I just got home a little bit ago from the Celtic Women Samhain dinner. Boy did we have fun. There were 10 Celtic Women and four of their husbands at the clubhouse.

I went at about 4 to set things up and decorate a bit. Greg Reich, one of the Rhine members was just finishing up the floor moping that he said he and his wife would do for me. He is such a helpful guy, always ready to help. So I was able to thank him and give him one of the blessing bundles that I made for all the attendees. Did I tell you about the Blessing Bundles? I made a little cone of decorated paper and filled it with 1. a sprig of Queen Anne's Lace for sanctuary, 2. thyme for daring, 3. lavender for devotion, 4. rosemary for remembrance and 5 basil for love.

We has a great menu. Toni brought root soup, Dorothy - potato soup, Luanne - raw veggies, Janet - cheese and crackers, Rosemary - beef and Guinness, Debbie - mushroom and Guinness pie, Joan - brown bread, me - colcannon, Peggy - O'Douls and other drinks and Candy - chips. Then three of us brought desserts. Everything was delicious.

I have colcannon and pumpkin dessert left so we will be eating good tomorrow too.

The day itself was busy, I had to make the colcannon. I also turned outside water off. Chelsea and I had a nice long walk this morning too. We went out at just the right time. It was cold but there was no breeze at all. I have always said that the temperature in the winter is not a factor until it gets into the single digits. If you dress warm enough that is. It is the wind and/or the precipitation that will get you. It is supposed to be warming up to more seasonable temperatures tomorrow. I sure hope so. This is too early for 30s and 40s.

I will send a picture or two of our gathering tomorrow. I am too tired to do it tonight.

Mary.

Joan Rivers said "I don't exercise. If God had wanted me to bed over, he would have put diamonds on the floor."

It was a rather busy day. The usual morning stuff. We had to get Dick all changed and bandaged before 10 AM because we had that appointment with Tim at Wisconsin Prosthesis to pick up his shoe. Dick was really glad to get it back. We had noticed a callous where there had been on several months ago that had disappeared. I think it was from the constant up and down with that surgical shoe. He had to wear the surgical shoe to allow the breathing to let the wound heal. We are always in this walking the tightrope mode. What fixes one thing causes another. We are tired.

The shoe pick up went very quickly. It looks good. He stretched out the toe so it will not rub and we will be watching that new callous. As long as it settles and does not get sore, we are OK.

We had haddock, potatoes, Brussels Sprouts and pineapple/orange salad for lunch, then I tried to nap. That did not work well again so I got up and made egg salad for supper and the pumpkin cake for tomorrow's party.

I left at 4:30PM for Rhine. I was working tonight but wanted to shoot too. As I will be in Chicago on the 31st, I really needed to shoot tonight so that I can finish next week. It was really, really slow tonight. I had the gun room, kind of by default. Mat, our team leader, says he is going to get me out loading the traps soon. I keep telling him, that I can do everything else and that there are plenty of others who cannot, either do the gun room, score or tend bar. I can do them all. Then he noticed that the heat was turned up to 72. I laughed and admitted I did it. I have just been assigned to his team and told him that, obviously he is going to have to do a lot of training to get me in line. He just laughed.

It was slow enough that I was able to do some cleaning for tomorrow. I cleaned the lady's room and at the end had one of the guys do the men's room. I would have but there were a few guys still hanging around and I didn't want to tie it up. I cleaned all flat surfaces with Antibacterial Windex and swept the floors. Greg Reich said he was going in the morning to mop floors but I figured to give him a head start by sweeping and putting the chairs on the tables. The guys helped with that.

SO. Tomorrow morning I just need to prepare the colcannon and stuff the blessing bundles and gather music. I want to get to the clubhouse a little early to put a few decorations around and get my food plugged in.

My legs are sore tonight. I remember years ago when I worked at IDC, this company was a computer server and I was in charge of a portion of figuring the golf handicaps for golf clubs all over California, members of SCGA, NCGA, Junior golfers etc. After the scores were input, and the handicaps printed out, part of my job was to package up the score sheets and send them back to the golf clubs for their records. I would sit cross legged on the floor and pack and wrap these boxes for hours. If I tried that now I would never get up ever again and would be crippled for life.

Til tomorrow.

Mary

I slept til almost 7AM this morning. Of course, Chelsea had gotten me up during the night for a trip outside to her bathroom.

We got everybody fed and me showered.

Joan, the cleaning lady came a bit after 8AM. Chelsea was very glad to see her. Then Chelsea and I took a nice long walk. Chelsea came beck into the house spinning like a whirling dervish, she was so happy. I spent the rest of the morning writing, quilting and cooking.

Bobbie got her at about noon. Chelsea was SO glad to see her. We had mac and cheese, hot dogs and fresh Brussels Sprouts for lunch, then after we bottled the grape vine wine and racking the Bay leaf wine, we had strawberries and ice cream for dessert.

