I am posting very early tonight because I want to watch The Sixth Sense on TV tonight. If you haven't seen this movie. DO! It is wonderful. I am constantly amazed at Bruce Willis. He keeps playing these super hero guys but does things like Sixth Sense which show how versital and what a really good actor he really is.

I took a LONG nap today. Dick says I need more but I hate to waste the days sleeping. This morning I went to the Legion of Mary Mass and luncheon. Blessed Trinity has 90 member in its Legion of Mary Auxiliary, which is me. I say a rosary and the accompanying prayers every day. The active members have to put in a much bigger time commitment than I am able to give at this point in my life. I can however say a rosary each day. I usually say it while Chelsea and I are on our morning walk.

A Fr. Mike Dineen gave our talk at the brunch. He gave a suggestion that we go home and suggest to our husbands that we say the rosary together. He suggested that at the beginning or end of each decade we hold hands and give each other a kiss and tell each other we love each other. I told Dick the idea. He said that he doesn't have to pray for kisses and love, he just has to get over his cold. It was a sweet suggestion though.

Mother is also a member of the auxiliary so I got to have brunch and some time with her.

Hope your Saturday was as pleasant. Dick and I filtered the Riesling wine today too.

Love

Mary

Chelsea and I walked again in 32 degree temps with no wind and nice sunshine. It warmed up to a comfortable mid 50s today which we really enjoyed.

I had lunch at Dairy Queen in Plymouth again today with the Wells people. Barb had her grandaughter with her. Anna is no 18 months old. She had a very shaky start as she has Down's Syndrome and has experienced most of the physical problems that these little people have. She is adorable and is learning sign language to express her needs. We were all SO glad to finally meet Anna.

This evening, the Environment Committee added the mums and the book listing the deceased from the past year to the altar in Church. It looks very nice. I think the relatives will be very pleased with the results. We put the book that I made on the altar with 22 candles to represent the 22 members that have passed on this year. So far God has listened to me prayer and not added anyone else. I do have room for possibly two more in the book if I have to.

Tomorrow is the Legion of Mary gathering and lunch. Mother is a member now too so I will walk her over to church and back. It is fine this time of year but I think that it is a good idea for her to have and escort whenever possible. I must remember to give her the money from the chekc that I cashed for her.

Two weeks from Monday, we will leave on our final vacation of the year. We are going to Branson. Bart and Barb are going to be able to come up and spend a day with us. I am looking forward to the trip AND seeing them. Barbara is so very proud. She has lost over 50 pounds this year and is excercizing and really getting in shape. I hope the two day trip will be good for both of them.

Til tomorrow.

Mary

Our last two nights in Kentucky were spent in Louisville or Lou-a-vul as it is properly pronounced. You kind of slur it all together too. We stayed at the historic Galt Hotel which has been and is still being refurbished and remodeled but is a very nice hotel. We were up on the 10th floor overlooking the street and the twin building of the Galt. They are connected by a bridge on the third floor. It is the biggest hotel and convention center in the state. From our window, we could also see the Ohio River and one of the bridges crossing over into Indiana and the boat that we traveled on in the rain. I will add a picture from the window here. I do love taking pictures from hotel windows. I did that a LOT in Ireland.



"Louavul" also had decorated statues of horses scattered all over the city. Much like the cows that Chicago had several years ago. I got a picture of the one that was in front of the Galt.




Today was clear but chilly. It was supposedly 32 degrees when I went out with Chelsea, though our thermometer said that it was 37. Big deal. We had a nice walk however BECAUSE it was dry and there was no wind. Chelsea is so darned happy it is funny. She REALLY misses our walks when I am gone or it is raining.

I went out with several other ladies to play bingo with the residents of Rocky Knoll. This is a group of mentally and/or physically challenged people. We bring quarters for their prizes and they love it. I was asked to be the caller today which was a kick. I like helping the residents find their numbers too. Part of our service is to sit with those who have a bit of trouble either reading the numbers of closing their boxes. They all understand quarters though. There are vending machines around you see.


