Thanks for your responses to my query about whether ads were appearing here. It sounds like it’s not often. I really don’t want to have to move to a paid host – or really to move at all – so if they’re not bothersome or many, I think I’ll leave things as they are. Please do let me know if they become a nuisance or if you see anything objectionable.

I keep a list of possible topics to blog about as they occur to me so I won’t forget them, and then work on them later. I haven’t been in a malaise, exactly, with blogging this week, but as I’ve looked over those notes, so far I haven’t seen anything I wanted to develop, and I haven’t had anything burning on my heart to write about. I’m making progress in a few books but likely won’t finish any of them to discuss this week. So I’ve been getting some other things done around the house, and that’s been nice.

I’ve done some preliminary work on a possible writing project that I am excited about. If it comes to anything, I’ll let you know. 🙂

We had a very nice 4th of July, which I’ll say more about on Friday. Our neighbors used to host a major fireworks display but haven’t in the last few years since the last ones caught fire in four places in our yard. But this year some guests of neighbors started shooting off some pretty big ones, and, unfortunately, weren’t being very careful. Some fell over and shot down the street, some went off too close to the ground. They got too close to our cars and house at one point and my husband had to speak to them. I used to hate fireworks laws because we grew up with them and most people knew how to handle them safely, but since we can’t count on that any more, I’ve come to appreciate them. In our part of the county they are legal, however. I was very thankful that we’d had rain off and on that day and the week before. We have some dying trees that we’re going to have removed this fall, and they’re very dry, so if any stray sparks or fireworks debris had caught any of them, that could have been a disaster. But as it was everything was pretty well soaked, thank the Lord.

Pinterest used to be one of my favorite places on the web. I used to liken it to friends sitting around looking at magazines, telling each other, “Ooh, look at this!” But with the proliferation of “Picked for you” pins and “Promoted pins,” it’s not  cozy gathering of friends any more. Plus some of the “Promoted pins” (the ones paid for by businesses) have content that I don’t want to see. There is a little x beside them you can click on to hide the pin, but still, I really only want to see the pins of the people I chose to “follow.” If I want to search for recipe, craft, or decorating ideas, I know where and how to do that: I don’t want them to do it for me. One day I did start clicking on things and found a place on Pinterest to leave feedback, but I couldn’t tell you now how to find it. But there was a place to click on why you didn’t like Picked For You Pins and Promoted Pins (one of the reasons being only wanting to see pins from people you follow) and a place to leave a comment. There was a separate place for each (one for Picked For You Pins and one for Promoted Pins), so if you can find it and express your opinion as well, maybe there will be enough that they’ll go back to the way things used to be. I know they have to make money on the site some way, but the Promoted Pins are an annoying way to try to do it, in my opinion.

On to something more positive…

Our little grandson Timothy is about fifteen months old, and is such fun His little brain is developing so fast. It’s amazing to watch the wheels turning as he tries to figure things out. We have a TV cabinet that has glass doors, and my husband put some of those child safety locks on them. Timothy has tried pulling on the knob, turning it, and recently when he had his daddy’s keys, he tried poking them in the door to see if that would work. Cracked me up! Of course, one consequence of his curiosity and desire to explore and investigate things is that he’s figuring out how to get around some of our barricades, so he has had to start hearing the word “No.” He used to cry whenever he heard it, even though it wasn’t said loudly or sternly. But now he has lost a little bit of that sensitivity. It’s so hard when that clash of wills starts to crop up, but it’s a necessary thing to deal with, for their own safety and for planting the seeds of learning self-control. He’s pulling up with ease and side-stepping while holding on to furniture or pushing things, but hasn’t stepped out on his own yet. A couple of times he’s almost forgotten himself and done so. I don’t think it will be long!

Feeling the raindrops

I’ve been in something of a rut with dinners lately. Everything seems too involved or too hot to make. What are some of your favorite quick and simple summer dishes?

Hope your summer is going well so far. Can’t believe we’re through June and now a week into July already!