This has been a nice day. Dick went to see Dr. Met - the eye specialist. He saw no change in Dick's eyes and says that he can go back to seeing Dr. Ziegler unless something changes in his vision. That is a relief.
I had lunch with the girls in Plymouth. I saw my friend Mary Schroeder for the first time since she retired. She looks great and said she is finally really starting to relax and realize that it is true. The bank is having a wine and cheese reception on Tuesday night. I am glad she came because Dick and I will be unable to attend because we are going on a day tour to Lake Geneva that day and won't be back in time. I am really looking forward to the trip. It is time to be getting away again.
This evening I watched the first half of the movie Scarlett, based on the supposed sequel to Gone With the Wind. It is much like the book. Very exciting, lots of action and comings and goings but not the same Scarlett of Gone with the Wind. I guess I'll have to watch the second half tomorrow.
Here is a soup recipe that we got from the nutrition specialist, Rita Pittenger, at the Clinic. It is very good and you can basically eat all you want as each cup only has 20 calories.
ALL YOU CAN EAT SOUP
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped
½ head cabbage, chopped
1 and ½ onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
½ cup chopped parsley or 1 T. dry
½ can strin beans
½ pkg. Frozen spinach
¼ teasp. Pepper
2 teasp. Chicken soup base
up to 2 teasp. Chili powder – to taste
up to 1 pkg. Taco seasoning – to taste
Coat 6 qt. Sauce pot with non-stick cooking spray. Add celery, onions, carrots and garlic. Cook five minutes.
Add remaining ingredients and 10 cups water. Simmer until carrots are tender, stirring occasionally. Keep some for use within 2 days. Freeze the rest.
Have a nice Weekend - stay cool. Not going to be an easy task on Sunday when it is supposed to get up to 95 or better
Mary
Friday, July 22, 2005
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Here it is Thursday already. The "German Fest" choir went to Glendale to practice. A week from Sunday is the big day. I must practice some more because the songs, as they are in German, are more difficult for us English speakers. We stopped at Alpine Village and had dinner together. I ordered Beef Rouladin and noodles. They had some wonderful crusty rolls too.
Joan Schueffner, Dottie Koene and I pinned the church quilt today and I took it over to Mary Bainbridge who will do the initial machine quilting for us. It is beautiful. Anyone who wants tickets can let me know. They are $1 or 6 for $5.
I was thinking about one of our cats, Taco, tonight. He was such a dimwit. When Dick and Jim got them, Dick told me that if they liked me best he was going to "kill them." Those who knew Tack remember that looking into his eyes was like looking into nothing. He had no brains at all. He grew to love us and was afraid of any strangers. Most people never saw him. And we swear that he thought that there were three sets of people in the condo. The upstairs people, the downstairs people and the basement people. He actually responded to us differently in each area of the house.
Shortly after Dick and Jim got him (we were not as yet married) Taco disappeared for a couple of days. Dick and Jim were beginning to think he had somehow managed to get outside and was lost. Then Dick turned over the couch and heard a soft mewing. He reached in and pulled out this terrified wierd animal. Dick called to tell me that he had found him. When I came into the house, Taco ran up to me mewing as if he was trying to tell me the indiginities that he had experienced in his hiding and being extricated from the couch. Dick let him live anyway as we all know he would. This man who says that if you get an animal, you go to the Humane Society and save a life.
Love
Mary
Joan Schueffner, Dottie Koene and I pinned the church quilt today and I took it over to Mary Bainbridge who will do the initial machine quilting for us. It is beautiful. Anyone who wants tickets can let me know. They are $1 or 6 for $5.
I was thinking about one of our cats, Taco, tonight. He was such a dimwit. When Dick and Jim got them, Dick told me that if they liked me best he was going to "kill them." Those who knew Tack remember that looking into his eyes was like looking into nothing. He had no brains at all. He grew to love us and was afraid of any strangers. Most people never saw him. And we swear that he thought that there were three sets of people in the condo. The upstairs people, the downstairs people and the basement people. He actually responded to us differently in each area of the house.
Shortly after Dick and Jim got him (we were not as yet married) Taco disappeared for a couple of days. Dick and Jim were beginning to think he had somehow managed to get outside and was lost. Then Dick turned over the couch and heard a soft mewing. He reached in and pulled out this terrified wierd animal. Dick called to tell me that he had found him. When I came into the house, Taco ran up to me mewing as if he was trying to tell me the indiginities that he had experienced in his hiding and being extricated from the couch. Dick let him live anyway as we all know he would. This man who says that if you get an animal, you go to the Humane Society and save a life.
Love
Mary
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Quite a productive day. I got the first batch of currant wine into the jugs. It smells really nice.
We took the "good stuff" that we got out of the basement to St. Vinnie's, I got my hunting lisence and we got some shelves for basement.
We went to the Interstate for lunch. I got a Reuben and was it ever good.
Tonight there was an environment meeting at church. Sr. Marcia used to do all the planning but now that she is gone, the committee will have to do it. There are rules and there are precidents and there are plenty of imaginative people to pull up the slack. We decided on what we are going to do for the Assumption and for Celtic Faire. It will be a case of going as far as we can see on the road ahead and then looking to see what is beyond that when we get there.
This morning on The View they had a guest who was a new mother of twins. She described nursing them and indicated that she was going to nurse them until they were about two. All I could think of was my dear mother-in-law Lily, who nursed all of her kids. She always said that she nursed them until they were old enough to bite her. Once they bit they were off the breast. A very wise woman that Lil.
Tomorrow the choir practices at the Bavarian Inn again. We are going early and having dinner at a German restaurant that Beth knows. I am looking forward to some really good German food.
Til tomorrow.
Mary
We took the "good stuff" that we got out of the basement to St. Vinnie's, I got my hunting lisence and we got some shelves for basement.
We went to the Interstate for lunch. I got a Reuben and was it ever good.
Tonight there was an environment meeting at church. Sr. Marcia used to do all the planning but now that she is gone, the committee will have to do it. There are rules and there are precidents and there are plenty of imaginative people to pull up the slack. We decided on what we are going to do for the Assumption and for Celtic Faire. It will be a case of going as far as we can see on the road ahead and then looking to see what is beyond that when we get there.
This morning on The View they had a guest who was a new mother of twins. She described nursing them and indicated that she was going to nurse them until they were about two. All I could think of was my dear mother-in-law Lily, who nursed all of her kids. She always said that she nursed them until they were old enough to bite her. Once they bit they were off the breast. A very wise woman that Lil.
Tomorrow the choir practices at the Bavarian Inn again. We are going early and having dinner at a German restaurant that Beth knows. I am looking forward to some really good German food.
Til tomorrow.
Mary
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Dick and I went out for breakfast and then on to the grocery shopping his morning. We also picked up Dick's prescription and prints of the Clifford family. Mother had some well preserved tintypes of them. We took them to the Sheboygan County Research Center to have negatives made. I had three prints made from the negatives. One for me, one for Mom and one that she can send to our cousing David Bowser, who is an avid historian and family tree searcher. He lives in Texas and has written a couple of books.
