Chelsea and I were able to take a nice walk this morning. It was pleasant. The temps in the hight 30s. Tonight it is WINDY and we are getting a rather chilly rain mix. Maybe no walk tomorrow.

Bible Study was stimulating. The readings next Sunday are the Ten Commandmants and the time the Jesus lost his temper and threw the money changers out of the temple. We were very impressed with the beauty of the writing of the Commandments. It is very intersting to know that they are not laid out in the nice order and as concisely as we memorize them in our religious ed classes. They could actually be broken down in to 12 or so and the "covets" are lumped in the passage. But all the major religons and the Old Testament itself ALL speak of the 10 Commandments.

Writers Club was fun. We had an artist Larry Baskey who is a part of a book that was a project with Artists doing paintings to go with a poem. Kind of a reverse of what we did with the existing art at the Milwaukee Art Museum. He was quite inspirational and I think I will persue the idea with him. He has a gallery on Mill Street in Plymouth. I will throw a few poems in in see if I can catch him open some day. He does not keep regular hours.

I called Bart and Barb tonight. They sounded pretty good. Barb had been going through a difficult departmental review which is now over so she can relax about that and Bart actually sounded pretty good. Perhaps he is on a good healing upswing now. They have had hot and dry weather and need rain. They are well below the rains and tornadoes that swung through the heartland over the weekend.

I have been having and writing down memories of the Kohler Strike. One thing that came to mind was the soup kitchen that the union set up for the strikers. It was open all the time, because the strikers picketed 24/7 (as they say now days) and could stop in any time for food. We were impressed as children because you would just walke up to the table and take what you wanted. I remember bologna sandwiches wrapped in waxed paper (no baggies back then) and the fact that we could have soft drinks, as much as we wanted. This was a big treat in our family of nine children where soda was a luxary reserved for very special occasions like family gatherings and Mother's bridge parties. After her parties, IF we were good, we got to finish whatever soda was left.

Times they have changed.

Love

Mary

A pleasant evening with Bobbie and Bill here for dinner. The Schlitzhagen and Rhubarb Pie were good, if I do say myself.

Went to the 8AM Mass. The Trinity Teens were selling Cinnamon Rolls again. They are raising money to be able to go on mission this summer. The Cinnamon Rolls are HUGE and delicious. I always get the 4 for $5 package. We split one this morning with our bacon and eggs and then we each have one for the Monday's breakfast or whatever.

Jim and I went out to shoot pistol this afternoon too. My arm is finally healing. It hardly hurts at all any more. My shooting is improving a bit. At least I am getting all the shots on the target. Now I have to improve my aim again.

This was a nice warm day again. We are getting some more rain late this afternoon and evening. The snow will be all gone soon. Now I looked at the forecast and it is supposed to cool down and possibly snow again on Thursday. Not Fair! I heard the red winged blackbird. That means SPRING.

Have a wonderful St. Patrick's Week

Here is your Joke.

"The Brothel"

Two Irishmen were sitting at a pub having beer and watching the brothel across the street.

They saw a Baptist minister walk into the brothel, and one of them said, "Aye, 'tis a shame to see a man of the cloth goin' bad."

Then they saw a rabbi enter the brothel, and the other Irishman said, "Aye, 'tis a shame to see that the Jews are fallin' victim to temptation as well."

Then they see a catholic priest enter the brothel, and one of the Irishmen said, "What a terrible pity...one of the girls must be dying.


Mary

It was a warm beautiful day today. Chelsea would disagree with me this afternoon when the rain and thunder swept through the county. The rain and the warm temperatures took care of much of the snow. Chelsea and I had a lovely walk this morning and now I know that spring is almost here. I saw a robin, I saw and heard the Red Winged Blackbird who spends his mornings on the corner of Morning Dove Cove AND the ducks are back.

I spent most of the day catching up on computer work. I had to transcribe the minutes for Rhine, get ready for Writer's CLub and several other things that have managed to pile up on my desk. I also baked the rhubarb pie for tomorrow's dinner.

Dick took me out for dinner tonight. We went to the China 8 Buffet in Taylor Heights. Does anybody know what the heck the 8 stands for. They do have a good buffet. People were really piling in that place. They are busy. We were glad that we went early.

It will be nice having Bobbie and Bill here for dinner. As I said the pie is done so I just have the rest of the meal to prepare tomorrow.


"Water to Wine"

An Irish priest is driving down to New York and gets stopped for speeding in Connecticut.

The state trooper smells alcohol on the priest's breath and then sees an empty wine bottle on the floor of the car. He says, "Sir, have you been drinking?"

"Just water," says the priest.

The trooper says, "Then why do I smell wine?"

The priest looks at the bottle and says, "Good Lord! He's done it again!"

***********************************************

Later - I'll give you an Irish joak until St. Patrick's Day. Only a few days now. ARE YOU READY!!!!!
Mary

What a day. It was Beautiful. The temperatures were in the hight 40s and are supposed to be even higher tomorrow.

I went out to Plymouth for lunch with the girls and picked up some fresh eggs on the way. When I got back, Dick and I racked the Gewertiziminer wine from the primary to the carboy. We had bottled the Concord Grape yesterday. We got 12 bottles and about a glass extra which I tried. It is good and will be REALLY good when it gets a chance to mellow and age. Tomorrow we will bottle the Lemon Balm. It makes a nice summer wine. Very light and refreshing.

Tonight was bust up at Rhine. The mac and cheese went over very well. Many used it for an additional side dish. Bobbie and Bill both got trophies in their class. YA! HOO! I won a decorated shovel with a bird house on it. I will probably put it in a garden, though Dick gave me THAT look.

Tomorrow is a quiet day. I don't have any out of house errands. Dick said he would take me out for dinner so I don't have to cook. Bobbie and Bill are coming over for dinner on Sunday. Schlitzhagen and Rhubarb Pie. Want to come? You are welcome. There will be plenty.

Love

Mary

We went grocery shopping today. That is always a production and we enjoyed our breakfast at Zana's. They were exceptionally busy and we ended up with much more food than we could eat. Oh Well, Could have been worse. We could have gotten totally the wrong thing.

I also swung by Joanne's Fabric and got new blades for my rotary cutters and a pillow form for a pillow top that I made on our trip to Kentucky. I ran out of stuff to do and bought a kit at a gift shop in Kentucky. I consisted of EVERYTHING necessary to make the pillow top except batting, thread and the form itself. And all the pieces were cut out and ready to go. The cutting out is always the most tedious part of making a quilt. I actually finished the assembly on the trip and just never got around to finishing it. Then when I took the free form quilting class, I put the top, backing and batting together and did some free arm quilting. It looks pretty good. As it is in pinks, I will put it on the bed in Waylon's room with the two pillows that Eileen made for Grandma Bowser years and years ago. It will blend well with them

Tomorrow is the bust up party at Rhine. Jim will get to go for the first time ever. He always has worked on Friday nights before this. I am making some Mac and Cheese for the Catholics who want to abstain from meat as the main dish is chicken. They will also have beans and cole slaw. The beans may be iffy but I can eat the cole slaw.

Hope your Friday is pleasant. It is raining right now. Temperatures are supposed to go up into the 50s in the next couple of days. God Willing.


Mary

It was already light out when I got up this morning and the temperatures showed 35, so Chelsea and I decided to walk right away. We made it but it was rather iffy. The streets were slick in spots and I had to pick my way around. It's raining out there tonight. If it doesn't get to freezing we should be able to walk tomorrow. Probably when Dick and I get back from shopping though.

Choir got cancelled for this week because of a funeral. I can't say I am too disappointed. Things have been way to hectic lately and an extra night home is a blessing.

I went to quilt guild today. We doll makers from the class last Saturday wanted to share our creations. I finished my little doll this morning. When I get a picture, I will post it for you. The speaker today was from J& J Sewing in Sun Prairie. She collects antique quilts and brought them to share. She had a contract or something with the American Quilter. They feature her antique quilts (one at a time). She and her assistants recreate the quilts and provide kits to make the reproductions. A sweet deal. I must go to that shop one of these days. Sounds like a real treasure. She has about 70 quilts in her collection and showed a goodly number of them along with some of the repros. A nice program.

At the last meeting I attended, they had announced that there would be no quilt show this year. That has changed. The show will be on September 30. They got someone to come forward to chair it. Guess I had better get to work on my challenge block. I have to make three blocks for the Celtic Faire group quilt at church too.

I will share the quote from Cadfael's Book of Days by Robin Whitman today.

"Cadfael was not of the opinion that a man's main business in this world was to save his own soul. There are other ailing souls, as there are ailing bodies, in need of a hoist towards health."

Have a nice Thursday.

Mary

It was still snowing steadily when we woke up this morning. It kept it up until about 11:00 while I was on my way home from Bible Study. They are predicting thick fog from midnight to 9:00AM. I hope that we can see when we get the emission check on the car at 8:00AM. It may get up into the 50s by the weekend.

It was quite a nice bible study. The reading all tied around the story in Genesis about Abraham when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac and then at the last minute "stayed the knife." Something pointed out in the notes what that this was the first and direct command from God not to use human beings for sacrifice to honor him.

We filtered the Lemon Balm Wine today. Tomorrow we will do the second filtering of the Concord Grape. We should get both the grape and the Lemon Balm bottled this week and then we can mix up the wild grapes that I have in the freezer. I have a new recipe that calls for banana. I figure this should mellow it. The first time I made wild grape it was rather harsh. One keeps trying.


Less than two weeks until St. Patrick's Day. Dick and I are going to meet Jeff and Kathy at the Dairy Queen in Plymouth for a steak sandwich and then go listen to Blarney on the 16th. Then on Friday, I will go back to Plymouth for the Irishman's Walk and a nice craic with as many Irish people that I can fine.

Love

Mary

It is snowing again. We have a "couple three" inches out there. It is very fluffy and pretty but it IS March and I hope it clears up and gets warm by St. Patrick's Day. It would be nice to do the Irish Walk in sunshine and kind of warm weather.

