Endless Summer

We are among the lucky ones, who have missed all the snow and ice in our hometown in Ohio. While it hasn't been as hot as usual in Ft. Myers, Florida, it has been nice and the skies have been blue with fleecy white clouds. We have been here for two and a half months and "the husband" wanted to drive home to see the kids, but the weather has not let up for enough hours for us to make the drive. We can make it in nineteen hours, but the older we get.... the harder the drive becomes. I have not blogged for three weeks, because I have been working on quilts in an effort to compile a stack for my children and grandchildren. Also, some are just for the fun of it. I have fabric in waiting for a couple of queen/king quilts, but am punishing myself by waiting until I have cleared the decks of "in the works projects". I just finished quilting (by hand) a top that was pieced by my husband's grandmother in the 1940's. The fabrics were from feed sacks and are not particularly pretty and the workmanship was not the greatest, but it will be wonderful to leave to my daughter, who is also an avid quilt addict. Not too bad, now that it is done. It took more than a month of quilting every night while we watched T.V. and my fingers had multiple holes from the needles pricking them as I felt the underside of the quilt to know when the stitch was through and ready to return to the top. How can we ever think this is fun?

The next one is a little wall quilt for the porch here in Florida. It was such fun piecing it, but I haven't quilted it, yet. The fabrics are all sort of crazy , but then...so am I....Works for me! I had a quilting teacher who said, "Quilts are meant to keep people you love warm". Isn't that a lovely thought? So, why do I waste time on silly little wall hangings? Probably, because I can't resist the fabrics that are such fun to play with today. I feel sorry that Grandma never had such choices when she was young.

The quilt top on the right is huge and is finally ready to be quilted. I think I will take it to a long-arm professional quilter, because it is so big and I am tired of looking at the pieces. The fabrics are made in places like Java, Bali, Indonesia and Africa and are called Batiks. Their quality is unbelievable. I spent hours basting the curves together to make certain the circles and points all met at the right places. I am so ready to get on to something different. There are yards and yards of stuff awaiting me in the closet. I don't tell my hubby how much I have invested in fabric and he doesn't tell me about his golf expenses.

This small quilt (about a twin size) is just a pattern that caught my eye in one of my many books. It is a child's quilt and the fabrics are all fun kid stuff. Each colored block has three different fabrics with mice , balls and all sorts of toys. I bought the fabric one week and whacked the fabric apart and put it back together again in a few days. One of these days, one of my grandchildren will have a child and I will be ready. Meanwhile, it is time for Christmas, so the sewing machine must be put aside for a while. The general rule is...."Piece in the summer and quilt in the winter", but Florida is endless Summer!

Why Some Men Have Dogs, Not Wives

1. The later you are, the more excited your dogs are to see you.

2. Dogs don't notice if you call them by another dog's name.

3. Dogs like it if you leave a lot of things on the floor.

4. A dog's parents never visit.

5. Dogs agree that you have to raise your voice to get your point across.

6. You never have to wait for a dog; they're ready to go 24 hours a day.

7. Dogs find you amusing when you're drunk.

8. Dogs like to go hunting and fishing.

9. A dog will not wake you up at night to ask, ?If I died, would you get another dog??


10. If a dog has babies, you can put an ad in the paper and give them away.

11. A dog will let you put a studded collar on it without calling you a pervert.

12. If a dog smells another dog on you, they don't get mad. They just think it's interesting.

13. Dogs like to ride in the back of a pickup truck.

And last, but not least:

14. If a dog leaves, it won't take half of your stuff.

American Soldiers Do More Than Shoot

John Gebhardt in Iraq

John Gebhardt's wife, Mindy, said that this little girl's entire family was executed. The insurgents intended to execute the little girl also, and shot her in the head...but they failed to kill her. She was cared for in John's hospital and is healing up, but continues to cry and moan. The nurses said John is the only one who seems to calm her down, so John has spent the last four nights holding her while they both slept in that chair. The girl is coming along with her healing.
He is a real Star of the war, and represents what America is trying to do.
This, my friends, is worth sharing. You'll never see things like this in the news. The American public needs to see pictures like this and needs to realize that what we're doing over there is making a difference. Even if it is just one little girl at a time.

