HEADING OUT FOR GRANVILLE OHIO......
JUNE 10 2011...........................

I'll be leaving for Granville shortly, will be setting up for the first large art festival of the season.  I wonder how many really important things I will forget to pack.  You lose track of all that you need when it has been 6 months since the last major festival, I know I have my tent, my panels, my pictures, but what little things do I need I don't have.  I guess that is why there is a WalMart everywhere.

Yesterday morning I worked in my garden (flower this time), then shopped for necessities for Jerry so he would have easy stuff to eat while I am gone, then in the evening loaded the van. 

Right now, with mowing under control, weed whacking caught up, flowers blooming, the place looks pretty darned nice. 

This is my iris garden, as seen from our patio, which opens off the dining room / kitchen area. 

The pink flamingos were a gag 50th birthday gift for son Jerry last year, so I have two in the Iris bed, the second one is on the other side.  They and my goose keep guard over the irises.

This is from our dining room window.  The three tier flower bed is in the foreground, our patio is just to the right, and what you see is part of my back yard.  It goes from the trees on the left to the trees on the right, and stops at the "farm" part of the farm. The brown you see is where field corn has been planted for cow food this winter for Tim's cows.  The green on either side is hay and will probably be mowed and baled when I get home, more cow food.

Also this week I spotted more turkeys dancing in our orchard, on the left side of the yard. Since I don't have any pictures of them, had to take some.  No wonder my computer groans every time I connect the camera to download.

We have apple, peach and pear trees in the orchard, along with grape vines, and my vegetable garden is below the orchard, closer to the house. 

Everyone always remarks on how nice our place looks, but no one has the remotest idea of the amount of work, day after day, it takes to keep it looking nice.  Hours and hours of mowing, whacking, pruning, mulching, cleaning up -- but the result is more than worth the work involved.

Now to change gears.  My good friend, Pastor Linda, who lives in Munhall (a piece of Pittsburgh) has cats.  One of her cats doesn't know it yet, but he is going to become a famous cat.  His name is Napoleon.  He is a white long-hair.  He is sporting his summer hair cut right now.

When Linda lived in West Alexander this cat just appeared one day, nasty disposition, hissed and spat, you name it, he did it.  For some reason he latched on to Linda, and began staying on her porch, so of course she had to feed him.  Over time he became what you see now.

Why do I say he will be famous?  As you all probably know (if you didn't you will now) that I have written a three volume series of books entitled IF ONLY I COULD TALK.

Each book contains 20 short stories, written from the subject's viewpoint, what I think that particular subject would say if it COULD talk.  Volume three is scheduled for publication this fall, and Napoleon is telling his story.  And quite a story it is.

All my stories have pictures accompanying them, and the books are listed on my web-site.  I usually have one or two at festivals also, kids love the animal stories, adults like them all. 

Photography and writing - two of my favorite things, next to my family, my friends, my traveling, my gardening, The Phantom of the Opera stage play, along with several others I have seen throughout the years, having holiday meals, cookouts, cook-ins, CSI, NCIS, CRIMINAL MINDS, HARRY'S LAW, and a whole slew of other TV shows, surprise parties, and not so surprised parties.  I guess I could go on and on. but running out of time.

Better gather up my last minute stuff and hit the road.  I won't be blogging on Saturday and Sunday, but will touch base on Monday morning, hopefully with a big smile on my face.  And a new actually working refrigerator.

Time will tell.  Have a great weekend and God Bless.

I THOUGHT I WAS OUT OF THE RABBIT HOLE.................JUNE 09 2011.............

I worked in my garden (vegetable one) yesterday morning, then came in for lunch, before spending the afternoon mowing.

Went to get ice for my iced tea.  Frost free freezer full of frost.  Refrigerator temp 50 plus degrees. 

Call Customer Complaints.  Was informed that because we had filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, they would no longer service any appliances at our address and telephone number.  Can you believe that?  It is nuts!!!!!  When asking to speak with someone else, was informed that I could talk to their legal department.  I told them to connect me.  Put on hold.  Then told someone would return my call shortly.

Next thing I did was e-mail the BBB, asking them if this was the way it was done?

About half an hour after my phone call to customer complaints, the phone rang, and it was a Sears representative.  She informed me she had gone over all her records, and that they would give me a $500.00 credit toward a new refrigerator, my choice, and wanted to be sure I realized we would be responsible for any charge over the $500.00.  They would deliver new one and take away old one free of charge.

WOW!!!  DOUBLE WOW!!!  TRIPLE WOW!!! WHY DIDN'T THEY DO THIS WAY BACK WHEN?

I also told her about the non-service conversation and she literally flipped.  She had never heard of such a thing, they would definitely look into that.  I was not to worry, I would have the same considerate, timely, awesome, wonderful, did I say timely? service that I have had in the past.  I don't think I'll ever get out of this rabbit hole.

I asked her if she could call me back within half an hour, that I had to touch base with son Jerry (after all, he is the one paying the bills) to make sure it was o.k.  After some deliberation he said to go ahead and accept their offer.
So the waiting game was in progress again.

Within the half hour I got my return phone call, she wanted to know when I wanted to go pick out new fridge.  Told her as soon as I hung up the phone.

We really didn't want to buy another appliance from Sears, but $500.00 is $500.00.  They only had two in the store that fit our needs.  We didn't want the icemaker in the door, as you lose all that shelf space in the refrigerator.  Just a water dispenser. 

The only one they had meeting my requirements was another Kenmore, just like the one we had - but they were all on back order (probably having to rebuild the entire line) and it would be 4-6 weeks before delivery.  I think by that time I was talking "just" a little louder than normal, I did notice passers by slowing down, listening to the conversation.

And it was an interesting conversation, with the Sears appliance salesman, the store manager, and a couple more employees, doing busy work in the area.

I found a Whirlpool, meeting all my requirements, except for the water dispenser in the door, but it was just inside the refrigerator, which would work.

Delivery could be made as early as Sunday.  Whoopee do!  Seeing as how yesterday was Wednesday, only had to wait 4 more days. How lucky can I get!

They started the necessary paper (computer) work because this was a replacement fridge, not an outright purchase, even though money was involved, and I was then informed that even tho delivery of new fridge and removal of old fridge would be free, I would have to pay a $10.00 delivery charge as it was being delivered on the weekend.  More conversation, just a little louder, ended up getting a $510.00 discount on the fridge.  I think by that time they would do almost anything to get rid of me.

Needless to say I didn't get any mowing done yesterday afternoon, but did get the front yard mowed last evening.  Since I will be away Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (you heard right, Jerry gets to play catch me if you can with the Sears people over the weekend) and hopefully when I return Sunday night there will be a new working refrigerator in my kitchen.

And people say life is boring.

On a different note, Jim and Dianne's house still standing, completely surrounded by flames, firefighters standing by, keeping the house hosed down.  The beautiful mountain view they had is completely gone, just charred ruins.  They are getting the smoke as far away as Phoenix.  I am having a very hard time comprehending the enormity of this tragedy, and I really don't know how I could handle such a situation. 

The Good Lord willing, I will never have to face some such thing.  But you do what you have to do, you either fall apart, or pick up the pieces.  Either way, life will never be the same again.

