I did a bit of shopping today. I went to the Kohler Mall and hit Target and Elder Berman. It was NOT easy, but I did find a jacket and two tops in the nice new pinks and a green. I also went to Payless and picked up two pair of shoes for spring and summer.

We took Chelsea to the vet today. She is completely over her bladder infection and we had her heartworm test. Hopefully, this will be it for animals for a bit. Actually, Oscar needs his teeth cleaned but all shots and physicals are done for a whole year.

I received the nicest letter today from the Milwaukee Art Museum. I had sent three poems for a poetry contest. None of mine placed but they were very kind and invited me and all other contestants, I am sure, to the reading in June. I will share them with you one at a time. They were to be based on works of art housed at the museum. If you want to see the art, it can be found on the Museum site which is mam.org/collections.

The first if about "The Wood Gatherer" 1881 by Jules Bastien-Lepage. I also call the poem

The Wood Gatherer

Grandfather gathers the wood
His Granddaughter gathers flowers
His gruff and gentle care surround her
Her joy is his fountain of youth

His Granddaughter gathers flowers
Chattering, pattering. He points out a bunny
Her joy is his fountain of youth
In the moist misty shelter of the forest.

Chattering, pattering. He points out a bunny.
He is bent with the weight of the wood and his years
Her joy is his fountain of youth
She dances with the blooms clutched in her fingers

He is bent with the weight of the wood and his years.
His gruff and gentle care surrounds her
Together they wander through the glen
Grandfather gathers the wood.


Tomorrow, Dick and I are going to the Fireside to see West Side Story. I have never seen it on stage and am looking forward to it.

Have a good Saturday.

Mary

We took both kitties to the Vet today for their annual checkups. They are both just fine. Roxie has maintained her rather overweight 9 lbs but Oscar has dropped from 15 to 13.5 lbs which is great. So we are going to just continue feeding as we are. Poor Oscar is going to have to go back to have his back teeth cleaned. He has a lot of tarter on them. Tomorrow, Chelsea goes in for her heartworm test. Then we will be done for a year (I hope) These animals have been mighty expensive lately.

I have some leftover sliced strawberries and blueberries. I found a recipe for "ice Cream". It is very simple and sounds very good. You just blend in a blender

10 oz of frozen strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup heavy cream

Blend the fruit until roughly chopped. Slowly pour in the heavy cream until totally blended. Can be served immediately or frozen for up to one week.

Have a nice Friday.

Mary

Got involved in putting a quilt top together last night and did not get around to posting.

Just a note this morning. I will expand tonight.

The duck family is back. I saw them this morning at the drainage ditch. I hope that they leave some of the marshy area for them. So much of it got dug up and the last NICE area was cut down last fall. Anyway - I was glad to see them.

Mary

Today was FUN. I met Joan Schueffner in Plymouth, and we went shopping at the Sewing Basket for fabric for the quilt that members of Blessed Trinity are going to put together for a raffle at Celtic Faire.

We had such fun picking out the base fabric, the backing and some of the fabrics that we will add ourselves for our blocks. The base fabrics are really beautiful. We have 8 other very enthusiastic quilters and are planning on approaching two more so there will be a dozen of us to make 30 squares. I have decided to do three Celtic Knots. I am looking for some kind of different patterns, though for sure, I will do the Claddagh that Eileen and I picked up several years ago.

We are going to give each of the quilters a fat quarter of the base and they can make ANY 12 inch block they want, (preferably with a Celtic flair) as long as there is some of the base fabric in the block.

Tomorrow, I will be home all day and all evening. I am going to quilt and write and rest. It will be SOOOOOOOOOO nice.

Jeff and Kathy sent me several good Irish jokes. Here is one of them.

Irish Last Request
Mary Clancy goes up to Father O'Grady's after his Sunday morning service, and she's in tears.
He says, "So what's bothering you, Mary my dear?"
She says, "Oh, Father, I've got terrible news. My husband passed away last night."
The priest says, "Oh, Mary, that's terrible. Tell me, did he have any last requests?"
She says, "That he did, Father..."
The priest says, "What did he ask, Mary?"
She says, "He said, 'Please Mary, put down that damn gun!'

What a glorious day we had today. It was 57 degrees when I was out in Plymouth this afternoon. I understand that rain is on the way. Then the worms will come out of the ground and cover the street. It is really icky to walk but the robins REALLY like it and get very fat.

Mary

We are still studying Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians in bible study. We are on chapter 14 which goes into a lengthy discussion of the gifts of tongues, prophecy and the interpretation of tongues. The gift of tongues is a strange one. The Charismatics claim that it exists and during their services, I understand that people still do speak in tongues. This gift, as I understand it, is a prayer of praise or whatever to God inspired by the Holy Spirit in a language unknown except to someone who has the gift of interpreting tongues, who is hopefully in the congregation.

Sounds odd and a bit goofy, but apparantly, the Corinthians and even Paul put a great deal of importance to it. Paul, however, does note that is is a useless gift if it does not help the community to grow in love and knowledge of God. He says that prophecy is the greater gift because everyone understands what is being said.

Does prophecy exist today? Does the gift of tongues exist today? Probably, but as Paul said then, if someone comes into a congregation of people speaking in a language that noone understood they would consider the congregation a bunch of madmen. Om addition, prophets in this day would be and are considered objects of ridicule or charletons.

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day. The sun shone and the temperatures got up to the mic 50s. My tulip bulbs are peeking their little heads above the ground. We opened the office door so that the kitties could peek out and start enjoying the spring smells.

We are thinking of getting Chelsea clipped for the summer. I think she would be much more comfortable with some of that hair off of her. I also might be able to get all the tangles under control.


Don’t let go of my hand!
The sky has no ceiling
The sea has no floor
The world has no walls
I might float away.

Mary

Happy Easter! It was a blessed day. Mass was quite nice- we had a baptism of a little baby boy which is always a pleasure and a sign of new life.

Then I had to work at Rhine which was kind of silly but there were 11 groups that shot a round of trap so some people must NOT have anything better to do. I did shoot my first rounds for the new pistol league and did pretty well.

Bobbie and Bill joined us for a turkey dinner tonight. It was good. A nice time to fix turkey before it gets too warm. The smallest one I could find was 14 lbs so we will be eating turkey for a while.

Fr. Gene told a story of a little girl who thanked her priest for telling her that her dress was pretty, told the priest that she thought so too but that her mother said that it was "hell to iron."

It reminded me of my cousin Linda Hoyum's daughter, Kim. One Christmas, Kim, then three, was taking a nap. While she was sleeping Linda put up the tree and decorated it so it would be a nice surprise for Kim when she woke up. She got done in time and waited to watch Kim's face when she saw the beautiful display that
had been created. Imagine her surprise when Kim came out of the bedroom, stared in wonder at the tree, put her hands on her little hips and exclaimed, "Well, I'll be a son of a bitch."

Have a nice week.

Mary