It was HOT HOT HOT today. We went on our bus tour to the Fireside to see Evita so were sheltered from it all day, but the thermometers on the way down and back showed temperatures of 87 and more. Of course, Bart and Barb would tell us that these are NOTHING compared to the plus 1oo degrees that they have been experiencing.

We are spoiled. We went from an air conditioned house, to an air conditioned car, to an air conditioned bus, to an air conditioned restaurant/theater and back again. Such a life.

The performance was wonderful. An extremely talented and enthusiastic troupe of performers who, from the leads to the ensemble, put their hearts and souls into every number. Evita is always moving and this is the play which has the song Another Suitcase in Another Hall properly sung by Peron's mistress as she is kicked out by Evita. I did not like the song being sung by Madonna, as Evita, in the movie. It ruined the whole point and I felt that she hogged it. Perhaps she was afraid of being upstaged.

The meal, as always was wonderful. They fix the best salads. This had a very delicate lemon vinegarette on fresh greens with avocado and grape tomatoes. We also had ribs and chicken and stuffed baked potato. Then WE were stuffed. It is cool that they send cookies with the buses for their trip home.

Got home at about 6:30PM and played some rummy with Jim and Michelle. Michelle whipped us all.

Sleep tight.

Mary

For some reason, it has seemed like Saturday all day today. It was well over 80 degrees and muggy. I had lunch in Plymouth with the Well Fargo ladies. Actually there were only three of us today but it was nice to get out and visit with Ceil and Barb. We always go to the Dairy Queen in Plymouth. They have great grilled cheese sandwiches. I had that and an order of onion rings.

I dropped the baby present for my nephew Todd and his wife Stacy's baby who is due next month. The baby shower is tomorrow and Dick and I are going to be seeing Evita at the Fireside, so I won't be able to go. I am really looking forward to the day. My friend Helen Morgan went to see the production at the Fireside and said that the woman who plays Evita is wonderful. We will be able to spend the $10 coupon that I won the last time we sent to the Fireside.

We had Swedish meatballs with noodles, stuffed mushrooms, cabbage and cole slaw for dinner. I made a bluberry pie but everybody but me was too full to eat. Jim and Michelle went to a movie and will probably have theirs when they get home tonight. Otherwise I will be eating a lot of pie. I DO love that pie as the blueberries are so crisp and juicy and they are really fresh, held together with a cooked sauce.

I trimmed the two bushes underneath the office window this afternoon. Now I can do the two next to the birdbath and be ready to start all over again. Actually, the major work is done and it will be a matter of just maintaining.

Dic I tell you that our peony bloomed. It is the most beautiful pink. I cut one and put it in a bowl on the table.

Have a great day tomorrow.

We will. The food at the Fireside is so good and I will bring home a couple of loaves of their wonderful bread.

Love

Mary

This day that was supposed to have "scattered showers" which turned into a steady downpour from 10:30AM to about 1:00 PM - just when I had gone out to Rhine to TRY to shoot for the morning league. I stayed until almost Noon, then gave up. I was hoping that I would be able to just shoot one round a week for the last four weeks. Now, I will have to shoot two, at least for one week.

I cleaned out the coat closet in the front entry hall. I have decided that keeping the boxes that things were given to me in is really silly. Lots of people thing it adds to the value of the piece if you ever decide to sell it, but why would I. Anyone who inherits it will either have to love it for what it is or just sell it without the original box. How much STUFF can a person keep?

We bottled the Wild Grape and Banana wine today. I got the wild grapes from Brian and Becky's land. I have named it Becky's Monkey Brew in honor of sweet Becky. It actually tastes pretty good now, which is unusual for a scratch wine. We will however let it age for a year as it DOES have a bit of a harsh undertone.

Tonight I went over to the Quilt Guild meeting to turn in my challenge block. The speaker was Klaudeen Hansen, a quilter, quilt teacher and quilt judge. She is one of only 70 accredited quilt judges in the United States. She said that she and the other judges are always giving classes to help train other judges. Her talk tonight was on log cabins. Her slide show consisted of actual log cabins interspersed with log cabin quilts in endless varieties shapes, colors and twists. I loved it. I will have to try one someday. I described to her the one that I saw on Simply Quilts that had a uniform fireplace piece (center) and then varying width logs. When each "square" is completed it is squared, then they are all sashed together. It is a marvelous concept and I thougth would be good for Bart if he chooses to do another as it is a very forgiving piece, not requiring matching and squaring up too much.

She told me she was invited to appear on Simply Quilts - BUT - she would have had to pay her own transportation, hotel, cab fare and meals. Then the show is scripted, you are not allowed to really say what you want so she passed.

So My day was busy. Tomorrow , we shop and Dick gets his finger pricked. The rest of the day is mine all mine.

Love

Mary

This day was one incident after another. When Chelsea and I were on our walk (a really lovely walk by the way) she found a dirt pile and rolled in it before you could say lemony snicket. I ended up having to give her a bath. The black streaks on her shoulders were bad enough but this was brown dirt all over her side, tummy and legs. I tried something new. I took her into the shower and used the telephone shower nozzle. It worked great. Guess what, Chelsea. No more sink. No more splattered windows. She was very disappointed in me.

