I like Saturdays. This was very nice one. We did not get the promised rain overnight. Chelsea and I had a very nice walk. It was kind of cloudy but quite pleasant.

Nancy, Toni, Janet and her grand daughter Nichole came over at about10AM and we filled the gift bags and did the lion's share of the work on the name tags. I will have to take pictures of these name and put it on this site. They are worth coming to the Fling for. I fixed some roast beef wraps for lunch. They were pretty good too. We stopped at about 1PM with only a couple of little things left to do. Toni and I are going to put the glitz on the name tags tomorrow. That is the main thing left to do.

It is a lot of fun to do things like that.

Jim and Michelle came over at about 5:00 for dinner and cards. We had the Diane Sawyer Mac and cheese with a nice crisp salad and after a game of hearts and a game of rummy we had strawberries, meringue and whipped cream for dessert.

The most wonderful thing came in the mail today. My poem "The Herald" was accepted for the 2009 Wisconsin Poet's Calendar. I am very excited. This makes the second time that a poem of mine was accepted for a calendar. So I am twice blessed. I will put it on the blog but not until after the calendar comes out because that would not be proper.


I will put another poem I wrote in so you won't feel cheated.

Mary

IMPERIAL DUNES

The dunes drift like snow

(Or does snow drift like sand)

Peaceful and glowing in the moonlight

The sands shift.

And gently ripple

Like fresh snow kissed by a gentle breeze.

Stark endless beauty

We are but a grain of the sand.

We had a relatively quiet day.

Started out with a nice brisk walk, as usual. I hope to get out to terrace the little steep incline in back of the house soon. It is OK now but if we get rain, it will be slippery.

I cleaned the kitchen floor quickly. Last week, I did nothing because of my tests and it was filthy. Then we trucked Dick over to the Plymouth Clinic for his therapy. I think he is doing well. He goes through several different low impact exercises for 30 minutes. I am seeing that he seems steadier at the end than at the beginning. I guess that is good.

When we got home there was a message from Dr. Siddique's office. He had been called into an emergency and it was possible that we would have to cancel. She would call by 12:30 (when we would be leaving) to let us know. SO we proceeded with Dick's shower and washing stockings and all and just as I was dressing the callous on his foot they called and DID cancel. We now have our next appointment on May 2. So have two weeks off. Neither of us were disappointed. We both laid down for naps and I don't know about him but I slept for a hour and a half.

Then I did some other odd chores around here and vacuumed the den downstairs.

Tonight, Nancy Roehre picked me up just before 5 and we went out to shoot league pistol. That was fun. She is a joy and I am so glad that I have someone to shoot with. I do hope that after Bobbie finishes her year off, she will come out to shoot league at Rhine again. She is so good and would be impressed at how good Lil has become. Real competition. It would be such fun to have several of us gals shooting.

We were talking about the "green push" that is going on these days. The "footprint" that we leave behind when we die. She commented that our generation and previous generations were much better at wisely using things. We saved string and glass jars and scraps of fabric. We grew small gardens and preserved our produce for the winters. We still do a lot of that. Kate Herman said that when she lived in Kohler they called her Canning Katie because she canned produce for the winter. AND it was not a compliment. I, and Nancy too, said we are still trying to be frugal and use everything that is possible.

Beth and I were talking on our pre cemetery tour. She mentioned that a man is doing research on the suicide of a young woman who lived with her father and brothers in the late 1800's. I told her that I bet it was the young woman that my Grandpa, John Bowser, told my Mother about. The poor woman, according to Grandpa, lived with her brothers and father after the mother died and was mistreated. She walked down to Long Lake and drowned herself. Grandpa remembered them bringing that poor body up from the lake in a buckboard with her long dark hair streaming down the back. (Such a memory for Grandpa to carry in his heart. Maybe this is why he was so quick to respond when Aunt Gee came to him telling him that she was afraid of her husband some years later.) Anyway, they buried that woman "over the wall" of the church cemetery near Mauthe Lake. Thank God that the "church" got wise to that barbaric custom. Not only did that poor tortured soul get "confined to Hell". (Not really) But the family felt that way too. I loved what my Mother said to the sister of a suicide. "God will be gentle with him when he reaches the gates of heaven.' My wise gentle Mother.

Love

Mary

Dick was delighted. He got to stay home all DAY today.