I had a dentist appointment this afternoon. All is well and my teeth are now clean and sparkling. On the way home, I stopped off at Mary Lee's to pick up an ornament that I won in a drawing. Eileen was getting ready to go to her dentist appointment. Isn't that wierd. She is a funny person. She has had trouble with her teeth as long as I can remember, but insisted that she is never going to have ultra sound cleaning again because the last two times she has had problems right after the cleaning. Myself, I would rather have the ultra sound anyday than have them scraping and grinding on my teeth.
When I was a little girl, before Uncle George became a dentist and we started going to Two Rivers for our dental work, the Sheboygan Falls dentist was above Stroub's Drug Store, now a beauty shop and an investment firm, on Broadway. He had charts on the wall for all his young patients and if you had a good checkup you got a gold star and a coupon to stop at Stroub's soda fountain for an ice cream cone.
Have a nice evening. It is really pleasant outside. We even opened the deck door and turned off the air.
Mary
I had a dentist appointment this afternoon. All is well and my teeth are now clean and sparkling. On the way home, I stopped off at Mary Lee's to pick up an ornament that I won in a drawing. Eileen was getting ready to go to her dentist appointment. Isn't that wierd. She is a funny person. She has had trouble with her teeth as long as I can remember, but insisted that she is never going to have ultra sound cleaning again because the last two times she has had problems right after the cleaning. Myself, I would rather have the ultra sound anyday than have them scraping and grinding on my teeth.
When I was a little girl, before Uncle George became a dentist and we started going to Two Rivers for our dental work, the Sheboygan Falls dentist was above Stroub's Drug Store, now a beauty shop and an investment firm, on Broadway. He had charts on the wall for all his young patients and if you had a good checkup you got a gold star and a coupon to stop at Stroub's soda fountain for an ice cream cone.
Have a nice evening. It is really pleasant outside. We even opened the deck door and turned off the air.
Mary
Monday, July 18, 2005
Bret called tonight. It was such a delight to hear his voice. It has been about three weeks. He is busy, working 7 days a week, often. This is good right now because he really needs the money and it will help him get a bit ahead.
Bible Study was good this morning. We finally got beyond Paul's introduction to the IICorinthians letter and into something besides his explanations of why he had not showed up when they wanted him to. We discussed a lot the fact that Jesus is the fulfillment of the covenant of the Old Testament and do we really need the Old Testament and what is the obligation of Christians. We really covered a lot of territory.
We started with a prayer that I had found in an article in Family Circle written by a Sophy Burnham. This paragraph was special. "I once asked a Hindu teacher the best way to pray. He answered with a story. Once there was a dog who was attacked by a pack of wild dogs. He fought his way free, limped home bleeding and presented himself at his owner's feet. And what did the owner do? He carried the dog indoors, washed and bandaged his wounds and set his broken bones. Every day he gave his dog food, water, a soft bed. And soon the dog got well. the dog did not ask for anything. The dog merely presented himself. 'That is how you pray', my teacher said. 'For if you ask for trousers, you will get trousers. But if you simply present yourself, every blessing will be yours.' "
Today I was remembering a neighbor, Joyce. Bret and her son Chip were the same age. She had an older son Mark who had, like Bret, been a very cooperative little one. If he was doing something not acceptable, Joyce would simply tell him that this was not OK and he would cheerfully go on to something else. Then came Chip who was sweet as a bugs ear but very determined and always experimenting even unto trouble and danger. For example, one day they were cleaning the garage and he found a bird cage. He asked his mother if they could get a bird. She said later or something like that and the next thing she knew Chip was 30 feet up in the tree in the front yard. He saw a bird. He was 4.
Then she got pregnant with their third son Matthew, and spent the first six months of her pregancy throwing up. This was a woman who had never had a sick day in either of her first two pregnancies.
She came over to the house one day and said. I have had to eat so many words in my day. I used to say that if children were told from the beginning what is safe and acceptable there will not be a problem with them doing and getting into things they shouldn't. I also had the gall to say that morning sickness was all in peoples heads. I hope I have learned something.
This is a lesson we all need. This kind of came to mind and has been swirling there since Mr. Tom Cruise had the nerve to say that all mental ills can be healed with diet and medication.
My friend, Helen said that unless you have lived in a house and eaten at that table and slept in that bed, do not judge.
We bottled the Gewertziminer today. It tastes good.
Enjoy Tudsday. We are shopping and (Ick) I have to go to the dentist.
Mary
Bible Study was good this morning. We finally got beyond Paul's introduction to the IICorinthians letter and into something besides his explanations of why he had not showed up when they wanted him to. We discussed a lot the fact that Jesus is the fulfillment of the covenant of the Old Testament and do we really need the Old Testament and what is the obligation of Christians. We really covered a lot of territory.
We started with a prayer that I had found in an article in Family Circle written by a Sophy Burnham. This paragraph was special. "I once asked a Hindu teacher the best way to pray. He answered with a story. Once there was a dog who was attacked by a pack of wild dogs. He fought his way free, limped home bleeding and presented himself at his owner's feet. And what did the owner do? He carried the dog indoors, washed and bandaged his wounds and set his broken bones. Every day he gave his dog food, water, a soft bed. And soon the dog got well. the dog did not ask for anything. The dog merely presented himself. 'That is how you pray', my teacher said. 'For if you ask for trousers, you will get trousers. But if you simply present yourself, every blessing will be yours.' "
Today I was remembering a neighbor, Joyce. Bret and her son Chip were the same age. She had an older son Mark who had, like Bret, been a very cooperative little one. If he was doing something not acceptable, Joyce would simply tell him that this was not OK and he would cheerfully go on to something else. Then came Chip who was sweet as a bugs ear but very determined and always experimenting even unto trouble and danger. For example, one day they were cleaning the garage and he found a bird cage. He asked his mother if they could get a bird. She said later or something like that and the next thing she knew Chip was 30 feet up in the tree in the front yard. He saw a bird. He was 4.
Then she got pregnant with their third son Matthew, and spent the first six months of her pregancy throwing up. This was a woman who had never had a sick day in either of her first two pregnancies.
She came over to the house one day and said. I have had to eat so many words in my day. I used to say that if children were told from the beginning what is safe and acceptable there will not be a problem with them doing and getting into things they shouldn't. I also had the gall to say that morning sickness was all in peoples heads. I hope I have learned something.
This is a lesson we all need. This kind of came to mind and has been swirling there since Mr. Tom Cruise had the nerve to say that all mental ills can be healed with diet and medication.
My friend, Helen said that unless you have lived in a house and eaten at that table and slept in that bed, do not judge.
We bottled the Gewertziminer today. It tastes good.
Enjoy Tudsday. We are shopping and (Ick) I have to go to the dentist.
Mary
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Today was the hottest ever. The temps topped off at 93 degrees. We were warmer that Bossier City,LA where Leslie is from what I could see. But we were still cooler than the Lawton OK area where Bart is. The coolest of the kids to visit would be Bret in California. There is a 30 to 40 percent chance for rain tonight. Parts of Wisconsin are under a drought warning. The choir sang at the 10:30 Mass. Fr. Gene prayed for rain and we, the choir, sang Rain Down. We tried to shower heaven with requests for showers.
