A totally strange beginning to the day. Chelsea got me up at her usual 4AM or so. It was pouring so she made quick work of her outing. Then I got back to sleep. When I woke up I thought it was 6:30AM so I got up again and fed the kitties. In their room I glanced at the clock and to my surprise, it was only 5:30AM. By this time I was wide awake and there was no sense in going back to bed, so I went right into the shower and proceeded with the morning.

I went to Sheboygan Falls shortly after 9 for bible study and my visit with Mother. Bible study was interesting. We got off onto a discussion of this new program that the Diocese has come up with called Faith in our Future, which is supposed to insure education funds for our future by establishing an endowment and several other contingencies for our parish. 40% of the funds stay with the diocese, the rest comes back to the parish. Our discussions covered the expensive marketing that they have done (who is paying for that) how broad is the education to be, (will it cover clerics to help take up the slack that the over stretched priests are now unable to handle.) and how much of the funds will be used to make up the difference caused because of the massive settlements caused by the sex scandals. I think I will ask my friend Marlene, one of the people on the committee some of these questions.

Mother is doing fine. She has been having trouble getting the VNA nurse to call her back with answers to questions. I told her that if she had not heard by this afternoon, I would call. They DID call back and are resolving her questions and promised to be back to her by Wednesday with the answers.

I got home in time to fix Dick's lunch, then drove over to Kate's house. We went out for lunch and a visit, Our schedules have been such the past few weeks that we have not had a time to just visit. It was nice and we covered a lot of ground. Her poor Riley cat is very subdued. It told you that he has a very badly injured front leg. It is all bound up and will be for at least a week or two more. Riley is getting discouraged. I brought him a little of the catnip. Kate said that he seemed to like that.

We had Chicken Vegetable Pasta salad for supper. It was really good. Then there was a meeting of the Ad Hoc committee for the condos. It went well. They have started the prep work on the biggest problem, the paving of the road and will do the paving next week, so our committee is doing well. We covered the rest of the problems and I believe that our work is actually all done.

Since I have been up since 5:30AM I am really tired tonight and am looking forward to that wonderful bed.

I am still reading Dinah Federer's book Chasing Normal. She has a wonderful paragraph in her chapter on loneliness. "A disability isn't something to be fixed. It's a new way of life for everyone to adjust to. Just take it slowly. There may be some awkward moments. That's okay. Take it slowly and trust that you'll find your way." It's a really helpful book and I would be glad to share it with anyone who is interested.

Take it easy. Tomorrow Dick starts therapy. Yippee!! On his feet again.

Love
Mary

I am very tired tonight. Not for the amount of work I did. But just because it is Sunday, a day of rest as we all know.

I went to Mass at 9:30AM. St. John's is now on it's summer schedule so I really have a choice of Masses. I really like early Sunday Morning and 9:30 ain't bad but 4PM on Saturday is OK.

Saw a lot of friends and visited a bit after Mass. Mary Schroeder was there. I saw her at lunch with the bank ladies on Friday. She had not been there for several months and then here she was at Mass this morning with her husband Dave.

I got home an Dick was sleeping so I just relaxed and prepared dinner. We had ham, red beans and rice and cauliflower. Nummy, nummy. After lunch, I took a nap. Bill and Bobbie came over a bit later and Bill fixed the light switch in our bedroom. It had "died". We were unable to turn the light or the fan on in that room and that is not a good thing. Bill fixed it. I don't know what we would do without him. We are so grateful for them. Not for what they can do but for who they are. Bobbie and I are having so much fun with the wine. We tested what is in process and she is coming back Wednesday when both the elderberry/rhubarb and the White Zin will be ready to put into secondary fermenters by then. They are close, but not quite ready.

Now, we are watching the Tony's. We are Broadway "lovers". We learn a lot at the
Tony's and always wish that we could be there, meaning New York, to see the plays. I will be so glad when Dick is better and we can again go on the tours to see the touring companies when they come around.

A busy week is coming up. Yea. Therapy is starting up on Tuesday. We brought the walker into the living room today. We hope that Dick can start using it soon. He gets up easily nowdays but feels a wobbly. Therapy will help that and build up endurance. Tomorrow is my day. Bible Study, lunch with a friend and then a meeting in the evening with the condo ad hoc committee. WE are just about read to get the road paved which is really the biggest of the problems. Of couse those with minor problems are going to immediately say "But what about me?" Whimper Whimper.

Some people do not know how to roll with the punches or to do anything for themselves.

Guess that is all for now.

Take care.

Love

Mary

It was damp and chilly all day. There was some rain but not enough to be really beneficial or even bad to walk in.

Chelsea and I had a really nice walk though I did shorten it because my knee started bothering me. Every day I am able to walk a bit further before it starts hurting so I think the Celebrex is working.

I just cleaned and stuff today. We also got Dick's bath accomplished.

Then at about 4:30PM I left for Howards Grove and Dolores and Ken's 40th Wedding Anniversary celebration. The boys, Kurt and Todd and their wives did a wonderful job of planning the celebration, putting together a DVD and keeping it a surprise. Dolores and Ken had no clue. It is always a delight when with all the people that end up knowing about a surprise like this can keep it a secret.

It was at the Wagon Wheel and Ken and Dolores thought that they were just meeting their boys for dinner. We had a great meal, as the Wagon Wheel always puts on. Chicken, tips and gravy, with all the good side dishes and cake and ice cream for dessert.

I took Mom home at about 9PM after food some visiting and pictures. She was exhausted and I needed to get home too. What a lovey evening.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend too.

Love

Mary

It was a busy day. And a nice day. The weather was perfect. Chelsea and I went for our walk at about 7AM after I had taken care of feeding kitties, showering and cleaning litter box. I got further today before my knee started hurting so I think that perhaps the Celebrex is working. I had a couple of times today when I twisted it so there is SOME inflammation, the doctor says that the xrays just show arthritis.
Guess I should take it easy for a day or two. That is hard.

I cleaned the kitchen today. So the general cleaning is up to date. I do have to get to the garage soon. I figure I will do 1/2 each day that I work at it. Maybe I can get the first half tomorrow morning.

I had lunch with the Wells Fargo ladies today. It was a good day. Almost everybody had good news. Mary Shroeder was there to tell us that she got promoted to the trust department at Community Bank. All other reports were good. People are doing well at jobs and coming home and attending great seminars. After lunch, I went to Kmart and bought a present for Ken and Dolores for their 40th Wedding Anniversary which we will all be celebrating tomorrow night at the Wagon Wheel. I am looking forward to that.

After I got home, I made a fruit salad and some scones and our dinner. WE had Chicken, red beans and rice, cauliflower and fruit salad. And raspberry bread pudding for dessert.

Now it is time to be settling down and getting ready for bed. I did not get my nap today so I am sure that I will sleep very well tonight.

Chelsea had a very bad seizure tonight. Her appetite is kind of down too. We will be watching her very closely and if this continues, we will have the vet look at her.

Tomorrow will be quiet until evening so I can just putter along, except for Dick's bath. That is still somewhat of a production because of the getting in and out of the tub but we are getting better every week.

Have a good weekend yourself.

Here is a picture of the roadways at this time of spring.

Lavender and white
Blooms of wild phlox punctuate
Green wooded byways.


Enjoy

Mary

I slept until almost 7AM (barring of course, Chelsea's early morning walk). We had a lot to do before 10 when we had to leave for Aurora Plymouth. Dick had to to to the anti-coagulation clinic today AGAIN because he has been off the norm that we are aiming for. For a month, he has been off. First the count was very high. Then low for two weeks but Hallelujah. Today his count was 2.4. Which is perfect. It is supposed to be between 2 and 3.

We came home for lunch and then had to get to Sheboygan to see Dr. Moreno to have him write off the shoes. He is very pleased, declared Dick's feet healed and has prescribed therapy for the next month at which point he will reevaluate. He has stressed that we have to be vigilant to any signs of wounds or changes on his feet.

SO, on the way home, we stopped at Plymouth Care to schedule the therapy. Leah got us all set up for next week. With any luck at all we will have Jaren on Thursday. Jaren started Dick on Therapy before it got to a point that he couldn't stand because of the knee problems. He was working on balance and building strength. It will be good to see him again.

We were able to stay home the rest of the day. I got the vacuuming done. Whew. I hate when I get behind. With the cats back with us it does not bode well to leave the vacuuming to for a week.

I read that David Carradine died. He was "grasshopper" in Kung Fu. He is part of a fond memory. The boys liked watching Kung Fu when it was in its prime. Bart was about four and apparently suggestible. We went to church one Sunday and I was talking to one of the young associate pastors. Suddenly Bart yelled "Kung Fu" and kicked him in the shin. The priest was very nice about it but Bart was excommunicated on the spot.



So. Have a good evening and I will check in again tomorrow night.

Love

Mary

This was supposed to be a quieter week, but the excitement of Dick's new shoe and the extra appointments has kind of turned that around.

I started this day off as all the others. Chelsea had a bad appetite day. I have decided not to worry about it. She is perky enough and all other functions seem fine. She IS eating something and I guess we just have to respect her feelings. (Right now, it is almost midnight and she wants me to go to bed. She has this THING about settling down when I do and gets quite bossy about it.)

