Festavus Day

It's Tuesday and Tom called early to wish me Happy Festavus Day. This is an important day for Seinfeld fans. (Life imitates art). Thanks Tom.
The temperature is all the way up to 32 deg. Yesterday it was 18 deg. when I went out for the newspaper. I stubbed my toe on the steps. Wow, did that hurt. Today it is a little swollen and all purple.
I'm still basking in the afterglow of Sunday. What a wonderful day to have all the family together. I am well aware that it took some serious effort for some of you to travel so far to be here and Nancy and thank you all for your effort. Sorry Bryan could not be here, but we were all thinking of him. There were so many great moments that day that really showed the real spirit of Christmas that some of them left me with tears of joy in my eyes. (Sorry Debbie, you were not the only one) There was so much love and camaraderie (thank you spell check) in the house, you could just feel it everywhere. I got one of my wishes, a picture of the four generations together. I can't wait to see it posted on a blog.
We were glad to hear that everyone made it back home safe and sound. The day really was, as Heather says, a Christmas extravaganza.
Love & Merry Christmas to all.

Dialoge in the Dark!

WOW!!!!! This is my initial reaction to my experience last night. Let me explain. There is an exhibit presently running in Atlanta called "Dialoge in the Dark". It is currently running in an area called Atlantic Station. When I first heard of it I thought it was something I would enjoying seeing. Last month Dennis and I were talking about it and he said he had free tickets if I wanted to go. Of coursse I said yes. I won't go into all the problems we had getting reservations for a time when all those going (Dennis, Kelly, her friend Josh, Tom and I ) could all make it. Last night was it. WOW!!!!
The exhibit takes into the world of a blind person. They give you a cane and some rudimentary instruction on how to use it, then take you, with a guide who is a blind person, in everyday places. places like a backyard, a park, several city streets and even a boat ride. You can't believe how lost you can be without sight. We had to tell the guide the different things we found on our journey. I never did find the house that Dennis found. He even found the address. While spending time in the park, only a few of the group found the great big tree. I never did, but Tom told me I was within inches of it. I was, however the first to fund a car parked in the street.
The last place was a cafe where we could buy refreshments and sit in a booth to talk with the blind guide about being blind.
It was it was an awesome and very humbling experience. I would love to see the exhibit with lights on to see just how much I missed.
Great night and good company.
Love.

The Challange

Ok. Ive been putting off writing a blog that has been forming in my limited brain for quite a while. This challange gives me a chance to blog without bringing the errant blog to frution. I just love procrastination.
The Book I am currently reading is called Transfer Of Power by Vince Flynn. Page 56 starts out with.......
"The tan well-kept man was shown into the oak paneled office of the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. The rotund and jovial Russ Piper stood from behind his desk and walked over to greet his wealthy visitor. Extending his hand, Piper said, "Prince Kalhil, it is a pleasure to finally meet you."
The book is a novel about Islamic terrorists taking over the White House. It is a good plot and well written novel.
Thanks for the challange.
Love.

And life goes on!

The weekend has ended and we are all facing the next week in our lives. I read Pegs blog and Mikes blog and will try to incorporate Pegs challenge in my blog.
Thanksgiving at Mikes home was really wonderful. Great people, great food and so much fun. There was so much to eat that some of us missed a dish.
Friday we celebrated Tom & Bens birthdays. Bryan (Toms person) was not there and Peg was, we opened up the invitation to everyone who could make it. We really had a houseful. Kelly even brought her friend Josh with her. Jim was there, but not Sue. All in all, we had something like 24 people at tables. we were all sitting around gabbing and remembering things when I looked at Nancy & said, "great day" and she replied, "really great day."
Now to comment on Peg's challange, I have to agree with Mike. Family and friends are what I am most thankful for. I will never be able to understand families that don't not only get along, but have the time of their lif with and want to be with them all the time.
Love.

To Tybee and back!