Mother and I were wondering how we ever stood the heat back in the days before air conditioning. She remembers hanging wet towels on screen doors to help cool any breeze that might come through. I guess that since there was no air, we just suffered. I do remember going to bed in that heat and lying in bed prickly with heat praying for sleep so I would not be so aware of it. Then by morning it would be at least bearable. Then in the winters, we faced waking up in the morning with the fire in the coal furnace burned down to about nothing and high tailing it to the kitchen which would be warm from the stove because Mom got up before we did to make it so.
This does make a person aware of the reason that many homes years ago had Summer Kitchens. That way, they did not have to heat the house while preparing meals or even heating water for washing. Yes, they had to heat water for washing. I remember commenting to Mother how hard it must have been to wash all our clothes and diapers in a wringer washing machine and Grandma Bowser said that she had had to do all that on a scrub board. Wow. Mother was born in 1916 so all of these wonders have occured in less than 100 year.
Have a cool Monday.
Mary
Mother and I were wondering how we ever stood the heat back in the days before air conditioning. She remembers hanging wet towels on screen doors to help cool any breeze that might come through. I guess that since there was no air, we just suffered. I do remember going to bed in that heat and lying in bed prickly with heat praying for sleep so I would not be so aware of it. Then by morning it would be at least bearable. Then in the winters, we faced waking up in the morning with the fire in the coal furnace burned down to about nothing and high tailing it to the kitchen which would be warm from the stove because Mom got up before we did to make it so.
This does make a person aware of the reason that many homes years ago had Summer Kitchens. That way, they did not have to heat the house while preparing meals or even heating water for washing. Yes, they had to heat water for washing. I remember commenting to Mother how hard it must have been to wash all our clothes and diapers in a wringer washing machine and Grandma Bowser said that she had had to do all that on a scrub board. Wow. Mother was born in 1916 so all of these wonders have occured in less than 100 year.
Have a cool Monday.
Mary
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Another hot day and it is supposed to be hotter tomorrow.
We cleaned the basement today. It took much less work than we all thought it would and we were done in about an hour and a half. But we did it so Dick took us out for dinner. I was glad because the morning was really busy. We filtered the Gewertziminer wine and I had to iron. Ironing is always a bigger chore in the summer when it is hottest because the clothers one wears in the summer are always somewhat in need of pressing.
The new Harry Potter book arrived today AS PROMISED. I have started reading it and am having lots of trouble putting it down. It was lovely outside so I read on the deck after we got back from dinner. Dick came out for the last half hour or so. I thought it was really comfortable but he seemed to think it was still too warm.
When I was a little girl, we lived on a gravel dead end road that is now Pinehurst Ct. in Sheboygan Falls and is no longer a dead end. We lived on the corner. There was a little pigtail road that went between our house and the one across the street with one little house in back or us. Beyond that was a woods. It seemed like a big woods to us and we played all kinds of games in it when the mosquitos were not around. It also had a pathrunning though it that was a nice short cut to get to school.
In the woods was a tree that we called the Tarzan tree. You could climb that tree, grab a vine and swing to the next tree. One day I grabbed the vine and swung and the vine broke. I landed on my solar plexus and knocked the wind right out of myself. That is one of the most terrifying feelings in the world. My friends were trying to help but all they could do was support me and try to get me home. It is the kind of thing that is scary and painful and you cannot get in a full breath, but when the muscle unspasms your are immediately OK. So by the time we got home I was fine again. It is amazing how vivid that memory is, even now probably fifty five years or more later.
That wonderful woods has been mostly cut down and homes are on the land instead of trees. No Tarzan tree for the kids today.
Love
Mary
We cleaned the basement today. It took much less work than we all thought it would and we were done in about an hour and a half. But we did it so Dick took us out for dinner. I was glad because the morning was really busy. We filtered the Gewertziminer wine and I had to iron. Ironing is always a bigger chore in the summer when it is hottest because the clothers one wears in the summer are always somewhat in need of pressing.
The new Harry Potter book arrived today AS PROMISED. I have started reading it and am having lots of trouble putting it down. It was lovely outside so I read on the deck after we got back from dinner. Dick came out for the last half hour or so. I thought it was really comfortable but he seemed to think it was still too warm.
When I was a little girl, we lived on a gravel dead end road that is now Pinehurst Ct. in Sheboygan Falls and is no longer a dead end. We lived on the corner. There was a little pigtail road that went between our house and the one across the street with one little house in back or us. Beyond that was a woods. It seemed like a big woods to us and we played all kinds of games in it when the mosquitos were not around. It also had a pathrunning though it that was a nice short cut to get to school.
In the woods was a tree that we called the Tarzan tree. You could climb that tree, grab a vine and swing to the next tree. One day I grabbed the vine and swung and the vine broke. I landed on my solar plexus and knocked the wind right out of myself. That is one of the most terrifying feelings in the world. My friends were trying to help but all they could do was support me and try to get me home. It is the kind of thing that is scary and painful and you cannot get in a full breath, but when the muscle unspasms your are immediately OK. So by the time we got home I was fine again. It is amazing how vivid that memory is, even now probably fifty five years or more later.
That wonderful woods has been mostly cut down and homes are on the land instead of trees. No Tarzan tree for the kids today.
Love
Mary
Friday, July 15, 2005
Hot again today and supposed to get hotter over the weekend.
Dick and I went to see Star Wars the Beginning as planned today. We both really enjoyed it. It seems to have tied up all the questions and the loose ends. We did think that the battle scenes went on a bit too long, but lots of paople will like that part of it.
Because we ate a big popcorn, we just had a Chef's Salad for supper. We also shared one of the chocolate banana cupcakes that I made yesterday. Boy are they GOOD.
Now that I have four batches of wine brewing, I am really going to have to keep my notes straight. We will hopefully be filtering the Gewertziminer tomorrow and then can bottle it the next day or Monday. That will bring the brewing batches down to three.
Just for fun: Dave Barry saidl " You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a took that says 'My God, you're right! I never would have thought of that!'"
I love talking to Chelsea and deliberately using words that she doesn't know. She tries so hard to understand and concentrates so hard. Then I say a word that she does know and get her all exited. Dick says that I have a mean streak and love to torture little animals.
Have a nice day
Mary
Dick and I went to see Star Wars the Beginning as planned today. We both really enjoyed it. It seems to have tied up all the questions and the loose ends. We did think that the battle scenes went on a bit too long, but lots of paople will like that part of it.
Because we ate a big popcorn, we just had a Chef's Salad for supper. We also shared one of the chocolate banana cupcakes that I made yesterday. Boy are they GOOD.
Now that I have four batches of wine brewing, I am really going to have to keep my notes straight. We will hopefully be filtering the Gewertziminer tomorrow and then can bottle it the next day or Monday. That will bring the brewing batches down to three.
Just for fun: Dave Barry saidl " You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a took that says 'My God, you're right! I never would have thought of that!'"
I love talking to Chelsea and deliberately using words that she doesn't know. She tries so hard to understand and concentrates so hard. Then I say a word that she does know and get her all exited. Dick says that I have a mean streak and love to torture little animals.
Have a nice day
Mary
Thursday, July 14, 2005
The choir practice for German Fest was really fun. We carpooled down to the Bavarian Village in Glendale to meet all the others. There are probably close to 200 people who will be singing at that mass. The director is really good and I feel a lot more confident than I did when we got there. It is such a rush to hear all the mens voices. We are threatening to kidnap some of them to add to our ranks.
