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I admit it.
I hacked out the last blog when all I really wanted to do was post pretty pictures.
My writing sucks after a ten hour work day and today is no exception.
After posting, I meandered through sites I regularly read and lo and behold, The Hot Librarian posted after a long vay-cay from bloggo land.
You MUST read this, it's simply the funniest thing I have read in weeks, no months.
Take the jump at the right of my page, you won't regret it.
Now for some more useless snapshots ....

Dog Days of Summer

August is a schizoid month as the weather bounces between humid and rainy.
This month, Reno Man has been diligently working on his solar pool heater when it's not raining or frying hot on the deck.
We decided to build the solar heater on top of the gazebo roof or rather,instead of the gazebo roof. The end result will be an inexpensive solar heater that will raise the pool temperature ten degree's within three days.
The design of the heater is presently proprietary but may be available via ebay/paypal next year. Many solar pool heaters appear to be built by some sorry schmuck who reads "Popular Mechanics", thinks he can build anything and doesn't care too much for the visual aesthetic.
I'm quite pleased that Reno Man shares my values for modern design and simplicity and built a solar pool heater which is pleasing to look at and completely efficient.
We have enjoyed harvesting lettuce,peppers,nasturtiums and tomatoes from the garden.
Recession gardens have enjoyed a renaissance this year as millions of people have decided to grow their own food instead of buying inflated fresh food. I have always loved having a garden and this year is no exception.
It's a bittersweet summer, it seems like the hot weather just arrived a couple of weeks ago and it's already fading into autumn.
For the past few weeks, I have been weeding my garden at 6.00 a.m. before getting ready for work. This morning, it was still black when I trudged out to the garden to weed and turn off the pool pump.... a sure sign of the imminant season change.
Sigh ...

Won't you slip inside my sleeping bag ?

We moved into Reno House in midsummer of 2008 during the early stages of interior renovation.The girls had to share an almost finished bedroom which almost led to world war three but at least they were able to live inside.
Reno Man and I were left without a bed or couch or anything to sleep on.
The house with the exception of the teenager's room was under serious renovation. We were lucky to have a working toilet and electricity.We had no internet,telephone or television.
We cooked everything on the barbeque and set up a used just ripped out sink to create a place to wash up....outside.
It was brutal.

You get the picture.
Mom and Dad decided to buy a nine person tent and 36 inch air mattress and camped in the backyard for the rest of the summer.
Until the early October snowstorm , we slept outside under the stars beside the pool in our newly landscaped backyard.
In the summer,late nights were spent sipping a glass of wine or coffee at our patio table while listening to CBC 2 or simply watching the stars. Around eleven we would slip in to our tent and listen to the pool fountain as we drifted off to sleep.

I miss sleeping outside in the tent.
It was a great deal of fun , almost so much fun it could be classified as illegal in some countries ;)

It was a combination of the best camping experience of your childhood and adulthood,hiding out in a tent,talking until the wee hours and experiencing the best of both worlds.
I miss playing " lets find a talk radio AM radio station from south of the Mason Dixon line on the wind up portable radio".
It was a vital part of keeping our relationship healthy during an extremely trying stressful period of our lives.

We did discover a few interesting facts during our outdoor living period.

1. Ant's don't sleep at night. We had ants crawling on the ceiling and walls of the tent, They must sleep in shifts.

2. Our tent is grey,blue orange but under the yellow light that is situated in our maple tree, the tent looked yellow, grey and red. The ant 's would avoid crawling on the "red" colour.

3. Water is the enemy. It was important to keep the mattress away from the sides of the tent as to avoid the dew coming through the walls of the tent and getting us wet.
The tent surprisingly held up despite a few wicked storms. The rain pounded and the wind howled but we were surprisingly warm and dry inside.

4.Don't drink liquids too late at night so as to avoid a mid - night run into the house to use the facilities. This only applied to me as Reno Man could use the outdoor facilities.

5. Air mattresses are not meant to be used on a daily basis. They give out after six months of steady use.

6. Tuques are acceptable nightwear if the temperature falls below 5 C.

Our situation was dire and drastic but sleeping outside under the stars with my honey was so fine I get misty eyed from time to time.

I would recommend that every couple try sleeping outside under neath the stars in a sleeping bag for a night or two.
It's better than bacon !