Friday Already??!!

Well, I'm back! I haven't been able to enjoy my new patio because of all the rain!
Erin and Sarah stopped in yesterday, Sarah had been to the dentist and got her braces. Bob had most of the day off, we went to the zoo but it was so packed we didn't stay, we went to the library and sat in easy chairs and read for a while then on the way home we stopped at Dairy Queen and had Reese's Blizzards. It wasn't exactly on our diets but I had received a coupon fron Dairy Queen for my birthday (You join their club and they send you a coupon on your birthday!, I think this may be for kids but what am I?) anyway I thought it would be rude to ignore their gift so I forced my self to eat a lot of ice cream. When we got home I was kinda head achy and tired and I have been getting up extremely early all week so I took 2 Tylenol PM and slept a solid 12 hours! I feel all better now.
Erin wanted to take Sarah's albums home (Seven of them) but I didn't let him, I want to add more to them. Now I have to get to work on Lauren's albums.
Bob has a few days off starting Monday so I have to plan some things for us to do!!! Check back tomorrow! The picture is Sarah, she is 13 now

My Garden of Eden!

Hey Everybody!
Yesterday my sister, Marilyn came over and redid my patio as a birthday gift.
For those of you who don't know, There is a sliding glass door in the living room that opens out into an area of cement block and WEEDS. The block is in the middle and there is about 2 feet of dirt around the perimeter where flowers are to be planted, well, the dirt is clay and nothing will grow except weeds. Weeds are a hardy plant, growing in any kind of soil, in all kinds of weather in any zone area, they require no special feeding or fertilizer. You can pull them but that only encourages them to grow more. Well, she enlisted Bob's help and she "whacked"
all the weeds, they dug up the dirt, laid down black cloth ground cover, covered that with cypress chips, laid down 4 18"x18" pavers and set big pots of flowers on them, also some hanging flowers strategically placed, I bought 2 roses bushes and they planted them. (My color scheme is all pinks and purples with some white flowers) There is a nice hanging plant set in my bird bath and some statuary by the rose bushes (an Angel) then some indoor/outdoor carpeting was placed in the middle area and my table with umbrella and chairs were placed in the middle.BEE-YOOT-EYE-FUL!!! My son Randy and his wife came up from Pittsburgh for a visit. I hadn't seen him for a long time, today is his 40th birthday. We sat on the patio the whole time they were here. We are going to meet them for lunch today. I am going to get my Sunday Paper and sit on the patio with my coffee. Did I mention it is beautiful out there?

Margarine vs Oleo

I have been scoffed at (by "loved ones" no less) because I continue to use the term "oleo" while those hipper and cooler say "margarine" Evidently I slept through the decade when this change came about, besides if you have a compound word and are going to shorten does it really matter which end of the word you use? I can remember when this product (oleomargarine) was new and it was white and came in a plastic bag with a yellow pill that I was allowed to work through and make it all a sunny yellow, it was an awesome responsibility. I have a theory how all this came about:
Long ago and far away in a land ruled by a harsh king, a meeting was held, many knights and the court jester were in attendence. The king stood in his royal robes and announced "My kingdom can no longer afford butter but the Queen and I DO NOT want our morning toast to be dry! Any one who can come up with a solution will be in my good graces and if you do not you will be beheaded!"
They all left and went to the local alchemists and said, "Please help us, we will be beheaded if the king has to eat dry toast!" The alchemist replied, "Not to worry, while trying to make gold, I have stumbled upon another golden like substance, while it is no good for doubloons I have discovered it is good for smearing around on toast! I call it Oleomargarine!" The knights were so happy as they carried a small plastic (which hadn't been invented yet) tub of it to the king. The king was apprehensive and boomed, "What is this? Are you trying to fool me? This looks like butter." Putting his finger in it, he exclaimed, "TASTES LIKE BUTTER!" The king was outraged, "Off with your heads, you who would deceive your king!"
The knights all cowered and pled with the king, "No, No, go to the alchemist yourself, he will sell it to you for one half of what you were paying for butter!"
The king reluctantly agreed, when he was satisfied that it was true he called another meeting. He again stood and said, "I have no time for these long words such as
"OLEOMARGARINE! I decree that from this day forth this lovely butter substitute
will be called OLEO" and so it was. For as long as the king reigned, thus it was so.
Many years later the king who was old (and fat, from all the oleo) died and his son, King Junior took over the throne. He too called a meeting of all the knights and the court jester and said, "I do not wish to rule as my father did, I want to make some changes, do any of you have any suggestions?" The knights were all silent, finally the court jester spoke up, "I know! Instead of calling oleomargarine, OLEO, let's call it MARGARINE! King Junior was pleased and said, "From this day forth it shall be called MARGARINE and anyone in my kingdom who continues to call it OLEO,
will be held up to ridicule and public shame!" And so this law stands in effect to this day. (See, I just missed that second meeting!)

Colby Maxwell

We are leaving this morning to visit Bob's first grandchild, Bob Jr. and Angel's first son,
Colby Maxwell, so I will write later.

I'm Back!!

Hey! I'm back, did you miss me? I spent a few days at my sister's helping with her moving.
She is all moved and settled now. She took our two cousins, (who are visiting here ) and our brother and sister-in-law and me out to dinner tonight, it was fun. She has Flag Day off so she is going to work on my patio. I am very tired right now so I will go and get back on track tomorrow so check in!!

I Love ONIONS!!

Onions represent the third largest fresh vegetable industry in the United States.
380 semi-truck loads of onions are used in the US each day. Onions are sodium, fat and cholesterol free. Onions provide generous amounts of a flavonoid called Quercetin. Tea and apples also provide Quercetin, but onions have twice as much as tea an three times as much as apples. Quercetin protects against cataracts, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Onions are in the Lily family (and you thought you had strange relatives!)

"I will not move my army without onions!"
.....Ulysses S. Grant
"Onions skins very thin,
mild winter coming in.
Onion skins very tough,
coming winter very rough."
......Old English saying

"For this is every cook's opinion,
No savory dish without an onion;
But lest your kissing should be spoiled,
your onions should thoroughly boiled."
.......Jonathan Swift

"Why is that the poet tells
so little of the sense of smell?
These are the odors I love well:
The smell of coffee freshly ground;
Or rich plum pudding, holy crowned;
or onions fried and deeply browned."
.....Christopher Morley

Be sure to eat onions every day, in salads, soups, sandwiches, casseroles, etc....

I am going to be away for a few days, I am going to my sister's tonight.
The movers are coming tomorrow and she is having a sale Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. See you next week!!

A Tribute to Sunny

Sadly, Saturday morning, my sister had to have her little pal, Sunshine put to sleep.
Sunny was a little old lady in dog years and was not in good health. She had the
sweetest personality and loved everybody. Everyone who ever held her, couldn't help loving her. All she wanted was to be held and petted.
Dogs are our link to paradise.
They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent.
To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon
is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--- it was peace........Milan Kundera


If your dog doesn't like someone you probably shouldn't either.
......unknown

Rest in peace, Sunny