The last of the questions that really need answers is:
17. Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?

Dick and I are both MUCH better today. We went grocery shopping this morning and out for breakfast as is our usual Thursday morning.

No other excitement. Have a nice Friday.

Mary

I finished printing the names of our deceased on the "book pages" Now I have to wait to assemble it until I am sure that I don't have to add any more. I think it will look nice. The only time I had to go out today was to pick up some more poster paper to finish the project. Roxie was a pest while I was working at it. She kept mewing at me to pick her up. Then - when I put her on my lap she would move around back of me on the chair and paw at me. What a strange little kitty she is.



The above is a picture of Cumberland Falls. We saw this just prior to our show at Renfro Valley. Isn't it beautiful. Cumberland Falls is second in size only to Niagra Falls in the United States. I go several pictures that turned out quite well. I love the digital camera. The following is a picture that Dick took of me playing the washboard at The Old Stable Restuarant. Sure was fun.




A few more questions that really need answers:
13. Why do the Alphabet song and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star have the
same tune?
14. Stop singing and read on..........
15. Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?
16. Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at
you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the
window?

We are recovering from our colds. I am MUCH better and Dick is a day or two behind me but definately much improved from yesterday. Jim stayed home sick today too. WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Have a HEALTHY Thursday.

Mary

It was a rather uneventful day. It rained off and on ALL day. Chelsea still has not had a "proper" walk since we left on our trip. Jim just runs her outside the door and she knows that, but she expects much better from me. I don't mind walking on a chilly day, but walking in the rain with a cold seems foolish so we have only been doing what is necessary.

Dick went to see the podiatrist today. His callouses are now trimmed down and he should be much more comfortable. The trip was really uncomfortable for his poor feet.

I am working of the "book" that we will put up on the altar for All Souls day, listing the members of the parish that were buried from Blessed Trinity since last year. I hope no more die before Tuesday, I am really close to being out of room on the plan that I put together. It is sad when someone dies anyway, I think God could hold off for me for a week, don't you?

I don't think that I told you about the train ride. We went to Stearns, KY and boarded the Big South Fork Scenic Railway which took us to the Blue Heron Mine up in the hills. It was an iron mine. We got, as a part of our tour, a miner's lunch. The lunch was a sandwich, containers of pudding, coleslaw, applesauce and lettuce and chips wrapped in a cool red neckerchief emblazened with the South Ford Scenic Railway info. The trip was lovely, we had a couple of guys AND the lady Forest Ranger singing and picking for us both before the trip and at the mine. I bought a tape of one of the singers. An altogether nice day.

Tomorrow, I will get enough energy to start adding a picture or two.

Have a lovely evening. Here are a few more questions that need answers

9. If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that Acme crap, why didn't
he just buy dinner?
10! . If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
11. If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from
vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?
12. If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?


Mary

Bible Study today. We have finished the Letters of Paul that we were studying and have decided that for a while at least we are going to study the readings for the next Sunday. It is a bit confusing at first but I believe we will become very familiar with the books of the bible this way AND we all have different translations which makes for some interesting insights.

I finally have all the clothes put away and have sorted through my mail. I have a few piles of stuff on the desk that I should be able to get through by the end of the week.

The third night of the trip, we went to Renfro Valley,apparantly condidered the bluegrass captital fo the world. At least a BIG bluegrass festival is held there every year. We went to the Barndance Show in the Renfro Vally Entertainment Center. This place has shops and restuarants and two ( at least ) theatres. We saw Jeff Watson (who does a mean Conway Twitty as well as his own sound), Glenn Thompson (a guitarist who owns a shop nearby), Pete Stamper (a humorist),Susan Tomes Laws (a truly lovely female singer), Pam Perry (another woman) and Wayne Combs (who actually ran into us as we stopped the bus at a Walmart to get cold medicine for one of our fellow tourists.) He was coming out of Walmart with his kids in a cart and saw the bus. So good PR man that he is, he came up to the bus and told Patty that they should bring the tour to the show in Renfro Valley where he played and sang. Patty almost had a bird as she kind of shooed him out of the bus, whispering to him that this was a mystery tour and that we would indeed be seeing him there. He mentioned the encounter at the start of the show. Talk about weird.

