What a nice day. It was hot though, highest temps being in the upper 80s. It would be Indian Summer except that we have not had a freeze yet and that is one of the criteria.

Dick opened the door to the bedroom at 6:30AM and Chelsea bounded up onto the bed and woke me out of a very deep sleep, I could even remember the last part of the dream that I was in the middle of. I was telling some little girl that it was alright that she could not understand something yet. That in a year she would. I told her about trying to read some book when I was her age and could not get it but that a year later I loved it. WHAT did that mean?

Then Dick took his nap and Chelsea went with him so I had a couple of hours alone. So I baked the pumpkin pie with the fresh pumpkin that I had cooked and pureed yesterday. I had mentioned to Bobbie yesterday that I was going to do so and that she and Bill were welcome to join us for dessert. She called this afternoon and they WERE able to come. Boy was it a good pie. I tell you anything from "fresh" or from scratch is usually best.

I finished sewing the lapels on four CWI sweatshirt jackets and cut out the collars. I should have them done by mid week. The upcoming week is so quiet. We do not have even one doctor appointment. I can hardly believe that. We do have to have a lab test done. I don't know if we could just go cold turkey.

We had the stew for supper again tonight. Boy am I glad I found THAT recipe.

I wrote the following poem at a writer's class that was taught by Ellen Kort, Wisconsin's poet laureate. I had submitted it in the Jade Ring contest for WRWA. That contest was over last weekend. I had mentioned the poem to Joanne, one of my fellow 1958 graduates, and told her I would print it here when the contest was over. So here it is.

SHE WAITS

by Mary J. Kunert

I am weary with the burden of time.
My mind feels young but tires too soon
Because my body lets me down
Before I am done with a task.

What is this new me?
This skin that's parchment thin
This hair that's white and sparse
This unsteadiness of feet and gait.

He went ahead, you know,
And left me here to wait.
But I know that he hovers near
Just barely out of reach.

One day, he will appear again.
One day, reach out his hand
And say to me, “That's long enough
You come along with me.”

And I will join him, young and vital,
And walk with him to the place
That has been promised
And we will be forever.

Make your Sunday special.

Mary

I woke up this morning feeling pretty good considering that is is the second day of my cold. I slept like a rock for 9 hours which helped a LOT.

Chelsea and I had a nice walk and then I got right into cleaning the kitchen and putting a stew into the crock pot. Up until a few years ago, my stews were notorious for being really disappointing, but NOW I have two stews that taste very good. One I found a couple of years ago and this one just recently.

All you do is put stew meat, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, potato, salt, pepper, tomato paste, oregano and beer in the crock pot and cook it for 6 to 8 hours on low. Then mix some flour and melted butter and let cook until thickened. It is marvelous.

I went to a workshop on Stretching your Food Dollar today at 10AM. I learned quite a bit. Much of the tips I know and am already using or have found don't really work for us. I am also in a drawing for a shopping spree at the Pig in Sheboygan Falls. The odds are pretty good they are picking four and there were only 16 attendees at the workshops. Cross your fingers, it would really be fun. I told Dick, if I am drawn, he can't be my partner, I need someone faster. I thought I might ask Bobbie.

I mailed Bret his fudge today and sent a couple of books, mine and the one of my Dad's poems, to my friend Janet in Costa Mesa. I hope she enjoys them.


Maxine on 'Technology Revolution' 'My idea of rebooting is kicking somebody in the butt twice.'

The above was part of a plug to nominate Maxine for president.

Have a great weekend.

Mary

Well, the allergy that I thought that I had has blossomed into a rotten cold. I am not happy. Actually, I can't remember when I had a cold last.

We stayed home all day today. When I talked to Bret the other day, he put in a request for fudge. Naturally, I can't resist my boys, so today I made a batch and will send most of it to him tomorrow. I also put my pie crust together and baked the pumpkin that I picked up when I went to the Pumpkin Farm with Jim and Michelle. We are having pumpkin pie this weekend.

I did some sewing today too.

Now I am really exhausted as I have been sneezing most of the day. SO this is about all you are getting today.

I am now going to take Chelsea out for her last walk of the day, go to bed and sip a cup of herbal tea. That should relax me.

Have a good day tomorrow and stay well. Colds are sneaky.

Mary

Just got home from Seussical. It was quite a production. A HUGE cast. There is a lot of talent in Sheboygan. I am glad they turned out in force for this one. Seussical was on Broadway in 2001 and ran for 179 performances. It is lively and a nice compilation of Dr. Suess's stories. It revolves around Horton the Elephant. I wish they had showed the Elephant bird. But it was still a lot of fun.

