This was a strange day. Chelsea and I had our walk, of course, but had to cut it short because we were trucking along pretty good when I heard thunder in the sky so I decided that we had better get home. Thunder can be an indication of lightening AND heavy rain and I did not want to be stuck out in that. Chelsea is so deaf that she does not hear thunder any more, but she is an agreeable little thing and if I head back that is where we go.

I picked up Kate at about 9AM and we went to get the Share and sign up for next month. That went well, I picked up Jim and Michelle's Share also as Jim had a doctor's appointment this morning at about the same time. Then Kate wanted to go and get some breakfast so I went with her and I had a cup of coffee as I had already eaten. Then we hooked Dick up to the sequential for his first session. Then after lunch, I cleaned his legs and wounds and rewrapped the legs. The wrapping with the tubes IS keeping the swelling down.

At about 2:30 I left to go to Bobbie and Bill's to feed my kitties. They are on vacation. I also got to glean from Bobbie's garden. The tomatoes are marvelous. The plants themselves got a fungus and Bobbie is really irritated, but the tomatoes that had already set are just fine and delicious. My kitties seemed glad to see me and let me pet them and hold them. I miss them so very much. Maybe if we get the by law changed, I can have them back by Christmas. I sure hope so. I makes me so sad without them.

Jim and Michelle had to take their Boots to the veterinarian today. We now know that there is NOT a Vet on call in Plymouth on Saturday or Sunday. They had to take him to Port Washington. He had blood in his urine and is now set up with pain pills and they will probably have to change is food after they see the vet again next week. Poor little guy.

After I left my kitties, I went directly to church for mass. Now, tomorrow, the only thing I will have to do is go to take care of the kitties in the afternoon. Jim and Michelle are going with me. Maybe that will be easier.

Here is a quote from Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul by a Jean Cocteau about Kitties. "I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul."

The evening has been quiet. I called Bart and Barb because I had not heard from them for a while and then my brother George called. It is good to have people who care about you call. I am just tired.

We had pork and lima beans for supper. Was that ever good. I prepare the lima beans with cheese and cream of mushroom soup and it is SO good.

Tomorrow will be quiet and maybe I can settle my soul.

Love

Mary

This was warm humid day. The temps were not too bad but the air was heavy. I spent the morning catching up on emails to people that I owed them to. And I got Dick on the sequential compressor once. Did I tell you that when walking the other morning, I saw a tree that has allowed one of its branches to turn color already? What is that all about, it is only mid August, way too early.

This noon, I joined the bank people at Dairy Queen. That was a pleasant break. While I was out, I picked up Dick's prescription and a couple of bargains at Walgreens. Then this afternoon, we changed Dick's dressings and did another compression before the kids came over. Jim and Michelle cleaned AND helped me get my database address books into a place where I can print them again. So along with cleaning, they had to be technicians and then cooks and card players too. Whew. What WOULD we do without them.

My friend Nancy picked me up at 4:15PM and we went out to Rhine to shoot pistol. Then we ate at Culvers before going to her house to visit for a while. We go back a long way as we graduated from high school together and were in the same school from kindergarten on, though not always in the same class. The only years we were not in the same school were the two and a half years I spent in the convent.

We did come to the conclusion that we were in different kindergarten classes as she remembers one of her classmates coming to school in a pink tutu and doing a ballet dance for the class. I would have remembered that for sure. We always have a lot to talk about past and present. It is good to have such friends around. On the way home we swung by Culvers and picked up a scoop of Oreo Landscape custard for Dick. He was pleased. I like to bring him treats.

I have been reading about Travels through Celtic Holy Ground also referred to as "Thin Places". This is a very interesting concept. To quote, my first source. A 'thin place' is a place where the veil between this world and the Other world is thin, the Other world is more near.' Cemeteries can be such places and I believe I felt one when I was soaring up above the ground in the parasail many years ago.

