Any long time reader of this blog knows that I am NOT a fan of July and early August… 4th of July stupidity of fireworks, followed by heat and wildfire and local influx of visitors (good for economy, kind of a pain for me :) but I bow to sharing the beauty of this area!)

The 4th stuff is not too bad with Emmett and Auggie as I worked with both to teach not to be concerned. Whether my teaching or their personalities … they are good. I am horrified that I did so badly with Karl on this. Karl was not good with loud/surprise noises from a little pup and I did not know then how to help him. So the 4th brings up that guilt and sorrow as well as concern for combat veterans who suffer with the sounds and sights of war that many equate with “patriotism” … this makes me livid!

But. Almighty $$. Etc.

Onward.

I am now on hiatus from work. As of the last post, things have improved from being “we won’t know for 3 months” about next contract to “we’ll know in 30 days”. 30 days … piffle compared to 3 months :)

But, I had thoughts and contingency plans/ideas and what ifs. Per the last post, I was confident (97% of the time!) that something would work to keep my house and stay guardian of the woods. It feels even better at the moment and while I am still thinking and kind of planning, I am mostly enjoying a month “off”.

I have a list(s): things to do, things to bake, things to cook, books to read, videos to watch, training/teaching things with Emmett.

I am not sure one month will be enough. I think I could do retired. But I also love the programming work so I really do hope that continues.

Meanwhile:

I have been exploring heirloom flours: Spelt and Einkorn I really LOVE and this bagel – YUM

Einkorn … what a great grain:

I also made Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies topped with flaked salt. They are on my Instagram along with a link to the recipe. Fortunately, the dough freezes wonderfully and I baked 4 to start and will exercise some willpower on baking the rest 2 at a time!

My list of things to do included some yard work and one of the fun projects was some new pretty things for the front porch:

The succulents on the shelf have been doing well, so I bought more as well as some ground cover plants and am experimenting with how those do by the front porch with the idea that I might do some planting all along the porch.

So, every morning after walks and breakfasts and a bit of sitting and enjoying my last cup of coffee … I select some things from my list: one outside chore to do before it gets hot, one inside chore or task**, and one idea for income to explore or think about.

**one task is a blog update that involves some underlying infrastructure WordPress changes and might result in the blog being down for a bit.

The ideas for income … I’m trying not to think $$$ so much as what would I like to do and then … is there a way that might generate income. I have a number of things rolling around in various stages of thinking about and researching. Even if the work contract resolves and I continue with that, I hope to keep working on the other ideas.

So, my days are full, despite it being my least favorite time of the year, I am enjoying as much time as possible outside with Emmett and Auggie and continuing on training and teaching with Emmett although hopefully he sees all of that as play since we have fun! I keep the training energetic, intersperse it with a game and stop when we get hot and tired!

On with July!