We went grocery shopping this morning. We decided to go to Sheboygan Falls to the Point for breakfast as we are tired of Mc Donalds and the Family Restaurant. There are two other places in Plymouth that serve breakfast BUT one allows smoking and the other is the Exchange Bank which is a Coffee House and Dick is not really happy with it. Anyway, we went to the Point and were very happy with it.

I did a LOT of computer work today. I am down to one project, a summary of how to start a CWI branch (with the suggestions that I used anyway).

At 4:00 I picked up Market Day and then we got ready to go and pick up Mom for dinner and Seussical. We went to Richards for dinner. It was very pleasant. I had scallops, Dick had steak and Mom had the seafood platter. They have wonderful fresh dill rolls and crisp fresh salads. The scallop special says that it is deep fried, but they were sweet enough to saute them for me as deep fried does not set well for me.

Anyway, it was a good day. And I am up VERY late for me. Tomorrow is supposed to be clear and sunny warm. I am kind of looking forward to a warm day and I don't have to go anywhere tomorrow. The next day will be busy though.

I love going to dinner and the theater. I remember taking Bret to see Fiddler on the Roof at a dinner theater when he was about 10. We had front row seats and he loved it. The bottle dance just blew him away. I must ask him if he remembers that.

Have a nice Thursday. I will be baking and cooking.

Love

Mary

The end of another busy day.

It was foggy most all of the morning, despite the fact that the weather people said it would be cleared up by 10AM. Chelsea and I, however, did not let that bother us.

Dick had two medical appointments today. First we saw Dr. Hodous at 10AM to have his calousses checked. He trimmed them. One is slowly healing, one is almost gone and the worst one is not growing, so I guess that is good. Then we went to see Sue at the Anticoagulation Clinic. His count is perfect again. So we are home free until after the next surgery unless he gets another infection and has to take antibiotics.

We swung by Kurt and Jody's house and gave little Sean his blanket. I also bought two cans of caramel corn with peanuts in it from Brandan, the scout. He is quite a little man. It would not surprise me at all if he continues with scouting and goes on to Eagle like his daddy did.

Our Water Pick had died, so we stopped on the way home and picked up a new one. Then home for the day. I baked a loaf of bread and worked on the desk and computer most of the rest of the afternoon.

Tonight I watched Bones and Dancing with the Stars. I don't like much that is on. It is unusual to have two shows I like on the same evening.

An old proverb says that "You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother." They were speaking of my mother. I remember one incident when Bart, my staunch Republican son, was going to talk about something to his carved in stone Democratic grandmother. He told me he wanted to discuss this with her but needed more facts before he tried.

Yesterday, we were talking about blankies. Bart had a bunny. It started out as a yellow Easter bunny and ended up a gray smelly blob. But he loved it. We went on a jeep camping trip one weekend and he dropped it at a place we stopped to get our bearings. He was heartbroked. Then, some of the kids went out riding on their mini bikes. As they were coming back into camp we heard them shouting, We found bunny! we found bunny! He ran towards them and Danny pulled bunny off of the back of the bike. As she handed it to him, they realized that it was smoking. She had carried it back resting on the muffler and it got so hot it started on fire. We had not choice but to have a funeral.

Several months later, Bart told our friend Orrin Nordin that he wanted to go back out there and dig Bunny up.


Love

Mary

Here is the quilt that I made for new baby Sean. Happiness is a warm baby.

Mary

Another full day. Chelsea and I were lucky again. It rained during the night. We went for our walk between the storms, by the time I left for bible study at 9AM it was just pouring. I live walking in the fall of the year. It is usually cool but not too cold. Of course, there is the fact that it is starting to stay dark a bit later too. Pretty soon, I will just take her out front to do the necessary stuff and then we will take a walk after my shower and breakfast.

Bible study was interesting. I mentioned to one of our people that apple cider vinegar and honey would probably help her husband clear up his sinuses and she mentioned that a friend of hers takes apple cider vinegar and honey for the symptoms of menopause. That old Vermont Folk Medicine is interesting. I am going to start taking it every day. Must tell Bret to try it too. I called him last night and he has a sinus infection.

We worked on Dick's legs this afternoon AND cut his hair. Tomorrow we see Dr. Hodous and Sue at the Anticoagulation Clinic just before noon. Then I am going to go over to Kurt and Jody's house to drop off the quilt that I made for Sean, the newest munchkin. I will put a picture on the blog.

