I don't believe that I put this on the Blog last week. My nephew, Jesse Johnston, the son of my ex husband's brother Keith, has cancer. He is 22 years old and has decided that he would refuse any more chemo therapy. His poor body is down to about 110 lbs. and he is close to or over 6 feet tall. They have been searching for a bone marrow donor. I found out about the search and put him immediatly on the prayer chain at Blessed Trinity. Jacquie, my ex sister in law, called today to let me know that they have found a donor, thank God. Now he has a chance. The match is a 9 of 10. He will be able to begin the treatments in about a month. Right now I have put out the word that we can thank God for the match and then in a couple of weeks, I will put him back on for success of the treatment.

It was a gorgeous day today, though we are having a few sprinkles this evening. Actually possible thunderstorms are possible but so far we are just getting a bit of moisture.

I got a little yard cleanup done and watered any plants that need planting.

As I was doing this tonight the phone rang. I had the most wonderful surprise. It was my niece from the previous marriage, Vikki. She is my brother in law Ron's youngest daughter. We had a nice conversation as she drove along heading for somewhere where her son Scott is going to be racing in a motorcycle competition. He works for Kawasaki. He has been with them for three years and has raced since he was four years old. We had the nicest talk. I must call her next week and we need to keep in touch. I am glad that they still consider me Aunt Mary. I can't believe that she is 46 and her daughter has made her a grandma - twice.

Michelle made dinner tonight. She made Mexican Lasagna, fresh green beans and a marvelous Oreo Salad. Everything was SO good and we were absolutely stuffed. Jim found himself a good little cook.

They went to Cedarburg for the Strawberry Festival and brought me back a new Celtic CD by a group called Bare Naked, who do amazing things with acoustics and strings.

I LOVE presents.

Worked on the quilt tonight - I should be able to finish another square tomorrow as I have to return it on Monday for the group to work on. We finished up with a game of Rummy. Michelle won tonight.

Love

Mary

This will be a very short Blog. Just enough to let you know that I am still alive and kicking.

Went to lunch in Plymouth today. I was the only one there. I realized that I should call someone with my new number. They ALWAYS call if everyone is busy, but I had forgotten to tell anyone that we did the big number change. Oh well, I grabbed a chili dog and did my other errands and got home just after Jim and Michelle arrived.

The filthy kitchen got cleaned today too. Boy - had that Chelsea slobbered all over the floor. She is NO Zero. He actually kept the kitchen floor clean.

Jim, Michelle, Dick and I went to the Villager for a fish fry. They have an excellent one and Michelle and I shared an appetizer of crab/salmon cakes with a corn salsa. It tasted really good.

We played a game of hearts followed by a game of rummy. Dick won the hearts and I won the rummy. Yea for the old people.

"The FDA approved a Prozac-type drug for dogs who are depressed. This is good, because it's hard for dogs to get therapy, since they're never allowed on the couch." Colin Quinn on Saturday Night Live.

Have a marvelous weekend.

Mary

Well, I feel good about today. We went grocery shopping this morning after breakfast at Zana's. We both had eggs, fruit and toast. The fruit this time of year is SO good. We even got a plate of fruit to share for lunch. Fruit and cottage cheese are going to be our regular Thursday lunch for a while. I made a small meatloaf for supper. Num Num. We will have enough for a lunch later on.

When we got home, I went out in the front and shaped up the bushes around the bird bath and trimmed some of the juniper bushes in the front. A couple more days and I should have them all pruned.

I woke up way too early this morning and I couldn't even blame Chelsea. We were on the street at about 5:30AM. So I took a nap this afternoon.

I finished another square on the church quilt tonight. I hope to complete one more before Monday when I turn it back over to the group. We want to be done by the end of July. Soon I will get a picture and post it here. Remember, you can always purchase raffle tickets.

From Celtic Christianity by Timothy Joyce. "There can always be a case of too much spirits in a pub, but you can also have too much religion in a church."

Wine belongs in both. I guess that maked Dick and me quite belong anywhere as we are little old winemakers.