Take care and have a good weekend.
Mary

A rather quiet day after yesterdays cleaning frenzy.

I slept until almost 6:30AM. It was kind of cool again, in the upper 50s. Nice for walking.

I picked Mom up at 9:30Am and took her to see Dr. Nytes to have her hearing aids checked and cleaned. The doctor upped the volume a little bit and gave her some tips as to how to adjust them. I think this will help Mom. I went in with her because as Kathy Keyes told me once, Four ears are better than two.

Got home in time for lunch and then spent the afternoon kind of writing and puttering around. This evening, heard from Jim and Michelle, they were answering phones for a telethon for the 106FM CAP fund and were on the internet to be viewed, so we watched them for a while. They sure have a wonderful TV presence. We called and pledged a bit to the fund.

When they got home, they brought us treats. Muffins and cookies. Guess what we are having for breakfast tomorrow.

Love

Mary

A rather nice day. Pleasant temperatures and a lot accomplished. I even got to sleep til almost 6:30AM. Dick shut Chelsea out of the room for a while which helped. They were putting the second layer of blacktop on Highview today. This turned out to be very traumatic for me. The crew blocked off ALL ways out of Tallgrass. One had to kind of just be ready to go out or in whatever of the three ways they had open. It took a mind reader. I am not handling stress very well these days but I believe that the worst is over now.

I went grocery shopping at about 8:30AM. All went well. I got home by 10AM having shopped, stopped at the bank AND filled the gas tank on the car. When I got home we got Dick hooked up to his compression machine. We got all three sessions in today and changed the dressings and re wrapped the legs. The swelling is a bit down so we will continue with the wraps.

I went to Rhine for lunch. It was the bust up party for the summer league. I was only able to shoot once because of the sore neck and arm, but figured that I might as well enjoy the bust up. Good thing I did. Doc needed help cleaning up the kitchen. He asked if I had time and since I arrived close to the end and had about a hour I was able to help him. I brought home some Sloppy Joe mix and potato salad. That will be a good meal for Dick, Jim and Michelle on Friday. I have rolls.

I got to stay home the rest of the day and even got a little nap. I also canned a couple of jars of refrigerator pickles and worked on some of the computer projects that I HAVE to get done by the weekend. I need to finish a writeup for the worship folder for Celtic Mass and I need to get a quick letter off to my CWI group.

Friday, Nancy and I are going to go out to Rhine and shoot some pistol. We can take our time and then go somewhere for a sandwich or something.

Tomorrow, I only have one errand. I will be driving Mother to see Dr. Nytes, her ear doctor. She needs her hearing aid checked. The NEW one seems to be having a volume control problem and they both need cleaning.

The rest of the day is mine, I hope.

We had Kraft Tangy Spaghetti for supper tonight. Dick has been hungry for that for a while, so I decided that this was a good night for it. That is about the best package spaghetti around.

Have a nice Thursday.

Mary

Here is a quote from Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul that I found really touching. A Steve Smith wrote this in his story. "Chris was the archetypal freckle-faced little guy with missing teeth and chubby cheeks. He had the knack of looking sad and pitiful even when he was happy. When he was broken hearted, the angels held their breath."

What a day. I am exhausted. I woke up at about 6AM and Chelsea and I had a lovely walk. It looks like they are working on Highview Avenue again. They oiled the road and I hope they put another layer of blacktop soon because there are big bumps at all the intersections and the cars really get bumped around.

During the night, Dick's foot start seeping again and there was a blood path from the bedroom to the kitchen to his chair and back again. So, this was a busy day. I soaked up the blood with a vinegar and water mixture, then vacuumed, then ran the carpet cleaner over all. By tomorrow it will be dry and I will vacuum again. Poor Dick. We seem to finally have it all stopped. Tonight I redressed everything and there is no sign of bleeding.