On the way home we stopped at Kopp's for ice cream. I had heath bar custard in a waffle cone. It was delicious. They must use a ton of heath bar and I loved it.
Next week we are leaving at 4:00PM and having dinner at some resturant that Beth knows of before we go to practice at 7:00.
This morning I did get the currants all cleaned, crushed and poured the boiling water over them. It is going to be the 2 Year Currant and I am getting two gallons out of it. I also baked some chocolate banana cupcakes and a currant cake. I will be freezing most of them but we will have dessert for the weekend.
Tomorrow, Dick and I are going to see the Star Wars movie. It is supposed to be my choice and I was torn between Star Wars, War of the Worlds and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dick pushed for the Star Wars because that is one that really should be seen on the big screen.
Chelsea is quite ready for me to go to bed. She gets a little pushy about it after 10:00 and it is after 11:00. The pictures of the church quilt are on Blessed Trinity's website. The site is blessedtrinityparish.org. Just look under upcoming events, scroll down and hilite the sentence that discusses the ladies and the quilt. Both quilts are something to covet.
Love
Mary
On the way home we stopped at Kopp's for ice cream. I had heath bar custard in a waffle cone. It was delicious. They must use a ton of heath bar and I loved it.
Next week we are leaving at 4:00PM and having dinner at some resturant that Beth knows of before we go to practice at 7:00.
This morning I did get the currants all cleaned, crushed and poured the boiling water over them. It is going to be the 2 Year Currant and I am getting two gallons out of it. I also baked some chocolate banana cupcakes and a currant cake. I will be freezing most of them but we will have dessert for the weekend.
Tomorrow, Dick and I are going to see the Star Wars movie. It is supposed to be my choice and I was torn between Star Wars, War of the Worlds and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Dick pushed for the Star Wars because that is one that really should be seen on the big screen.
Chelsea is quite ready for me to go to bed. She gets a little pushy about it after 10:00 and it is after 11:00. The pictures of the church quilt are on Blessed Trinity's website. The site is blessedtrinityparish.org. Just look under upcoming events, scroll down and hilite the sentence that discusses the ladies and the quilt. Both quilts are something to covet.
Love
Mary
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Dick's appointment with Dr. Schwalbach, the heart specialist, went very well. He told him to just continue with what he is doing as it seems to have everything well under control. We found out that he will be retiring in August, so next year, when Dick has to see the specialist again, we will have to choose a new one.
I went over to Ken and Dolores to get the currants. They have tons of them. Dolores and Ken had picked a lot of them yesterday for me just before it rained and Kenny helped me pick more. I have about 7 lbs, uncleaned, so I figure that I can make two gallons of the 2 year currant and we will probably have some left to eat also. I was nibbling on them and they are a taste from the past. I think, perhaps, Grandma Bowser had some in her yard. It has been years since I just ate any.
I checked the batch of regular currant wine that I started and it seems to be fermenting nicely.
Roxie, the cat, has been very needy lately. She is on my lap every time I turn around and if I am not here she is constantly trying to get Dick to pet her and pay attention to her. Bobbie gave us som Cat Haikus the other day. I don't know if she is madly in love with us or is as this Haiku reads:
My affection is
conditional. Don't stand up,
It's your lap I love.
Tomorrow I go with the choir to practice in German with the big choir in Milwaukee. That should be an experience to write about. Beth says that if we are unsure to find a nice big "Hiedi" and stand next to her. She will know the words and be easy to follow.
Mary
I went over to Ken and Dolores to get the currants. They have tons of them. Dolores and Ken had picked a lot of them yesterday for me just before it rained and Kenny helped me pick more. I have about 7 lbs, uncleaned, so I figure that I can make two gallons of the 2 year currant and we will probably have some left to eat also. I was nibbling on them and they are a taste from the past. I think, perhaps, Grandma Bowser had some in her yard. It has been years since I just ate any.
I checked the batch of regular currant wine that I started and it seems to be fermenting nicely.
Roxie, the cat, has been very needy lately. She is on my lap every time I turn around and if I am not here she is constantly trying to get Dick to pet her and pay attention to her. Bobbie gave us som Cat Haikus the other day. I don't know if she is madly in love with us or is as this Haiku reads:
My affection is
conditional. Don't stand up,
It's your lap I love.
Tomorrow I go with the choir to practice in German with the big choir in Milwaukee. That should be an experience to write about. Beth says that if we are unsure to find a nice big "Hiedi" and stand next to her. She will know the words and be easy to follow.
Mary
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
It actually rained today. Not a heavy rain, but a nice gentle misting off and on all day. I still watered the spots that are the brownest. Got to drown those grubworms, you know.
Tonight the ladies who made the squares for the Church Celtic Quilt got together to put the edging on and sew the backing together. I wish you could all see it. When it is ALL together, I will take a picture and post it on the blog. Tickets will be available starting NOW. We are selling them for $1 each or 6 for $5. There will be the queen sized quilt and also a lap quilt that Mary Bainbridge put together with the leftover squares. They are totally different and it amazes us how each quilt looks like it was planned. The drawing will be at the Celtic Faire on September 11. Let me know "how many tickets you want."
Tomorrow, things are a bit quieter. Dick sees Dr. Schwalback tomorrow and I am delivering little old ladies to a Senior picnic and then picking them up again. I would probably go myself if it was a quieter week. However, I would RATHER have lunch with Dick and I need to pick up some currents from Dolores. She called and hers are ripe. I couldn't get them yesterday, so she was sweetly going to pick them and put them in their fridge. If I get them tomorrow, I can start another batch of current wine. I hope there are at least three pounds so I can make the 2 year current. I was kind of sorry that I had not divided the Jeff and Kathy currents up to try that again. The thing about the 2 year current is that the first batch will not be ready until October of this year, so it is still an unknown.
Be happy
Mary
Tonight the ladies who made the squares for the Church Celtic Quilt got together to put the edging on and sew the backing together. I wish you could all see it. When it is ALL together, I will take a picture and post it on the blog. Tickets will be available starting NOW. We are selling them for $1 each or 6 for $5. There will be the queen sized quilt and also a lap quilt that Mary Bainbridge put together with the leftover squares. They are totally different and it amazes us how each quilt looks like it was planned. The drawing will be at the Celtic Faire on September 11. Let me know "how many tickets you want."
Tomorrow, things are a bit quieter. Dick sees Dr. Schwalback tomorrow and I am delivering little old ladies to a Senior picnic and then picking them up again. I would probably go myself if it was a quieter week. However, I would RATHER have lunch with Dick and I need to pick up some currents from Dolores. She called and hers are ripe. I couldn't get them yesterday, so she was sweetly going to pick them and put them in their fridge. If I get them tomorrow, I can start another batch of current wine. I hope there are at least three pounds so I can make the 2 year current. I was kind of sorry that I had not divided the Jeff and Kathy currents up to try that again. The thing about the 2 year current is that the first batch will not be ready until October of this year, so it is still an unknown.
Be happy
Mary
Monday, July 11, 2005
This morning started off with a gift.
