Thursday, August 1

Whew! What a beginning to the new month!

Slept late, until around 7:30, then did stair stepping after breakfast.

Hubbie's sister called early to ask if we'd consider taking his niece's dachshund dog. Seems the dog snapped at the baby yesterday, so her dad, fearing that the dog might bite the baby, decided it had to go. So Niece was desperately looking for someone in the family to take him.

We don't want a dog right now, particularly a lively male dachshund. Also, we don't think our cats would be fond of a dog. However, we did agree to take the dog for the day, just to get it out of Niece's house, since her husband was so adamant about getting rid of it.

So Hubbie went to Niece's house right away and got the dog. It had been banished to the garage, and was on a chain. Niece was so distraught at losing her dog that she sobbed when Hubbie took him. Niece has had the dog for ten years.

The dog was not happy at being here, but he adjusted somewhat...enough to eat and drink, and hop in our laps for comfort. But he kept watching the front door, anticipating that his family would come soon and rescue him.

Hubbie spent a good part of the day talking by phone to his sister in an effort to come to some agreement about the dog. It was finally agreed that the dog would be better off living with his sister, since he has spent a lot of time there, and he loves Hubbie's sister.

His sister was concerned about what she would do with the dog when Niece visited, since Niece's husband is adamant that the baby not be around him. Hubbie suggested that the dog could be confined to a room, or to the backyard when Niece visits.

His sister's next objection was what she would do with the dog when she came over for overnight visits with Niece. Hubbie said we would agree to keep the dog for a couple of days when she visits, if we have no other plans.

We kept the dog all day, until Hubbie's sister and a nephew traveled over here to pick him up later this evening.

In the meantime, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house this morning, and she made garlic butter and then sliced French bread to slather it on. She also cut up salad. I got ready for the day, and then started a recipe of spaghetti sauce simmering.

After lunch, Mother and I made another batch of apple jelly, using the automatic jelly maker. Yesterday's batch turned out beautifully.

Later, I cooked spaghetti, and put the garlic bread in the oven. Yesterday, Grandson said he would be here around 5 p.m. At 4:30, he called to say he was bringing his family with him. So I put another pan on to cook just a little more spaghetti.

Just after 5 p.m., they arrived, and we sat down to supper. Everyone seemed to enjoy the spaghetti and sauce, salad with grape tomatoes from our garden, cottage cheese, and garlic bread, with grapes (from the festival) for dessert.

Shortly after supper, Hubbie's sister called to ask if he'd take the dog to Niece's house, because Niece wanted to see him one last time before he left. Back home, Hubbie commented that both Niece and his sister were distraught, so there was a lot of crying going on.

We visited with Grandson and his family until around 8 p.m. Grandson said he has a dentist's appointment early in the morning, so they needed to head home. It was a fun evening of jigsaw puzzles and toys.