I know it's been a while since I blogged, but we have been away from home for the past week. Last Saturday we took off for Tybee Island (our home away from home). It was the time for our timeshare there. I retrieved the blogs from the computer at the library. My time was limnited and I know I didn't comment on some of the blogs and didn't blog about our activities but I was pressed for time. We had MaryJo and Carolyn with us. I was joking all week that I was driving a car full of Mother-in-laws. The trip down was cloudy and chilly. No real rain, just an occasional sprinkle. Sunday dawned really bright and beautiful. We didn't really do much except a little walking around. We went to River Street on Monday. Carolyn and I wanted to have some shrimp & grits at Huey's. As it turns out there was a tall shil docked on River Street and it was open for tours. The ship was built in 1989 in Brazil. It had been left to decay after a few years. The group called the 11 Nations bought it have done a great job in restoring it. We rally enjoyed it. It was a nice day for all of us.
The rest of the week, each got colder and colder. We stuck pretty close to home, but did the obligatory visit to Chu's and walks on the beach and pier.
All week week wherever we went we were looking for a nice, reasonable restaurant to eat at on Thursday night. We found a new place where we had never been to before. They claimed no entries over $20.00. The sample of dishes in their ad looked really good. We took a trip earlier in the day to look it over. The had a big banner on their outside sign that they had 'Early Bird Specials from $9.99 to $11.99 from 5:00 till 6:30 PM. Usually they don't open till 6:00 PM. That settled it, that was the place for us. The place is called Charly's and is located in a little 3 bedroom house on Cambell Ave. right behind the Post Office. We got there about six O'clock and found it quite charming. They had real cloth table covers and was decorated with art pieces for sale on the walls. The service was good and the food was excellent. I ordered from the reguler menu and ordered Linguine with shrimp and scallops. It was really good. I recomend the place highly.
MaryJo had to come home on Friday to be with Cathleen who was having some tests done in the hospital. I took her into the visitors center in Savannah where I turned her over to two of her grandchildren who were going home from college.
Later on Friday the three of us went to a craft show on Hutchison Island at the trade and convention center. It is the largest craft show in the south.
The trip home was rather unevetful and here I am catching up on theing.
Love.

I am honored Really!!!

The other day Jimmy calles and asked if I would like to attend the Veterans Da y event at his school. Of course I said I would be there. He then asked if I would wear my uniform. Of course that couldn't happen, mear fabric just can't last that long. I really think I could have fit into it, if it were still around.
We showed up and were ushered into the gym where chairs had been set up for the spectators and risers set up for the third grade students. They had programs made up and the classes were lined up so that one group wore red shirts, one group wore whit shirts and the last group had blue shirts.
They sang patriotic and military songs. Some of the students gave talks on the history of the flag and of Veterans day. We pledged allegiance to the flag. The ceremony was then topped off with each veteran there being called up and their student relative presented them with a lovely medal on a beautiful ribbon. The program ended wit the singing of 'God Bless America"
It was just a beautiful ceremony and I really felt honored. There were Veterans form WWII, Korea, Viet Nam as well some still on active duty.Most of them were in uniform.
What wonderful day and what a wonderful way for the third grade to show it's patriotism by honoring those who have served their country.
Love.

We did early voting

Yesterday we had some shopping to do in Snelville and a new early voting place just opened there. So we went to vote first. When we got there we found it mobbed. We would have gone in anyway because of our age, but there was nowhere to park. It was a library and the parking lot was full, the driveway was full and there were cars parked all along the roadway for a mile in every direction.
We decided to do the shopping first and come back. We figured the crowd would thin out. No such luck. As we approached the polling place we saw that there were still cars everywhere. Then luck struck. Just as we came abreast of the building we noticed several spot were open on the apposite side of the road. I did a U-turn and parked on the shoulder of the road right next to the library. It was then a short walk across the lawn. We noticed that the line stretched around three sides of the building. As we approached the building, a worker opened the door and said just follow me. Nancy joked ( a rare occurrence for her as you all know) are you saying we are old? The worker retorted, I'm just saying, follow me. They led us into a room with about 30 chairs an about 26 people waiting. We filled some forms and just waited. As people were taken in to vote the line played musical chairs and moved around the room. We were seated at 12:00 and it was just about 1:30 when we got to vote. The couple ahead of yus had arrived at 8:45 that morning (15 minuets before the polls opened) and waited in line till they were ready to enter the building when a poll worked saw them and brought them inside. It will sure be interesting to see what the lines at the polls look like at on Nov. 4th.
I saw this article and thought it was just too funny not to pass along.


Later we went to a local Taco Bell and got our free buritto. The one from the World Series. Turns out thet seniors also get a free drink. What a country!
Love.

No story here!

As all of you know, we now have a cell phone with a camera. Like most people with this little wonder, I have been taking pictures. Now the problem comes of what to do with them. Everybody I asked told me the didn't know how to get them off the to use them elsewhere. Well, I went to my local phone store and bought a memory card for the phone. They told me I could put the pictures on the card and then download them. I tried to do this several times and could make it happen. Today, I had nothing pressing to do (I'm retired you know) so worked hard at it and was finally successful.

I thought you might like to see some of the pictures I had stored in limbo.





This is the very first picture I took after I got the phone. I thought it came out good




















A trip to the aquarium produced this beauty.Oh Kelly you really do justice to to the Penguin world.











Carolyn acquired a new friend at Tybee Island Crab Shack.












