I found out today at Mass that a friend is dying. The doctor's have said that he has less than a couple of weeks to live. He has cancer which has spread to the brain and wants his friends come to see him. His wife said that they are having "open house" until he is unable to do so and they want to be just family.

I feel I should DO something. Isn't that the way. I make a big pot of soup and will take a tub of it for them. I have been praying every day for him for months. God must want him in heaven. I am minded of a song about a man lost at sea in a gale who in the words of the song tried to "not be afraid of the dying." I hope my friend is not afraid of they dying. I have come to the conclusion that death and life are all one journey and that we never really leave. I don't believe that God has a separate "place" or "land" for heaven. Why should he when he made our world so beatiful. It is comforting to me to have those who have gone before close by.

It was VERY hot today. When I left Rhine Plymouth, the temperature was 88 on my car thermometer. I am waiting for it to drop so that I can turn on the water again. I is really nice for sitting outside and I am going to do so soon. The fountain was not flowing very well but Jim fixed it so I will enjoy the green and the water running and a good book.

Tomorrow is extremely busy. Bible Study, Writer's Club, trap league and Rhine Plymouth monthly meeting. I think I have everything ready and waiting on the "staging table".

Mother and I were remembering the conversations going around at the Shea, Bowser get together. We found them such fun and so Irish.

"When I die, I want to die like my grandfather-who died peacefully in his sleep. Not
screaming like all the passengers in his car." Author unknown.


Have a nice week.

Mary

It was very warm today. When I was coming back from Jeff and Kathy's a thermometer in New Holstein registered at 90 degrees, though my car thermometer was less the mid 80's.

Kathy and I picked enough currents so that I can make 3 gallons of wine. They are nice and ripe and ready to do. Kathy also gave me some starts of a flowering plant that she got from Aunt Helen's house after Randy and Donna bought it. It has a pink fluffy flower and she thinks it is called the Queen's plume or something like that. It was really pleasant while we were picking the currents.

When I got home I cleaned the currents and got them into the primary fermenter with boiling sugar water poured over them. This is the first step. Tomorrow, after the mixture cools, I will stir in the additives and then the next day the yeast. Then five days later it goes into the Secondary Fermentors (the jugs with the air filters on top) for a long time. Wine making does take patience and is providing good practice for me as patience has never been one of my big virtues. We find that the wines we make from scratch, really are the best if they age for at least a full year. They lose any harshness and really mellow.

One of the wine companies always said "No wine before it's time."

Yesterday at lunch with the Plymouth girls, we grandma's got to talking about toilet training. Betty has a little grandaughter who came over to see her with her pants REALLY full and very cheerful about it. She is about two and learning but not too very concerned. I was remembered and shared how Bret got potty trained. He had learned to use the toilet for urinating but didn't quite get the other. One day he came to me with a disgusted look on his face and asked me to change his diaper. I said to him. "You could to that in the potty you know." He got the funniest look on his face and said. "I CAN!" and that was it. Never had a problem unrelated to sickness after that.

He was only about 1 1/2 years old. But I was fortunate. He did not like being messy.

Tomorrow should be a bit quieter. Have a nice Sunday yourself.

Mary

Another lovely summer day. Everything is so green and blooming now. The corn is high in the fields despite the fact that we could use some rain. Dick, Jim and I are starting to talk fresh corn again. I will have to start looking at the farmer's markets in the next week or so. We have fresh corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes on Saturdays during the season.

On my walk this morning I was thinking about two very progressive women from last century.

The first is a story of a lady. She was a homemaker and a mother at a time when women did not work outside of the home. Of course, in those days, the first 10 years of the 20th century, homemaking was even more of a full time job than it is now. Wash was done in tubs on a washboard, or with a wringer if you were really lucky. Bread was baked from scratch and meals were cooked with no labor saving kits or packages.

Anyway, every summer, this lady and her neighbor would take a weeks vacation. They would spend one week in the backyard, reading and talking and relaxing. They would not clean or cook or sew and then they would go back to being busy housewives.

