Saturday, September 5

We were up by 7:30 this morning, and ready by 10 a.m. to travel to another town to visit Hubbie's family. It was a cool morning, in the low 70s and overcast, so we felt confident Shih Tzu would feel comfortable sleeping in the van while we visited. With seven kids expected to be in attendance, Shih Tzu would not be at ease in Daughter's house.

On the kudzu-covered hill going out of town, two juvenile deers skipped across the road in front of us, lept into the thick vegetation, and bolted down the hill on the other side.

The overcast day soon turned into a torrential downpour, with lightening and thunder, as we climbed the hill outside of town going toward the other town. In pastures at the top, cattle huddled under trees...not exactly the safest shelter for them in a lightening storm. It was still raining when we arrived at Daughter's house, but not as hard.

Twelve adults and seven children made for a noisy houseful. Someone had started a jigsaw puzzle, so Mother and I joined in. We didn't make much progress on the 1,000-piece picture of pencils in all colors and designs, some in a container, many more scattered around the container.

For lunch, Daughter served makings for meat and veggie wraps (or sandwiches), with a choice of plain or wheat tortilla shells, plus raw veggies, the bean salad we brought, and fresh fruits. Daughter planned to make homemade ice cream this afternoon, which she said is a tradition for their Labor Day celebration, but her ice cream maker wouldn't work. So Hubbie and I went to a grocery store and bought a gallon of regular ice cream and a half gallon of Guilt Free vanilla.

Daughter had attempted to make chocolate sauce for the ice cream this morning, but she burned the first batch...so badly, she said, that she feared she'd have to throw the pan away. I suggested boiling water and baking soda in the pan first to see if that would loosen the sauce. Hubbie did the honors, and it worked.

The store-bought ice cream was good, with the second batch of chocolate sauce spooned over it, and served with slices of coconut cake.

We left Daughter's house about 3 p.m. By now, the sun had come out, and it was humid and warmer...time to bring Shih Tzu back home.

At 6 p.m., we settled in to listen to the radio as our favorite football team played to an overwhelming win over their opponents.