Rain tonight. Even thunder and lightning. Poor little Chelsea. She is behaving differently during thunder storms than she used to. Instead of sticking her head under our bed when there is thunder, she stays near us but turns her back on us. We are wondering if she thinks we provide some kind of protection or if she thinks that we are bigger and that the evil stuff will get us first.

It was dry most of the day. Chelsea and I had a lovely walk this morning and I was able to clean out the pots on the deck and bring in the garden decorations. I didn't tell you this, but last night when Bobbie and I came back from Rhine there standing in the middle of the driveway were my garden gnome and my metal bee. Later I saw a gang of kids running around, so they must have been pulling a few pranks. As long as they don't break and destroy, I don't care. Actually it was rather funny.

The choir sang at the 5:00AM mass tonight. I picked up some fresh eggs from the farm at Range Line and Hwy O. I have been seeing their Eggs For Sale sign for a couple of years and finally stopped last week. I do like fresh eggs and I know that the chickens are healthier and that they eat better than the chickens that lay the eggs for the supermarkets. These eggs are all shades of brown and she said that they even have a few Aracondas, but I imagine that they keep the green eggs for themselves. I really liked having chickens when I lived in Huntington Beach. Kind of wish I could have them again. Once you get their housing set, they really aren't much trouble. Their clucking is quite comforting too.

Had bean soup made with the hunk of sugar cured ham that I brought back from Kentuky. BOY is that good soup. I fixed Marie Calendar muffins to go with the beans. Num Num.

There is a new Harry Potter movie coming out in two weeks or less. As soon as the crowds thin, Dick and I will HAVE to go.

Saddam Hussein was sitting in his office wondering whom to
invade next when his telephone rang.

"Hallo, Mr. Hussein!", a heavily accented voice said. "This is
Paddy down at the Harp Pub in County Sligo, Ireland. I am ringing to
inform you that we are officially declaring war on you!"

"Well, Paddy," Saddam replied, "This is indeed important
news! How big is your army?"

"Right now," said Paddy, after a moment's calculation,
"there is myself, my cousin Sean, my next door neighbor Seamus, and the
entire dart team from the pub. That makes eight!"

Saddam paused. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have one
million men in my army waiting to move on my command."

"Begorra!", said Paddy. "I'll have to ring you back!"

Sure enough, the next day, Paddy called again. "Mr.
Hussein,t he war is still on! We have managed to acquire some infantry
equipment!"

"And what equipment would that be, Paddy?" Saddam asked.

"Well, we have two combines, a bulldozer, and Murphy's farm
tractor." Paddy replied.

Saddam sighed. "I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 16,000
tanks and 14,000 armored personnel carriers. Also, I've increased my
army to 1-1/2 million since we last spoke."

"Saints preserve us!" said Paddy. "I'll have to get back to you."

Sure enough, Paddy rang again the next day. "Mr. Hussein,
the war is still on! We have managed to get ourselves airborne! We've
modified Harrigan's ultra-light with a couple of shotguns in the
cockpit, and four boys from the Shamrock Pub have joined us as
well!"

Saddam was silent for a minute and then cleared his throat.
"I must tell you, Paddy, that I have 10,000 bombers and 20,000 fighter
planes. My military complex is surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air
missile sites. And since we last spoke, I've increased my army to TWO
MILLION!"

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!", said Paddy, "I'll have to ring
you back."

Sure enough, Paddy called again the next day. "Top o' the
mornin', Mr. Hussein! I am sorry to tell you that we have had to
call off the war."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Saddam. "Why the sudden
change of heart?"

"Well," said Paddy, "we've all had a long chat over a bunch
of pints, and decided there's no way we can feed two million prisoners."

God Bless the Irish!

The story in italics is an old email that I received and thought you might enjoy.

Mary

Bobbie and I worked at Rhine tonight. It is the last night for league shooting and almost EVERYONE was through so it was very slow. The guys let us go home after about an hour. The last team had two more rounds and then a couple of guys came in for open shoot. I'll bet that the shooting will be over by 7:30 and then they will just sit around and drink beer and smoke cigars for a couple hours. Those guys!


