Where have we been?????

The Boone County 4-H Fair starts on Friday, and Ray, Bud(husband/father) and I have been busy getting ready for fair; plus I have been judging county fair projects around the state.  So Howard Cemetery except for planning has be on the back burner.  Ray has eleven 4-H projects that he has completed. He is receiving the Farm Bureau Tenure Award for Outstanding 4-H member and he will be receiving his Ten Year Completion award the last night of fair. It is a very bitter sweet ending to his 4-H career, I remember the excitement of his first year, and soon it will be all over.  Where did the time go, our little boy has grown into a young man; in a blink of an eye.  Time has been so swift and fleeting, it runs through our fingers no matter how hard we want to stop and enjoy it. 
This year he did a project about the work that he has put into the cemetery.  He was figuring up his hours that he has physically worked in the cemetery; and he has put in 50 hours of work at the cemetery.  This does not count the hours researching the interned. Wow, that's a lot of work for one young man to have volunteered to do.  Yesterday, was Nelson Mandela's Birthday and he wanted everyone to donate 67 hours of community service to their community, as a birthday present.  I thought that would be easy, then I look at our project and realize getting 67 minutes is hard; and maybe that is not so easy for so many busy families.   
Rayke (Ray) has been riding daily, which means rising very early; as Indiana is in the middle of a horrid heat wave, the heart index is supposed to be 115 by Friday, the day he shows his horse.  This is not typical Indiana weather, and yes I am a believer of global warming!  My mother in law you is in her mid 80's and has lived here her entire life, and she never remembers the heat being this bad!    We keep a close eye on the farm animals and our dogs.  The dogs have the "Life of Riley" as all four are inside dogs.  But for dogs who normally like to play outside they are not even wanting to go out in the heat.  
So after the end of fair, back to Howard Cemetery and cleaning and repairing the stones.  It is such rewarding work!!!  Then in early August we go to another Cemetery Restoration Workshop.