After we finished, Bobbie and I went over to Mother's house and Bobbie took all of the cactus that nobody else wanted and will try to preserve it. The cactus was Dad's hobby. He gathered them from everywhere. I remember us harvesting them when he came out to visit me and my ex in California. We, along with my inlaws, took him out to the dessert to drive the desert and he gathered some of every cactus he could find.

Mom and I were laughing remembering one time we were in some public building, like an arena or a theater or a museum, I have forgotten which. There was a cactus in one of the hallways that Daddy did not have, so he broke off a piece and put it in his pocket. I was humiliated. Fortunately no one caught him and now I find it amusing.

(I have no IDEA what happened to the above paragraph! But I cannot fix it so you'll have to just read it the way it is.)

The rest of the day has been very quiet. I fixed a light supper and worked on the computer and cuddled Roxie. She has been very needy lately. So I cuddle a lot. It is not bad for my well being either.

Today, for some reason, I remembered an event, small but scary, that occurred when Bret was just a little guy before Bart was even born. My neighbor, Joyce, and me with our boys, Bret and Chip in the back seat were out on errands. I was driving. Joyce went into her bank as part of or errands. I stayed in the car with the boys, who were probably between two and three years old. Suddenly, out of the bank front door ERUPTED two policemen with rifles in their hands looking around for I don't know what. They looked around and then retreated back into the bank as I sat there frozen wondering how I would get two munchkins down in the back out of car seats at once if bullets started flying. I never found out what it was all about. Joyce, when she came out, was not aware of a problem. But that incident is burned in my brain. Now I am wondering what ever happened to Joyce and Chip. I have not seen or heard from them in at least 30 years. And we were the very closest of friends.

Hang on to your friends and treasure them.

Love
Mary

Quite a busy day. I could not go grocery shopping until the Culligan Man came. He was very close to the 9AM projected arrival, so I was quite happy about that. Shopping went well. I was home by 10:30AM. We had pizza and salad for lunch.

Then while Dick took a nap, I cleaned a bit, his bathroom, the counters and I straightened up the downstairs and gathered a few things for the weekend.

I did try to take a nap, but couldn't get to sleep so that didn't last long.

It rained for a good portion of the morning. Not heavy but enough that I was able to justify not taking Chelsea for a long walk. Easy enough to do anyway when I am going grocery shopping. Because I have to walk through the store too. It is just cold and damp enough that my knee hurt this morning. I was able to walk it off anyway.

Did I tell you that I am making another stump doll. When Dick and I went to the museum for the Egyptian exhibit, I bought one of those kits that you shave off the compressed rock like sand to find a "treasure" hidden in it. An Archeology game. Mine had a black cat in it. A really cool black cat. I am making a crone doll with the cat seated at her feet. I want her to be carrying a nice basket full of dried herbs. I will call her crone or wise woman or both. Isn't that fun?

Tomorrow Bobbie and I are going to bottle and rack wine and then go to Mother's to take care of the cactus. Sounds like lots of fun to me.

Have a fun day yourself.

Love

Mary

P. S. My friend Loraine Schaap's granddaughter Ellie has a brain aneurysm. She will have surgery on October 29 and one of her grandson's, Dillon, is having tests at Children's Hospital. So. Please pray for them.

A full day, but not too hectic.

The morning was all at home. I cleaned the fridge and gathered up the CWI items that I want to take a long with me to our Samhain celebration this Saturday. I just need to add the sign up book, my dishes and the colcannon.

Dick and I went in to Sheboygan to Wisconsin Prosthesis to have Tim look at Dick's shoe. I think I mentioned that there is a pink rubbed spot on his big toe. Tim kept the shoe and is going to make some adjustments. We are going to pick it up on Friday.

This evening I joined Bobbie at an herbal remedy class that Linda Conroy is teaching at the UW Sheboygan Campus. It was very informative so far. She went through the common wild herbs and plants that can be harvested for the four seasons, ending with Fall. Telling the names of many of them, and their uses. She then finished by giving us all a sample drink of an Oat Grass Infusion that she had made this morning. An infusion is made by pouring one quart of boiling water over 1 ounce of herb and letting it sit for 8 hours. Then you drain and drink it. It was a pleasant drink and is full of anti oxidants and other good nourishing things, much the same as one would get from oatmeal.

We finished off by chopping fresh horehound, putting it in glass jars and mixing spun raw honey into it. Now it should sit for at least four week, I think< then it will be a good cough remedy. Remember Horehound Drops?

Next week, weather permitting, we will take a short field trip and do a bit of foraging.

My friend Maureen called from Chicago this evening. She is in the hospital with hepatitis B and needs all the prayers that we can gather up for her.

Dick an I wer laughing at our Chelsea, she is getting kind of dippy, you know. Have you noticed that animals will often try to fluff up the place they are going to lie down on. She does that to the kitchen floor. Not even carpet. Suddenly we will hear scratching and clicking as she tries so hard to fluff up that tile. What a goofus.