My prayers go out to J and D, and all the other thousands of people facing all the you name it, it is happening things world-wide.  Be grateful for what you have and God Bless.

CATCHING UP and LOOKING AHEAD.......
JUNE 08 2011

I guess today is let's play catch-up.  How the "re-modeling" of the shop/machine shed building is progressing, getting caught up on the mowing and weed-whacking, and preparing for this coming week ends coming art festival in Granville, Ohio.  I might even, if I am lucky, get the house vacuumed before leaving on Friday morning.  But am fast running out of time.

This is Herb inside, and Bob outside.  They are framing up this hole in the wall to make it a hidden doorway, so Jerry has access to the inside.  As the new roof is built over top of the old roof, there is quite a nice area between the two for storage. 

I don't know about you folks, but we never seem to have enough storage. The more we make, the more we need

Herb is a contractor friend, he has helped us with lots of work over the years, and Bob is Jerry's first cousin, who is temporarily staying with us, while he is waiting for the new home he is buying to pass inspection so they can schedule the closing.


Here is Herb, getting ready to exit the new storage area. 

Jerry likes for things to look nice, he really doesn't like clutter, so for the 6 years we have lived here on the farm, there have been many many changes taking place.

I do have to agree with him, the changes have all been for the good, good for us, good for the appearance, and the first look folks get of our place as they top the last rise in our driveway is making quite a good impression.  But you would not believe the amount of work that has been done.

I have it made.  I pretty much "supervise", and manage to stay hidden if there is something I think they might want me to do, like hand up boards (I have done that and dropped them on Jerry's head and on his fingers), hand him the wrong screw driver, ask dumb questions, and just generally get in the way.

Jerry and Bob here are re-arranging the ladders so they can place the false door over the opening. 



You can see how nice this looks as Herb and Bob are putting on the finishing touches.  Jerry is telling them how to do it.  I guess since he is the owner, he gets the boss' hat.

Where they are working here is the back side of the building, facing the shady garden.  The next pictures will show the end, which faces the driveway as you come over the crest, and you can see how nice it is going to look.

Getting close to being finished.  I think it makes a nice welcome to our hilltop sort of thing.  We have a beautiful sign that Georgia has painted for us that will be re-attached to the two posts on the left, welcoming folks to 16 Bushko Lane.

The sign was removed so it would not be damaged during the remodeling.  The flowers have all survived and are blooming.

Here you can see the driveway on the far left, the house in the background, and the shop in the foreground. 

When this is finished Jerry can mark one more thing off of his "to do" list, but the list doesn't seem to get any shorter.

Enough for this stuff. 

Talked to Linda in Phoenix twice yesterday.  Last word was that Jim and Dianne's house is still intact.  The firefighters have been trying to save as many homes as they can, clearing all underbrush away and using flame retardant on the buildings.  There was fire all around the house, and unless flying embers land in just the right place at the right time, possibly their house will be spared.

The landscape is a different story.  It will be a long time before the vegetation again takes over.  A sad reminder of what can happen, when a campfire is not properly taken care of.  All we know about Tiffany's parents is that they have evacuated, but not sure as of yet just where they are.  Again the waiting game.

I don't know what the Arizona Mountains will look like as things come back to life, but several years ago when visiting Alaska, we were in an area where the wildfires had burned hundreds of acres of vegetation.  It was awesome to see the recovery.  Alaska has a plant known as FIREWEED, called that because after a devastating fire, the fireweed is the first vegetation to return.

You can see what I mean from this picture.  Everywhere we looked, it was covered with this beautiful plant.

I have seen the living proof that life goes on, regardless of what happens.

There is a reason and a purpose for everything on this earth.  It is not for us to understand the reasons and purposes, but to go with the flow

This is a closeup picture of a fireweed. 

As I said, I don't know what will come back first in the Mountains of Arizona, but I rather imagine it will be something just as beautiful and spectacular as the fireweed. 

I believe the fireweed is the rainbow following a fire.

Now, out to hoe in the garden for a while, then after lunch will start mowing yard.  The grass should be dry by then from yesterday's rain.

When feeling burned out, remember the fireweed and God Bless.

SMACK ME THE NEXT TIME I COMPLAIN
JUNE 07 2011..................

That's right - smack me.  Life is fragile.  We have no guarantees. We make mistakes.  We complain.  Because we are human.  And complaining comes naturally, just like breathing.  Frankenstein refrigerator.  Pouring down rain.  Too cold.  Too hot.  What does it matter?  It really doesn't.

These things all shall pass.  Life will go on.  My refrigerator is fixed.  The weather is really immaterial in the scheme of things.  What DOES matter is life.  And the folks, both known and unknown to me, who are experiencing things in their lives that I can't even begin to imagine. 

The unknown folks throughout the country experiencing the flooding, tornado's, damage beyond belief.  We sit here, watch the news, feel bad, then go out and party.  That is human nature.

I am going to list some things now, that, although not affecting me directly, are affecting me.  It involves family and friends  It involves unimaginable hardship, in a number of different ways.  And so because it is family and friends, I feel the pain, and the worry.  And my prayer list seems to be getting longer and longer.

First - son Michael was part of our Church Mission trip a couple of weeks ago.  they went to Nashville TN.  They went thinking, helping to rebuild in the flooded areas.  In actuality, they removed trash.  Tons and tons of trash.  They wondered if this was what mission trips were all about.  But the impact they had on the folks, in this poorer area, who could not help themselves because of age, or being alone, was so tremendous Michael came home a different person.  He said it was one of the most rewarding things he has ever done, and he is already signed up for next year's mission trip. 

Secondly, we have friends living in Arizona, Nutrioso to be exact.  Jerry and I became friends with them through Linda who lives in Phoenix.  They have been building a new house in the mountains, doing the work themselves, it is almost finished.  Had word last night they had to leave for Springerville, as the smoke from the fires was getting so bad.  Last word Eager and Springerville were being evacuated.  I don't know where they are right now.  They don't know if the fire will reach their home or not.  The waiting game.

Again you watch the news, read the newspapers, but are not impacted until it actually affects some one you know.

My good friend Russ, whom I met 30 plus years ago at a festival, he is an artist.  He, his wife, my husband and I became friends.  We watched each other's kids grow up, marry, and have kids.   Sheila became ill about three weeks ago, chalked it up to a virus.  Got worse.  Emergency surgery.  Having problems getting her stabilized following the surgery, there will be IV  therapy involved.  He is an art teacher, has and will be missing the last days of school.  This coming weekend's festival he and I were scheduled to attend, he has cancelled.  Again, the waiting game.

Another good friend just e-mailed me this morning that another friend of hers was injured in a horseback riding accident a year ago, has permanent neurological problems, will never be able to return to her farm and her horses, and other livestock and animals.  Friends are caring for the animals, they are in the process of trying to sell and/or find homes for the livestock.  Again, the waiting game.

Life is fragile.  Life is a gift.  Live each day to the fullest, there may not be a tomorrow, at least the sort of tomorrow you are used to.  Take nothing for granted.  Cherish your family and friends, say many prayers, and God Bless.

"DON'T CALL US TO BAIL YOU OUT"
JUNE 06 2011..................