Pretty cool Right. This was my Grandma Helen Deeley.

The second lady was in her late teens when she and a cousin, traveled to South Dakota to homestead. They picked a plot of land and even built a soddy (a home out of the sod in the area. A common starting home for the homesteaders.) They came home but the wonder is that they did it. This would have been somewhere in the early part of the 20th Century also. Probably a little later than the "vacation". But not much.

I am amazed every time I think of this. What Gutzy ladies. The woman was Dick's mother Alice Kunert.

Be healthy.

Mary

Choir again tonight. We are working on the German Mass. We have the parts down pretty well and are stumbling through the words. Next week we go to Milwaukee to practice at the Bavarian Inn with the big choir. We figure that we are pretty green, but that there will be lots of segments of the choir and individuals who REALLY know what they are doing and we just have to kind of search them out when we get there. It is always easier in numbers and the music is quite lovely. Nothing like the rather strange Polka Masses that we have had at Blessed Trinity.

Dick got his blood tested today and Sue says that her is boring again. He is ALWAYS within the perameters. We went down to the lab for his blood test that follows the yearly physical and then went to breakfast and grocery shopping. We shared an omelet today. I talked him into a Feta Cheese, onion and tomato omelet and it was very very good.

This afternoon we went back to the clinic to se a nutrition specialist for advice on how to help Dick lose some weight. We have some good ideas from her and and Dick is agreeable. The hardest part will be the exercizing but as she said - keep is easy and slow. And just do it. He has been reducing his portions very well the past few months.

It was beautiful today. It rained a bit at about 8:00AM but that was all finished by 9:00 then it got sunny and warm, about 76 degrees.

I found fresh tuna steaks at the grocery store, so we will have them tomorrow night for dinner. I do like fresh tuna. We will find out if Dick does. I know that I had leftover tuna from somewhere and he liked the tuna sandwiches that I made from it.

When I was a little girl, I remember going to a family picnic at a big house that was perched up on top of a hill. It was for the Bowser Family. (My Mother's side.) I remember playing with lots of cousins, though I don't know who the were anymore, but we kids got to drink all the soda we wanted. In those days that was a real treat. I bring this up because when I think this is one of the few times that I met Fr. Mike when I was a kid. I don't remember him but I do remember his mother, Eileen. Eileen was a beautiful woman with black black hair and very elegant looking. she looked almost like a Spanish woman. She was quite an interesting person. Very opinionated and worked for years at the Kettle Moraine prison. She died before I came back from California and is buried under a big Celtic Cross in the newer section of the cemetary at Our Lady of the Angels church. Johnny Bill Shea, her husband, is there now and there is a space between them where Mike will be laid to rest some day. Johnny Bill said that he arranged that so the Mike be a mediator and keep them from fighting through eternity. He said they fought all the time in life and he wouldn't have had any other kind of woman.

Happy Friday.

Mary

Loverly day in the neighborhood. I think I am mixing up Mr. Rogers and My Fair Lady. But it is a descriptive phrase. The temps were in the upper 60s to low 70s. The sun shone, the skies were blue. The neighborhood cardinal was singing loudly while Chelsea and I were on our walk and darned near drowned out our conversation in the office later this afternoon.

I worked out in the yard for about an hour and got the hanging pots watered and cleaned up and the tree/bush in the front yard trimmed. I too Chelsea out with me for a bit but there were some kids down the street with a few remaining firecrackers and I didn't have the heart to make her suffer any more.

Dick had his physical this morning. For the first time in several years, there was no irregular heartbeat. This is a good thing, but Dr. Phelan said that it does not mean that is it healed. They will keep monitering.

Thinking back on the conversations that were going around yesterday. Fr. Mike said, (expounding on superstition, edicts and curses) that a priest in Armstrong at Our Lady of the Angels, then named St. Matthew, had cursed the parish back in 1858 or thereabouts. He said that they would not have a priest ordained from the parish for 100 years and lo and behold Mike was ordained a priest in 1964 along with his cousin Jim Shea in or about the same year. This did prove the prophesy or curse to be true. Who knows?