Barstool Economics

Suppose that every day, 10 men go out for beer and the bill for all 10 comes to $100.00.If they pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

• The first 4 men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

• The 5th would pay $1.00.

• The 6th would pay $3.00.

• The 7th would pay $7.00.

• The 8th would pay $12.00.

• The 9th would pay $18.00.

• The 10th man (the richest) would pay $59.00.

So, that's what they decided to do. The 10 men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve."Since you are all such good customers, he said, I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20.00."Drinks for the 10 now cost only $80.00.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, so the first 4 men were unaffected. They would still drink for free.But, what about the other 6 men (the paying customers)?How could they divide the $20.00 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?They realized that $20.00 divided by 6 is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the 5th man and the 6th man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested... to be fair, to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:

• The 5th man, like the first 4, now paid nothing (100% savings).

• The 6th now paid $2.00 instead of $3.00 (33% savings).

• The 7th now paid $5.00 instead of $7.00 (28% savings).

• The 8th now paid $9.00 instead of $12.00 (25% savings).

• The 9th now paid $14.00 instead of $18.00 (22% savings).

• The 10th now paid $49.00 instead of $59.00 (16% savings).

Each of the 6 was better off than before. And the first 4 continued to drink for free. But once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20.00," declared the 6th man. He pointed to the 10th man, "But he got $10.00!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the 5th man. "I only saved a dollar too. It's unfair that he got 10 times more than I!"

"That's true!!" shouted the 7th man. "Why should he get $10.00 back, when I only got $2.00? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first 4 men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The 9 men surrounded the 10th and beat him up.

The next night, the 10th man didn't show up for drinks, so the 9 sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between them for even half of the bill! (The 10th man was originally paying $59.00 of $100.00, then $49.00 of $80.00).

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

• -David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.

• Professor of Economics, University of Georgia

Somedays, we need some fun!

One day, a man came home and was greeted by his wife dressed in a very Sexy nightie. 'Tie me up,' she purred, 'and you can do anything you want.' So he tied her up and went golfing.

*****************************************

A woman came home, screeching her car into the driveway, and ran into the house. She slammed the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, 'Honey, pack your bags. I won the lottery!' The husband said, 'Oh my God! What should I pack, beach stuff or mountain stuff?' 'Doesn't matter,' she said. 'Just get out.'

********************************************

Marriage is a relationship in which one person is always right, and the other is a husband.

*************************************

A Polish immigrant went to the DMV to apply for a driver's license. First, of course, he had to take an eye sight test The optician showed him a card with the letters 'C Z W I X N O S T A C Z.' 'Can you read this?' the optician asked. 'Read it?' the Polish guy replied, 'I know the guy.' ***********************************************

Mother Superior called all the nuns together and said to them, 'I must tell you all something. We have a case of gonorrhea in the convent.' 'Thank God,' said an elderly nun at the back. 'I'm so tired of chardonay. ********************************************

A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband.Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen. 'Careful,' he said, 'CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my gosh! You're cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my gosh! WHERE are we going to get MORE BUTTER? They're going to STICK! Careful. CAREFUL! I said be CAREFUL! You NEVER listen to me when you're cooking! Never! Turn them! Hurry up! Are you CRAZY? Have you LOST your mind? Don't forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the! salt. USE THE SALT! THE SALT!' The wife stared at him. 'What in the world is wrong with you? You think I don't know how to fry a couple of eggs?' The husband calmly replied, 'I just wanted to show you what it feels like when I'm driving.' ***************************************************************

Fifty-one years ago, Herman James, a North Carolina mountain man, was drafted by the Army. On his first day in basic training, the Army issued him a comb. That afternoon the Army barber sheared off all his hair. On his second day, the Army issued Herman a toothbrush. That afternoon the Army dentist yanked seven of his teeth. On the third day, the Army issued him a jock strap. The Army has been looking for Herman for 51 years.

