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Yesterday was another scorcher of a day. We were on a mission though. We had volunteered to drive Levi and Mattie to Pittsburgh for their second youngest son to be seen at the children's hospital there. Because it is a holiday week, they had trouble finding a driver. 

We were up early. We needed to be in their driveway at 6:30. I set my alarm for 4:30, but was awake at 3. We got there and there had been a change. Levi could not go. 

Hay had been a problem for all farmers here. A week ago, we were having one storm after another. You can't do hay in the rain. This week, with a long stretch of hot, dry days, everyone cut their hay, Levi included. Unfortunately, it needed an extra day in the field to dry due to the humidity.

We use balers, but the Amish do it differently. They fork the loose hay onto wagons, where kids are waiting to stomp it down as it comes on board, one fork at a time. Then it is pulled to the barn. They have a 'claw' on a arm and pulley system. The huge claw is dropped on to the hay wagon to pick up a big wad of hay. It is pulled up, hand over hand, swung over to the hay mow. The hay is dropped and it is once again stomped down so that as much hay as possible can be tucked away for winter feed. 

It is labor intensive work and in this heat, a hard job becomes even more grueling. A couple years ago, we were sitting on the porch. Levi was telling us that he had a strange experience. He was working in the hot sun and sweating up a storm. Suddenly he noticed that he wasn't sweating. He got a severe headache, followed by violent shakes. He had to stop what he was doing and lay down in the shade. "It always starts when I stop sweating, though," he said.

I could not believe my ears. It had happened to him before? I taught these classes in the military. "Levi, I said, "people die this way! What you are describing is the first stage of heat stroke." I explained to him about sweating being his body's way of cooling itself. When your body has lost enough water and salt that it stops producing sweat, your body temperature begins to rise. Just like a patient with a high fever will get violent cold chills, a heat stroke patient does the same. This explained his violent shakes. Everyone on the porch was listening intently. "If your body temperature goes high enough, it will kill you. All of you need to keep yourselves well hydrated when you are working like that." I explained the difference between water and sports drinks. 

Tim said, "we still have time before the Dollar General closes..." and just like that they were up and headed out. They take things like this very seriously and have been sticklers on hydration ever since. 

Anyway, Levi could not go to Pittsburgh because he had hay down. Although the oldest boy is a grown man now, he was not going to leave his children to do the job alone.

Mattie was worried about this meeting with the surgeon. She wanted Levi there to make any decisions with her. We picked up her mother on the way and drove just over two hours to get there only to discover that the appointment, made months back had been rescheduled to next month to accommodate the doctor's vacation. No one had contacted them to tell them this. 

Very frustrating. They were very apologetic but it didn't change the fact that it had been a wasted day.

We drove back home, determined to make the best of it, getting groceries and stopping at the Goodwill. 

As we pulled up, the haywagon had just been unloaded. Everyone came across the road tired and sweaty to grab a cold gatorade. Levi wanted to know what the doctors were going to do. 

I said, "weeeeelllllll..." and explained. Mattie was inside directing the putting away of groceries. 

Levi took off his hat and mopped his face with his handkerchief. "No...that's not right!" He exclaimed.

Mattie came out and said, "I was glad you were not there..."

Anyways, tonight we are doing a 'frolic', which is what they call a party after a big job is done. We are taking up hotdogs to roast, all manner of toppings, a roaster full of sloppy joes, potato salad, chips and a homemade ice cream cake. Afterwards, we will have sparklers and fireworks. 

A sad thing. A young Amish man was coming home after a long days work last week after those bad storms. He noticed three horses laying in his neighbor's field. He notified the neighbor that something was wrong. As he went back to investigate, he stepped over a barbwire fence. An electric line was down, and he was electrocuted. The horses were dead although they were nowhere near the fence. 

We knew him because he was part of a team we hire for construction work in town.

Lessons learned

 Well, I have been a-visiting and I have returned. A lot has happened. 

I got a very late start because Thursday morning my phone started ringing. It was the insurance company with the settlement. We are quite relieved. Tim has a keen eye for bargains. This car sold for well under Bluebook. It had a problem that they tried to cover with a bit of JB Weld. Tim saw the oil leak and insisted on a repair. It was a $4000 repair. If the dealership had done the right thing to begin with, they would have made that repair and sold it at full value. Their duplicity cost them in our case.

The insurance company paid full bluebook. They have been way more than fair with us, paying for things we did not expect. They even waived the deductible. Why? We can only assume that it is because we immediately went up there, paid the tow, got it out of a $100 a day impound, and drove it home ourselves. This alone saved them two or three thousand. 

So, what this means is that this has worked out quite well for us. So well that last night, watching television, a streaming company that plays one gambling ad after another (easy to win! Your winnings go directly into your bank account! Download today! Begin playing now!), I looked over at Tim and said our odds of making big money were better driving a Lexus into Canada.

So that is resolved. All they had to do was come and get the poor old car. They texted while I was driving. They continue to text every hour with texts that began 'You still have not responded,' etc. When I stopped midway in the drive I called and told them they needed to contact Tim. The texts must be automated because they kept coming in to my phone anyway. It made a long drive very stressful. 

My visit was so nice. The girls are growing so fast. I cannot believe they are going to turn 8 and 4 this year.  The oldest made me a clever banner of cats dressed in detailed clothing and jewels.

They are always excited to see me, and I hope that never changes. In fact there was so much excitement that a remote ended up kicked into a cup of water that was in the sofa cup holder. That put the kibosh on TV for the weekend. Not a bad thing.

We went to the library. The oldest girl loves the Ramona books. She had just finished the last one. I suggested Ellen Tebbits. She is a dancer too and has been giggling her way through the opening chapter in which Ellen's underwear are slipping down during ballet practice. 

There was a birthday party which was held at a local bounce place. Two hours of trampolines, climbing walls, ninja courses. Those two girls are both very athletic and ran full bore for 2 1/2 hours. Lesson learned: one does NOT attempt to do splits on a trampoline.

A supper out at a wonderful Mexican restaurant. I had Chiles Relleños. So very, very good. Lesson learned there, too. Margaritas are a big drink, and grandma has become a lightweight in regards to alcohol consumption. 

A failed bouncey ball making experience. Lesson learned: we look at why it failed. In this case it was an incomplete recipe. We found a National Geographic one with a video and two missing steps.

There were giant bubbles, chalk drawings, poppits, walks, swings, playground, church, ice cream, even a parade. What was learned? One does not wander around with a little flag stuck in her mouth.

