Mason and Nick, Sitting in a Tree ...

A kiss on command. 

Seriously, folks, I'm starting to get a bit concerned about all of the time Mason and Nick are spending together alone while I'm at work. Nick gives Mason a "kiss" on command these days. A serious daddy's boy. But kinda cute, huh?

August has brought even more $%#!#$! rain, and some record-low highs. As I type this, I'm wearing my winter slippers. This isn't right.

But today's cool afternoon was perfect for transplanting a small tree that needed more sun, and roto-tillering the final patches of dirt that I plan to seed with grass in a few weeks. Sound like a productive day? It gets better: It started with a home-cooked French-toast breakfast, followed by climbing back into bed to finally finish Robert Caro's fourth book in his LBJ biography, followed by an hour-long nap.

Yes, the mountain life is good to me. As for Mason, he's been busy cutting up and splitting a 90-foot pine tree we felled recently. We accidentally took out another tree in the process, but it's OK. At least it wasn't the house, and, by taking out that pine, we gained at least another hour or more of evening sunshine on the solar panel.

(Side note on Southerners: I've learned from talking to customers about the sunlight in their yards: When they say "in the evening," they mean anytime after 1 p.m.)

So, for the record, we reward our hard work here on Flat Top with an icy cold beer  -- but only in the evenings!!

Save the bees!

A fabulous rudbeckia that fabulous co-worker Craig gave me! 

FYI, when Craig came to visit Flat Top, he pointed out I had wild blueberry bushes. Huh. I had never noticed before, probably because when I was on walks, I was too busy scanning the ground for snakes and the air for huge spider webs to notice the blueberries, which were tiny but mighty delicious last month.