Chelsea and I had a delightful walk this morning. Sunshine and no wind. We went our entire route. I wonder how long she will be able to keep that up.

Beth Dippel picked me up at 9:30ish and we drove the "Cemetery Tour". We went first to St. Patrick's in Adell. That church is just beautiful. Beth is going to try to get someone to open it up for us on the 26th. It is made of stone that the parishioners hauled up from the lakefront. We believe that it is the original church constructed in 1854. We wandered through the graveyard and I found the gravestone of my Grandpa Mike Deeley's first wife. It is huge and very pretty. He must have loved her very much. She died of Typhoid Fever after attending the County Fair with Sarah Spratt, leaving my grandfather and my Auntie Marge, who was just a baby. Later he married my grandmother Helen Zeigler.

We then proceeded through Cascade to St. Michael's in Parnell. The gravestone of my Great Great Great Grandfather has been restored. That was a thrill to see. I spent a long time interpreting the little poem on the side of the monument. Now is it easy to read.


Next we went on to the Our Lady of the Angels Cemetery in Armstrong. It is so sad to find the church torn down. There is actually no sign of it at all. We wandered around there too. Just to get our bearings. We checked out Johnny Bills giant Celtic Cross up on the hill in the new part of the cemetery. AND this time I found Aunt Mae O Connor.

We got back to the house just before noon. I had time this afternoon to drive over to 52 Stafford and Antoinettes to confirm our meals there.

We had strawberry shortcake for dessert tonight. It was supposed to rain this afternoon but so far nothing. I am just glad that it was so nice when Beth and I were out and about. Pray God that it will be just like that on the 26th.

All my love

Mary

OK I had to do it in two uploads. The previous one is the denim quilt - this is the tree quilt. The back of it is not too wpectacular. It is the front that has color and character.

Have a great Thursday. The weekend is just around the corner.

Love

Mary

Denim Quilt

Denim Quilt Flannel Back

Tree Quilt

Hello again. It was WARM today. The temperature topped at 77 degrees here in PlymouthWI. BUT it was windy. And I mean Windy. When I took Dick to his physical therapy session, we had trouble opening the doors to the car and had just as much trouble walking to the building and back to the car.

It was much less windy when Chelsea and I took our walk. She is like a young puppy when we walk but pays for it the rest of the day.

Dick and I had breakfast at the Wilderness for the first time since they have started serving breakfast since they reopened. It was good but not great. We will go back again.

Then we dropped off his glasses at Advanced Eye Care to have his lenz replaced. I left them there and we picked them up after his PT. It was kind of funny, I called from the clinic to ask if they were ready and she said, "Well, those glasses were picked up earlier." I laughed and said that I wondered who picked them up. She checked again and also laughed and said that they were indeed ready.

I also took the little recipe booklet that we are preparing for Spring Fling over to the printer and got that done. It was also Market Day.

Whew. Does everything have to happen at once?

Take Care. And all my love. I will send the pictures of my last two quilts.

Love

Mary

It was a beautiful day. I discovered that one of my crocuses in front of the house is blooming. It is a white one and a purple one is following close behind.

We had to be at the Clinic at 9AM for Dick's blood test. His count was 2 even. That is very good. It is up from the 1.7 but within the 2 to 2.5 he needs for the surgery on Friday. Then we traipsed upstairs to Dr. Hodous's office. His open callous is doing quite well. It is much shallower and we are hoping that it will close up soon.

Then home again. I had three ladies over here for lunch and a work party from about 11:30am on. We finished just about EVERYTHING we need for the gift bags for the Spring Fling the weekend after next. We are very proud of ourselves. I need to get a little book done, and we need to stuff the bags.

Chelsea was such a good girl. She did not bark at any of the ladies and spent most of the afternoon curled up in various corners of the den just enjoying the company. My friend, Nancy Roehre, said that she is not really a dog fan but found Chelsea quite a nice companion to have around. Nancy had visited another friend with two dogs who came in drooling all over her and running in and out between her legs.

Tomorrow is another Physical Therapy day and we shop. The Wilderness is now open for breakfast so we will go there for our Wednesday morning meal. I hope it is nice, there is not breakfast place in Plymouth with no smoking except for Mc Donalds or the Exchange Bank.

Take care.

