I'm Still Alive! {July/August Recap}

Hey look, I'm not dead.  I've just been absent from this blog for... six weeks?  Like, how does the time even go that fast?!  I'm honestly still stuck back in July.

But anyway, I'm here to greet y'all and give you the recap of the past two months, and to say that I'm going to hopefully be posting more.  

But then again, I wasn't planning to go this long without posting, buuuuuuut... time sorta got away from me.

*Clears throat* anyway.

Happenings:

-The 4th of July.  A guy from our church smoked chicken and ribs for everyone and it was SO GOOD.  Then our family (well, most of us anyway) came home to shoot off a few fireworks.  We were also reminded that our dog, T-Bone, will go after anything that shoots off sparks.  So he tried to get shot a few times by Roman candles and sparklers and stuff, but he's still alive and kicking! XD

-I had this amazing gal over for a weekend, and it was spent wonderfully talking about bookish things, playing with the goats, watching Laredo and Ben-Hur while eating chocolate, Cheese-Its and Twizzlers (the most AMAZING snack foods ever, people!!), riding the 4-wheeler, climbing on farm equipment, and various other things.

-Riding with Kordell while hauling manure, singing VeggieTales and Sawyer Brown and insulting each other. #siblingbonding

-We got peaches!!!!! Peoples, peaches are DA BEST.

-I discovered all the goathead stickers (y'know, those little ball thingies with thorns sticking out of them?) in our gardens... with my poor bare feet.

-I discovered The Spice Merchant in Wichita, which has the best assortment of coffee mugs and thermoses ever. XD

Not to mention that it smells AMAZING (because even though I don't drink coffee, I LOVE the smell of it).

-I also met Book-a-Holic, the best. Place. EVER.  Like, how much better does it get than half-priced used books?!  Not even Barnes & Noble does that.  (Sorry, I think Book-a-Holic tops B&N, people.)

-Our family went on a rather spur-of-the-moment trip to KC.  For the first evening, while the guys went to a Royals game, us gals spent the evening at the hotel, which was the best.  Then we went and did some other various things around town, one of which was visit the WWI museum!

The tower on top of the museum                     The view from the top         

-What happens when your mother goes inside and leaves you and your sister alone with her phone out in the garden?  #selfietime

-Our church had a bike ride at a nearby campground!  I survived the entire 6-7-mile trip.  Which was really kinda shocking.

-Kara made peppernuts.  'Nuff said.

-Did some babysitting for an adorable little girl!  An adorable, very energetic little girl. XP

-We had SO MUCH gardening to do—hoeing, picking, weeding, and watering our two gardens, plus our landscaping... and then, of course, there was all the blanching, peeling, blending, scrubbing, freezing (thank the Lord that Mom doesn't can!!), and pretty much every other thing that has to do with garden produce.  But, good thing: Our big garden is over halfways gone! All we've got now is the okra, sweet potatoes and cucumbers to do.  *Sigh of relief*

  

-We took a steer (that is a male bovine, for those of you who classify all cattle as 'cows') named Wilma to the butcher.  Yes, a he named Wilma.  Don't ask me why.

-When some of us got home (we went in two vehicles), we found the house locked.  So we were trapped outside in the dark until Birdo got home with the key.  Needless to say, I'm glad Chowboy was with me, so I wasn't alone. ;P

-My brother gave me one of his cookies. ^_^ #random

-Kordell found a snapping turtle (at least I think it was a snapping turtle) which he dubbed Larson and brought it out to where Mom and I were out picking green beans in the garden.
Me: *bent over picking beans*
Kord: *puts Larson on my back* I bet you can't get him off.
Me: *twists so Larson falls off*
Kord: hey!  That was mean!  Don't be mean to Larson!

-We watched the eclipse (well... the 90% we got in KS).  Who buys eclipse glasses when you can use welding helmets? XD

Kord said we looked like astronauts. XD

-I took weird selfies on Mom's phone... I had forgotten that my siblings like to browse Mom's pictures.

