We're baCK! I was totally relaxed when we arrived home this morning at about 10:30AM. Then I took Chelsea for a nice walk and the sun was shining and she and I really enjoyed it. I know that Jim takes her out but no walks are on his agenda.

Later, she asked to go out again (much too quickly I felt) and lo and behold there was some blood in her urine. So - called Dr. Zechlinski. He saw her this afternoon at 2:15. (Did you ever try to collect urine from a female small dog in the snow? --- I had to. I wasn't too successful, but we got enough when I got to the vets.) She has a little bladder infection and is on anti biotics. Isn't that a kick. Dick says she seems to have the same symptoms he has had with bladder infections and the same type of medicine.

The Rochester Inn is a really nice B& B. The rooms are special. We stayed the first night in a 2 room suite on the first floor right off the kitchen. It is much less expensive than the others because it does not have a whirlpool tub. The we moved to the Waldo Brian Donlevy suite, which is their best. It is on the second floor. It has a large sitting room with a wet bar and refrigerator and TV. The bedroom is up another flight and the bathroom with a double whirlpool is off the bedroom. I whirlpooled four times and my hips are feeling 100 % better. The rooms are decorated beautifully. We had a full breakfast each morning. Cheese and crackers or cookies two evenings and there were soft drinks and water in the refrigerator. Coffee, tea and hot chocolate were also in the room.

Sunday, the only time we left was to walk over to Richards for dinner. We holed up and watched the plows go by once in a while. I read and sewed and rested.

I guess I'm glad to be home. I do miss the critters when we are gone.


Til tomorrow

Happy Presidents Day

Mary

Dick and I are off for the weekend. We are going, as I said to the Rochester Inn and just indulging in hot tub soaks, meals out and reading and relaxing. I have SO ready.

Anyway - I will not post on Saturday or Sunday. I hope you miss me.

Just a thought from the Cadfael Book of Days.

For those of you unfamiliar with this book, it is a daily thought book combiled by Robin Whiteman from the Cadfael Series about a fictional Welsh monk who lived in Medieval times, having entered the Shrewsbery Monestary after living a wild young life, even fighting in the crusades. Nora found the book and gave it to Mother and later to me as I expressed an interest. It is nice thinking of Mother, Nora and I reading the daily meditation. A little tie that brings us closer in thought and love. It is surprising how often the quotes relate to the world as we are expriencing it on the day of the item. Anyway. This is just a nice one.

Meet every man as you find him, for we're all make the same under habit or robe or rags. Some better made than others , and some better cared for, but on the same pattern all.

Have a special weekend. I WILL be back on Monday, Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

Mary

The dishwasher is FINALLY draining perfectly and they replaced the rinse dispenser so it is not leaking at the end of they cyle and leaving suds all over the dishes.
It has ONLY taken a year. Sure glad we got that service contract good til 2007.

Choir was fun tonight and our first complete song (Amazing Grace) on the bells. I play three bells. I only play a total of only a dozen or so notes but it is teaching me timing and is fun.

Several years ago, St. Mary's asked that people donate money for the bells and I gave some money from Aunt Helen's estate to purchase one of the bells and have her name engraved on it. I like to think of a bell sounding to the Lord for her. I know she hears it. We also used part of her donation to the church to fix the Angelus Bells that had not worked for years. She had expressed a desire to have them ring again because she lived right accross the church and missed the noon Angelus.

I remember in the old church that I grew up in, we had to manually play the Angelus at Noon. I had the chore for a little while. I felt very talented and powerful.

Have a nice day.

Love

Mary

Here we are at Wednesday. The day after tomorrow, Dick and I are going to "far away Sheboygan Falls" to the Rochester Inn for a holiday. I really want to get away and have nothing to do for a couple of days and it is not the best time of the year for lot of travel. We also decided to do this at the last minute and not many places have vacancies. The Rochester Inn can be accessed at rochesterinn.com.

I am looking forward to reading, sewing, writing and soaking in the whirlpool bath.

MMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!

I took Mother grocery shopping today. We were going to take her with us tomorrow, but she was out of fruit and milk and heaven knows what else, so today was better. I also finished the taxes and got them sent off. This evening I transcribed the Rhine Plymouth minutes, so the day was fruitful and satisfying.