AKA as the NIAGARA FALLS CAPER.

Georgia had never been to Niagara Falls.  So, of course, we had to take a road trip to said falls.  Asked Dan if he wanted to go, he wasn't really interested, so Georgia and I planned a few days at the falls.

We made our hotel reservations in advance, a lovely hotel right at the Canadian end of the Peace Bridge. 

I believe it was a Thursday that we left early in the morning.  It takes about 6-7 hours to get from my place to the Canadian side of the falls, depending on how many photo stops we made on the way.

We arrived in Buffalo, and crossed into Canada there, as I had been to the falls before, and the Canadian drive is spectacular and beautiful, scenery all the way.  We breezed through customs, with photo ID's and passports in hand.We arrived late afternoon, checked in to our hotel, then started exploring.  We scoped out all the touristy things that we thought we would like, had supper, and just loafed.

Friday was a good day.  We rode the Maid of the Mist, you have no comprehension how tall the falls actually are until you are in the water in this little tiny boat looking up.  WOW!!!!!!!!  We drove along the falls to the whirlpool, stopped at the numerous overlooks, visited the butterfly conservatory, seeing thousands of beautiful butterflies.


We hit the aviary, the gardens, walked, and walked, and walked.  Somewhere along the line someone told us if we wanted to photograph the falls in the evening, when the colored lights came on for the light show, to walk out onto the Peace Bridge, the perfect vantage point.

Of course we are always looking for vantage points.  So after supper, before dusk, we decided to check out the view from the bridge.  This was going to be a photo shoot, not a shopping trip, not a luncheon, not a sight-seeing trip, nothing but a photo op.  We like to travel light when photo-oping.

So, what do we need?  Cameras of course.  Extra batteries of course.  Anything else?  Not that we can think of.  Peace Bridge, here we come!

To get on to the bridge we have to pass through a small building, and put a coin in the turnstile to exit the building on to the bridge.  We had coins in our pockets, we were always looking ahead.  Right.  Famous last words.

The information was correct.  The view was perfect.  We found a spot on the walkway next to the railing, with a bunch of other photographers wanting to get that "perfect" picture.  Shortly the lights began coming on, yellow, blue, red, green, shining on the falls, giving them a spectacularly beautiful glow.  We are taking pictures like crazy, just like everyone else.


While engrossed in our prize-winning shots, we, of course, we are talking.  When did we not talk?  About that time a couple of tour buses came across the bridge from the USA, going into Canada.  I am telling Georgia about the time I took a tour into Canada and the falls in December, to see all the Christmas lights and decorations.  I told her how the tour director advised us to have our ID's ready when the customs agent came aboard, we probably would not need them, as long as we didn't say or do anything STUPID.

ID's.  CUSTOMS.  ID's  UT OH.  WE ARE IN DEEP (your know what).  OUR WALLETS, ID's, etc. ARE IN THE HOTEL.  WE ARE BETWEEN COUNTRIES, OUTSIDE OF CANADA, OUTSIDE OF THE USA, ON A BRIDGE, AND NO ID's!!!!!!!!!!!!

We look at each other, then at the little building we came through.  Leaving Canada to get on the bridge, there was no Customs to go through, and if there was a sign telling us we were leaving Canada, we did not see it.  But going back.  We would have to go through customs.  We are getting in deeper and deeper.

We start trying to figure out what to do.  Don't even have our cell phones, they are also at the hotel.  Georgia says to me "Do you think that if we get arrested, they will let us call home and ask for help?"  Scratch that idea.  I know both Dan and Jerry would just tell us "You got yourselves into that mess, you can get yourselves out.  Don't even think of asking us for bail money".

So, here are these two idiotic geniuses, two women without a country, standing on a bridge over the Niagara River, with no way home, in either direction. 

Light Bulb time.  I just remembered that I DID have our room key in my pocket.  At least we didn't leave that in the room.  One point for us.  100 points for Customs.  We are losing fast.  And time is running out.

We decided to play the part of dumb senior citizens to the hilt.  We really did not have to do much acting, that's what we were. We head towards the little building at the end of the bridge, go through the turnstile and stop in front of the customs lady.  She looked tired.  This doesn't look good.

She asks for our ID's.  We try to look really stupid (not really a hard thing to do) and I proceed to tell her that we were so excited about being at the falls, how we had been told the VERY BEST pictures would be from the bridge, that we could hardly wait to see, we only brought our cameras with us.  Left everything else in the hotel.

Then I showed her our hotel key (it was an actual key, not a magnetic card) and told her that we would be more than happy for her to hold one of us hostage, while the other one went to the room and retrieved our ID's.  She just looked at us, looked at our cameras, looked at us, expression never changing.

Doesn't look good.  We hadn't gotten to the place where we had decided which one of us would be hostage.  And we waited.  And waited.  Finally she just ran her fingers through her hair, told us to go on through, but to NEVER NEVER NEVER pull such a stupid trick again.  We could have kissed her, but then we probably would have been arrested.

I don't think we started breathing again until we were at the hotel..  I also think the ONLY thing that saved us was the fact that we had no packages, no purses, nothing but one camera each, and a Canadian Hotel key.

We were right about the guys.  When they heard the tale, they both told us that no way would they have bailed us out.  We dug our hole, we could get ourselves out of it.

I know one thing - I NEVER go anywhere without my ID, at least in my pocket if I want hands free to take pictures.

Saturday we drove across the Peace Bridge, ID's in our hot little hands, and on up to Youngstown New York to visit old Fort Niagara.  Returned to Canada late in the day, then on Sunday morning headed for home.  A few more gray hairs.  A few more wrinkles on the faces, and eternally grateful for the customs lady who took pity on us and let us back into the country.


I'm sure by now you have all decided you really don't want to go on photo ops with us.  Have a great day and God Bless.

JUST A LITTLE BIT OF STUFF
SUNDAY JUNE 05 2011

Today will be a little bit of this and that.  Firstly, sister Ruth and I attended the artist's reception for Georgia on Friday evening.  A beautiful display of some of her artwork, a very nice turnout of those interested in art, an evening out, and nibbling.  Had some good nibbling.

This is Georgia in her home working on one of her original paintings.

Georgia and I met, it must be at least 12 years ago, at Oglebayfest in Wheeling, she was exhibiting her paintings and I was exhibiting my photography.  We became friends.

Through the years we have done, what we call, road trips - me to take photographs to use in the business, Georgia to use to make her paintings.  She has the advantage, she can change summer to winter, fall to spring, etc.
Me - I have to go with what I have, sometimes I can remove some little something, but normally I am very careful to not get anything in the picture I do not want in the finished product.

This is a small version of her galardia picture, she painted from a picture she took of this flower in my garden, and I now have a framed 11 x 14 hanging in my home.

This is one of my favorites, her grandfather's violin

painted as a still life.  She can paint just about anything, you name it she will paint it.



This is the cover of her art book entitled SPEAKING OF ART, which shows samples of her paintings, with a brief paragraph telling the why, or the where or the what that caught her eye to paint the picture.

We have done other traveling together, along with her husband, Dan.  One day I'll have to tell you about our Niagara Falls caper.  But not today.  I really don't need to make you all aware of what complete idiots we can be.

