It dropped down to the low 50s last night. Admittedly, it feels good, but I fear we are in for an early Fall. I’m just not ready for summer to be over. Hopefully, this cool spell is just that, a spell, and we’ll have a few more weeks of summer.

Now that Brother Rat has been here a few days, I’m beginning to come back down to earth, so to speak. I can only say that receiving my first sold and published novel (not a vanity publication!) is a high that rates right up there with becoming a mother and flying a 747 in a simulator (I flew it OK, but broke it on landing;-).

But I’m coming down off the mountain now. There are meals to be cooked; dishes to be washed, and I have to figure out what to make for Winter Gifts! I try to make my gifts. It would be a lot easier—and less expensive!—if I just went to the store to buy something. Alas, I enjoy making gifts, and I think (I hope!) my friends enjoy receiving something made with love. For those who live locally, I usually give homemade jams, but I like to give something else, too. Last year I made calendars with some of my photos. The photos were taped on so when the month was over, the people could remove the photo (I used low tack tape) and put them on a note card to share with friends should they so desire.

Lee and Nancy, two of my Sisters of Choice (SOC) come over in September or October depending on their work schedules, they bring whatever fruit they’ve collected and frozen to add to my freezer full of fruit, and we spend three days madly making jams and butters and ketchups. We call it our Jam Session. Last year we put up 240 jars of jam in three days. Nancy found a pectin that takes very, very little sugar—far less than the Low Sugar stuff on the store shelves. In fact, we tell folks that once opened their jam needs to be refrigerated because there isn’t enough sugar in it to act as preservative. (Nancy has a friend who just laughs. She claims she opens it, and eats it straight from the jar, and all at one sitting!)

One of the most popular things we make is Plum Ketchup. Everyone curls a lip at that, until they taste it. We are now getting requests for it! Yes, it goes on meats just like the red stuff you buy. It also goes on peanut butter. Or just bread. It is truly wonderful stuff. Honest. Trust me.

My Gratefuls:

1. My children, Sonja and Aaron

2. My Family of Choice

3. Coffee in the morning

4. Squirrels who scold me for coming onto my patio

5. New followers of my blog

My Wonderment:

Sitting outside on my patio before the sun is up, drinking a cuppa. I love listening to the birds wake, and have noticed the correlation between their waking and calling, and the sun rising. I’ve often wondered—if the birds do not wake first, and call the sun, will the sun stay down and not rise? (Oh, the puzzlements of life ;-). Yesterday, I saw several hummingbirds and two of them actually sat on a bare tree limb for several seconds! Now, if that’s not a wonderment, I don’t know what is.

I took this picture in the Cactus Garden in Phoenix this last spring. I have no idea what kind of a hummer he is, but he is green.

And this Ibis wanders my girl friend’s back yard in Port Charlotte, FL...

As well as a family of Sand Hill Cranes. It was great fun seeing Mom and Pop and Baby strut around the yard. There are a couple of ‘gators in the pond, but they didn’t appear too interested in the birds. Pop was on lookout while Mom walked Baby up and down the shore.