It was a real Friday. Chelsea and I went for another brisk chilly walk. I wore sweatshirt and was still not very warm. She likes it though.

Then I cleaned the kitchen and watched Regis and Kelly. I had heard that this was Regis's 20th anniversary show and that Kathy Lee was coming back and I was interested in that. It was a nice show. They showed all their kids then and now which was really kind of fun.

I left early for lunch with the bank people and did some errands. I stopped at 52 Stafford and made reservations for a table on October 17 for our next Celtic Women Club meeting. Had a nice visit with Ann there. They still remember me from when I would always take off St. Patrick's Day and then Dick and I would go to the Stafford on March 16th. Blarney always comes to play on March 16. We would spend the night and be there to attend Mass in the Inn (which is not done anymore) and walk in the Irishman's Walk, which still is occurring every March 17th.

I picked up some fabric to finish the baby quilts at The Sewing Basket, picked up the corn from Capelle's and got gas. I had a half tank which is usually really enough but I am driving to Wauwatosa to meet Gail Mc Aleese and hitch a ride with her, Rosemary Bauman, and Sheila Isaacson and Eileen Niehouse to Chicago for the CWI annual meeting. We are just going for the meeting and lunch so I will be back that evening, probably not too late.

This afternoon was a nap, and getting Dick's legs ready for his shower and then doctored afterwards. We can't neglect them. I hope Dr. Siddique has good news when we see him on Wednesday.

At lunch we were talking about misbehaving appliances and I remembered the first dryer I ever had. We bought it for $20 from Steve Hansen, a really good friend. He even hooked it up for me and all. Believe it or not this was in California and I had it out on the patio outside the garage. It worked just fine, but lint did gather underneath and one had to keep checking it. One day Bret came running in the house, he was about 4 and I thought he said "A spider! A spider!" So I told him to step on it. He repeated and I again told him to step on it. Finally he just glared at me and said "The dryer is burning." Sure enough the dryer lint had gotten too hot and was smoldering.

For some reason or other this reminded me of California. I experienced a couple of earthquakes when I lived out there. The most impressive, of course, was the Sylmar Quake. But there is a rather funny story that a friend had to tell. Earthquakes cause the ground to move in several different patterns. One is a rolling and one is a jerking and one is an actual fissure. The rolling quake causes water to seiche. This means that it starts moving back and forth, each movement causing the water to rise higher than the last until the movement stops or the water overflows its container.

This friend was in his kitchen enjoying an early morning cup of coffee looking out over his back yard and swimming pool when the quake hit. As he watched the water in the pool started seicheing. Back and forth it went getting higher and higher until it rose up over the edge of the pool and flowed right over the deck and into his kitchen as he stood there totally helpless.

I have to get up REALLY early tomorrow. But it will be worth it. I have a day away, for me. We will have a meeting at 10:30AM and then lunch at Grace O'Malley's, then home.

A funny from the Reader's Digest


My husband, and auto mechanic, was on the kidney transplant list, and as you can imagine, it was a tense time for our family. But one day, the phone rang and our teenage son answered. It was the hospital with good news. "Dad," he yelled excitedly. "Your parts are in!" Bette Larsen.

Have a great weekend.

Mary

I almost got to stay home all day. Dick had two errands but they did not take long.

I finished cleaning the garage and did a bit of garden work today. Time to trim things and to remove some of the plants that are about dead before the frost comes and one can't get them out of the ground. I made some shelves to stack the planters on in the garage. I am going to try to keep some of the herbs through the winter. Last year I almost made it with the rosemary.

I sewed a bunch of squares together for the quilt and we filtered the Chokecherry wine, so it was a busy day.

It has been cool and crisp in the mornings when Chelsea and I go out for our walk. Her coat is all grown back now, so she is ready whenever the really cold weather comes. And we know that it will. Mom and I were lamenting the small signs of change and then realized that it is, after all, almost mid September.

I roasted veggies on the grill along with Italian Sausage patties to serve with mashed potatoes. I will roast veggies more often. They were really good. I soaked peppers, green, red and jalpeno, onions and fresh pineapple in olive oil, pineapple juice and fresh rosemary. Num Num.