Chelsea and I were walking and we came upon a cardinal in the middle of the road. (The bird kind for those of you, who like Dick, are going to ask if I kissed his ring.) It was obviously dazed and Chelsea got quite excited about it. She is a good girl and does not have a hunting bone in her little body, however, so I was able to get her to sit down. I figured I should get it out of the road so it would not get run over so I reached down to pick it up. It immediately scooted forward and flew to the roof of the nearest house. BUT - I got to touch a cardinal and that was my gift.
The rest of the day was somewhat of a blur. Bible Study was at 9:30AM. I went to see my friend who is so ill at about 11:00. Then I grabbed a burger at Dairy Queen on my way to Writer's Club at 1:00. When I got home it was time to fix dinner. Then I proceed to Sheboygan Falls Conservation to shoot trap with Rosalie. I got a 15 this time. I am trying to concentrate on Bill's instructions to lead the bird.
Then home to eat - I was STARVING by then - and on to my last meeting. The Rhine Plymouth Field and Stream monthly meeting. Now I am home and SO very happy to be here.
Writer's Club was quite interesting. We talked about self publishing vs. publishing by a small publisher (of which there are many who will publish your book with a negotiated fee some of them really being a vanity press.) I would like to put together a chapbook of my poems and Jane Kocmoud would also like to do this. Sy Regan is going to have someone from Sun Graphics, who helped him do his Whittling book, talk to us about what they can do.
Bobbie brought over some Cat Haikus that Teresa at the Library found. Here is one of them to brighten up your day.
"Most problems can be
Ignored. The more difficult
Ones can be slept through."
Have a nice Tuesday
Mary
Chelsea and I were walking and we came upon a cardinal in the middle of the road. (The bird kind for those of you, who like Dick, are going to ask if I kissed his ring.) It was obviously dazed and Chelsea got quite excited about it. She is a good girl and does not have a hunting bone in her little body, however, so I was able to get her to sit down. I figured I should get it out of the road so it would not get run over so I reached down to pick it up. It immediately scooted forward and flew to the roof of the nearest house. BUT - I got to touch a cardinal and that was my gift.
The rest of the day was somewhat of a blur. Bible Study was at 9:30AM. I went to see my friend who is so ill at about 11:00. Then I grabbed a burger at Dairy Queen on my way to Writer's Club at 1:00. When I got home it was time to fix dinner. Then I proceed to Sheboygan Falls Conservation to shoot trap with Rosalie. I got a 15 this time. I am trying to concentrate on Bill's instructions to lead the bird.
Then home to eat - I was STARVING by then - and on to my last meeting. The Rhine Plymouth Field and Stream monthly meeting. Now I am home and SO very happy to be here.
Writer's Club was quite interesting. We talked about self publishing vs. publishing by a small publisher (of which there are many who will publish your book with a negotiated fee some of them really being a vanity press.) I would like to put together a chapbook of my poems and Jane Kocmoud would also like to do this. Sy Regan is going to have someone from Sun Graphics, who helped him do his Whittling book, talk to us about what they can do.
Bobbie brought over some Cat Haikus that Teresa at the Library found. Here is one of them to brighten up your day.
"Most problems can be
Ignored. The more difficult
Ones can be slept through."
Have a nice Tuesday
Mary
Sunday, July 10, 2005
I found out today at Mass that a friend is dying. The doctor's have said that he has less than a couple of weeks to live. He has cancer which has spread to the brain and wants his friends come to see him. His wife said that they are having "open house" until he is unable to do so and they want to be just family.
I feel I should DO something. Isn't that the way. I make a big pot of soup and will take a tub of it for them. I have been praying every day for him for months. God must want him in heaven. I am minded of a song about a man lost at sea in a gale who in the words of the song tried to "not be afraid of the dying." I hope my friend is not afraid of they dying. I have come to the conclusion that death and life are all one journey and that we never really leave. I don't believe that God has a separate "place" or "land" for heaven. Why should he when he made our world so beatiful. It is comforting to me to have those who have gone before close by.
It was VERY hot today. When I left Rhine Plymouth, the temperature was 88 on my car thermometer. I am waiting for it to drop so that I can turn on the water again. I is really nice for sitting outside and I am going to do so soon. The fountain was not flowing very well but Jim fixed it so I will enjoy the green and the water running and a good book.
Tomorrow is extremely busy. Bible Study, Writer's Club, trap league and Rhine Plymouth monthly meeting. I think I have everything ready and waiting on the "staging table".
Mother and I were remembering the conversations going around at the Shea, Bowser get together. We found them such fun and so Irish.
"When I die, I want to die like my grandfather-who died peacefully in his sleep. Not
screaming like all the passengers in his car." Author unknown.
Have a nice week.
Mary
I feel I should DO something. Isn't that the way. I make a big pot of soup and will take a tub of it for them. I have been praying every day for him for months. God must want him in heaven. I am minded of a song about a man lost at sea in a gale who in the words of the song tried to "not be afraid of the dying." I hope my friend is not afraid of they dying. I have come to the conclusion that death and life are all one journey and that we never really leave. I don't believe that God has a separate "place" or "land" for heaven. Why should he when he made our world so beatiful. It is comforting to me to have those who have gone before close by.
It was VERY hot today. When I left Rhine Plymouth, the temperature was 88 on my car thermometer. I am waiting for it to drop so that I can turn on the water again. I is really nice for sitting outside and I am going to do so soon. The fountain was not flowing very well but Jim fixed it so I will enjoy the green and the water running and a good book.
Tomorrow is extremely busy. Bible Study, Writer's Club, trap league and Rhine Plymouth monthly meeting. I think I have everything ready and waiting on the "staging table".
Mother and I were remembering the conversations going around at the Shea, Bowser get together. We found them such fun and so Irish.
"When I die, I want to die like my grandfather-who died peacefully in his sleep. Not
screaming like all the passengers in his car." Author unknown.
Have a nice week.
Mary
Saturday, July 09, 2005
It was very warm today. When I was coming back from Jeff and Kathy's a thermometer in New Holstein registered at 90 degrees, though my car thermometer was less the mid 80's.
Kathy and I picked enough currents so that I can make 3 gallons of wine. They are nice and ripe and ready to do. Kathy also gave me some starts of a flowering plant that she got from Aunt Helen's house after Randy and Donna bought it. It has a pink fluffy flower and she thinks it is called the Queen's plume or something like that. It was really pleasant while we were picking the currents.
When I got home I cleaned the currents and got them into the primary fermenter with boiling sugar water poured over them. This is the first step. Tomorrow, after the mixture cools, I will stir in the additives and then the next day the yeast. Then five days later it goes into the Secondary Fermentors (the jugs with the air filters on top) for a long time. Wine making does take patience and is providing good practice for me as patience has never been one of my big virtues. We find that the wines we make from scratch, really are the best if they age for at least a full year. They lose any harshness and really mellow.
One of the wine companies always said "No wine before it's time."
Yesterday at lunch with the Plymouth girls, we grandma's got to talking about toilet training. Betty has a little grandaughter who came over to see her with her pants REALLY full and very cheerful about it. She is about two and learning but not too very concerned. I was remembered and shared how Bret got potty trained. He had learned to use the toilet for urinating but didn't quite get the other. One day he came to me with a disgusted look on his face and asked me to change his diaper. I said to him. "You could to that in the potty you know." He got the funniest look on his face and said. "I CAN!" and that was it. Never had a problem unrelated to sickness after that.