Adult slushies were in order. Grandma once again learned that she is a lightweight in so far as alcohol consumption is concerned.

On the morning of art class, I saw them off and then headed for home once again. This time, the long drive was made even longer by multiple long stretches of one lane traffic due to road construction. The sudden flashing of an idiot light on the dash scared the wits out of me. Tim said 'Keep driving'. Lesson learned here as well. The Suburu is over dramatic. It was half a quart low on oil. 

Second lesson learned: I thought the wavy lines indicated water. No. This is oil. 

I am home once again. Unpacked. Laundry done. Dishwasher run. The house seems very quiet compared to that faraway house filled to the brim with excited giggles.

Driving home, I saw a huge billboard. CHAOS, CRUELTY, CORRUPTION: ARE WE GREAT YET?

Right next to it on a barn: TRUMP 2028. 

I will never understand how people are so gullible to swallow his bullshit hook, line and sinker. But there are people who believe his 250 rally crowds are tremendous. They believe the reflecting pool was damaged by vandals. That he has put the Iranians in their place. That the ICE Seizure of a nun is totally justified. That the cost of groceries and gas is some how linked to Biden's failures.The list goes on and on.

Then Christian nationalist Jesus said unto the sick, "you better have insurance."

Then Christian nationalist Jesus said unto the stranger, "go back to your own country"

Then Christian nationalist Jesus said unto the hungry, "my taxes better not be paying for these loaves and fishes."

Then Christian nationalist Jesus said unto the poor, "this is your own fault."

Then Christian nationalist Jesus said unto the little children, "let them come unto me, but only if they are part of my religion, my ethnic group, my nation, and are here legally."

Then Christian nationalist Jesus said unto John the Baptist in prison, "you should have just obeyed the law."

Then Christian nationalist Jesus said unto the Samaritan, "stop shoving your beliefs in my face. You are promoting sin. I am king!”

Then Christian nationalist Jesus said unto Mary outside his tomb, "did a man give you permission to be here? Go tell Peter I have a message for him to preach then head back and tend to your home where you belong."

Then Christian nationalist Jesus said unto Satan when he offered him power over the kingdoms of this world, "what an incredible offer, I accept."

Then Christian nationalist Jesus said unto Caesar, "we are going to rule this world together."

"You have a clever way of ignoring the commands of God so you can follow your own teachings." -Actual Jesus (Mark 7:9)

Headed out.

 We had two dry days and I tried to make the most of them. I got my junkyard flower bed weeded. I got the dahlias, and Mattie's plants, and my morning glory seeds planted. I spread the mulch.

I gave the raised beds a good weeding. After 5 days away, I imagine that my garden will look like a jungle. I am amazed at how everything is growing. 

I am all packed up and ready to head east tomorrow. My granddaughters are waiting. We are going to make galaxy high bounce balls. I have a rock painting project. I imagine there will be a teaparty or two. 

At the last protest, a candidate walked our line speaking to us. His question? "What is it that keeps you up at night?" When he got to me, I had my answer. "My grandchildren." He laughed and said. "Do they live with you?"I said no, but that I worried about the world we were leaving them. His smile faded. "I understand that."

You know how things all come together sometimes and you find yourself in a situation that is way out of your comfort zone? That's where I am. 

I live in a red county, and this red county has some ignorant people in it, people who can get pretty hostile when confronted with different opinions.

A woman brought the subject up to me. They are looking for people who can speak knowledgeably. They want people who can respond with facts, not emotion. 

I am not sure that is me, to be honest.

But I stood there with my sign, and I thought. About my grandchildren. About the woman at the ice cream place who was so shocked to meet someone would speak so openly in public. About family and divisions. About what matters. 

I signed the paper before I left. 

So far out of my comfort zone, but I feel as if it needs done. 

Much to my surprise, in broad daylight, I looked out the door and saw a deer tearing off a pumpkin leaf and chewing happily. Not more than 10 feet from the sliding door. She reached down and tore off another leaf. I opened the door and shook my finger. "You! Leave my pumpkins alone." Sheshowed me a bit of respect: she stopped chewing while she decided if I was a threat or not. She ambled out by the truck and watched me watching her. 

Later we had another visitor. It is a poor picture, taken through thermal pane glass.

Looks like we will have to put up fencing this year.

The insurance company is moving kind of slowly. We are prepared to wait them out. 

Happy Things

Today was a day of little wins. We both slept in until 9 am, unusual for us, but I think we were the better for it.

I continued weeding my plant junkyard. I have been buying distressed plants for a couple years now and tossing them into a spot I had designated to be a flowerbed at some point. Now I am weeding, taking stock of what has grown, filling in the empty spots with plants Mattie bartered for a ride, dahlia bulbs I had been given for my birthday, planting seeds,  rearranging plants.  A couple more days of working at it should make me feel better about it. 

As I worked Possum, one of the ferals came over to keep me company. She loves to be petted. She purrs and rubbed against me. She chased dirt clots and finally laid stretched out close next to me. It is so strange. As friendly as she is, I still can't pick k her up and she won't come inside for more than a couple minutes. 

The big news is that Tim got his tractor running. That has been troubling him. I am glad. I have been wanting some rock moved to make a little back drop to my flowers.  He spent a couple hours mowing. 

The vegetable beds look great too. They are so easy to keep weeded. I planted a couple dozen tomato plants - cherry, beefsteak, and San Marzano. Peppers sweet and jalapeños, onions, garlic, peas, beans, zucchini, carrots, corn and pumpkins. Herbs- rosemary, basil, chives. Oregano. It makes me happy to see everything doing so well. 

I saw a bluebird. It is nest building. That made me happy too. 

Thursday, I am headed east for granddaughter time. Another happy thing. 

Step by step

 Last night, I woke up about three hours after I went to bed. My leg just felt strange. Like an achy, sort of electrical thing going on. I got up, took some aspirin, and sat up a bit until things eased a bit back, and then went back to bed.

While I was sitting up though, I found myself fretting a little about the car. I will tell you what it was that troubled me: with that empty gaping hole in center of the console. What did it connect to? Were those components still there? How do you know? I mean, without the rear view mirror, with out that big screen, so many systems did not work. The automatic wipers, the back up camera, the electronic portion of the hybrid system. No navigation system. Simple things. No A/C. No heat. The white liquid sprayed across the console resulted in buttons that stuck when pushed. My big concern was how on earth do they tell what these computers connect up to? Did we still have those components? How can anyone know?