Love you all

Mary

A usual Monday. Chelsea and I had a nice LONG walk this morning. It was sunny. Cold but sunny and there was no wind so we clipped right along. Somehow, she managed to get into a really bad batch of burdocks. I had to clip them out of three sections of her fur. One of them, again, between her back legs. I have NO idea how she manages to get them there, but she sure does.

Next I filled the gas tank then went to Falls for Bible Study. I brought my denim quilt to show my friend Donna. Donna is the gal who gave me a lot of the denim. She even took the denim pants apart for me which was such a big help. I need to get a picture of it tomorrow. She would like a picture to show to her sister. And I will post one for you.

The gospel was the story of Jesus at the Last Supper patiently explaining to his apostles that HE was the gate to heaven and that HE was God and when they saw him they saw the Father. We are reminded that sometimes we seem to have to learn and GIVE the same lessons over and over again.

Mother was just fine. Such a nice day, she planned on walking around the house to see what herbs and plants are coming up. She received a copy of Stenn's journal of his and Bing's trip to China for the Chinese New Year and spending time with her father and sister. I will borrow it to read after Mother is done. Such a nice looking family.

Home again and a short rest until Dick had to go to his physical therapy. This was hard for him today as his legs are kind of weak from the surgery and the weekend but he got through everything and I thought he got less wobbly as he went along.

We were home the rest of the day. I did some cleaning and putting away of things that had somehow managed to migrate to the counter and table. I also put together some of the covers for the recipe books that we are making for the CWI Spring Fling. Things are winding down. I need to make some phone calls tomorrow and a couple of the ladies are coming over to finish things for the gift bags.

A friend sent me the following in an email and I liked it so decided to share.

Mary

Three Thoughts to Ponder
                  
                   1. Cows
                   2. The Constitution
                   3. The Ten Commandments
                  
                  
                   Cows - Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that,        when investigating Mad Cow disease, our government can track a        single cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the        stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington? And, they        tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate       the 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe       we should give each of them a cow.
                  
                  
                   The Constitution - They keep talking about drafting a         Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was        written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200       years, and we're not using it anymore.
                  
                  
                   The Ten Commandments - The real reason that we can't have the Ten
                   Commandments posted in a courthouse is this: You cannot post
      'Thou Shalt Not Steal,'  'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery,' and        'Thou Shall Not Lie' in a building full of lawyers, judges,        and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment

I pretty much liked this Sunday. The sun shone. It was NOT warm, but the sun shone and that is always a plus.

I got up at 6AM and took Chelsea for a nice walk. We heard lots of birds. Sometimes she thinks the Cardinals are whistling at her and barks a lot.

I went to the 8AM Mass. Fr. Van Beeck had to announce that as of mid June, we will be collaborating with St. Thomas Aquinas in Elkhart Lake and the mass schedule will change. There will no longer be an 8AM mass at St. John's. He can only be in one place at a time and has decided to offer a 4PM on Saturday and 10:45AM on Sunday at St. John's and a 5:30PM at St. John's and a 9AM on Sunday at St. Thomas. I will have to change my ways. I think I will go to the 4PM on
Saturday. If I wanted to go out of town, I would go back to Blessed Trinity.

Then I went shooting with Nancy. Neither of us did very well. We will try again on Friday night.

I got home at about 10:15AM. Had time to rest a bit and then fix Dick his lunch before heading to a restaurant called Breaking Bread on the south side of Sheboygan. It was a birthday lunch and get together for the friends of Bob Fleming and Stevan Naffin. Poor Steve did all the planning and then was too ill to come to the party. He has been weakening lately and would appreciate all of your prayers. We had a good party, reuniting many old friends and he can be pleased with his efforts. Pray for Bob too. Caregivers need LOTS of prayers and help too.

Home again and I got to stay here. I just sat at my desk and prepared for the coming week. It was very pleasant. I had put a beef roast into the slow cooker with dry onion soup and beef broth and it was just cooking away. Tonight I made some gravy out of the juice and served the gravy and meat with mashed potatoes and creamed corn. We had strawberries and ice cream for dessert.

I called Bart and Barb both tonight. They both sounded as tired as I feel. This week will also be very busy as we now have physical therapy for Dick three times a week and I have two days that I have to do things for the Spring Fling which is in less than two weeks.

Have a good week and stay well. We are supposed to get our first really warm spell next week. I can hardly wait.

Love

Mary