Yesterday just did odds and ends around here, saw that the workers were fed lunch, caught up with paper work, getting ready for the upcoming weekend, catching up on some reading, just stuff.

Ruth keeps me well supplied with reading material.  We have both read from the day we could recognize words (My Mom and Dad read and read and read), she buys book upon book, and when she is finished with them they are passed along to me, and when I finish I pass them on.  It is a well-traveled road, and since we have the same interests in our reading, there is very little that I don't read (maybe one a year). 

I really feel sorry for non-readers, they are missing out on so much, there is always something new to learn, no matter what type of reading you do.

I started reading about age 9, one of the first books my Mom ever gave me to read was one of Zane Gray's.  I went through the westerns only stage, then the animals only stage, then moved on and up, reading everything I could get my hands on. 
I lived in Martins Ferry, just across from Wheeling.  Three of Zane Gray's books were about Betty Zane, and the Zane family and her heroics during one of the Indian fights taking place at the fort where Wheeling is now.  She is buried in Martins Ferry.  At that time Wheeling was Fort Henry.  Wheeling is also the site of McCullough's Leap, a famous part of our local history.

Zane Gray's museum is in Zanesville, Ohio.  It is so very interesting reading such stories, about your home, and all that transpired before you were ever born.  I learned about Lewis Wetzel, the Indians who lived in this part of the Ohio Valley, and Ohio is actually an Indian name.  Meaning beautiful water.

Sorry I'm late with today's blog.  Time got away from me this morning, and before I knew it, it was time to leave for Church, then there was a luncheon afterward, then a trip to the funeral home.

Now I am home, Jerry at a graduation party, so I don't have to cook tonight, think I'll jut sit back and relax the remainder of the day.  As Scarlet O'Hara said in GONE WITH THE WIND "Tomorrow is another Day",  and so it will be.   Enjoy the sunshine, feel the breeze, take some time for yourself, and God Bless.

THE LAST OF MY HERO's....................................

JUNE 04 2011

The last of my "hero's" passed on yesterday.  He was James Arness, or Marshall Matt Dillon to me.  For 20 years I watched him, admired him, and, yes, even fantasized about him, even though I was married and had children.

We all have fantasies, I am no exception.

I remember the very first time I saw a movie with him in it, it was when my sister Ruth and I were still living at home in Martins Ferry with my parents, so it would have had to be when we were still teen-agers.

First - some background.  We lived, as I said in Martins Ferry, we grew up never having an automobile, we walked everywhere, or rode the trolley, later the bus if we went as far as Wheeling WV, just a hop skip and jump now.  But we walked - walked to school, walked home for lunch, walked back to school, and it wasn't across the street, it was several blocks.  We walked to the grocery store for odds and ends - Mother called in her weekly order and it was delivered to the house.  Am I dating myself, or what?

We walked to one of the 2 theaters in M.F. on Friday night (admission was only 10 cents), walked to church and home on Sunday.  Anyhoo back to the main theme.

This really scary new movie was playing at one of the 5 theaters in Wheeling, called "THE THING".  Some of our friends had seen it and that is all we heard about.  So Ruth and I decided we just had to see this movie.  We had saved up some of our allowance, had enough to take public transportation to Wheeling and back, and pay for our tickets.

Now you have to remember, we lived in town, but were 6 longgg blocks from the nearest bus stop.  There were street lights, but they were few and far between.  It was still daylight when we left home.  We sat through the movie,  actually cringed through the movie, it was so scary.

We survived the movie, survived the bus ride back to our stop, and then..........

It was one of those really dark nights, no moon,  we had a really long walk home, the sidewalks had already been rolled up for the night, there was absolutely no one to be seen, anywhere.  We are holding hands so tight our fingers were going numb.  Finally - brain storm!!!!!

And this part is the honest truth.  We walked all the way home back to back switching places every block.  One block I was facing ahead, Ruth glued to my back facing back, then switch, then switch.  We made it home, nothing jumped out and grabbed us, now we laugh about it, but back then it was deadly serious.

It was not until the Gunsmoke series began on TV that I saw James Arness again, a very far cry from the monster in The Thing. 

Picture courtesy of news item appearing last evening on my computer.

I believe he was the last of the great cowboys, the last of a legend.  They don't grow actors today like those of yesterday, don't have the wonderful movies like those of yesterday, and I actually have an automobile and don't have to be afraid of walking home in the dark.

Savor your memories, the good times and the bad, they make wonderful stories down the road.  Have a good weekend and God Bless.

WHAT AM I GOING TO TALK ABOUT TODAY??????????????

No 1 - Refrigerator still working today and freezer still frost free. 

No 2 - Had some great e-mails from friends, some awesome stories to be shared.  It is so easy to forget all the wonderful things there are all around us, we get so caught up in our daily routines, our own "soap operas" so to speak, we forget about everything else.  Then you receive an e-mail, and everything falls into place once again, until the next soap opera.

Tim sent me some additional seed corn last night so will get it planted today.  Got my back yard mowed yesterday.  Looks good right now.  Guys are still working on the shed, it is coming along really well.   Will look good when they are finished. 


This is the end and back of the shed. The house is to the left and behind the shed, you can't see it from here, but it is there.

Starting to get my picture inventory pulled together, my first major festival of the year is next weekend in Granville, Ohio.  I will be busy now until mid-November.

My artist friend, Georgia, opens her one woman month long show this evening with an Artist's Reception in New Martinsville WV.  I am planning on being there for this occasion.  It is always fun to do something new and/or different.
Best part, though, they usually have nibblers at these affairs, and I do so love to nibble.

June is pretty well filled up for me.  The artist's reception tonight.  Next Friday leave for Granville and will return Sunday night.  Then on Saturday June 18th am invited to a big bar-b-q in Sardis Ohio for the day.  then on Thursday the 23rd I leave for Peninsula Ohio for the Boston Mills Art festival Friday through Sunday, and while in Boston Mills the kids fly home from Phoenix for approximately a month.  So they will be here when I get back from Peninsula.
Jerry has to play host, but this is home, they know where everything is, etc etc, so won't be a problem.

When involved in the festivals, most applications for this year were received in December 2010, January and February 2011.  So all festivals under consideration are applied for by the end of February, that is why I am away when they arrive.  But they put up with me anyway.

How about the tornado in Massachusetts this week.  And to think I was just in that area a couple of weeks ago.  You really never know about these things.

Guess I had better get my corn planted before it gets too warm out.  I like, whenever possible, to do my gardening in the mornings. 

So off I go on another day of this and that.  Everyone have a good day and God Bless.

GOLLEY GEE WHILLIKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Golley gee whillikers, ring the bells, sound the sirens, shoot off the fireworks, shout from the roof top - better not do that would probably fall off, sing at the top of my voice - better not do that either, would scare everyone away..

As of right now - this very minute, my refrigerator temp is 34 degrees, and the ice maker in the freezer is making ice!!!!!!!!

It only took 33 days, two dozen phone calls, 3 appointments made and cancelled - by Sears, not by me - 4 appointments made and kept, 4 different repairmen, 4 different diagnosis, three major replacement of parts, screaming, hollering, threatening law-suit, filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, breaking down and crying, which I never do, and on the verge of a major melt-down, to get it fixed.  Did I leave anything out?  Oh yes - the hours and hours I sat in the house waiting for someone to show up and fix my fridge.