Cadfael's Book of Days, yesterday and today, were interesting.

Yesterday. "The failure of the priesthood to set and example of piety and simplicty helps to turn people to false prophets and dissenting sects. The Church has a duty also to purge its own shortcomings."

Today. " 'It's a grave matter to disagree with the chruch,' said the layman. 'It's not for us to kno better than the priests, not where faith;s concerned. Listen and say Amen, that's my advice." Ellis Peters

I guess both are true. In this day and age it becomes difficult to follow the advice of the second as we watch and see that the clergy is not fulfilling the duty to do the first.

Have a nice Thursday


Mary

It was a feel good day.

The gathering for Fr. Mike Shea was lots of fun. We chattered and ate and drank together and it was nice. The meal turned out fine and was an easy one to serve and eat.

We had Cuban Ropa Vieja (Old Rags) on hard rolls, beans, salad and blueberry pie. Aunt Kathleen brought a veggie tray and I shared some venison hot sticks.

The blueberry pie is so simple and really one of the best pies in the world.

You bake a pie crust and fill it with four cups of fresh washed and dried blueberries.

Make a glaze by cooking 2/3 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 3 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch and 1 cup of blueberries until it is thick and clear, about 10 minutes.

Pour over berries in the crust, cool and refrigerate and serve with a nice dollup of fresh whipped cream.

We talked a lot about the Bowser family and the Parnell, Mitchell and Armstrong area. The story of the time that St. Michael's Church was boarded shut was discussed.

This is my understanding of the story.

St. Michael's Church near Parnell was a mainly Irish faith community. At some point a German pastor was sent to serve the parish. Apparently he was not to the liking of a large part of the community and a number of young bucks, notably the Rooney boys actually locked and boarded up the door to the church to keep the priest out. This caused such a stir and a scandal that the Diocese put an edict on the church for a year during which no masses were permitted in the building. This meant that these hard working farmers had to travel several extra miles to attend Mass. An Irish Catholic did not miss Mass, you know, so it was a real hardship. For years and a couple of generations this event was not talked about but Grandpa Bowser would allude to it and comment that the the Rooney's all died young and also he said, "No good ever came to them." I guess it was true and he really believed it.

Mike talked a lot about his kids. He has 116 now. 68 of them have AIDS. He is going to request a new grant from the Elizabeth Taylor Foundation. They usually only give one to an individual place but Bill, our contact, suggested that he try again anyway as apparantly Miss Taylor is impressed by the beautiful faces of the children that Mike sends to them.

I guess that is enough for today. It was much cooler and not at all muggy. Quite a relief after the muggy hot days that we have had.

There are still a few firecrackers going off now and then so poor little Chelsea Dog is down in the den in front of Jim's chair, probably poised to go under the bed if things REALLY get bad.

Love Mary

Happy Fourth of July! It seems quieter tonight than it was last night. Of course, it is still kind of twilight and the fireworks at the lakefront don't start for a half an hour yet. Last night the noise and light started at about 8:30. There is some activity but not much. Poor Chelsea, was a literal basket case last night. I forced her to go outside at one point, thinking that she really needed the opportunity to go the the bathroom. She wouldn't and actually turned down a lettuce treat.


I prepared the meat and pies for tomorrow's dinner so that I just need to heat things up while the guests are here. Jeff and Kathy are picking up Mother. Uncle Pat called for directions so I know that he and Joan will be here and Aunt Kathleen and Uncle Bob are coming.

We finally got rain. It actually rained early this morning before dawn and then started again at about 10 and rained some more until about noon. We need it so bad. This was a steady soaky rain and I hope it did some good.

Do you know that Dick has never had S'mores? I was shocked to hear that. Jim said he never had them either. This came up because I bought some Keebler S'more snacks. They are the construct your own, like cheese and cracker packs. You spread this creamy marshmellow on a sweet cracker and top it with a piece of chocolate and the second cracker. It tastes good - But - Those boys are going to have to experience the fun of slapping a burnt marshmellow on a piece of a Hershey bar between two Real graham crackers. Such deprived childhoods. I need to rectify that


Mary

Today was a fairly quiet day. Church at 8:00, a visit with Mother. Bobbie and I worked at Rhine from 1:00 til about 3:00. We left early because it was so slow - the Fourth of July Weekend you know. I shot one round of trap and three targets of pistol. Not too bad but nothing to write home about.