He was only about 1 1/2 years old. But I was fortunate. He did not like being messy.
Tomorrow should be a bit quieter. Have a nice Sunday yourself.
Mary
Kathy and I picked enough currents so that I can make 3 gallons of wine. They are nice and ripe and ready to do. Kathy also gave me some starts of a flowering plant that she got from Aunt Helen's house after Randy and Donna bought it. It has a pink fluffy flower and she thinks it is called the Queen's plume or something like that. It was really pleasant while we were picking the currents.
When I got home I cleaned the currents and got them into the primary fermenter with boiling sugar water poured over them. This is the first step. Tomorrow, after the mixture cools, I will stir in the additives and then the next day the yeast. Then five days later it goes into the Secondary Fermentors (the jugs with the air filters on top) for a long time. Wine making does take patience and is providing good practice for me as patience has never been one of my big virtues. We find that the wines we make from scratch, really are the best if they age for at least a full year. They lose any harshness and really mellow.
One of the wine companies always said "No wine before it's time."
Yesterday at lunch with the Plymouth girls, we grandma's got to talking about toilet training. Betty has a little grandaughter who came over to see her with her pants REALLY full and very cheerful about it. She is about two and learning but not too very concerned. I was remembered and shared how Bret got potty trained. He had learned to use the toilet for urinating but didn't quite get the other. One day he came to me with a disgusted look on his face and asked me to change his diaper. I said to him. "You could to that in the potty you know." He got the funniest look on his face and said. "I CAN!" and that was it. Never had a problem unrelated to sickness after that.
He was only about 1 1/2 years old. But I was fortunate. He did not like being messy.
Tomorrow should be a bit quieter. Have a nice Sunday yourself.
Mary
Friday, July 08, 2005
Another lovely summer day. Everything is so green and blooming now. The corn is high in the fields despite the fact that we could use some rain. Dick, Jim and I are starting to talk fresh corn again. I will have to start looking at the farmer's markets in the next week or so. We have fresh corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes on Saturdays during the season.
On my walk this morning I was thinking about two very progressive women from last century.
The first is a story of a lady. She was a homemaker and a mother at a time when women did not work outside of the home. Of course, in those days, the first 10 years of the 20th century, homemaking was even more of a full time job than it is now. Wash was done in tubs on a washboard, or with a wringer if you were really lucky. Bread was baked from scratch and meals were cooked with no labor saving kits or packages.
Anyway, every summer, this lady and her neighbor would take a weeks vacation. They would spend one week in the backyard, reading and talking and relaxing. They would not clean or cook or sew and then they would go back to being busy housewives.
Pretty cool Right. This was my Grandma Helen Deeley.
The second lady was in her late teens when she and a cousin, traveled to South Dakota to homestead. They picked a plot of land and even built a soddy (a home out of the sod in the area. A common starting home for the homesteaders.) They came home but the wonder is that they did it. This would have been somewhere in the early part of the 20th Century also. Probably a little later than the "vacation". But not much.
I am amazed every time I think of this. What Gutzy ladies. The woman was Dick's mother Alice Kunert.
Be healthy.
Mary
On my walk this morning I was thinking about two very progressive women from last century.
The first is a story of a lady. She was a homemaker and a mother at a time when women did not work outside of the home. Of course, in those days, the first 10 years of the 20th century, homemaking was even more of a full time job than it is now. Wash was done in tubs on a washboard, or with a wringer if you were really lucky. Bread was baked from scratch and meals were cooked with no labor saving kits or packages.
Anyway, every summer, this lady and her neighbor would take a weeks vacation. They would spend one week in the backyard, reading and talking and relaxing. They would not clean or cook or sew and then they would go back to being busy housewives.
Pretty cool Right. This was my Grandma Helen Deeley.
The second lady was in her late teens when she and a cousin, traveled to South Dakota to homestead. They picked a plot of land and even built a soddy (a home out of the sod in the area. A common starting home for the homesteaders.) They came home but the wonder is that they did it. This would have been somewhere in the early part of the 20th Century also. Probably a little later than the "vacation". But not much.
I am amazed every time I think of this. What Gutzy ladies. The woman was Dick's mother Alice Kunert.
Be healthy.
Mary
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Choir again tonight. We are working on the German Mass. We have the parts down pretty well and are stumbling through the words. Next week we go to Milwaukee to practice at the Bavarian Inn with the big choir. We figure that we are pretty green, but that there will be lots of segments of the choir and individuals who REALLY know what they are doing and we just have to kind of search them out when we get there. It is always easier in numbers and the music is quite lovely. Nothing like the rather strange Polka Masses that we have had at Blessed Trinity.
Dick got his blood tested today and Sue says that her is boring again. He is ALWAYS within the perameters. We went down to the lab for his blood test that follows the yearly physical and then went to breakfast and grocery shopping. We shared an omelet today. I talked him into a Feta Cheese, onion and tomato omelet and it was very very good.
This afternoon we went back to the clinic to se a nutrition specialist for advice on how to help Dick lose some weight. We have some good ideas from her and and Dick is agreeable. The hardest part will be the exercizing but as she said - keep is easy and slow. And just do it. He has been reducing his portions very well the past few months.
It was beautiful today. It rained a bit at about 8:00AM but that was all finished by 9:00 then it got sunny and warm, about 76 degrees.
I found fresh tuna steaks at the grocery store, so we will have them tomorrow night for dinner. I do like fresh tuna. We will find out if Dick does. I know that I had leftover tuna from somewhere and he liked the tuna sandwiches that I made from it.
When I was a little girl, I remember going to a family picnic at a big house that was perched up on top of a hill. It was for the Bowser Family. (My Mother's side.) I remember playing with lots of cousins, though I don't know who the were anymore, but we kids got to drink all the soda we wanted. In those days that was a real treat. I bring this up because when I think this is one of the few times that I met Fr. Mike when I was a kid. I don't remember him but I do remember his mother, Eileen. Eileen was a beautiful woman with black black hair and very elegant looking. she looked almost like a Spanish woman. She was quite an interesting person. Very opinionated and worked for years at the Kettle Moraine prison. She died before I came back from California and is buried under a big Celtic Cross in the newer section of the cemetary at Our Lady of the Angels church. Johnny Bill Shea, her husband, is there now and there is a space between them where Mike will be laid to rest some day. Johnny Bill said that he arranged that so the Mike be a mediator and keep them from fighting through eternity. He said they fought all the time in life and he wouldn't have had any other kind of woman.
Happy Friday.
Mary
Dick got his blood tested today and Sue says that her is boring again. He is ALWAYS within the perameters. We went down to the lab for his blood test that follows the yearly physical and then went to breakfast and grocery shopping. We shared an omelet today. I talked him into a Feta Cheese, onion and tomato omelet and it was very very good.
This afternoon we went back to the clinic to se a nutrition specialist for advice on how to help Dick lose some weight. We have some good ideas from her and and Dick is agreeable. The hardest part will be the exercizing but as she said - keep is easy and slow. And just do it. He has been reducing his portions very well the past few months.
