“There’s nothing like a sunny day in July to remind you of how wonderful life can be.” [Anon]

July is here, the lazy, happy middle month of summer. It’s a month full of memories of days on the lake or at the swimming pool, of playing out of doors biking, roller-skating, or running through the sprinkler as a kid or sliding downhill hollering on a slip-and-slide. July is the time for summer camps, vacations, outdoor fun, and it’s a good time for cookouts or day trips to parks or local sites. July is garden time, too, when the wonder of fresh produce, like homegrown tomatoes, corn on the cob, beans, okra, squash, melons, and other garden-fresh foods, arrive in the garden and at the local markets. Despite a little heat, July is a time to make memories between the busier months of the year and it’s always one of my favorite months.

Around continuing tasks to get our house cleaned out and some needed updates done, we’re working on researching and planning several new books, and sneaking in some summer pleasures of our own. Our only event this month is for the Grainer County Tomato Festival we go to every year  in the rural countryside of Rutledge, Tennessee. For a fun getaway plan to come and get fresh garden produce, watch the tomato wars, talk to all the vendors, listen to some of the local performers, and enjoy a drive out in the countryside.

Be sure to also enjoy my latest “Free Story” in my July Blog called “Back To Meadowbrook.” Find it at this link: http://www.linstepp.com/blog/

More in August … Have a Happy Summer. … Lin

SIGNING EVENT – Rutledge, TN area – Friday July 18, [Hrs 12-6] and Saturday, July 19, [Hrs 9-6] GRAINGER COUNTY TOMATO FESTIVAL, 7480 Rutledge Pike, Rutledge, TN  37861 [ Look for us in the entry area of the Rutledge Elementary School Auditorium].