Maybe I should volunteer to have a GPS training class.  Not a single one of the repairmen either had, or knew how to use, a GPS.  Every single one had to call for directions.  That should tell you something right there.  Ergo, that is why hours were spent in the house - waiting for that phone call asking for directions.

Now this morning will be spent in lugging everything up from the family room downstairs, and putting it all back in my kitchen refrigerator, emptying out the coolers  (I never would have thought of using a cooler if the Sears repairman had not told me to do that, as I am just an ignorant old lady), but I was already using, get them - yes more than 1 - cleaned up and put away. 

Right now wish I had a dumb waiter.  Hope you all know what that is.  If not, it is a mini-elevator type of box, used in olden times in rich folks houses to lift the food from the kitchens below to the dining rooms above.  Hence the "dumb waiter", at least it could not talk back to you.

But wait!!!  Just had a terrible thought!!!  What am I going to talk about tomorrow????????????

Have a great day and God Bless.

DOES ANYONE HAVE AN ICE BOX FOR SALE?.....................

I haven't slit my throat yet, but getting close.  Yesterday was "fix the refrigerator" day.  Yep, that is what I was told.  Nope that is not what happened. 

Service person to be here between 7 a.m. and noon.  I am up at 6:30 a.m. so I am at least dressed, hair sort of combed, teeth brushed, sort of, and trying to get into my right mind for the day.  And the morning went on and on and on.


11:00 a.m. phone rings. It is the service person, no GPS knowledge, asking for directions.  Gave said directions.  11:20 a.m. phone rings.  Don't tell me he can't find my house.  "This is the Sears Service Department.  We are running considerably late today, and are sorry to say our service "technician" won't be arriving until later this afternoon.  We hope this is not inconveniencing you".

I have no more than hung up the phone than the service man is knocking on the door.  I am getting deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole from Alice in Wonderland.  My wonderland is mad refrigerators chasing me.  The mad hatter changes shapes with each service call.

This is service person #4.  He is the first one to actually pull the refrigerator out from the wall to check the control panel in the back that tells the refrigerator what to do, it's brain, sort of.  "Whoops, here is your problem, the panel has become defective.  Happens some times.  I'll check and see if I have a new one in my truck".

Brings in new control panel, replaces the old one, puts plate back on panel, returns refrigerator to wall, and starts checking for air flow into the refrigerator part of the refrigerator, the freezer part freezes just fine, frost and all.  Plays around for a while, refrigerator not cooling down.  Takes all the bins out of said refrigerator and lo and behold the air flow vents in the bottom of the refrigerator for the circulation of the air are full of ice.  Frozen solid ice.  No way air can flow through ice. 

This must happen a lot because he pulls out his trusty "hair dryer".  Told me he used to use a heat gun, but with the refrigerators all plastic now, they would melt.  Not the gun, the refrigerator.  I can hear customer service now.

This is Customer Service, how may I help you?  My refrigerator just melted when the repair man used his heat gun on it.  We are so sorry, your warranty   does not cover melting refrigerators.  Would you be interested in a new one?

So he merrily sits there for about half an hour blow drying the fridge.  Finally he stops, tells me there is just too much ice.  I am almost afraid to ask what now.
"Do you by any chance have an ice chest?  I would get some ice and use the chest for the time-being".

I just look at him.  The rabbit hole is getting deeper and deeper.  He then goes on to tell me that I need to unplug the refrigerator for 24 hours, let the ice all melt out, then plug it back in and it will be working just fine.  By then I feel myself getting hysterical.

I asked where all the melted ice water would go, he said not to worry there is a drip pan in the refrigerator.  I asked if the same problem wouldn't re-occur once the refrigerator is plugged in.  He said not to worry everything would be fine.  At the end of 24 hours, plug the refrigerator in and you will be back in business. 

In the meantime I get to lug everything downstairs to the family room.  Lucky me.  I just knew this would be my lucky day!!!!!

He left.  Didn't even offer to pull the fridge away from the wall for me to unplug it.  Service with a smile!!!!  I do have to say, though, every one of the 4 service men were polite, considerate, and cleaned up after themselves.  They just don't know know how to fix a refrigerator.

 I called Jerry at work, told him what had happened, and asked if there was a circuit breaker I could break - he told me where to look, I found said breaker, shut it off, phone went dead.    It turns our our cordless phones (which need electric to work) are on the same circuit as the fridge.  No fridge, no phone.  Turned circuit breaker back on.  Called Jerry back and he asked why I hung up on him.  Told him, he said "oh!.  I'll unplug it when I get home tonight".

So he comes home.  Pulls the fridge out from the wall and pulls the plug.  Everything is out of the fridge and freezer except for a bag of ice.  I go to open the freezer drawer, nothing happens.  It is frozen shut, very solidly frozen shut, from all the melted ice water the tech created, which in turn froze the drawer shut.  I did say, didn't I, that the freezer was working great, registered 2 below zero.  Jerry managed to get it open.  Got the ice out for the ice chest.

All night I had visions of my kitchen flooded in the morning, water water everywhere, even running down the stairs into the family room, and a mad refrigerator chasing me with men running after it with hair dryers.

Having to wait 24 hours means we can't plug the fridge back in until Jerry comes home tonight. Then will have to wait another 24 hours to let it cool down, or warm up, whichever the case may be.   So here I sit, floor mopped up, (it wasn't a flood, but there was water) my Frankenstein Refrigerator sitting there grinning at me, doors wide open, freezer drawer pulled out, vegetable and meat bins on the island counter top, 2 coolers on another counter, downstairs fridge packed to the gills with downstairs stuff and upstairs stuff, downstairs freezer packed full with downstairs stuff and upstairs stuff.  More stuff than I know what to do with.

I am being very careful to give the fridge a very wide berth - the doors opened wide look like gigantic arms, just waiting to grab me and pull me inside, slamming shut on me, and then drowning me in melted ice water.  Perhaps I'll just melt right along with the fridge.

Do you think that I will have a real working refrigerator tomorrow.  Somehow I just don't think so.  I know even if it does start to work again, I will always be very leery, never trusting it again. 
So here I am waiting again.  I know I will never feel sure of this refrigerator, I will always think that it is staring at me, deciding what diabolical scenario it can come up with to drive me a little deeper into the rabbit hole.  Anyone out there want to take bets that the fridge will be working? I would say the odds are at least 1000 to 1.

So, if anyone has an ice chest for sale, let me know.  I know Jerry will be thrilled to buy a block of ice every evening to replace the melted block from yesterday in the ice chest so we can keep our food cool.  I'm not sure where all the water will go.

Believe me, I am NOT making this up.  My imagination doesn't work that well.
Four repairman, four different diagnoses, four different repairs, and using coolers in the kitchen. 

I sort of feel sorry for all you folks out there.  You have never lived until you have fallen down the rabbit hole.  Enjoy and God Bless.

THE LAST DAY OF MAY.......................................

The last day of May - graduates are graduating, school almost out for another year, June just around the bend, and here I sit, waiting - waiting - waiting, for the service technician to arrive to tell me why my refrigerator is not working.