We had a little problem yesterday. The garage door opener broke. The good news is that we were able to get someone out here early this morning and he replaced the motor. After 15 years, it had just plain worn out. The shaft, originally about 3/4 inch in diameter had worn to the diameter of a matchstick before it broke.

I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through a belief in the threeness, Through a confession of the oneness Of the Creator of Creation.”
From the Lorica (Morning Prayer) of St. Patrick.

If you checked yesterday, I apologize. I totally forgot. I have excuses. I was rather busy.

First, bible study was a 9:30AM. There were 6 of us there and we had an animated discussion on Paul's admonition about being a good example. We have lots of opinion and lots of gun in these discussions.

Then, at 1:00 I went to Writer's Club. That was fun too. I read my Summer Evening Music poem. Dick liked it. I sent it into Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets contest, so will print it here when I know that it has no chance of winning or that it has won. Here is a little poem that needs more developing but is a kind of little core.

Don’t let go of my hand!
The sky has no ceiling
The sea has no floor
The world has no walls
I might float away.

I sent my nephew John the recipe for Slim Veggie Soup. Perhaps you'd like it - it is all bouillon and veggies.

Slim Veggie Soup

3 Cups Water
6 Beef or Chicken Bouillon Cubes
2 cans diced or stewed tomatoes
½ cup chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery (use the greens too)
2 cups shredded cabbage
2 TBSP. chopped parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste

Put water, bouillon and tomatoes in a kettle. Bring to boil. Add rest
of vegetables and bring to a boil again. Cover and reduce the heat.
Simmer until vegetables are done. Makes about 6 single cup servings.

Hope this makes up for yesterday.

Mary

The concert at Ebebezer United Church of Christ went very well. There were three chruches involved an a program of sacred music presented by the Sheboygan Music Club. We were the Choir of Ebenezer United, St. Luck United Methodist and Blessed Trinity. It is always fun to sing with a bigger choir. The choirs sang several songs together and each choir sang two pieces on their own. Blessed Trinity sang Christ Has No Body Now But Yours and On That Holy Mountain. Each choir presented a song or two for all the choirs to sing together. It is special to share the experience. The crowd was not too big but there were a few friends there, including my cousing Doug and his wife Caroline.

It is raining outside and rather chilly and damp. It is supposed to be colder this coming week.

Dick and I have decided to go to Door County next week for a holiday. I am ready to be gone and not to have to do anything for a few days. We will leave on Friday about noon, probably right after lunch and come back on Monday.

I found a nice Irish proverb.

The lake is not encumbered by the swan; nor the steed by the bridle; nor the sheep by the wool; nor the man by the soul that is in him.

Have a good Monday

Mary

Another successful Deeley Annual Wild Game and Beer Tasting Festival.

For the second year in a row, Kurt Thuemmler was the triumphant winner of the beer tasting event. There were 24 beers this year and 17 participants. We were actually pulling for Kathy Deeley, who has been valiently trying to win for 28 years now and for Stenn Salvesen, who could have gotten us all to go to Texas next year if he had won.

Kurt and Jody have a lovely house and it works very well for such an occasion. I like it even more that they do not allow smoking in the house. If people do, I don't say anything but really do prefer not to have to breath it and smell of the smoke.

The food again was delicious and we had WAY to much. Jeff and Dolores and I agree that we should tell everybody to bring one half of what they think they should.

It was Nora and Leif's 39th wedding anniversary and it is TODAY. So Eileen brought a cake and I brought a bottle of champagne and we celebrated. They too are enjoying their retirement together. They took a tour to Italy and like us DO enjoy tours and the good treatment one gets on them.

Mother had a good time as always but looked exhausted when Nora and Leif took her home. She is such a trooper and I know this was an exceptionally long event for her.

Nephew John Michels was such fun to talk to. He is teaching in the Chicago area and would you believe he gives lectures that last over an hour with him just talking? He is a sweetheart. He likes soups and I told him I would send some of my recipes. He said he liked my stew.