Then Dick and I went to Mc Donalds in Plymouth for a late breakfast on our way to meet with Bill Cain, my realtor friend. This was a good part of the day. We are investigating the value of our house in anticipation of a possible move back into a condo in the next year or two. Bill gave us an informed evaluation and we were very pleased with the information that he was able to provide.

The more difficult part may be finding a condo (or two) that meets our needs.

Then I came home and attempted to water the plants. I found that Jim had replaced ONE of the couplings on the hose but the other one was broken too and he had not rehooked things. SO I made a trip over to Menards and got the piece I needed and got that all squared away. I got some more liquid fence at the same time, because I am determined to keep those darned rabbits away from my green beans.

I had a lunch meeting with Mary Pitsch who runs Next Stage Planning here in Sheboygan County. I received valuable information that I will have available to pass on to the Senior Saints in Sheboygan Falls. She provided evaluations, names and numbers for help in almost all aspects of aging. If needed she will come right with the senior to arrange or to handle the problems. She does, of course, charge for her services. But she works to help those who do not fit under the county, no fee, plans.

Then, I came back home and found that one of the Roombas is not working properly. I finally got the other one to function and at least the hall got vacuumed.

THEN, I discovered that the garbage disposal side of the sink was leaking. Apparently, when one leaves water in it soaking something, it leaks. I now have the cleanest under the sink in the county.

Bless Dick's heart, he took me out for dinner tonight. We went to Pa Thai, a Thai restaurant that we had heard good things about. We were not disappointed. Dick and I both ordered with medium hot sauce. It was spicy and we liked it but were sure glad that we chose not to get the hot sauce. I got a pork, almond dish and Dick got chicken fried rice. We have plenty for at least one more meal.

Now, I am trying to do some computer catching up. So far, the envelope program gave me fits and I am having trouble figuring out some aspects of Microsoft Publisher, which I will need in order to get my chap book published.

I think I am ready for tomorrow, today was just too much trouble.

Hope yours was MUCH better.

Mary

It was a lovely day today. The temperatures were only in the high 60s but the sun was shining, the skies were blue and the breeze was gentle and pleasant. So life was good.

I went to Bible Study by way of Mother's house. I cashed a check for her. When I got there she asked me to call to order some ostomy equipment for her. She hates getting on those phone calls where you have to press all the numbers and then wait through a concert to get to a real person. It turned out to be rather a disaster. First, they couldn't locate the number of the product that she needs, then they gave me a number to call that said they don't carry the brand she uses. So I finally had to call back and have her just try to order the number and name that Mom had before. I also found out that Medicare only lets her order 20 of her ostomy bags at a time. What a crock. A person uses one a day. I can't for the life of me figure out WHY they would not allow 30, just like pills. We will have to get a special request from her doctor and ask for a variance to change that. Her next physical is next month so we can try to rectify that at that time. I see no reason why a 90 year old little lady should have to be ordering a need every three weeks. Like Mom says, they aren't exactly black market items.

Writer's Club was very interesting. We had a new person come. A friend of Sylvia Bright Green. She writes mainly greeting card verses. She is very good and is trying to provide for two special markets, people in prison and people in hospice.

Tonight I did a bit of sewing with the Blessed TRinity Quilters. I now have TWO squares that I have to finish. It is coming along OK, but will take a while. Marlene brought a copy of the Quilters' Beatitudes

Blessed are the quilters, for they are the peacemakers.
Blessed are the quilters, for they shall make ends meet.
Blessed are the quilters, for they know how to cut corners.
Blessed are the quilters, for they keep us in stitches.
Blessed are the quilters, for they make great comforters.
Blessed are the quilters, for they patch things up.
Blessed are the quilters, for they save energy.
Blessed are the quilters, for they put color in our lives.

Enjoy

Mary

It was only 48 degrees when Chelsea and I walked this morning. Quite crisp. She got a second walk while I was gone to church. Jim and Michelle went out and invited her to go along. They think she is funny. Actually she is, but they experienced the rolling on the grass and her barking at dogs and announcing herself as she goes along. As Michelle says, her bark is not really that loud or impressive, so what the heck. Let her bark. She is VERY tired tonight.

The Lavender Scones that I made yesterday were delicious. I am looking for different recipies to try with herbs from my garden. Next week, I will try English Lemon Thyme Cookies. I harvested some rhubarb this afternoon too. I am freezing that as we have enough desserts right now and later on I will be able to just whip up a pie when no one is expecting it.

We are watching the Tony Awards. As usual, we don't know anything about many of the things out there, but this is how we find out and get kind of hip about it. It is always nice to see the legends. Frankly, Dick and I were both surprised that Patricia Neal is still living. An interesting note, she won a Tony about 60 years ago and it was stolen. They replaced it for her this year. Took them long enough if you ask me. I guess one just has to get old enough.

Perhaps we will get back to New York. I would like too as we couldn't go to Liberty Island, or up into the Empire State Building or several other places when we were there, because of 9-11. So I figure, I have one coming. Otherwise, often, these plays go on the road and then Maybe we can get to them.

Next Saturday, we are going to the Fireside to enjoy a great meal and Evita. One of my friends went to an earlier performance and said that the lead is just wonderful.


Have a good week. Tomorrow I will be going to Bible Study, Writer's Club and to sew on the church quilt. Remember. I will be selling raffle tickets for it. I will put a picture on the blog when we get it done and on display.

Love

Mary