Mother and I were remembering years gone by. She has a cartoon on her refrigerator that is one of her favorites. It depicts Heaven with a quartet of souls who have "arrived" there singing barbershop songs. When she pointed it out, I immediately remembered the family picnics at Grandma and Grandpa Bowser's house. As the evening wore on the singing always started. The Bowsers, my Uncle Leo and Aunt Kathleen and Dad all had beautiful voices and loved to sing.

They would sing in harmony. They would sing in quartets and duets. And each person sang their specialty solos. The Bowser cousins with Dad and Grandpa sang barbershop. Dad and Aunt Kathleen would sing Blue Hawaii, Uncle Leo sang like Louis (Sachmo) Armstrong and on and on. Such warm fuzzy times and how we ate.

Grandpa Bowser's house was up on a little hill. Forming a "wall" around the yard were hedges that protected the yard from prying eyes and muffled street noise (not that there was much street noise on that little back street in Sheboygan Falls). Grandpa always read the Sunday paper on the front porch after church. Grandpa always wore his vest and his hat when he was outside the house. One Sunday, my Uncle Noel, then a teenager, walked out on the porch and told Grandpa "I think I can take you, Dad." Grandpa didn't say a word. He got up, took off his hat and set it on a table on the porch. He walked off the porch into the yard and motioned Noel down.

They squared off. Grandpa picked Noel up and tossed him over the hedge.

Noel said that he never challenged Grandpa again. Years later, he knew he could have beaten him but when men grow older they really don't want to prove that their Dad's are not still Supermen.

Have a nice Fourth of July.

I will be thinking of you

Mary

We cleaned the garage today. I am tired. At least the temperatures were nice and we were neither too hot nor too cold while doing it. Dick took us out to dinner as a reward. We went to Zana's and had pasta. Dick and I brought enough home that I probably won't have to cook all week.

I went out to fill the birdbath and checked the beans that I replanted. The damn rabbits got them already. I really think it is too late to replant, but I MAY try one more time. I used Mother's methods of repellant. I put a jar half full of water in the bed and I sprinkled liberally with chili powder. Apparantly my rabbits are not afraid of water in a jar and must be fond of spicy food because the plants are GONE!!! I will use the liquid fence more this time, if I can get them to grow.

At dinner, I asked Jim if Pete had tried the pepper jelly yet. Pete is Jim's boss and gave Jim some hot peppers from his garden. I used a couple of them the year before last when I made my last batch of pepper jelly. It is a great jelly, a nice mild kick, but not too hot. Pete is apparantly afraid to try it. I am still trying to figure why he even grew them in the first place as Jim says he is afraid of hot stuff. I know that if he tried this he would like it and told Jim to cluck like a chicken at him for me.

My herbs are thriving this year, sure glad the rabbits leave them alone. I think I will make some lavender bread next week.

I decided that when we win the lottery, I will start having manicures once a week. I would like blue nail polish.

Guess what! Remember when the Felix Cat that Jim put on my computer was multiplying? I had as many as three at one time and it kept chasing the dog that I also had away. I finally gave up on the dog and for the past year, I have had only one cat. However, today there are two cats running around the screen again.

Have a nice Sunday. We are going to fry out.

Happy Forth of July Weekend.

Mary

It was actually chilly most of the day. I went to Plymouth to have lunch with the Plymouth gals and darn near froze in the Dairy Queen. I had ham and bean soup for lunch. I've had better. Usually their soups, except for the cream soups, are much better than that.

I spent some time sorting the fabric downstairs, now that I finished the Oak Leaf Table Runner. I put the quilt that I need to tie for the Celtic Faire on the rack and partially assembled a square that I am doing for the Sheboygan County Quilt Guild Show. So far it looks good. It is a star of white and red and then I will be putting blue petals on it, then a gold center for the motif.