The latest picture did not come out as well as most, but it tells about Heather's passion for entertaining. She is front row center.




As I am doing this blog, I find I need a better way to post pictures. They all appear at the top, and I have to move them down. Does anybody know a better way to post pictures?
Love.

Happy - Happy!!!!

First off let me wish Dennis and Doreen a very happy 25th anniversary!!!(and they said it would never last) Hope you have many, many more and that the are just as joyful.
Next I would like to wish a very very happy birthday to Maddy Williams, my brand new great grand daughter. I know she will have many more of these, and she will probably remember them more than this one. All our best to Katie and Bryan
Who could ask for a better day than this a celebration of a life together and a life yet to live.
I still have another story to tell, but it will wait for another day.
Love.

Another blast from my past!

I have been giving Peg's challenge about childhood memories quite some thought. For this seion I think I will stay with my childhood rather than that of my children.
When I was in the second grade, my father went to Panama City Florida to work in a hosiery mill that my uncle Harry was apart owner. After my brother and I finished school for the year the rest of the family joined him. We were all members of the only Catholic Church in town. Since my aunt Marie was not Catholic, it fell upon uncle Harry to get his son 'Little Harry' to church every week. Now you must understand that my cousin Harry would do anything that would annoy people. In fact he had a nickname 'Itchy Britches'.
One Sunday at church, to keep Little Harry busy while the rest of us went to communion, uncle Harry gave him a rosary to examine. Things seemed to be going along as planned until we were coming back up the aisle. There was 'Itchy Britches standing in the pew with his hand in the air, twirling the rosary on one finger and shouting, "Hold on Jesus, Your going for a ride."
Uncle Harry left the church immediately with Little Harry on tow. We didn't see either of them the rest of the day, but I'll bet he got his hide tanned big time.
When we got home, my Mom cautioned us to never mention this event anyone. I have never forgotten the look of anger and frustration on Uncle Harry's face that day.
My next story will also be about my Uncle Harry, but that is for another rime.
Love.

Well, here goes

I've been mulling over Peg's idea of childhood memories. I am torn between my childhood and yours. I have so very many memories of your childhood that it would be difficult to single out one over another. I have shared six great childhoods that so full of memories.
Of course, I had a pretty great childhood myself. None of you were part of it though and can't relate to the impression it made on me. maybe the best thing is to start with my childhood and then balance it with some of yours. That being said, here is a vivid memory from my childhood.
First of all it was so long ago that I don't remember my exact age, but I was probably 9 or10 years old, or maybe a little older. My uncle Bill (Yes even I had one of those) took my brother and I to the old Philadelphia Arena at 45th and Market street. (It has long since been torn down.) We went to see "The Roy Rodgers Rodeo & Wild West Show". For those of you who don't remember the name, Roy Rodgers was a singing cowboy and the hero of all kids my age. The rodeo portion was just some roping, bronc riding and barrel racing . The biggest part of the show was a lot of horse pageantry and Roy himself showing of his horse Trigger and singing some cowboy songs. Of course he was joined by Dale Evans. During some of the pageantry portion of the show I had to use the rest room (Some thing never change) and as I was going across the aisle, there standing in the entrance was my hero, Roy himself!!!! Luckily I had my show program with me. Roy first waved to me, then shook my hand and then signed my program.
I was in awe! When I got back to my seat, I couldn't wait o show off my autograph. I was on cloud nine. Later in the show when he came into the arena (He was the final act). I had such a smile on my face I thought I would burst. I kept that program well into adulthood, but I have no idea where it ever got to.
For a little kid like me to meet and greet his hero in person was the dream of a lifetime and I can still picture Roy standing there checking on the progress of the show.
Perhaps in the future I'll give you a memory of your childhood.
Love

Home again, home again!!!

Well, here it is Thursday afternoon and we have arived safely home from Tybee. Tuesday night we went to the low country boil at the resort. The lady that runs this event collects thosezip top tabs. The Scherers and us each had a baggy full of them. I used it to bribe her into letting our table go first in line.
Last night we went to a restaurant we had never been to before. Peg had a friend that recommended it. All I will say is I'm not sure that person really is a friend. It was a rundown bar & restaurant near a boat ramp on a river. The menu was sparse, They had shrimp& crab. Of course for the non-seafood eaters, they di offer hot dogs. We had a good time there and the food was well done, but was a typical fish camp atmosphere. We got some rain on the way home. It was much needed.
Of course I walked the beach this morning, but it was a very disappointing sun rise due to the lingering clouds. In fact none of the sunrises this week were less than great. After the walk & shower, we ate at the "world Famous Breakfast Club". What great food. (eat your heart out).
That's it for now.
Love.