Mary

Such a pleasant day. Chelsea and I got our walk in before the thunderstorms swept through the area. It seems that there are more people walking every day. Today the "team" which started out with just Terry and Mikki who live next door and accross the street respectively, added a fourth person. Pretty good. It is nice not to be out there alone.

The red-winged blackbird is still greeting us. I wrote a quatrain to him on Sunday while I was working at Rhine. I had forgotten it, along with my cup, so I picked it up this morning. Here it is.

He trills
Morning Friend
Red Winged Blackbird
Greets me each sunrise
Joy Song!

The storm stopped at about 8:30 so I was able to go out to Rhine and shoot two rounds for the Morning League. I got 15 on both of them. That seems to be where I have averaged out so I need to work my way up from there. Not too spectacular, I know, but I AM improving. Now I only have 50 more rounds to do and two weeks to do it in. That is nice if I don't want to shoot two next week, or if the weather turns bad as it has been doing.

This afternoon, Dick and I racked the Reisling and will be able to filter and bottle it next week. We will be racking the Luna Bianca probably tomorrow.

Tonight I worked on the church quilt. So it has been a busy one.

I was remembering two little stories of the faith of little children that I will share with you.

Years ago, Grandma Deeley made Care Bears for a couple of her grandchildren but not all. One day, shortly before my nephew Shane's birthday, Kathy, his mother, informed Grandma that Shane had told her that it was not necessary for Kathy to buy him a Care Bear because "Grandma is making me one." They got a great laugh from that and, Of course, Grandma made a Care Bear for Shane.

Something similar happened to me when my nephew Todd Hiner was a little guy. He informed his mother, Jacquie, that she did not have to buy him his baseball cleats because Aunt Mary was getting them. Whew, was I ever glad to find out. It would have been terribly embarrassing to show up for his birthday without them.

Dick and I went to the store and saw a sign for Condos off of Superior accross from Pine Hills. We drove through. The units looked nice, but we saw that there are no condo fees so we know that these will not do. We have no desire to be responsible for shoveling or mowing etc. We are planning on going back to condo living, now that Jim and Michelle will be together. They may join us in an adjoining unit if we can find the right arrangement. Without Jim, this house is too big and too much for Dick and me to handle.

Tomorrow we shop, then I can stay home ALL day. YIPPEE!!

Mary

Every morning Chelsea and I go for a walk.

When we get to the corner of Morning Dove Cove and Hunters Glen, we are greeted by a very chatty red winged blackbird. If he is not ON the signpost when we are turning the corner, I hear him coming stirring up enough racket to get our attention. Actually, Chelsea pays him no mind at all.

I really look forward to him now and will be devastated if he ever deserts me. I suppose he is just protecting a nest or something, but I much prefer believing that he is coming to say Hi and wish me a happy and pleasant day. I always wish him the same.

Here is a picture of my friend. Isn't he gorgeous?




Have a wonderful Monday. I am going to shoot the morning league at Rhine. Hope the rain holds off til afternoon as they are projecting.

Love

Mary

This was a definite Monday ALL DAY.

Bible study was quite stimulating. The readings were from Job, II Corinthians and Mark. We were so proud of ourselves because we figured out the correlation between the readings. In the first God is saying "Hey Job. I'm God. Can you put limits on the sea? Remember who I am." Corinthians reminds us that Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice and we can't come up with anything better so stop trying. The reading from Mark has Jesus calming the sea during the storm. We suddenly realized that, as terrified as the disciples were of the storm, it must have been pretty scary to have this guy called Jesus tell the storm "Peace, be still" and it was.

Tonight, I had to be at church at 5:30 to change the church decor to Green. It was actually pretty simple. We kept it that way. I took pictures right away. Now I can finish the Environment book, the disc and the picture album for Debbie and be done with it all.

I went right from that to St. Francis Chapel to help with the hand quilting of the Celtic quilt. When we finished this evening we checked out progress and discovered that we have about 20 of the 48 squares done so we are further along than we thougth. I brought it home this week to work a bit on it. I is beautiful. We even discussed what we want to do next year. When it is done, we will hang it in church along the St. Francis Chapel Grillwork. It has enough green and a cross or star or two so will fit just fine into the decor.