Anyway I started on my shopping marathon at about 8. I finally got rid of the old battery backup for the computer. I took it over to the City Yard and asked someone what I was supposed to do with it and he took care of it. What a guy.

Then on to the Pig for our grocery shopping. I also had to go to Walgreens to pick up some prescriptions for Mom and go to the bank to make a deposit for her and to pick up some money for us.

Shortly after I got home and put the groceries away, Bobbie came and we did the next steps on the wines that we have brewing downstairs. The rhubarb was not quite at the Specific Gravity we wanted but one of the recipes said to just rack it without testing so we put it into the secondary fermenters (the glass jugs). So we did and were rewarded with seeing that the yeast is indeed working its little heart out in the brew.

This afternoon we had two repairmen here. The water softener had started just running a couple of days ago so I called for repair and the clothes dryer had blown its heating element. WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO HAPPEN AT ONCE!!! Anyway both repair people were able to come quickly and do the job with little fuss. I am grateful. Oscar, however, is not happy. He stayed put for Bobbie and enjoyed his time with her but disappeared when the Culligan Man came and stayed hidden until dinner time. The second doorbell did him in.

This evening Mother, Kate and I went to see 1776 after a lovely dinner at the Villager. It was one of the longest productions I have been to but worth every minute. The cast was mostly men, except for Abigal Adams and Martha Jefferson, and covers the great debates that led to our Declaration of Independence. The talent was special. We loved it.

My only concern was that it was after 11 when I got home. It was OK but if Chelsea had asked to go out , Dick would have been in trouble. She was fine, she no longer expects him to be able to help her so apparently she stirred once but found that I wasn't home so she went back to bed. Such a trusting little pup. She knew that I would be back.

When I got to Kate's I went to comfort her poor sweet kitty, Riley, who has a severely injured front leg. He was quite accepting of my sympathy. He may still lose the leg, or it may be useless when he heals but they are trying. Kate's other cat, Victoria, is being quite the guardian, she sits with him most of the day and the other day when he managed to get upstairs and Kate couldn't find him, Victoria took her up to him.


So that was the day. We are actually into tomorrow. (AND they say tomorrow never comes.)

Enjoy today!!!

Mary

Pete Seeger was quoting Carl Sandburg who said something like this. "My son, perhaps someday there will be a war and no one will come." I received a letter from Tom Petri, our U. S. Representative who swore that he is on my side as far as our responsibility to support and to take care of them when they return as long as it takes them to be re assimilated into civilian life. We send them over there, our future and they defend us and do whatever we ask them to do. We OWE them. If they cannot return to their previous lives because of injuries, we need to care for them. Forever.

This was a very busy day. Chelsea was a real pest. Very demanding. But she is sleeping now and I am SO glad. Sometimes I just get tired taking her in and out of this house.

Dick had an appointment at Wisconsin Prosthesis this morning to get the new cup for his prosthesis. We had a bonus when we got there. His shoe was there too. So - We spent an hour and a half with Tim learning how to put the new cup on. This is different. The sleeve is put onto the stump and then inserted into the cup which locks in place. It is not easy to get it on as it has to be positioned correctly so that when he stands it is straight. Also there cannot be any air bubbles. Wow. Do we have our work set out for us. Especially Dick. He has to be able to do this himself because he gets up during the night and has to put it on without help.

The new shoe fits very nicely. Dick said it feels good. We have an appointment to see Dr. Moreno on Thursday. He will check it out and then we can start therapy and get him up on his feet walking again. Tim, the prosthesist, says that he believes that Dick can be walking with just a cane and not need the wheel chair except for special long occasions. Yippee.

We stopped and picked up a bacon cheeseburger and fries for our lunch from the Dairy Queen. That tasted good.

Then Dick took Chelsea into the bedroom for a nap. She loves that quiet time with him. So I took care of some calls. I called Dr. Murthy's office about my knee hurting and he had me come in for xrays. Modern technology is wonderful. Dr. Murthy had the xrays immediately but of course he has to find time to look at them. It will probably be tomorrow when I hear from him. He did give me some Celebrex which I hope will help the discomfort. It is just that I used to be able to walk off the pain and now it gets worse the longer I walk.

We had soup and sandwich for supper and now I am just about done for the night.

There was a rather interesting situation occurring in the Town of Plymouth. A local restaurant petitioned the town to allow them to change their restaurant to a "Gentlemen's Club" with topless waitresses serving from 4PM to 2PM every day. It was a shock to everybody and the citizens of the area came through in droves. There were six letters to the editor published in the Review against the "Club". All of them articulate and stating their reasons for their disapproval from several perspectives. I was one of the letter writer's. Here is my letter.

I am a resident of the city of Plymouth. It has come to my attention that the Wilderness Restaurant on Hwy 57 at the gateway to the city has applied for a permit to expand the restaurant into a cabaret (topless bar).

I sincerely hope that the Town Board of Plymouth, where the restaurant is located, will stand up and deny this permit. This is not the image that I believe very many of the residents of the Plymouth area wish to convey to the wold.

We are a small town, proud of our roots, our children and our family values. Let's unite to keep it that way.

Thank you.

That was my letter. I only put the name of the restaurant in this blog because the owner of the restaurant, hearing of the concerted opposition, withdrew his application before the meeting. I think that he should be lauded for seeing the mistake and as soon as Dick is able we will again frequent the restaurant for meals as we did before. They are a pleasant place to eat and it would have been a shame to lose another place to eat breakfast that has a smokeless area.

Take care and pray for my friend Gail's daughter Karen who is preparing for serious surgery later this month.

Love

Mary

Chelsea woke me up at 4:30AM this morning. Unbelievable. I did not reawaken until almost 7AM. That is a record. I cannot remember the last time that I slept that late.

As I had to be at Bible Study at 9:30 this did throw me a bit behind. But it all came together. We had a pretty full table at Bible Study. I think that I mentioned that we have been studying the previous Sunday's readings for three years now and have gone through the entire cycle. We have decided to now take a hiatus from that type of study and pick a specific study. The group has settled on the Gospel of Mark and we will chose which series of study we want to use next week and ask Lynn at the church office to order the books for us.

Then I went to Mom's. She wanted to go to the cemetery to look at the boxes by the graves. They really do look lovely and are healthy and colorful. We noticed that there is nothing at my cousin Michael's grave though, and Mother wants something to go out there. I will try to do something to help with that. It is always good to go out there and say Hi to everybody. It is a beautiful cemetery. They used to say Mass out there on Memorial Day. There is a nice altar out there. The statues on the altar have been changed since my day. I remember going down there sometimes as a kit and playing on that altar.

I picked up a couple of plants at Evans today. I found Rosemary, Purple Basil, some petunias and some vines. That is ALL that I am going to do. I got them all planted, I vacuumed the car and switched the floor mats in the car with the summer mats. The winter mats are washed and put away until next winter.

Tonight was the Rhine Plymouth meeting. It was full of business. The club voted not to rejoin the Sheboygan County Conservation Association. I think this is a mistake but the majority do not find it beneficial. Aside from that it was pretty tame but we got a lot done.

The weather was very pleasant but it has chilled down quite a bit this evening. I almost headed out without a jacket but fortunately put it on before I left. I even needed it in the clubhouse.

Tomorrow, Dick gets the new cup for his prosthesis, so we will be gone for a good chunk of the morning. I hope they have some news on the shoe. He needs to get on his feet and walking again.

I do get to stay home all afternoon tomorrow.

I have to get to bed now. It is getting late and we are, as you see, having a busy day tomorrow. I am hoping on talking Dick into eating out somewhere at noon. Wish me luck. It would be good for him.

Love

Mary

 

Just a really good picture of our Big Oscar. Isn't he a handsome guy.

Mary

Such a nice day. Chelsea DID get me up too early, 2:40AM, but it was at least better than it was yesterday. We did not walk too far this morning, because my knee was hurting and I had to take her out twice before we really got to walking anyway.

When she got me up at 2:40AM, I put a roast in the slow cooker for our dinner. It turned out pretty good. The recipe said to cook for at least 12 hours. You just rub the roast with dry onion soup, lay it on a bed of sliced onion and any other veggies you want and let her go on low until you are ready to eat. It is not dry and the juice makes a dark brown gravy.

I also made a coconut meringue pie for dessert. Since Bobbie and Bill came over this afternoon, I could go all out for our evening meal. Bobbie and I were moving to the next step on her Rhubarb wine and she brought more rhubarb and some elderberries to start another batch. The "winery" looks pretty good right now with three batches of wine going all to onest.

I went over to St. John's at 1PM for Mass and a celebration for Fr. Van Beek's 40th Anniversary as a priest. I had not intended on going to two masses in one weekend, I was a Eucharistic Minister last night and really figured that would be enough. But someone from the church called and asked if I was coming and guilted me into it. It was a just fine, a lovely mass with a choir that sang beautiful special music for the occasion and allowed us to join in on many truly lovely songs also. I wrote a haiku for Fr. Van Beek and put it in a card of congratulations that I gave him. He really doesn't know who I am but has been a good parish priest and I love his sermons and the way he brings prayer to us.

I thing I called the Haiku "Congratulations on 40 Years of Priesthood" but I am not sure. Anyway here it is.