I went to the 8AM Mass. Jim and I went shooting and I finally got a decent score on my last target (of course it doesn't count for league) I got a 69. WOW. Good for me.

We watched the Academy Awards tonight. It was a pretty good show. No one movie swept things this year. It seemed to be all over the board.

We did not see many movies this year and saw none of the five nominated best picture nominees, so did not really have an opinion. It is always fun to watch the awards for the stars and the dresses. Of course, some of the "stars" are completely unknown to me.

Have a good week.

Mary

A truly successful evening at the Stephanie Weill Center for the Unity Concert. Several people that I knew stopped me to tell me they liked my song, Beacon of Hope. AND I must tell you that the only standing ovation of the evening, and there were many really talented and wonderful performers was when our combined choirs sang the song You Raise Me Up.

I don't think that I posted the words to the song that I wrote for the Unity Concert. So here they are. If I did. Well - you have them twice.

BEACON OF HOPE


I.

We are all but a shadow in life.
We are cast by the light of the Lord
Made tall by the strength of His love.
As we go out as Jesus commands.
May we reach out our hands to the poor
To the lonely, the sick, the afraid.
To the families and neighbors we know
And to those who are lost in despair.


CHORUS

I'm the kiss of the breeze on your cheek
I'm the choir of avian songs
You can find me in flowering fields
And the gentle soft fingers of dawn

II.

When thunder and lightning surround
I’m beside you to calm all your fears
If the world is a frightening place
I'm the lighthouse that shines through the storm
Jesus taught you that Love is the Way
And by sharing the journey you grow
Heaven is coming safely home
With your hand in the hand of the Lord



A well planned event with local talent that was beautiful. We will probably be a part of it next year.

I also took a Doll Making Class from 10:30 to 2:00 which was fun. I have to finish the doll but have a good start and feel that she is rather nice. I made her a drindl skirt and a vest. She needs hair and finishing.

Enjoy your Sunday. I will. I can stay home except for Mass and I intend to be a bear and hibernate in my cave.

Love


Mary

What a day. It is almost 10:00PM and I just got home from Rhine. It was the last day of league shooting and all the teams had to finish up. They were done by 9:00 but people were having a good time and REALLY hanging around enjoying the company AND the beer. We were kept quite busy restocking the cooler, I tell you.

I did finish my last two pistol targets tonight before the crowds came. It wasn't a very good league for me, my shoulder is very sore and it is really affecting my shooting. I will keep doing the exercises that Dr. Casey told me to do and when I see him next week, perhaps he will have some other suggestions.

I had lunch with the gals in Plymouth today. We missed last week so it was nice to catch up. My new glasses were ready too. Boy do they make a difference. There was a rather big change in my vision since last year.

I also picked up a couple of pair of sox at K Mart, some seasoning for bratwurst at Fleet (I want to try some with venison and pork. Crazy Vic who rabbit hunts with us said that it is very good.) AND stopped at Sun Graphics to ask Mary Kay to give me an estimate on what it would cost to self publish a book of my poems. WHEW.

On the way home I stopped and joined Mother and the others for the opening prayer and rosary at the First Friday Exposition of the Sacrament at Blessed Trinity.

Now, I am tired.

It will be cold tonight but is supposed to warm up by the end of next week.

Have a GREAT weekend.

Love

Mary

Cadfael today said. "All Welsh are kin, even if they slit one another's throats now and then, an manure their sparse and stony fields with fratricidal dead in tribal wars."

Actually applies to all mankind, even if they don't want to admit to it.

It was slippery this morning. There was a sleety rain followed by snow on Wednesday night. Which left some ice. By the time we went grocery shopping, the plows had done the streets and spread ice so it wasn't too bad driving.

Tonight I went to choir. We are practicing for Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter and Beth will be on vacation for two weeks so we have a lot in the next two weeks. I will probably have to practice on my own a bit. Saturday we sing at the big Unity Concert at the Stephanie Weill Center. Dick has decided not to come because it is just too hard for him with open seating and all. He would have to come early and the concert is rather long also. Should be very good. All the talent is local. I understand that they will probably have a sold out theatre.

I remember Bret's 8th Grade Graduation. They had worked for several weeks on a song to sing together about moving on and wonderful things etc. etc. However, the kids did not like it. When it came time for their song, the pianist began her introduction and she played and played and played. Then, underneath the piano, I heard a little murmuring going on. There were at least 30 kids in that class, all "singing" and their total noise was not any louder than the buzz of a bee. I elbowed my ex husband and whispered. "They're singing!" He answered, "They are?" They sang a whole song without the audience hearing one single word.

Afterwards I told their teacher "Great Song" and laughed. He just shook his head and said that next year they would be sure the kids liked the music before scheduling.

Have a nice Friday. Mine is busy.

Mary

Ash Wednesday today. I fasted and did not eat meat. The only difficult thing about fasting is remembering not to snack between meals. I really don't eat much between meals but do like an orange at late morning and often enjoy a few peanuts or a cracker and cheese in late afternoon.

I joined Mary Bainbridge at the sewing basket to choose the fabric for the group quilt that we are going to make for Celtic Fair again. We picked out a really nice batik looking fabric in golds and greens and plumbs and a green for the sashing. I bought a nice plum fat quarter to add to my block.

Tonight I went to services. The choir sang. I remember that when I was a kid, while I was still in public school before St. Mary School was built, we used to get ashes in the morning and proudly wear them to school being very careful not to wash them off all day. The Catholics really stood out. Probably today we would be kicked out of school for "forcing our religion" on everyone.

I walked Mother over to church and back tonight as she doesn't like to walk in the dark AND it was starting to rain. It may freeze by morning. They are predicting freezing rain and snow. Mom's legs are getting a bit weak anyway. I guess after 90 years they have a right.

Now we have 6 weeks until Easter. I always liked Easter. It was fun dying the eggs and just fixing the baskets for the boys. I am glad that I still get to do a bit of it for Dick andJim. Now that I get eggs from the egg farm, I will just dy a few white ones. I found out that if you boil them in tumeric they come out the most beautiful yellow. Yellow, brown and if I save them the green aracana eggs will make a pretty basket.

Tomorrow we shop. Hope the roads aren't too slippery.

Be safe

Remember the Jesus never promised that it would be easy, he only said that it would be worth it.



Mary

The only place that I had to go today was to pick up the Market Day order. Oh and Chelsea and I DID take a walk this morning. It was a good day for a walk. Clear and bright and we were able to go at the best time of day to avoid traffic. I heard a cardinal and a mourning dove today. I have been hearing the cardinal off and on for a week or two. But this is the first mourning dove that I have heard for a couple of months. Do they migrate south in the winter? I never thought about it.

I roasted some veggies for supper tonight. Cauliflower, red onions and red pepper marinated in oil and vinegar. Sure tasted good with chicken and cole slaw. Tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, I will be fasting and eating NO meat. Good thing Dick and Jim don't mind fish or vegetable meals, because in Lent they get them once or twice a week. Tomorrow, fish.

Dick and I bottled 25 bottles of White Zinfindal today. Good thing, the ready to drink wines in our cellar are dwindling fast. It is ready to drink too, which will help. Tomorrow, we will rack the 2 year currant again. I need to get some of the scratch wines bottled so I can finish using the fruit that I froze in Autumn. But as they say, no wine before its time.

Til tomorrow.

Mary

It was a usual Monday. Had Bible Study this morning. We had a nice full table again. We read the passage from Genesis about God's promise to Noah that He would never again flood the entire world. (Katrina did NOT flood the whole world) AND the part about the rainbow being the sign of His covenant to His people. The sign of the promise.

I had heard that story somewhere but some of our people had not. It does give a person a whole new feeling about the beauty of the rainbow.

Tonight the environment committee decorated the church for Lent. That doesn't take too much. We just take all the plants off the altar, change the colors to purple and put some pottery and cactus around here and there. We had a nice crew so the work went well and quickly.

I wrote a poem about the tree and the snow and the night. Here it is to share with you.

Wonderland in White



Crystal white against an obsidian sky
The tree stands - outlined in ivory dignity.
Snow gives the tree short lived beauty.
Cool against an ebony canvas.

Like a jeweled tree in Aladdin's cave
The tree stands - regal
Encased in a silky cocoon of fresh fallen snow
That gently outlines each dormant twig.

Breath softly as the picture imprints on your soul.



I still want spring

Mary

It was a quiet Sunday. Started out very cold. It was 9 degrees on the thermometer. It did warm up to the mid 20s by the time Chelsea and I walked.

I went to the 8AM Mass then visited with Mother until it was time to walk her over to church. She always has someone offer to walk her home but walking over is another story and there is just enough ice out there to make us nervous. People are SO good though to keep an eye on her. She went to the U W Theatre with her friend Helen Murphy to see Frankenstein this afternoon. That lady has a busy schedule, now you know that I come by it honestly.

Since Bobbie felt that spending time with Bill was more important than shooting and THEN to top it off Jim felt that going to meet a lady in Waukesha was more important than shooting, I decided to take a Sunday off also. I only have two more targets to shoot to complete league anyway and will be working next Friday so can finish up then.

This meant that I had an afternoon to more or less goof off. I sorted things on the desk and did some sewing. Tonight I watched the Dancing With the Stars Finale and was pleased with the winner. The last time, I felt that John O Hurley should have gotten it. I do enjoy that show which is odd because I don't much care for the reality shows and such. I hope they do it again next year but not before. It is especially good because it is not overdone.

I can't believe that Ash Wednesday is here this week. We will be decorating for Lent
tomorrow night. Should have a pretty good crew and there is less to do than with most of the decorating because simplicity is the name of the game.

Have a special week. Spring gets closer every day.