-Our tomato plants are really starting to produce now... I just hope the horn worms stay away. *Shudders*

-My grandma made some DELICIOUS fresh peach pie.
Me: I probably won't eat a whole piece.
Me five minutes later: Well, I take that back.

-Corn harvest started!! Though this is really the best pic I got since I haven't gone to ride yet...

Books:

What a pathetic amount I read during TWO WHOLE MONTHS.  But, like I said, school started up again, so I've got about half the time of day I used to have. XP

Moccasin Trail by Eloise Jarvis McGraw: 4.5 stars

A Goal for Greg by William McKellar: 4 stars

Never by J. Grace Pennington: 5 stars

On Distant Shores by Sarah Sundin: 3 stars

A Different Kind of Courage by Sarah Holman: 4.5 stars

Ivan by Emily McConnell: 4.5 stars

Martin Hospitality by Abigayle Claire: 3.5 stars

Under a War-Torn Sky by L.M. Elliott: 3 stars

The Old River Road by Ivy Rose: 4 stars

London in the Dark by Victoria Lynn (I'm not gonna rate this 'cause I didn't read a final edited version.)

Started:
Where Dandelions Grow by Lydia Howe
The Deadliest Monster by J.F. Baldwin

Snippets:

So apparently, I don't have any snippets to share from the past month.  *Headdesk* But anyway, In my last recap, I mentioned having started a project: rewriting a story that I wrote years ago titled Tucker's Revenge, a western.  I'll just share something from that. :)

    The bright mid-morning sun burned down mercilessly on the two riders as they made their way to the gate. Jamie turned her head to send a smirk her opponent’s way. “May the best horse and rider win,” she said, offering her hand to Jude. Jude hesitated, then took the proffered hand and shook it. “You’d better be careful who you do that to; a man would be liable to pull you off the horse.” Jamie tossed her head, fighting the urge to roll her hazel eyes. “Namely, you.” A smirk quirked Jude’s lips. “You really think I would do that?” “Yes, and you do too. Now let’s ride.” She once again faced forward and clenched her hands around the reins. “Whenever you’re ready.” Their older brother Simeon strode out in front of them. “Jude, you know that as soon as this is over you get back to work, y’hear? The only reason I’m letting you waste the morning away like this is because you wouldn’t get any work done with this on your mind anyhow.” Jude smirked. “Yessir, just as soon as I beat Jamie.” Jamie shook her head with a slight smile. “That’ll be the day.” Simeon stepped back and unholstered his pistol. “I would fire this to start the race, but it would scare the horses out of their hide.” He marched to the nearby fence and poised his pistol’s handle above a post. “Ready…” Jamie tensed, knees squeezing Thunder’s saddle. “Set…” She leaned forward, arms taut. Simeon’s arm came slamming the pistol down on top of the fencepost with a crack! Jamie’s heels dug into Thunder’s sides. His powerful back legs sprung to life, and horse and rider shot forward. A quick glance to her right showed Jude and his pinto, <idek horse name>, keeping stride with them. Within seconds, the ranch was lost behind them in a cloud of dust. Jamie’s hair came loose of its braid; Thunder’s unruly mane whipped her face mercilessly. She reveled in the excitement of her favorite pastime. A quick glance to her right revealed <Judes’ horse>’s muzzle slowly pulling ahead. Oh dear. “We can’t let him do that, can we, Thunder?” She faintly squeezed her knees, and Thunder’s strides lengthened slightly.

Puns:

I apologize if I've shared these before, but I'm not going to go look at previous recaps to check (because yes, I'm lazy).

I waited up all night to see the sun come up. Then it dawned on me.

No one in heaven has hair—there's no parting there.

Music:

So, here's a couple of songs that I grew to love over the past couple months:

Annnnnnd, there's my past two months in a nutshell.

I will return later.

Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

~Kaitlyn