Dick and I racked the batch of Gewertziminer that we are almost ready to bottle. It went so smoothly. We can never figure out why sometimes it is a breeze and other times I end up having to scrub the bench and floor because we slop all over the place.

Tonight we had good old hamburger helper for supper. I made spinach with bacon, onion, mushrooms and parmesan cheese to go with it. It was quite simple, I diced a slice of bacon and cooked it together with some chopped onion until the onion was soft, then I drained a can of mushooms and a can of spinach and added them to the pot. Finally just before serving, I added some parmesan until it was melted. Pretty good.

Tomorrow, Chelsea has to have a bath. She will not be a happy girl but she is quite gray by now and we are having guests on Tuesday. Can't have a dirty dog greeting people.

An Alex Levine said "Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all essential four food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat."

That is right up there with the theory that the Sheboygan Brat is the perfect balanced diet. You have your hard roll for grain, your brat for protein, your pickle and onion for vegetable and butter for dairy.

Enjoy your long weekend. We will be at home except that Bobbie and I have to work at Rhine on Sunday. We will watch whatever fireworks that we can see from the deck. We usually get a pretty good show.

Bye now


Mary

Another rather full day. We didn't want the waitress at Zana's to worry because we weren't there on Tuesday for breakfast, so we stopped today on our way to the Pig to grocery shop.

This afternoon, I went back to Falls to meet with Sandy at church. We tried to come up with suggestions for people who can take over the chores that Sr. Marcia was doing. Sr. Marcia is all settled in a cute little apartment in Campbellsport now. Mother said she did come back today to join her Senior Saints at their annual picnic at the Bachmann's. The Bachmann's are a lovely family who plan a picnic and gathering at their farm every year for the Seniors.

I agreed to write a couple of notices for the bulletin and call on Dewey, another church member, to help get the environment(decorating) committee together to do a long term plan. I also will call the Bachman's to be sure that they will have the picnic next year and told Sandy that I would plan programs for the Seniors to fill in the months that they don't have trips or school kids events. We figured that will involve perhaps four programs a year. I think I would enjoy that.

Tonight we "got through" the last of our German songs. Now we have to just practice. We will have one more practice alone and then two with the whole choir at the Bavarian Inn in the Milwaukee area. We told Beth that we would like to sing the German Mass for the congregation the first Sunday in August when we will know it the best. I think the congregation would really like that.

Dick's son, Dick, sent pictures of the tile and flooring that they are having installed in their new remodeled bathroom. It really looks nice. We will have to go see when they are all done.

I took Mom a bottle of both the Domaine Du Sac and the Prairie Fume that we bought at Wollersheim. She is always so pleased.

It was in the upper 80s again today, despite the promises of temperatures in the 70s. Chelsea and I had a lovely walk this morning. I know she was very grateful. When I am gone, she doesn't get walks. Jim says that he thinks she knows because she gets right to business and doesn't even try to lead him down the driveway any more. She is not dumb. Her hair is growing out a bit and she looks a bit shaggy. I will be giving her a bath on Saturday as we are having guests on Tuesday and I want her to be pretty.

She is trying to tell me that it is time for bed now so I will sign off and accomodate her. Have a nice Friday.

It is a big payday for us so we are rich again for a day.

Love

Mary

We had a lovely holiday.

The International Crane Foundation is always one of my favorite places. This year, there was in the Amoco Whooping Crane Exhibit a chick that is being fostered by the pair of Whoopers that live in the exhibit. I did get to see it for a few moments before the three of them moved behind the rushes and just kept feeding there. I took some pictures and will look at them tomorrow to see if the chick is at all visible. What a thrill. I took LOTS of pictures of all of the other cranes. Some were posing nicely and some were not.

If you want to see more about the cranes, look at www.savingcranes.org. It is a great site. I have been a member of the International Crane Foundation since the first time that Dick and I stumbled on it when we went to the Circus Museum, probably 10 years ago.