Tomorrow, I may put a picture on the blog for you of the quilt to this point. You can all buy chances you know. They are $1 each or 6 for $5.

I will also tell you a story with an accompanying picture tomorrow. I promise.

Tomorrow is a relatively quiet day and I discovered that I do not have to go out any more evenings this week.

"Still round the corner there may wait,
A new road, or a secret gate." J. R. R. Toklien

Mary

We had a tornado warning just as we were leaving for home from Bobbie and Bill's. Bobbie and Bill fixed a marvelous meal of barbequed chicken, pasta casserole and coca cola cake.

Anyway, the sirens started going off, so we headed out STAT to avoid any chance of hail or tornado.

This will be very short. I have one very exciting piece of news. Tonight, Jim and Michelle announced that they are officially engaged and Michelle is sporting an absolutely beautiful diamond.

Everybody is delighted. We have never seen Jim so happy.

Love

Mary

It was HOT HOT HOT today. We went on our bus tour to the Fireside to see Evita so were sheltered from it all day, but the thermometers on the way down and back showed temperatures of 87 and more. Of course, Bart and Barb would tell us that these are NOTHING compared to the plus 1oo degrees that they have been experiencing.

We are spoiled. We went from an air conditioned house, to an air conditioned car, to an air conditioned bus, to an air conditioned restaurant/theater and back again. Such a life.

The performance was wonderful. An extremely talented and enthusiastic troupe of performers who, from the leads to the ensemble, put their hearts and souls into every number. Evita is always moving and this is the play which has the song Another Suitcase in Another Hall properly sung by Peron's mistress as she is kicked out by Evita. I did not like the song being sung by Madonna, as Evita, in the movie. It ruined the whole point and I felt that she hogged it. Perhaps she was afraid of being upstaged.

The meal, as always was wonderful. They fix the best salads. This had a very delicate lemon vinegarette on fresh greens with avocado and grape tomatoes. We also had ribs and chicken and stuffed baked potato. Then WE were stuffed. It is cool that they send cookies with the buses for their trip home.

Got home at about 6:30PM and played some rummy with Jim and Michelle. Michelle whipped us all.

Sleep tight.

Mary

For some reason, it has seemed like Saturday all day today. It was well over 80 degrees and muggy. I had lunch in Plymouth with the Well Fargo ladies. Actually there were only three of us today but it was nice to get out and visit with Ceil and Barb. We always go to the Dairy Queen in Plymouth. They have great grilled cheese sandwiches. I had that and an order of onion rings.

I dropped the baby present for my nephew Todd and his wife Stacy's baby who is due next month. The baby shower is tomorrow and Dick and I are going to be seeing Evita at the Fireside, so I won't be able to go. I am really looking forward to the day. My friend Helen Morgan went to see the production at the Fireside and said that the woman who plays Evita is wonderful. We will be able to spend the $10 coupon that I won the last time we sent to the Fireside.

We had Swedish meatballs with noodles, stuffed mushrooms, cabbage and cole slaw for dinner. I made a bluberry pie but everybody but me was too full to eat. Jim and Michelle went to a movie and will probably have theirs when they get home tonight. Otherwise I will be eating a lot of pie. I DO love that pie as the blueberries are so crisp and juicy and they are really fresh, held together with a cooked sauce.

I trimmed the two bushes underneath the office window this afternoon. Now I can do the two next to the birdbath and be ready to start all over again. Actually, the major work is done and it will be a matter of just maintaining.

Dic I tell you that our peony bloomed. It is the most beautiful pink. I cut one and put it in a bowl on the table.

Have a great day tomorrow.

We will. The food at the Fireside is so good and I will bring home a couple of loaves of their wonderful bread.

Love

Mary

This day that was supposed to have "scattered showers" which turned into a steady downpour from 10:30AM to about 1:00 PM - just when I had gone out to Rhine to TRY to shoot for the morning league. I stayed until almost Noon, then gave up. I was hoping that I would be able to just shoot one round a week for the last four weeks. Now, I will have to shoot two, at least for one week.