I finally went back to bed. Imagine my surprise to wake up this morning and discover that I managed to do something to my back. I can scarcely walk. It either was pushing a wheelbarrow or a couple days of aggressive weedeating. I was gimping around trying to look presentable before the claims adjuster came.

I almost made it.

The guy spent a long time studying the situation. He played with the sticky buttons. He took a lot of pictures. He retreated to his car to make some calls. He came back out from his truck and took more pictures. He said, "Let me talk to my supervisor on this one." Back to his truck he went. 

The raised beds had already been weeded. Nothing left to be done, I hobbled over and sat on the bench with Tim to wait.

Eventually, he came back out and gave it to us straight. "My supervisor is leaning towards just writing this off. The nearest Lexus dealer is in Buffalo. It would cost $750 to tow the car there. I am already at $7300 worth of parts, and who knows what else they are going to find..."

I think he thought Tim would protest, but all he said was 'That's fine."

The adjuster looked relieved. He made a joke. "I just have this feeling that if we wind up trying to fix this car, you will have to put an addition on your house. I would have to live here because you would be calling me every day with another problem. I am just afraid the car would never be right again. It really is all the Lexus bells and whistles..."

He ran some comps. Everything will be turned over to the claims guy. 

Tim stood looking at the car after he left. "We really had a pretty fancy car for a couple months."

Red Tape

 Tuesday, when I called the guy in charge of our insurance claim to tell him we had the car, that it was badly damaged, he immediately said, 'Let me get in touch with a local adjuster.' He assured us that he would have everything in place before we even got home. He said he wanted to get things settled for us as quickly as possible. 

Sounded good to us. 

This morning, we were trying to plan our day. I felt like we should wait to hear from the insurance guy. Tim, being Tim, had a tractor issue and needed to run into town. I decided to stay home and work on resolving the stolen plate issue. 

The first phone call was to DMV. Their automated system had no way to resolve that. 

I then called the state police. They told me about form MV-44 to replace the plate. I said that I couldn't really file for a replacement plate until I knew what the insurance was going to do with the vehicle. We might not need a replacement tag. 

He suggested calling our representative. I did. Her office assured me that I didn't need to worry about it. I said that I was not comfortable with that approach. Whoever had it was not honest. If they committed a crime... but the woman said, 'as soon as they run the plate, they will see that the tag does not belong to that vehicle.' 

Right...but the tag is still associated with our name and address. 

Boggles my mind that such a simple thing can't be done. 

In any case, it was 11. We still had no contact contact from the claims adjuster. So I tried to reach him, but got his voice mail once again. I left a message. 

I mean, what do you do? Just stay home until someone shows up?

I took my grumpy self outside and worked on weeding my poor flower garden. I weedwhacked for an hour. I planted 30 caladium along the north side of the house. I felt better.

I finally got a call back from Jason who was handling our claim. He was amazed we hadn't heard from the adjuster. He gave me his name and number. 

We know him.

I called and he was bemused. He knew nothing of our case. I said that he was supposed to have been emailed yesterday. He was driving, but pulled off the road to check. "Noooooooo," he said slowly. "Nothing yesterday...wait! Here it is. It just came in now."

Long story short, we are on his list for Friday. His appointments tomorrow are already in place.

Ugh. 

I went back outside to play in the dirt.

Remember those circling clouds that convinced Tim to put on pants? Turned out we had a tornado touchdown here in podunk. 

 https://www.weather.gov/ctp/Tornadoesof14June2026

Long Day.

 We went back to Canada today. The police were quite apologetic about the fact that no one reached out to us from their end. They did call our insurance guy. That is how we found out. The claims adjuster called us to call them and then call him back. 

We were afraid that it would take weeks of bullshitting around to get the car back. The impound guy could not even tell us whether there was damage or if it was drivable. 

There are some real peculiarities to this story that I am too tired to go into right now, but the computer/sat nav stuff has been ripped out. The windshield will need replaced. They backed into something.  Our license plate is gone (although the police officer noted that it was removed from the car and laying on the rear side passenger seat...)

The police released it to us, so I guess the investigative part is done. I can't tell you anything about that because the officer who should have called us but didn't is away on vacation.

The impound guy refused to let us take it out because there was no plate on it. We drove back to the police who called the impound people to say there should have been a plate, that the officer specifically said so, and pointed out that they were the authority not him. Then we drove 20 minutes back to the impound lot, where the guy released the car, writing on the paperwork that it was not to be driven.

You know, it is funny. I guess in the beginning maybe I was too surprised at the theft to be mad, but seeing that car totally ripped apart and our dirty laundry thrown everywhere, the car filthy with greasy hands, an unknown white liquid splashed everywhere...well...I am mad. 

Tim drove it home, despite Mr Impound's clearly written instructions not to drive it.  He was following me because I had the Sat Nav. At the border, I handed my license out, explained what had happened briefly and said that the vehicle behind me had no license plate and that Tim had the police documentation. She didn't even blink. She said that all she had to do was record the VIN for the Lexus. As if stuff like this happened every day.

That made me a little mad too. 

We are home now. Road weary and frazzled. We drove 3 hours with no plate on the car. Still amazes me. 

Insurance adjuster is coming to the house tomorrow.

My favorite shoes were in the back, believe it or not. 

The lines were snaked at the rental. Again. 3rd time in six weeks. I think we have a painful decision to make.

Totally burned out tonight.

Whiplash

The car has been seized. We know no more than that.

Another disaster.

Today after the protest, we moved our tenant's furniture back on the deck. We needed to pick up a half dozen things from the store. Then we headed home. Tim was tired so he undressed and went to bed. He took a long nap, and he needed it too.

When he got up, he was slow to rouse. Thank goodness our phones both started screaming. Weather alert: "Tornado warnings. Take cover immediately." Suddenly Tim was wide awake.

We studied the sky through the sliding glass doors, and the wind was wild. The big white pine was thrashing around. The thunder boomed. Strangely, I did not see any lightning. The clouds were that thick.

Tim said, "The clouds are moving in a circle! I haven't seen that before...." My phone rang. It was my youngest daughter. "Hey," I said, "can I call you back in say 10 or 15 minutes? We need to keep track of the weather, here."

Tim decided it was prudent to go get pants on at about the same time it began to pour. The wind had the rain falling just about any way but down.

And dang...all hell broke loose. 

Storm damage on top of the stolen car. It has been quite a brutal week.