Love

Mary

Such a pleasant Wild Game Dinner and Beer Tasting Contest. Number 28 is behind us. Becky, Randy's oldest daughter, won the beer tasting contest. The Aunts and Uncles who participate are really becoming nervious. This is the third year IN A ROW that that generation has wiped them out. Has their time passed? Their day in the sun sunk below the horizon? They are vowing to come back next year. We will see.

Almost all the attendees participated in the contest, which left me and Stacy, Todd's wife, to do all the pouring etc. Dick helped us do the scoring.

The food, as always, was delicious, we had my stew, Mom's rabbit, Donna's pheasant and rice, Kathy's Brunswick soup and lots of great side dishes, including beans, 7 layer salad and, of course, Eileen's potato casserole.

A nice day. I am so glad that Becky won. She has beent rying for five years now and (my own selfish reason) SHE AND BRIAN DON'T ALLOW SMOKING IN THEIR HOUSE EITHER.

I saw in the news the other day that Queen Mary II sailed by Queen Mary I, which is permanently docked in the Long Beach Harbor and is a hotel and tourist attraction. Did I ever tell you that I spent a night on the Queen Mary I as part of a seminar. I stayed in one of the cabins and we had our meetings in various halls around the ship. I remember eating at a restaurant down the road from the ship and drinking the very best coffee that I have ever tasted. Don't have any idea what it was but that memory lingers on.

Love

Mary

I finished the baby quilt for the At Risk Babies at Children's Hospital. That is a big cause of the Sheboygan Quilt Guild. Our members make and deliver usually about 200 quilts to the hospital to be given to EVERY baby that goes through the care there. We have also been asked to make little pads for the premies. I haven't done that but feel good making a quilt each year for some little munchkin. I would have treasured such a thing when my Tony was in the hospital during his few months. I treasure his memories anyway. One of my friends who still lives is California told me that she occasionally drives past the graveyard where he is buried and thinks of him. It gives me comfort to know that someone remembers him.

Tomorrow is the 28th Annual Deeley Family Wild Game Dinner and Beer Tasting Contest. WOW. That is really a mouthful. I made my stew today and does it smell good. Tomorrow I will make a loaf of Irish Brown Bread so it will be warm when we take it over there.

We sent a card off to our Sara today. I know it will be late and as Leslie reads this, tell Sara OOPS. We are thinking of her and tell her I still remember going to the hospital when she was born and finding out that Grandma's can go in any time. She was a beautiful baby and is a beautiful girl. I can't believe that she is 19 already.

Tomorrow is SATURDAY ALREADY!!!

Enjoy your weekend.

Mary

Whew - Busy AGAIN. Dick and I went shopping this morning. We had our usual breakfast at Zana's and were able to congradulate Ralph Schneider, our incumbant town supervisor friend on his win in the primary. Now his real work begins as the "real" election is in April.

Went crazy at the store. They had a lot of specials and we needed quite a bit on top of that.

This afternoon, I went out with other volunteers to help the residents at Rocky Knoll play bingo. We play about an hour and a half and help the residents that cannot recognize or just mix up their numbers play. I always enjoy that and the visits with the other volunteers.

Then tonight was choir. We will be singing on Ash Wednesday, Next Wednesday. And we will sing at that concert at the Wiell center on the 4th.

I am going to make Brown Bread for the Wild Game Dinner to go along with the stew. I am hungry for Brown Bread anyway. Did I ever give you thiat recipe. I probably did, but here it is again. Remember my Irish friend, Alice,l says that the trick is to aeriate the flour by tossign it with your hand before you add the buttermilk.

IRISH BROWN BREAD
2 cups wheat flour
2 cups white flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tbs.. white sugar
2 tbs.. brown sugar
2 cups buttermilk (in a pinch you can sour milk by putting a tsp. of lemon juice or vinegar in it and letting it set for a bit but buttermilk is best.)
Sieve the dry ingredients into a large bow. Scoop up handfuls of the dry ingredients and allow to drop back into the bowl to aerate the mixture. (Very Important!)
Add enough buttermilk to make a soft dough. Work quickly as the buttermilk and soda are working. Knead the dough lightly. Keep flouring hand to keep dough from sticking. Too much kneading will toughen, too little it won’t rise.
Form a round loaf about as thick as your fist. Place on a lightly floured baking sheet or stone and cut a cross across the top with a floured knife.
Bake at the top of a preheated oven. 450 Degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. The loaf will sound hollow when rapped on the bottom. Wrap immediately in a clean tea towel to stop the crust from hardening.

My mouth is watering.

Mary

The Senior Saints function was a great success. I anticipated that we would have maybe 30 people attending so was really pleased that we had over 40 of our seniors there. As I said, we joined the school kids for Mass, then enjoyed some cookies, punch and coffee and then the Golden Chordaliers sang for us. It was a wonderful concert. Some of the attendees said that hey miss Sr. Marcia's programs, so I will have to be sure to do something at least every two months or so. Time to start thinking of the next one.

I had a nice visit with Mother too. She fed me lunch after I set things up at Church. I showed her the pictures that Andrew, Brit's friend, sent to me. One of them, the one of Mother and all of her children, fit perfectly in a ceramic Irish frame that the Thomas's (old friends of the family) gave to Mother at her birthday party. I also picked up the venison roast that we had left in her freezer for the wild game dinner, which is Saturday. Friday I will make the stew for the dinner. It only took me 64 years, but I finally have a good stew recipe. I am willing to share if you are interested.

Mother also gave me a copy of an typed pledge sheet dated Oce. 19, 1895. It listes lots of people that pledged money for the purpose of building the original St. Mary's Church in Sheboygan Falls. My Grandpa Deeley, Dad's father, pledged $100.00 which must have been a fortune to him, a foreman in the Woolen Mill. We were commenting that most of the names on that list are no longer an entity in Sheboygan Falls, but many of them were pillars of the community. Some of the names are totally unknown to me.

I don't know how many of you I sent this on to in e-mail, but it is worth repeating. I got it from a friend and really got a kick out of it.

FORWARDED IN THE NAME
OF PATRIOTISM

We all know that it is a sin for an Islamic male to
see any woman other than his wife naked, and that he
must commit suicide if he does.


So next Sunday at 4:00 PM Eastern time, all American
women are asked to walk out of their house completely
naked to help weed out any neighborhood terrorists.

Circling your block for one hour is recommended for
this antiterrorist effort. All men are to position
themselves in lawn chairs in front of their house to
prove they are not terr orists, and to demonstrate that
they think it's okay to see nude women other than
their wife and to show support for all American women.



And since the Koran also does not approve of alcohol,
a cold six-pack at your side is further proof of your
anti -terrorist sentiment.

The American Government appreciates your efforts to
root out terrorists and applauds your participation in
this anti -terrorist activity.
God bless America
and
GOD BLESS AMERICAN WOMEN!


IT IS YOUR PATRIOTIC DUTY TO PASS THIS ON


Bye Bye

Mary

I have new glasses on order. I could tell that my left eye had changed quite a bit since last year. Dr. Cheryl said that they can correct to 20/20 so it is nothing to be concerned about as my eyes otherwise are very healthy. I was able to use a previous frame, so kept the cost down quite a bit.

I saw Dr. Casey, the chiropractor, this afternoon. I am having trouble with pain in my right shoulder. He adjusted my shoulder and back and gave me some exercises that should help strengthen the muscles around the rotator cup. I sure hope so because it HURTS.

Chelsea and I had a nice walk today. It was sunny and about 28 degrees with no wind to speak of. She acts like a young pup on those walks and then spends most of the rest of the day sleeping.

Tomorrow, there is a program for the Senior Saints at Blessed Trinity Church. I arranged it as I am supposed to be the Senior Saints Coordinator. We will join the St. Mary School kids for Mass at 1:00 and the Golden Chordaliers, a group of seniors that sing in four part harmony, will entertain us after we have refreshments. One never knows how much stuff to get. I ordered 6 dozen cookies (figuring that the singers might like some too). I expect there will be about 30 participants. About 15 have signed up. Hope it goes well. I have decided that perhaps I will put out a quarterly newsletter for the seniors. Or perhaps include a column in the Angelus, our parish newsletter. I really feel that my main function is to keep the seniors at Blessed Trinity apprised of information as to where to find help for physical, social and spritual needs. Everything is really in place but so many people are not aware of it.



The above is a picture of a gray crowned crane that I took at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo. I loved his expression and thought it would brighten up your winter. I recommend the Crane Foundation to EVERYBODY. You can view it online at www.savingcranes.org.

later

Mary

Chelsea and I got our first walk in three days this afternoon. Was she ever a happy girl. Me too actually. It was in the mid 20s with nice sunshine and very little breeze so we did just fine.

The only out of house event except for the walk was Bible Study this morning. We had a quite lively discussion about the state of the world and people holding grudges and not trusting each other. We had pretty full crew today. There are 10 of us in the group.

Tomorrow, I will have my eyes tested. Dick drives me, of course. Not clever to try to drive with one's eyes dilated.

I have decided to put together a book of my poetry. I think I have enough how and can incorporate some pictures that I have in my pictures on the computer. I have until October (It is good for me to have deadlines) because then I can bring some to the Celtic Women's conference . Perhaps I can get it done for Celtic Faire, another good way to get it marketed.

Here is another quick little spring poem that I did recently.

CYCLE

Robins grow fat
On poor old worms
That squirm up out of the earth
To avoid drowning
In the fresh spring rain.

As you can see Spring is on my mind.

Love

Mary

It was much warmer today. It got all the way up to 12 degrees above zero. Do you hear the sarcasm? It started out at -1 so we were rather pleased with the 12 and sun.

I had to work at Rhine this afternoon. We did not send many squads out, but the time went fast. There was quite a bit of activity for the few people that shot. There were several that went down to shoot pistol, including Jim and me. Not too bad. The middle one was not good but at least this week I got all ten on all three targets. There was food left from our hosting of the Sheboygan County Conservation Association on Wednesday last week. So we served hot tamales, chips, cheese and crackers free to anyone who wanted it. I didn't do much but snack on cheese and crackers because Dick took Jim and I out for dinner tonight. We went to El Camino on Michigan.

