The fireworks are over and summer is moving quickly along. Many are thinking about vacations and how the rest of the summer will be spent. We will be going to Muscatine to visit my sister and in August we will be going again to attend a wedding.

This brings up the question of my hip. At last I’m starting to heal and the walker is gone most of the time and therapy is working to get me going again. The one thing I missed the most was not being able to drive, but after my next surgeon’s visit I think I’ll be able to get behind the wheel again. This will be a mixed blessing for the husband because the way things are now, he knows where I’m at.

Here are some summer facts that are interesting. Did you know: The average American eats around 5 1/2 gallons of ice cream in a year. July is the National Ice Cream month because it is the month most ice cream is sold.

Mosquitoes have been around for 30 million years. They can detect mammals from 100 feet away especially warm-blooded creatures (that’s why they love humans). And they have visual sensors that detect movement and contrast in colors.

A cricket chirp frequency fluctuates with temperature. Count the number of times a cricket chirps in 15 seconds, then add 37 to whatever number you reach and you have an approximate outside temperature on Fahrenheit.

Watermelon is actually a vegetables, not a fruit. It is most related to the cucumber, pumpkin and squash. The watermelon is composed of 92 percent water and early explorers often used hollowed out watermelons as canteens.

Popsicles were invented by accident by an 11-year old boy named Frank Epperson in 1905. He accidently left a mixture of powdered soda and water, with a stirring stick on his porch and awoke the next morning to find a frozen pop! Cherry flavor popsicle is the number one favorite flavor.

LOAF PAN POPSICLES

Makes between 6-8

popsicles. Regular loaf

pan, 5 or 6 large popsicle

sticks, wax paper or tin

foil, scotch tape.

INGREDIENTS- 2

cups regular vanilla

yogurt

Freshly squeezed juice

from 2 oranges

DIRECTIONS- in a blender mix the yogurt with the orange juice until frothy. Pour this mixture into the loaf pan. Cover with wax paper, or tin foil and secure it with tape.. Make small slivers on top of the paper, about 1 inch apart and put the sticks in. The paper in place. Freeze overnight. Once the mixture is fully frozen it is ready to eat. Carefully wet the outside of the pan with hot water until the frozen mixture easily comes out of the pan. Put the whole block of ice on a cutting board and cut into individual pops. They can be wrapped individually and put back in the freezer.

“Summertime suggestion is to not eat anything that’s not frozen and on a stick.”