LATE EDIT: JUST TO BE CLEAR, THIS WAS MEANT TO BE A JOKE. IT WAS A BAD ONE, I GUESS. WHILE OTHER AREAS DID SUFFER DAMAGE, THE TORNADO DID NOT TOUCH DOWN HERE. THE ONLY DAMAGE WE SUFFERED WAS AN OVERTURNED BENCH. MY APOLOGIES. 

The Dust Settles

As always, we are slowly moving past June 10th. We have both frozen our credit and taken care of the documentation for the stolen passports. We are wading through the insurance stuff. We will have to wait 30 days before the insurance company lists it as well and truly gone. 

It was a professional job. There is a professional network(s) at work. They utilize teenagers to steal the cars which are then driven to Quebec and loaded on a ship headed for west Africa. The number one target? Lexus RX models. (Number 2? Toyota Camry.)

As we slowly move through the morass of red tape associated with an event like this, little by little, life begins looking brighter. This is a survivable bump in the road, after all. 

Something that I have noticed is that Tim just expects that I will take care of the paperwork. He struggles with things like this. I understand why. I understand he can't help it. But the fact is, this stuff is stressful to me.

Something I have noticed is that he has become...um...demanding. Impatiently so. I am not the most patient person in the world, so I try to forgive that in him, but it has become increasingly difficult to ignore.

Yesterday we needed to go to the store. He needed his pop. He saw a rack of jeans on sale. We stopped to look. He did not find what he was looking for. 'Let's go,' he said. 

But they had a rack of tee-shirts marked down to a dollar and so I said, 'let me look through these...' He simply took off without me. 

My hearing is not so great and sometimes I don't hear him. If I ask him to repeat, he gets frustrated that I need to listen. But when I said that I was going to look at plants while he looked at deck stain and that I'd be right back, though he was looking right at me, when I came right back, he was no where to be found. I hadn't passed him between here and there. When I finally found him, he was irked. He couldn't hear me when I told him where I was going. "So why didn't you ask me to repeat myself?' He snapped, 'you need to speak up!'

A myriad of other frustrations. 'I will be back in 20 minutes and I want something to eat' is quite different from 'can you start supper?' 

An unexpected bill for $1400 that I was told would be covered by insurance wasn't. He is upset by that. He had been against the procedure, but it was important to me. In his mind, this was an unnecessary bill. I pointed out that he has just bought a tractor and spent $10,000. " 

Stupid stuff like me watching 'The Four Seasons". He didn't like it. Said all they do is talk. So we wound up watching "Yellowstone." Or when he is tired and just announces it is time for bed.or when I want to try ethnic food and he doesn't, why is it that we always wind up at Pizza Hut or McDonalds or Burger King?

All small and petty stuff. All of it, but it is just a stressful time for both of us and we both are snappier than usual.

This morning, I got up early to relax with my coffee. A few minutes later he came out. We have a tenant issue which he is upset about, and rightfully so. We have spent over $800 to snake out the sewer lines. This always happens of Friday afternoon, when we pay weekend fees for the plumber. It happened again. The other tenant in the house called to report. This time he said that he was told that the other tenant was flushing her cat litter when she did a full litter change on Friday. 

This required a direct discussion with the tenant, which upset her terribly. She has cognitive decline. We understand. I love that other tenants have gather about her to help her to continue to live independently. We will do our part too, of course. 

Tim and I discussed this this morning as I was trying to relax with my coffee and light blog reading. He wants to call her son and tell him she is not capable of living on her own. I think we have been very direct about it. She is upset. I think it may well not happen again. If it does, then we will rethink. This wait and see attitude made him mad.

Tim got snappish. "I am getting my shower and when I am done, you need to get yours. We have work to do." He decided that we were going to work on the old house before the protest. We already have a full schedule afterwards. We powerwashed a tenant's deck and today we are staining it. 

I said that he hadn't said anything about this. His response infuriated me. He said, "I didn't know what I would feel like doing."

I said, "How about what I feel like doing? Does that even matter anymore?"

 He glared and the floodgates opened. I yelled. He yelled. In the end, I said, "I am having a relaxing morning. It is the first time since we got home that we haven't had to hit the floor running. I am taking my morning. You feel like working, drive your truck to town."

And so he did.

I am sure this dust will settle too. 

Welp, Mrs Lincoln...

 ...other than that how did you like the play?

We had a very nice trip to Canada.

It ended early. Our car was stolen out of the hotel parking lot. The car was locked of course, but our passports were in the glove box. 

Also my favorite shoes were in the back.

Everyone has been kind and helpful. We are headed home now.

Now is later.

 We have not been to a protest for three weeks due to all the comings and goings, and a reception and family time. Tim said last night that we must go today. I agree. 

A funny thing happened this week. Tim had a serious craving for a banana split so we stopped at an ice cream place, pulling into a parking place next to a minivan with a VOTE! sticker on the window. The driver was waiting on her order, texting as she sat sideways in the driver seat, her feet sticking out the open car door. 

My initial impression was that she was a kindred soul, so I said, 'Not just 'vote' but vote blue!' and headed to the ice cream place. 

She shot out after me so fast that I initially thought I had misjudged. She wanted me to repeat myself. I did. The look on her face, people! She could not believe her ears, that I would just come out and say it. She is afraid to. 

I told her that she needed to find a group, that she wasn't the only one seeing it...more and more people are seeing it everyday. 'You can't see this as hopeless!' I said.

She agreed that it was changing, but was discouraged at how slowly it was happening. 

"Come protest with us! Find a group! You will be encouraged."

When her number was called, she got her food and passed by us. "Keep the faith, sister!" She smiled.

And I guess that is why we need to 'find our tribe'. That little exchange. It is too easy to fall into the hopeless thinking that we are the only ones who see what is happening as wrong. That the vast majority see nothing unusual about this at all. 

This is not true: It IS wrong. Most people DO see it. What we do with that knowledge is what separates us.

I am re-reading Elie Wiesel's 'Night'. What has struck me happens at the beginning of those terrible years. The Jews themselves tried to justify it, to normalize what was happening.

When the foreign Jews were loaded into trains to be deported, the Jews not taken comforted themselves: "It is not that bad. They were sent back to where they belonged." 

When Moishe Beadle escaped and came back to tell the story that all those people were forced to dig their own graves,  lined up at the edge of their grave and shot to death, his stories were dismissed as the stories of a crazy man.

As the government was replaced by pro Nazi officials, the same people told themselves that the Red Army was defeating Germany and that their authoritarian government would not last. 