It was beautiful today. It rained a bit at about 8:00AM but that was all finished by 9:00 then it got sunny and warm, about 76 degrees.
I found fresh tuna steaks at the grocery store, so we will have them tomorrow night for dinner. I do like fresh tuna. We will find out if Dick does. I know that I had leftover tuna from somewhere and he liked the tuna sandwiches that I made from it.
When I was a little girl, I remember going to a family picnic at a big house that was perched up on top of a hill. It was for the Bowser Family. (My Mother's side.) I remember playing with lots of cousins, though I don't know who the were anymore, but we kids got to drink all the soda we wanted. In those days that was a real treat. I bring this up because when I think this is one of the few times that I met Fr. Mike when I was a kid. I don't remember him but I do remember his mother, Eileen. Eileen was a beautiful woman with black black hair and very elegant looking. she looked almost like a Spanish woman. She was quite an interesting person. Very opinionated and worked for years at the Kettle Moraine prison. She died before I came back from California and is buried under a big Celtic Cross in the newer section of the cemetary at Our Lady of the Angels church. Johnny Bill Shea, her husband, is there now and there is a space between them where Mike will be laid to rest some day. Johnny Bill said that he arranged that so the Mike be a mediator and keep them from fighting through eternity. He said they fought all the time in life and he wouldn't have had any other kind of woman.
Happy Friday.
Mary
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Loverly day in the neighborhood. I think I am mixing up Mr. Rogers and My Fair Lady. But it is a descriptive phrase. The temps were in the upper 60s to low 70s. The sun shone, the skies were blue. The neighborhood cardinal was singing loudly while Chelsea and I were on our walk and darned near drowned out our conversation in the office later this afternoon.
I worked out in the yard for about an hour and got the hanging pots watered and cleaned up and the tree/bush in the front yard trimmed. I too Chelsea out with me for a bit but there were some kids down the street with a few remaining firecrackers and I didn't have the heart to make her suffer any more.
Dick had his physical this morning. For the first time in several years, there was no irregular heartbeat. This is a good thing, but Dr. Phelan said that it does not mean that is it healed. They will keep monitering.
Thinking back on the conversations that were going around yesterday. Fr. Mike said, (expounding on superstition, edicts and curses) that a priest in Armstrong at Our Lady of the Angels, then named St. Matthew, had cursed the parish back in 1858 or thereabouts. He said that they would not have a priest ordained from the parish for 100 years and lo and behold Mike was ordained a priest in 1964 along with his cousin Jim Shea in or about the same year. This did prove the prophesy or curse to be true. Who knows?
Cadfael's Book of Days, yesterday and today, were interesting.
Yesterday. "The failure of the priesthood to set and example of piety and simplicty helps to turn people to false prophets and dissenting sects. The Church has a duty also to purge its own shortcomings."
Today. " 'It's a grave matter to disagree with the chruch,' said the layman. 'It's not for us to kno better than the priests, not where faith;s concerned. Listen and say Amen, that's my advice." Ellis Peters
I guess both are true. In this day and age it becomes difficult to follow the advice of the second as we watch and see that the clergy is not fulfilling the duty to do the first.
Have a nice Thursday
Mary
I worked out in the yard for about an hour and got the hanging pots watered and cleaned up and the tree/bush in the front yard trimmed. I too Chelsea out with me for a bit but there were some kids down the street with a few remaining firecrackers and I didn't have the heart to make her suffer any more.
Dick had his physical this morning. For the first time in several years, there was no irregular heartbeat. This is a good thing, but Dr. Phelan said that it does not mean that is it healed. They will keep monitering.
Thinking back on the conversations that were going around yesterday. Fr. Mike said, (expounding on superstition, edicts and curses) that a priest in Armstrong at Our Lady of the Angels, then named St. Matthew, had cursed the parish back in 1858 or thereabouts. He said that they would not have a priest ordained from the parish for 100 years and lo and behold Mike was ordained a priest in 1964 along with his cousin Jim Shea in or about the same year. This did prove the prophesy or curse to be true. Who knows?
Cadfael's Book of Days, yesterday and today, were interesting.
Yesterday. "The failure of the priesthood to set and example of piety and simplicty helps to turn people to false prophets and dissenting sects. The Church has a duty also to purge its own shortcomings."
Today. " 'It's a grave matter to disagree with the chruch,' said the layman. 'It's not for us to kno better than the priests, not where faith;s concerned. Listen and say Amen, that's my advice." Ellis Peters
I guess both are true. In this day and age it becomes difficult to follow the advice of the second as we watch and see that the clergy is not fulfilling the duty to do the first.
Have a nice Thursday
Mary
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
It was a feel good day.
The gathering for Fr. Mike Shea was lots of fun. We chattered and ate and drank together and it was nice. The meal turned out fine and was an easy one to serve and eat.
We had Cuban Ropa Vieja (Old Rags) on hard rolls, beans, salad and blueberry pie. Aunt Kathleen brought a veggie tray and I shared some venison hot sticks.
The blueberry pie is so simple and really one of the best pies in the world.
You bake a pie crust and fill it with four cups of fresh washed and dried blueberries.
Make a glaze by cooking 2/3 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 3 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch and 1 cup of blueberries until it is thick and clear, about 10 minutes.
Pour over berries in the crust, cool and refrigerate and serve with a nice dollup of fresh whipped cream.
We talked a lot about the Bowser family and the Parnell, Mitchell and Armstrong area. The story of the time that St. Michael's Church was boarded shut was discussed.
This is my understanding of the story.
St. Michael's Church near Parnell was a mainly Irish faith community. At some point a German pastor was sent to serve the parish. Apparently he was not to the liking of a large part of the community and a number of young bucks, notably the Rooney boys actually locked and boarded up the door to the church to keep the priest out. This caused such a stir and a scandal that the Diocese put an edict on the church for a year during which no masses were permitted in the building. This meant that these hard working farmers had to travel several extra miles to attend Mass. An Irish Catholic did not miss Mass, you know, so it was a real hardship. For years and a couple of generations this event was not talked about but Grandpa Bowser would allude to it and comment that the the Rooney's all died young and also he said, "No good ever came to them." I guess it was true and he really believed it.
Mike talked a lot about his kids. He has 116 now. 68 of them have AIDS. He is going to request a new grant from the Elizabeth Taylor Foundation. They usually only give one to an individual place but Bill, our contact, suggested that he try again anyway as apparantly Miss Taylor is impressed by the beautiful faces of the children that Mike sends to them.
I guess that is enough for today. It was much cooler and not at all muggy. Quite a relief after the muggy hot days that we have had.
There are still a few firecrackers going off now and then so poor little Chelsea Dog is down in the den in front of Jim's chair, probably poised to go under the bed if things REALLY get bad.
Love Mary
The gathering for Fr. Mike Shea was lots of fun. We chattered and ate and drank together and it was nice. The meal turned out fine and was an easy one to serve and eat.
We had Cuban Ropa Vieja (Old Rags) on hard rolls, beans, salad and blueberry pie. Aunt Kathleen brought a veggie tray and I shared some venison hot sticks.
The blueberry pie is so simple and really one of the best pies in the world.
You bake a pie crust and fill it with four cups of fresh washed and dried blueberries.
Make a glaze by cooking 2/3 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 3 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch and 1 cup of blueberries until it is thick and clear, about 10 minutes.