A wink of His eye
This time you labored for Him
And yet eternity.

I visited with several people I know. Kate was there. She and Ron ended up unable to go to their daughter's wedding after all. Ron got weak and the trip became not a good idea. We could not talk too long. She will call when she can. Her kitty, Riley, has a broken leg and got out of his cast and she had to take him to Port Washington to the veterinarian after she left the reception. This is on top of Ron. Pray for Ron. He has not had a bad spell like this in several months and it is not a good thing.

Tomorrow is a new week and a new month all rolled into the one day. It is hard to believe that it is the beginning of June already.

Take care. This will be a busy week.

Love

Mary

You must be sick of hearing about Chelsea, but she is the start of every day and last night she woke me up at the ungodly hour of 1AM. I figured it was an anomaly so I left the door open. Big mistake. She was back within the hour. So I took her out again and then did shut her out. I was able to go back to sleep and got up at 6AM.

The usual morning routine. We had a truly nice walk. It was warm and a bit breezy. We ran into a couple of the neighbors and they raved over how pretty she looks with her new haircut. Rick also said that he thinks it makes her look younger.

At nine I drove over to the Plymouth Armory to pick up my SHARE. It was raining then. It had pretty much stopped by the time I got there. I picked up Kate's SHARE also as she and Ron are in South Dakota at their daughter, Dawnlee's wedding. I managed to get it all in freezer/refrigerator spots as needed so it will be fresh and safe when Kate gets home.

Home again, I did some food prep. A fruit salad. a lettuce salad, a pie crust. After lunch, I took a nice nap. It helped but I am still very tired.

I went to Mass at 4PM. It is Pentecost Sunday already. The church was all decorated in red to symbolize the Spirit. Fr. Van Beeck spoke about the importance of this feast day. The Spirit was not hyped too much years ago and we even referred to the Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost. Remember the silly before dinner blessing? Father, Son and Holy Ghost. He who eats the fastest gets the most.

But this is the day that commemorates the Holy Spirit coming to the Apostles and they came out of their hiding places and converted, they say, 5000 to Christianity in that one day. Wow. Now that is SPIRIT.

Anyway, as I was leaving I saw Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Bob also leaving church. They came here because they are going to the cottage that they own at Elkhart Lake and wanted to go to an earlier Mass and get HOME to rest for the weekend. We had a nice visit.

I also ran into my cousin Harold Ziegler and was able to tell him that I saw the article about him in the Plymouth Review. He has been in barbershop for 50 years and won an award this year. There is still a small chorus in Plymouth and he belongs to a bigger one in Milwaukee. They will be singing at the Weill Center on June 14th, I will have to see if I can possibly go.

This evening has been very quiet Dick has already gone to bed. I will stay up til shortly after nine so that I can take the girl out and then hit the bed myself.

Tomorrow I am going to the church at 1PM to wish Fr. Van Beeck a happy 40th year of ordination. Somebody from the church called and asked if I was coming, so I thought I would. Actually, I am not sure if Father knows who I am though we have been introduced several times.

So that is all for tonight. I hope your Sunday is special.

Mary

That goofy dog of ours woke me up at 2:40AM to go outside. I was able to get back to sleep and got a good rest until a bit after 6AM. At that point, I woke up and could hear dog tags rattling in the hall and an occasional meow so figured I had better get up and take care of the "royals."

After feeding the animals and my shower, Chelsea and I went for an absolutely lovely walk. My only complaint is that my right knee is so sore. I am determined to "walk it off" and hope that adding chondroitin and daily Tylenol will help with that.

I spent the morning cleaning the kitchen. I got the cupboards all wiped off with Murphy's soap. I am trying to hit a room a week with that. My spring cleaning is a couple of months off but it is getting there.

I had lunch at the Dairy Queen today. It was good to spend the time with the gals again. The past year has been so spotty. Everyone is doing pretty well and they are fun ladies.

Home again, I took a short nap before getting things ready for Dick's supper and catching up on phone calls and emails.

Nancy picked me up at 5PM so we could go to Rhine for the bust up of the pistol league. Toni Nevicosi was helping John with the bust up dinner so we three ladies and John all ate together and the ladies had a great visit. A bit later Lil and Ken Pipping joined us. It was an nice gathering. Nancy had to be home by 7 so I came home with her knowing that Dick would be very glad to have me home again. And he was. So were critters, though Chelsea seems very tired and is not all that interested after she greeted me. She did not finish her dinner tonight either.

Tomorrow is fairly quiet. I have to pick up SHARE in the morning and go to Mass at 4PM but the rest of the day is mine, mine, mine. I often wonder how anyone would ever find the time to be bored.

There is an interesting scenario occurring in the Town of Plymouth. There is a restaurant called the Wilderness on Highway 57 between Highway E/PP and Eastern Avenue. The owner of the restaurant has applied for an addendum to his license that will allow him to change his establishment to a "Gentleman's Club", a Cabaret which would employ topless waitresses from 4PM to 2AM each day. I am astonished and have written to the Plymouth Review to protest and hope that this is not approved. I am a resident of the City of Plymouth and do not have a vote for the town representatives but I can voice my opinion and did. We don't need that kind of place operating at our gate.

Guess that is all the news.

Have a nice weekend.

Love

Mary

Chelsea's appetite was not too good today. I had to coax her into eating breakfast. She got me up at 3:30AM. Then when I got up at 6, she was not hungry but was very anxious to get out to go to the bathroom. So. I accommodated her.

Dick and I had a great breakfast. Scrambled eggs with chives and cheese, sausage and toast. Then I vacuumed the upstairs rooms and did some other cleaning. Dick and Chelsea had a nice nap.

Bobbie got here at about noon. We were winemakers today. After a lunch of pork burritos and a new cherry tomato salad that turned out REALLY good, she and I went down to the "winery". Bobbie brought chopped up frozen rhubarb which we got into the straining bag and covered with sugar to cure for three days before moving on to the next step.

Roxie became very insistent at the foot of the stairs, so we just let her come and join us. Of course, she still was a real pain wanting us to pet her or to, at least, lift her up on to the benches, which we were not about to do, not with the new fermenting musts that we had started.

We also started the last kit that Dick and I had purchased, White Zinfandel. Bobbie is taking over the family "wine business" slowly. She will make a couple of batches here - as many as she wants as far as we are concerned - and figure out where to put the equipment and supplies at her house. This is fun. She and Bill will be back on Sunday, probably, for the next step and then to mix up another batch.

We had pizza for dinner tonight and now are all settled for the evening. I am going to close this off quite quickly so I can do some reading before I go to bed. I am in the middle of two books. The past several months I just have not been reading at all. Too distracted, I guess. So I am trying to schedule reading time every day.

Emily Dickinson said. " I never spoke to God nor visited in Heaven...yet certain am I of the spot."

Have a lovely healing sleep.

Mary

I hope you have already seen the pictures of our girl, Chelsea. Isn't that the cutest little girl that you have ever seen? She was a very good girl for Gina. I left her there at 8:30 and did a little shopping for about an hour. I got back just when she was about finished. Chelsea was glad to see me and Gina said that she was a pretty good girl. She likes out Chelsea and is very patient with her. She is amazed that Chelsea is 15 years old.

Chelsea and I stopped at Mother's on the way home. I had some things to take to Mother and I know that she likes to see Chelsea. After her bath and haircut,Chelsea looks so good too. We had a short visit and then I came home.

We got home between 10:30 and 11:00 And I left immediately for grocery shopping as Dick was sleeping and Chelsea needed to rest. I got home shortly before noon and heated up some Swiss Steak and mashed potatoes for our dinner.

At 2PM I had to be at Rocky Knoll for the Amputee Support Group meeting. We were supposed to have a speaker from the DMV but she canceled at the last minute so we just had a talk session. We had a new amputee, a young man who had just recently had an arm amputated. He will be all right but pleas pray for him as he is being fed a lot of meds that seem kind of unnecessary and perhaps redundant. I am glad that he is coming. As I said, Pray for him.

The rest of the day has been just catching up.

It rained most of the day and since I was driving around, the car got very clean.

Now it is evening and getting close to bed time. I am looking at a very content kittie ( Roxie) turned upside down on my desk and being sweet.

So. I will close tonight with a saying from a book that I bought called Chasing Normal by Dinah Chadoir Federer. She spoke to our Amputee Support Group last month and write this book to help the "Newly Disabled and for Those Who Love Them."

If you want to read it I will share, or let you know where to find it.

Here are two quotes from the book.

"Those who want to sing will find a song." Anonymous

"I believe that we, the disabled, need to stop chasing normal, celebrate who we are and who we are becoming and help each other as we go." Dinah Chadoir Federer.

Love

Mary

 

 

Here is our Girl. Chelsea with her summer do. Don't you just love the special flair to her tail this year?

Mary

It was a rather funny day. Not too busy, thank heaven. I got up shortly after 6. It was raining, not hard but wet enough that we took a very short walk this morning. I was able to work on getting the trash ready during the day, as because of the holiday, they are picking up tomorrow. Lots of people got scared and put theirs out today, but I hung in there and waited.

Dick got his coagulation checked this morning. It had improved some but not nearly enough so we have to go back next week to see how the NEW adjustment works.

The rest of the day was a home day. I did some cleaning and washing.