They sure kept us busy every day. We left the hotels at 8 to 8:30 and did not get back until 9 to 10:30 depending on the night. I slept like the dead. It is easy when one is that tired.

More questions that need answers

5. Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?
6. Why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't
point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is?
7. Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are
going to look up there anyway?
8. Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're
both dogs


My cold is moving along as usual. Dick has one now too.


Later

Mary

Today was a yucky day weatherwise. It was damp and rainy and rather chilly. The only saving grace was that there was very little wind so the chill was not "to the bone."

I went to the 8:00AM Mass and sold raffle tickets after Mass. We sold a few this time. I hope the raffle does well. We really have EXCELLENT raffle items. A twin sized quilt that I made, a patriotic throw, a Janome Sewing Machine donated by The Sewing Machine Shop in Sheboygan Falls and a framed print of the Villager. The artist is our own Kitty Klitch who is also the chair of the Turkey Dinner. It is a beautiful print and she had it framed exquisitly.

Then I zipped over to Mother's for just a few minutes and then home. I had to be home by 10:00AM to receive Stenn - the Commissioner's call that it was OK for me to go in and post my selections for the Fantasy Football League. You can imagine my horror on Saturday morning, when I realized that they had moved the Miami game to Friday night because of fear of Hurricane Wilma. Stenn made it possible to post my picks except for the Miami game, of course. I stuck up for the Packers again today and they blew it. Against those mean awful Vikings too.

Brenda and Dick came to take us out for lunch at about 11:00AM. We went to Antoinette's in Plymouth. I knew that they had a rather nice selection fo vegetarian dishes. A cold and a hot sandwich, at least three pizzas and at leat two pasta dishes.

Dick was rather sick after we got home. Nothing major but he is really laying low for the next day or two. My cold is no better. I am glad that the next three days are quiet. I need to heal. As we speak, I am steeping some Respiratory Tea to help me relax and sleep tonight.

I wanted to tell you a bit more about our trip. The second day, Tuesday, we went to Keene's Depot, a store that deals in hunting and fishing gear and clothing AND food. They sugar cure their own hams. They explained the process and I bought a hunk to make some bean soup with later this week. They said it absolutely needs NO refrigeration.

We then went to Heaven Hill. Heaven Hill is a bourbon distillery in Bardstown. We were treated to a wonderful tour of the distillery museum and the warehouses where the bourbon is aged in charred new oak barrels. The three things necessary for good bourbon are - water that comes from limestone sources, good corn, wheat, rye, and new white oak barrels that are charred on the inside. It is the charred staves that give the bourbon its color and the distinctive carmelly taste. We got to go to the tasting room, (a room in the shape of a half barrel with a circular bar. We were treated to a lesson on inspecting bourbon. The master distiller seldom drinks the bourbon to test it. He relies on color, odor and the way the bourbon swirls around the glass. We all were given two samples (about a tablespoon each). One of a 7 year and one of a 12 year old bourbon. We tasted them with and without a touch of water. I liked the 7 year with water the best.

The guide told us that in 1998 lightening struck one of the 7 story rick houses (the proper name, I believe for a liquor warehouse) and it started on fire. As it burned the whole building, story by story began to collapse, barrels breaking open and bursting into flames as they fell. This warehouse was on top of the hill and the bourbon started down the hill and set six other warehouses on fire on the way to the creek. It flowed, still burning under the bridge over the creek and buckled the blacktop. It continued out into the river. Traffic on the main highway was stopped because flames were up over the bridge. They said that the flames were as high as a 35 story building at their peak. All they could do was let it burn out as it went very fast and there was no way to contain it. They have recovered beautifully and he did say that all the warehouses have different ages of bourbon in them so that there was never a year without a certain aged brew.

I recommend that you visit Heaven Hill if you get the chance. A nicely put together tour and you do not have to taste the bourbon but you do get samples if you want to.