I need to gather up the information that I have on the Uelman, my Grandma Matie Bowser, family. I told you someone called Aaron Laatsch called me. He is my Great Granfather Peter Uelman's brother John's great great grandson. One very interesting comment on my great grandfather. He was working in a lumber mill in Peshtigo and survived the big fire.

Have a good week.

Mary

The snow has stopped and it is now dangerously cold outside. It never got above 0 degrees today. When we got up, it was 16 below. We haven't seen temps like that in a couple of years. Fortunately, it is supposed to warm up tomorrow and for the next few days.

So we all stayed home today and just puttered around the house. I finished cleaning some cupboards, ironed a bit and am really caught up on computer stuff. It was very peaceful.

Tomorrow, the choir is singing, so I go to mass at 10:30AM, then right out to Rhine to work the shift out there. I will bring my pistol. If it is quiet, I will shoot. Dick said he would take us out for dinner, since I will be busy all day.

I was looking at the song book that I put together for the Deeleys when we used to have sing a longs on St. Patrick's Day, planned by Dad. He had me put some really old, hard to find and hard to remember songs in this book. I found one called Old Sing Sing tonight but can't find Old Herring. The words go this way:

When I'm cleaning old herring.
I'm dreaming of you
When I cut off their heads
And their little tails too
And the smell from the kitchen
Each day stronger grew
When I'm cleaning old herring
I'm dreaming of you.

Later

Mary

We have SNOW. And we actually heard THUNDER this morning. Poor Chelsea did not believe her ears. Jim has plowed us out twice already. The library closed (finally) at 1:30. He struggled to get home. Then the car got stuck in the driveway so had to plow before he could even get it in the garage.

Dick and I did get to see Sue at the Clinic to get his blood tested at 8:30. The test was perfect, as always. Sue is amazed. He has been within bounds for a year now, which is unheard of. She thinks that he should write a book for the others who have this condition.

Anyway, we got home just before the skies really started dumping the white stuff. I changed my eye exam to next week and choir was cancelled, so I got to stay home all the rest of the day. Boy, did we get a lot done.

I called Mom tonight and she was warm and safe also. She said that she had not seen a soul all day but had talked to several people.

I will post a picture that I took several weeks ago of the tree outside my garage door. I love the way it turned out.




Tomorrow Sheboygan County should be able to begin moving again.

Love

Mary

It is just starting to snow a little bit. I saw the flurries when I took Chelsea out for her last "visit" of the night. We are supposed to get 4 to 10 inches between now and Friday morning and then the temperature will drop into single digets. So - Winter is not through with us yet.

Dick decided that we should shop today because of the possible storm and the fact that we have enough to do anyway with doctor visits tomorrow. That meant that my whole day that was supposed to be at home got broken up, so I didn't get to do all that I wanted too. It was OK though. Chelsea and I had a really good walk just before lunch. If this storm is really bad, it may be a couple of days til we get another one.

I tried free arm quilting on the baby quilt for the Guild and ended up ripping it all out. I was not happy with it. I will try another pattern tomorrow and see if I like that. I also cut the final fabric for the final border of the quilt that I have been working on totally by hand while we travel. Then I just have to sandwich it and get it on the rack. I will quilt it by hand also. The cats will love that, they seem to think the quilt is a hammock for them.

Talked to Bret tonight. He is fine. He an friends are going out to the river this weekend for the long Presidents Day holidy. They will boat and jeep, all right around the park where he rents the space for his trailer.

Have a nice Thursday and stay warm.

Mary

I got to stay home ALL day again today. I did sewing and computer catchup and desk clearing. It was great. It was quite warm today, so Chelsea and I had a good walk. She also got a bath this morning and is just beautiful. She actually glows in the sunlight again.

Jim is adjusting to his new job. He liked today better because he had stuff to actually DO, though it is cutting in to the time that Mary has to train him. The hardest thing for him so far is changing to a day person.

I was supposed to be able to stay home all day tomorrow too but Dick wants to grocery shop because Thursday is turning out a bit busy with two medical appointments. He gets his finger pricked and I have my eyes checked.

A cricket has moved into our office. He is between the desks somewhere. Dick will insist on spraying bug spray soon. I hate that because it smells so bad and I don't like poisons especially where the critters hang out. He will probably want it sprayed just before we go to bed so we can shut the door. I think there is already one dead cricket body back there. We can't figure out how they get in here and they always go to the same spot.

I am watching the second and last half of the Westminster Kennel Club show. I do like that. It is such fun seeing all the dogs and hearing about the different breeds. My friend Janet Thomas is a former breeder of Alaskan Malamutes and still works the dog circuit as a handler. She says that this show does not involve quite as much competition as the shows she works but that it is fun to watch.



Til tomorrow.

Mary

A busy Monday, as they usually are. Bible study was lively. We were discussing the paralized man whose friends dropped him through the roof for Jesus to heal as the crowds were so thick that they couldn't get through. Shows a lot of faith and a man who had some pretty good friends. Not a bad combination.

This afternoon was the Sheboygan County Writers Club. We read our February poems and Valentine stories and those of us who went to Milwaukee read our poems that we wrote about the pieces of art that we saw. I read four pieces today. I will actually print one here that I did NOT read at the meeting but I need to be thinking of spring as we got another dusting of snow today and it was COLD. More snow is on the way I hear. So lets dream of spring.

CYCLE

Robins grow fat
On poor old worms
That squirm up out of the earth
To avoid drowning
In the fresh spring rain.

Tomorrow I get to be home all day. I intend to begin assembling the baby quilt. Dick and I will have to do the next step on the Luna Bianca wine also. I did finish and free arm quilt a pillow top. I will put the picture on so that you can see it.




Have a happy Tuesday

Mary

I always stop at Mother's after Mass on Sunday mornings. Today my brother Matthew would have been 52 years old. He died in 1972 at the impossibly young age of 17. He left behind him boxes of poems that he wrote from 1968 until the day he died in 1972.

Mother mentioned the date and we both said "Matt's birthday". He used to say (when he was very young) that it was Lincoln's birthday too.

Mother and I enjoyed a happy remembering.

Matt was odd. There was no question of that. Even in grade school, he found it difficult to sit through a whole entire class at his desk. By the tome he reached high school he often would just get up and leave. He was never mouthy, or flip. He would just leave. Finally Les Vanderpan, the vice principal called Mother to school and told her that they just couldn't have that. Mother understood, but took Matt home. The following year he went back to try again. He told Mom he wanted join a commune. She said that he had to finish high school and gain 20 lbs.

He was impossibly thin and he experienced headaches that were excruciating. The day he died he was scheduled for more tests and brain scans to see if they could isolate the cause of the headaches. He told my sister Nora that this time they were going to find out what was wrong with him.

Matt hated sports and gym and all of that type of activity and actually petitioned the school system to make gym a non requirement as he felt that it was beneath his dignity. He lost, but he tried.

One of his teachers wrote a forward to a book of his poems that was published with money raised by his friends who put on a benefit concert for that purpost. The book is called Castle Mount. A teacher of his from high school, Larry Lashway wrote the forward. Here is a quote form that forward. "What can you say about a 17-year-old poet who dies? Nothing that the poet himself can't say better."

Here is one of Matt's poems. He seldom used capital letters always referring to himself with a small "i".

BELLADONNA

i'm in the wrong place
this isn't my ocean or my beach

now how can i get off it
without knowing how i got here

so many many people
telling me to smile

how's a smile goona help me anyway?
this is no laughing matter

someone had better stop me
before i get born again

(now is the time
to get the church bells tolling)

if we stay here any longer
god may spear us like fish

but the thought doesn't frighten me
because i haven't enough mind left

to feel fear with...
but at least i warned YOU

anyway you look at it
it has to end soon

before the cosmic shadow
kicks us out of this alley

think about that
while i hold my breath and turn blue

i'm in the wrong place
this isn't my ocean or my beach

Mom and I had the nicest hour sharing memories about our Matt. A smiling happy remembering. He was a beautiful child blond, fair and big eyed. And he dove into life full of wonder and excitement. I miss you Matt but as the priest said at your funeral. Maybe God took you home so young because you would not have survived in the world outside outside of your safe nest of home.



Mary


Mary

The pictures have been downloaded, so I will put two on the site today.

The first is a picture of Mother looking simply gorgeous in her home just before we left for the Villager and the second is the seven of us with her during the party.





As some of you may not know all of us. In the back row from left to right. My, George, Nora, Dolores and Eileen. And in the front row, Jeff, Mother and Randy.




It sure was a great party. Those memories will keep Mother warm all the rest of winter.

I talked to Bart today. He is still in some pain but Barbara was able to go back to work yesterday and she would not leave him alone if he was not better. He was SO excited to hear about Jim's new position. That perked him up a lot.

Sunday should be quiet. Just church and shooting. Hope yours is quiet too.

Love
Mary

Still didn't get those pictures downloaded. But I had a great day. There was snow on the ground when I woke up this morning. Not a lot, just a dusting. It was not all that warm today, but a lot of it melted off anyway.

Went to the Sewing Basket for a second free arm quilting class called Beyond Basics. I learned a lot. We went into more complicated patterns and combining methods. I also got more fabric for the banner that I want to do for Celtic Mass and Fair this year (if I get it done.) If not this year, it will be ready for next year I am sure. Actually, now that I have it in my head, I probably will get it done.

When I was in Plymouth, I remembered a story that Aunt Helen told me about herself and her job in the canning factory in Plymouth. She worked in the office and traveled on the electric car from Sheboygan Falls to Plymouth every day for her job. She was very young and very pretty with her red hair and her dresses, quite short as was the fashion of that flapper era. She said that after a while she noticed that when she walked into the factory area with messages or to pick something up, all the machines stopped until she left. Then one day, she noticed a sign on the door which said "Turn off machines when Helen comes into the shop." Apparantly there were too many missed cans and labels because they guys all watched the cute broad.