I cleaned out the coat closet in the front entry hall. I have decided that keeping the boxes that things were given to me in is really silly. Lots of people thing it adds to the value of the piece if you ever decide to sell it, but why would I. Anyone who inherits it will either have to love it for what it is or just sell it without the original box. How much STUFF can a person keep?

We bottled the Wild Grape and Banana wine today. I got the wild grapes from Brian and Becky's land. I have named it Becky's Monkey Brew in honor of sweet Becky. It actually tastes pretty good now, which is unusual for a scratch wine. We will however let it age for a year as it DOES have a bit of a harsh undertone.

Tonight I went over to the Quilt Guild meeting to turn in my challenge block. The speaker was Klaudeen Hansen, a quilter, quilt teacher and quilt judge. She is one of only 70 accredited quilt judges in the United States. She said that she and the other judges are always giving classes to help train other judges. Her talk tonight was on log cabins. Her slide show consisted of actual log cabins interspersed with log cabin quilts in endless varieties shapes, colors and twists. I loved it. I will have to try one someday. I described to her the one that I saw on Simply Quilts that had a uniform fireplace piece (center) and then varying width logs. When each "square" is completed it is squared, then they are all sashed together. It is a marvelous concept and I thougth would be good for Bart if he chooses to do another as it is a very forgiving piece, not requiring matching and squaring up too much.

She told me she was invited to appear on Simply Quilts - BUT - she would have had to pay her own transportation, hotel, cab fare and meals. Then the show is scripted, you are not allowed to really say what you want so she passed.

So My day was busy. Tomorrow , we shop and Dick gets his finger pricked. The rest of the day is mine all mine.

Love

Mary

This day was one incident after another. When Chelsea and I were on our walk (a really lovely walk by the way) she found a dirt pile and rolled in it before you could say lemony snicket. I ended up having to give her a bath. The black streaks on her shoulders were bad enough but this was brown dirt all over her side, tummy and legs. I tried something new. I took her into the shower and used the telephone shower nozzle. It worked great. Guess what, Chelsea. No more sink. No more splattered windows. She was very disappointed in me.

Then Dick and I went to Mc Donalds in Plymouth for a late breakfast on our way to meet with Bill Cain, my realtor friend. This was a good part of the day. We are investigating the value of our house in anticipation of a possible move back into a condo in the next year or two. Bill gave us an informed evaluation and we were very pleased with the information that he was able to provide.

The more difficult part may be finding a condo (or two) that meets our needs.

Then I came home and attempted to water the plants. I found that Jim had replaced ONE of the couplings on the hose but the other one was broken too and he had not rehooked things. SO I made a trip over to Menards and got the piece I needed and got that all squared away. I got some more liquid fence at the same time, because I am determined to keep those darned rabbits away from my green beans.

I had a lunch meeting with Mary Pitsch who runs Next Stage Planning here in Sheboygan County. I received valuable information that I will have available to pass on to the Senior Saints in Sheboygan Falls. She provided evaluations, names and numbers for help in almost all aspects of aging. If needed she will come right with the senior to arrange or to handle the problems. She does, of course, charge for her services. But she works to help those who do not fit under the county, no fee, plans.

Then, I came back home and found that one of the Roombas is not working properly. I finally got the other one to function and at least the hall got vacuumed.

THEN, I discovered that the garbage disposal side of the sink was leaking. Apparently, when one leaves water in it soaking something, it leaks. I now have the cleanest under the sink in the county.

Bless Dick's heart, he took me out for dinner tonight. We went to Pa Thai, a Thai restaurant that we had heard good things about. We were not disappointed. Dick and I both ordered with medium hot sauce. It was spicy and we liked it but were sure glad that we chose not to get the hot sauce. I got a pork, almond dish and Dick got chicken fried rice. We have plenty for at least one more meal.

Now, I am trying to do some computer catching up. So far, the envelope program gave me fits and I am having trouble figuring out some aspects of Microsoft Publisher, which I will need in order to get my chap book published.

I think I am ready for tomorrow, today was just too much trouble.

Hope yours was MUCH better.

Mary

It was a lovely day today. The temperatures were only in the high 60s but the sun was shining, the skies were blue and the breeze was gentle and pleasant. So life was good.

