so excited just to have one type of hummingbird visit our feeder. Now that isn't enough and I want lots of different kinds! I tried growing flowers so they'd have a more natural source of nectar, but the drought and heat ended that dream for this year.
We had a flock of gackles driving me crazy a few weeks ago, because they were migrating and decided to make our feeder a long-term stop. For several days, we had over 50 birds converging on our feeder. That was infuriating, because they were going through the food so quickly and leaving nothing for our "regulars". I ended up leaving the feeders empty for over a week to convince them the food source was gone. I haven't seen them since, so I hope that means they've continued their journey south and won't be back.
There was probably more to write about but I'm moving on to another post now, because September's events (thus far) deserve an entry of their own. I'm going to take the dogs to the dog park this morning, but I'll try to write more later today. Like with everything else, if I don't do something immediately or as soon as possible, I tend to put it off indefinitely. I want to write the September post soon, because it involves a trip. And camping. Yes, Bruce got me to go camping again, only seven years after the first attempt!
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