Leading the good life!!!

It's tuesday and we have been here at Tybee since Saturday. The weather has been great and the good times just keep going. Last night we ate at the 'Crab Shack' (eat your hearts out) and I had Deveiled Crab. I have been walking every morning and watching the sun come up. That is the highlight of my day. It has to be a good day when you can hear the ocean, walk along the beach and watch the sun come up to start the day.
We will be home on Thursday evening.
Love.

9/11 Post

I have been reading all the blogs from the family and am proud that you all feel so strongly about this date. It is the 7th anniversary of the terrorist attack on our great nation. I am sitting here writing with a very sad heart and a tear in my eye for all those souls lost on this day. It also makes me so proud of Bryan and all the service men and women who are putting it all on the line to keep this country safe and preserve our precious freedom.
Now that I've said that let me speak of more happy things. Yesterday was Jason's birthday, so we would like to wish him a happy birthday and many more.
Saturday we celebrated Kelly s birthday with a lovely gathering of some of the family. A good time was had by all. Nancy even had bread with the lovely meal. Kelly moved into her own apartment on Sunday, Good luck on the new experience.
Now some preaching!!! This is an election year to elect the next president of these great United States. I won't presume to tell you how to vote, but I will implore you to vote. Please study the issues, listen to the various candidates and vote your conscience. Whatever you do Please vote.
Nancy & I are off again next week. We will be going to Tybee Island (eat your hearts out) on Saturday and coming back on Thursday afternoon. Winnie & Gene have invited us to share their week at Tybrisa with them and we were delighted to accept. So if you call the house and get our house and get the answering machine, call our cell.
Thats about it for now. I will be reading the blogs from the library at Tybee.
Love.

Home again, Home again...You know that stuff!!!

Well we made it home today from Peg's. The weather was great and the traffic was very light. We come home the way Steve makes the trip.
We checked our MPG for the trip home. The first day it was 28 Mpg, yesterday it was 27 MPG and today it was 26.7 MPG. I think the reason todays was lower is all the stops and starts and little towns with lower speed limits and lights.
It has been a great trip and we had such a good time and were able to party with so many wonderful people.
I have no idea when I will be blogging again cause we going back to our everyday boring routine.
Has anyone heard from Heather??? I haven't seen any !!!!!!! in quite a while.
Love.

At Peg's

Just wanted to let everyone know we arrived at Peg & Steves OK. today was the first rain we have seen since we started our trip. The rain was not constant, but it was hard some of the time.
Last knight I checked my gas milage for the day doing 65 MPH or less. It came out to 28 MPG. This was from Re's to Harrisonburg, VA. I was a little disappointed, sine I checked when I first got this car and it was 27 MPG. I really thought it would much more. Maybe I'm expecting too much from my car.
I have been looking for Heather's weekly blog. Could it be that she is not blogging every Saturday like she promised? Ihope everything is all right with her. I really miss the !!!!!!!!!!!.
Love.

In VA!!!

Left Re's this morning and made it to Harrisonburg, VA. the weather so far on this trip has been fantastic. For August, it is even somewhat cool. The traffic was fairly light. My experiment with traveling 65 MPH or less is still on going. After I get off this computer, I'll check my MPG.
Looking forward to seeing Peg & Steve tomorrow. We are a little over 5 hours away, so we should be arriving early afternoon.
I hope Peg is able to get home. I saw on the news this afternoon, after we checked in, that there was a computer glitch with the FAA and it was affecting all flights all over the country.
Will be home sometime on Thursday.
Love.

The Jersey joint!!!

We ar at Re's house for the night (Monday). Just had a late lunch with Re & Dot. It was a nice mean.
Yesterday was a really great day. Kate & Joe had a gathering at their house and there were a lot of the family. We got a chance to talk with so many relations and the food was outstanding. Kate's house is so well laid out for large gatherings. Everyon there sends their greeting to our whole family.
I am on Re's computer and although I read all the outstanding blogs, (Peg, Katie & Jim) I am not able to comment on them.
Tomorrow we will be off to Harrisonburgh VA for the night. Wednesday we go to Peg & Steve's. I'm really looking forward to a visit with them ( I hope Peg gets home before we get there.
Love.

