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