In August it’s really too hot to do anything in Maryland but to soak up the air conditioning. Sea nettles fill the warm water of the Chesapeake Bay so even taking a quick dip to cool off is not very likely.

We have nice sunsets over the marsh.

In addition to the plans below I (we):

• started renovating the top of the breakfront which I had detached from the bottom to use as the kitchen island in our former home.
  

  Only the top remains to be transformed.

• ordered floor tile for primary bathroom.
  

  Natural Blue 12.01 in. x 12.01 in. Geometric Polished Marble Mosaic Tile

• made meringues to add to the cookie table at my high school reunion.
  

  My go-to recipe when I need cookies or dessert that must travel.

• ordered a blind for the big kitchen window overlooking the street.
  

  The big window over the sink in the kitchen needs some privacy.

• attended a 4-week Bible study.
  

  Follow the Healer

• changed the hardware on an old cabinet from silver to gold.
  

  A subtle change.

• hung a light-blocking curtain in the bedroom on the south-facing window behind the television.
  

  Before (left) and after (right):  Watching TV looking into the bright sky was always difficult.

• welcomed Charlie’s mother for an extended visit.
• read The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store and discussed it at the book club.  I enjoyed this book.
  

  The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

In August I planned to:

1. Take a road trip. We drove to Bentleyville, PA, to stay at a midpoint between Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and my high school reunion at Nevillewood Country Club.
   

   Fallingwater was built over a waterfall to encourage the inhabitants to explore nature.

   This sojourn completes both #31 and #57 on my 101 in 1001 days list.

2.  Work on rental car, plane, hotel reservations, and travel insurance for Panama Canal cruise. Once I received the flight information I updated the flights to be more convenient, finalized pre-trip hotel, and made a rental car reservation for post-cruise travel. I have to wait another month to purchase annual trip insurance to start later in the year so that it will cover a maximum of trips.  Then we’ll be ready to cruise.
   

   We’ll be traveling through the Panama Canal on the Viking Mars.

3.  Attend a concert or 2. We binged on service bands:  USNA Band Electric Brigade, US Army Field Band, US Navy Band Cruisers.
   What a treat!
   

   A small contingent of the US Army Field Band (in fatigues) played a nice concert.

   Especially enjoyed the evening we sat on the terrace of the Tidewater Inn and had dinner at Hunters’ Tavern during the concert.

4.  Work on a house project.  I painted the laundry hall Light Sandhill Crane (walls) and Sherwin WIlliams’ Lakeside (ceiling).
   

   The blue color helps a low ceiling recede.

   Then I mixed Lakeside with some old yellowish paints to coordinate with the dining room mural in order to paint the adjacent knee wall.

   

   The knee wall in the dining room was painted Alabaster which didn’t seem to work.

   

   Now the wall is custom blue to match the sky of the mural.

5.  Set up old VHS video player. I sat the TV on top of the video player.  The tricky part was finding some old RCA cables to channel it into the television.
   

   This TV has a built-in DVD player so I’m all set for a little offline viewing.

   Now it works and I plan to watch some of our old home movies.

6. Work on Christmas gifts.  I have come up with some useful and unusual items.  Can’t share the details until after Christmas.
   

   Last Christmas we had a lit tree at the end of our dock.

7.  Plan something fun.  I went on a boat tour of 6 lighthouses – Part 1 and Part 2.  (#87 on 101 in 1001 list) .
   

   Thomas Point Shoal screw pile lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay.

8.  Get rid of 3 boxes of clutter in the garage. I also got rid of a few more vases when a shelf in the garage pulled away from the wall and the contents crashed to the floor.
   

   It seems the more I get rid of the more I have.

9.   Pick a word to focus on for the month. My word: WELCOME.
10.   Write a goal list for September, 2026.

Jo

We have a busy month planned in August.

The downstairs bedroom suite is almost ready for a special guest.

Lots of concerts, projects, and guests.

In August I plan to:

1. Take a road trip.
   

   We’ll be driving almost 6 hours to attend my high school reunion.

2.  Work on rental car, plane, hotel reservations, and travel insurance for Panama Canal cruise.
   

   Looking for good weather, good fun, and unique situations.

3.  Attend a concert or 2.
4.  Work on a house project.
   

   So many projects from which to choose.

5.  Set up old VHS video player.
6. Work on Christmas gifts.
   

   Our theme this year will be Norway, London, Panama Canal.