Back from th"Dead Fred"

Here it is, Sunday morning (late) and we are back at Kate's house. There will be a gathering of some of the clan later today. Nan is busy making a 'Tomato Pie' for later and El is busy in the kitchen along with Kate.
Last night was "Dead Fred's " party and it was a great time for all It was good to be with so many old friends and meet some new ones. There aere 3 young people there from the modern Battalion, and 2 of them sat at our table. One is already retired and the other is a current member. The unit is being activated for deployment in Iraq. They leave on September 19 for Camp Shelby Mississippi. I gave the young Leiutenant my E-Mail address and he promised he would keep in touch, I hope he does.
This morning we had breakfast with my friend Robbie and his significant other before Mass.
So now we are getting ready to meet the other relations and enjoy each other.
Tomorrow we will motor (I hate that phrase) to NJ to visit my sister and my sister in law. I should be able to blog from there.
I just finished the book "The Last Lecture" and it is spectacular. Thanks Sue. This is a book for all ages and as soon as Nan finishes it, it will be up for grabs. It is wonderful reading.
Love.

In Philly

Today was another calm and quiet day on the road. The traffic was not bad and the weather was great.
I am writting from Castle Kraher tonight. Kath and her mother send their love to all.
I'm not sure I will get a chance to write tomorrow because of the party, but I will definatly write on Sunday.
Love.

Still going

Well the first day was a good one. We are safe and sound in Roanoke VA. We just had dinner in a lovely Mexican restaurant on the premises. The traffic and weather were both very good today. The only delays were getting out of Gwinnett County. There were school busses and rail road crossing and of course the traffic.
Just wanted to let you all know that things are well with us. (Thanks for the check call Bill.)
Love.

Here we go again!!

As usual, I'll try to catch everybody up. It was good to hear from Mike again. I knew he was still around because I saw him at church.
Last Sunday afternoon, we went to the Aurora Theater to see "Dam Yankees". It was a well done, good performance. A bunch of us then gathered at the "Sweet Tomatoes" restaurant to make the day just perfect.
Tonight we went to Smoke rise Baptist Church (it is Wednesday after all) to watch our neighbor's children in a show. It was "Willie Wonka Junior" with all kids. It was well done and very enjoyable.
Tomorrow we will be leaving on our trip north. We will be in Roanoke tomorrow night, then at Katherine's Friday night. Saturday night is 'Dead Fred's Party' so we will be in Holiday Inn, then it's back to Katherine's for Sunday night.
Monday we will go to Jersey to visit Re & Dot. We will leave Re's on Tuesday morning and spend the night in Harrisonburg VA.
Wednesday we will drive to Peg's and spend the night with her. Then it is home on Thursday and back in our own bed.
I'm putting all this in writing so all you kids know our schedule and don't call our friends looking for us.
Love.

Seems I'm always catching up.

Last Monday was very uneventful and seemed normal (so to speak) Tuesday, after my walk I decided ti clean up the yard from leaves and limbs that a local storm deposited. In hind site, this was not a good decision. It was very hot and the job was bigger than I had anticipated. By the time I finished I was really exhausted and hurt all over.
I seemed to bounce back on Wednesday when I joined Dennis, Kelly, Jimmy, Michelle, Hannah & Heather for a trip to the Planitarim and the Fernbank Science Center. It was a good time and I have missed seeing these 2 places for many years.
Just as an aside, many years ago I had taken Mike, Tom & Dennis there of an evening when my sister called. When Nancy told her I took the boys to Fernback, She thought Nancy said "Sperm bank" and almost choked. Nancy was still laghing when we got home.
Thursday evening I was feeling poorly and went to bed early. I wound up with a sore throat that only got worse on Friday. So, first thing Saturday morning I went to the doctor and got some dedication. I have been taking it easy since then and getting better each day. The Doctor said I had used all my energy cleaning up the yard and couldn't fight off the cold bug.
Right now I am getting all my ducks in row for our trip to 'Dead Fred's' party on August 23rd. Sorry I won't get to visit with Peg on the trip up, but should see her on the return trip. We will leave here on Thursday the 21st and stopover in Roanoke that night. Visit Katherine on the 22nd. We will be at the party site the23rd then back to Katherine's on Sunday the 24th. Visit mt Sister on Monday the25, then start back on Tuesday the 26th with a stop in Harrisonburg that night and hopefully get to Peg's house on Wednesday the 27th. (If peg beats us home from Texas.)
I will be catching up again soon.
Love.

just to catch up some.