This evening I went out on the street to meet the Ad Hoc Tallgrass Committee with the developer and the paver so the paver could tell us what he is going to do and how this will help with the drainage problems which is the second part of the Ad Hoc Committee's concerns. It was very useful. We will probably have Tallgrass paved by the middle of June.

That was the day. Pretty uneventful. I can't say that that upsets me at all.

Tomorrow will be busy. Chelsea gets her summer do and I have an Amputee Support Group meeting to attend. Plus shopping.


A poem for our Chelsea

My furry friend ages
Much faster than I do
Yet she romps in joy.


Later

Mary

I got to stay home for the whole day. It was wonderful.

Chelsea DID wake me up at about 3:30, but this morning I was able to get back to sleep and did not wake up again until 6:30AM so I got a very good sleep. I am going to bed on time tonight too and hopefully that will catch me up.

Chelsea has had a rather difficult evening, she has been coughing a lot. All I can do is reassure her.

We did have a nice day. Dick was hungry for corned beef hash and eggs (Bobbie mentioned them the other day when she was over.) So we had that for our breakfast. Then I fried out. I cooked those Meisfeld brats with apple and saurkraut. Boy are they good. We also had potato salad and beans. And I made a Jello Poke Cake for dessert. I used a yellow cake mix and raspberry jello for the cake.

I love the blog. I mentioned that Mother was going downstairs to water plants during the winter and wanted a home for them and Bobbie emailed that she would be glad to take them. They will spend this last summer on Mom's porch and then go home to Bobbie. There are several, some of them badly in need of separating, but Bobbie will know what to do with them. I am so grateful and Mom was happy that someone wants them.

Mom and I were remembering how Dad got some of the remaining living cactus. He brought some back from California when we, the Johnstons, took him out to the desert. I remember that he had his suitcase stuffed with rocks and cactus. I could not lift it. Then he tried and looked at me in total surprise and said."What did you put in there?"

He also swiped some of them from public buildings. If he saw an interesting cactus in a lobby, he would sneak over and break off a piece and put it in his pocket. It is a wonder he did not have thorns in his butt but I think his guardian angel protected him.

Have a lovely rest of the week.

Mary

I got to bed so late last night. Then Chelsea got me up at 4:30AM, despite my taking her out just before I crawled in. The trouble is that I was unable to get back to sleep so finally at 6AM, I just got up and have been up ever since.

I spent the morning kind of just getting things organized and feeding all the creatures that live in our world.

I went to the 10:45AM Mass. It was a nice mass, commemorating the Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven. I still wonder how those poor Apostles must have felt when He told them to wait in Jerusalem for Word from his Father and then disappearing up into the sky. Had a bit of a visit with my friend Janet Bieschke and found out that her husband Richard also was born on May 21st.

We had chili for lunch as I wanted to get over to Mother's with the tomato plants from Jeff and Kathy. It was a busy afternoon. Leif and Nora were there as we had decided to plant the tomatoes together. They ended up doing so much more. Got Mom's trash all sorted and ready for the curb, fertilized the lawn and planted all of her geraniums in the front for color. I hope they didn't get too worn out, I had to leave a bit before four o'clock because I ahd to pick up a prescription for Dick and they close at 5 on Sundays. Besides I was tired.

Shortly after I arrived, Dolores and Ken came and then cousin Chris and her husband Ron Kasmarazak came too so I will bet you that Mother is also exhausted. This has been a very busy week for her and she does wear out. I found out that she went down into the basement to water plants yesterday. She is not supposed to do that - it is flat out dangerous and I am so very worried about her.

Dick and I had pork chops, broccoli and mashed potatoes for supper. Now we are watching the National Memorial Day Concert. It is always so special and touches my heart in so many way. We must remember to be there for all of our servicemen and women who are coming home from war in so many degrees of hurt and need and even those who seem not injured by their experience for an experience it has been and their sacrifice must be appreciated. They fought to keep us free and we must do whatever is needed to care for them and keep them safe once they are home again. We cannot forget them. They are ours, our children. We cannot neglect our children.

God Bless Them and those who care for them.

Tomorrow we get to stay home ALL day. I am so happy and so tired. I must remember to put the flag out tomorrow.

Love
Mary

Such a lovely day. I got up at 6AM and was quite busy this morning with animals, meals and helping Dick with his bath. By lunch time, I had everything that I had to do finished so I took a nap.

Tonight, I left at about 4PM to go to the wedding reception in Green Bay at Lambeau Field. I drove to Jeff and Kathy's home in Hilbert and then Kathy drove her car the rest of the way. We had tons of fun using the GPS that Bart and Barb gave me for Christmas to get there.

This being Memorial Day weekend, of course, Jeff and Randy were at Indy for the big 500. Would you believe that they have been going to that race for 39 years already?
When they first started, they camped - no matter what the weather. There were stories of ice chests floating away. Now they stay in motels.

The wedding reception was special. John's wife, Jenifer, is charming. They had a totally Irish theme down to to music they walked into the meal on and danced too. Lambeau is really a classy place to have a reception. The room is spacious, nicely decorated and easy to get to. The meal was very good also.

Saw a lot of relatives. Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Bob, Chris and Ron and Andrea and Brian and Peggy. Nora and Leif and Eileen and Fred. And Uncle Pat and Aunt Joan the parents of my cousin John the groom. John and I are the bookend grandchildren of John and Matie Bowser and there are 40 years separating us in age. He has grown to be a fine young man. I still remember that little red headed munchkin.

John designed his new bride's engagement ring. He found a lovely Irish knot, took to to a jeweler and had the ring designed with the know on either side of the diamond. It is exquisite.

Anyway, I am home safe and sound and Chelsea sees no reason why I am staying up so late, so I believe that I will close this down and go to bed. Tomorrow will be quieter but busy since I will be taking the tomato plants that Kathy sent for us down to Mom's and Nora, Leif and I will plant them for Mom. I will have to get mine planted too.

So. Good Night, Sleep Tight.

Love

Mary

Today was my doctor's appointment. I really like Dr. Murthy. He really asks a lot of questions and seems to have good answers.

I have to remember to listen and follow orders. He is suggesting that I take Tylonol Arthritis twice a day to see if it helps the pain in my side, shoulder and legs. Since I told Mother that she has to keep this up to stay ahead of the pain, I had better be sure to do the same myself. He suggested that perhaps I add Chondroitin to my MSM/Glucosamine. So. I picked some of that up along with a renewal of the only prescription that I have Nexium for my stomach and reflux. I have to remember to keep taking that too. I have a tendency to stop once I don't have symptoms any more.

Anyway, that is enough about my issues.

I got my desk cleaned off again today and made a fruit salad but overall, I am just plain tired and hope that tomorrow I have a little more oomph. Perhaps if I can get to bed earlier this evening.

I better get more alert tomorrow as I am going to that wedding reception in the evening for John Bowser. I told you that the reception is at the Legends Club at Lambeau Field, didn't I? I am kind of excited about that. Nora and Leif, Eileen and Fred and Kathy and I will be representing the Deeley's. Mother has decided that it is just a bit too much. She is tired. I know that all the excitement of Nora and Leif being here is tiring. Nora and I talked about that. She and Leif are quietly trying to do things for her while they are here. Also Nora and Eileen revamped her closets and set them up for easy access. She has such cute things and looks so elegant in her clothes.

Guess that is all for now. I will check in after the reception to let you know about the Legends Club.

Love

Mary

Well, I can no longer claim to be 68 years old. I am 69, one year closer to the big 70. Funny, I don't feel any different.

It was a busy day, I received cards and calls and flowers from lots of people and got to spend some time with members of the Deeley family also. That was not a happy occasion as it was at Keith Carpenter's funeral. A very touching funeral, well attended. But then SO many people knew Keith from all his years at Dale's and even into the new ownership and him being such a nice guy. After Mass, there was a military ceremony, requested because he is a Vietnam Veteran. That is always so beautiful and hurting to witness. The formal presentation of arms followed by the 21 gun salute and then TAPS on the single bugle. Shirley will have the flag to pass down in the family. And a lovely family they are.

I had spent the morning cleaning and trying to catch up on reports for various groups and other computer chores. I only have three current projects. Cleaning keeps happening. I remember that Nora and I used to go and help Aunt Helen clean her house on weekends. Not together. I think Nora started after I stopped. But Helen would tell the story, that when Nora and she would finish the cleaning, Nora would go around the house and pretend to seal the various rooms in a cover to keep them clean.

Tonight we had a special meeting, mandatory they called it. It was quite a bru-ha-ha. You have the trap shooters vs. the Sheboygan County Conservation Association. It is the same in every club. There are the workers, those who do the minimum and the slackers. Unfortunately, a member who was so valuable in the maintenance of the traps and all, got angry and walked out for the second time. He is gone now. I had pointed out that he, like others before him, had made the volunteering to time consuming a part of his life, and once one resents the volunteering it is no longer a good thing. I suggested that he come back to us as he is a wonderful asset to any organization, but then one of our members from "the other side" started rattling on and got him mad again. So we have a lot that will have to be resolved at the next meeting.

So now I am home and ready to wind down. Aren't the flowers loverly?

Love you all

From the old 69 year old woman who lives in Plymouth Wisconsin.

