On the Home Front

Sunday we invited the remaining Matthia family and Andrea. We had a nice time of fellowship and enjoyed plum cake (thanks to the boys' picking) and Carol's yummy brownies in the afternoon. Monday morning Carol, all the kids, and I took a trip to the woods. Some time ago while reading, I had told Danika that we would go to the woods during second camp. Well, right outside of our village we have the highest rise in the area (146m !), the Wartberg. Right on top of the hill is an old tower, which we climbed. The wind and the view were beautiful. The fields are empty with yellow stubble or being tilled and fertilized. Some are greening up again. In every direction you can see these modern windmills, and villages dot the country-side in the typical European fashion. The kids climbed it many more times after we had explored the little wooded area around the tower. On the south side of the woods is the entrance to an old bunker. We stepped into it a ways and got a good feeling of what it was like. There are three tunnels that go off to other areas at the back of the bunker, one of which leads to an old broken down building which was also investigated by our excited kids. We enjoyed the beautiful late summer morning a lot. Meanwhile Derek and Eldon had started their two-week summer job at the stone quarry. It was hard dusty work shoveling rock dust all day, but they were chipper when they came home, and did some mowing in the evening. Today was probably a little more difficult, as it has been raining almost the whole day since 6 a.m.. They started at 7 a.m., so are being picked up as I write. Carol and I are taking turns with the driving. (Update after Derek got back: They gave them rain gear before they got too soaked. The people are all nice, and the work was hard, because today the dust was wet and stuck to the shovels, but they kept at it.) On that note I will close. Helene will be joining us for an overnight until church tomorrow evening. The cousin "twins" have been enjoying overnights as well. Only one week of vacation left, but it has been such a nice change of pace. Lots of little projects have been tackled, and I am thankful for the progress and/or catch-up that has been possible.