I went to Bible Study by way of Mother's house. I cashed a check for her. When I got there she asked me to call to order some ostomy equipment for her. She hates getting on those phone calls where you have to press all the numbers and then wait through a concert to get to a real person. It turned out to be rather a disaster. First, they couldn't locate the number of the product that she needs, then they gave me a number to call that said they don't carry the brand she uses. So I finally had to call back and have her just try to order the number and name that Mom had before. I also found out that Medicare only lets her order 20 of her ostomy bags at a time. What a crock. A person uses one a day. I can't for the life of me figure out WHY they would not allow 30, just like pills. We will have to get a special request from her doctor and ask for a variance to change that. Her next physical is next month so we can try to rectify that at that time. I see no reason why a 90 year old little lady should have to be ordering a need every three weeks. Like Mom says, they aren't exactly black market items.

Writer's Club was very interesting. We had a new person come. A friend of Sylvia Bright Green. She writes mainly greeting card verses. She is very good and is trying to provide for two special markets, people in prison and people in hospice.

Tonight I did a bit of sewing with the Blessed TRinity Quilters. I now have TWO squares that I have to finish. It is coming along OK, but will take a while. Marlene brought a copy of the Quilters' Beatitudes

Blessed are the quilters, for they are the peacemakers.
Blessed are the quilters, for they shall make ends meet.
Blessed are the quilters, for they know how to cut corners.
Blessed are the quilters, for they keep us in stitches.
Blessed are the quilters, for they make great comforters.
Blessed are the quilters, for they patch things up.
Blessed are the quilters, for they save energy.
Blessed are the quilters, for they put color in our lives.

Enjoy

Mary

It was only 48 degrees when Chelsea and I walked this morning. Quite crisp. She got a second walk while I was gone to church. Jim and Michelle went out and invited her to go along. They think she is funny. Actually she is, but they experienced the rolling on the grass and her barking at dogs and announcing herself as she goes along. As Michelle says, her bark is not really that loud or impressive, so what the heck. Let her bark. She is VERY tired tonight.

The Lavender Scones that I made yesterday were delicious. I am looking for different recipies to try with herbs from my garden. Next week, I will try English Lemon Thyme Cookies. I harvested some rhubarb this afternoon too. I am freezing that as we have enough desserts right now and later on I will be able to just whip up a pie when no one is expecting it.

We are watching the Tony Awards. As usual, we don't know anything about many of the things out there, but this is how we find out and get kind of hip about it. It is always nice to see the legends. Frankly, Dick and I were both surprised that Patricia Neal is still living. An interesting note, she won a Tony about 60 years ago and it was stolen. They replaced it for her this year. Took them long enough if you ask me. I guess one just has to get old enough.

Perhaps we will get back to New York. I would like too as we couldn't go to Liberty Island, or up into the Empire State Building or several other places when we were there, because of 9-11. So I figure, I have one coming. Otherwise, often, these plays go on the road and then Maybe we can get to them.

Next Saturday, we are going to the Fireside to enjoy a great meal and Evita. One of my friends went to an earlier performance and said that the lead is just wonderful.


Have a good week. Tomorrow I will be going to Bible Study, Writer's Club and to sew on the church quilt. Remember. I will be selling raffle tickets for it. I will put a picture on the blog when we get it done and on display.

Love

Mary

It was chilly today. I don't believe the temperature got over 59 degrees. The sun was out which helped a bit but it was still much too cold. I did go out and trim one of the Yews and that darned tree/bush in front of the house. I only filled one trash bag. That is enough for one day anyway. If I can, I would like to do the two under the office window tomorrow. Otherwise, it will just have to wait until Wednesday when I have most of the day at home.

Dick and I did the second filtering of the 2year Currant wine. Now we can give it a couple of days and then bottle it. Tomrrow, we can do the second filtering of the Grape Banana. I am going to name it Becky's Going Bananas because I got the grapes from the back of Becky and Brian's place on Highway O.