I left at 11:30 to go to the Clinic to pick up some meds from Dorothy at Dr. Moreno's office. I had called this morning to ask for help. Dr. Moreno told me what to do about the bleeding, the swelling and dressing the wound on the right foot. They gave me a dressing which is what I picked up. Then I had lunch with my friend Esther Hasler. Esther is a friend from Blessed Trinity and is moving towards the end of September to Florida to be near one of her sons. We had a really nice lunch at the restaurant at the airport. We had a nice lunch, both opting for Paninis.

Then I went to Cappelle's and bought some corn for dinner. So we had corn and tomatoes. Always a good meal.

I FINALLY have Dick's wounds dressed and DRY ( they got wet after I changed them the first time because we forgot that the carpet was wet from the shampooing. DUH!!), I put fresh tubes AND wrapped them with ace bandages. Now he is in bed and I hope the swelling will go down. I got a lot of instructions from Dr. Moreno when I called this morning and did EVERYTHING.

Now I am tired too.

An Irving Townsend said "a family cat is not replaceable like a worn-out coat or a set of tires. Each new kitten becomes his own cat and none is repeated. I am four-cats old, measuring out my life in friends that have succeeded, but not replaced one another."

Isn't it interesting to think of oneself as "four cats old."

Dr. Fehrman's nurse called this morning. His stint procedure with Dr. Siddique is still on for 8/27 and Dr. Fehrman will do his surgery the next day. Pray for us.

Love

Mary

What a day. Chelsea and I had a very nice walk, though my knee and feet are still sore from all the walking at Irishfest yesterday. We didn't see any other walkers out there this morning. That is a bit unusual.

I went to bible study at 9AM as usual. There were 5 of us there this morning. We are a strange little group but keep plugging along. We had a lot of good discussions and I collected some more people to pray fro Dick this afternoon when we had our appointment with the Orthapedic surgeon, Dr. Fehrman. Ione was able to tell me that a mutual friend had Dr. Fehrman operate on him and was very pleased with him. That is always reassuring.

Then I went over to Mother's house. I took her some scones and Cauldron Cakes. Didn't have any meals for her as we did not really eat at home during the weekend. But she will enjoy the breads.

When I got home I had time to hook Dick up for his second Sequential Compression before I went to Writers Club. I decided to go because it is only an hour and Dick needed to rest some more anyway. When I got home, he was sleeping. When he got up, I went down for an hour before we had to go to see Dr. Fehrman. Boy Did I Sleep!

We had to wait until almost 5PM to see him. Our appointment was for 4:30PM but they were way behind. Dr. Fehrman seems very nice. He showed us the MRI and what the infection looks like. It is on the side of the bone in the toe and all the way down the bone on that side of the foot. He had three treatments. 1. Pump it full of antibiotics. But with Dick's lack of circulation, this is not a very practical solution. 2. They could remove or scrape off the part of the bone that appears infected. There is always a chance that they can't get it all AND this would not solve the problem of the healing wound. OR 3. They can remove the little toe and the adjoining bone. This would insure that the infected bone is gone and maybe give him the ability to pull the flesh together which would mean that instead of a gaping hole of a wound, there would be basically a surgical scar which would heal much easier. We are opting for three. Dr. Fehrman is coordinating with Dr. Siddique and Dr. Moreno to see about circulation solutions as we do have that procedure for another stent scheduled with Dr. Siddique. They will get back to us in a day or two with arrangements. Thanks for all the prayers, I will keep you informed. We are rather relieved because when we heard "bone infection" we got all kinds of REALLY bad thoughts and this is the least of them.

Tonight was exciting. I cleaned the wounds and put the dry dressing on his left foot. Then I called Mom to report on what had happened and suddenly Dick was calling because the left foot was bleeding rather profusely and there were blood spots all over the carpet. I told Mom I'd call her back and recleaned and dressed the wound with a compression patch and a more protective seal. Then I cleaned the carpet. Richard called from Madison in the middle of that. We were glad of that. He talked to Dick and found out what was happening before the blog even. Quite a coup. They are well and I am happy he called and had a good talk with Dick.