Later, after we checked into the hotel, we went to downtown Baraboo and did some shopping. Dick had found an Irish Shop online so we went there. It is a shop with all kinds of truly quality merchandise. I found a three disc set of the Women's Heart music. I had the first one on tape and the second on CD. But getting all three in a set seemed like a good idea. I will find new homes for the duplicates.

Today, we drove home via Prairie Du Sac and the Wollersheim Winery. We do like their wines. Their Domaine Du Sac is SO good. A beaugolais type. It is a smaller bottling for them so they do not often sell it outside of the winery. We stocked up a bit and will have some to share with Mother and Bobbie.

It has cooled down considerably this evening. I is 64 degrees now so Dick turned off the air conditioning and opened things up. Tomorrow it is not supposed to get much over 70 which will be a big relief. It seems that the heat wave is over. We still need rain however and there is none in the immediate future.

I did most of the driving today, and Dick did most of it yesterday. So we make a good team.

I came home to a lot of emails. Most of them were spam of course but several were from friends. My friend, Janet, sent me one with lots of really great quotes. Here is one that tickled my fancy.

I once had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue . . ."No good in a bed, but fine against a wall." ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Til tomorrow.

Mary

Yesterday was so nice. Everyone was at Jeff's to see that baby. It was nice that his parents, Matt and Kaoru, could come from Hawaii with him too. He is a nice little man and was so good. It is not easy to be only 10 months old and have all these aunts and uncles and cousins that want a "piece of you". It was hot but we all stayed in the shade and visited and drank TONS of soda, water and beer and did just fine. The apple cheesecake was GREAT. I was able to save a piece for Jim and he approved also. I think I might make that one for the Main Street Days contest this year.


Today, again, was hot. I went to Bible Study and shooting. The shooting was awful. I only got an 11. My friend Bill says that I am constantly behind the bird. I will practice on Sunday. We do not shoot on the Forth of July.

Tomorrow, Dick and I will be going away for two days. Actually we are leaving tomorrow morning and will return Wednesday night. We are going to visit the International Crane Foundation and an Irish Shop that is in Baraboo. So you won't hear from me tomorrow.


Something to ponder...

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

Bart and Barb believe that they have found a doctor who is really listening to Bart and who Bart can relate too. Thank you for your prayers. He has requested more tests that may disclose reasons why he is not sleeping.

Have a nice Tuesday. I will post again on Wednesday.

Love


Mary

I don't think the temperatures topped 76 today, which was fine with me. I am watering tonight even if we are supposed to be getting rain. The weather bureau has been promising rain for so long that we just plain don't believe them anymore.

Dick and I bottled 25 bottles of White Zinfindal today. It has a lovely color and the bit that was left over sure tastes good.

Tomorrow we will be picking up Mother at 11:30AM and going out to Hilbert to see my brother Jeff's son Matthew and his wife Kaoru and their son Matt who is about 9 months old now. Everyone who lives in Wisconsin who can will be there to see them. They live in Hawaii now, where Matt teaches grade school. His school is a year round, so they will be only here a week or so as his vacations are quite short.

I made an apple cheesecake to take along. It is VERY heavy. You mix apple pie mix into the cheesecake before you bake it and top it with a struesel topping. I am hoping it is as good as it seems to be.

I also made some guacamole today which is EXCELLENT. It has been a long time since I had any of that.

I am really tired tonight. I have to stay up until at least 9:00 though so that Chelsea can get out for her walk. I also want to turn the water off then.

Did I tell you that Barbara called last night? Bart is having a lot of trouble sleeping and is not at all with it in the mornings. She is trying to get a doctor in Oklahoma City to look at him and listen to him. His doctor in Lawton doesn't even know what he has prescribed for Bart.


Have a nice Sunday.

Mary

It was HOT today. Dick and I went and saw Mr. & Mrs. Smith today. It was a good movie. Lots of excitement, shooting and romance (kind of romance anyway.) It is the first time we remember seeing Angelina Jolie in a movie. She is really good and quite lovely.