Bobbie and I finished OUR pistol league shooting too. Neither of us really shone but we were not awful either. Now if Jim feels well enough, (he is home with a flu or cold) we can just go out Sunday to play. Next Friday will be the bust up. We will find out Monday at the monthly meeting what we are going to have to eat.

The Famous Kunert Spinach, Noodle and Egg Casserole was delicious. It is such a good meal, the recipe is one of the many benefits I got when I married Dick. I have shared it with many people. Some people foolishly use cheeses other than Velveeta to prepare it - But - to really get the full wonderful flavor one needs to use Velveeta. Just like there is nothing better (or more truely American) than grilled cheese made with Velveeta.

When I was a kid, we had a sandwich griddle. That griddle was black with the burned grease on it. Why we didn't all die of the fat, I'll never know. We practically lived on grilled cheese sandwiches. We would take two slices of bread, put Velveeta between the slices, butter them LIBERALLY and then smash the sandwich in that hot griddle until the cheese was all melty and nummy. MMM MMM

We also grilled peanut butter and summer sausage sandwiches. Also a culinary delight.

Have a nice Saturday.

Mary

The weather was springlike today, all the way up into the 60s. WOW. But it is chilly tonight. Tomorrow, much the same.

We went grocery shopping today after Dick got his blood checked. He is right where he should be again. Sue said that she is very proud of him. If he stays good til February he will have gone a WHOLE year without needing any adjustment on his meds.

I worked on the Christmas Tree Skirt again today. The top is assembled so I need to cut the backing and fill and pin it for the next step. That made me remember that I needed to pick up the fabric that Mother got for the backing for quilt top that she has finished. It needs to be sewn together and I had promised that I would do that for her. I picked it up tonight when I went to choir. I will take it back to her on Saturday and then we can decide when she wants to "make the sandwich" so that she can do the quilting.

I have decided - The Senior Saints at Blessed Trinity are going to have a program in late November or early December. I am getting a speaker to explain Medicare D (I need that information myself) and we will have a Christmas Tea. I will get some nice cakes and cookies and have coffee, tea and punch for refreshments. Doesn't that sound like fun.

It is time to start organizing for the Branson Trip. We will be leaving on November 14 and returning on the 19th. Branson is always fun and Bart and Barb will be joining us for one day. The day we will be seeing Yakav Smirnoff and Andy Williams. They will not go to the evening show, the Hughes Brothers, because we feel that the day will be quite long enough for Bart as it is. The following day they will leave for home. We have that morning free, so hopefully we will be able to have some visiting time then.

The dishwasher is not draining properly again. I have Sears Repair coming tomorrow. It is really annoying that one has to schedule the WHOLE day. They don't even tell you if they are coming in the morning or the afternoon, so you have to figure that you had better be there every moment. If you miss their call you have to reschedule. So I have to be sure that if I take Chelsea out, Dick answers the phone.



The above is a picture of the burning bush that is in our front yard. The burning bushes this year are spectacular. Leaves are falling so fast now that it will not be long before all the trees are but skeletons.

Have a great Friday. I am making spinach, noodle casserole if you want to come over for dinner.

Mary

I had to get my mammogram today. I just hate that. Don't you wonder why? Now I have to wait for the doctor to look at the x rays. The last two that I had required an ultrasound also. Dr. Wenberg said that I am in good health otherwise.

I finished the decorating on the tree skirt that I am making. Now I just have to assemble the pieces and then layer the backing and batting and quilt it. I hope I can get it done for Christmas. The old one is a felt one that I found at Grandma Bowser's after she died. It is rather small and very worn and faded. We really deserve a new one.

I think I will take the pieces I was working on during the Mystery tour when we go to Branson. I should be able to get the sashing between the squares. It will be a little tricky because the sashing is narrow.

Dick and I racked the Concord Grape wine today. It has a pleasant taste. The recipe says that if it is not sweet enough for your taste you can add a sugar syrup to sweeten it. I will test it in about three months when it is ready to be bottled. I had to suck the tube to get it to rack and it certainly does taste like Concord grapes.