When the Germans did march into town, they lodged with local families, even Jewish families. 'It is not that bad. They are behaving with courtesy.

When the synagogues were closed, they said 'It is okay...our Rabbis hold the services in their home'.

It went on and on. Jews could not own valuables. They buried them in their basement. 'We can survive this'. 

After all, the yellow stars did not kill them to wear.

Even the ghettos: 'We are together. We don't have to deal with the insults and cruelty of outsiders.'

And it went on and on, that normalization, the comforting. 'It's not that bad', except that it eventually did get 'that bad'.

Like Moishe Beadle, many of us are sounding the alarm. We are surrounded by people who dismiss all of it as 'it's not that bad. These people are crazy.'

In the end, I suppose, it comes down to this: we are all seeing the events of these days. Each one of us, even MAGA, sees things that should not be happening. The question becomes simple. What are we going to do with that knowledge? 

You are free 'to do you'. As for me and my house, we will 'do us'. That includes being vocal enough that if a doubter stands on the sidelines, they know who we are. Easier to find us.

It has been a quiet week. I have been earnestly weedwhacking, trying to bring this wildness to some semblance of order. Weeding flower beds, which to be fair, are two chaotic spaces where I tossed distressed plants bought on clearance last year. I figured that if they grew, I could sort them out and replant them later. Now is the 'later', I guess.

Monday, we head for our Canadian vacation. 

you know, I cannot post pictures right now. I have many things to show you. Right now, though, I need to get ready to protest.

...yet the magic remains

 It went too quickly. 

But it was chock full of special moments. One night, as we watched a movie to finish out the day, I caught my first glimpse of a firefly through the sliding glass doors.

There are no fireflies in England, so Cara immediately got up to go see. When she opened the door, one came straightaway inside to do lazy loops around the livingroom and kitchen, blinking on, blinking off.

The last Saturday of her visit, we arranged to meet her brother and the girls at the halfway point between our house and theirs, meaning they drove 2.5 hours west. We drove 2.5 hours east. We ended up at Bald Eagle state park. It was too chilly to spend a lot of time on the wonderful beach, but they had a great playground. We had a great cookout. We hiked the butterfly trail (there were frog eggs).

In an amazing coincidence, they had nature activities for the kids. They had booths set up to teach them how to cast a fishing rod and to identify fish. There was a woodcarver's display for bird identification. Another display of taxidermied birds to learn amazing bird facts. Native plants and seeds to give away. A chainsaw carver. A display of tanned animal hides for the kids to handle. 

Probably the most exciting thing was the 'nuisance bear'. He was trapped in a culvert bear trap. You can google this. I tried to post a picture, but cannot. It is baited with donuts. The bear walks in, the door closes behind him.  

The trap is hooked to a truck and hauled away. The bear is sedated. While the donut filled bear snoozes, he is tagged, a tooth pulled to determine his age, and a vial of blood taken to do a health screen. He is driven far out into the woods and released, hopefully never to return to populated areas again. 

The sedated bear slept right through the demonstration he was starring in. He continued to sleep as the most daring children petted him. When he showed signs of waking up, the door to the trap was closed and he was driven away to his new home.

So this was A. Very. Exciting. Day. My daughter in law had to work the previous night so she wasn't there. I made a joke about 'mama bear' would never put us in charge of her cubs again once she heard her 'baby' had petted a bear. My son was sure she already knew, probably awakened from a sound sleep by 'a disturbance in the force'. 

There were cookouts and easy laughter, sunny days and starry nights. Memories dusted off and related once again. 

And then it was time to drop her off at the airport.

We Gather.

 Time rushes by, doesn't it? 

Thursday, we drove to Buffalo and picked up my youngest daughter from the airport. The traffic was hairy, but the old folks did alright. 

Friday and Saturday rushed by in a flurry of activity. People coming in. Meet ups. Food prep. 

My youngest daughter spent the next 3 nights in town to maximize her time with nieces and nephew, and siblings too. 

The reception went well and was a pleasant celebration. I am sure glad we pushed so hard to make it happen indoors. It was 53° and raining. Not a day anyone wanted to sit in an outdoor pavillion. It was nice though, and a chance to meet my son in law's family. Being a merry prankster, he showed up in a shirt he had ordered special for the occasion. It said, "I am my mother in law's favorite child." (After the laughter died down, I offered to give him back. His family said there was a no return policy.)

I had bought the flowers from Mattie's greenhouse. She also made 5 dozen rolls and the girls churned butter for us. They were a huge hit. People were able to take the hanging baskets from their tables. Even still, I ended up with three baskets at my house. They really were just gorgeous.

As mentioned, I made 20 lbs of barbecued chicken, 20 lbs of garlic herb chicken and about 30 lbs of ham. To my relief, everything was very good. I am nervous about things like this because if there is to be a disaster of any sort, it will happen at an important day. I was a little more nervous than usual because the day had actually started out with a power outage.  I had three large roasters plugged in and everything blinked off. It was only for a few minutes, but oh, people! I nearly had a heartattack!

After the reception and the clean up/packing up, we were glad to get back to our little house and end the day relaxing...after dividing the left over meat up into single serve packages for the freezer and scrubbing out the roasters. 

Sunday, Tim went to church. I spent the morning getting ready for dinner here. The kids and their families and their dad were all coming here for an old family comfort food: homemade pepperoni rolls, or as my oldest granddaughter called it, 'inside out pizza'. 11 for dinner.

Because the day was not busy enough, I found a find. Someone I knew was selling an old fashioned oak table, 3 feet wide, 6 feet long. I knew it was perfect for our kitchen space. It was 40 min away. Tim grumbled, but as soon as he got home from church, I left my dough to rise and we headed off with the truck. For all of Tim's grumbling, he fell in love just as soon as he saw it. It is Amish made and extremely heavy. 

We got that home, the old enamel table to the basement. It will double the work area at the meat cutting station. The new table went in, and I was rolling out dough on it when people walked in the door. We don't have a lot of counter space and this was a beautifully functional addition.

Monday morning started with a huge breakfast send off at my sister's. I made a strata. She made a breakfast casserole and monkey bread. Fresh fruit and plenty of coffee, juice and milk completed that. 15 at the table that morning. We said our goodbyes there and Dylan and his family left for home.

Cara is now sleeping here. She is a very avid 'rambler' and belongs to a club back in the UK. She does 15 mile rambles and thinks nothing of it. We have walked over 20 miles in 3 days at Oil Creek Park. They have 35 miles of trails, but some of those trails were little more than deer paths, literally. We were walking on steep paths with sheer drops. She may have thought nothing of this, but it was challenging for Tim and I. We got it done, I am proud to say. Yesterday was 7.2 miles.