It was 98 degrees when we came out of the theatre. Then I dropped off the 9 extra quilt squares from Blessed Trinity to Mary Bainbridge. She will add her 3 so that we can make the lap quilt to raffle along with the queen sized one. By now it has dropped down to 74 and tomorrow will be much cooler. I am hearing 84.

I did get all the flowers watered and part of the lawn too. We had about 15 minutes of rain as the front barreled past us.

We Writer's Club Members did a little excercize at our meeting using words that sound alike but mean different things. I came up with the following using horse - hoarse and lead - led.

The hoarse auctioneer led the horse nto the ring. They were old, the horse and the man. The horse's back was bowed as if he carried lead weights on his back. The auctioneer's the weight of the world.



Til tomorrow

Mary

Just got home from choir. We are just practicing our German pieces for the choir at Germanfest. Beth, our director, is able to translate enougth so that we at least know what we are singing about. We finished going through everything but the pieces that are just for the men and just for the women. The melodies are quite easy to learn but matching them with the foreign words is difficult.

Dick got the little burr on his tooth filed and feels much better about them. They really do look nice.

It was very hot today - up in the 90s. Tomorrow will be the same they say.

Tomorrow we are going on a date. We are going to an afternoon movie. Dick gets to choose this time and has decided on Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It has great reviews. I can hardly wait for POPCORN.

I have the Cashel Dennehy School of Dance booked to dance at Celtic Faire. I am really excited.

Have a nice Friday and a super weekend. We will be going to my brother Jeffs on Sunday. I am making an Apple Cheesecake to share.

Love

Mary

Dick and I are watching Dancing with the Stars again. Two dancers have been eliminated. We are really enjoying it. There are two more weeks after this one as they elimate ONE couple each week. This week they will dance two dances. A Samba and a Waltz. I find myself getting really irritated with the judges. They are very nasty with their comments - at least the old crotchety one. I liked Evander Holyfield myself.

It was very pleasant today - the temps were in the mid 70s. I sat out on the deck for a while this evening and read. The rest of the week is supposed to get HOT HOT HOT. Up into the 90s by the weekend.

I talked to Barb and Bart is feeling a bit better thought he is still struggling and needs prayer. He will be seen in Oklahoma City on July 12 and Barb said they are taking more blood tests so perhaps they are finding some odd levels. She feels that perhaps because he is exercising more he needs to have his meds adjusted but the doctor in Lawton won't listen to them about ANYthing.

We filtered the White Zinfandal today and will do another filter tomorrow. Then we can bottle it. We will be done just in time to start racking and filtering the Gewertziminer. Got to build up the stock. We like to have it for gifts. I have been harvesting rhubarb and hope to have enougth from my plants for both wine and desserts. But - I will probably have to get some from Bobbie or Donna. My plant just isn't quite big enough for everything I want to do with it.

We got the car washed today and went to Menards. Tomorrow morning we are getting the Alantra serviced AND Dick has to go back to the dentist to get a little burr on his new caps smoothed out. Busy Busy.

Thank God that the little Boy Scout in Utah was found safe and sound. I loved his mother Jody's statement. "People say that the heavens are closed and God no longer answers prayers. We are here to unequivocally tell you that the heavens are not closed, prayers are answered and children do dome home."

WOW.

Mary

It was warm today, up in the middle 80s. We waited until after 4:00 then started both sprinklers. The rotating one is acting up. We have such hard water that they keep getting jammed with minerals. What we need is a big vat of vinegar to soak it in and then have two - one soaking, one working.

This afternoon, Dick and I met with Mary Schroeder, my friend and investment counseler, and her replacement, Tom Schmidtke, to review my retirement portfolio. They had some suggestions that I have to study. Mary is retiring, at least temporarily. I will miss her as my consultant, but will see her often, as she is a part of the group of Wells Fargo ladies that meet on Friday's for lunch.