This past week has had it's ups and downs. Last Wednesday my computer caught a worm. This is not a good thing to happen. I was alerted while on line that I was under attack. So I ran my AVG software. It caught, and put in a vault, 3 worms. I was very happy. The software told me everything was good and I was fully protected. Then something started to open 'Internet Explorer' pages faster than I could close them. I ran the AVG software again. This time it over 6 hours to complete. Thursday morning I took the old desk top into the shop. The technician was quite familiar with the problem and said it would take all day to clean it up. About 2 o'clock Friday afternoon they called and said it was ready. It is now up and running just fine.
Sunday started ot good and got better. We went to Mass at Holy Cross for the first time in several weeks. It really felt good to get back with so many of our friends. It was breakfast Sunday and of course I over ate. I don't know why they always come around to me with seconds. Maybe because I never refuse them. Later in the day we got a call from the bulging Katie. She and Bryan were stuck at the Atlanta airport for the night. I won't go into the details, she will probably do that, they were on their way to Florida for a vacation with Bryan's family, but she needed someplace to stay. We called Mike and he was more than willing to pick them up at the North end of the MARTA line. They were both worn out from their ordeal. (Only 3 hours sleep the night before.) We had a reral nice visit with them and got caught up on what was going on in their lives. Monday morning I took them to the airport to continue their adventure.
Today was Primary day here and I did my civic duty. One of the questions on the ballot was about bring MARTA rail into the county. I'm all for that. I think of the uture when I can no longer drive and would like to get places on public transportation. I got to vote for John Linder who is sponsoring the "Fair Tax" bill in Congress. I also voted for the Republican party to press for the passage of that same "Fair Tax" bill.
Tomorrow is Aquarium day and I am looking forward to another day of fun.
Love.

Jim fights the mower and wins!!!

First off, let me say that I can now access the Google Reader. It seems that you cannot have both 'Internet Explorer' and 'Mozilla' trying to access the same files. I was using Internet Explorer without success. I am now on Mozilla and it works fine.(Boy am I confused.)
Now, about the mower! As I related in a previous blog, I wanted to cut my grass (read that as green weeds) before going on vacation. I got the front lawn done and when I went to the back yard, I hit a tree root and bent a blade.
At first I tried to figure out how to jack the mower up to get at the blades. This proved futile, so was resigned to remove the mower deck. This required laying on the hard garage floor and work at arms length under the mower. Each time I thought I had the deck loose, there was another connection I had to find and overcome. After finally freeing the deck I found that the blades were on real tight. Using chains to hold the blades fixed and a pipe to give more leverage, I got both blades off.
I replaced the blades and reassembled the deck to the tractor. All seemed in order until I went to cut the grass late in the afternoon. The drive belt for the blades just wouldn't stay on. I made an inspection and found that the pulley that tensions the belt was evidently damaged and needed replacing. Now that I was aching all over and completely frustrated, I decided that it would have to wait till I got back.
So yesterday I went at that mower nice and early. Since I already knew what coupled the deck to the tractor, it only took me about 15 minuets to get the deck free. The bolt holding the damaged pulley came loose real easy. I got a new one and had the machine assembled in no time. I was able to get the grass cut, all before noon.
I really feel good that I met the challange and came out on top.
Till next time.
Love.

I have trouble!

Ia anybody having a problem with accessing the Google Reader? I have not been able to read any blogs through the reader site. It give me a message,"Done with errors", but would not go there. I am still able to get to each individual blog, but I have to print them in a narrow format which uses an awful lot of paper and takes going to each blog. This takes a bunch of time.
I am still reveling in my vacation of last week. I forgot to mention that Mike too me to breakfast at the "Breakfast Club". I had a full serving of " Helen's Solidarity" AKA "The grill cleaners special". It was fabulous! The weather was terrific all week long and Tybee was Tybee.
I'll talk later.
Love.

The end of another vacation.

Well here it is, Saturday afternoon and we have just returned from Tybee Island. It was a great week with lots going on.
Of course there was my phone fiasco. On Sunday, after my morning walk, I could not find my cell phone. Everyon searched the house and I searched my car, but to no avail. we tried calling the phone, but no one answered. We finally went into Savannah to the phone stoer. The same one I got that phone 3 years earlier after my first phone fiasco. We had to renew our contract for another 2 years, but we got the phone cheap. We have concludded that the phone was probably still set to silent mode from Mass on Saturday night. This new phone has a lot more features and is much more complex than the old one and I am strugeling with it. My wonder wife gave me a 'Blue Tooth' earpiece to go with the new phone. Fortunatly Jennell Foy was familiar with these things and got me started properly on that. The worst part is that I have to enter all those phone numbers again.
We did the beach on Sunday. Surf, sand and sea and fun. We did River street on Monday (and the phone store of course). We had shrimp & grits at Huey's. I spent the evening trying to understand the new phone. After pushing a lot of buttons, I noticed there was a big blue 'E' on my screen. try as I may I could not get rid of it or even find out what I did to get it there.
The new earpiece had a broken hook that goes around the ear. So, back to the phone store we went on Tuesday. They replaced the hook on the earpiece. Then they explained that the 'E' was the network I connected to and can't be removed.
Each day of the week the gang had something going on. Ther was the dolphin tour, the beach and the store visits (including ice cream stores).
My best time came every afternoon after the sun left the deck. There was always a great breeze and a great view of the ocean. That was also the time for a nice glass of Merlot. (Oh the joy of vacation)
the week ende on Friday night when the proll family joined us at the 'Crab Shack'. Good food added to a good view makes life a wonderful thing.
Sorry I have no pictures to add to this blog. So I'll say Love.

