We, Dick and I, got to stay home all day today. Quite a relief after two very busy weeks.

I spent a good part of the morning cleaning the garage windows, watering the gardens (it did not rain, as was promised) planting some herbs and repairing the wire crane. At least to the best of my ability. If it was not so rusted, I would take it somewhere to be welded. As it is, I just wrapped it in lots and lots of twine that I think is made of plastic and hopefully will not rot, at least until fall when I take the bird in for the winter.

Dick and I did the next steps on the White Zinfindal wine, that we are working on. Now it just has to be stirred three times a day for three days and then rest for about 30 days before bottling. The White Zin from the kit is really the best that we have tasted.

Dick's right leg is swelling up again. We are going back to the half stocking and wrapping for a day or two to see if it will bring it down. Otherwise, we will have the doctor look at it again. The left leg looks great. We are worried. A little prayer would be appreciated a LOT!!!

Love

Mary

5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts...

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a

hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who

was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only

chance of recovery appeared to be a blood

transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had

miraculously survived the same disease and had

developed the antibodies needed to combat the

illness. The doctor explained the situation to her

little brother, and asked the little boy if he would

be willing to give his blood to his sister.

I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a

deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it, if it will

save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in

bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did,

seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his

face grew pale and his smile faded.

He looked up at the doctor and asked with a

trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?"

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the

doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his

sister all of his blood in order to save her.

We went to Hunters Glen today to run the water and check things out. I cut the spent blooms off of the peony so it does not look so scraggly and dug up some oregano to plant here at Tallgrass. The ground was SO dry that I didn't get much root. I hope it is enough. Might be because oregano is really tough.

Tomorrow If it doesn't rain, I will water the garden areas here. They still look pretty good but by tomorrow will be parched.

I cleaned the kitchen this morning. Office Max delivered Dick's new chair. It needed to be assembled so we spent the second half of the morning doing that. He likes it. It has good back support but he liked the seat and the arms on the old one better. We will work on that.

Tonight I worked on the quilt. I am finishing up the binding, then it will be done. Unless something unexpected happens I will be done and can post a picture on Sunday. Then I need to decide what I will be doing next. I have one more quilt top done and have a Cathedral Window started. Well, we will see.

I heard on the news today that a study in Norway has concluded that the oldest sibling generally has the highest IQ. I find that quite believable.

Love

Mary

It was a beautiful day today. Chelsea and I started it with a walk at 6AM. She was a happy girl and got to bark at a couple of people too. I saw a heron flying overhead and there were lots of happy birds out there. After the rain we had last night. Not much but enough to freshen things up and give everything a drink.

After that I cleaned the carpet in the office and cleaned the upstairs bathrooms. At about 10, Dick and I drove to Sheboygan. We picked up his new support thigh high stockings first. Then we went to Office Max to look at chairs to replace the one that broke. We found one designed for big and tall people that fest good to him. When we got tot he checkout we found out that it was 65 dollars less than the tag said. So we were VERY happy campers. Lastly, we went over to Bed Bath and Beyond and picked up a Paraspa to do heat therapy on my hands with melted paraffin. It too was much less than we were led to believe so I got that today to.

Then home. I tried to nap but was unable to sleep so I read for a while, made some phone calls and just puttered around the house until dinner.

I mentioned last night that we had watched the AFI's selection of the best 100 movies of the past 100 years. Jaws was one of them and I enjoyed a quote from Steven Spielberg, regarding the movie. he said. "I had not intended Jaws to be a movie where you waited an hour to see the shark. Only because the shark didn't WORK did you have to wait an hour to see the darn thing."

This reminded me of a time that Bret, Bart and I went to Universal Studios for their tour. The tour consisted of a tram ride through the studio with several kind of "real movie" experiences. At one point the tram went on a track over a body or water and as we were going over the water, to our right and coming over our shoulder came JAWS. It was sudden and scary. Poor Bart, who was about six, crumpled and tried to crawl over me and out of the tram on the other side. He was just moaning. It really scared him. Then he realized that it couldn't be real and kept stammering "It's Just a Model.. It's Just a Model" I assured him that it was of course. Boy was that kid scared.

