~little Ben will be 3 months old on the 10th~

Joan says he is smiling now and has slept through several nights, so things are looking up.

Scott's had flu-like symptoms since Thursday. He has developed a rash all over his back and chest. At first it looked like heat rash, and since he'd been working out in extreme heat, we figured that was probably it. But his sister, a nurse, tells us heat rash would be gone by now if that's what it was. We are wondering if he might have the West Nile virus, which you can get from mosquitoes that carry it. If he's not feeling better tomorrow, we'll be off to the doctor's office to find out what's what. Most people recover from it, not even knowing they have it.

Not that it's stopped him from working, oh no! He's out there right now, moving cattle from one pasture to another.

We went for a drive to the north fields yesterday afternoon. When we get to the fence and the cattle see his truck, they start running toward it like a bunch of pets, and then they follow it. When it stops, they gather around the truck, mooing. They know, Scott says, that they may be moved to "greener pastures," and are excited and ready to go.

He got out his door to look the beasts over, and I opened mine and stood on the ledge until I heard Scott say, "Kathy, get in the truck." Not understanding why, but leery of cattle, I immediately obeyed. Through the window I could see a black bull, which had squeezed through the herd to have a look at me.

"He's the new bull," Scott said, "and I don't know his personality."

It was probably as docile as the rest, but you don't take chances.

***

If I wasn't working freelance, today would be a paid holiday for me! It's the August long weekend. Darn it! However, the pleasures of working from home make it seem like a holiday anyway. I've marked "Birdline" on the calendar so I won't miss the CBC radio call-in show about wild birds. They have a bird expert come in periodically to help callers identify wild birds they've seen.

I'll be going to pick up the boys on Wednesday and am looking forward to having them home again.

Emil reported that his ears were feeling normal again when he was at his dad's, so I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what could be in this house, causing them to feel plugged (mould?). However, yesterday he told me his ears had felt normal on his graduation day, before he left here.

Hornswoggled.

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On Thursday afternoon my friend Shelly drove in from Edmonton with her daughter, Becky (see above). They have just moved from a country acreage to a house in a village, and Shelly did not want to confine her old dog to town living. No one offered to take the old girl in, so I did; but it meant Shelly would have to bring her, by driving about eight hours. Having not seen each other for several years, we were both pretty excited about the whole idea.

Of course, while she was here, I made her work. It was either that, or I knew she'd make ME work. Shelly cannot help looking around and seeing possible improvements, and since she is like family, she is not afraid to make suggestions. She was returning an old sewing machine Mom had picked up for me at a garage sale; Shelly had been using it ever since, because I never have taken to sewing machines.

This project had been in the works for a while, actually. I have been wanting matching couch cushions, rather than several sets that don't, which drives me crazy, what can I say. You girls out there will understand.

So anyway, we worked on these together in the kitchen for several hours on Friday -- Shelly at the machine, me at the ironing board. Here are the results of our labours:

Shelly planned to leave the next morning and I said, "Ha! You will find your tires all flat when you go to exit the yard; just wait, you are meant to stay more than two nights." And sure enough, she discovered one flat tire yesterday morning, so there was a slight delay. However, they did get away. It was a too-short, but a very-sweet visit.

When they first unloaded the dog, Casper, I was shocked at how much bigger she is now than when I last saw her. I said, "Holy Hanna, has she ever gotten fat!"

Shelly's reply: "She's not fat! She's just big-boned."

I took her with me for three walks yesterday. Short, slow walks, because she pants loudly whenever she moves and she doesn't seem able to walk very fast.

This is she, cooling off in the ditch: