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Today Adam's mom flew back to Nebraska and Kara drove home as well. Now we are alone again. Well ... is one ever alone with four dogs?

I picked our first 3 cucumbers today, and in spite of the photo, the dogs were actually wanting me, and not the cucumber.
Look what I found at the thrift store on Monday:

 I've blogged about this diner pattern before. What a sweet little dish!
I also found yet another cotton skirt with built-in slip.

 It's dark green, despite these photos. The hem is lacy.

 We've had so much rain. Today was no exception. It came pounding down. The ditch filled and flooded over into our yard a bit.

 The worst thing about heavy rain is that we still have our old, leaky roof, and the ceiling drips, sometimes in just one spot (over the sofa), but on days like today, in quite a few. Today it dripped on the piano :(  Sigh.

 And new spots erupted over the living room fan.

 I can't tell you how discouraging this is for Adam and for me. We simply don't have money for any kind of roof -- not even close. There's just nothing to be done but empty buckets in the attic and hope that new holes don't start. And pray. I pray regularly for a new roof.

I couldn't resist taking pictures of Anna's bridesmaids' bouquets before they droop. 

 Today I finished Elizabeth Goudge's "The White Witch" at last. It's a good book, well crafted, written in a rich, leisurely style. A historical novel set during the English Civil War, it focuses on a half-gypsy woman and the circle of friends and family around her. Do not be put off by the term "witch" in the title. She is a wise woman who uses herbs to heal people. Goudge weaves Christian faith quietly and beautifully into her main characters.

 I thought I'd drop a few quotes from the novel for you to ponder:
~ In reference to implements of torture or execution, a pastor says, "They do not lessen the evil in the world; they increase it, by making those who handle these cruelties as wicked as those who suffer them. No, I'm wrong, more wicked, for there is always some expiation made in the endurance of suffering and none at all in the infliction of it."
~ The same pastor, in response to someone's sympathy when his church service was a failure: "Failure? How can I fail when I am nothing?" 
~ A dying gypsy woman utters these words: "But those who break the law should be loved more and not less for their sin, for if we do not forgive, then is sin added to sin and the end is death." 
~A man, filled with remorse for his sense of responsibility for another's death, asks, "Is there a sort of divine economy that turns even our sins to some use?"

Next, I'll read this book, which I've had for 3 years after I swiped it from my mother's shelves.

Since I watch so much of "Escape to the Country," I now know where most of the British counties are (hooray!), and I know where Wiltshire is. 

Adam and I are recovering physically and emotionally from all the delights, anxieties, and exhaustions of the wedding week. I plan to return to some semblance of creative order in my studio. I'll let you know if I have any success!