Tonight I had to go to Rhine Plymouth for the monthly meeting. Dennis Behr, our Vice President, ran the meeting and zipped through things fast enough that I was home by 8:15PM

I fixed a potato salad this morning. Took some to Mother along with some soup and the Sunday casserole. She is always delighted to get casseroles because she never makes them. I told her I was glad I had someone to share with or it probably wouldn't be practical for Dick and me either.

I showed her the blanket and we reminisced about our "blanket babies." George, my brother, had a blanket when he was little. We both remember him napping beside the washing machine and lying under the clothes line when it became too stinky to bear.

Bret had a blanket too. I remember vividly the day I "killed" it. It was all worn and faded. The satin binding was lost except for one side which was hanging on by only threads. I asked him if it was all right if I tore that raggedy piece off of the blanket. He said OK. I asked him again and even kind of showed him what I was going to do. He agreed. So I did it.

His eyes got wide with shock and he wailed, "What did you do to my blankie" He did survive though. I wonder if he remembers.

Be good and remember: "If raising children was going to be easy, it never would have started with something called labor."

Actually, I remember saying to Dr. Roper when I was hours into delivering Bret that I was really tired and he said, "That's why they call it labor."

Love

Mary

A Good Sunday. The Packers Won!!! And Favre beat the record he has been creeping up on- most touchdown passes in a career.

I got up at 6 to walk Chelsea so I could get to the 8AM Mass on time. Fr. Van Beeck spoke today about St. John's collaboration with St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Elkhart Lake. Their collaboration will take place next May 31. A year behind the Kohler/Sheboygan Falls one. I guess the diocese is not up to too much going on in one area at one time. I found out today that Bishops are also becoming scarcer. Archbishop Dolan will now be the administrator of the Green Bay diocese as well as the archbishop of the Milwaukee diocese. I wonder why they did not just send Bishop Sklba. Oh well, what do I know. Perhaps he is earmarked for something else.

Bobbie and I were assigned to work at Rhine today. It was totally dead because of the Packer game so the guys told us to go home at about 1:30. That was nice. I finished the quilt for little Sean. I will take it to show Mother tomorrow and then figure out how to get it to him. It is very cheerful and soft.

Bobbie and I were talking tonight about recipes. I remembered a meal that my cousin Patty had cooked for us when she and her girls stayed with me when I lived in California. It was something that she learned from my Grandma Deeley. Patty and her brother Doug were raised at Grandma and Grandpa Deeley's by that whole crew from the time that Patty was about 2 or three when her mother died. That is a whole other story.

Patty wanted to cook this meal so we got a nice pork roast, which is the base of the meal and some white bread which we dried out a bit. She took the bread and soaked it in milk. Then she squeezed the milk out of the bread and put the bread in a bowl with eggs and pepper and added a bit of flour, kind of to feel, so that it would form nicely. Then she make dumplings of the mixture and plastered them all over the salted and peppered roast. The whole thing went into the oven in a roasting pan until the roast is done. Cook according to pork road directions. You have to throw out the milk which is really salty and icky. She called it pork with bread dumplings. The dumplings are great with gravy on them and then if there are leftovers you can slice them and fry them in butter the next day and they taste wonderful.

I must try again. Patty is gone now too and I never got the exact ingredient proportions so it is a bit of a guess.

Tomorrow is October already. Enjoy your week.

Mary

Well, it was a nice Saturday. Guess what, I am almost done with little Sean's quilt. I am determined to finish whip stitching the binding before Monday morning so that I can show Mother and then take it over to the little munchkin himself. It is a very cheerful quilt and I am backing both this one and the one for Becky's bagy with flannel so they are nice and cuddly for the little people.

Jim and Michelle and I went to the pumpkin farm today. We went to a place south on Hwy 57 where Jim and Michelle had gone to one cold winter morning when the car died on their way to work and Jim, in below zero weather at something like 5:30AM had run over to this house and they let him stay until help came. Jim and Michelle had told them that they would be back when the pumpkin farm opened and so they did. I bought a nice big pumpkin for the front and two others that are cooking pumpkins. Next weekend I will bake and cook one of them. The other cooking pumpkin is a green Australian strain. It can be indoor or cooked, so I will put it out on the porch too. I intend to carve them the week before Halloween, otherwise they will spoil before it even gets here.

I made a pear Waldorf Salad today. Boy is that good. I used some diced pears that I had cooked in a sugar vanilla water to soften and added chopped celery and walnuts. Then I added mayonnaise to the works . We had leftover teriaki steak and fried rice to go with it.