Now things are quiet and it is after 9PM and I am very tired and going to go to bed. Tomorrow the only thing scheduled is lunch with a friend. I will pick up corn for our dinner. With me being gone, we did not have our usual weekend meal of corn and tomatoes.
Have to catch up.

Take care. I love you all.

Mary.


"good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience - this is the ideal live." Mark Twain

Well, the bus trip that I organized for the Celtic Women was today. It was a great success. We had almost all our seats filled, plenty to pay for the bus, parking and give our driver Bill a nice tip.

We left the Kmart parking lot at 7:30, got to the grounds at about 8:45. We all went into the Marcus Ampitheatre for the Mass which was spectacular. There were thousands of people there. All enthusiastically singing along with the seated choir. We had TWO bishops Bishop Callahan, our new Milwaukee Diocese Auxiliary Bishop and Bishop Martin Drennan of Galway, Ireland. We also had lots of priests and they had enough Eucharistic Ministers that communion only took 10 minutes.

After Mass we all scattered to the grounds. Kate and I got lunch right away because we were starved. I dropped Mary Schultze's painting at the baggage check place that is on the ground and prayed that she was indeed going to be there because I didn't want to haul it home again. As it turned out, she marched in the parade with the Celtic Women (yes, I got to march in the parade at IrishFest) and I gave her the pick up slip then. I told her that if she had NOT come, I figured I would just TAKE it home and hang it because I do love it. It is a watercolor of people carrying the Irish Flag in a parade.

After we ate, we walked to the north end of the grounds and came back along the lake shore, stopping at the Children's Stage to listen to Tom Sweeney for a while. I first heard him when he sang in a group called Barley Bree many years ago. He sang with his brother and another guy and they did some great stuffl. Now he performs alone. He does two shows a day at Irish Fest. One early for the kids and one later on a bigger stage. We left before the later one so I made sure to see the Kid's show.

Next on to the Cultural Village where Kate ran into some O'Hara's from Sligo. Her mother was and O'Hara so Kate is a happy camper. We found my friend Cindy Matyi, She brought her prints AND the children's book that she wrote, Little Town of Spirals. Kate bought one and a print or two. I need to put Cindy back on the prayer chains. She still has the cancer. They are holding it at bay with radiation, but can't cure it or get it in remission. So Remember her, and her daughter who still needs prayer too.

We met Nancy and her friend Kathy at the Harp tent where I listened to a couple of songs then headed off to the Irishfest Song Circle which is SO much fun. There were at least 20 people in the circle and I was able to stay long enough to get once around. Each person has to sing a song and if the crowd knows it they join in. I sang Tom O'Connor's Wedding day.

I left in time to meet the others at the parade gathering spot. On the way, I picked up a my Irishfest glass of mead and stopped at the Tipperary Tea Room for a piece of Guiness Chocolate Cheese Cake.

There were not too many of us in the parage. Mary Schultze, Gail McAleese, Joan Kramer, Sheila Isaacson and me. We were joined by three others on the route, including Nancy and Kathy. Then it was time to head to the bus and come home. Got home just about 6PM. Dick and Chelsea were glad to see me. It is nice to come home to a happy welcome.

Dick had Bobbie pick me up an anniversary present. It is a neat tea for one pot. She and I saw them when we went to Richardson's to their tea room. We were both so impressed with it. Now I won't be having tea dripping all over the desk or the top falling into the cup. My other one does that. It is SO pretty but so messy. I can hardly wait to try the new one.

This evening I went out on the deck and heard cranes calling. I looked in the direction of the noise and three of them were flying. What a joy.

THEN: When I took Chelsea out, I saw a toad sitting next to the garage trying not to be noticed.

It was all together a very enjoyable day.

Hope yours was too.

Mary