For some strange reason every tech has told me something different, they have replaced all the parts, and for the icing on the cake, I found water running out from under said refrigerator yesterday.  Had to put a towel down to keep it moped up.  And you wonder why I am sarcastic.  I believe I have more than enough reasons to make me that way.

I am not normally sarcastic, bent out of shape (well, depends on which shape you are looking at), and close to tears.  I'm mostly up-beat, just enjoy myself no matter what I am doing.  In my hundred plus years (I look pretty good for my age don't I?) it has taken Sears to break me.  It only took them 5 weeks.  They should write a book on how to make a person's life completely miserable, they are experts.

So today, a beautiful morning, when I should be outside mowing yard, working on flower beds, and moping the deck to remove the stains from spilled food and drink on Sunday, what am I doing?  I am sitting here in my house, waiting for the telephone to ring, a call from the service tech, who is supposed to be here between 8 a.m. and noon.

I don't think Sears is sophisticated enough to use service techs that have a GPS in the vehicle.  I don't believe they would know how to use one if they did have one.  So I sit, and wait, for that phone call  "Hi - I'm your Sears Service Technician, could you give me directions on how to find you"

I wonder what frustrations June will bring.  I really don't see how it could be any worse than May.  I even had one Sears Customer Service rep ask me "How are you keeping your food cold, using an ice chest?"

When I was growing up we did have a refrigerator, but we also knew folks who had the, what was known as, ICE CHEST.  Yes, they had ice chests, would buy ice by the block, put it in this ice chest and it would keep their food cooler than room temp.  They thought they had it made.

And yes, I am using ice to keep my new, modern, up-to-date, state of the art, refrigerator, a little bit cool.  So the saga continues. 

If you see on the news some evening the story of the wild-eyed crazy people, unloading a beautiful state of the art refrigerator at the local Sears store, with a huge sign reading A VERY EXPENSIVE PIECE OF JUNK, or some such thing, you will know we were finally driven over the edge.  And it only took 5 weeks.

Have a good day and God Bless.

MEMORIAL DAY 2011

Memorial Day - a Day to Remember.

A friend just sent me, on facebook, u-tube's Lee Greenwood's  GOD BLESS THE USA.  Always been one of my favorite songs.  However the pictures that accompanied the music were awesome - it is what Memorial Day is all about.

We had a lovely day here yesterday.  Friends and Family, lots of food, really good food, Tim even brought two of his award winning cheese cake pies, the ones he entered in Cabela's pie contest, he won two awards.  And that is our farmer friend, the one who keeps our farm looking good, and the one from whom we buy our beef every fall.  And he cooks yet.  His wife Kay told us that after 26 years she thought she would keep him.

Went to early Church (8:30), so I could get home early to finish up all the odds and ends.  First guests arrived around 11:00 a.m., last guests left around 8:30 p.m.  What a wonderful day we had, stories to be told, overeating, laughter, overeating, remembering, overeating, sitting on the deck with a breeze blowing through, and, of course, overeating.

I've always equated Memorial Day with the real first day of summer, just as Labor Day is the real end of summer.  I don't care what the calendar says.  That is how I look at it.  So, to me, summer is officially here, The 4th of July is officially the middle of summer, and Labor Day is the end.

In two weeks my busy season starts festival-wise. In the meantime my artist friend Georgia opens a one-woman show of her paintings at a gallery in New Martinsville WV with the artist's reception on Friday evening, June 3rd.  The show will last the entire month of June. I have several of her paintings hanging in our home.  After my husband, Tom, passed away 6 years ago Georgia did an absolutely beautiful portrait of him, which is hanging in my home.

Portraits are just one of her things.  She does landscapes, still life, old barns, you name it, she can paint it. 

There is a barb-b-q looming on the horizon in Sardis Ohio, daughter and son-in-law coming home from Phoenix for a month (which makes a great excuse for another cookout), festivals, mowing, maybe even some gardening, if I get it planted before fall.

Jerry and I did manage to get to the cemetery on Saturday evening and got our flowers planted.  We were the only ones there, everyone else had done their planting earlier.  At least we weren't arrested for grave robbing.

And, my 48 hours officially passed yesterday evening at 8 p.m., and I DID NOT get my guaranteed call from a head honcho Sears representative within the guaranteed 48 hours.  Why am I not surprised.

Tomorrow the repairman is supposed (for the umpteenth time) to be here in the morning.  Another day of sitting and waiting, and twiddling my thumbs.  Oh well, such is life.

I hope everyone is having a good Memorial Day weekend, I will keep you posted on my on-going soap opera with Sears, and God Bless.

ODDS and ENDS.....................................................

There is really nothing earth-shattering today, maybe a couple of brain-teasers, but mostly just routine stuff.

First of all, Grandson Coleman (Rebecca's No. 3 son) went to the Prom this year.  He is the first of her three to do so.  The older two just weren't all that interested.  Then came the fun, asking the girl, hoping she will say yes, she did, ordering the tux, ordering the corsage and boutonniere.  Which, of course, Rebecca had to do, all except for asking the girl.

Several parents went together and rented a limousine for the evening, and on the big night they all met at this one friend's house for pictures, and an evening out in style.

This is Coleman and his date.  I cannot believe all that is involved in going to the prom now.  When I was in school, about 100 years ago, you had your date, had your corsage, and of course your gown, the guys usually just wore suits, you went, you danced, you partied, and you came home.  Not anymore.

The morning of the prom all the young people had to go to the school to practice the "Grand March"  Then all the prom kids had to be at the school by a certain time in the evening for the "Grand March", with parents and families all there to watch.  By the time the prom actually started, they were worn out and ready to come home. 

This is the five couples that went together.  What a beautiful rainbow of dresses. 

Enjoy themselves they did, and all arrived home safely.  It is such a relief to not have to worry about drunk drivers, young drivers, and tired drivers. 

Secondly, yesterday I got all the major pre-prep done of the food for our Sunday Memorial Day cookout.  Will finish up that sort of thing today, so on the actual party day, I can actually party. 

Thirdly, yesterday I learned three new pieces of trivia, or stuff, or something strange, whatever you want to call it.  This from son Jerry.

First of all he tells me - "You have to try this"!  What is "this" I wonder.  He said to take my age this year either already there or will be there, and add the last 2 numbers of my birth year to it, what would I get.  Answer 111.

It just so happens there is something about 2011 that every single person, born through 1999 will arrive at 111 using the above formula.  Let's take Jerry - He was born in 1960 and is 51 (actually 51 yesterday)  You add 60 and 51 and what do you get?  111.  How about Rebecca.  She was born in 1965 and will be 46 in June.  What do you get?  111.  Me, I'm not telling either my age or the year I was born. 

Another piece of very important information Jerry proceeded to tell me. 

Once every 823 years you will find the month of July has 5 full weekends (Friday, Saturday, Sunday.)  It will only happen if the first day of the month falls on Friday, and the month has 31 days.  July of 2011 has 5 full weekends.

Now, if you don't have anything else to do, just sit down and start making calendars for the next 823 years, and see if this is correct.

