Good, simple things...

 Sage Grouse grazing in the flower gardens.

 A pop-up afternoon thunderstorm brought us a good rain, a half inch.

There was a lightning strike and another fire north of us, 

but it was short lived and rained out.

 

 Just before the storm, I ran out and picked a big head of lettuce.

This is a Butterhead.

 

 My new Birkenstocks.  

Hippie Flower.

Playing in the kiddie pool with the grands.

 Sunflowers blooming inside and outside the fence.

 

The subtitle of this blog post was going to be "Oh Poop!"  Can you guess why?  The septic backed up.  Joe Dirt (that's his business name) came and pumped the septic tank but there was digging that needed to be done to fix the problem.  Thanks be to God for good men who know how to do this kind of work.  Our men rented a backhoe from town and had the problem fixed in an afternoon.  Gotta love 'em!  The backyard's a little messy for now, the bathroom still stinks, but I can flush and wash up the dishes!   You know what Erma Bombeck said, "The grass is always greener over the septic tank."  It was, and it will be again!

We had a nice family gathering yesterday with twenty of us here.  I made Indian Tacos and all the womenfolk brought things to help out with the meal.    The littles had fun in the spa (pool) while the grown-ups talked and while observing all the splashing and screaming.  I made that really delicious Basil Lemonade,  and everyone enjoyed it.  JJo wondered if we could do something with all the lemon & lime leftovers, and I remembered citrus-infused vinegar.  I had an extra gallon so we scooped all that goodness into a mason jar and poured white vinegar over it.  It already smells good and will be nice for homemade cleaning products.  Ever tried it?

Addendum on Lemonade:
If you don't have sweetened condensed milk, you can add another 1/4 cup of sugar (or to your taste) to the simple syrup and proceed with the instructions.  I have also used a combination of lemons & limes for a different twist.  The limes definitely give it a really fun flavor.