Til tomorrow. I am very tired and plan on hitting the sheets soon. I had to slip away from the party for a bit to speak at Mass about Fr. Mike's Sarnelli House. It went well. I have to speak at both masses tomorrow and then we are singing at a Music Fest in the afternoon.

Love

Mary

I spent this morning cooking for the Wild Game Dinner. The stew smells wonderful and we had some of the macaroni and cheese for supper. It is Lent, you know. Dick did have a hot dog with his dinner, but I just had the mac and cheese, peas and salad. I prepared a dessert for the weekend. Since Dick and I are dieting starting Monday, I decided that we would splurge with chocolate. I made a lava cake that has just enough for the three of us for three nights. Should work well.

It looks like I will be extremely "holy" again this weekend. I have to talk about Mike Shea and Sarnelli House at all three of the masses. I figure I will go to the 5PM tomorrow and the 8AM on Sunday, then just stay at Mom's until 10:30 and leave right after the talk. I should be able to get home, grab a snack and be on time for a concert at Emmanual Lutheran. Our choir is joining two others for a concert. We are singing On that Holy Mountain and Christ Has No Body Now But Yours on our own and several others with the combined choirs. Since Sheboygan Falls no longer has Choirs Aglow, this will be a treat.

Have a good weekend. I will tell you about the Wild Game Dinner tomorrow.

A friend sent me a list of quotations from children. Here is a special one for the weekend.

Dear God, I didn't think orange went with purple until I saw the
sunset you made on Tuesday night. That was really cool. Thomas

Love

Mary

By the time the Sears guy got here, I discovered that the dishwasher seems to be draining. Oops. But maybe not. He ran it a bit and soap suds appeared on the bottom of it. I told him that I only use 1/8 teaspoon of soap and he has come to the conclusion that the rinse dispenser is leaking a bit and causing the suds. He is going to order a replacement for that part. I think we are finally getting somewhere.

I have finished the initial run through on the Federal Taxes. Should be able to be done by the end of next week. We are getting something back. Now we have to see about the State. We usually have to pay them something.

Dick got his finger pricked today and is finally back in the range. We discussed a diet because Dick said he is really ready. I am putting him on the Deal a Meal. Followed properly, a person gets a well balanced diet and I think that is important. However he will have to have his blood checked in about two weeks to make sure that the food changes don't throw the blood count off.

Tomorrow is a cooking day. I will call Jody tomorrow to tell her what I am bringing. She is anxious, I think, her first Wild Game Dinner. Kurt won the beer tasting last year and I think I have told you that the winner always hosts the following year. We are all rooting for Kathy to win, she has been valiantly trying for all of the 28 years of the event.


Happy Happy Joy Joy to you all

Mary

Had a nice Ash Wednesday service tonight. The choir sang and we sounded good, I believe. It is always such a pleasure.

Tomorrow the Sears people are coming again. The D & M people say there is nothing wrong with the installation. but there is still water left in the well after it is supposed to be drained. All I want is for the diswasher to WORK.

Dick gets his blood checked again tomorrow too. And we are shopping and I have choir in the evening, so again. A busy day. I hope to finish figuring the Federal taxes tomorrow too.

I fasted today. I forgot how difficult it is not to snack. I don't do a lot of snacking, but I do like to have a piece of fruit in mid morning. and maybe a cracker with a piece of cheese just before dinner. Probably a bad habit anyway.

Well, we are into Lent now and me and the boys will not be eating meat on Fridays until after Easter. They don't seem to dare much. This week we will be having Over the Rainbow Mac and Cheese and I will bring some to the wild game dinner so everybody can taste it. It will also be an extra main dish for the vegetarians. I am not going to give anything up. I am going to try to do nice things instead. I have two lists of 40 suggestions. Perhaps I can try them. One says to pray for ---- by name --- people that you don't like and that don't like you. Wow.

Happy Thursday.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. We will be home ALL day. Today, we shopped, I got a haircut, and we went to Discovery World and signed up for a couple of their tours. It was good to see Jerilynn.

The Sears Repair Team came today and decided that the dishwasher was just not installed properly. So they are having D & M Plumbing, who installed it in the first place come in to reinstall it. They say that the drain pipe has about three extra pieces that are not put together correctly and that are slowing the drain. Anyway, at 7AM hopefully D & M can fix it. After Sears Repair Team left, I turned it on and it leaked all over the floor.