Questions that really need answers...
1. Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze
these dangly things here, And drink whatever comes out?"
2. Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat
the next thing that comes outta it's butt."
3. Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
4. If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

Til Tomorrow

Mary

We're BAAAACK!! Did you miss me?

We went to KENTUCKY! And did we ever tour Kentucky. It took us from 6:00AM to about 6:00PM to reach Bardstown, south of Louisville. Bardstown it an interesting community and we spent our first evening at a restuarant called the Old Stable. We had a buffet and mint julips (or a punch) in special Kentucky Derby Glass. They issue a new one each year and the Old Stable has one of every single year in a cabinet on the wall in the dining room. We got to keep the glass too. I ended up with three of them, so Jim will have one too. I like that. There were a man and woman playing bluegrass/country music just for us during our dinner. It was a nice buffet, but I am going to tell you now that I hope I do not have another buffet to go to for at least six months.

After we ate they got four of us (naturally I got "recommended " by Patty, our tour director) to go up and show off our musical abilities. Gene played the Washtub Cello, Stan played the Stumpf Fiddle, I got the Washboard and Maureen played the tamborine. It was a lot of fun.

I didn't tell you, we also were given hand made hats that we all "had" to wear while we ate.. Dick was "thrilled" as you can well imagine.

Anyway, we are home now and frankly we are really glad to be here. Have you ever noticed how excited one gets when one perpares and leaves on a vacation and how, as it gets closer, one becomes more and more eager to be home?

Critters were very glad to see us. Chelsea is at this moment trying to tell me that she is ready for bed now.

We were so delighted tonight to have Leslie call. She wanted to hear how we liked the trip and where we went. She had GOOD news from there also. Bill is starting a new job at LSU which is much more what he wants to be doing and will be more profitable AND they can stay where they are. They have grown to like it there and would hate to leave, at least for the time being. Also, our Sara has her first job. She is bagging at Kroger's and has been there for three weeks. Yea! Sara!. We are so proud. That first one is always the hardest. Experience and a job history helps SO much.

I will send pictures later, and let you all know more of our trip each day. We went to the Louisville Slugger factory in Louisville to find out how they make the wooden bats that they are famous for and to visit their museum. This was Friday. I mention this because I like to have a nice ending to the blog and was impressed with something Dusty Baker said on the film they show before you tour the factory. He spoke of playing baseball as a kid and all the kids encouraging each other as they played. He remembers the others yelling "Yea Dusty, Go Dusty Baker." when he was a kid. He then said, and I quote, that because of playing the way he did as a kid, " You kind of expect yourself to be a hero." I have visions of all these kids playing little league and pick up games imagining themselves as heros of the game. Too bad they can't always believe they are heros.

Til tomorrow

Mary

Well, today was a beautiful day. Sunny and comfortable with little wind. I got up at my usual 6:00AM. I had a lot to do. I was frying out tonight so fixed the potato salad and had a couple of extra eggs, so I made some deviled eggs that were spectacular. I keep telling the guys that there is really NO recipe. They always are good but these were really special. I must remember to always use "spicy brown" mustard.

I left early for church because I had to sell raffle tickets for the Turkey Dinner Raffle. I have donated a twin size quilt that I finished about a month ago. It is one of my travel quilts. It is mainly in greens and quite colorful. The other prizes are a sewing machine, a beautiful framed print by Kitty Klitch of the Villager in Sheboygan falls. Kitty is the head of the Turkey Dinner committee and an extremely talented local artist and teacher of art in the area and a "flag" throw. After that I went to visit Mother before going to Mass myself. The choir sang at this Mass. We sang a Vivaldi which is very lively and quite pretty. "Sing to the Lord."

I had to go directly from Church to Rhine to work the Sunday Open Shoot. It was very slow so Bobbie and I were able to easily do our league shoots. I was pretty happy with this week. I think my scores were all in the 50s and 60s which is good for me.