It is an off day for walking. Cara has business to take care of before she heads back home. Tim is chauffeuring. I am going to get my garden beds planted this morning. This afternoon, I am making homemade pizza. My sister and Cara and I will play a ruthless game of scrabble after.

Tomorrow is Friday already. Cara will spend the afternoon at my nephew's house. We will meet up with Dylan and the girls on Saturday at Bald Eagle Park which is almost precisely half way between our house and theirs. We will have a picnic and go hiking once more. 

We watched three good movies here in the evenings. Remarkably Bright Creatures. Thursday Murder Club. Grandma. Light and enjoyable.

We will be driving Cara back to Buffalo airport Monday morning. I am trying to hold on to these precious days but they trickle through my fingers like water.

Crazy

 We have been busy here. I finished my last day working on the old house for the next couple weeks. The day after tomorrow  we will be driving to the Buffalo Airport to pick up my youngest. Friday night my son and his wife and my granddaughters will be coming. I plan to savor this. Tim can do as he wants.

Saturday is the wedding reception for my oldest and her husband. They got married late last fall in a small  ceremony, delaying the celebration until the weather was a bit more predictable. This is also a long weekend which allows more out of towners to get in.

You know. Things like this stress me out. I have my agenda. Thursday: airport. Friday. Pick up produce order. On the way home, pick up four roasters. We will thaw 40 pounds of chicken breast and 30 pounds of ham. Saturday, we cook that meat. 20 lbs will be BBQ. 20 lbs will be lemon pepper. I will make the salad. I need to drive up to Mattie's to pick up the rolls and a pound of churned butter. Also to pick up 8 planters of flowers for the tables from her greenhouse.

 My sister gave me a load of manure for my birthday. I told her I don't take shit from anybody but her. We shoveled manure and blabbed. It feels like forever since we have had time to just visit. They are pretty busy too, demo'ing a house on their side of the road. Today I planted my onions, peppers and tomatoes.

So...it has been a bit crazy at my house.

It has also been crazy outside our house. We had two police shootings in 3 days. I mean, we live in the middle of nowhere. To have two separate shootings within 20 miles of us is crazy. Today an 18 year old stabbed his father. A man was sitting outside with his dog. A bear showed up and took a swipe at the dog. Also in that 20 mile circle.

Outside that 20 mile radius, it is even crazier. 1.7 billion dollar slush fund for trump allies. The IRS cannot investigate any of the trumps for tax evasion.  Trump claims he was within an hour of resuming attacks on Iran but has called them off because he was asked nicely. 

There is just too much crazy right now.

 .

If I don't laugh...

Gees...sorry about the spam comments on the last post. Miss a few days of blogging and those guys sneak right in there, don't they? I hope no one contacted those pesky faith healers with strange names who can cure breast cancer. We don't need them. 

Our president claims:

"We've taken people that were dead. We had a person given the last rites -- gone, the kids are crying and everything -- and started them on this drug. And the person became better. It works."

Of corse this miracle drug is not named and no one has left their death bed to testify to this miracle. 

It doesn't matter, people will still flock to the golden idol to pray.

https://youtu.be/tdcJ85PQw90?si=38PFfTTrWrI0uDfT

Sorry for going silent. It is a busy time. My daughter is flying home this month. I am planning a small wedding reception for my daughter and her husband. My son and his family will be coming home.

After this is done, we have a trip that will take us up into Canada for a week.

In the midst of this, because Tim cannot and will not wait, we are  clearing out the old house to put on the market. 

It is a crazy time, but no matter how crazy it gets, it is crazier in Washington. This is not comforting.

We have had two hard frosts in the last two days. It dropped to 25° two days ago. Will summer ever get (and stay) here.

Posting may be light for the month of May. Ignore the spam. Don't contact any African faith healers. Ask for the revival/Lazarus drugs instead.

Just Another Rainy Day in Paradise.

 It started out as another very rainy morning. This after a very rainy night. 

Protest started at 12 and I was dreading the thought of standing in the rain again. Miraculously, it cleared off before we got to the courthouse. 

It was a small group but we have a great comaradry. And it is not just the protesters. The people driving by know we are going to be there. The tooting begins before we get situated. 

Encouraging. 

I carried this:

It is a flip off sign. The reverse side says: BLESS YOUR ❤️! When we get flipped off, I can "flip them off" right back with my sign.

 

It was a good day. 

Hypocritical

This was written by Carrick Ryan and perfectly highlights the hypocrisy of this administration and its supporters:

 'Today, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood before the world's media and made the following statement about Iran:

“This is an international waterway, No country can control them. There is no international law that allows you to say, I’m going to put mines in an international body of water, and I’m going to blow up ships that don’t listen to us and try to go through.”

“We cannot live in a world where a rogue state like this Iranian regime is allowed to claim, as a new normal, control over an international shipping lane,” 

I agree with him.

Since September last year, the US military has conducted 47 strikes on civilians marine vessels travelling in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, leading to over 190 deaths.

No criminal trials, no evidence provided to the public to justify the violence, merely an arbitrary declaration of terrorism with no transparency or accountability for who they have summarily executed.

The USA then sent its military into Caracas, killing more than 80 people, to abduct the President of Venezuela and replace him with a compliant proxy.

It then commenced a military campaign against Iran that has already killed thousands, without even attempting to conduct themselves within the parameters of international law. The UN Security Council was not consulted, and no evidence has been provided to support its flimsy attempts of retrospective justification.

The US President has made genuine threats to invade Greenland, Panama, and Cuba, without ever once bothering to even pretend to discuss a legal justification for the hostility.

The erosion of the concept of international law as a guardrail against geopolitical anarchy has led us to a dangerous place. But few nations have contributed more to that erosion than the USA, and no president has expedited its demise faster than Donald Trump.

This isn't just hypocrisy, it's insulting, performative, dishonest, and shameless.'

Even as he stands there with the ridiculous 'Gulf of America' hat on display at his podium. How can people not see this blatent hypocrisy? 

Another day

 The weather is coolish but not cold. 69° right now, but a cool wind blowing in rain. More rain. We have had aclotvof it, but knowing how desperately some areas need rain, I will not complain. 

We have gotten nearly 14 inches of rain, this year, which is surprisingly considered just a bit above normal. We have 2 more inches on the way. 

