More than a bit wet, but only inside

The last ten days have been the driest of the summer, so you may wonder why the title. Well, we had Jodi and Brad visiting, then the next day Teela came to stay. Many lovely things happen. Teela admired my flowers, adored my vegetables, and watched fondly as her children loved the yard as well. Merlin ate my berries, walked the special path under the tree and played on the play set. Teela's only complaint was that her room smelled damp. I said it had been locked up a lot while Jodi and Brad were here (we keep it clean of cat dander for them and the closed door is the only good solution). Teela said that wasn't it. I thought it might be diapers and Mike washed the bucket of rags he had been soaking. Teela said that wasn't it, and thank goodness she did.

Saturday evening after homemade pizza we were all looking at pictures on the downstairs computer when Teela called us into her bedroom. There was a huge puddle along the north wall of her room. Further investigation found the wall was wet by the main drain pipe from the kitchen. Our closet wall was also wet and had some mold. Poor Teela and her three year-old and three-month old were packed up at bed time and sent to Liz's. We cleaned out all the damp areas, then I researched how to claim the insurance and Mike pulled apart the wall to see it he could find the issue.

The long and short of it is that it looks like the insurance will cover things based on my pre-claim stuff, but I will find out more on Monday when it is actually business hours. Teela's good nose saved any furniture from damage, although I had to wash some sheets and blankets. We now have guest room renovations to add to the roof and deck (it will be a stressful last three weeks of summer).

On the upside it has been so dry outside that we watered with the sprinkler for the first time this week. I have been able to get into all my beds and am loving up the yard each day. I love sitting out at night by candlelight and eating breakfast on the deck. My backyard has clematis, yarrow, cream lilies, sweat peas and cone flower that I am admiring the most. In the front, Leora's sunflowers are my favorite.

Currently eating:

• red currants (all the extra rain really helped them)
• peas (shell and sugar snap)
• beans (yellow and green)
• chard, beet greens, romaine, rocket and spinach
• baby carrots
• green onion
• raspberries
• strawberries
• apples (4 buckets so far)
• peppers (bell, baby bell, chili and jalapeno)
• all the usual spices
• cucumber (pickling and slicer)
• cherry and patio tomatoes

I am eating something from the yard in most meals, and loving all the fresh flavor.