I fried brats to go with the potato salad. The fryer was scary tonight. I started to get flare ups (which I expected) and was totally prepared with a water squirt bottle, I kept putting the scattered flames out but finally the whole bowl of the fryer burst into flame and I was barely able to rescue the brats. They provided us with a little charcoal,(is charcoal really good for the breath) but still tasted good. I have never before in all my frying days had a fryer turn into an inferno.

Now, everything is done for the evening. This will be my last blog until next Saturday. Will you be able to stand it? All I have to do tomorrow morning, (we leave at 6:00AM) is shower, get dressed, walk poor pitiful Chelsea and eat something.

My brother Jeff (actually it probably was Kathy, his wife) sent me the greatest 20 "Words of Wiscom". Here is one for you to mull on.

When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bike. Then I
realized that The Lord doesn't work that way, so I stole one and
asked him to forgive me.
-- Emo Philips

Ezio Pinza was just singing "This Nearly Was Mine" from South Pacific on The Show Tunes Music Channel. As Dick says there are some names and songs that just turn me on. Ezio singing South Pacific is one of them.


I love you all. Have a great week and come back on Saturday for a quick summery of the Mystery Tour.

Mary

I planted daffodils today. Jeff brought some bulbs to Mother and she did not want them all, so we shared. Bobbie and I were discussing bulbs a couple of weeks ago and I had mentioned that I did not have any daffodils. They are one of the very first signs of spring, along with worms all over the street, robins, the red winged blackbirds and kids playing basketball all around the tract.

It was a pretty quiet day overall. I got all packed for the trip and worked on the "book" that we are going to put on the altar for All Soul's Day. I make a cross quilt square and sewed it on the fabric that I will be covering the "book" with. I searched and found a site that has about 6 different crosses, so I have a source now. The hardest part will be stenciling all the names of those who have died in the past year. I really can't do that until we are back from the trip because we include the names of ALL who have died in the past years and (it sounds kind of gory) there is always a possibility that we will have some more in the next two weeks. We can't leave anyone off and there is a placement issue.

Well, Cheslea is begging to go out AGAIN and it is almost 9:00PM which is her time. So I will sign off now.





LADIES- Don't throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice
cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

REAL WOMEN- Leftover wine??

Love

Mary

It is almost 10:00PM and I am winding down very fast. It was a rather busy day. I cleaned the kitchen this morning.

Then I went to have lunch in Plymouth at the Dairy Queen with my friends. My friend, Mary, has gone back to work for Edward Jones Brokerage. She says she is not happy about that, she would really like to stay home, but she has to work and at least the brokerage that she has joined is staffed with really great people. She does like being a broker too.

I delivered my basket to the Tisket a Tasket site. They liked it. I always feel really good when I deliver them each year. It must be fun collecting the baskets. The idea is to assemble a basket around a book. I chose two books about tea parties and added stuff.

Lastly, I stopped at Office Max and stocked up on copy paper and some supplies to use to make a list of those who passed away at Blessed Trinity this past year for All Souls Day. We like to do a special rememberance.

Now, I am tired.

If there are no dogs in Heaven,
then when I die I want to go
where they went.
- Will Rogers

I like Will's idea. I want to reconnect with Zero and a couple of other good doggy friends that I have had throughout the years.

Mary

Tomorrow will be a very busy day. I have to clean the kitchen in the morning. Actually, the floor isn't as bad as usual, because when I cleaned the grapes yesterday, I got the floor so messy that I had to wipe down about a third of it so we wouldn't stick.

Then I will have lunch with the girls in Plymouth. I don't know if Betty and Ceil are back from their trip to the New England states or not. Then the bank, Office Max and I have to drop off a basket for the Tisket a Tasket raffle that will be happening on November 5th or thereabouts. The last day to drop off the baskets is Oct 21 and we will be gone. Tisket a Tasket if a fundraiser to help combat illiteracy. I have contributed a basket for auction or raffle for several years now. This year I make one using a basket tray that I got from Mother. I cleaned it up and put a liner over the tray part. Then I filled it with two books on teas, an apron that I had decorated with a beautiful big cup, a table runner that can be used as a table runner or a placemat, two cups, coffee, tea and cookies. I think it is OK.