Tomorrow I get to stay home ALL day. We are going to filter some wine. We really need to get some on the shelves. It is fun to have a variety to share and give away.

Love

Mary

I talked to Bart today. He is home. He is in a lot of pain but said he is improving a bit each day. They did keep him a day extra because he had some blood in his stools, but it is decreasing. I found out that they do not like to keep the patients too long at the VA because it is overcrowded and there is a concern that surgery patients can contract infections in their incisions. Anyway he is home and healing. Please keep him in your prayers.

Good news on another front. Most of you know already that Jim got the IT position at Mead Library. They are separating it from the original proposal of a combination IT/Business Manager positon so now it is JUST what he wanted to begin with. He will start almost immediately and he will remain a backup for the cleaning crew. Yea Jim. Go! Go! Go!

We shopped today too. This shopping ONCE a week is saving us lots of money. I know that every time a person goes in a grocery store he buys more than he needs. We are much more careful and have to buy for the week so there is less waste. I bought some strawberries and sliced them with vanilla ice cream for dinner.


I am going to download the pictures from Mom's birthday (finally) tomorrow and will have a picture or two for you then. In the meantime, I received this from a friend with the caption: Redneck Cat Carrier.




The cat looks like our Big Oscar. And the Busch Beer reminds me of my friend, Kirby. Kirby was a strange man, but I loved him dearly. When Bart and I were getting ready to drive alone to Minnesota from California when we came east, it was Kirby who said that he would not let us go until he checked out and serviced the car so we would be safe. He is gone now and I know that God has a special place in heaven for him. I'll tell you more about him sometime.

Enjoy

Mary

It is very late. For me at least. Dick and I took Mother to the Sheboygan Theatre presentation of The Odd Couple after dinner at the Villager. I asked for a container for my leftovers and then forgot it. There goes tomorrow's lunch.

The Odd Couple was done exceptionally well. They actually did both the male and the female versions on opposite nights. Our regular night had the male version. I was just as glad as I had seen the female version on stage before but never the male.

Mother and I were talking during the intermissions and I mentioned that I had told you all about my Grandfather's sisters, my great Aunts Jo, Gee, Lenore and Claire. She reminded me that there was one other. I don't remember meeting her at all but must have sometime in my life. This was the oldest of the girls Aunt Mae (Mary Elizabeth). Aunt Mae Bowser married Michael O' Connor. One of her children, Eileen married Johnny Bill Shea. They were the parents of Michael Shea, my cousin who is the Redemptorist in Thailand who started Sarnelli House.

Eileen was a (as Fr. Howard Johnson who worked with her at Kettle Morraine, Pistol.) She was also a beautiful woman. I only remember her from a family gathering or two when I was very young. She had black hair and was very pretty with a somewhat Spanish look about her. After Michael O'Connor died, Aunt Mae moved in with Eileen and Johnny Bill. Fr. Mike always said that it was a good thing. He said every home needs a Grandma in it. When Mom's get really angry with their children, the Grandmas say "Oh, it's not so bad. They are only babies." And chidren survive childhood. He carried this through in his children homes in Thailand. He always has a Grandma in each house to be the "doter". I don't know if Doter is a word but I thing you know what I mean. Grandmas always calm down Mothers who expect the world and all from these little innocents.

Tomorrow is THURSDAY already.

Later

Mary

Gathered information and took it to my friend Mark Mueller for taxes. Used to do it myself, but things are a bit too complicated now. I figure it is better to have an expert prepare them.

Chelsea and I had a cold walk today. The wind we had yesterday has died down so it wasn't too bad. I read that there are Santa Ana winds and fires in southern California, specifically Orange County. While I live there we had a year like that. The ash and smoke hover all over everything. We were quite far away from the fires but still smelled the smoke and all.

The beer can chicken was so good. You know that you are always welcome. When the kids were little and all during much of my life in California, I never knew who might be staying for dinner. My ex worked on peoples vehicles in our garage evenings and weekends. If people were there, they just stayed. I am sure that would drive Dick crazy, but it never bothered me, probably because of growing up in the family that I grew up in. There were so many of us, of course, and if friends were over they were usually just invited to sit down with us.

I remember a funny incident. It was after the normal work day and my friend Janet Winchester had stopped by. We were talking at the front door when a car pulled up in front. A man, Don Bernika, came up to the door carrying some clothes in his arms and asked where he could change. I directed him down the hall to the bedrooms while Janet watched in amazement. When he got out of hearing she asked if men were always changing in my bedroom. At that point, I realized that Janet had not met Don. He was having his jeep worked on by my ex husband, Dick J. and arrived at the house before Dick J. got home from work.

Have a nice Wednesday.

Love

Mary

Told you it would be a busy day and it was. Started with a phone call to the VA Hospital in Oklahoma. I got to talk to Bart. He was tired and sore. They waited until this afternoon and decided that an operation was indeed needed. The surgery is over, he is back in his room. I have not been able to talk to him, as he is in some pain and I was home at odd times also. Barb and I talked this evening. She said that if he is able to hold food down and they have the pain under control he can go home tomorrow. Awfully quick, but I know he will rest better there. The doctors told Barb that everything went well. Now we need to pray for a quick recovery.

Bible Study was fun, as always. We had a nice group as Tom and Kathy are back from Texas. Usually they stay until April but because Tom needs some medical treatments, had to come back early. Please remember Tom in your prayers, Kathy too as this has been a rather difficult year for them. Kind of odd readings. A lot about leprosy. We are wondering if Molakai, the Hawaiian Leper colony is still operating. I must remember to check.

Then I went to Plymouth to a class on free arm quilting. I hope it sticks this time. I am going to try to stipple a pillow top that I have assembled. Friday I am taking another class called Beyond Basics. It looks like there will only be two of us in the class. So I can ask ALL the questions that I want.

Tonight was the meeting at Rhine. It went on about 1/2 hour longer than necessary. These men don't know how to keep a meeting on track and have a tendancy to ramble.

Tomorrow is much quieter. I am fixing beer can chicken tomorrow for supper. Jim is home this week so I can do that. It is too much for just the two of us. I try to think of things that are not so much food during the week.

Have a great Tuesday

Mary

Just finished watching Super Bowl. It is fun watching a game that you don't have a high stake in. We weren't even in any pools and frankly I didn't care who won. It was exciting anyway.

Also. Just got a call from Barb. I had tried to call earlier and gotten their answering service which did not give me a personalized message and confused me. When Barb called, I thought that she had picked up my jumbled message. She hadn't. She was calling me as she was driving back from the VA Hospital in Oklahoma City. Bart is there with an appendicitis attack. They are hoping, as only the tip of the appendix, that the infection will subside and they will not have to do surgery. We will have to pray. I will call him tomorrow and report tomorrow night.

Just an additional note on the French Pastries. I had not made them in years and they are still as delicious as I remembered but also MUCH messier. You can also make six instead of four or there is too much pudding and cream left over.

Dick's chili was a triumph again. We had it with garlic bread, chopped onion and grated cheese. Plenty left for a couple more meals.

Tomorrow is going to be run run run all day. Bible study, quilt class and Rhine Plymouth all in one day. How come everything always comes "to onest". I like that expression even if it is silly.

Alittle short poem- another Cin Quain.

Daffodils

Daffodils
Gilded trumpets
Swaying smiling shouting
First to herald the coming birth
Of SPRING.

We can hope and have that to look forward to. Actually, with all the warm weather we have had, the bulbs are already stirring. I see green on tulips and the day lilies. I really don't know what will happen if we get the cold and snow that will probably be with us durning the next two to three months. It is, after all, only the beginning of February. Snow has been recorded in Wisconsin as late as early May. There is an old adage that one should not plant a garden before Memorial Day to be sure that there is no danger of frost.

Love

Pray for my boy

Mary

What a day. I went to see Dr. Casey for another adjustment on my arm and shoulder. They have been aching for some time and I aggrevated it while out hunting rabbit last Sunday. Guns get pretty heavy after about three hours. He did a LOT of adjusting. I will keep putting cold on it and see if it eases up.

Dick has a cold. His throat has been sore and he started dripping today. These are the same symptoms that I had so we can hope that he heals as quickly as I did.

He did get the tree all down today. I cleaned a couple of cupboards. Because he was sick, we decided late this afternoon not to go to the Symphony, so I hurried up and went to Mass tonight so that I could join the choir. I knew that, at least, two altos had to work and would not be there. We sounded pretty good after all. I was also able to give the Symphony tickets to our friends Gary and Judy Henderson, who used to have season tickets, but did not buy them this year. They did not have plans so were glad of the opportunity.

I took Mom a piece of quiche and she gave us some peach pie. A good trade. The barter system still works. Tomorrow we will have Dick's Chili for Super Bowl Sunday. I think I will make French Pastry for dessert. Very easy dessert but very elegant looking.

French Pastry

Chocolate Instant Pudding
Graham Crackers
Whipped Cream

Make the pudding and whip the cream.

Place four graham crackers halves on a tray. Spread a tablespoon or so of pudding on each half cracker. Place another half cracker on top of the pudding. Repeat for four (I think) layers finishing with a cracker. Spread whipped cream over each stack sealing the stack. Let sit for several hours. Then the crackers are soft enough to cut. Cut in half and serve. Look pretty and tastes great. Makes 8 servings.


Here is a sample of a type of poetry that I learned about at the last writer's club meeting called a Cin Quain.

Puppy
Chubby Happy
Yipping Jumping Licking
Goofy little ball of slopper
Cuddly


Fun to play with.

Love

Mary

ee

Dick made chili today. We will be feasting with a proper meal on Super Bowl Sunday. I fixed an impossible spinach quiche for supper today and it was really good. I had some fresh spinach and a nice mixture of cheeses.