That's all folks

Mary

I just came in from sitting out on the deck for a while. Dick took a little walk tonight too. Chelsea liked that. She enjoys going out with both of us.

We had a lot of errands to do today. We started about 10AM because we had to be at the Plymouth Aurora sometime between 11 and Noon and it seemed most efficient to make a circle.

We went to the bank, then down on Mill Street to pay for the Review/Falls News (it had expired and I had not received the notice. At the end of last week, I realized that I had not received any papers that week, so I called and found out that I was no longer subscribing. Since I get local ads and obituaries and news from those two little papers, then share it with Mother it is worth the $44.00 per year.

We went from there to the Pig to do our grocery shopping and then to Aurora for the blood test and home. Took just about two hours, we were home in time for a lunch and then Dick took a nap.

I had some sewing and ironing and vacuuming to do. Now we are winding down and watching the 100 best movies of something or other. It is always fun to watch those kind of shows because we always have our own opinions as to what we would have chosen. It is surprising the memories that these shows bring back. They always show the BEST scenes.

Tomorrow will be a cleaning day. We are going to shampoo the carpet in the office which is really ucky from Chelsea drooling all over it before we go to Office Max and Bed Bath and Beyond in Sheboygan. We need to look at office chairs for Dick and Sandy from the Lymphodema Clinic said she thinks that Bed Bath and Beyond carries the paraffin dip equipment that really makes my hands feel good. I can also look for presents for Holly and John. They are getting married in August and there is a shower coming up too. She is registered at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Yesterday Mother told me that Dolores had called. Kurt and Jody are expecting their third son in August. Jody went into labor a couple of days ago. They have stabilized her but Jody has to do NOTHING for the next few weeks to be able to be sure that the baby is safe. As school is out, the timing is good because Kurt will be able to take up the slack. But pray for them and that little life.

Love

Mary

4 - Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a

roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if

anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the

king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by

and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the

King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did

anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of

vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the

peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the

stone to the side of the road. After much pushing

and straining, he finally succeeded. After the

peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed

a purse lying in the road where the boulder had

been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note

from the King indicating that the gold was for the

person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The

peasant learned what many of us never understand!

Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve

our condition.

We did get a little bit of rain last night. Enough that I only had to water a few of the planters on the deck today. And I had to add some water to the birdbath too.

Chelsea and I had a very nice walk this morning. There was a pleasant breeze that kept the mosquitoes away until we were in the woods. We ran through there so I only got bitten once. Chelsea is such a strange little dog. We walked right past a rabbit today. I saw the round brown bump out in the park with the shiny bright eyes. I could see that it was hoping that we didn't see him. Didn't have to worry about me disturbing him and Chelsea didn't see him OR the little one that was on our left nearer the woods. Pretty soon all the rabbits will just keep on grazing. They will realize that she is no harm and I certainly am not.

Dick had an appointment with Dr. Hodous to have his callouses looked at.We can't quite figure out why they are not healing. Two of them are so deep and we have done all we can with insoles and stuff. We are going to try another medication to see if that will help.

We racked the dandelion wine today. It sure is a nice color. And, seems to be getting a pleasant taste.

I also did some vacuuming and sewing this afternoon. So it was a busy day.

The rest of the week is rather quiet. I need a chance to re energise

Love

Mary

3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those

who serve.

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less,

a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and

sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in

front of him.

"How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.

"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and

studied the coins in it.

"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the

waitress was growing impatient.

"Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied

The little boy again counted his coins.

"I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.

The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on

the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice

cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress

came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the

table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish,

were two nickels and five pennies..

You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had

to have enough left to leave her a tip.

It was hot AGAIN today. We got a sprinkling of rain but not enough to be really useful for the gardens. This cold front they speak of seems to be a figment of somebody's imagination.

This morning I went to bible study. We had a pre-discussion of the worms that Shirley and her family had found in one of the holy water fonts last summer. That was very lively from, what one does with wormy holy water to the expressions on grandchildren's faces when Fr. Gene told them that SOMEBODY had to DRINK it.