We had spaghetti and salad for dinner tonight. I made it yesterday because it is always better the second day anyway. I had to go talk at church before Mass. I will have to talk before both Masses tomorrow also. BUT The choir is singing at the 8:00AM and I can leave right after I have my say at the beginning of the 10:30 so I will be home by 11:00. So we will have a nice brunch at about noon tomorrow. I made some Lavender Scones. They sure smell good. We will see if their taste comes up to the promise. I have sausage and bacon and eggs, so we should have a nice brunch.

Michelle and Jim volunteered at the MADD walk on the lakefront in Milwaukee this morning. They really enjoyed themselves though it was chilly. This was the first opportunity that Jim has had to do volunteer work in years. Working nights didn't give him much of an opportunity before.

It is not good form to pray that God let you win the race, but it can't hurt to pray for God to give you a little shove.

Love

Mary

It was chilly today. I don't believe the temperature got over 59 degrees. The sun was out which helped a bit but it was still much too cold. I did go out and trim one of the Yews and that darned tree/bush in front of the house. I only filled one trash bag. That is enough for one day anyway. If I can, I would like to do the two under the office window tomorrow. Otherwise, it will just have to wait until Wednesday when I have most of the day at home.

Dick and I did the second filtering of the 2year Currant wine. Now we can give it a couple of days and then bottle it. Tomrrow, we can do the second filtering of the Grape Banana. I am going to name it Becky's Going Bananas because I got the grapes from the back of Becky and Brian's place on Highway O.

We had spaghetti and salad for dinner tonight. I made it yesterday because it is always better the second day anyway. I had to go talk at church before Mass. I will have to talk before both Masses tomorrow also. BUT The choir is singing at the 8:00AM and I can leave right after I have my say at the beginning of the 10:30 so I will be home by 11:00. So we will have a nice brunch at about noon tomorrow. I made some Lavender Scones. They sure smell good. We will see if their taste comes up to the promise. I have sausage and bacon and eggs, so we should have a nice brunch.

Michelle and Jim volunteered at the MADD walk on the lakefront in Milwaukee this morning. They really enjoyed themselves though it was chilly. This was the first opportunity that Jim has had to do volunteer work in years. Working nights didn't give him much of an opportunity before.

It is not good form to pray that God let you win the race, but it can't hurt to pray for God to give you a little shove.

Love

Mary

I am just going to quickly post because the thing is scanning and not behaving properly.

I had lunch in Plymouth today and I stopped at Sun Graphics to do a bit more research on what I will need to do to get my poetry book printed. Then I swung by the Sheboygan County Research Center to talk to Beth and to give her some brochures for the Celtic Women's Conference in October. We had a great visit. I e-mailed Mike Shea to see if he will be home this summer and if he is could he say Mass at the "reunion" that occurs each year at St. Michael's near Parnell.

I also cleaned out the closet off the wash room. I took EVERYTHING out and scrubbed the floors and even got rid of a couple of things.


Now I will sign off because I don't know what is happening with the scan and all.

Love

Mary

Dick and I hooked up the hoses in the front and back yard today. Good thing. I will have to be watering the plants on the pole in the front yard soon and often. They are beautiful (Gerber Daisies as I said) but they become quite delicate and droop very dramatically when they get dry. (It is almost tempting to let them dry just to watch them perk up when you water them.)

We also went grocery shopping this morning. I cleaned the bathrooms and worked on the banner a bit. I hope to get it assembled by Monday. Then I can layer the backing the sizing and the top for quilting.

I stopped at Mother's before the choir party. We had a good laugh. She has a book on herbs that gives little history and old uses for various herbs. She planted fennel this year and one of the uses for it was to ward off witches and evil spirits. People would put bunches of it over their doors and plug their keyholes with the stuff.

BUT the one that really got me was for lavendar. I skimmed it and saw a poultice for sciatica and read on because, of course, I thought it might be good for Dick. However, here is the recipe - what do you think.

Boil three puppies in oil, add 1 pound of earthworms, 1 cup lavendar, 1 cup rosemary and 2 cups of a couple of other herbs (I was in stitches by now) To this paste you add wild mustard and more oil ( I think). Who would EVER think of such a thing. I wonder if any idiot really tried it.