Today, I went to Plymouth to have lunch with the Wells Retirees. I had a grilled cheese. The Dairy Queen in Plymouth has what they call Sheboygan County Fair Grilled Cheese and they are GOOD. I ran into Peg and Stan Payne there today. They are Irish friends. I usually lunch with them on St. Patrick's Day at the Stafford after the Irishman's Walk. Peg said she MAY not walk, but that they are planning on being at the Stafford for lunch and the music.

Chelsea and I had a lovely walk today. It rained off and on today but was dry when we went out. I stopped at Blessed Trinity on the way home for the opening prayers of the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. I did not stay for the whole rosary, because, as I told Deacon Bill Jens, I say my rosary when Chelsea and I go for our walk in the morning. She is quite a holy dog you know.


Mary

Got my hair cut today. Also had choir. Aside from that we stayed home. Chelsea and I had a nice walk this morning. When she had me taking her outside the fourth time this morning, I decided it was time to walk her. She really gets restless when she doesn't get those walks. It is best for me to do it too. My legs stay more limber.

I stopped and visited with Mother before choir practice. We got into talking about news items. She can't stand Bush and was, of course, not impressed by his speech. But one thing that we talked about was this business of the rights of illegal immigrants. I feel that illegal immigrants don't have rights in the sense of getting licenses, buying property or getting an education. Illegal should mean something. That is why we have visas and work permits and, for those who wish and qualify, citizenship. It is a no brainer. Illegal means not belonging here. PERIOD.

Have a good day.

Later


Mary

A cloudy gloomy day today. Dick and I did our grocery shopping today rather than tomorrow, I am not exactly sure why. Then we went over to Discovery World to pay for the day trips for the next year. We are not sure about a long trip at this point as most of them require lots of walking and Dick really does not want that.

I sewed ears on the kitten that I am appliqueing for a quilt. If the kitten is half as cute as the cocker spaniel, the quilt should be adorable. I will have to find a nice home for it.

When Dick and I went to lunch at The Other Place, Mother recalled that at the end of World War II she remembered her brothers coming home from the war and the big party at what was then Fitz's. She could envision her brother, my uncle Noel, dancing around the bar singing "Kiss me once and kiss me twice and kiss me once again." as he kissed every girl in the place. Uncle Noel was a handsome guy. Tall and good looking with black curly hair. I could get a picture of that night from her description and loved the smile on her face.

Mary

My cold is no worse. I took a night time decongestant last night and a day time decongestant this morning. I am also taking vitamin C and gargeling with salt water and actually, I am doing very well.

Four members of the Writer's Club, Jane Kocmoud, Barb Harwood, Rosemary Eigenberger and myself all went to the Milwaukee Art Museum to look at the works of art in their permanent collection to write poems about in their annual The Art of Poetry/ The Poetry of Art Contest. I entered last year. I did not win but it was fun.

This year I have narrowed the art pieces down to five that I saw and liked. They are quite diverse. One is by a Haitian Artist Laurent Casiman called the Crowded Market. The second is also by a Haitian Artist Hector Hyppolite called St. Francis and the Christ Child. The third is by George Inness called Sunset in Georgia. The forth is by Gerhard Richter and is called Breath. The last is by Francisco De Zurbaran called St. Francis of Assisi in His Tomb. You can view the de Zurbaran, under Early European Art and the Richter, under Contemporary art on the Milwaukee art Museum page at mam.org. I have to limit it to three, so we will see which inspire me now that I have time to think about it.

We had the nicest lunch in the Cafe at the Museum. I had a cup of chicken pot pie soup and a half of a club sandwich.

Tomorrow will be a lot less exciting.

Love

Mary

I have a cold. I am fighting it as best as I can because I had bible study and finishing getting the pointsettias off the altar this morning and tomorrow will go to the Milwaukee Art Museum on a field trip with the Writers Club. We are leaving at about 9:00AM and should be back by 4:00 so that I can pick up Market day.

We are going to MAM to pick out the pictures that we want to write poems about for their annual contest. Last year I picked picures of the works of art off of the computer. Should be much better to see them in person then be able to write the poems.

Jeff was telling stories about Dad yesterday. One was really funny. At one point, the DNR said that people could no longer go into the woods and harvest their own Christmas trees. Makes sense actually, but Dad felt that they were taking his rights away. He kept saying that that was public land and belonged to him and so therefore he was going to get his tree. So. He told Jeff that he had to come with him. So, they tromped into the woods out near the Bowser homstead until he found a tree he liked. He make Jeff cut it down and they cut a piece off the top as big as he wanted the Christmas tree to be. Then they started out of the woods. Dad, hobbling along on his cane, would go to the first ridge and look around and then wave Jeff, dragging the tree along to catch up. Then they went on to the next one. They made it and did not get caught, but Jeff was torn between obeying Dad and terror at getting caught. That seemed to satisfy him as he never did it again. He was a stubborn old man all right.

Mary

Rainy warm day. I went hunting as I mentioned that I would. We all met at Leroy's house at about 9:00AM. Jeff was on time. He actually beat Dennis and Don Behr, which was REALLY a shock. We got out to the woods at about 9:30AM and Copper, Dennis's dog, picked up a scent immediately. The rain, not too heavy, kept up until about 10:30 then it stopped and did not start again until we were out. Despite Vic's protests which started at 10:00AM,(Vic is a friend of Dennis and Don and always figures that the sooner we get to the bar the better off we are.) we stayed out until noon and ended up harvesting three rabbits. Don Behr got one and Jason Karls got the other two. Copper ran them for three hours and kept us all on our toes.

We then went to the Wierl Wind at about noon for the annual sausage tasting. The hunters bring samples of their venison sausage and we along with any customers who show up at the bar, even including Copper the dog, taste all the "entries" and rate them as to what is liked the best. It is a blind test. Jeff and I sliced all the samples onto paper plates,labeled with the name of the buther shop or creator on the bottom of the plate. Then Don Behr mixed up the plates and labeled them from A to G in this case as we had 7 different kinds. After all the votes were in about three hours later, the concensus was that the sausage made by Roehrborn's was the best this year. It even beat out the ringer - the Johnsonville Garlic Summer Sausage.

I got home at about 4:00PM. I am really tired and was not hunbry enough to eat supper, but I at some of Jim's Tirimisu (which is excellent by the way, though he is not happy with his sponge cake) and an orange.

Soon I will got to bed as the first two days of this week are REALLY busy.

Take care of YOU this week.

Love

Mary

Today was a holiday. Dick and I went on a Discover trip to the Fireside and saw those Fabulous Fifties. We LOVED it. It was a bit of a history, memory, music trip back to the 50's and the birth of Rock and Roll with tributes to Jazz and Pop. The band was exceptional. Nine members, a keyboard, a bass, a trombone, a trumpet, drums, two guitars, sax and flute. They were really great and played everything from Elvis to Brubeck with Louis Armstrong and the Everly Brothers in between. Dick is going to tell you that I ended up on stage again. Two of the lovely young ladies were asking for volunteers for their game show segment and everybody was turning them down so I thought - why not. Cindy, another gal on the Discovery tour, and I got to play "basketball." She put a small basketball net on her head like a crown and I got to throw ping pong balls. We had 45 seconds and I made the basket (with Cindy's help) on the third throw. We each got a $10. gift certificate from the Fireside which I will use when we go to Evita later this year. Such a deal.

Tomorrow, I am going rabbit hunting with Jeff, Randy, and Kenny and our friends LeRoy and Dennis (who has a rabbit dog named Copper.) It is supposed to be rainy but fairly warm. I hope it doesn't get too wet.

Have a nice Sunday

Mary

Jim helped me, so here is the picture.

From Left to Right.

Aunt Jo, Mother, Me, Aunt Lenore and Aunt Gee.

Have a nice weekend.

Mary

It is almost 11:00PM and I just got home from working at Rhine. We had shooters until almost 10:00PM. With the storm last weekend there were hardly ANY league shooters on Friday so everybody was there and trying to catch up. Boy did we ever go through the beer and peanuts. I just REEK of cigarette smoke.

Had a nice lunch with Mother, Betsy, Betsy's Mom Dorothy and Dick at the Other Place in Falls. The Other Place was Fitz's when I was a kid. The dining room we ate in used to be a clothing store called Deeley's Men's Wear. Not a coincidence. My Uncle Jack owned it. He sold really good men's clothing. My Bret looks a lot like Uncle Jack.

I also got the kitchen cleaned.

Well, Jim got the picture I want to show you onto my computer in an e mail. I am afraid it will be tomorrow or Sunday before you get it because I have to figure out how to get it on the blog. In the meantime I will tell you one LITTLE story about Aunt Claire, my Grandpa Bowser's other sister. She is NOT on the picture.

Aunt Claire, as I said was Grandpa Bowser's sister. She married Uncle Henry Uelman, who was my GRANDMA Bowser's baby brother. They had two girls, Mary Alair and Ellen. Ellen married a Gilboy and lives in California and Mary Alair lives in the East.

Uncle Henry lived in California near his daughter Ellen for many years in a mobile home park. He was my Mother's godfather and when Mom visited we always went to see Uncle Henry. He was a dear man, at that time in his 80s and he walked 5 miles every day. He was such a pleasure to be around. He was a perfect gentlemen and treated every woman he met like a perfect lady. Such a joy.

Love


Mary

The sun shone most of the day today. The temps were only in the upper 30's but Chelsea and I had a great walk. With the sun shining on us I almost got too warm. We went for out walk shortly after Dick and I got back from grocery shopping.