Joe Lives in Flyover Country

I live in flyover country, just across the Maumee River from Toledo, Ohio. A really nice guy, named Joe Wuzelbacher lives on the other side of the expressway in Holland, Ohio. Senator Barack Obama just happened to be in his neighborhood recently, when Joe was out tossing a football with his son. The candidate solicited a question from Joe and asked if he had any concerns. Joe replied that he was a plumber with thoughts of buying the small business from his employer in the future and what would happen to him, if his good luck should allow him to buy the business, hire a few more employees and start making more money. Would the government (under the Obama regime) take his profits away from him? Obama replied that certainly Joe must want people under him to have the same privileges by "spreading the wealth around". Now, if you have worked sixty hours this week, invested in four plumbing trucks for your plumbers to drive, hired a bookkeeper to keep Uncle Sam from sending you to the slammer for non payment of income taxes, hired an office girl to tend the phones when customers call for plumbing services and provided the office supplies and furniture..... would you think it is fair to take ....say $1000.00 and split it with the family down the street who has a plasma TV, I-Pod, Wii, kids with Nikes, a husband who smokes and drinks, but doesn't work? That's spreading the wealth around... it's also called Socialism. I've watched the news all week as different networks have hounded this poor man, his family and his neighbors. He has been vetted about his private life, but is just a private citizen and is not running for any public office. There have been about one hundred different reporters and television trucks in his neighborhood. It was said that he has no plumber's license.... in Ohio, you can be a journeyman plumber, but the license belongs to the owner of the business. Joe doesn't own the business....he is just a hard working plumber, who is trying to decide if he would ever want to work extra hard to own a business, since Obama would take his profits away and give them to non-producing slugs. They are saying that Joe owes back taxes. Why would any reputable reporter snoop into a private citizen's records? All the grief they have given to "Joe the Plumber" is an effort to diminish the importance of the question he asked Senator Obama. Why would he want to work harder, invest his life in a small business, if after all the effort.....Big Brother would come along and redistribute his hard earned money around like candy on Halloween?

A Lesson in Finance

Once upon a time, in a place overrun with monkeys, a man appeared and announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.
The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest, and started catching them.
The man bought hundreds at $10 and, as supply started to diminish, they became harder to catch, so the villagers stopped their effort.
The man then announced that he would now pay $20 for each one. This renewed the efforts of the villagers, and they started catching monkeys again. But soon the supply diminished even further, and they were ever harder to catch, so people started going back to their farms and forgot about monkey catching.
The man increased his price to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so sparse that it was an effort to even see a monkey, much less catch one. The man now announced that he would buy monkeys for $50!
However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now buy on his behalf. While the man was away the assistant told the villagers, 'Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has bought. I will sell them to you at $35 each, and when the man returns from the city, you can sell them to him for $50 each.'
The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys. They never saw the man nor his assistant again, and once again there were monkeys everywhere. Now you have a better understanding of how the stock market works.
I always thought the stock market was monkey business!

What is a BILLION?

How many zeros in a billion?
This is too true to be funny. The next time you hear a politician use the Word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the politicians' spending YOUR tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend,But one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were Living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes,
at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain...
let's take a look at New Orleans ...
It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.
Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D)
Is presently asking Congress for
250 BILLION DOLLARS
To rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number...
What does it mean?

A. Well... If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans
(every man, woman, and child)
You each get $516,528.Or...

B. Or... If you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or... If you are a family of four...
Your family gets $2,066,012.
Washington, D. C. HELLO!

Are all your calculators broken??