When Bret was just a baby he got asthma. That was really scary. For the first 10 years of his life, every time he got any congestion it turned into asthma and if not arrested soon enough he ended up with broncpheumonia. One day, when he was about 11 years old, he came to me with the most worried look on his face. He said "Mom, I think you should take me to the doctor." I asked him what was wrong and he said. "I can't breath through my nose." All I could do was laugh. I explained to him that for the first time in his life, the congestion that was building up in his body was coming out instead of running down the back of his throat and pooling in his lungs. Isn't that something to have your first plugged up or runny nose when you are 11 or 12 years old.

Have a nice Sunday

Mary

This morning I got to sleep until 6:30AM. Of course, Chelsea TRIED to get me up at a little after 5AM but I gave her some lettuce and shut her out of the bedroom. Then Dick got up sometime later and kept her in the office again. We figure 6:30 is about as late as we want to push her. The walk was perfect. Trees along the park and railroad tracks are turning beautiful big splotches of color. The sun was shining on an bank of them and it was breathtaking.

Then I cleaned the kitchen. I called my friend Kate and Ron is no longer running fevers but is still so very thin and weak. Pray for him.

I cleaned my gun today too.

Had lunch with my Wells Fargo friends today. There were only four of us there today. We fluxuate between four and eight.

Tonight Bobbie and I worked at Rhine. I got the gun room. On league night that is an adventure though not as big an adventure as a Lewis Shoot. We started out very slowly. I even got to shoot my pistol league before we really got started. I am not doing TOO well. But each week is either stable of better than the week before. My competition, Lil Meerstein, is kicking butt. She seems to have GOTTEN it.

Then at about 7:30PM things really began to hop. We ended up with about 40 rounds being shot. Then it got a little long. Everybody was having such a good time and hung around longer than Bobbie and I cared for. We stayed until 9:30 and then hinted to Jimmy that we would like to go home. He was then able to handle the bar and we had counted both the gunroom and the bar moneyso he just had to dish out beer and close up.

I also worked on one of the baby quilts and should finish it by Monday.


I sent the following on to many of you,but it is funny enough to share with the rest of you.

A Woman's Poem

He didn't like the casserole
And he didn't like my cake.
He said my biscuits were to hard...
Not like his mother used to make.
I didn't perk the coffee right
He didn't like the stew,
I didn't mend his socks
The way his mother used to do
I pondered for an answer
I was looking for a clue.

Then I turned around and smacked the shit out of him.

Just like his mother used to do.

I remember in my first marriage that I tried to darn my husband's socks. I did an absolutely beautiful job and the next time he wore them he wore holes in new spots so you KNOW I never did that again.

Love

Mary

It was a comfortable day today. We had a thunderstorm roll through late this afternoon which dropped a bit of rain, but not enough to be a problem. The temperatures were very nice. I woke up about 6:30. Dick had Chelsea shut up in the office so she was VERY glad to see me. We had a lovely walk. Did not run into anybody, though I did see Tim from a distance.

Then as we were home all day, or so was the plan, I dabbled in things. I cleaned the bathrooms, washed the downstairs windows outside and Dick and I bottled 10 bottles of Banshee Blood. We are finally starting to get caught up on the wine. Tomorrow we will rack the lemon balm into a secondary fermenter. Then we need to get to work on the other three small batches that are in the works.

We ended up having go go to Office Max to pick up labels for the wine. We HAD to go today because the White Zin and the Banshee Blood LOOK very much alike and we did not want to take a chance on getting them mixed up. On the way home we stopped at The Family Restaurant for lunch. We had enough left for dinner so I had a very easy afternoon.

I cleaned my pistol this evening. It was due. Now I have to go to Gander Mountain to replace some of my cleaning supplies and buy some ammo.

Years ago, I took a quilting class when I was living in California. I did not do much with it. We made three projects. Pillow tops. One was and applique, one a Cathedral Window and I don't remember the third, but it WAS fun. Even then I liked to design my own. I remember that I made an applique wall hanging of a turtle. Wonder what eve happened to that. I also designed a quilt for Bret like a big jeep. That I know wore out. I do like to make up my own patterns. They don't always come out like I want but it is more fun.

Tomorrow is Friday already. WHEW!!


Mary

I guess because I am making baby quilts I am thinking about babies and my children when they were growing up.

For some reason, today I remembered how fragile children, even the most loved, are about their car. I remembered that when Bret was just little, perhaps three, there was a commercial on TV about a germ that acted much like "pong". It made noised like they used in Psycho and bounced all over the screen. This germ was active. Bret used to come running to me and I had to hold him and reassure him that there was nothing to be afraid of.