I got to stay home most of the day after we got back from shopping. I cleaned the bathrooms. Then I spent the afternoon cutting and pasting the song for the Cancer benefit and just catching up on things in the computer. Tonight was choir practice, so I stopped to visit with Mother for a bit beforehand. Aunt Kathleen called while I was there. She is back at their site in North Carolina with Uncle Bob and still is enjoying remembering the surprise she gave Mother. She also had some news that was not so good. My Aunt MaryAnn, Uncle Roman's wife, had to have surgery this week. She had a very large tumor on an ovary that had grown so fast that her son, Tom, noticed a bulge in her abdomen and insisted that she see a doctor. They removed both ovaries and I believe the uterus, but they do not believe that it is malignant. That is a blessing. She is in a lot of pain, but that surgery does result in pain. Pray for a speedy recovery.

Now I want to tell you about the third Great Aunt, Jo, who is on the picture that I hope to have Jim scan for me tonight. Then I will paste it into the blog tomorrow.

These are,as I said, Grandpa Bowser's sisters. There was a forth,, Claire. I will tell you a bit about her tomorrow. She died in 1956 long before this picture was taken.

Anyway, about Aunt Jo. Josephine. She married Bob Cardwell. He was in insurance and quite successful. They never had any children. Aunt Jo was quite handy. They had a lovely house in Santa Ana. Aunt Jo love to decorate and build things too. She built at least three patios and/or decks onto the house in the MANY years that they lived there. She would build a patio, cover it , eventually enclose it and make it into another room and then she would start on another one.

This worked out well as long as they were living there. But when it came time to sell there were big problems, not only were there no permits for all these extra rooms and square footage, but much of the rooms were not up to code and they ended up tearing some of them out.

At one time, she decided to redecorate the house in an oriental style while Bob was gone and he came home to find that she had cut off the legs of all the coffee tables and painted them black. During the Mosaic craze back in the 70s, she and Bob both started doing that and almost every surface in the house was covered in mosaic. This also is OK, but the weight makes it impossible to move the things.

Aunt Jo was a traveler too. She was always very proud of the Clifford Irish roots that we have. Imagine her surprise when she went over to Ireland and found that the Cliffords had originally come over with Cromwell. Though they had assimilated and intermarried, they were part of an invading people. Dad always found that amusing and used to say that Mother was not really Irish, but "Orange."

So there are some stories about Aunt Jo. Aren't the three Aunts interesting?

Tomorrow I will tell you a bit about Aunt Claire.

Have a great Friday.

Mary

It was cold but sunny today. The temperatures are predicted to go up into the mid to upper 40s by and through the weekend with rain on Saturday and rain/snow mix on Sunday. I don't like that as I am going rabbit hunting on Sunday. Well, we will just have to see what happens.

Today, I finished the baby quilt top. Now I just need to do the label and then assemble it after I pick up the batting and backing on Feb. 4. The fabric they gave me is really pretty. Nice and bright with cute little bears on it. I had to add some fabric and found a nice bird print that blended nicely.

I also cleaned and straightened out the projects and material AGAIN.

Dick and I filtered the batch of White Zinfindal that we have fermenting and also mixed up a batch of the Luna Bianca. I have four batches of scratch wines that are coming up on being ready to filter and/or bottle. As soon as I free some gallon jugs, I need to mix up the grapes that I have frozen.

Here is another story of one of my Great Aunts. I will have Jim scan in the picture of Mother, me and the three of them and put it on this blog for you.

This is the story of Aunt Lenore. Aunt Lenore was a registered nurse. When my Tony was born, Aunt Lenore was in the hospital and as soon as he was born she saw to it that he was baptized. I was always grateful for that. He, of course, did live for three months, but someone cared enough to see that he was claimed by God at his birth.

Anyway, Aunt Lenore was a nurse. She got her education and did her training in Gary Indiana. She boarded with a family named Walters. The Walters had a little boy about 2 or thre years old. About 20 years later, Aunt Lenore married that young man. His name was Clyde.

They had two children (I don't know where they are or what they do.)and some rocky times. I know that Uncle Noel and Aunt Lois said that he ran around on her some. However, they stayed together and they loved each other. The last time I saw Aunt Lenore, she had had a stroke or something and had suffered some memory loss. Uncle Clyde took care of her. She visited quite happily with Mother and me, sometimes in the present and sometimes in the past. Occasionally, she would call for Clyde and if he was out of the room, he would rush in to reassure her. And she would smile a beautiful smile at him. They are both gone now. They used to say that Lenore raised him and then married him. Maybe she did, but it worked out for them.

Tomorrow is shopping and choir.

Take care

Mary

Chelsea was really goofy this morning. She woke me up at about 5 minutes after five. I took her out and tried to go back to bed, but she started jumping on me about 10 minutes later, so I gave up and took my shower.

I was home all day except for a trip to Dr. Casey the chiropractor, and picking up som amended tax returns. I did some writing, some quilting (I almost have the baby quilt top assembled.) and just general catching up.

I did call Mother and found out that the name of Aunt Gee's first husband was Willie Lindsay. The Lindsay family and the Bowser family were close friends. Willie was mean to Aunt Gee. Grandpa helped her get on the train and go to California. Another brother, my great uncle Matt and his wife were living out there at the time. Uncle Matt managed a grocery store. So she stayed with them for a while. Mother thinks that Willie did go out there and try to talk her into coming back, but she was not stupid. Ahead of her time, she must have known that once and abuser, always an abuser.

The Lindsays were always rather distant to the Bowsers after that as one can well imagine. Willie lived with his sister in Cascade and never married.

That is enough for tonight, I'll tell you something about Aunt Lenore tomorrow.

Mary

Guess what! I went to the Post Office and they HAD TWO CENT Stamps. This was my fourth stop. No wonder the Post Office is failing as a business. If they cannot keep supplies in their stores, how can they succeed. But I finally have them for myself, Mother and Rhine Plymough. WHEW!

A small crew, 5 of us, from the church environment committee spent a couple of hours in the loft behind the altar, sorting all the decorations into season and holy day. We are very pleased with the result and have made plans for future consolidation. We also took down more Christmas and put up a couple of Ordinary Time green banners. Next Monday, the pointsettas will be beyond keeping and we will take them away and put up some simple trees and spotlights that will keep us until Lent.

We had to get up at 5:30AM because we took the Elantra in for servicing. Now both cars are set for several thousand miles.

I know I told you about the DVD that Randy made with pictures of Mom from the time she was a teenager until NOW with all of us and with the grandchildren. I had Jim make a copy and he is going to produce two so I can send them to Bret and Bart. It was so neat to see all of us and our children at different ages. An pictures of Mom and Dad as they grew older and you can see all their love. Then, the pictures of her as a teenager. We see her stamp on her granddaughters, especially Britt and Jessica for some reason (and they don't look at all alike.) Wow. Now we have more pictures to add to the mix.

There was one picture that I submitted that I have always especially liked. It is in California in Uncle Nowl and Aunt Lois's backyard. Mother and I are standing with Grandpa Bowser's three sisters, Aunt Gee, Aunt Jo and Aunt Lenore. They were interesting ladies. Aunt Gee for example, married a man from the Town Mitchell area. I can't remember his name right now, I will ask Mother and record it in the geneology file. Anyway, one day Aunt Gee came over to Grandma and Grandpa Bowser's house and told Grandpa that her husband had become very frightening and was sleeping with a rifle next to the bed. Grandpa went over to the house with her and got her things. She moved to California - I am assuming that there were friends there and eventually remarried the Uncle that I knew, Andy Kramer. They lived to a ripe old age. When I saw her last I believe that she was 90 years old. They had one son. I don't know what happened to him. As I recall, he lived somewhere in Northern California. Aunt Gee was a lovely loving woman.

Tomorrow, I will tell you a story about Aunt Lenore.

Love
Mary

Today was spectacular. The sun was shining and it was in the mid 30s with no wind at all. Chelsea and I took a walk and I actually got a little warm with my jacket and hat and all. As we couldn't walk yesterday because of the ice, today was especially pleasant.

I didn't get to bed until midnight last night. Chelsea let me sleep until almost 6:30 though and she was very polite when she did wake me up. I rolled over and was trying to see the time when I heard a very quiet little whimper from across the room. Usually she jumps on the bed and stomps on me.

I stopped to see Mother after church. She weathered yesterday very well. She had a whole stack of cards to read from all the guests. She opened her presents at the party. George, Jeff, Randy, Dolores and myself (and our families) chipped together for the TV/DVD/CD unit. Eileen got her a Waterford Crystal glass and a bottle of wine. Nora got her a beautiful beaded sweater from Nordstroms. There were a few other small gifts too. But knowing Mother the greatest gift was to gathering.

George and Betsy came in while I was there so I got to see George again before he left for home. Betsy is staying for a week or so and we will go to lunch with our Mothers on Friday. We are all SUCH busy people that Friday is the only day we were free. I will have to cancel lunch in Plymouth but I will call someone during the week and let them know.

Jim and I went shooting today. My scores were decidedly unspectacular. I keep forgetting the elbow brace that I bought. It might help as I am favoring the elbow because of the discomfort.

We had turkey, stuffing, brussel sprouts and cole slaw for supper and I fixed Bananas in warm caramel sauce with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Nice and light and tasty.

January is going so fast. Next Friday, Dick and I will go to the Fireside to see The Fabulous Fifties. They always put on a good show and and excellent meal. I also like to bring home some of their fresh breads.

Hope your week is nice. As the Irish say , "May the wind be always at your back." I thought of that last week on my walk with Chelsea - mainly when we were FACING the wind and I understood the sense of the wind at one's back.

Mary

It has been a long wonderful day. Wonderful is a word that is much overused, I know, but that is the easiest word that comes to mind tonight as I am trying to wind down.

Quite a bit of snow had piled up by this morning, perhaps two or three inches. Chelsea was delighted, of course. I tried to take her for a walk but upon reaching the road immediatly knew that walking was NOT a good idea, as the road, though plowed was covered with ice and slippery patches. So, no walk.

I kind of lazed around the rest of the morning, though I did call to see how Bart and Barb were doing.