Accounts Receivable Tax, Building Permit Tax, CDL License Tax, Cigarette Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Dog License Tax, Federal Income Tax, Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA), Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel Permit Tax, Gasoline Tax, Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax Inventory Tax, IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax), IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)!, Liquor Tax, Luxury Tax, Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax Property Tax, Real Estate Tax Service charge taxes, Social Security Tax, Road Usage Tax (Truckers), Sales Taxes, Recreational Vehicle Tax, School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA), Telephone Federal Excise Tax, Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax, Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax, Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax, Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax, Telephone State and Local Tax, Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Utility Tax Vehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax, Watercraft Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax, Workers Compensation Tax,

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...And our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt...
We had the largest middle class in the world...
And Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened?
Can you spell 'politicians!'?

And I still have to Press '1'For English.
What the heck happened?????

All I'm left with is small change!

Time Flies --- Get the fly swatter!

September 11, 2001 The End of Innocence

This is a rerun of the post I did last year for the contest Cathy ran over at Cathy's Place. I managed to win first prize (by twisting every arm I knew among the bloggers). This year I have a grandson who flies over the middle east and translates Arabic messages for the Air Force. Pray for our men and women who are investing so much for our country. The terrorists have not given up their desire to bring us to our knees. We must show them that we are still the America who helps all over the world and does not quit when the going gets rough.


It was shortly before nine, that Tuesday morning, when the phone began to jangle on my bedside table. Okay, so I was lolling about on my bed like Cleopatra on her barge. It was a time of life when there were no pressing reasons to leave the soft comfort of my quintessential retreat. I languidly answered and heard the excited voice of my youngest daughter. "A plane just flew into one of the Twin Towers in New York! Turn on your TV!" The horror unfolding before our eyes short-circuited the link between reality and belief. The child within wanted to deny that this could be happening even though our eyes watched the undeniable on the screen. How could such an accident happen? Stacey and I talked as we watched separately, yet bonded together in mutual sorrow for those who would never again talk with a loved one or cuddle deeply in their comfortable beds with a spouse, lover or child. People leapt from windows without hope of living, but in fear of dying from the flames left behind. American Airlines Flight 11 had ended at 8:46 am. As we watched and talked, we saw United Airlines Flight 175 hit the second tower at 9:03 --- the age of innocence ended as we realized there are people in the world who want us dead. American Flight 77 tore into the Pentagon Building at 9:37 and United Flight 93 plummeted into the ground in Pennsylvania at 10:06. This all occurred in one hour and twenty minutes, but would change the world as we know it forever. We cried together and finally hung up the phones, only to remain transfixed before the TVs. The words Muslim, elQuaida and terrorists began to filter into the reporters jargon and I searched my mind for what little knowledge I had of their activities. Americans have attended their churches faithfully for hundreds of years and have heard the Biblical stories of the ancestors of Jesus; not thinking of the ramifications of the Old Testament lineage of Abraham and Sarah. Many people know only of Jesus' birth, death and resurrection. You know --- Christmas and Easter people. The faith of Abraham filtered down from King David to God's only son, Jesus, through many generations of Hebrews. When Abraham was eighty-six years old, he took (at Sarah's behest) Sarah's handmaiden (slave), Hagar. She bore a son, Ishmael. They thought this would fulfill God's promise of a son for Abraham in his old age, but no! God had promised a son through Abraham's legal wife, Sarah. It was accomplished when Abraham was one hundred years old and the child was named Isaac. Isaac's descendants are the Jewish Nation, of whom Jesus is one descendant .... the "new covenant" with God, from which the Christians spring. Ishmael and Hagar were cast out into the desert to become the Arab Nation. God promised Hagar that her son, Ishmael, would head many nations. This, from The Living Bible; God appeared to Hagar in Genesis 17:10-12, saying , "This son of yours will be a wild one --- free and untamed as a wild ass! He will be against everyone, and everyone will feel the same towards him. But, he will live near the rest of his kin." So, we know that the Arabs and the Jews are half-brothers, but surely the Arab Nation resents the inheritance of slavery as opposed to legitimate offspring of their forefather. The stage set over two thousand years ago endures between the Jews, Christians and the Arabs in lands all over the world to this day. The Barbary Pirates of the seventeenth century were Muslims, determined to acquire enough money to spread the word of the Qur'an telling the World of Allah through his prophet, Muhammad. Their Allah is the same God worshipped by Jews and Christians and Muhammad is their prophet, whom they consider to be the equivalent of our Jesus. However, Jews await the coming Messiah and Christians believe in the Trinity of God. . Early century Muslims were just as dedicated to their mission as they are today. Muslims have never rested in their zeal to rid the world of infidels, because they truly feel it is ordained by Allah that the world be ruled by their God. We must never cease to be vigilant, because the world, as we have know it, will never be the same. Our lives are frail as breath ... we gasp at the prospect of future attacks. What does God think of mankind's perversion of His love in His name? God have mercy. Was 9/11 the end of innocence or the beginning of the end?