So. Water is running high. You know what else is high? Gas. It has gone up 60 cents since May 1st. 5 days!

BTW: I am still optimistic and hopeful. I still dream of a better, kinder world.

Also, if I ever saw that horse, I would have to bring him home because he looks so sad. 

We drove back to Meadville today. At my appointment yesterday, I gave them a thank you card with a gas card tucked inside. That got a lot of attention. The card traveled around the office staff and people came out to tell that 'I did not need to do that'. I said that I liked the idea that the next time they had a Debby Dim-bulb standing in front of them all a-fluster, they could pay it forward. We all laughed together. I like that.

Today I went back for a followup. It is a longish drive and the first thing I do is tell them I am here. She remembered my name. The second thing I do is head for the bathroom because it is a long drive. 

When I came out. I admired a wandering jew that they had. I had a huge one that did not take to being moved from one house to the next. I asked if they would mind if I took a clip. The receptionist said, " I can do you one better " and handed me a cup with a rooted cutting. This is really just the friendliest little clinic. At the same time, they all wonderfully efficient, which is very comfortimg.

Something unexpected was that my shoes attracted a great deal of attention. People loved them. 'They look handmade!" "Where did you find them?" 

That surprised me because I really don't know that I have ever been walking past someone and their shoes caught my eye.

But they are sweet shoes.

I said. "Goodwill. Our store runs 79 cent sales, and these had the right color tag. They also were my size." And they were all suitably impressed.

So it was a good day for me and my bejeweled feet.

Over the weekend, I tried something new. I made ricotta cheese. It turned out very well. I have a lasagna in the oven that Tim is very excited about. 

So. That was today and it was a satisfactory day.

Well...except for the gas.

Food for thought

Gloom, despair and agony on me

 May 2nd. We woke up to snow. What the fresh hell IS this????!!

I am not a hardy character like Red who cheerfully deals with nonsense like this.

LATE EDIT: Kate too. She deals with this kind of nonsense too...and is far more complacent about it than I am. 

Normal service will resume when and if normal weather resumes.

Almost May

I was looking for a car part on line. I went to two or three web sites, but when I typed in the car make. Model and year and the part I was looking for, each time it came up as no parts available. 

In the middle of it, my phone rang. It came up as 'potential spam'. I did not answer the call. It was immediately followed by another phone call listed 'verified caller. Wyoming' 

I am a curious woman. I figured that the two calls had to be related. They were different numbers, but from the same 307 area code. So I answered it.

An unmistakably Indian accent said, 'are you looking for a passenger side fender for a 2008 Lincoln MKZ?'

(Side note: I was not driving the car. Actually, nobody was driving it. It was parked and quietly minding its own business when it was hit.)

Cautiously, I said 'Yesss...' while wondering how those searches were visible to him. 

"What color?" he asked. 

"Silver."

He said, almost instantly, "I can get you one for $146."

I said "I don't even know who you are."

He said, "My name is Lucas Anderson."

"Not to be rude, but I received two phone call within two minutes of each other. I don't know who you are, or how you figured out what I was looking for. Also, your accent is not a Wyoming accent. I am not comfortable handing out my credit card information under these circumstances."

He earnestly began to explain why I should trust him.

Unconvinced, I hung up.

Don't know if I am paranoid and missed out on a good deal, or whether I dodged a bullet. 

I was surprised to hear to receive a bulletin on my phone that a woman and baby down the road are missing, considered endangered. I do not know her, but it is something that grabbed my attention. I don"t know the back story but am hoping for a happy ending.

Other than that, it was a quiet day. I received a call from the office staff to see if I got home okay last night. They also had a cancelation and asked if I wanted the appointment. 

Less lead in time = less stress.

I said yes. I can hand deliver the thank you card and the gas card to them. 

May is a busy month. My daughter and son in law's wedding reception. My youngest daughter is coming stateside for it.  My son and his family will be here. We have a trip at the end of it. It was a lucky break to get that earlier appointment. 

The Governor of Louisiana called off the elections in his state until the maps can be redrawn to eliminate black majority areas. I mean they are not even hiding what they are up to. 

The White House posted a picture of trump and the King labeling it 'Two Kings'. 

The Republicans posted a picture of the King wearing a MAGA hat.

Mike Johnson denies we're at war.

The GOP voted today to end the government shut down without their exorbitant ICE funding demands. 

One positive sign at least. The rest of it is insane.

Frost warning tonight. Ugh.

Let's end with a laugh.

I cannot even...

I had an appointment today that i was heartily dreading. It was at 1, about an hours drive.

I was so anxious about it that I was wide awake at 4 am. I tried to fall back asleep, but I was so filled with 'fret' that it was not going to happen for me. I finally just got up and made my coffee and grabbed a package of BelVitas. I sat in the dark drinking coffee and reading blogs. 

It helped. 

A little. 

Tim got up. He had a bunch of stuff on his agenda, so I was on my own. 

I tried to comfort myself by going on a tear around the house. Scrubbed the bathroom, folded laundry, vacuumed, unloaded the dishwasher, tended to plants, cleaned the cat box, stuff like that. I made up my mind to leave at 11:30. I needed gas, and I was waiting to get it in Titusville. It is usually 20 cents  gallon cheaper and it was on the way, so it made sense.

So very methodically I set about getting set to go.

Shower (check)

Dress with great care (check)

Make up (check)

Hair (check)

(Did you ever notice that ticking boxes is a great distraction from thinking about things you'd druther not think about?)

Teeth (check)

Shoes (check)

Purse (check)

Raincoat (check)

Phone for directions since I did not know the area

(Check)

Full charge (Check)

Resolutely, I headed out the door and got myself on the road. When I got to Titusville, I was surprised to see that gas had gone up 20 cents over night. I decided to see what it was priced at on the way.

I had absolutely no idea how much I was going to regret this. The first thing I discovered is that there were no gas stations on my way.

Not to worry though. I knew I had enough gas to get me where I was going. I also knew that there were plenty of gas stations there. No worries. So I made my way through the heavy rain, trying to enjoy the Amish countryside.

I was on 'E' when I pulled into town. I had planned well enough that I had plenty of time for a fill up. I pulled into the first station I came to. I grabbed my wallet and it was then that I began to stress big time. My debit card was not in my wallet. I knew instantly where it was: at home on the table. I had been trying to renew the car registration on line. It would not accept our the card we use for online. I thought try my debit card. That did not work either. I brought the computer out to Tim to see if he could figure out where I was messing up. After trying it, he said, 'Never mind. I will just do it in person at the DMV. 

