It's almost that time of year again.  My favorite time of the year.  It's not here yet, alas.  And despite an endless litany of problems, illness, worries, financial woes and the usual closed doors we've received from the Church, we're ever optimistic that we can make this a wonderful season.

It will start next Saturday, when September begins our prep time.  We already have watched some supernatural thrillers, like The Sixth Sense and The Others.  Hound of the Baskervilles as always.  We've also added to our library of silent films, with John Barrymore's classic Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as well as Metropolis (we saw that on TCM).

Our garden, alas, is dwindling as our black walnut and hickory trees continue to defy odds and careless home builders by growing and thriving.  The good news is that it's turned our back deck into a tree house. The bad news is that those growing roots are sapping the nutrition from our plants.  Where once we had tomato plants 8 ft. tall, now they wither before 3 feet high.  Where once we had plants like cucumbers and squash that could spill into half our back yard, now they shrivel and pass before August is done.

So we've gotten our next to last harvest already.  We also had to step in and harvest our herbs, which have done well.  We've also picked up quite a bit of black walnuts.  A different taste. And acquired one, too.  But it's a harvest, be that as it may.  Some tomatoes, some basil and rosemary and thyme, some hot peppers, including some habaneros we're not sure what to do with, all round out the harvest season.  Our summer end cookout will happen Monday, then next week our youngest starts soccer.  Our football player, alas, didn't last as a serious virus hit him and knocked him out for almost three weeks.  The doctor said it was unusual, but pretty brutal.  He could have stayed on the team, but he wouldn't have played.  He decided it wasn't worth it.  Plus he was the only homeschooler, and we think that may have had something to do with it.

But soccer ho!  And that's when we'll break out the apple cider, the spooky movies (not Halloween specials yet), and some pumpkin pie.  We might actually find that elusive hidden cemetery this year.  Who knows?  But whatever, we're going to try against everything to have a good time, a pleasant time, and make some good memories for our ever maturing family.