My aunt Reta is staying with me for a few days. Last night I left her in the house and walked over to Golden Grain Farm, which is just over a mile from here. The big white dog, panting heavily all the way because of the heat and humidity of the evening, accompanied me. (My cousin Jolene stopped in with her mom yesterday and thinks the dog's part Great Pyrennees.) Scott stopped on his way home and gave the chickens food and water while I strolled about the garden, deadheading flowers and swatting off the mosquitoes. He didn't think the old dog would be able to get up into his truck so she and I walked home again. The photo above is taken on that stretch.

This afternoon I'll drive Reta into town to visit with Grandma and we'll take her for a doctor's appointment. The home-care aides have been asking us to take some clothes out of Grandma's jam-packed closet, because it's nearly impossible to make room to hang things up. Going through the clothing will give Reta something to do while she's there. Grandma has nothing to say anymore and so time with her can be long. If there's any conversation, it's you who makes it. She responds, but doesn't otherwise contribute. Reta, after not seeing Grandma for a year, notices she has "failed" a lot.

Jolene was here with my aunt Rose, who is going to cover the kitchen cupboards, or at least their boxes and interiors, with a white oil-based paint. I am a delicate flower who gets headaches from paint fumes, but Rose "likes it," she says. "I go home happy!"

The cupboard drawer and door fronts will be spray-painted by Scott, who doesn't know it yet but I am going to ask him to do the ones for this kitchen at the same time. I took them off when I painted the kitchen walls and cabinet boxes a couple years ago and then never got the doors painted and put back on. If he's spray-painting, that's the quickest way to go.