So much for convenience!

I logged off the website AND I NEVER WENT BACK TO GET MY DEBIT CARD! Now I was an hour from home, driving on E, and I still had my appointment. I was just sick. I got to where I was going, tried to call Tim from the parking lot. 

Did he answer his phone? No he did not.

Was his voice mail full? Yes it was.

There was nothing to do but walk into that appointment. I explained what I had done. She assured me it was fine. They took credit cards over the phone, so when I managed to get hold of Tim, I would be all set. She was so easy going about it. I was a little dumbfounded. 

Long story short. I survived my appointment. In the billing office. I did manage to get ahold of Tim. He read me the card information and I handed it to the billing person. I then began to explain about my gas situation. Did he know where a bank branch was? I had all my ID. 

 

The clerk interrupted. 'Don't worry about that. We got you a $20 gas card from the station across the street.'

I was flabbergasted. Tim was trying to talk and I was staring at the clerk, and I am embarrassed to say that after the whole stress filled day. I actually got teary. 

'Oh gees. You don't have to do that...'

She laughed. 'You have paid us enough that we can afford a gas card!' 

True, but...

In the end, I got home frazzled, but in one piece. Grateful, too.

 In all the hubbub I had skipped lunch. I knew I would be late getting back, so I had planned an easy supper. I split a loaf of Italian bread while sautéing onions, peppers, mushrooms, and some of the good sausage we made with Levi and Mattie and the kids. I spread the bread with spaghetti sauce, topped it with the meat and vegetables and sprinkled it with mozzarella cheese. 

Our pizzas were just coming out of the oven when Tim walked in the door from his day. 'Smells good! I didn't eat lunch today! I am starving.' 

So we sat down and ate.

All's well that ends well.

What do you think?

Tonight was Tim's final birthday hurrah. The man loves Journey. We have seen them twice and enjoyed both shows. I mean what's not to love. Familiar songs, songs that we know all the words to, songs from our youth. 

Of course, that was many moons ago. Steve Perry doesn't play with the group. In fact, only one original band member is still with the group that tours under the Journey name, which has always made me wonder at what point does a band actually become its own tribute band? But, as I said, we enjoyed both concerts. The new lead singer does a good job.

Compare this to the original Journey with Steve Perry. (Enjoy the 80s)

Well tonight we went to the Titusville Ironworks to see what is billed as the number one Journey tribute band, E5c4p3. We enjoyed the show. It was interesting to talk to another couple who have been to see the band 4 times. The woman said that the band actually has followers who follow them from venue to venue. She says after awhile they begin to recognize each other. Like I said. Interesting. 

Anyways, for comparison: the lead singer was very good. So the question begs an answer: which provides the more authentic experience? The 'actual' Journey with its one original band member, everyone else replaced or a tribute band with a good lead singer and a studied, polished band? 

I dunno. 

This made me think of Mr Shife right away

Quiet day

Today is Tim's birthday. It was a quiet day. We went to the gym. I work out for one hour. He works out for 30 minutes. He ducked out to buy his birthdsy present. He wanted a retractable air hose for his big air compressor in his garage, and then swung back to pick me up.

On the way home we stopped at the grocery store for strawberries and heavy whipping cream. He wanted strawberry shortcake for his birthday. Easy enough. His supper of choice was a simple one too. He loves mashed potatoes and hamburger gravy. He does love mashed potatoes. 

It is hard to believe we are both turning 69. 60 was a shock, and now a mere eyeblink later, we are looking at 70.  Just seems so strange. 70 is old! We aren't old!

An acquaintance posted a video of John Fettermen singing 47's praises on this Iran debacle. Another acquaintance responded with a reference to cults. They are two 80 yesr old white headed, bearded gentleman, both veterans. Both men of strong convictions. The poster blasted back with he 'was not raised to bash people on social media'. 

I smiled to that. Social media didn't exist 'til both of them were full grown men. My fingers itched a little because he unfriended me years back after I let him have it for calling Hillary Clinton a c*nt. He sent me a friend request years later, claiming I had unfriended him.

I scrolled on and left the two of them going at it.

We spent a quiet night not watching the news. 

Saturday

It is Saturday.

We protested. Gorgeous day, windy, which made the signs a bit of a challenge. 

Two of our tenants were there. I thought it was interesting that they simply stood on the corner making eye contact and waving with broad smiles. What was interesting is that when two women in their 70s are waving directly at people, no matter what their political leanings were, after some hesitation, generally, there was a small tentative wave back, one that used all their fingers.

We haven't had counter protesters lately. We have a small handful of people who cross over to stand with them, talking in a friendly way while waving their signs. The counter protesters kept trying to back away, but the friendly protesters followed them, smiling, talking, and waving their signs. Eventually, they left. They never have returned.

We made new signs.

 There is a big hulking young man who stands quietly in the back in solidarity. Somebody handed a sign to him and he came up front to stand with us. He seemed pleased to be there too. 

There was a lot of honking. I love the elderly people who quietly wave and smile at us. One fellow told us he was proud of us. Yeah. We get a few fingers and some shouts of 'go home!' Or 'Trump, Trump!' But that part of things seems to almost be dying down. 

We always hear him long before he gets to us. Today, air horn man was about ten minutes early. He came into town blaring his horns. A ripple went through our group. 'Here he comes! Here he comes!' Indeed he was, following a tanker truck. This time was different though. He caught the red light. We had a chance to demonstrate our thanks. We cheered and waved. In return he blared his horns. He tooted the old 'shave and a haircut' and around the corner, another horn answered with the obligatory 'two bits!' We all laughed.

A good day. 

We grabbed a burger and ran into people I used to work with, and had a good visit. 

We stopped off at a thrift store to make a donation from all that stuff that was mysteriously stuffed into the spare bedroom while I was gone. (Grrrrr!) I ran into a girl I went to school with. More jawjacking. I also got two beautiful blouses and a snuggly sweater for a quarter apiece. 

We stopped to check out Albert's garage sale on the way home. I could not believe my eyes to see a folding Rubbermaid two step ladder. Just that very morning I h Asaaddecided I needed something to reach the top shelves in the bathroom and the kitchen. $7.50 brought that home. $5.00 more brought a window fan home too.

So...it was a people-y sort of day, but a good one.

My blister is doing great. I soak my foot in the evening...

...and put a blister pad on it. Those things are miracle. 

That was Saturday.