Things have been rather uneventful so I will spice the blog up today by printing my recipe for Chocolate Mousse. I always dislike it when chocolate pudding is passed off as chocolate mousse. They are NOT the same thing. I found this recipe years ago and it is REALLY REALLY good. Enjoy.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE TO DIE FOR

6 oz. Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips
3 eggs-Separated
3 Tbsp. water
1 Tsp. Instant Coffee
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Tbsp. Blackberry Brandy

Stir instant coffee powder into boiling water in small heavy saucepan until completely dissolved. Add chocolate, place over low heat, stirring, just until chocolate is melted.

Remove from heat.

Whisk egg yolks into chocolate mixture one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in brandy and vanilla. Beat egg whites in a medium sized bowl until foamy, gradually beat in sugar - a tablespoon at a time - until meringue forms soft peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture until no streaks of white remain. Spoon into parfait glasses. Refrigerate at least one hour.

Garnish with whipped cream. Add a candied rosebud and mint leaf if you wish.

Recipe says 8 servings, I always make it five. It just calls for brandy but the blackberry flavored is so so good.


Be good and sleep well

Mary

This was a strange day. I felt a little squeemish part of the day but it is gone now. Tonight was Rhine Plymouth meeting. It seemed to to on forever. But we did get a lot done. Bobbie and I have to refine the membership list. Hope everyone has paid.

Tomorrow is grocery shopping, haircut and the Sears repairperson is coming AGAIN. Sure glad we got the maintenance on that dishwasher through 2007. Best investment we ever made.

I won a buck from Dick today. We are making a batch of Chablis and racked it today. He thought this was our first try at Chablis but I was sure we had made it before. We bet and I was right. We call it Nottooshabby.

I am going to sip a cup of tea and then go to bed.

til tomorrow

Mary

The second half of Superbowl XXX1X is about ready to start. It is strange watching a game in which I don't care one way or the other who wins. A person can really enjoy ALL the good plays and laugh at all the dumb ones without getting personally involved. At the half it is 7/7 so they are starting ALL over again.

All the critters are sacked out down in the den with Jim. I came up to fix a cup a tea and they didn't even notice. Usually they follow me - I feel like the Pied Piper.

Paul Mc Cartney did the half time show and it was GREAT. He had the whole stadioum singing Hey Jude with him to lots and lots of wonderful fireworks. It was spectacular and also good to have someone that is worth listening to who doesn't need synthetic and vibrating altering of the voice to make their sound. He just plain sings!! What a concept!

Several of the commercials are distinctive. Always a big part of the show.

Bobbie and I worked at Rhine this afternoon. At about 3:00 it got gotally dead, so Doc told us to go home. I imagine that everyone was getting ready for Superbowl Parties and all. We didn't argue.

I had fixed spaghetti sauce on Friday so we had spaghetti for dinner with salad and garlic bread.

We had a pretty good turnout for the 10:30 mass which is good because it is usually hard to make two in a weekend. We sounded pretty good, I thought.

Hope your week is good. Mine will be busy as usual. Tomorrow,
bible study and the meeting at Rhine Plymouth Sportsman club. I will give Bobbie some of the venison. She doesn't want much because she said Bill doesn't care musch for summer sausage or venison sausage or something. So, I'll just give her some.

Later


Mary

We went to the Symphony tonight. It was excellent. The Youth Symphony, composed of the best young people from all around the county, played Prelude from Die Meistersinger by Handel first. Then we heard Dances Op. 64 from Grieg. The second half, the Symphony was joined by a pianist named, Michael Chertock who is really gifted. He generously played his two Concertos, then gave us two encores.


Wow.

I went to the 5:00PM Mass to sing. and we are singing tomorrow at the 10:30AM also. Mother says I am "very holy". Wait til next week. I have to speak at all three masses and am still trying to figure out how to get to the 5:00 on Saturday because that is also the Wild Game Dinner. I am planning on going to give my talk and coming back. Don't tell Dick. He will say that it will make me too tired. But I don't care.