Til tomorrow

Love

Mary

Strange morning. Dick had to be at the Plymouth Aurora Lab at 8:15AM for his fasting blood test. They called him in at about 25 to 9AM. That wasn't strange.

While we were waiting, a woman cam in for tests too. She was talking a blue streak. She was really funny and knew almost everybody that walked by. She came out after Dick was called in and said that they had taken so much blood that she needed something to get her strength back. So she ate a granola bar, then the cart with juice and coffee was wheeled into the lobby so she got an orange juice. Now, understand, that she is talking steadily this whole time. About then, a woman came in with her son who was scared and kind of crying. He is I think a special needs kid. She saw him and got all excited. She tried to reassure him, reminding him that she had been an aide on his school bus for a while until(and I quote) she "had her nervous breakdown." The people in the waiting room were totally amused by her already and this just cracked us all up.

Meanwhile, the technician came out and told me that there was a delay in Dick's tests. Somehow or other the tests that Dr. Sharon wanted had been changed and there were two orders for the anti coagulation test instead. So they had to get in touch with Dr. Sharon's office for the correct orders. This took a half an hour so it was a LONG LONG blood test appointment.

Patty from the anticoagulation clinic called late this morning to tell us that Dick's count is now back to normal. We will get retested in two weeks to be sure that all stays stable. Now that he is off of the antibiotics it should be OK.

Dick and i went directly to the Wilderness for breakfast and shared an omelet. It was VERY good. We stopped at Walgreens on the way home for some prescriptions and then home again.

After lunch, I drove out to Mom's to take her some food, wine and newspapers. Jeff, Shane and Georgina were there. They had gone out to the Kettles for a little bit of squirrel hunting. They had no luck but picked up lunch and took it to eat with Mom. So I had a good visit with them. Jeff said that if I come out hunting this year he is going to put me in a place above the dump really close to the road and he said there are a lot of rubs around there so maybe I'll have some luck there and not get too tired or sore walking in. I think I will go and get my license this week sometime.

Mom told him that Dick always keeps her supplied in wine and Jeff said that every mother should have a son in law that takes care of that. Dick was pleased when I told him that.

I was remembering that there was a time when I would turn on my computer and it would greet me in a real sexy man's voice saying "I love the way you turn me on." At some time we changed something and I no longer got the message. It seems to me that Jim said that it made him uncomfortable when he turned it on but I really thought it was cool.

Now I am watching Dancing with the Stars. Last week it was preempted because of the Packer game so I did not get to vote. So I am really concentrating this week.

Tomorrow we are pretty much homebound except for taking Dick in to get his shoe checked. there is that red spot on his big toe. Want that checked before he does any walking and the wound was not bleeding at all today so I think we are getting closer.

Only five more days til our Samhaim celebration. I think I will gather up the Celtic Women stuff and decorations that I want to take tomorrow so it will all be ready on Saturday.

Poor little Chelsea had two seizures back to back early this morning. The first she just flopped over, then second followed almost right away and was quite violent. So I got up and comforted her and then took her out for a quick walk as this always seems to do her some good. Poor baby. Well, she sees the vet in about two weeks. I can tell she is failing but on the other hand, I wish you could all see her on her walks. She is like a puppy with her joy and pep.

Til tomorrow

Mary

I DID get to stay home today.

Dick had a rather rough night again and ended up sleeping late this morning, so I went downstairs and did a bit of sewing. That was fun. I went back down this afternoon and did some more. I have a quilt top well under way and have started putting my "Quilter's Bingo Board" together. Roxie comes down with me. She is trying to convince me to let her into the furnace room. I don't know why. Probably just because - IT IS THERE.

I fixed a homemade mac and cheese for lunch that is really good. We had it with salad, corn and a hot dog.

It was 26 degrees this morning. Boy was I glad that I brought the herbs in. The one bay leaf that I left in the ground is gone.

I had a surprise today. Barbara called from Germany again. She and her friend were heading for a festival today and she is going to Checkoslovakia soon. Bart is going to go to be with her a week from tomorrow. He was not feeling well today when Barb talked to him. I will call tomorrow to see if he is better.

Tonight we called Jim and Michelle. They are doing well. Michelle likes her new job. Jim is starting a new job as an insurance agent. Their doggie is doing just fine. So all sounds well. It is good to hear their voices again.

That is all for today. This week is a bit quiet but I will be starting my Herb Class at the UWSheboygan and Samhain will be celebrated by Celtic Women on Saturday.

Have a great week yourself.

Mary

Here is an oldie but a goodie.


The Pentagon announced TODAY the formation of a new 500-man elite fighting unit called the United States Redneck Special Forces (USRSF)


These boys will be dropped off in Iraq and have been given only the following facts about terrorists :

1. The season opened today.
2. There is no limit.
3. They taste just like chicken.
4. They don't like beer, pickups, country music or Jesus.
5. They are directly responsible for the death of Dale Earnhardt .

The Pentagon expects the problem in Iraq to be over by Friday.