Tonight, eight quilting ladies met with our squares for the Quilt that we are putting together for a raffle at Celtic Faire. I believe I told you about that. 9 ladies have made 39 squares that are all unique and just wonderful. We are making a queen size quilt and have enough squares left that if Mary Bainbridge makes her three will become a lap quilt for a second prize in the raffle. This was a good idea, I hope it turns out to be profitable.

I made a pasta salad today. Anything with pasta is well received in this house. It is a great one that I found on Richard Simmons' recipe cards. You mix 2 cups of elbow macaroni with four or five cups of chopped veggies (carrots, celery, green onions, cucumber, peppers, zuchinni) whatever you have, add some shredded cheese and/or sliced ham or pepperoni and stir in a couple of tablespoons of light mayonese, salt and pepper to taste. Chill and serve.

A nice quiet day tomorrow.

Happy Day.

Mary

Nice day today. We started reading Paul's II Corinthians. Actually, we just read the introduction from the study guide and the greeting. He always has quite lengthy greetings that seem to go on and on. Again, we are going to have to rely on the notes to tell us the customs of the area and the time so that what Paul says makes sense. For example, we always have to keep in mind that slavery was customary and a fact of life in his time. He actually gives slaves advice on how to be good slaves.

Then I took Mother to see her eye doctor, Dr. Larson for her bi-annual check. He did notice a slight change but not enough to warrant any action and just told her to keep checking that lined chart and if there is any change to call immediately. Then we went to the Restoration Gardens, Thyme Savors, restaurant for lunch. It is a pleasant place to eat. We had tuna and a cup of soup. I had their corn chowder and it was great. They put all kinds of nice greens on their sandwiches.

This evening I shot trap league and bumped up to a 15 score. Better than last week and CERTAINLY better than yesterday. But I am still not leading on the bird. (That is what Bill, a friend who teaches trap to high school kids says.) It will come. I am determined.

Dick got the second prime coat on the garage door today. Probably on Wednesday he will put the paint on. We also racked wine.

Old Oscar is on the desk all sprawled out with his paw over his eyes. I am surprised that he has not noticed that Dick opened the deck door and the windows. It has cooled down enough to turn off the air.

My reading in the Cadfael Book of Days by Robin Whiteman said "God is still looking your way." I like that.

He is looking at you too. Enjoy.

Mary

Here it is Sunday night at 8:00PM already. This has been a rather eventful day. As I said, the Bell Choir (by the way we are called the Trinity Tones. Not my choice but that is the name that was chosen,) played at Mass this morning. our first piece was great. The second, was moderately ok. We fell apart on the third (I think we fooled the congregation by plunging on through) and the last one was OK again. I received complements from two of our audience and will bask in that.

This afternoon, Jim, Bobbie and I went shooting. I did pretty good on the pistol range but was disappointed with the trap shooting. I have done some adjustments on my shooting vest which I hope will help when I shoot league tomorrow.

It was Father's Day and all the kids contacted Dick. Leslie called tonight and we had a nice phone visit. He has been busy lately, scraping and painting the inside of the garage door.

It was an absolutely perfect day today. The temperatures were in the mid 70s. It was sunny. Everything is green and beautiful. Wisconsin is really the prettiest state in the union. I have always said that, no matter where I lived.

Bart is having a bit of a problem with his med adjustments. We can use prayers that things can be resolved and will get better soon. He has not been sleeping for one thing.

I have the get together for Fr. Mike Shea all arranged now for July 5th at 11:00AM. That should be fun. I am going to fix "Old Rags" for lunch. I can make it the day ahead of time and just put it in the slow cooker for serving and to keep it warm. It is really good on hard rolls. A salad and nice dessert should round it off.

I was reading a sentence in a book called Celtic Christianity by Timothy Joyce. He said "Of course, there can always be a cast of too much spirits in a pub, but you can also have too much religion in a church!" It reminded me of the parish priest in Ireland at the church where Fr. Mike Moran said Mass. Fr.Mike asked him why there was not more music in the service and the priest said that they did most of their "singin' in the pubs."

Roxie just joined me for a bit of cuddling, so I will sign off now. Have a nice week.

Love

Mary