Thirdly, we are still sort of old fashioned here in our rural community.  On Memorial Day we try to have flowers planted on the graves of who have moved on.  As of today, the flowers are still sitting here, it is either raining, or Jerry is not available.  We are fast running out of time.  We may have to go in the middle of the night, whenever we have a night it doesn't rain,and plant by flashlight.  Then we will probably be reported to the police as grave robbers.

This entire year to day has been unpredictable, unprecedented, and unreal.
And we still have 7 months to go.

Another piece of trivia - 2011 had one month that will have 1-11-11 (January 11) and will have 11-11-11 (November 11).

And just about when I thought nothing else could happen, it was going on 8 p.m. the phone rang.  The conversation went something like this.

Good evening, this is your Sears representative calling about your range.

Me - My range - it is my refrigerator that doesn't work!  What do I have to do to get through to your people?  Silence. Then this reply.

I am sorry about your refrigerator but am really calling about your range.

Me - What's wrong with my range?

We just wanted to let you know your warranty was expiring and would you like to buy an extended warranty.

After laughing hysterically, I proceeded to tell her no, never, would never buy another product from Sears, etc. etc., and the merry-go-round I have been on for going on 6 weeks. 

She replied in the positive, told me she had never heard of such a run-around, she saw on my records about the scheduled, cancelled, appointments, and that I was waiting for another repairman to come.  She also indicated that this was not acceptable, she was writing a report and sending it to one of the corporate honchos, and that I would receive a phone call from them within 48 hour.

I wonder if they work on weekends and holidays, because Saturday and Sunday and Monday fall into that category.

She also indicated that the refrigerator should have been replaced before this.

I had a pretty full plate yesterday.  Today the sun is shining, hopefully by afternoon the grass will be dry enough to mow.  This morning will complete food prep for tomorrow, clean the house, and, this evening hopefully, get to the cemetery to plant our flowers.  My husband was a WW II veteran, and he deserves to be remembered in this fashion.  Perhaps Mother Nature will be considerate today.

I may, or may not, get around to blogging the next couple of days.  Only time will tell.  However, if I do hear something from Sears, I will definitely take the time to jot it down for you.  Remember, boycott Sears, have a wonderful safe Memorial Day weekend, and God Bless.

TODAY I KNOW WHAT TO SAY, YOU PROBABLY DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT.....

What I want to say today is definitely not very lady-like.  My cool has been blown away, I've had it up to my eyeballs with Sears, and dumped it all into Jerry's lap.  I refuse to make another ridiculous phone call to Sears trying to get my refrigerator fixed.

That's right.  They finally came to fix it.  After 5 weeks.  Put in new parts.  Told me working perfectly.  Refrigerator cooling, freezer, since it is frost free, should have no more frost.  End of story.  Right!!  WRONG!!!!!

First of all, Sears spent $959.99 on service calls and parts for a "fixed" refrigerator that IS NOT FIXED.  The new fridge cost $1400.00.  After another run-around today I surrendered.  When Jerry came home, it got dumped on him

Two phone calls later, he is as frustrated as I am.  Guess what!  We are supposed to have a service man here Tuesday May 31 to see why the fridge isn't working properly.  I even bought a new thermometer to go into the fridge, thinking maybe the one we had in there was defective.

New thermometer tells us interior temperature of the fridge id 60 degrees.  And the thermostat is set for 37 degrees.  It is ridiculous to have to freeze jugs of water and put them in the refrigerator to keep the interior temperature cooler than the interior house temp.

The frost-free freezer has a new layer of frost building up in it.  Have gone full circle.  Jerry planning on being here Tuesday, service man is to tell him what is wrong, then is to call customer complaints - another telephone number to keep track of - and let them decide what to do next.

Jerry has stated that if this doesn't work, he is loading up the fridge, putting a huge sign on it, and delivering it to the Sears store where we bought it.  Watch out Sears.  Jerry doesn't speak idly.  Anyone knowing him can attest to that fact.

I do know one thing - I guess more than one.  l - I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.  2 - I am cancelling my Sears credit card, and will never purchase another item from them.  3 - We also have a Sears dishwasher, that every so often will not complete its cycle.  Have had repair man here twice, been told twice nothing wrong with the dishwasher, just reset it.  What is reset it?  He showed me what to do.  So now I have become the Sears repair person.  After every 5 or 6 washes, it cops out on me.  I have to "reset" the stupid thing, and then run it through its cycle again.  Until the next time.

See - I have plenty to say today.  If I had my way I would go to the shop, pick up a sledge hammer and you know what to the fridge.  It wouldn't help the fridge,  but sure would make me feel better.  Jerry might not be happy, though, picking up all the pieces, and delivering the fridge to Sears in said pieces.

I am sure you will definitely know when I have a real working fridge, the type in my blog will be sooooo biggggg, each word will take up a whole line.

Maybe I'll even show you the pieces of the old fridge, if it comes to that. 

I hope you are having a better day than I am, and God Bless.

I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY................

How true.  Right now my mind is pretty blank.  I spent yesterday just puttering, making up menu for Memorial Day cookout, making grocery list for said cookout, will go shopping this afternoon.    I will probably spend all day Friday and Saturday with food preparation, we are celebrating on Sunday this year.  Jerry has other plans for Monday, and he is my grill-er.

In addition been checking my picture inventory, getting organized and re-organized for the start of festival season.  My first big festival is the weekend of June 11-12.  Next will be June 24-25-26.  Also Dave and Linda coming in from Phoenix on the 25th for about a month here at home.  Always look forward to their visit.  Good thing Jerry is around.

July 8-9-10 will be at Cleveland Heights, Ohio, July 15-16 at Dublin Ohio, and July 28 the one day Barnstormers picnic in Belmont Ohio.  That is always a fun day, will be their 10th anniversary, I have been to all but the first one. 

You can see how busy I will be, that is 5 weekends in two months.  And I still have August, September, October and November to go.  At least I know I have something to look forward to.

And then there is yard to mow, still need to get mulch for flower beds, and haven't gotten my garden planted yet - have all the seeds and plants, just can't get enough dry time to re-till the garden so it can be planted. 



One of my flowers in bloom - Oriental Poppy


Behind our machine shed, a short distance from the house, there was a group of wild cherry trees, and because there was a lot of shade I had my "shady garden", there, ferns and hostas and lillies, etc., that like the shade.  We also had a comfortable bench out there where you could sit in the shade and enjoy the view and the shady garden flowers.  One of my favorite spots.

My Rhododendron



I say was because during one of our horrendous lightning storms while I was in Boston, the trees got struck by lightning.  Did a real number on them.  But at least the building was spared.  Trees had to be cut down.  I still have the garden, the bench, and one lone crab-apple tree that survived the lightning.  It will make some shade but not like it used to be.  Jerry planning on getting a dogwood tree to plant out there to give more shade.  They won't get as tall as the cherry trees did. 


What is left of the "Shady Garden"



Otherwise we have survived all the storms that have moved through this spring.  We have broken records for total amount of rainfall for this period of time.  And it is still May.

Sort of sad, isn't it. 

So, I had better sign out here and get busy doing real work.  Sunday will be here before you know it.  I hope your day goes well and God Bless.

WHAT IS STEELER NATION??.........................