Then Bart came along and there was a commercial that said "Do you know where your children are?. Bart would come running to me and I would have to sit with him and hold him and reassure him that I, indeed, did know where he was.

Aren't little people funny?

Today was full but gentle. We went grocery shopping, breakfast and the bank this morning. For the first time we could turn in our Pig Points. I got $1.00 off on 11 gallons of gas. Pretty good. Now I will be watching the specials much more closely as we have the station right next to the grocery store.

I cut the backing and batting for the quilts and pinned one of them. Tomorrow I can start the assembly.

We had hamburgers and veggies for supper. I made donuts in my donut maker today. I'll bet you didn't know I had one of those. I got it, probably, 30 years or more ago and have used it, maybe, 5 times. I don't know why I don't use it more often. Probably because it is a bit time consuming as you can only do two donuts at a time. I think I will bit the bullet and try the bagel recipe next week.

I also cooked up a batch of vegetable soup.

Tomorrow I am going to bake some Irish Brown Bread. The yearning for it is in my head and won't be satisfied until I have it.

Tomorrow, we don't have to go ANYWHERE. Isn't that unique?

Love

Mary

Clouds in the heavens
Look like marshmallows floating
On blue chocolate milk.

Another productive day. Dick and I went to Aurora to talk the June in the Diabetes department. She reviewed our status and progress. We have another meeting. Meeting Seven on October 7. I will have to miss Bible Study that morning but Dick's health is more important.

It was kind of rainy and kind of warm today. Not really very much either actually.

I put the final border on the baby quilts this morning. This afternoon I got my hair cut and went to the Sewing Basket to pick up a new blade for my rotary cutter.

We had teryaki steak, fried rice and steamed broccoli for supper. I marinated venison steaks in soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar and ginger. Boy is it ever good. Dick says he likes venison that way. I have found several ways to prepare it that he likes. Good thing because we get some every year and it is very healthy and good for us.

I was watching something with people in pools and it reminded me of Bart when he was little. For a while he was afraid of pools. Then we started going to a public pool during the summers. They had a false floor in the shallow end of the pool which made it only about 18 inches deep. It took a while to convince him to get in at all but when he did and realized how shallow it was, he looked at me in total joy and said. "They put in a floor, just for me."

In time he became a regular fish in the water, as was Bret. Eventually, they would want to jump off of the high dive into the deep pool. I always made them prove to me that they could swim the whole length of the long pool without going to the side to rest before I let them try that. Then I would tell them to go and ask the life guard if it was OK that they do it. I figured that the life guard would watch them really close, at least the first time, and if they got scared or in trouble he would be ready to help.

Guess that's all for today. Bobbie and Bill are home safe and sound and Bobbie said that they had a good time.

Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite.

Love

Mary

We had a lively bible study this morning. Helen Maurer came up with a good question. Are there prophets today? It seems to us that there must be. But there are a lot of charlatans out there too. Because of that and a general feeling of maybe too much practicality, I would think people who might have the gift would be reluctant to tell anybody.

There are people who see spirits too. I have a friend who does. I have no reason to disbelieve her. Perhaps you would feel differently but since I believe that we live beyond our death and that heaven is not a "place" as such, we just move to a different plane.

After bible study I stopped to visit Mother. I took her some of my mini-stuffed peppers and a loaf of pear bread. She has a quiet week this week. Just the meals for the elderly tomorrow and then on Thursday she gets her hair cut.

I picked up the flannel backing for the baby quilts and the batting. I should be able to finish one of them this week because I have a rather quiet week too.

Bobbie and Bill come home tomorrow so we fed the kitties for the last time for a while. They are getting very friendly and cuddly. Perhaps I can bring them home some day.

I have started a poem. It is rather rough yet but I will bounce it off of you. It is autumn and one must try to take inspiration where one can.

The trees are full of color
Like an artist's palette with no rhyme or reason
The joy of the season is reflected in the hues
Of the trees as we drive through country roads

I store these colors and this beauty in the recesses of my soul
To comfort and warm me when the cold stark white and gray
Of winter threaten to overcome me and leave me empty.

Mary

What a weekend. The Badgers won last night and the Packers won this afternoon.

This morning I got up early to go to the 8AM Mass. Fr. Van Beeck is very clever. When we studied this last Monday, we had to check the notes to see what some of the archaic words that Amos used meant. Fr. Van Beeck defined them BEFORE we heard the reading, then talked about it. It was about merchants cheating their customers but he pointed out that this is the seventh commandment - Thou shalt not steal. One thing he said that stuck. When we are overcharged, we are quick to notice and ask for our due. What about when we are accidentally undercharged.

