O it's been nearly a month now since I last wrote here, hasn't it? Missed me much? I was introverting and reading a lot and having the most vivid craziest dreams for a bit in there leading up to the solstice. Wild and vivid dreams.... And then the last week or so my sister's family was in the area so I spent all my time with them and my parents while they were around. 

It was great to get some time with all of them!!! I already miss them, though Waffles (who used to be their dog before she became mine) was incredibly excited to see them then worried they might be taking her home with them sticking close to me and she was soooo happy that she had me to herself all day today and spent the whole day snuggled up on me. I also slept a lot today (making it easy for the pupper to curl up with me all day)  because my body had a LOT of sunburn to work on healing.... I burned my upper back quite badly getting my plants taken care of back on Sunday after the solstice -- it's not that I failed to put sunscreen on, but I DID get such hyperfocus that I forgot to reapply it for the third time and so my back had over an hour without any sunscreen to make it extra crispy.... And then I wasn't planning to join them up at Kalahari but we got me a wrist band after all so I came up on Monday and then the bad storms overnight meant I stayed overnight with my sister's family on the pull out couch in their suite and spent a second day up at Kalahari/Tom Foolery with them all while VERY sunburned on my upper back. Luckily, my sister had an extra rash guard swim shirt I could borrow for the outdoor parks day so I didn't have to try to buy one before joining them because all my swimsuits are halter ties and expose my upper back.  Monroe (my niece, a Leo, she's very nurturing and motherly and likes to do nice things for people make other people happy) did a great job helping to aloe my back and put ice/cold towels on it and Badger after sun balm (which helps reduce peeling and keep the skin underneath the peeling healthy) on it for me across the week.  But then on the pontoon boat yesterday, when I reapplied my sunscreen, some of it got rubbed off by cuddles/hugs with the three niblings in their life jackets (required for kids they wear them the whole time) making for odd shaped more sunburned than the rest of me. And everywhere was slightly burned because it was enough time I needed a third reapplication that didn't happen on the boat AND I got distracted part way through the second sunscreening application (which I only remembered because my sister and brother-in-law do NOT have my time blindness so they remembered reapplying for themselves and the kiddos which reminded me to do it, lol) which means my legs never got the second application and the tops of my thighs got VERY painfully sunbunrned. Bad enough that when I went to use the bathroom at Sushi Lover for lunch, when I stood in front of the mirror to wash my hands and saw how pink they already were I just went, "O no..." I cooled them in the pool at their hotel after lunch while the kids were swimming (I had my bikini top on for the boat ride under my tank instead of a bra but didn't bring swimsuit bottoms so couldn't actually swim with the kids) but my thighs are still really burned as are my face/arms/shoulders/back/chest that needed the second reapplication (third sunscreen application) it didn't get. Whoops! I'll heal -- and then being me, I'm sure I will continue to get sunburned until summer is over. My summer skin is generally sunburned and doesn't really like to be touched unless you're gentle trying to help with aloe or after burn cream due to the sunburns discomfort.)

Anyway, it was good to see them all and to have an excuse for extended family play time and having the kiddos around and all the joking with my sister.  As of right now, I don't think I'll see any of them again until December when I visit them for Christmas. (But since tickets are already bought, I should start shopping sooner rather than later for them.  because last year, I couldn't find much that was packable and worth the price point when I started shopping after Irishfest time. Especially since there are five of them for me to bring gifts for and my sister ALWAYS overbuys for me when she invites me over for Christmas because they say I'm easy/fun to buy for... And the kids are easy to shop for but my sister and brother-in-law are NOT easy to buy for unless  you go completely random unexpected because they have lots of money and buy what they want whenever they find it...)  Although if my sister had her way, I'd also come join them in Orlando for their Disney World trip, lol.

 Anyway, I don't have much to write about here tonight unless you want stories from their visit and me spending so much time with my family for the last week and a half. I don't yet have a cat (though I've been browsing the local cats as they show up at the local rescues/shelters) and so probably won't adopt my next kitty until after Irishfest season because they shouldn't be settling in while I'm gone so much every weekend and trying to fit all my hours in between all the live music and friends from far away being around. (Basically if you're not an Irish fest musician/friend, don't expect to see or hear from me much last week of July (Seo Linn have a concert in Chi on July 31 thus kicking off my Leo season full of Irish/Scottish music and friends from all over the world) and then pretty much all of August -- schedules are out for the fests so  though typically buy tickets early when they're cheaper before schedules. Anyway, you gotta choose this month or wait until Sept if you want my time and attention. Gonna be seeing a LOT of all the Skerryvore lads this year actually based on their schedules...) 