I live 45 minutes away from Pittsburgh, Pa.  The Steelers are our professional football team, the PITTSBURGH STEELERS.  So where does the nation come into play?

It is a known fact that the Pittsburgh Steelers have fans world-wide, yes you read this correctly, world-wide.  Anywhere you go in this country you will find Steeler fans, Steeler paraphernalia, clothes, odds and ends.  I know in this household, when the season opens in August with the first pre-game, the living room becomes Steeler room, all the decorations, odds and ends, pillows, etc. are arranged.  And it stays this way until the end of the season.  At Christmas I am permitted to put up a tree and some Christmas decorations, but it is still Steeler Country here.  It is also  a known fact that when the Steelers are on the road, playing away from home, many many times the sports announcers will tell you there are more Steeler fans in the audience than home team fans.

Why, you are probably asking yourself, am I telling you this.  It is because of DANCING WITH THE STARS.

How does dancing with the stars come into play when talking about the Steelers?  Because of Steeler player HINES WARD.  He has won the award of MVP (Most Valuable Player) for the Steelers on different occasions, is a great guy, loves football, and no matter what happens to him during the game, he always has a huge smile on his face. 

He was contacted this year to participate in DANCING WITH THE STARS.  And dance he has done, beautifully, wholeheartedly, and ALWAYS with that smile on his face.  He and his partner made it to the finals, never worrying about whether they were safe, because of the Steeler Nation.  The nation  voted, and voted, and voted.  Now last night  the competition wrapped up, they did one final Judge's dance, and then the MIRROR BALL would be awarded.  Only three couples of the original ten made it to the finals.

I have voted.  My family has voted.  Did you voted?  Every week as the dancers performed, there were members of the Steeler football team in the audience, there were members of the Steeler Nation in the audience, all waving their Steeler Terrible Towels.  You had no problem knowing who was rooting for Hines.

Last night was Win or Lose night, it has been an awesome undertaking for a football player to show the grace and style on the dance floor and realize that he is a football player. 

Hines and Kym from the web courtesy AP/ABC

Last night the fantasy became a reality.  They were tied with Kirsti  Alley for top spot last night after the Judge's dance, but Steeler Nation came through.  The final score consisted of the Judge's score and the votes from Steeler Nation.

If you didn't watch Dancing with the Stars, you missed quite a performance.
If you did watch, I am sure you enjoyed.  Hines' Mom was in the audience, and when he and Kym finished their final dance, he slipped over and kissed his Mom.  It is the little things like that that makes the Steeler Nation so great.

Have a good day and God Bless.

 

GRADUATION and SALEM, from COLLEGE  to WITCHES!.................

The Baccalaureate service Friday night was dignified and complimentary to all the graduates.  We had a late dinner after the service was completed, then I returned to Bedford for the night.

Early Saturday morning I left for Worcester, where the graduation ceremony was going to be held in the Hanover Theater for the Performing Arts.  A beautifully elegant building.  Grandson Kurtis won a drawing held at the college and we had a reserved box seat for 8.  Talk about being on the top of the heap. 

Our seat was perfect, they had bottles of water beside each seat, talk about being among the hoity-toity.  Just like queen for a day, or some such stupid thing.  But it was great and we had a wonderful experience.

This picture was taken inside of the theater, from the opposite side where we were sitting.  We had the top (4th) box up.

There was so much dignity connected with this college's graduation ceremony, and I had nothing to compare it with as it is the first college graduation I have ever attended.  There was a lot going on, but it moved smoothly, you really didn't feel as if you sat there forever waiting for those diplomas to be handed out. 

After the completion of  the ceremony everyone gathered outside for, of course, THE PICTURES!!!!

This one is me, grandson Kurtis, daughter-in-law Lauri, and son Andy.  quite a foursome.

Andy is the outsider.  He grew up in Pennsylvania, married a Maine girl while in the Navy, and upon retirement retired to Maine.  I was the only member of the family that was able to make the trip to Massachusetts for the graduation, so was greatly outnumbered.

The entire immediate family on Lauri's side was there for the ceremony.  Afterwards we went to a beautiful restaurant for the graduation dinner.  Ate way too much, thoroughly enjoyed myself.  The next picture is of the entire group, a passerby graciously agreed to take a group picture for us.

Once all the festivities were over I returned to Bedford.  Sunday was a free day for me, as all the Mainer's had headed home Saturday night.  I decided to drive up to Salem, the official WITCH TOWN of Massachusetts. 

The town consists of a main area of witchdom, so to speak, the Witch's dungeon, museum, house, and even witches walking the streets.  The funny thing about this whole scenario is the fact that there were only 6 supposed witches killed by the Puritans in Salem, and they were not burned at the stake but hanged.  But somehow it all grew and grew, and the funniest thing of all is that the statue of the founder of Salem happens to be in front of the building known as the Witches Dungeon.  All the gullible tourists visiting Salem get so excited about photographing the founding Witch? Wizard? whatever.  Go figure.

This picture is of the sailing ship Friendship, a reconstruction of the 171 foot three-masted sailing ship originally built in 1797.  She is the "largest certified sailing vessel" to be built in New England in more than a century. 

I would have like to gone closer, but of course it was raining, so settled for this long distance view.  I also saw the House of the Seven Gables located near the harbor.  This house is actually the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion.  One of the mysteries of the house is a secret staircase.  The house was built in 1668 and is the oldest surviving 17th century wooden mansion in New England.

It was this particular house that inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write his novel, THE HOUSE of the  SEVEN GABLES.  So today that is how the house in known.

This red house is Hawthorne's home and was moved from its original location to a spot next to The House of the Seven Gables, keeping both aspects of the history together.

The House of the Seven Gables, was built by a Salem sea captain in 1668 and occupied by three generations of the Turner family before being sold to Captain Samuel Ingersoll in 1782.  Ingersoll's daughter Susanna was a cousin of Nathaniel Hawthorne.  It was upon Hawthorne's visit to his cousin that he was inspired to use that particular house as the setting and title of his 1851 novel.

I think I am going to have to read that particular story.



The Fort Pickering Light


While taking my tour of Salem I was two lighthouses, the Fort Pickering Light on Winter Island, built in 1871, and the Derby Wharf Light, which can be seen from The House of the Seven Gables.  I am sharing two good pictures of these lighthouses I found on line, it was foggy and raining when I took my pictures.

Derby Wharf Light

Getting late in the day, time to head to Boston and my Holiday Inn Hotel, where I was going to spend the night.  I had checked out of my hotel in Bedford that morning. 

I had to be up by 5:00 a.m. to drive to the Enterprise Rental center near the airport to drop off my rental car, then take the shuttle to the airport preparing to fly home. 

The days flew by.  Another adventure completed.  More memories.  More pictures. More stories. What more could any one person want.

Now it is back to the real world - refrigerator is still not working, grass desperately needing mowed, if it ever drys off, garden to be planted (running really late this year) if we can ever get the tiller through to loosen the soil, mulch to be ordered and spread, and Memorial Day cookout to prepare for.

Where has the spring gone.  With Memorial Day coming up, fall is just a hop, skip and jump away.  Then  the holidays, then a new year.  Is there any way to slow down this out of control merry-go-round?  If you have any ideas, please let me know and God Bless.