We had a nice Sunday breakfast. Chelsea LOVES Sunday breakfasts. There are always nice egg bits and pieces of toast or breakfast meats left on the plates for her.

I went out to Rhine today to shoot my league pistol. A friend, Nancy Roehre, I think I mentioned this, went with me. We had a great time. First we went down to shoot pistol. I gave her basic instructions in safety and in what to do. Then I shot my first league (which was awful) and she shot. She only hit the target once on the first time. My second and third targets were much better. I think I was so distracted with my teaching that I was not concentrating. No excuse, just a reason. We all know that I am easily distracted.

Nancy did much better on her second and third rounds too. She hit the target three times the second time and had a nice cluster of maybe 7 on the third. She liked it and we will do that again. Then we went upstairs and got a coke and watched the game for a bit until a team went out to shoot trap. We went outside to watch them. She had lots of questions. Fortunately Doc was there to help me answer them. She asked how heavy the guns are so when the shooters came off the line, I asked Jim Willfahrt to let her heft his gun. He was more than willing and then offered to let her shoot a couple of rounds to see how it works. He took her out and with his instruction, shot twice and actually hit the second one. We were all cheering.

I think I may have someone to shoot with, maybe only occasionally, but she likes it.

Home again, Dick and I headed to Bobbie and Bill's and took care of my sweet kitties. Then home again. Yesterday, when I was over at Jim and Michelle's to pick up the wonderful gift bags that they gave me, I mentioned that I had assembled an enchalada stack for supper tonight and they both moaned like Chelsea does when I am fixing food. SO I invited them for dinner. We had the stacks, and refried beans and salad with ice cream and strawberries for dessert. I also put out the pear bread as Jim had mentioned that some nuts did not seem to be bothering him any more. This had pecans in it and he was able to eat it without apparent problems. So I sent some home with them.

Now we are all wound down.

By the way - a commercial. St. John the Baptist Church has a yearly Super Raffle. Each member of the parish gets 5 tickets. They sell for $20. However, the top prize is $10,000 and there are 41 other prizes starting at $2000 and going down to $100. So there are 42 chances to win more than one spends. Better odds than the lottery. Let me know if you are interested.

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

I am REALLY good at remembering words to songs if you need a friend like that.

Love

Mary

This turned out to be quite a day. I did sleep a little late. The weather was very comfortable after the rain and lightening of last night. It was supposed to be warm but never got over 72 or something like that.

My intention was to stay home ALL day and it almost worked. I spent the morning almost finishing the second baby quilt top. They look nice and cheerful. I just have to put the border on and assemble. I will stop on the way home from Bible Study on Monday to pick up the batting and see if I find some fun backing. I want to back them in flannel so it will be nice and warm for the babies.

I looked up my frog on the net. There are great sources that describe frogs. He is a Cope's Gray Tree Frog. They are little, 1 3/4 to 2 inches, and are green except during the mating season. This explains how he gets up on the deck. Tree Frogs climb.

I weeded out a few of the pots on the deck and harvested my teeny weeny green bell peppers. Teeny weeny or not, I stuffed them for dinner tonight. Pretty good dinner too. We had them with leftover Brussels sprouts and coleslaw.

Dick and I bottled the White Zinfindal wine today. That is the biggest batch, 5 gallons. Now I have current and choke cherry ready for bottling too. I also have dandelion and another current that have to be racked some more.

Now for the excitement of the day. Dick and I were getting ready to go to Bobbie and Bill's to feed the kitties and bring in the mail and paper at about 2:30 when the doorbell rang. It was our neighbor Dick Kastberg. I was inviting him in when he asked if I could take him to the hospital. His left arm was tingling and he didn't feel right. He had a heart attack two months ago and had a stent put in at that time. So, I grabbed my purse and drove him over to Aurora Urgent Care. After a bit, they asked if I would come in and sit with him. So I did. I stayed and tried to cheer him up until his girlfriend got there. Doctor Dean (I think he remembered me too from my Sweetheart's days at Urgent care getting those intravenious antibiotics.) came and talked to him while I was still there after he got all the test results. He did not believe there was an incident but the symptoms mean something so he wants him to see his cardiologist as soon as possible.

Tiffany was working. She is a really neat nurse who took care of My Guy during those days. She did a double take when she saw me and then another one when she saw who I was with. So I assured her that Dick is OK and that I was just helping out a neighbor.