When I was a little girl, I used to go down town to the library every week to see Mrs. La Budde and get as many books as I could carry to read during that week. The library was located in an old house on the corner of Pine and Buffalo Streets in Sheboygan Falls, right accross from the Franklin House. It is a beautiful old building, a historical landmark, now converted back to a home. I have a lot of nice memories of that library. The Sheboygan Falls Library was originally founded by a ladies group.


Friday is the beginning of the weekend for me. Hope it is for you. Monday we go away for our Mystery Tour.

Mary

I really enjoyed Quilt Guild tonight. We had a pot luck, which is always fun. I made beans and balogna.

This is the simple recipe:

1 Can of Pork and Beans
1 Can of Spicy Chili Beans
1 Can of Black beans
1 Ring Balogna, peeled and sliced into chunks.
A good squeeze of ketsup
1/4 cup finely chopped onion

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

The dessert table was FANTASTIC.

Then we had the business meeting, followed by a slide show of this years Quilt Show. My spinning watersheel quilt was in the pictures, but Shannon must have missed the Spider Web Wall Hanging. Well, you all saw it on this site and I have it hanging in the hall.

I showed the twin sized quilt that I am donating to the Church for the raffle at the Turkey Dinner.

I got home at about 9:00PM which was nice. Sometimes these things hang on.

Tomorrow, we are getting our flu shot. Ugh. I hate that. The first two years I got a very quick, very fleeting reaction to the shot. Since then nothing, but I am still a bit nervous about it. I will NEVER EVER get another pneumonia shot. Last year, I got my first one and my arm swelled up and was sore for a week.

Have a nice tomorrow. It was very pleasant outside when I left the club meeting. I guess it is supposed to be nice for several days before turning cold again.

Enjoy. The leaves are turning color. What a spectacular time of year this is.

Mary

I went over to Becky and Brian's house late this afternoon and picked wild grapes. They have them growing all along the fence between their alfalfa field and the adjoining corn field. I picked somewhere in the range of 12 to 15 pounds so will be able to easily make two gallons of wine. I will have to freeze them at first because all my jugs are "busy" right now.

I got to Becky's before she arrived home from work and as I started down the fence line to the grapes a young collie joined me. I thought she came from across Cty. O but figured that I would just keep an eye on her and bring her back with me. She is young and this is not the first time she has crossed the highway. Her owners are trying to train her to stay in the yard. I hope she learns before she gets hit by a car. I found out that her name is Cloe and that her owners DID come around looking for her.

Brian and Becky have a dog too. Her name is Bailey and she is really a nice girl. They keep her penned while they are at work and are training her with a remote collar which seems to be working.

My friend Janet from way back sent me this impossibly funny e-mail. I REALLY want to share it so here it is.

Subject: warning

I hate it when people forward bogus warnings but this one is real, and
it's very important. So please send this warning to everyone on your
e-mail list:

If people come to your front door saying they are conducting a survey on
deer ticks and ask you to take your clothes off and dance around with
your arms over your head while they inspect for ticks, DO NOT DO IT!
IT'S A SCAM; they only want to see you naked!

I really wish I had gotten this warning yesterday; I feel so stupid now!!!

PS...I didn't have one single tick either time they came!



Hope it made you laugh too.

Mary

It was a busy Monday. I started off with a nice walk with Chelsea as soon as it was light. She actually got me up at about 5:45AM but it was too dark to walk so I took my shower first.

Then Dick went to the dentist. He now has fresh clean teeth and no cavities. I went to Bible Study. We are almost dine with Paul's 2nd letter to the Corinthians. He is still explaining why he is an apostle and why he worked for his keep along with his preaching and all. We branched off into talking about mystics and angels and special gifts from the spirit. I believe in the them. In Paul's age, there seemed to be more of them. I wonder if maybe there are the same amount now but then they were not branded as crazy and also perhaps a lot of those who claimed to be mystics or to see visions or angels THEN were faking.