Tomorrow, Dick gets his blood tested and then we will go grocery shopping.

The reading for today in the Cadfael Book of Days today was very good. It read:

"It is only that the step from perfectly ordinary things into the miraculous seems to me so small, almost accidental, that I wonder why it astonishes you at all, or why you trouble to reason about it. If it were reasonable it could not be miraculous, could it?" Ellis Peters

I do believe in miracles and even ordinary things.

Love

Mary

It was a nice crisp morning for Chelsea and I again. We really enjoy these Fall mornings. It was quiet. We only saw one other doggie and one walker.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. I saw Dr. Casey today. He checked my knee and reviewed the exercizes that I need to do to strengthen the muscles. Then I had church tonight. It is All Saints Day. A holy day of obligation. Most people don't consider these days so important any more. It used to be announced on the prior Sunday and we were threatened with the Mortal Sin card if we missed it for any than earthshaking reasons. Now it is noted that it is a Holy Day on the calendar that we get from the funeral home each year but is not even listed as such in the bulletin. I am confused but I am not the priest and as we have been informed - the church is not a democracy, it is a hierarchy and the priest and the diocese have the final say (and responsibility for communicating the rules as far as I can see.)

Dick and I did also bottle the Riesling. It tastes OK but needs to mature for a month or so.

Tomorrow, I have to go for my yearly physical and mammagram. I am not happy about that. Let us hope that all is OK this time - I hate going back for these "further checks".

I got the following from a friend in my e-mail. I had mine, did you get yours?

A True Lover


I shall seek and find you

I shall take you to bed and have my way with you

I will make you ache, shake and sweat until you moan and groan

I will make you beg for mercy, beg me to stop.

I will exhaust you to the point that you will be relieved when I finish with you.

You will be weak for days.

All My Love


The FLU

Now get your mind out of the gutter and go get your flue shot



Go out and enjoy tomorrow.

Mary

A nice Autumn Day for Halloween. The "goblins" were out in all their glory. We had over 100 kids come by between 4 and 7PM, the witching hour. I gave them all a candy and a copy of the English blessing.

"From Ghoulies and Ghosties
And long leggety beasties
And things that go bump in the night
Good Lord Deliver us.''

I firgued that they needed a little extra protection on this "night of the ghosts and goblins." We all commented at our bible study that guardian angels were going to be awfully busy tonight and I believe they were because there were a lot of munchkins and gnomes out there on the street begging for their candy.

Be safe and I will post again tomorrow.

Mary

This was a cool day. Jim and I went shooting this afternoon and I was not unhappy with my results. I got an 18 in trap. I might have done better had I not gotten a little shook at the beginning, because one of my ear plugs was missing (I found it on the livingroom floor when we got home) and I had to delay everybody while I went back into the clubhouse to get a new pair. But 18 is about my personal best.

Pistol was not QUITE as successful. I only got a 39 on the first, a puny 30 on the second, BUT the third was a 66. Nice day as I say.

The animals are properly confused by the change to standard time. Chelsea DID sleep until 5:30AM which was 6:30AM by her little tummy. I hope to ease her into 6:00AM again. They were all very irritated with us by 5:00Standard Time. I am sure they think we are really mean humans.

Mother and I were discussing Halloweens of years gone by. Sheboygan Falls used to have Halloween parades and prizes were given for the best costumes. One year Nora and I went in the parade with Jeff firmly ensconced between us. The older kids ALWAYS had to take care of the younger kids in our family and it was expected that we take them with us on occasions like this. Jeff was adorable, dressed like a little old man. Part of his costume slipped over his face and he still remembers Nora and I hauling him through that whole parade, him not seeing a thing. He did get a first prize in some catagory or other so I guess it was worth it. We had some really great costumes that had been passed down to us by Grandma Bowser. I remember a gypsy, an Indian, Batman. They were great as she was quite a seamstress.

Here is a little quote for slowing down and relaxing in this life. Slow down and see some of it as it passes you by.

"Happiness is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you." Nathaniel Hawthorne.


Love

Mary