We had a nice end of season choir party with the Kindercore too. Beth got pizza and make your own sub and make your own sundae fixings. It was all very good and we had a bit of a practice after we were done. We are singing at the 8:00AM Mass for the graduates. I have to try to recruit a couple of more leaders for the Environment Committee at all the masses this weekend. It is my (as Dick says) last hurrah for that committee. I have one more page to complete for the book I prepared and two sets of pictures to put on the Disc.

Tomorrow I will have lunch with my friends in Plymouth.

Have a good one.

Mary

Went out to shoot the morning league today. Not so successful as last week. The first round was not too bad. I shot a 15 but the second, I could not get down. As Doc said, I was not concentrating. I didn't follow through and was behind on a lot of shots. Anyway I only got an 11 on that. Well, next week will come and I will try again.
It was beautiful anyway. The scattered showers they predicted did not come and the sun was shining while I was shooting.

I finished the hand sewing on the Celtic Banner. Now comes the challenge of assembling, layering and quilting. I like it but the big Hand of God definately has to be outlined in a dark brown machine applique to give it character. I am going to give Him a sleeve too. It has been fun. If it is liked, I may make a companion piece - a High Cross - for next year.

There is an Irish thought that as you can have too much spirits in the pub, you can also have too much religion in the church. I don't know why that seemed important to me tonight but for some reason - balance and reason itself are on my mind these days. There is all this talk about making an amendment banning gay marriage. I find this difficult. On one hand, marriage, by it's definition means the union of man an woman to start a family. On the other hand there is a percentage of our population who are homosexual and still deserve the right to pledge to each other and - yes- to come together as a family. What is family but a place where one is loved, cared for and accepted. Tis a puzzle and until my questions are answered, I believe that an Amendment would be wrong.

Love

Mary

We are under either a thunderstorm or a tornado watch until 11:15PM. Actually it is not raining at all right now but the conditions are right. It did rain off and on most of the day starting at about 10:00AM. As I write this blog, thunder is rolling across the sky towards the lake.

We went to Dick's foot doctor, Dr. Hodous, today. He worked a bit on the callous that has been getting blood blisters. It is just about healed. I hope we can keep it from building up and causing all that trouble. We see Dr. Hodous in two months.

I got my haircut later in the morning and then spent the rest of the day finishing up projects on the computer. I spent the evening sewing on my Celtic banner while I watched two reruns of House that I had not seen before. I kind of got hooked on that show after it had been on for a while.

Tomorrow, baring rain, I will go out to Rhine to shoot in the morning league that John and Doc started.

That's all folks.

Love

Mary

I went out and trimmed the New Guinnea Impatiens today. I found out Sunday that I will really have to watch them. They dry out very quickly and droop quite dramatically when they are dry. I watered them really good on Sunday and will hit them again tomorrow morning though they are predicting rain on Tuesday afternoon. I don't want to take a chance. I have to water them in the morning as the hot sun is on them in the afternoon and it is not a good time to be soaking therm.

Bible study this week was quiet though our discussions were lively. The readings were lovely talking about God's love for us and the fact that we have been adopted as children of God - a theme that runs through this year's cycle of readings. I especiall liked the first line of the Old Testament reading . It was speaking of the release of the Jewish people from their Egyptian exile. Deuteronomy 4:32. "Ask now of the days of old before your time, ever since God created man upon the earth; ask from one end of the sky to the other: Did anything so great every happen before? Was it ever heard of?" Isn't that impressive. It reminds me of the saying that goes somewhat like this. "Stop telling the storm how big your God is. Start telling the storm how big is your God."

Bobbie and I went to Rhine Plymouth for the regular meeting tonight. It went quite quickly as I was home before nine. Now I have the minutes to transcribe and will be done for a few weeks.

Tomorrow a haircut and doctor's appointment in the morning and then nothing in the evening. BOY am I ever glad of that.

Have a nice Tuesday. We had turkey burgers and creamed green beans for supper tonight. Num Num. I have some browned ground turkey that I thought I might make tostadas with for tomorrow's supper. Doesn't that sound good. Cooking for two gets really tricky. I like some leftovers but don't like to eat the same thing for too many days in a row.

Love

Mary