Lately, the Catholic church is downplaying angels. There was an article in the Catholic Herald that said that the world seems to glom on to the ideas that we throw out. We aren't much interested in angels anymore, but the general public is hopping on to angel belief.

The devastation in Pakistan if awful. So many thousands killed and homeless. I was remembering reading somewhere years ago that it is hard for human beings to get really emotionally involved when thousands and thousands of people are a part of a disaster. If we are focused on one person in a disasterous situation we often get a much bigger outcry from the public. Probably because we can empathize with one but masses of people become numbers and rather unreal.

This afternoon I went to Writer's Club. We had an unusual amount of business. This was my first meeting since I won the Aestival Festival Poetry Contest, so I brought my trophy and certificate. I read a story that I wrote and got some really good feedback. I will do a few revisions and then send it to the contest that I wrote it for.

There was frost on the ground both yesterday and this morning. I got hold of Becky and will pick wild grapes tomorrow. I will have to freeze them for later as ALL of my gallon jugs are being used right now and I only want to make one or two gallons.

If the San Diego Chargers win their game tonight, I will be in second place this week in the Fantasy Footbal League. That would move me up a bit in the overall standings too. Still not in the money but getting close. Go Chargers.

A most important tip....

LADIES- Don't throw out all that leftover wine. Freeze into ice
cubes for future use in casseroles and sauces.

REAL WOMEN- Leftover wine??

Have a nice Tuesday.

Mary

Such a nice Sunday. I went to the 8:00AM Mass. Then visited with Mother for a bit before heading home to fix breakfast, assemble the casserole for dinner and make an infusion from Lemon Balm leaves and stems so that I can make more Lemon Balm Wine when I finally free up some gallon jugs. Currently, I have two batches of Currant Wine and two of Concord Grape so my jugs are quite full and I need to wait until I can bottle. So I am making infusions and freezing fruit and flower petals so that I can make other batches when there are empty jugs available.

Bobbie, Jim and I went shooting this afternoon. My pistol shooting was OK. The first two weren't bad at all but the third was a little off. My elbow started hurting and I lost my steady hand. I only got a 15 on trap but I felt a little off. I need to keep reminding myself at EACH shot to line up the beads and keep AHEAD of the bird.

I talked to Bret tonight. He sounds good. The Santa Ana winds make his sinuses act up but he is far away from fires except for an occasional whisp of smokey air. He is working hard but today enjoyed a little fun at a church festival near his home that his friends Tony and Dee belong to. Their daughter, Emily, is his goddaughter.

And Oh YES! the Packers won big. 52/3 against New Orleans. So it has been a good day.

I have a puzzle. The Catholic church is talking about making a rule against gay men who are celebate and vow to remain so from becoming priests. Now, heterosexual men take a vow of celebacy and become priests all the time. (Well, Duh!) What is the difference. A vow is a vow is a vow.

GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT LIFE THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:
1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.
2) When your Mom is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your
hair.
3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always
catch the second person.
) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food.
6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.
8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandma's lap.


Tomorrow will be busy so I am going to get ready for bed. Have a good Monday.

Mary

I took Mother to Joanne's today. We found her backing for her quilt and some lovely blue fabric for the backing. She also bought a pillow form. She is working on a Hawaiian design square and plans on making a pillow out or that. She never quits. I must ask her if she wants me to sew the backing together. I can't imagine her doing that by hand.

I picked up some thread and some fusable bonding so I can continue on my Christmas Tree Skirt.

Dick and I then took Mother to lunch at Zana's. I made the mistake of mentioning that I had gotten the "Friends don't let friends vote Republican" for both Jim and Bart, our Republicans. Mother got on her political platform and said that she would like one of them to tell her ONE reason why they back Bush. They could, I am sure, they are as determined as she is.