I am making venison stew and I believe will add Over the Rainbow Mac and Cheese for the vegetarians. Since Friday is the first Friday in Lent and I won't be eating meat on Fridays, I can make it for our Dinner and just make two small instead of one big casserole.

A group called Lyra from Russia is coming to do a concert for us on April 21. They are doing to do the concert for their rooms, breakfast and for the free will offering at the concert which will be in church. Such a deal. I have heard them on their website and they are wonderful. They will be singing religious and Russion Folk music. I must talk to Beth. We can perhaps either cook or take them out for dinner that night.


Lots to plan

Happy Sunday.

Mary

What a gorgeous day. The temperatures got up into the 40s. It is supposed to be even warmer tomorrow. Nice because a friend of mine has to go to a wedding. February weddings can be very iffy but these people picked a great weekend.

I went and had lunch at the Dairy Queen in Plymouth with friends. There were only four of us but we had a good visit. Two of the regulars had gone to the Fireside for a show.

Did I tell you that I got a call early yesterday morning from Barbara, my daughter-in-law? I am a great grandma. Her son Adam's wife Lexi, had a baby girl on Wednesday night. She is a nice baby, 7lb. 6oz. and her name is either Adria or Adriana Nichole.

Can you believe that Bart is a grandpa. He has a birthday himself next month on St. Joseph's Day, March 19. He will be 34. I cannot believe that MY baby will be 34. I still remember his sweet little scrunched up face. He was so intense, even as a baby. My neighbor, Joyce Nusser, called him Mr. Magoo. Actually, that nickname stuck in the family for quite a few years. At least I called him Magoo until, as children do, he asked me not to.

I've been thinking of my babies lately, maybe because of little Adria or perhaps that little Baby 81 in Indonesia who has all those parents claiming him. That baby needs to find his parents. He will surely never lack for love. I miss my babies. Actually, I wouldn't want to raise a baby at may age - for sure. But I still miss my babies, and the sweet smell of them.

I hope your weekend will be as warm or warmer than ours. I have to work at Rhine on Sunday.


Joy to you

Mary

Choir tonight. We sang A LOT, as we are getting ready for Ash Wednesday, our normal Sundays and a concert at Emmanual Lutheran Church that we are joining the weekend after next.

Next Wednesday IS Ash Wednesday already. It is early this year so Easter will be in March.

I can do my taxes next week. The last document arrived today. Yippee. I want to get that over with as soon as possible. With any luck we will get back what we paid in, or part of it and maybe we can squeeze in another trip.

The Catholic Herald had forty suggestions for things to do during the 40 days of Lent. I will have to keept them and see how many of them I can work into the season. It would be a lot better than giving something up. Remember, all you Catholics, giving up candy for Lent. I found out the other day that Sundays were supposed to be free days. Nobody told me that - I gave it up for the whole forty days. What a waste of Sundays.

I am now old enough that I don't have to fast anymore, but will anyway. It is not so hard on just two days. I just have to remember to only have one FULL meal and not eat meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. Of course, during Lent the family will have meatless Fridays. They don't care anyway. I fix good fish, vegetable and pasta dishes anyway.

A week from Saturday is the Wild Game Dinner. I am fixing venison stew and I believe I will make either Over the Rainbow Macaroni or Chili Rellano Casserole for the vegetarians. We have two now - Nora and Erin.

Til Tomorrow

Mary

Children of a Lesser God as presented by the Sheboygan Theatre Co. was very good. It is a "message" play and a little out of the ordinary. Ralph Maffongelli, our director for over 20 years does like to present at least one unique play each season. The acting was excellent, so we were pleased.

Dinner was good too. We went to the Villager. Mother and I had their "Create your Own Pasta", Dick had the haddock.

The next play will be The Sting. Ralph is very good with farces and this has that feel to it so we are looking forward to it.

I am only missing one form and I will be able to do the taxes. That is always an adventure.

We came home to find that we are "big" winners in Powerball. We got the Powerball plus one other number. $4.00 WOW. Better than nothing anyway.