I read a quote in the Catholic Herald that I think is worth repeating. No credit was given but it was in quotes so I will present it that way also. "When walking through hell, keep walking!" Good advice.

Take care

Love

Mary

I thought that Dick would NEVER wake up this morning. He WAS up when I woke up at 6:15 but went back to bed when I started out on my walk with Chelsea. He was sound asleep when we got back. The air was cool and dry this morning. Perfect for a nice brisk walk.

So, when we got back, I did all my computer stuff and took my shower and checked the plants and worked a bit on the football pool and started getting REALLY hungry. He finally woke up at about 9AM and we headed straight to the Family Restaurant for breakfast. I was starting to get cranky. I DO get kind of cranky if I am left unfed too long. After we ate, we grocery shopped at the Pig.

The rest of the day was all at home. Yea!!!

I sewed some squares together to begin the baby quilts, harvested marigold seeds and cleaned half of the garage. I figure I can do the other half tomorrow and figure out how I will store the planters and especially the herbs that might survive the winter. I have great hopes for the lavender, the thyme and the rosemary.

This morning when I went out on the deck to begin harvesting the marigold seeds, imagine my surprise when, for the second time, the planter with the marigolds in it was on the ground below. The rain gauge was also toppled and I am beginning to believe that some critter, probably a squirrel is messing around on the deck and getting on just the right spot to dump the thing. Anyway, I just moved it to the front of the garage for the remainder of the season. I think perhaps next year I will weight it down with rocks or something.

I had mentioned that my friend Donna gave me that Pangissin from my Dad's Freshman year. This is a double treasure, because the year my Dad graduated was in the middle of the depression and they did not have a Pangissin that year, only a book with the pictures of the graduates with a cover sheet of their song, motto etc. There are TWO pictures of my Dad in the Freshman book so we are truly blest.

A touch of humor

Fifty-one years ago, Herman James, a North Carolina mountain man, was drafted by the Army. On his first day in basic training, the Army! issued him a comb. That afternoon the Army barber sheared off all his hair. On his second day, the Army issued Herman a toothbrush. That afternoon the Army dentist yanked seven of his teeth.
On the third day, the Army issued him a jock strap. The Army has been looking for Herman for 51 years.

Have a nice Thursday. Hope you get to be home too.

Love
Mary

We had a mildly busy day. Dick had an appointment with Dr. Hodous for the callouses. The two on the right foot are looking pretty good but that left one does not seem to be healing. We have to just keep working on it and remember that as Dr. Siddique said they will not heal completely until he gets to the vein work.

We also went to Plymouth Glass and paid for the skylight for Hunters Glen Drive, so everything there is paid. The only loose end is a refund from Wisconsin Public Service. Then we will be DONE.

We stopped at Applebees for lunch and had soup and sandwich.

I did some cooking today. I made split pea and ham soup which we had for supper. It was really good. I also made a cole slaw which will be ready tomorrow. It has to "cure" for best taste. While I was out in the kitchen, I chopped and froze some green bell peppers and some jalapeno peppers for the winter. My plants on the deck are still producing quite well. I will probably get a few more form them before we get a frost.

Tomorrow we will go grocery shopping in the morning then we can stay home for the whole day. I am going to sew some squares for baby quilts. I will do that tomorrow AND the next day. I need to get one done before Becky's baby is born.

My friend Kate Herman's husband Ron is in the hospital and very sick. Please pray for him. I am spreading the word.

I remember when my cousin Patty got married. She had an aunt who lived in Milwaukee and was quite wealthy. This aunt was a lovely woman but rather big and rather overbearing. She came to the wedding wearing a fur wrap which somehow seemed to make her even bigger. She was fascinated by all of us children and when she saw my brother George, who couldn't have been over 3 or 4 and was just precious, she just swarmed (if one person can swarm) on him. He literally lost all color and tried to escape. She kept trying to hug him as he squirmed away to Mother.

Have a good Wednesday.