We racked the 2nd fermentation of the Concord Grape wine today. The first racking into the secondary fermentor. The Condord Grape Wines are going to take a great deal of patience. Two years, much like the Two Year Currant. I am thinking that perhaps that is what the Wild Grape wine needed too. More time. I know in Dad's personal wine recipes, if the wine was not up to his or Mother's standards, he would alway add the not - Age longer. Here is a great example. Actually, a wine that I would never try. It must have been around the period where he said of the Bee Balm Wine that if that worked, he would try his old shoes.

LETTUCE WINE

Step 1: Lettuce, campden tablets, 1/2 the sugar (1 1/4 lb), the raisins. Pour one gallon (7 pints boiling) over the itens in the crock. Cool.

Step 2: Add acids, yeast and nutrient. Stir twice a day for 5 days.

Step 3: Add rest of sugar (1 1/4 lb) boiled in 1 pint water. When cooled, fit lock and ferment.

Comment: Not so good. Let age.

Enjoy

Mary

I have a "needy" little Roxie, sitting on my lap purring her heart out and looking at me adoringly.

I had lunch in Plymouth again today. I had a grilled cheese today and it was exceptionally good. Then stopped at Mother's on the way home because I wanted to talk to Jeff. He came to get Mother's yard trimmed down for the winter and to help bring in the plants that she winters in the basement. I have asked him to help me drive Bart and Barb's things down to them. Bart is not well, as I mentioned and Barb has enough on her plate. They are doing a biopsy on the 18th. Please keep praying for a benign test on that.

Tonight, some of us finished decorating the church for Fall. We put the wreaths up and scattered colored leaves in the greens and around the candle holders. Now just before Halloween, we will add Mums and pumpkins and gourds.

I also baked an apple pie today and it really tasted good.

I looked for a simple one and this is it. It is called Wonderful Apple Pie and I found it on allrecipes.com.

* 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
* 1/2 cup flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoons McCormick® Apple Pie Spice
* 1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
* 1 (9 or 10-inch) deep dish pie shell
* 8 cups medium cooking apples, peeled and thinly sliced

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine brown sugar, flour, apple pie spice, and butter. Sprinkle about 1/3 of this mixture over bottom of unbaked pie shell.
2. Put apples in pie shell. Spoon remaining sugar-spice mixture over apples. Place pie on cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

I don't do apple pies often because you have to peel all those apples and I don't enjoy that. I also tasted the Lemon Balm Wine as it is now officially one year old. It is quite good, very light and fruity but not too sweet. I will have to see if I can gather enough leaves between Mother's and my gardens to make a batch this year.

A friend is someone who knows
the song in your heart
and can sing it back to you
when you have forgotten
the words.;

-- Unknown

Mary

This was a shopping day and Dick got his "finger pricked" to test his blood. Sue, the technician , was training another tech and told her that Dick is one of her boring patients. He is always just where he should be. Only once in the last two years or more did he test outside of the perameters.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning the bathroom and transcribing some things that I have been writing in longhand on our trips lately so that I can work on them. I hate writing in longhand anymore but when there is not computer and a thought comes, one does not want to lose it.

I am going to make an apple pie for the weekend.

Mark Twain said "Principles have no force unless one is well fed." Quite astute. Just like I always say. Underfed children do not learn well. To teach the children in our poor areas, we first have to see that they have a good breakfast, follow it up with lunch and see that they do not go to bed with empty tummies.

Tomorrow is FRIDAY ALREADY. Where did the week go?

Mary

Here we are mid week.

Dick and I bottled the Beaujolais today. 25 bottles that will be ready in three months. They say you can drink it right away but we have discovered that the red wines really need to age for that three months to really smooth out. Tomorrow, we can try the Lemon Balm. We just have to remember to chill it.

Tonight, Mother, Dick and I went to dinner at Nino's and then went to the Sheboygan Theatre Co at Horace Mann to see Noises Off. It was a really fast moving farce. Well done. The last act was confusing, but they made it up in the curtain calls which were as good as the play.

George Washington's prayer for America -

"Almighty God; We make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection; that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; and entertain a brotherly affection ! and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large. And finally that Thou wilt most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without a humble imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a happy nation. Grant our supplication, we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Be happy

Mary