Pour over berries in the crust, cool and refrigerate and serve with a nice dollup of fresh whipped cream.
We talked a lot about the Bowser family and the Parnell, Mitchell and Armstrong area. The story of the time that St. Michael's Church was boarded shut was discussed.
This is my understanding of the story.
St. Michael's Church near Parnell was a mainly Irish faith community. At some point a German pastor was sent to serve the parish. Apparently he was not to the liking of a large part of the community and a number of young bucks, notably the Rooney boys actually locked and boarded up the door to the church to keep the priest out. This caused such a stir and a scandal that the Diocese put an edict on the church for a year during which no masses were permitted in the building. This meant that these hard working farmers had to travel several extra miles to attend Mass. An Irish Catholic did not miss Mass, you know, so it was a real hardship. For years and a couple of generations this event was not talked about but Grandpa Bowser would allude to it and comment that the the Rooney's all died young and also he said, "No good ever came to them." I guess it was true and he really believed it.
Mike talked a lot about his kids. He has 116 now. 68 of them have AIDS. He is going to request a new grant from the Elizabeth Taylor Foundation. They usually only give one to an individual place but Bill, our contact, suggested that he try again anyway as apparantly Miss Taylor is impressed by the beautiful faces of the children that Mike sends to them.
I guess that is enough for today. It was much cooler and not at all muggy. Quite a relief after the muggy hot days that we have had.
There are still a few firecrackers going off now and then so poor little Chelsea Dog is down in the den in front of Jim's chair, probably poised to go under the bed if things REALLY get bad.
Love Mary
Monday, July 04, 2005
Happy Fourth of July! It seems quieter tonight than it was last night. Of course, it is still kind of twilight and the fireworks at the lakefront don't start for a half an hour yet. Last night the noise and light started at about 8:30. There is some activity but not much. Poor Chelsea, was a literal basket case last night. I forced her to go outside at one point, thinking that she really needed the opportunity to go the the bathroom. She wouldn't and actually turned down a lettuce treat.
I prepared the meat and pies for tomorrow's dinner so that I just need to heat things up while the guests are here. Jeff and Kathy are picking up Mother. Uncle Pat called for directions so I know that he and Joan will be here and Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Bob are coming.
We finally got rain. It actually rained early this morning before dawn and then started again at about 10 and rained some more until about noon. We need it so bad. This was a steady soaky rain and I hope it did some good.
Do you know that Dick has never had S'mores? I was shocked to hear that. Jim said he never had them either. This came up because I bought some Keebler S'more snacks. They are the construct your own, like cheese and cracker packs. You spread this creamy marshmellow on a sweet cracker and top it with a piece of chocolate and the second cracker. It tastes good - But - Those boys are going to have to experience the fun of slapping a burnt marshmellow on a piece of a Hershey bar between two Real graham crackers. Such deprived childhoods. I need to rectify that
Mary
I prepared the meat and pies for tomorrow's dinner so that I just need to heat things up while the guests are here. Jeff and Kathy are picking up Mother. Uncle Pat called for directions so I know that he and Joan will be here and Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Bob are coming.
We finally got rain. It actually rained early this morning before dawn and then started again at about 10 and rained some more until about noon. We need it so bad. This was a steady soaky rain and I hope it did some good.
Do you know that Dick has never had S'mores? I was shocked to hear that. Jim said he never had them either. This came up because I bought some Keebler S'more snacks. They are the construct your own, like cheese and cracker packs. You spread this creamy marshmellow on a sweet cracker and top it with a piece of chocolate and the second cracker. It tastes good - But - Those boys are going to have to experience the fun of slapping a burnt marshmellow on a piece of a Hershey bar between two Real graham crackers. Such deprived childhoods. I need to rectify that
Mary
Sunday, July 03, 2005
Today was a fairly quiet day. Church at 8:00, a visit with Mother. Bobbie and I worked at Rhine from 1:00 til about 3:00. We left early because it was so slow - the Fourth of July Weekend you know. I shot one round of trap and three targets of pistol. Not too bad but nothing to write home about.
Mother and I were remembering years gone by. She has a cartoon on her refrigerator that is one of her favorites. It depicts Heaven with a quartet of souls who have "arrived" there singing barbershop songs. When she pointed it out, I immediately remembered the family picnics at Grandma and Grandpa Bowser's house. As the evening wore on the singing always started. The Bowsers, my Uncle Leo and Aunt Kathleen and Dad all had beautiful voices and loved to sing.
They would sing in harmony. They would sing in quartets and duets. And each person sang their specialty solos. The Bowser cousins with Dad and Grandpa sang barbershop. Dad and Aunt Kathleen would sing Blue Hawaii, Uncle Leo sang like Louis (Sachmo) Armstrong and on and on. Such warm fuzzy times and how we ate.
Grandpa Bowser's house was up on a little hill. Forming a "wall" around the yard were hedges that protected the yard from prying eyes and muffled street noise (not that there was much street noise on that little back street in Sheboygan Falls). Grandpa always read the Sunday paper on the front porch after church. Grandpa always wore his vest and his hat when he was outside the house. One Sunday, my Uncle Noel, then a teenager, walked out on the porch and told Grandpa "I think I can take you, Dad." Grandpa didn't say a word. He got up, took off his hat and set it on a table on the porch. He walked off the porch into the yard and motioned Noel down.
They squared off. Grandpa picked Noel up and tossed him over the hedge.
Noel said that he never challenged Grandpa again. Years later, he knew he could have beaten him but when men grow older they really don't want to prove that their Dad's are not still Supermen.
Have a nice Fourth of July.
I will be thinking of you
Mary
Mother and I were remembering years gone by. She has a cartoon on her refrigerator that is one of her favorites. It depicts Heaven with a quartet of souls who have "arrived" there singing barbershop songs. When she pointed it out, I immediately remembered the family picnics at Grandma and Grandpa Bowser's house. As the evening wore on the singing always started. The Bowsers, my Uncle Leo and Aunt Kathleen and Dad all had beautiful voices and loved to sing.
They would sing in harmony. They would sing in quartets and duets. And each person sang their specialty solos. The Bowser cousins with Dad and Grandpa sang barbershop. Dad and Aunt Kathleen would sing Blue Hawaii, Uncle Leo sang like Louis (Sachmo) Armstrong and on and on. Such warm fuzzy times and how we ate.
Grandpa Bowser's house was up on a little hill. Forming a "wall" around the yard were hedges that protected the yard from prying eyes and muffled street noise (not that there was much street noise on that little back street in Sheboygan Falls). Grandpa always read the Sunday paper on the front porch after church. Grandpa always wore his vest and his hat when he was outside the house. One Sunday, my Uncle Noel, then a teenager, walked out on the porch and told Grandpa "I think I can take you, Dad." Grandpa didn't say a word. He got up, took off his hat and set it on a table on the porch. He walked off the porch into the yard and motioned Noel down.
They squared off. Grandpa picked Noel up and tossed him over the hedge.
Noel said that he never challenged Grandpa again. Years later, he knew he could have beaten him but when men grow older they really don't want to prove that their Dad's are not still Supermen.
Have a nice Fourth of July.
I will be thinking of you
Mary
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