We are back to normal and love it. Norman went for his two mile walk, I sewed and we came together for breakfast. After we cleaned up the dishes I checked the sauerkraut, which is looking good, then went out to weed the hosta bed some more. Just one more day pulling violets and crab grass and that bed will be done. I took a break to cut out the old cane from the hydrangea . Last winter was so cold it killed all of last years new growth so there were no blooms this summer and I had to cut out those old canes so they don’t chock out the new growth for this year. There is lots of new growth and they all have the starts of new buds at the ends so if this winter is nearer normal I should have lots of blue blossoms next summer. Then I went to the rock garden to do a little cleaning up. There are only about 3 rock in that garden because that is all the rock I could find here but it runs the full length of the house and down a steep slope. That is where all the black eyed susans are. I have two bleeding hearts at the east end of the garden and they get chocked out by the vica major so I have to pull out all I can and cut out more to free the roots up otherwise they can not come up in the spring. I do that twice a year. This year I almost lost one of them but I hope I got it in time and will have two nice big plants next year. Then I started to free up my hellebores. I have two nice big ones but the vica major is trying to over run that and the black eyed susans are pushing down over them from the west so I pulled out all I could around one to give him some room and will do the other tomorrow. I still have more thinning of the black eyed susans as they over ran everything this year and the poor hosta plants and lilid of the valley are both struggling to see the light.
Now I am taking a break to get dinner ready and enjoy my birth day flower.
These are the lilies that Joe and his family sent me for my birthday.
I think these are the prettiest flower they have ever sent. They stand up so nice and full and open so pretty and last so long with no drooping or shedding as others do. I heard from all my children this year- I am truly blessed. My sister gave me a book on sisters and each day has a new thought. Todays is one I think really fits the bill for me today: “Families are circles of love in which no one wants to be the first to let go of someone else’s hand.” And this year my children showed me that is true. Thank you all! Have a great day.
Oumapetts's Blog 
I always missed having a sister but I have four brothers to make up for the loss!
A sister gets better e=to have each year. Mine was 6 years younger than me and so petite while I was a horse compared to her so as a young girl we were not moving in the same circles. As we started having children all those petty differences didn’t matter any more and we became best friends. We are nothing alike so we really complement each other and now are truly what sisters should be. I thank God each day to have her. Growing up my brother was the one I was close to but as the old saying goes ” Your son is your son until he takes a wife but your daughter is your daughter all of your life.” That holds true for sisters also. Warren and I lived in the same town for many years but never got together once he got married. He went his way and I went mine. He died 3 years ago now and I think of him often and wish we had stayed closer while we had the time. But that is always the way it goes, so that makes Shirley and I even closer- no regrets there.