hard to blog with no power

We had 18 brown outs yesterday!!!!!!! Somewhere around #12 the internet went out and stayed out. It returned sometime this afternoon. For NOW. When the temps are well over 103 degrees and some people are reacting by attempting to recreate the Arctic Circle inside their homes, the power grid can't keep up. Even those of us who keep our summer indoor temp at 82 are affected equally with those who are wearing sweaters during the day and covering up with ("needed") blankets at night. I am thankful for for cooled air , but DO NOT find my self enamored of $400+ electric bills in summer, much less the couple of bills in times past which topped the $550 mark ,and whose bank account -stripping -kilowatt hours did NOT make us "cool" anyhow. When it gets "Really Hot" in the house, we go OUTSIDE for a few minutes. It is AMAZING how C O L D that 82 degrees feels after spending some time in the "Real temp". Truly, none of us complain much, or often. We spend enough time outside doing farm chores, fishing, playing, gardening,whatever, we really DO appreciate that it is cooler indoors. Having just finished reading HEAVENLY MAN, I am convicted about complaining over ANYTHING, particularly "not being cool enough". Brother Yun, as you may recall I have mentioned in earlier posts, is a Chinese Believer who spent years in prison, was tortured horribly, beaten, starved, and lived in almost indescribable conditions, yet he chose to be joyful IN his circumstances and to serve the Lord with GLADNESS.
That said, I am GLAD and thankful to be in my very comfortable and reasonably cooled home, sitting near a small table fan, utilizing electricity which does not require the frequent purchases of gasoline to run a generator for a limited, and unpredictable amount of time, glad to have the ability to communicate by using my (currently un-interrupted/non- brown-outed) electricity.
So what all was going on while we had brown outs? We ate the first cucumbers and tomoatoes from the garden, my/ Daniel's baby shower was Friday night at church. Saturday, Charlie got bit by a Brown Recluse spider and spent the afternoon at the walk-in clinic having the bite assessed. He has a big swollen area around a nasty black bite -site, he got so fevery, achey, nauseated, fatigued....yahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. HE said he started feeling sick about 3PM. HE went to bed and didn't even wake up till after noon today. Trustfully it will respond to antibiotics and trustfully there will be no significant necrosis from the venom. Esther and Malachi have both been bitten, suffered necrosis of the sites, but while the bites were UGLY, did not require surgery. Some really do!!!!
Someone took photos at the shower, but NOT Esther, to whom I gave my camera.
I will post photos of some of the gifts we received as they are REALLY FUN!!!!!!!!!!!! Hannah and Esther both gave me "IOU" s. Hannah had ordered something which had not arrived and Esther said she would get Daniel something after she saw what he was still needing. CHALLENGE QUESTION: How many words can YOU make out of the words "Daniel Elijah"? I could have made more if I'd realized that the timer was in motion when Rachel spilled Sprite on Hannah, we all joked about her water breaking, and as we cleaned up the mess. I really like word games.This one was NOT representative of my WHEEL OF FORTUNE type prowess!! (little smiley sigh....) The popular game at showers around here is to smoosh candy bars up into diapers and play IDENTIFY the CANDY. If you've never played this game, I assure you, it looks really yucky and identifying those candies is not as easy as you'd think!!!!!!!!!!! It is a fun game nonetheless.
Since I love the outdoors and the heat anyhow, I was delighted yesterday to discover my favorite seasonal garden kiosk was having its end of season sale. NOT JUST 1/2 OFF, but FILL YOUR SUV for $30!!!!!!!!!! OH YES. I got hibiscus, dahlias, dianthus, pansies, petunias, Indian blanket, begonias, daisies, moss rose, lobelia, delpinium, geraniums....lots of them and a few more whose names escape me at the moment. I hve some really bald spots inthe front garden beds which are really jsut a result of time espent in the back with the vegetables, and now there will be about $450 worth of gorgeous color in the front beds which will delight me for a long time to come, especially when I remember how much money I saved when I bought them. Its cooler today, by over 10 degrees so after I take my mmom back to the nursing home I will take advantage of the relative cool, and plant my botanical treasures!!
WELL, I spoke too soon. Was just interrupted AGAIN by brown out and internet sputterings! I will be reading up on everyone else's blogs and emails as the power and internet stick with me!!!!