10 Reasons why some Men prefer Guns over Women

#10. You can trade an old 44 for a new 22.
#9. You can keep one handgun at home and have another for when you're on
the road.
#8. If you admire a friend's handgun and tell him so, he will probably let
you try it out a few times.
#7. Your primary handgun doesn't mind if you keep another handgun for a
backup.
#6. Your handgun will stay with you even if you run out of ammo.
#5. A handgun doesn't take up a lot of closet space.
#4. Handguns function normally every day of the month.
#3. A handgun doesn't ask , "Do these new grips make me look fat?"
#2. A handgun doesn't mind if you go to sleep after you use it.
And the number one reason a handgun is favored over a woman
#1. YOU CAN BUY A SILENCER FOR A HANDGUN.



Got the above from a friend who knows I shoot. She also reads this site so thank you, Janet. I always like to share funny things.

Til tomorrow

Mary

Busy day as usual. It was rather gloomy but rather mild today. We went grocery shopping and then went to Office Max to pick up a couple of cartridges for the printer.

I cleaned my spice cabinet today. Sometimes one just has to face that job. I found out that I have two extra cans of black pepper. I guess I keep forgetting that I have one.

This afternoon, I got gas and the car washed, picked up Market Day and went to the bank. Whew.

Sears repair came today about the dishwasher AGAIN (as I mentioned yesterday) They are going to replace stuff again next week. I am sure glad that I have a service contract until 2007.

The reading for February 1 in my Cadfael Book of Days compiled by Robin
Whiteman was again so appropriate for the time we are living in NOW.
It came from Deadman's Ransom by Ellis Peters

"Those who go forth to the battle never return without holes in their ranks, like gaping wounds. Pity of all pities that those who lead never learn, and the few wise men among those who follow never avail to teach. But faith given and allegiance pledged are stronger than fear, and that, perhaps is virtue, even in the teeth of death."

We must pray that the successful election in Iraq, will speed up the return of our boys to us. There are too many holes in the ranks and too many gaping wounds in families all over our country and in our hearts.

Be Good

Mary

It was a pleasant day for a walk and Chelsea and I really enjoyed it. The temps are in the 30s. Ellis Peters who writes Cadfael had this to say about February. "There were occasional spells of frost, but none that lasted long, and such snowshowers as there were were fitful and slight, but did not lie long." Probably more descriptive of Wales and Cadfael's land, but we do know that spring WILL come.

Bible study was interesting today. We were talking about setting a good example. Paul had his hands full with those Corinthian Christians. We seem to have our hands full just trying to do our best to be Christian.

Dick and I mixed up a batch of Chablis in the primary fermentor. We are down to three gallons of from scratch wines (2 Marigold and 1 Chokecherry) that need to be racked, filtered and bottled. I am about out of bottles too. We will have to start collecting from our sources again before the chablis is ready.

The rest of the day was quiet. I even took a nap at about 2:30. The animals all join me when I do that. Very comforting. Dick calls it the Peacable Kingdom.

Tomorrow is shopping and Market Day pickup. I also have the Sears person coming to check the dischwasher AGAIN. It is not draining. AGAIN.

Have a nice Tuesday.

Mary

Well. Sunday and the 30th of January ALREADY. 2005 is speeding by. It is supposed to get warmer this week getting all the way up to 40 degrees by Friday. That means that most of the snow will be gone again. This sure has been a strange winter. Nothing is like previous years.

Just had a minor emergency. Dick was clipping his toenails and nicked himself and started bleeding. With the blood thinners he is on, we spent a while with compresses and now have it bandaged really good. Should be fine by morning. He just takes longer to clot.

Today, I went to the 8:00AM Mass. Jim had breakfast with us because he was up to go shooting with Bobbie and me at 12:30. Still holding my own, though my second target was not too good. I was shooting low.

Now I am tired so will hit the bed pretty soon. As Mother used to say. Up the wooden hill to four corners. It took me ages to realize the the wooden hill was the stairs up to the bedrooms and that four corners was the bed. I don't have to climb a wooden hill here, but four corners is just as inviting as it was when I was a child.

February is just around the corner. Sara, our oldest grandaughter will be 18 this month. That does not seem at all possible. She should still be a round faced little munchkin.

Have a nice Monday.

Mary