Another vacation/

Here it is, Saturday morning and we are getting ready to leave for Tybee Island. I thought I would get in a quick blog before we left.
This past week has had it's ups and downs.
Last Sunday was Father's Day and I got to see most of the boys and their families. It is always a good day when the family come to visit. All in all it was a great day. We also celebrated Mike's Birthday. More family fun.
Not much happened till Wednesday when I went to cut the lawn (read this as green weeds). After getting the front done I went to the back yard and hit something big and bent one of the blades. To get to the blades I had to remove the mowing deck from the tractor. This is a rather strenous activity, but I got it done. I got some new blades and put them on. Re-attaching the deck was another tough task, but I got 'er done. I went on to cut the back 40 and the darn belt kept comming off. After several attempts and failures I looked under the tractor and saw that the tension pully was damaged. I didn't have the time or willpower to drop that deck again so it will be waiting for me when I return.
But, this is Saturday and I am going to Tybee for the week and I will lay back and relax.
Hope everyone has a good week.
Love.

Just Because!

I feel obliged to blog today on several different levels.

First I have a fantastic week. We got a surprised and welcomed visit from Peg. Since she live out of state, we don't see as much of her as we would like. She arrived on Monday and we had our personal time with her. On Tuesday four of her brothers came by for a real good visit and some food.

Wednesday Peg & I visited Tom at the firehouse. That was an eye-opener. A local company has taken on the task of rehabilitating to living area of the firehouse. What a great job they are doing. They have install a new kitchen and day room with really great stuff, including a wide screen TV.

When we came back, Bill was here to visit with Peg. We had several other visitors on Wednesday. Their names will remain unspoken because of the circumstances.

Peg left on Thursday and life resumed. We hope she finds time in the future to visit again. We really enjoyed the time together.

The next reason I wanted to blog is that I have been working on this blog site. I have been unhappy with the look I was achieving. It just didn't look as neat as all you other guys. I'm not there yet but I am improving. Hope you like the new look.

I put this photo in here just to show, A) I can do it and B) To show how awesome the National Botanical Gardens can be.

Yesterday we attended another funeral of a close friend, Jack Early. Jack was a man with a multitude of physical problems who absolutely loved children and showed that love every time he saw a child.

Today we are attending the birthday party for another friend, Jim Kelly. He is 100 years old and is considered a parish treasure. I know that there will be a mob at the party.

I guess that's it for now. Let me know if you have any suggestions for my page.

Love.

Seems there is a slowdown!

After the rush of blogs, there seems to be a slowdown, so I thought I would blog just for the fun of it.

A quote for today: "Build a man a fire and he will be warm for one day. Set a man on fire and he will be warm the rest of his life."

One of the nice things about getting old is that you like to reflect on some of the good times in your life. Our recent vacation is just such a time. We were four happy old folks doing what we wanted to do and enjoying each other. The picture above is of the Marine Corps Memorial in Washington. We spent a day visiting some of the highlights of that wonderful city. It really made me want to return and see it at my leisure.

This picture is of the changing of the guard at the Tomb Of The Unknown in Arlington National Cemetery. Only Betty & I had enough breath to make it on time to see this. This is after we all visited the grave of President Kennedy.

Nothing much has been happening around here after we got settled back at home. Today Nancy is off with her friends for 'Games Day' This happens the first Wednesday of every month, and it is a time for all the girls to get together and have a lot of laughs.

Until later, Love to all of you.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig!!!

We drove home from Peg's house today and brought to a close the wonderful vacation we have been on for 2 weeks.

Now I told you that Peg helped me with my blog page and as you can see I am able to add photos as well as just words. I can check all the other blogs from my page. Pretty nifty.

The picture you see is of all of us as we came out of Luray Caverns. We had just been some 250 feet below the ground level. This is a natural wonder that everyone needs to see It is awsome!

When we left here we drove to the Skyline Drive. There we reached and altitude of around 5000 feet. What a dramatic change.

This picture is of "See no evil, Speak no evil and Hear no evil" Also known as Elanore, Betty & Nancy. The picture was taken at one of the lookout points on the Skyline Drive. The drive is a long and winding road that is just filled with beautiful senic vistas. I know Bill and Peg have driven this route before, but some of the views can take your breath away. Even the 3 evils agreed that it was worth the ride.
I'll blog again real soon to show some of the other wonderful sights we saw during our vacation.
Glad to see Kenny has joined us. What a funny blogger he is.