Mary

 

Aren't they beautiful? Dick and Brenda sent them for my birthday. I love flowers and am so grateful for the thoughts and the flowers.

Mary

I slept until 6:30AM with only the 3:30AM pit stop for Chelsea. At least it is finally warm. It was 66 degrees at 3:30 and got up to over 80 during the day.

It was a busy morning. I went to the bank, grocery shopping and to Walgreens. So the shopping is almost done. One of Dick's prescriptions was not ready because it had to wait until tomorrow because of the insurance. I can pick that up on my way back from Keith Carpenter's funeral in the afternoon. Keith died on Sunday morning. He was a very good friend of the Deeley family. His sons, Lee and Cory go deer hunting with us every year.

Years ago, One of those boys, I think Cory, wanted to go deer hunting. Keith knew that Dad and my brothers hunted, so he asked if he and Cory could come along. Keith outfitted himself and Cory, saw that Cory got Hunters Ed and they both went out one November along with my family. Keith did not like hunting. He knew he wouldn't but he also knew that once he had ensconced Cory with the Deeley Party, his son could pursue his wish to hunt and he would not have to worry about him. Now, that's a good DAD. Pray for his soul and his family.

This afternoon, Bobbie picked me up a bit after noon and we went out morel mushroom hunting. Between us we got about a dozen, enough for us each to have a nice fresh mushroom omelet in the morning. It was a nice day in the woods. I am totally tired. Bobbie got lost but we were able to keep in touch by telephone and a kind man who works for Plymouth Utilities found her on the road and took her back to the car. From there she was able to connect with me. I had found my way back to the initial plowed field that we came in on. We did have a wonderful time and plan on making a date to do it again next year, perhaps after a rain when there will probably be more 'shrooms up and ready for the taking. We also plan on bringing compasses.

Sleep tight and have a great day tomorrow.

Mary

Am I ever glad that this day is winding down. I got up a little later today, 6:30AM. (Of course, I did have my little Chelsea wakeup at 3:30AM.) Had a nice morning. Just prepared things for lunch and Dick and I had to get ready to take him to the Anti-Coagulation clinic to see if the change in medication had worked. It had - a bit too much the other way. As I have said his count is supposed to be between 2 and 3. Last week it was 4.1. This week it was 1.5. So we have adjusted again and will go back next week to see if we are back in place.

Nora and Leif and Mother arrived shortly after 11:30 so we could have lunch and a visit. It was so pleasant. I love visiting with them and we had so much to share. I served Zucchini Veggie soup with sandwiches. We had choices. BLTS with either Irish Bacon of regular Bacon. I also fried up some mushrooms for those who prefer veggies to meat.

For dessert we had Cherry Dream Pie. It is something that Lil used to make and my friend Janet reminded me of. Here it is as it is so simple and tastes so good.

Cherry Dream Pie

2 cups soda crackers, crushed
6 egg whites
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cups chopped nuts.
1 envelope Dream Whip, prepared or 2 cups thawed Cool Whip
2 cans cherry pie filling

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and sugar until stiff peaks form. Blend in crushed soda crackers, vanilla and chopped nuts. Pour into greased baking dish approximately 9" x 13" x 2" and bake at 350 degrees F. for 20 minutes, or until done.

Let cool.

Top with whipped topping, spreading evenly over cracker crust. chill at least two hours.

Top with cherry pie filling, spreading evenly over chilled whipped topping.

Chill, cut and serve.

Note: Other pie fillings may be used. Blueberry is good.

They all left at about 2:00. Then Dick had to be at Wisconsin Prosthetics at 3:30 to have the stump recasted for his next cup on the prosthetic. That went quite well, we were home by 4:30 so the animals were not insinuating that we were late, though they did demand immediate service.

Now, as I said, I am very tired and ready to go to bed. I hope I can stay awake long enough to see who is the winner of Dancing with the Stars. I may have to find out in the morning.

Hope you had as nice a day as I did. Not only did we have great company but the weather was beautiful. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer.

Love
Mary

What a day. Chelsea got me up the first time at 4AM but I got up finally at 6AM. I did my usual, feeding of critters, showering, walking Chelsea and breakfast for us. (We had more of the Organic Blaster pancakes for breakfast. Chelsea likes that in memory of Zero, she always gets a pancake.)

Went to Bible Study at 9:30. We had a pretty full crew again. The readings were all about the Ascension of our Lord. Even Paul's epistle referred to it. We decided that it must have been a very confusing thing for the apostles to watch him rise up into the sky and disappear. Then they had to go back in to town as instructed to wait for the Holy Spirit before starting on their mission. But as they were staring up to heaven those eleven men must have been really confused especially when two guys dressed in white appeared and asked them why they were doing that - that Jesus would come back the same way in his time. Apparently it is not his time as yet even.

After the study was over I went over to Mom's. She seemed a bit tired to me today. I would not be surprised if she decided not go go to the wedding on Saturday but we will see how she feels that morning. Either way, Kathy and I are going to go together to the reception. I think I told you that my Uncle Pat's son is getting married and his reception is at Lambeau. It is Memorial Day weekend, so Jeff, of course, will be at Indy, but Kathy and I want to to go anyway.

Nora and Leif came while I was visiting with Mom. They are here for a whole week and will be coming to lunch tomorrow and bringing Mother with them. I am so glad of a chance to visit with them. Leif is an avid newspaper and news magazine reader and clips and sends articles to people that he thinks will be interested in them. He send a clipping from a newspaper published in India that he found in an Indian (curry Indian not tepee Indian) restaurant. He sent it because it had a picture of Obama and sent the translation of the caption also.

Somehow, Nora and I started talking about language and it reminded me of my late Uncle Earl. He was my ex husband's uncle, married to my darling mother in law, Lily's sister Velma. Earl took Spanish because he loved to go to Mexico for long vacations and spent lots of time with friends that he met and rented space from down there. Uncle Earl adapted the Castillian Spanish that he learned to Mexican and even gave Lily and me lessons in Mexican for a while.

When Earl crossed the border into Baja California, he seldom spoke English, which annoyed Aunt Velma no end but that is the way it was. Anyway, at one point, his daughter, Carol, was taking Spanish in High School. Earl got a letter from his friend in Baja so he sent it to school for Carol's teacher to share with the class. I think you are probably aware that most languages have very strict rules of pronunciation and of spelling. One of the questions Earl's friend asked him was how the freeway traffic was on the way home the previous weekend. However, though the Mexican's use the word freeway, the man did not know the English spelling of the word and it came trough as frigue, a very proper and phonetic spelling of the word. I don't know if she used it or not but she sent it back with no comment.

I came home and we ate Swiss steak that I had put into the crock pot before I left this morning.

At 1PM the Cream City Writers had their meeting. I read a sonnet that I had written. I will share it at some future time as I am not sure if I want to submit it somewhere first. Dick liked it and that makes me feel that it is pretty good.

Home again and I have been able to stay home since then. BUT at 4PM I led the telephone conference for Celtic Women International. We covered a lot of ground. We discussed the success of the Gathering, set up a committee to review our bylaws, gave the branch reports and lots of other details. I have work to do and must do it by Friday so it stays fresh and gets to the proper people in time.

We had a light supper.

I had a meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee for Tallgrass tonight. I had offered our home for the meeting. That way I could stay home. It worked out very well. Dick got to meet a couple more of the residents too. We met downstairs and I think accomplished a lot. Now we have a couple more details which we should have by the end of the week and will present the package to the board for approval. Mark says that he thinks the road can be done in June if we get off of our duffs and get the OK. That is the major problem that the committee is facing. The other problems are also being addressed in their time as the paving will solve a couple of the other problems to begin with.

Finally the day is over and after I finish this I can go to bed.

Tomorrow, Dick will be casted for the second of his prosthesis cups. That will be exciting.

Love

Mary

It was so nice to wake up and have Richard and Brenda here. They got Dick's computer working for him. He has a couple of things to learn because it is Windows Vista which is a step or two up from what I have and he had before. They gave him a wonderful picture of a cat that looks like Roxie for his wallpaper.

I love having people to cook for. We had pancakes squirted out of a can for breakfast. The Pig had a special. It is called Organic Batter Blaster and is dispensed just like those whipped cream cans that one turns upside down to use.

They were pretty good, we all agreed. It was rather funny when I bought them. At least four of the Pig employees told me that they were good. Apparently a can was at the expiration date and someone brought in an electric griddle and cooked the pancakes up for them to try.

I also fixed scrambled eggs and chives to go with it.

Jim and Michelle called today at about 9:30AM. We were sure relieved. And calling with Richard and Brenda here was fortunate. They have been busy with work and with getting unpacked and all. This is the first weekend that they were not unpacking. Busy and learning their new jobs. They are eager to contact Bart and Barb now hoping they can get together with them on the Memorial Day weekend.

I went out to Rhine to work on the Lewis shoot that we put on today. It was really rather slow. I got there at about 10:30AM and stayed til almost two, tending bar and ordering the steak sandwiches for people. All of the events, Lewis shoots, leagues, seem to be down. I guess that people are not spending as much as they were.

We had leftover spinach casserole for supper tonight. Easy fix.