Sunday is the feast of St. John the Baptist. The readings were interesting. I was surprised to find it stated very specifically in the Old Testament that the "servant of God" was to "restore the survivors of Israel" AND be "a light to the nations that my salvation my reach to the ends of the earth." So he promised heaven to everybody, not just his chosen people.

Then I went to see Mother and brought her some soup and cookies. We had a nice visit. She is very well now. I stayed until a bit after 11AM when Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Bob picked her up to take her to Uncle Pat and Aunt Joan's house in Van Dyne, just north of Fond du Lac on the west side of Lake Winnebago. Some of you may not know that Uncle Pat is Mother's youngest brother. He is only a few years older than I am.

This afternoon was the Cream City Writer's club. I enjoy these meetings but once in a while a couple of our members get onto religious or political tangents that should not be part of the meeting. Today, it turned into a heated argument between Sy Regan and Don Cooper. This was a disagreement on the prison system that turned into BOTH as religious and political debate between the two. Three of us ladies just raised our hands and told them to take it outside as this is a writer's club not a political group. That ended it right away and we continued around the table and ended quite amicably. We ended as we usually do with each member present putting in a word. Then during the next month we try to use as many of the words as we can in a poem or paragraph. It is a good exercise and as the words usually have no connection we have to stretch our minds.

Maybe you would like to try. The words this month are 1. plover 2. glorious 3. tranquil
4. concert 5. flag 6. fireworks and 7. lavender.

Kate and I had coffee after the meeting. I drove her home. She hurt her back on Friday and had been unable to drive safely. We are going to go to Hobby Lobby one of these days to frame some prints that she has AND the print that George and Betsy gave me of Courtney's Silver Taps. I think I can get it done quite nicely there as I have had other prints done there. Kate is an interior decorator and has never tried them but was impressed with the framing that I had done there last year.

I did some quilting tonight. I just have the binding to do on the kitty quilt. Then I will take a picture and post it here. It is such fun when a project is finished and one sees the results. Then I get anxious to get on to the next one.

Have a nice Tuesday. We have to be in Sheboygan to see Dr. Hodous at 9:15PM

Mary

The promised rain has not shown up - again. I have watered everything outside, so will not worry about it.

Chelsea tried to wake me up at 4:45AM this morning. I was not amused. I took her into the kitchen, made sure she had water, gave her a little lettuce and went back to bed, shutting her out of the bedroom. I managed to get back to sleep and stayed so until 6AM.

We had a nice walk and I went to the 8AM Mass. Fr. Van Beeck gave a nice talk about fathers.

Bobbie and I worked at Rhine today from noon to 4PM. We left a little before 4 as it was SO quiet that we amused ourselves by visiting with each other and the guys. It was altogether a pleasant afternoon.

As we had leftovers for supper my evening has been very relaxed and easy. Dick had cards on the computer this morning from Dick and Brenda and Bobbie and Bill. Then both Bart and Dick called tonight so he has been a very popular guy. He is always so pleased in his heart when he is remembered.

I am all prepared for tomorrow. I have Bible Study and Writer's Club. I am still writing my haikus each day. I did miss two days but made it up the next day. I hope that counts. I try to do it in the morning so that I do not forget but occasionally the day starts goofy and things slip by. Some are kind of interesting when I go back and read them and some are icky. But there you are. At least something is done each day. I feel that way about this blog too. It has become a journal.

Bobbie and I had such a nice afternoon. She brought me some of her soap too. I was about out of it and am so glad she still has some.

Here is today's haiku:

Suddenly I knew
That bunnies and birds can
Bring peace to my heart.

Love

Mary

2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain

One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American

woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway

trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had

broken down and she desperately needed a ride.

Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.

A young white man stopped to help her, generally

unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man

took her to safety, helped her get assistance and

put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his

address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a

knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a

giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A

special note was attached..

It read:

"Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway

the other night. The rain drenched not only my

clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along.

Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying

husband's bedside just before he passed away... God

bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving

others."

Sincerely,

Mrs. Nat King Cole.