So, I got home about 4 and we headed right over to Sheboygan to take care of my sweet kitties. Boy were THEY glad to see us. I hope I am feeding them the right amount. Being as we only go once a day, I am feeding them double what I used to give them at each session. They are not objecting.

When we got home, I had a message from Michelle. She invited me next door for a surprise that they had picked up for me today. So. I zipped right on over. Bet you never expected that.

They had gone to a Women's Fair where they gave away really neat stuff. So they got three of each. One set just for me. There are candies, tea, pens, a pillcase/light, aroma therapy kit and lots of other really really fun stuff. Including silly putty. Thank you. Thank you. Jim and Michelle for thinking of me.

So. It was quite a day. Hope yours was good. Even going to the hospital was not bad because Dick IS OK.

Take care

Love

Mary

Dick made Chelsea leave me alone this morning until 6:30AM. So I got quite a good night's sleep, except for one point in the middle of the night when I woke up with my hips aching again. I got up and moved a bit and then went back to bed with a pillow to help position myself and finally got back for a second really good half of the night.

We had a nice walk as the air was cool and comfortable and there were few mosquitoes.

Dick had Chelsea take a nap with him after breakfast so I had almost two undisturbed hours to get the kitchen cleaned and to add the yeast to the lemon balm.

Had lunch with the Wells Fargo people. Actually we are all retired now or work for other companies, but that IS our common bond. It is nice to have a day to meet with other gals and just talk about whatever. One has to eat anyway and it is a pleasant break.

I left at 2PM to take care of kitties at Bobbie and Bill's house. The plants did not need any water. Roxie and Oscar are glad to see me. Dick says it is just because I am the food ticket. Oscar sat in my lap for a long time today and purred his little heart out. I stayed until 3:15 and then make my way over to the Stephanie Weill Center to see the movie World Trade Center which was sponsored by the Sheboygan "Brat Cops".

They did it as a fundraiser for the Sheboygan County Red Cross and had a brat fry across the street to raise money.

I was impressed to learn, that after 9-11 the Sheboygan Police and Firemen decided to do fundraising to help the families of the Firemen and Policemen who lost their lives on that awful day. Their goal was to raise $50,000, $1 for every citizen of Sheboygan. Their efforts produced a whopping $147,000+ which gave each surviving family a check for roughly $300 from the citizens of Sheboygan to help them. This was unprecedented in any disaster. The Police also took bratwurst and all the fixings and tailgated at Ground Zero for the workers. They were even featured in the movie. What a proud thing for Sheboygan.

Jim and Michelle as fully trained Red Cross disaster volunteers, were helping serve the food and drink. I went to the early show and they were not there yet, but when I got out at 6:00PM they were there to serve me my brat.

It is thundering and lightening and raining outside and Chelsea is quite nervous. I am glad it waited until I was home to start. I am also glad that it IS raining. My plants can use it.

Have a great weekend

Mary

The thought below is not mine. I don't know WHO to credit it too but really liked it so decided to share.

I WISH YOU ENOUGH

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet
Enough trials to make you strong
Enough sorrow to keep you human
And enough hope to make you happy.

We thought today was going to be sunny and hot. We were wrong. The sun DID come out this afternoon, but it remained quite cool. I don't believe it got much above 70 and that was in the late afternoon.

We got up at 6 so I could get Chelsea walked and take my shower to get us to the Clinic in Sheboygan to Sue in the Anti-Coagulation clinic. His count was WAY high. 4.4. It is supposed to be between two and three. This is the second highest that he has ever recorded. We think it is because he has been drinking all that cranberry juice to ward off a bladder infection. Well, we warded off the bladder infection but apparently overkilled. Of course, if he had gotten a bladder infection, the antibiotics could ALSO have thrown the count off. So he is to drink ONE glass of cranberry juice daily and adjust the meds again.

We went to the Parkview Restaurant in Falls for breakfast then to Mom's where I harvested Lemon Balm to brew a batch of Lemon Balm wine, known in our house as Balmy Days. I also checked the wine bottles that she has been saving, picked out what I can use and put the rest in blue bags for Randy to take out to the trash next pickup. Mom and Dick visited while I took care of these things.

When we got home I mixed up the wine and baked a batch of pear bread (a new thing but VERY good). Now the pears that Bobbie left us are down to a reasonable amount for us to eat fresh. I will leave some at Bobbie and Bill's the last night that we feed the kitties.