Some time ago, I told you about Bart's bunny. Well, Bret had a blanket, "Blankie" of course. It was one of his thermal baby blankets. Coincidentally, it was yellow, you my remember that Bart's bunny was also yellow. Bret was a thumb sucker and he loved this blanket because it had a nice silky binding that felt good. Over the years it too became rather gray and faded. At least Blankie could be washed sometimes so it did not stink. Finally it was down to one side of the binding being still attached and a strip of another side hanging like a tail. He was now about 4 and was finally able to go many places without his blanket but it still was very important to him. I asked him if he wanted me to take that strip that was hanging off of it and he said yes. So. I pulled it loose and all of the binding came off. He was horrified. I guess that he did not realize what I was saying. That ended his Blankie phase anyway. I apparently had killed it.

Tomorrow is going to be almost a marathon day with four separate functions starting with Bible Study at 9:30AM and ending with a condo committee meeting here at 7PM. Pray for me. I will be exhausted.

Love

Mary

 

I thought that you might like to see a picture of St. Patrick's Church. The stones were brought by the farmers of the parish and the sand for the morter was brought by wagon from Lake Michigan. Layer by layer they built their church.

Mary

Despite the wind, which made it a might cool, it was a wonderful day. Chelsea woke me up the first time at 4:30AM. I woke up at about four and kind of wondered if I should be worrying but made up my mind that I was not going to go to check until 6AM when I had to get up anyway. I was really rather relieved to hear her tags start rattling just before she came to get me.

Had a rather busy morning getting ready for everything.

I had to be at the Tallgrass Annual meting at 10AM. That went rather smoothly. We got several reports including the report from our Ad Hoc committee. There were a few questions but people seemed receptive to the progress that has been made. The committee is going to meet next Monday at 7PM. I told them that we could meet here. I will set up a table down in the den downstairs. We also elected a whole new slate of officers. Actually one is staying on which will provide some cohesiveness, but the rest all had expired terms or resigned because they were not happy with the outcome of the vote regarding litigation.

I went right from there to pick up Nancy, then onto St. Patrick's in Adell for the first leg of our cemetery tour. We had a wonderful turnout. There were 18 of us at various times of the tour. St. Patrick's is such a beautiful old stone church. It is only a chapel now, (Beth commented that both St. Patrick's and St. Michael's are now called chapels. In Ireland the Catholic churches were called chapels as the protestant churches were the churches.) There is a preservation committee as part of Our Lady of the Lakes Parish trying to keep St. Pats from being destroyed. As long as they can raise $3500 per year for maintenance it is OK. They are trying to figure out how to get an endowment fund established but that his hard. Sometime, if you want to go out there we can arrange it. Just let me know.

We went from there to Cascade for lunch at the Madison Avenue Inn. Brenda, the owner, is so accommodating. We all had such good lunches and it is so charming. I had their flavor of the day coffee and as cup of Wisconsin Cheesy Bratwurst soup with a half a Veggie panini. Really good. We can go there too!!!

We stopped for a while, as long as we could stand the cold wind in the graveyard next to the now closed St. Mary's in Cascade. Beth told a couple of stories of some of the Cascade Irish,notably the Keyes. I will have to tell Tom about that on Monday at Bible study. One of his ancestors, a young woman, came into the country sick. She managed to get past the inspectors and off the boat and to her relatives. However, they were afraid of her illness. It was winter and they made her stay in a shed out back with no insulation and no help. The poor woman survived but lost all of her toes during that cold winter. When she was well, she walked away to some other relatives and never turned back. She had a very rough life besides that. She married and had 10 children but only one grew to adulthood, this was Tom's relative.

Our last stop was St. Michaels out near Parnel. There Beth told stories of the church and the residents. We finished there and headed home. I was in Plymouth just in time to go to Mass at 4PM. That means that tomorrow I will be much freer.

I am now totally exhausted and will fold up for the night.

Tomorrow will be busy too as I am supposed to go out to Rhine to help out there.

So I will have more then.

Love

Mary

Richard and Brenda arrived this afternoon. Dick said that all of the animals, including Oscar, were very glad to see them. Richard is installing a new computer for Dick. He has been without his all week and is SO grateful. I called and had Brenda put the casserole in the oven when I got back into town so we were able to eat shortly after I got home from church. The spinach casserole was great. We had fruit salads to go with it and topped it off with Strange Chocolate Pie with whipped cream.

I am so very happy with the turnout and enthusiasm of the attendees at the cemetery tour. We even had Mary Malloy, a member of the CWI International board who lives in Chicago come up with her daughter. She told us about some special masses that will be said all around the world commemorating the Famine. We are thinking that this might be something to bring up to our pastors next year as it is always celebrated on May 17.

The end of a productive, busy and pleasant day.

I got up at about 6AM as usual (with our usual bathroom break at about 3AM for the little old lady, Chelsea.)

Dick stayed in bed until almost 10AM. I really don't know how well he slept during the night as I sleep between 10PM and 6AM like normal people. But since he was asleep, I assembles a spinach casserole for tomorrow's dinner, a vegetable soup that just needs to be heated and have cheese melted into it, and a Strange Chocolate pie. I also mopped the kitchen floor.

I did a couple of errands at about 9. I mainly took the clothes that I had weeded out of my closet to St. Vincent de Paul. No sense cleaning out the closet and leaving everything in the house.

Dick didn't eat breakfast until 10AM. So since I was having lunch with my bank lady friends at the Dairy Queen, I just brought him home the same lunch that I had. A cheeseburger and fries. They were good. But that made us not want supper too. So it was a lousy day for diabetic meals but that's the way it goes once in a while.

At 4PM I went to Wittkopp Funeral Home to give my support to the Robert Fenner family. Robert was at the Plymouth Care Center and died this week. Bob was two years younger than Mother and attended her and Dad's wedding reception. His daughter in law was one of the RNs at the Care Center and she sent a message to Dick that she misses him because she could always escape into his room when she needed to get away for a few minutes.

Tonight I went down to the Plymouth Art Center for their 9th Annual Spring Concert called The Music of Spring. My friend Kate Herman is one of the singers as well as several other of my friends. It was a nice concert. The music was diverse and well selected, some of it very challenging. The chorus did a lovely job.

Tomorrow too will be a busy day what with the condo meeting and the cemetery tour. Richard and Brenda will be here sometime during the day to take care of Dick's computer needs.

Everytime I think things are settling down they rev up again.

Love

Mary

A sunny day today, but the wind was blowing until way after lunch. And it was cold. When Chelsea and I went for our walk I had to walk into the wind which certainly does do a good job of demonstrating that old Irish Blessing which starts "May the wind be always at your back."

Dick had an appointment at the anti coagulation clinic at 10. The count was 4.1 - way up. We can't figure out why. Usually it takes a change in diet or a change in medication to cause a major change and we have had a very mundane life these past few weeks. Hard to figure. So. He has to back off for a couple of days and then he will be rechecked on Tuesday. There goes his whole week without a medical appointment.

I cleaned bathrooms and worked in the gardens a bit today. The workers were out mowing and also thinned out the tall grasses in front or our condo in the berm. They are just beautiful but last year they grew so big that they blocked the whole porch and threatened to take over the berm. So I asked that they thin them. They reduced them by at least half. They will plant some of the weeded out pieced around the tract and left some for Jeff and Kathy. Kathy really would like some at their home.

This afternoon Nancy and I went out to Rhine and I finished shooting my league targets. Nancy has three more to shoot but will go out tomorrow and finish during open hours. We had just gotten a bit behind this league.

Tomorrow night, I intend to go down to the Plymouth Art Center to watch the spring music event that Kate is performing in. Songs of Spring, I believe. Poor Kate, her 10 year old kitty named Riley, was hit by a car early this week and has a badly broken leg. Kate is trying to save his leg for him. She settled him in a box in the kitchen and amazingly that badly injured animal made it upstairs during the night and crawled under their bed to sleep. He had to be close to them. God won't mind if we pray for Riley's recovery.

Tomorrow I will be cooking. I am going to put a spinach noodle casserole together for Saturday night. Dick and Brenda will be here on Saturday and I will be gone on the Cemetery tour MOST of the day so figured that it can just be popped in the oven about an hour before we eat. I am also going to fix a special dessert and some soup.

Haven't heard from Jim and Michelle. Guess they must be very busy.

Tomorrow it is supposed to rain. But Saturday is going to be clear and sunny albeit a bit chilly.

Love

Mary

Would you believe that Chelsea dragged me out of bed at twenty to three this morning. I was not really very happy with her but what can you do with an old lady. I went back to bed of course when we got back in and slept until 6AM.

I decided to try feeding her after her walk this morning. Didn't do any good. So I put the food up on the counter UNDER a basket of veggies while I took my shower. That Oscar jumped up on the counter, pushed the basket off and ate most of Chelsea's breakfast. When we had our breakfast, which I got from Mc Donald's we gave Chelsea more food with a couple of scraps from our breakfast and she did eat.

Then I went grocery shopping and over to Walgreens to pick up prescriptions.

Got home just in time to fix lunch. After lunch and a rest, I spent quite some time going through my closets and drawers. I have two big bags of clothes that will go over to St. Vinnies when I head that way again. I still probably have way to many clothes but the closets are not jammed any more. I probably also at some time wish I had not given something away, but that is OK too.