You know I need help because......

As I said before (even if you didn't read it) We are at Peg's. Last night she was assisting me in adding elements to my blog page. Look at it now and you will see some vital changes. I can now find all my wonderful friend's blogs from my very own page (whoo Hoo). This has not been an easy process for some one who doesn't understand what the hell I am doing.
Today we will be heading home at last. We will nit be traveling for several weeks. Then it's on to Tybee (Whoo hoo).

Still going south

Well here are still going South. We are not home yet, but we are visiting Peg & Steve's house. We left Harisonburgh VA for a nice pleasant drive to Peg's house. then the weather hit. This weather was a little different from our last trip. This time the rain and the fog didn't all hit at once. The rain was rough and the fog was rough, but at least they came at different places along the road.
We were treated to a good visit, although we missed Katie. When we got here Peg was just comming home from dropping Katie off at the airport.
We had a great dinner and then Steve found the Braves on TV, Nancy is happy as a clam at high tide.

Headin South!!!

We are back in Virginia headed to Peg's house. Tonoght we are in Harisonburgh, VA. I will write a longer blog when we get home.
Last night we stayed with my sisyer Marie. We all (Re, Joe & Dot) went out to dinner then back to Re's house to gap til late at night.
The weather has been good to us so far, no problems.
Talk later
Love.

Enjoying Kate's company

Here it is, Sunday. We got to Kate's house yesterday and a lovely dinner of Spaghetti & meatballs after a quick trip to mass.
As usual, she is still updating her home. The latest addition is revamping the kitchen. It is lovely.
Everybody is up and about. we are getting ready to go to Pattyanne's for BBQ and meet and greet.
We have been looking at all the blogs and are so happy to be able to kep in touch and know what is happening in the family. Kate is starting her own blog page and hopefully will join us. It will probably help if we all give her our support.
Glad every one got back safe from the cruise.
Later this week (Wednesday) we will be spending an overnight with Peg & Steve. Sorry we won't get to see Katie.
I will blog again later this week.
Love.

High in the mountains

Sorry I have not been blogging for a while, but I have to use the resort's computer and it is not always easy to get to.
We arrived Sunday at this really nice resort in the mountains. Driving the mountain roads is somewhat of a challange, especialy at night. Monday I went to an orientation that is really a sales pitch. I don't hasv time now to explain, but Aunt El went as my wife and her name was Betty.
Tuesday was a great wine tour. 2 wineries and mucho tasting.
Yesterday we were in DC on a tour. We left here at 6:00AM and got back at 10:00 PM. Long day but a good trip. I love DC. We will revisit it. Later we go up to a very high spot called (of all things) lookout point.
Tommorows schedule is Lauray Caverns.
Gotto go for now.
Love

Last blog for a while.

Here it is Thursday night and we are getting ready to leave early in the morning for our vacation in the Shannondoah Valley. We will be in Richmond VA tommorrow night, the at Mike & Julie's on Saturday for Taylors graduation Party. Saturday night we will stay in Annapolis MD then on to the Shannondoah Valley for a week (Sunday to Sunday).
We will go back to Philly to drop off El & Betty. Then we will visit Pattyanne & Steve for a family get together.
We will spend an overnight with my sister RE then head home.
I am still trying to get used to this new blog system. Tom has shown me a neat way to read all of the blogs as they show up, but I can't comment unless I go to the individual blog site. Chris mentioned something about Google reader, but I can't find it, maybe you can refresh me on this feature.
I'm hopeing that Jim will stop over sometime after we get home and help me make a pretty page with all the neat stuff he has on his page. I would like to share some of the oictures from our vacation.
I will try to get on a computer sometime while we are on our trip, but don't count on it. I know I can use Katherine's when we get that far, but that is quite a distance from now.
I've blathered enough for now.
Love.

On the blog again!

Ok! So I'm blogging on this new site. I do need some help though. I don't know how to lonk with others of our family.
Last weekend was quite full. Saturday we went to the Scherer's anniversary celebration. It was a good time and we were happy to see all of the Scherer kids and grandkids there. It has been a long time since we saw some of them.
Sunday we went to the Aurora theater to see "Noises Off". That is one funny darn show. We were joined by Sue and another friend, Louise. Of course we went to "The Sweet Tomato" after the show.
Today Nancey has some appointments for Mamogram and stuff.
Love.

First blog

Well, here I am at the new blog site and I just hope it is working.

Love to all