We left at 2:30PM to take care of the kitties. They are waiting for us because they are so lonely. Roxie lets me pick her up and cuddle and kiss her, I suppose because she is hungry. After they ate, my Oscar ran upstairs, but he came down in a bit and stared at me. I finally walked over and picked him up too. He didn't really struggle but got down right away and started doing the wriggling on the ground thing just out of reach. So I got down on the ground and just petted him. He loved it and started purring so the floor shook. Gee but I miss them. All I want for Christmas is my Kitties.

I finished sewing one of the quilt tops together today. Tomorrow, I will have to stop and get some backing and fill for both of them.

We had pea soup and Irish Bacon, tomato and lettuce sandwiches for supper tonight. All that smoked meat made me VERY thirsty, I am almost chugging a bottle of water. Guess I will be up and down all night now.

Later

Mary

Guess what, my little green frog is back on the deck again. I don't know where he comes from and I have no idea how he gets there. But if he worked his way back up from the nice safe grass down below, who am I to tell him he can't stay there.

It was supposed to be in the mid 80s today but never got over 76. We are not complaining I must say. I went out this morning and sprayed thistles in the planters with Weed B Gone. There is a guy who comes around and pulls them but we need to get down to the roots or they will come back forever.

Bobbie left a bunch of pears for us when they left. The trouble with that, as I am sure you have experienced, is that they all ripen at once. So I am thinking of ways to use them. I made the most delicious pear cheesecake today. I got it on a site called calpear.com. It is called Crunch Pear Cheesecake. Tomorrow I am going to bake some pear bread.

Dick had his consultation with Dr. Siddique this afternoon. He is very pleased with what he has accomplished so far with Dick's legs. However, on November 7th he will do another procedure to the arteries which will remove more plaque so that there are not just stents in them but also clean clear arteries. Then we will discuss the veins. He says he will laser them and pull them. At this point, all they are doing is sending dirty blood back to the heart. I figure we are maybe 1/3 of the way through. By next spring, maybe his legs will be all healthy and healed.

Dick mentioned, heck, he pleaded, that Dr. Siddique do something to help him during the 6 hours that he has to lay flat on his back. Dr. Siddique says he can arrange to have him in bed on a slant, and will order morphine if it gets too bad. Dick is very relieved.

I fixed pork chop bruschetta for supper tonight. Really simple. Salt and pepper a boneless pork chop. Dredge it in bread crumbs and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until it is done. Dice a Roma tomato and mix with some Italian Dressing. Spoon over the pork chop, top with shredded mozzarella cheese and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more. Simple and easy.

This morning I finished sewing the squares for the baby quilts together and then laid out the squares in the way I want them. Now I get to assemble the top and then the quilts. They are looking pretty nice. Babies need nice warm blankets. And every baby should have their own. I heard that the Koran says that every child has a right to believe that the world was created just for them. Sounds like a good plan to me.

Love

Mary

Another busy day. Dick corralled Chelsea in the office this morning so I got to sleep until 6:30AM. We will not have that luxury tomorrow as we have to go shopping in the morning. This morning, Chelsea was a lazy girl and cut through the park on our walk. She tried to cut out part of the rest of the walk too but I wouldn't let her.

We had a meeting with our attorney to finish signing the updates to our wills, and durable and health power of attorney forms. Another loose end taken care of . Aren't we just so efficient?

I did a bunch of sewing squares together for baby quilts AND Dick and I filtered the 5 gallon jug of White Zin that is now ready to be bottled. Actually we need to bottle the White Zin, a batch of current AND two gallons of Chokecherry. With all the "excitement" and priorities of health we are way behind. Thursday, on our way home from the clinic from Dick's coagulation check, we will stop at Mother's house so I can pick the lemon balm and start a batch of that. It is such a nice light summer wine that I hate to miss a year.

This afternoon we went over to feed my sweet kitties. Boy were they ever glad to see us. They were so hungry that they actually came up to us and they let me hug them and cuddle them and pet them and call them George. I just want them. I hope I gave them enough food. I think that Bobbie and Bill feed them twice a day but I don't know how much and I can't give them the WHOLE amount in one feeding because they would probably throw up.

We stopped at the new restuarant at the Airport. I think it is called the Final Approach. We liked it a lot. It is decorated nicely and has a view of a runway through the windows. The menu is nicely diverse. they have everything from steak (including Buffalo) to duck, to salmon to all kinds of nice pastas. Dick ordered perch and I ordered the Buffalo. We ate our fill and still have lots left for tomorrow.

Bobbie left us some pears. I am researching pear desserts as there are way to many for us to eat before they are too ripe. I'll let you know what I decide on.

WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may make you think you are whispering when you are not.

Love

Mary