Now, I will have to wake Chelsea up to take her outside so that I can go to bed.

Tomorrow may be a bit more exciting. I rather hope not though.

Mary


THE 10 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.

 

A picture of Roxie just for fun..


Mary

Chelsea is still not enthusiastically attacking her food, but we are getting her to eat. I am feeding her when she has had a chance to get a bit anxious. For instance, I feed the cats when I first get up but wait to feed her until we are done with our walk and everything.

I spent the morning cooking and cleaning a cupboard. I made beer bread, soup and a salad.

We had chicken and pasta for lunch and chicken soup for supper.

This afternoon, Nancy and I went shooting at Rhine. We have to be done with our league by Friday night. I was able to go out last Friday so only had six to go but Nancy was unable to shoot on Friday so is a week behind. We will go on Thursday and again on Friday so she can finish. The trouble is that all shooting has to be done by Friday. The bust up is in two weeks because of Memorial Day Weekend. We thought that we had another whole week.

Tonight I am watching Dancing with the Stars tonight to see who will be eliminated. It is really hard at this point. I think it will be between Gilles and Melissa but we were so surprised last week that Lil Kim was eliminated. This is the only show that I watch that is even close to a reality show.

The next two days are also comparatively quiet. Tomorrow I have to go grocery shopping and Thursday shooting but that is all. Whew. If it rains and soaks the gardens in back, I may go to do some weeding. Travis from Steger heating came and checked the air conditioner today and said that mosquitoes are out there. I am going to try the Listerine spray to see if I can keep them off of me.

Til tomorrow then.

Mary

The end of another weekend. It was Mother's Day today. Both Bart and Bret called me this evening and I received some lovely email Mother's Day cards. I went over to Mother's home with her card after Dick and I had our lunch.

Mother was just fine. Yesterday, Jeff and the family came in and took her out for dinner. Today she stayed home because lots of people call her and come to see her on this day.

I went to Mass at 10:45 this morning. It was a very nice mass. They are not serving wine to everybody as part of the Eucharist. I assume that will last until this swine flu thing is over. No sense in sharing a cup with a couple of dozen people.

Aside from the above it was a quiet day and now I am ready to call it a day.

A nice way to spend a Mother's Day if one cannot gather your "little ones" around you.

Love

Mary

It was quite a nice day today. Not the weather. When Chelsea woke me up at 3AM it was raining and was still raining when we got up at 6AM. When I went back to bed, Oscar came in with me. I thought that he would just cuddle then settle down to sleep, but by about 4:30 I had to send him out the door to wait with his cohorts.

I finished the vacuuming this morning. One really can't let that go when there are critters in the house. I seemed to wear myself out during the day anyway and took a nice nap at about 1PM after we got Dick through his bath which is quite an event. We are getting better at it. It is the moving from the chair to the tub that is the hardest but we are finding shortcuts.

Bill and Bobbie arrived shortly after I got up from my nap. Bobbie and I went down to the wine cellar and she helped me rack the two gallons and one half gallon of wine that have been in the works for quite some time. We were able to bottle the dandelion and the lemon balm wines. So we have 10 more liters that will be ready in six months to a year. The last one, a half gallon, started fermenting in earnest when we racked it so we decided to lit it finish. It is an orange wine, an experiment. I had a half gallon of orange juice that I forgot about down in the basement fridge. It started to ferment, so I added nutrients, camden tablets etc and let it finish. It has a nice taste so far and will be fun to share when it is done.

Bobbie is going to take up winemaking and it is a good time. Dick and I have stopped because he is unable to help me and it was always a fun thing for us to do together. I don't care to continue it alone. Anyway, this will work well, as we can give all of our equipment to her. She is going to try rhubarb first as her rhubarb is springing to live even as we speak. Mine is coming up too and I expect I will have enough to use fresh and freeze for winter use. Anyway, she has decided that she would like to make the first batch here so her Dad and I can go through the process with her as she goes on. We love that idea. She will also help us do the last box of wine that we have down there. It is White Zin and came just about the time Dick became unable to lift anymore.

Bobbie and I had the venison liver for our supper. I fixed bacon cheeseburgers for Dick and Bill. We had raw fried potatoes with it and Chocolate Banana Cupcakes for dessert.

Kitties loved all the attention they got today. Even Oscar was out from the beginning. Of course, he did do one dumb thing. I opened up the china cabinet under the breakfast bar and apparently turned my back just long enough for Oscar to get curious. I either closed the door or it closed on its own behind me and he was stuck. I could hear a muffled mew because I was filling animal food dishes and suddenly he burst out of the cabinet - all by himself. He was a bit upset, but it didn't last long as dinner was served almost immediately.

Chelsea's appetite is waning. She did not finish her breakfast and tonight when I put her food down, she did not seem at all interested. Bobbie discovered that if you offer her one kibble or piece at a time, she is willing to take it quite daintily out of your hand. Bobbie coaxed her into eating about 3/4 of her dinner that way. It is another sign of her age and the various ways her little body is failing.

It is almost bed time so I will wind down for the night. I received the following as part of an email. I thought it funny enough to share. Hope it brightens your day as much as it did mine.

Love.

Mary

Arkansas

A group of Arkansas friends went deer hunting and paired off in twos for the day. That night, one of! the hunters returned alone, staggering under the weight of an eight-point buck. 'Where's Henry?' the others asked.
'Henry had a stroke of some kind. He's a couple of miles back up the trail,' the successful hunter replied. 'You left Henry laying out there and carried the deer back?' they inquired.
'A tough call,' nodded the hunter. 'But I figured no one is going to steal Henry.'

Wednesday and Thursday, I went turkey hunting and had to get up at 3:30AM. I woke Chelsea up. Today, I did not go turkey hunting and she reverted to her ornery self and woke me up at 3:20AM. Can't depend on her at all.

I went back to bed, of course, and got up at 6AM. I cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms this morning and made another great fruit salad. Boy is the fruit good this spring. The watermelon and strawberries are to die for.

We had leftover hamburger helper for dinner at noon. Then I went in to give blood at the Blood Center for Peggy Feider's annual "A Gallon or so for Joe" drive. For the first time, I was not able to donate. My hematocrit reading was one point too low. I was totally surprised as I had eaten before I came and everything to be sure I would be OK. Oh well,I signed up for another 8 weeks and we will see how I do then.

So, I was home pretty quick from that trip. Then, I vacuumed the bedrooms and fixed Dick his supper. I had traded Harold Diedrich for working at Rhine tonight so I could go to the CWI Gathering last weekend, so left for Rhine at a bit before 5PM. We were pretty busy tonight though most of the league shooters are done. We only have about 9 rounds that have to be shot next week. I wish I could say the same for Nancy and me.

Nancy was waiting when I got out there tonight but she had gotten something in her eye while working in the yard today. She thought it would clear up but it was not so we will go out during the week and next Friday to get done.

So now we are home and when I am done with this will get ready for bed. Tomorrow, Bobbie and Bill are coming over. Bobbie and I are going to rack and bottle wine and then have a delicious liver supper. Dick and Bill will have bacon cheeseburgers. They will be happy with that though they will still complain about the liver being cooked in the same house that they have to eat in.

I called Jacquie Hiner today. I have been thinking of her and just wanted to hear her voice. She sounds pretty good but is really stuck at home because George is getting more and more symptoms of dementia or Alzheimer's, it has not been diagnosed.

I told her that if she ever gets a chance for a vacation, she can come here and relax. She has never been to Wisconsin and we could have a good time.

Take care and have a good weekend.

Mary

Another 3:30AM morning. At least it was much nicer out there today. I stayed out in the field until 11AM today. I decided that that was enough. I saw six birds today. Three hens appeared in the field in back of me during the morning. They were all hens, I am sure, and I was unable to interest them in my calling anyway. I think I saw a Tom down near Hwy 57 again. He was way to far away, and I was unable to interest him in my calls either. I guess I was just not sexy enough.

Then on my way out, I scared two hens who were foraging in a grassy area between my stand and the road. They took off like a shot.

It was really a beautiful day with sunshine and no rain at all. A lovely little brown wren came to see me later in the morning. He flitted in between me and my blind and just explored and chattered for a while. If he saw me, I did not frighten him. I made a point of sitting very still so as not to frighten him as he was just adorable.

When Bart was a little boy, he got a stuffed yellow bunny for Easter. That bunny became his "security blanket". Bunny was special though. He eventually became gray and shapeless and smelly. I noticed that sometimes when he would set Bunny down and there were other little people around, they would pick Bunny up and hold him until Bart came back to get him.

Finally, we went out to the Borrego Dessert on a jeep run. We belonged, as a family, to a club the went out to play in the desert at least once a month. We stopped just before going off road to the camp area to gather together, and then headed into camp.

When we got to camp, we realized that bunny was missing. Tragedy!!! I was trying to convince Bart that another stuffed animal would work when a couple of the older kids who had gone out on mini bikes as soon as we hit camp, radioed that they had found Bunny. Joy reigned. We waited eagerly for them to return. As they pulled into camp, Donnie reached in back of her minibike to give Bunny to Bart. Tragedy again!! Bunny had been resting on the tailpipe and was on fire. We made a decision to bury Bunny out there in the Borrego Badlands and move on with our lives.