Most of July is going to be taking care of my plants daily watering whenever there isn't storms.  I have two sets of APT tickets (Midsummer Night's Dream next Tues on the 8 and ART on the 15) and will be keeping an eye on rush tickets for anything we didn't already buy or that we want to see a second time. Also July is Concert on the Square season (free weekly chamber orchestra picnic concerts on the capital lawn -- there are speakers/screens all around the square so if you have kiddos who will need to run and not yet be quiet for the concert, you can still come and picnic with them and sit further away from where the Chamber Orchestra sets up so your kiddos can enjoy the experience but not be disturbing the neighboring blankets.) Crissy works right across the street, so it's easy for her to go put out blankets asap in the afternoon for us to have a good place without having to pay for the tables. (I will be at a table on the 23 for the Dark Side of the Moon guest artists show -- my parents wanted to see that one but they decided to buy a table which my mum is trying to fill still, not sure how many seats she still has to fill.)   It's mostly all in July at this point, they used to do more shows, but now it's only 6 weeks of it (and we skipped the first week because my sister was in town and it was a motown guest artist so was probably very good but not really chamber orchestra (generally my favorite weeks) or anything of interest to my sister and her family.)   So tomorrow will be my first Weds Concerts on the Square of this season. AND, Leopold's bookstore and bar recently added a Weds happy hour where if you buy a book between 4-7p you get a free glass of preosecco and they are right on my way downtown for Concerts on the Square. Terribly convenient as I can always find me a book (the difficulty is in keeping myself to buying just ONE book, lol) and with the world as it is right now,  book shopping for adding to my joy and  a glass of prosecco to celebrate being surrounded by books is a good thing.  So that's about all my plans for July, a couple sets of tickets for APT picnics and plays in the woods, Weds Concerts on the Square, Sat morning early Farmer's markets and lots of watering plants and time to read and getting hours in working. (which is what I'm doing right now.) O, and Art Fair weekend is in there -- the 12/13 and so my mum and Crissy and I will go one of those days (no idea if anyone else will join us.) Also I think Crissy may have picked up $5 tickets to some random production of Importance of Being Earnest put on somewhere in Milwaukee on 11 which may be laughably terrible, but I had marked myself interested to an ad for it because I love the play and it was cheap so when she saw I had marked myself interested on facebook, she asked about it and we decided we should go because even if it's a bad production the play is delightful and we will be able to laugh at it. Um, I don't have any 4th of July plans other than hanging out with my dog and making sure I come in to water the plants and give them water bottles because it's gonna be back up to the low 90s again on Fri/Sat.  I don't have plans to go see the fireworks anywhere or anything. Not sure if that will change, on verra.

 So anyway, more or less that's what I've been up to and what I have remaining for Cancer season (and the start of Leo season)  -- balance of time with family/close friends and some plays and concerts and picnics and caring for my plants and hermit time with my doggo and resting up a bit before we get into the whirlwind of Irish fest season. 

 And I'm very behind on these, but they've been pretty wonderful the last few weeks and the two signs are still dancing meanings together. (though interestingly, Martin the hot (and incredibly kind) bagpiper of Skerryvore is a Pisces and he can get right up next to me in my space bubble without me realizing. This is a rare thing for me, but every person I've ever known who can do it have been Pisces family/pets/friends/ex-boyfriends... But not every Pisces in my family/pets/friends/ex-boyfriends can do it, it's just everyone who can do it get close to me within my space bubble without me realizing have all been Pisces. I don't know if it's because my rising sign is Pisces and this is normal for rising sign-sun sign synastry or if it's something just about me and how Pisces and I interact...)  But anyway, Libra and Pisces weekly horoscopes still dancing in dialogue together and not with any other signs and no other signs are doing this. It's been like a year and a half now since I noticed it and I'm not sure there's any meaning to it, but I'll keep sharing it here for as long as it seems to be going on.

Astro Poets Horoscopes:

"Week of 6/15 in Libra: The very essence is in dreams. You try to say this. You hold it all as far away as it can be. But a dream is close. Love is closer."

"Week of 6/15 in Pisces: No more time into the grey. And instead a sort of brief horizon. Another rainbow that builds upon itself. That’s bliss. Go into it." 

"Week of 6/22 in Libra: Everything beginning with flowers. There’s a heart in the middle of it. Pure light energy remains. It all can capture a kind reminder. Something purple and ringing like truth."

"Week of 6/22 in Pisces: You knew it all as a right piece of dreams. But you did not have them. So it goes and an arrival. You let the light. You sang without indifference."

"Week of 6/29 in Libra: An unbelievable force of love. New beginnings and the result of magic. There is that and more friendship. But what is it that lies between. The rest of it."

"Week of 6/29 in Pisces: You can rest and see the sights. There’s no need to overwork yourself now. More rainbows and a pond. A ladder that moves. Go into the water it is faithful."