More good times with Micah, Otis, Amon, and Fox (June 28-July 5, 2022)

A "little" basketball at Otis's court on the garage side of the house.

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Otis and Micah have four controllers for video game competition.

Fox at the fire pit.

Micah's ukulele group meets around the fire pit.  Sometimes he sets up the outdoor movie screen for a movie night.  Good times!
 

Amon and Fox came to town! (June 28-July 5, 2022)

Amon, Otis, and Fox tossing the football

BB gun practice

Amon and Micah at the fire pit.  Because, once again, when it isn't triple-digit hot, but as low as the 50s as night, a natural gathering spot is around the fire pit.

I thought it would be too cold to swim at the Sellwood Park outdoor pool, but it turns out the pool was heated! Portland has year-round indoor pools at several community centers too.  

Amon's big splash

Fox and I had never been to a Cirque du Soleil performance so we caught Alegria. I must have had a stunned expression on my face the entire time!  The performers were so agile and strong!  How on earth do you balance your entire body on one arm?  I'm still doing wall pushups....
 

Man cave and Moto hangout (June 22, 2022)

The inside of Micah's free standing double garage is a work space and a retreat.

Mini-fridge plus. Saving the sink for the bath remodel.

Moto likes to hang out under the bird feeder. The accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is across the fence.
 

Portland! (June 21-July 14, 2022)

Micah and Moto.  Check out the masks Micah made (on the bookshelf behind him).

The promise of blackberries in Micah's yard.

Roses from one of Micah's rose bushes.

 

Hive collapse? (June 20,2022)

We discovered dead bees in the bottom of their hive on June 20, 2022.  Yet the bees in our other hive are thriving. We have no idea what happened to this hive. Varroa mites? Colonies are collapsing worldwide for no discernible reason. Pesticides? Climate change? We'll replace the hive and add several more next April.

The honey stores were empty. Robber bees? Sometimes a stronger hive will attack a weaker one, robbing the weaker hive's honey. How does that work? Little drops of honey on bee legs like when bees take pollen back to a hive? Stop by and devour the honey, using the weaker hive as a feeding station?  We still have so much to learn!

We left the frames from the dead hive exposed so our thriving hive could scavenge the honeycomb wax. We most recently checked on the thriving hive around July 20: still going strong! It's too hot to install new hives now, with Austin having experienced the hottest July on record. The mean temperature of 90.6 (using daytime highs and nighttime lows) is 4.8 degrees above average. Going back 125 years, the top six hottest Julys on record in Austin have all occurred since 2009. 
 

Funny kitties (mid-June 2022)

TC has decided Fox's Olaf stuffie is his.  He carries it around the house and sometimes sleeps with it.

I closed the kittens in the bathroom when Camille and her big dog Valerie came over. After Camille and Valerie left, I discovered the kittens cooling off in the sink.

When you start to outgrow your favorite napping spot....