Summer is drawing to a close.

Summer is drawing to a close. I feel it, and it is a relief. It has been such a hectic summer that a slower season seems a welcome relief. The evenings have less mosquitos, and it is pleasant to sit out after the sun hides itself behind the mountains and just enjoy the evening.
James painted these dragonflies last week, and then, one evening driving to town, the air was alive with them - none of those dainty damsel flies - the big guys with big eyes and big mouthparts - a little intimidating close up, but etherial in the air and do they ever clean up on mosquitoes and flies.
The skies are smokey, hazy, probably mostly from the fires in Washington State, but we too have the drone of little helicopters , and the cedar bugs are back. Cedar bugs are another failed experiment 0n "nature", where they were imported from Sweden, I think, to kill off some native forest bug pest. They didn't kill off the pest and they thrived and multiplied. As far as I know they are harmless, but high on the nuisance value scale. They are rather clumsy in flight, hitting the lights, landing on people, bashing into things. They look a little like a wasp in flight, and if squeezed or squished they let out a pungent stink. This time of year they are looking for cracks and crannies to overwinter in. They like to hide in the firewood and come out and bash about when we bring in wood in the winter.
Tomorrow we make another flying trip to Cranbrook, 100 km or 70 miles away. My hand mixer is dying and before it falls apart in my hands and I have to buy another $35.00 "cheapie" I am going to get a Kitchenaid. I've gone through 3 of the the Proctor Silex, Black and Decker sort you can find anywhere for $35.00 or less in the past 2 1/2 years. Within the year the beaters are falling out or, like the current one, the switch no longer works and I have to press it really hard and sideways to get it to stop. I can imagine it disintegrating in my hands.
When I first started building birdhouses 12 years ago I bought these very nice light weight little hand drills from Black and Decker and the switches went out on them in a month, a week, the last one , a day, so I bought a larger $56.00 or so Skill and it lasted about a year, until James used it building a deck and it died, so I bought an $89.00 or $99.00 Dewalt. That was 10 years ago and I am still using it.
I am imagining that the Kitchenaid handmixer will be like that. It will cost $99.00, but it doesn't take too many 35s to reach 100.
On the "glad to see fall approaching" theme, there are only 2 more Saturday Markets this year and though I really enjoy them I will be glad to see them done - for now.
We have been having more people at the gallery of late and even when we aren't in they are welcome. Today we discovered the doorbell wasn't working. People can come into the gallery but we don't hear them if we are in the house even though the gallery is attached. We also found $45.00 American from where someone bought a small painting when we either weren't home, or weren't aware.