One side note. A year later we were discussing going back to the Badlands and Bart said that perhaps we could dig Bunny up. He was a loyal little soul and has not changed much.

Love

Mary

I got up at 3:30AM to go turkey hunting. Pretty confusing for the critter. Our neighbor kindly came over to take Chelsea out at about 8AM as that is about the longest we feel comfortable for her to wait to go out at that time of day.

When I met Randy and Kenny out at the field, the stars were still out and it was very quiet. We were in our places by 5 or so and just waited. I heard quite a bit of gobbling on the way in and as the dawn broke but only saw two birds and they were too far away. One was in back of me. I had heard him as I walked in and could see his shape reflected in the tree against the sky. The trees are not very leafed out and he was pretty obvious.

Eventually I heard and saw him fly down from the tree. He had his back to me and I couldn't tell whether he was a hen or a jake. I tried to call him but he ignored my sounds and meandered the other way up the hill and out of sight never getting in my range.

The other was WAY down field towards Highway 57. I sit at the top southwest corner of the fields. He was a Tom as I was able to see him fanning and dancing down there. I tried to call him too, but though he showed a little bit of interest, he never started towards me and eventually made his way north and out of sight, never moving west towards me at all.

I left at about 9:15 because it started sprinkling. I had not seen anything since about 7 and it seemed silly to get wet when there was no activity going on. It rained pretty good as I was on my way home but stopped almost immediately. Randy had to leave to be at work at 8AM but Kenny was staying. They have those pop up blinds so a little rain wouldn't bother them.

I will try again tomorrow morning. I have been getting leg cramps, I am beginning to think from walking that field which has a really rough plowing job and is awful to walk on.

Tomorrow should be clear, I hope. Perhaps the turkeys will come out of the woods if it is.

I went grocery shopping this morning, then fixed lunch and took a nap. I fell asleep after supper too and don't believe I will have any trouble sleeping tonight either.

It was not a dull day out there. I saw two deer, a squirrel, geese, a heron and many other birds.

Tomorrow is Dick's birthday. He actually had a special meal today. I bought raw beef and he had raw beef and onion sandwiches on rye for lunch and dinner. He was a happy camper.

Love
Mary

 

CELTIC WOMEN - Hear us roar.

Mary

Chelsea and I had a lovely walk this morning. We decided to go through the park to Valley and then east to the other edge of the park and home through the woods like we used to do. This is the first time this spring. The path is in pretty good shape. It looks like the trilliums are just beginning to get buds so we are not too late either. Actually a lot of the big trees have not leafed out as of yet but it was a really good walk. Remember the year before last I told you that there were fairy rings in the grass on that side of Lion Park. Well, they are back.

When Dick laid down for his nap, I took Mother her meds and her money. I had forgotten her money when I went on Monday and I also had a nice sweet lavender scented bar of soap for her that I brought from Lake Geneva. We has a nice visit and then I came home in time to fix lunch for Dick and me.

I had a hair cut at 2:30 and have been spending some time getting ready for turkey hunting tomorrow. I finally reached Kenny and we are going to meet out at the field at 4:30AM tomorrow morning. It is supposed to be light at 5:15AM which gives us plenty of time to walk in. Hopefully it will not be raining.

As we finished our supper I got a call from Sara Behr out at Rhine. We were hosting the Kettle Shoot and not enough of the volunteers showed up to help - so I went out to tend bar for a couple of hours. I had missed the Monday night meeting because of the Tallgrass committee meeting and I guess there was a big blowup. The SCCA VS the shooters. What can you do. I am just as glad that I was not there. I just know that Hoover gave his keys to Dennis tonight and that is a big loss so Greg really got him mad. The SCCA (Sheboygan County Conservation Association) is having a raffle - The tickets are $100. each. The big prize is $10,000 BUT the thing that made Hoover and others mad is that they are "requiring" our club to sell at least 4 of them. This is probably possible but the members who are avid trap shooters resent more money going to the Association as they feel we have spent enough and we need to spend money on our own facility. Oh well, you don't care about that, I suppose.

I am going to send a picture of the Celtic Women for you.

Take care

Mary

The first day home from my getaway was hectic but I feel that a lot was accomplished.

I went to bible study. We had a nice discussion. The Gospel was the Vine and the Branches. And we kind of agreed that some of the "branches" we meet are hard to accept. Shirley recalled a statement by a wonderful lady from St. Dominics who said that she knew a whole lot of Catholics but very few Christians. An interesting observation.

Stopped at Mother's next. She had an episode of weakness on Saturday so did not go to Mass on Sunday. So. I picked up a bulletin for her. We visited until 11AM. Then I walked her two doors down the street where she was invited for lunch. The neighbor had a lovely table set up in her back yard. They have a koi pond in their back yard with a lovely cascading water feature.

Got home in plenty of time to fix and eat lunch before we took Dick to Plymouth Care Center to the beauty parlor to have his hair and beard cut. There is a gal there who does the nicest job for him. He looks really good.

I spent the afternoon working on computer, weeding down the email and just catching up. Tomorrow, I have to drop a couple of things off for Mother and get a hair cut. The rest of the day will be spent getting reports and emails done for CWI and for the Tallgrass committee that I am on. We met with Mark, the builder, tonight and discussed what we would LIKE him to do and he told us what he thinks he would be willing to do. It was a good meeting, not like the special meeting called by the current board where they were trying to instigate a law suite. That was so overwhelmingly overturned that Mark is feeling better about working with us and thanked us for actually meeting with him. The first actual meeting he said that he ever DID have wiht anyone about the problems. The main one is when to finish the road.

So I am done and trying wind down. I taped Dancing with the Stars and hope to watch it before tomorrow night. I will be too late to vote, but I can at least have my opinions down.

I got the trash all together during the day so tomorrow morning I just have to haul it out to the pick up place.

When I was walking down to Rick Iverson's house for the meeting, a fire truck was parked at the walk up to the park. There were several firemen milling around. I asked what they were doing and it was a controlled burn to clear the brush. A wee bit of excitement for the evening.

Take care and enjoy Tuesday.

Mary

I am home again.

Kate and I left Lake Geneva after a lovely lunch and a quick stop at Flemings, LTD, and Irish store to look around. They have a very nice selection and Kate, Betty Gavin and I all got a couple of things. I found some decaf Berry's tea and bought some of the heather and moss soap that I do love the scent of.

We all gathered in a meeting room at the Comfort Suites at about 5PM for a mixer. We shared some wine and crackers and cheese and good company, introducing ourselves for those who had not met each other. Then we went out for a lovely dinner at Popeye's along the lake in downtown Lake Geneva.

Yesterday we also had a full, relaxing and stimulating day.

Our main speaker, in the morning, was Patricia Monaghan. Patricia is a poet, author and teacher who gave us a wonderful talk describing the four Celtic Seasons, and related them to the four provinces and their attributes. Did you know that the fires that the Irish used to build at the top of the hills at the beginning of the seasons represented the Eyes of the Godess. She also said that mobile phones were made for the Irish so they never have to be silent. She suggests that we go to Ireland on St. Brigid's day in February. The weather is in the 40s and 50s - certainly better that it is here - and the prices are rock bottom. Sounds like fun to us. I will, of course, have to see what is going on in our lives at that time.

I bought one of her books. The Red Haired Girl from the Bog. The Landscape of Celtic Myth and Spirit.

Then we had lunch, again down town. We were able to have breakfast at the hotel. It was a good breakfast too. Always a warm entree and the ability to make waffles along with fruit, juice and different breads and sweet rolls.

The afternoon was divided into two sessions. The first half offered psychic readings for those who wanted them Or people could listen to Kate, Brigid O'Malley and me read poetry and discuss them. Brigid is charming. She was a nun at one time and now teaches and is on the board of the Irish Center in Chicago. She read poetry from a couple of collections of women poets. She picked several poets, gave biographies and then read a poem or two from them - some in Irish and with the translation if that was how they were presented.
Kate and I presented mainly our own work though I explained how my family had such talent and read pieces from my brothers and my Dad then going into my own. I tried to give a bit of background to the poems for the meaning. Kate read her poems and also gave background on the time and reason for the writing. We are different as day and night in our creative process but everybody seemed to enjoy the session and we did too. It is such fun to share a creation.

The second half of the afternoon was "Learning how to Pamper yourself." I was not interested in that and Joan Kramer, one of our Plymouth members had offered to do a reflexology treatment for me so I took advantage of the time and did it. I was truly relaxed after that and slept like a rock last night.

Dick and Richard and Brenda all had a good weekend. They all seemed to have a good time and I did not have to worry at all. Chelsea did OK. Actually she even got a couple of extra walks too. They brought me an absolutely gorgeous hanging basket with Purple Petunias. My first potted plant of the year. It will look beautiful hanging out front. I have a couple of daffodils blooming and the tulips are about to open. So things are getting more springlike. Tomorrow I will look to the pictures and post one or two from the gathering for you all to see.

Kate had a friend design a pretty bracelet of colored crystals and silver that match the colors of our CWI tartan. It is really lovely.

Guess that is all. It is good to be home and I think I am ready to crawl into my very own bed and see if big Oscar will join me.

Love

Mary