Mary

I thought you might enjoy seeing Ernie Ruffell who played the pipes at our Celtic Mass. He was wonderful, even playing as everybody left the church to move on to the Faire or go home.

It was neat.

Mary

Monday! Monday!

It rained most of the day. Chelsea and I walked in the rain, but it was so gentle that early that we did not get wet at all (except for Chelsea rolling in the grass.)

Bible study today after a week off for the Labor Day Monday. The three readings today all kind of went together. Sometimes they seem disjointed. Today the common theme seemed to be forgiveness and the fact ignorance IS and excuse no matter what that old saying says. One of the stories is Prodigal son. And oldie but goodie. People have a tendency to feel really sorry for the "good" son. Understandable as everybody does like to be acknowledged for what they do. But the story reminds us that we really need to do what is right whether we get a fatted calf or not. We all decided that we COULD understand the joy that Father had on the return and repentance of that wayward son no matter what he had done.

Spent the rest of the day cleaning and sorting out my desk. Caught up on phone calls too. We had Celtic Faire food for supper so my day was quite easy.

Rhine Plymouth meeting was tonight. It too was quite uneventful so now I am home again and ready to settle in for the night. Chelsea just came over to me and told me that she really wants to go outside and then to bed.

Love

Mary

This was Celtic Faire Sunday. Everything went very well at least we thought so. The Mass went flawlessly though as Jeff said, the dancers were missed. I told him that the dancers that did the liturgical dance are out of high school and away at college now. Perhaps next year we can pursue some other options.

The music and musicians were great. We had Martin doing the guitar. A gentleman from Manitowoc who played the bagpipes and was really good and a violin and bodhrun. The Kinderkor sang too. They are a nice group of school children.

I set up a vendor table and featured my book, the tiles I have been painting and Fr. Mike Shea's ladies goods. Didn't sell much but did sell some things and saw lots of people.

I had corned beef and cabbage for lunch and brought a dinner home for Dick. Then just before closing they were selling off sandwiches for $1.00 each so I got two hamburgers and two brats. That will take care of tomorrow's supper too.

The Packers won today too. By the skin of their chinny chin chins but they won. My first week's picks in the football league are pretty bad. I will have to study harder I guess.

Bobbie made tiramisu today and she and Bill brought it over for us all, Jim and Michelle too, to have dessert together tonight. Nice thought, nice visit and great tiramisu. Now Jim has to make his again. (He makes a great one too.) I believe a taste off was mentioned sometime during the evening.

Dick is afraid that he had developed a bladder infection after all. Tomorrow we contact Dr. Sharon again for some meds. He will be sure by then anyway.

Tomorrow is bible study and the Rhine Plymouth meeting. Not exactly a quiet day. But not too busy either.

I thought that perhaps I would publish the little cover story that I wrote for the worship folder for mass for those of you that could not attend the mass. I am a bit proud of it.


Mary

The Hearth Fire.

Homes in Ireland were designed, no matter how small, to provide room to gather around the hearth for food and social activities. The hearth symbolizes Irish hospitality towards strangers while the turf fire symbolizes family continuity. The fire was never allowed to die out as it was believed that if it did, the soul of the family would also die.

Evening was a time for storytelling and songs. Wandering balladeers or fiddlers, even professional storytellers along with the bacach, or beggerman, joined the family for tea and Irish soda bread and were welcome to spend the night on a bench by the fire. Interesting guests would bring the neighbors to join in the fun

The Irish, though poor always welcomed the stranger.

This kindness towards strangers mirrors ancient Jewish culture. Stranger and travelers were always welcome to the table and were provided shelter before they continuing on their way.

And if there were interesting guests at a home, the neighbors, uninvited would come and join the festivities, listening to the goings on by standing inside the walls so that they could hear and join in if invited. Reading the Gospels gives us a picture of this practice.

The homeless and wanderers are still in our midst. Too bad, the welcoming concept is gone. Some of that is just common sense, but it has taken a whole culture of the poor out of a cycle that DID provide food, shelter and a kind of social structure. How sad to be unwelcome and shunned in one's own community.