I left home at about 11:15 to pick up Mom's corsage from Rick's Florist. It was lovely, two white rosebuds with baby breath. It looked so fresh against the red and black jacket that she wore. We got to the Villager for her party at about 12:15. Bobbie came in just as we did and Dick and Jim shortly after. All of us children were there and a goodly number of the grandchildren and the great grandclildren. That pretty well fills up the room. The dinner was so good. Chicken and beef tips with potatoes corn and salads. Then we had Mom unwrap her presents. The guys plugged in the TV/VCR/DVD that some of us had pooled our funds for and put in the DVD that Randy and Mom had chosen pictures for and Brian (Becky's husband) had assembled with music. They made a copy of the DVD for all of us. I am going to see if I can get it copied for Bret and Bart. It is really a treasure.

Friends and relatives showed up all through the afternoon. What a pleasure to spend time with all of them. The biggest surprise was when my cousin Chris and her husband Rod came in with AUNT KATHLEEN who wasn't going to be there because she and Bob spend their winters in South Carolina. She said that she just couldn't stand not being here so decided at the last minute to come. We have great pictures of her and Mother and Uncle Pat. They are the three remaining Bowser kids.

This evening, after bringing Mother home, I came home myself, napped and then went over to Eileen's for a bit as all who could were going over to Legand Larry's on 8th and Penn to see John (Eileen and Fred's son) perform in the Martini Lounge. He and his friend do a nice act and there is no smoking in the Martini Lounge. I am still just a bit hoarse from hollering conversations because of the noise. Had a nice visit with Britt and her friend Andrew who is an artist/photographer. (Photographers are also artists - I mention both because he paints too.)

I should have neat pictures to share soon.




I decided to share an old picture - this is the sample of the Maid Mother Crane blocks that I designed a couple of years ago.

Happy Sunday.

Mary

Another busy day. It was kind of chilly and damp most of the day. Tonight it is snowing. A bit more than we expected. We even heard a snowblower going accross the street. Chelsea is quite pleased.

Went to the Dairy Queen in Plymouth to have lunch with the Wells Fargo people. The only one who is still working is Barb Wollner and she has moved to Community Bank.

On the way home I went to Younkers. to shopp with a gift card that Dick and Brenda gave me for Christmas. I had waited for a big sale and this weekend was a good one. I found a new pair of black pants, a black short jacket with red lining (that will look good with my red kilt which I intend to wear to the big birthday party tomorrow) and a pink washable "suede" shirt. Not bad. It was fun. I haven't shopped for quite a while.

I tried to get 2Cent stamps today too, but for the THIRD time in three weeks, the post office said they were on backlog from Milwaukee. This time they say that they don't know WHEN they will have them. No wonder the Post Office is failing as a business. I stopped to let Mother know and will bring her a few 39 cent stamps for just in case situations until we can find the others. Flowers are arriving for her birthday. She got an azalea from the neighbors and Mike Holehouse and family sent a lovely cut flower arrangement. I know Jennifer Holehouse and Andrea Ayers are also sending some. They are unable to come and want their presence known. Mom's house will be a beautiful greenhouse, full of beautiful flowers.

Tomorrow is her big day. Ninety - Wow.

Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul -- chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!
-Anne Tyler








Goodnight. Mary

What a day. It was fairly warm. In the mid 30's, sunny (most of the day) and not at all windy. However, when I cam home from choir tonight at 8:30PM or so it ws very foggy. Really foggy. I drove much of the way by just following the white line.

Dr. Hodous, the podiatrist, looked at Dick's feet this morning and declared them much better. We will have them checked every two months or so to be sure that the situation doesn't arise again. He also had his blood checked and AGAIN it is perfect. He is now Sue's pride and joy because he has been in the perameters for a year now.

Then I took Dick home (he had a bit of a sore throat) and went grocery shopping. This was quite a saving week. They had a "meal plan" (you buy the meat and they give the side dishes), a lot of items marked down to $1 and coupons, plus I had earned a $25 gift card from them. I felt REALLY good about the bill.

Tonight I had to go to choir so I visited Mother for a bit too. I did get the words together for the Unity Concert. I will enclose them here for you, but don't tell anybody. They chose two of the 5 verses because of the time constraint. These two seem to reflect the mission of the Concert the best.

BEACON OF HOPE


I.

We are all but a shadow in life.
We are cast by the light of the Lord
Made tall by the strength of His love.
As we go out as Jesus commands.
May we reach out our hands to the poor
To the lonely, the sick, the afraid.
To the families and neighbors we know
And to those who are lost in despair.


CHORUS

I'm the kiss of the breeze on your cheek
I 'm the choir of avian songs
You can find me in flowering fields
And the gentle soft fingers of dawn

II.

Whe-en thunder and lightening surround
I’m beside you to calm all your fears
If the world is a frightening place
I'm the lighthouse that shines through the storm
Jesus taught you that Love is the Way
And by sharing the journey you grow
Heaven is coming safely home
With your hand in the hand of the Lord


This is sung to the tune of For Ireland, I Won't Say Her Name. This is my favorite traditional Irish Air and it is believed to have been written in the late 1700s or the early 1800s.

Have a great Friday.

Mary

It was very sunny today, but cold. When Chelsea and I walked at about 10:30AM it was only 27 degrees. There was very little wind, so we took the whole walk but my legs and face were really stiff by the time we got back.

I did end up going out once today after all. Since I had finished the mailing for the Senior Saint program, I took them to Sandy at church to get them mailed. Then I met Marcie In church and we changed the altar cloth and took down the Christmas hangings.

I also worked on the baby quilt and the quilt that I am doing by hand. Since we are going on a bus trip to the Fireside on the 28th, I wanted to have the next piece ready to do. I have two borders, the trees, the assembly and the edging. It is a very bright quilt. I think it will be really sharp when it is all done.

Tomorrow, Dick gets his blood tested and the doctor will take a look at that callous that had the blister to be sure that it is all healed. I also have choir in the evening. We will see what the "experts" think of the words to the song I have assembled. I did a bit of revision and added a verse.

Would you believe that Ice T - the rapper said "Passion makes the world go round. Love just makes it a safer place."

Safe places are nice. Jim said he saw a BIG bird swoop down in front of his car the other. Perhaps that is why animals are disappearing. Wouldn't that be awful.

Ours are safe, they never roam around loose.

Later

Mary

It rained a bit and even snowed, but none of the snow stayed on the ground. It does not seem to be freezing either. Today, in the mailbox I found a notice that a family up the street has lost their big black fat cat called Harry. That is two animals in a week in the neighborhood. I don't think that Wishbone has been found either. Sure glad we keep our cats in and Chelsea leashed - Hunters Glen seems to be rather dangerous for critters these days.

I received a call last night from a woman, Mary Ann Wildbauer, who is part of organizing a unity conder to raise funds to help Cancer patients in Sheboygan County. The group is called Sheboygan County Cancer Care Fund. They help anyone, at any facility, of any background and with any financial needs. She called because Beth Hoegger (my choir director) and Jim Wilsing (my bagpiping friend) told her that I could write words for the song that we used for Celtic Faire for this concert for the ecumunical choir to sing. I talked to Beth and she said that the words I had were fine with some adjusting and additions. I am rather excited. This would be a REALLY big audience for my poetry. I did some revising and minor additions to the song and will review it with Beth, Jim and MaryAnn on Thursday.

Dick and I only went out to the Drug store to pick up a prescription and to OfficeMax to get some ink cartridges. The rest of the day I just worked on several of my projects, the Environment Committee notes, the song lyrics, the baby quilt. It was FUN.


Have a good Wednesday, It should be more of the same for me.

Charles M. Schulz said. "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."

Mary

Today, I FINALLY got all the ornaments off the tree and packed away. Even the Santa's are back in their boxes to wait until next year. Now all we have in the living room is a tree with lights on it. The kitties will be able to enjoy sitting under it for a day or so longer, I imagine, as Dick will have to take the lights off an disassemble the tree.

I will here share with you my brother Matt's poem about Christmas.

CHRISTMAS IS OVER

christmas is over again
it won't be back for another year
the lights have been taken down
santa claus went back to the toy factory
so we can all fight each other
with a clear conscience once more

Matthew, as you can see from this poem, did not believe in capital letters or most punctuation for that matter. He had a very cynical view of life. I do not really share that.

Tonight, we "took down Christmas" in church also. We put away the trees and wrapped and stored the ornaments and the creche and the wreaths and garland. We will enjoy the pointsettias a bit longer and leave up the red and gold on the back altar.

To get back to Matthew's poem, one of my friends, Ione Gregoire, said that she always leaves one Christmas decoration out to remind her to keep the joy and love of Christmas in her All year round and not let it fly away at Christmas. I think I will take her example to heart. Now, what should I bring back out? Perhaps, Grandma Bowser's little Nativity scene.

Be happy.

We may have snow by the end of the week.

Mary

The choir sang at 10:30 Mass this morning. We sang Just as I AM, which is a real favorite hymn of mine. The harmony is really easy and lovely. We sang ALL six verses. After Mass, I had to head right out to Rhine because it was my Sunday to work. It was very cold but we had 11 squads and the clubhouse was full of people enjoying their beer and the playoff games.

Rebecca, 15, one of our members who is turning 15 on Tuesday, brought birthday cake. Jim got out there about 2:00 so he and I went down to shoot. I had a rather low first round, only a 38 but the next two did go up - only 45 and 48 but at least they did improve. I have purchased an elbow brace and am going to try that next week to see if it helps steady my arm.

This is a comparatively quiet week, though Thursday, Dick has two appointments at the clinic and Saturday is Mother's Birthday. Mother said that Nora and Leif and George and Betsy will be in on Friday. It will be good to see everybody again. Tomorrow, after Bible Study, I am going to Rick's Florest to pick out a corsage for Mother.

Her is a quote that if found by a Rober Brault. "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they wer the big things."

Mary