Hello from Monsoon territory

It continues to rain at least every other day.  Some of us are getting tired of it, and yet, it's better to have too much rain than none.  At least the weeds are easy to pull when they're growing out of mud.  The good news is that the rain has kept the tomatoes growing, so I have a lot of huge tomatoes, and they're starting to turn ripe.  Cliff and I had BLT's for breakfast this morning, although the tomatoes I used could have been a little deeper red.  They needed to ripen at least one more day.  Oh, there's bad news, too:  Some green bean plants blew over onto the electric fence that's about a foot from the ground to keep raccoons out; the plants grounded it out, and a raccoon had been in there nibbling on the biggest and best tomatoes.  I would think once they've all gotten shocked by the fence, they'd be scared to return.  Evidently they're willing to risk getting shocked.

Cliff has been wanting a sturdier folding chair for outside, something he would take to tractor shows or reunions. Many portable chairs are so low to the ground, Cliff and I can hardly get up out of them.  The father of the little girl we babysit has a chair that we have admired.  Most such chairs cost anywhere from $40 to $80, but Bass Pro had one on their website that looked good, and had 3 1/2 stars.  We went all the way to Bass Pro in Independence to find out they did not have the chair we were looking for.  When we were back at the car, I went to the Amazon app on the iPad to see what they had.  I was about to order one with four-out-of-five stars and many recommendations, but then I read a couple of reviews and one caught my eye:  "This is a good chair, but I like my Picnic Time chair better."

So of course I looked up the Picnic Time chair and saw it had an almost-unheard-of five-star review from hundreds of people.  I read a few of the reviews, and Cliff said, "Go ahead and get it!"

  

But wait.  I could use a chair like that, so I ordered two of them.  At almost seventy dollars apiece, they had better be good.

Oh, I've recovered from the bronchitis/walking pneumonia stuff and am feeling normal.  As much as I hated to have to take Prednisone, I could tell it was helping by the second day.  Perhaps the antibiotics helped too.  Anyhow, it's great to feel good.

Here's a poem that fits in with the weather we're having... it's a favorite of mine.

  

The Rainy Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary It rains, and the wind is never weary; The vine still clings to the mouldering wall, But at every gust the dead leaves fall, And the day is dark and dreary. My life is cold, and dark, and dreary; It rains, and the wind is never weary; My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past, But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast, And the days are dark and dreary. Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; Thy fate is the common fate of all, Into each life some rain must fall, Some days must be dark and dreary.

Peace!