7.  Plan something fun.
8.  Get rid of 3 boxes of clutter in the garage.
   

   It seems the more I get rid of the more I have.

9.   Pick a word to focus on for the month. My word: WELCOME.
10.   Write a goal list for September, 2026.

Jo

July was hot, hot, hot. I mean in the 100s.

Love this street planter that looks like fireworks — petunias and gaura (the tiny white explosive plant).

I was careful to plan my daily tasks to accommodate the weather — no outside painting and building in the excessive heat and humidity. Still I kept busy.

On the 4th we could see the fireworks reflected in the Choptank River.

In addition to the numbered list below I:

• attended a Business After Hours event with a ribbon cutting sponsored by the local Chamber of Commerce at the yacht club.  Great to meet people from the area and to try some of the freshest seafood in the world.
  

  I tried my first raw oyster — a Choptank Sweet — harvested that very day by the man opening and serving it.

• reserved a tour through Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater for a future road trip.
  

  We’ll collect our tickets at the Fallingwater Gate House upon arrival.

• attended a Book Club to discuss Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.  For number of reasons I did not care for the book, likewise most of the other discussion attendees.
  

  Piranesi

• attended Our Country ‘Tis of Thee Concert. 
  

  A wonderful patriotic concert by local singers.

• painted some walls Sandhill Crane to match the kitchen upper cabinets.
  

  I could not stand the two-tone wall and I didn’t want to paint the panel that is finished like the upper kitchen cabinets.

  There is actually no formula for this color so the paint store had to scan a sample piece.  I needed to tweak the scanned color a bit lot to make it match.

  

  The wall is much better now that the two sides are essentially the same color.

  This was an effort to have some cohesiveness to building decisions that could not be avoided.

• donated clothing, purses, picture frames, drinking glasses, other kitchen supplies, and other household items to a local rummage sale.
  

  I like a rummage sale because once I give the items someone else takes over and sells them.

  I probably cleared out 3 or 4 boxes of stuff I didn’t want to throw away yet didn’t want to keep.

• I did a short (about an hour away) road trip to a lavender farm that was in bloom in the middle of July. I purchased small pots of 3 varieties.
  

  Multiple different varieties of lavender were growing.

• finally found some Shakespeare to enjoy:  The Life and Times of Sir John Falstaff, but it was canceled due to the bad air quality from the Canadian forest fires.  “Expectation is the root of all heartache.”-William Shakespeare
• replaced a broken outdoor floodlight with an upgraded replacement.
  

  While moving a tall ladder around this light was irreparably broken.

  

  I replaced it with a new fixture.

• saw the new movie: The Odyssey.  Three hours long — could have happened in two.

Here’s my progress on the July numbered list.

1.  Celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary.  We had a great time at the local yacht club on the Choptank River where we enjoyed a magnificent barbecue buffet.
   

   Too much of everything I like.

   The fireworks were rained out but rescheduled for the next evening.

   

   Worth the wait.

2.   Work on excursions for Panama Canal cruise. I reserved every excursion we wanted.  Especially excited to go to Belize City since the ship has to anchor offshore.  We will incur a 20-minute tender ride to get to shore which will be a new experience for us.
   

   The tender actually it looks a lot like a cross between the ferry in New Orleans and the Cape May Ferry and the whaling boat in Canada.

3.   Pay real estate taxes. Paid!
   

   Ours for another year.

4.   Sort through cassette tapes and music CDs. This was a boring, unrewarding project.
   

   I tried to tame this mess.

   

   Now there is control. (This is Charlie’s pile.)

   Some of the better discards went to the above mentioned rummage sale.

5.   Work on a paint project.  I painted the piano wall with Saffron Thread orange by Sherwin WIlliams.
   

   A little splash of color in the entry hall with a Baltimore Oriole theme.

6.   Work on window treatments in kitchen.  I decided reuse the kitchen valance from our former house until I come up with something better.
   

   With Charlie’s help I almost finished the kitchen curtain when I sliced my finger with the scissors — the curtain will have to wait.

7.  Clear the top of the bedroom dresser.  Now I want to paint it but maybe next year.
   

   This tall dresser belonged to my grandmother and it is still sturdy.

8.  Plan something fun.  We went to nearby Hoopers Island at low tide to collect sea glass. Apparently this area used to be an actual garbage dump so anything might turn up.
   

   We found shells and sea glass as well as a wading Great Egret.

9.   Pick a word to focus on for the month. My word:  ADAPTABILITY.
10.   Write a goal list for August, 2026.

Jo