Medical Blogs

There came a time when I had to get an education... just in case my husband died or left me (God forbid) with three children and no real marketable skills. We had married when I was seventeen and had the kids in my early twenties. It was a given during the fifties and sixties that wives stayed pregnant and barefoot. But, when it dawned upon me that I couldn't manage the house payments on my own, off I went to nursing school (I was forty). We had one in college and two in high school, but I never wanted them to do housework in addition to their school studies, extra curricular activities and their jobs in a restaurant. In the end, all three paid for their advanced education and we provided them with room, board, laundry, all personal needs, a car and tons of love.
After I had the education, I went to work in a hospital for twenty years. First on a general med-surg floor with a smattering of peds for seven years, then on to the cardiac floor for four years and finally to maternity/nursery for nine years. I am an absolute fool for anything medical, so when computers finally entered my life I was thrilled to find all sorts of medical bloggers. I avidly approached each new blog and snickered at their rants about weird patients or drug seeking goofballs. Then, I read The Angry Pharmacist and his feelings about old people (oldfartitis...April, 2008) and realized that not all medical people are dedicated to helping the sick and infirm. In his ranting and raving, I saw genuine meanness with a small attempt to be super smart and chic. I love folks who come over here and read my blog and make comments. I love reading their blogs (my favorites are on the blog roll on the left) and making comments. We are a community and feel as though we know each other. I care when people have a problem and anxiously read their work to follow the latest outcome of a problem post. For example, Matty at Running on Empty has been writing a daily account of her grandson's battle with childhood leukemia and bone marrow transplant. This is real medical stuff coming from the heart of a real loving person. She writes of his daily struggle in his blog...Young Warrior, because he is too sick to do anything. Matty and Tayten have been at the mercy of medical types for over five months with two months to go. Working in a hospital is difficult and sometimes it hurts your soul to see the heartbreak there, so when nurses and doctors get a chance to have a laugh and let off some steam... they might step over the line and joke at some of the weirder patients that come across their path. So, I read and thought some blogs were really clever and I admit I laughed at some of their antics. But, then I started noticing that if someone disagreed with their point of view or challenged their dedication to the healing and compassionate standards in the comments sections, the commenter was torn to shreds. Nurse K from Crass Pollination, an ER Blog was one of my favorites and she is truly popular and witty in the blog world, but the further I read, the sharper the point gets on the end of her scalpel. While her views of ER are probably true to life, they are pretty snarkey. I asked a question in the comment section and was rebuffed to the extent that I am afraid to ever comment again. One thing I have discovered is that after finding a blog you like, you can follow endlessly to other blogs from one to another. It would be wonderful if these medical people could change their style just a bit... to educating and entertaining the public without the cruelty and lack of compassion.
I would offer you one bit of information.... be careful when you are answering questions from a medical professional and you get the feeling that they are forming a false idea of what you are saying. If one nurse, doctor, pharmacist or whatever writes a disparaging remark in your chart.... that little bit of information gets passed from shift to shift or person to person and your medical record or care is compromized. Way back when I had my second child, I was gingerly sitting on the edge of a chair to feed him his bottle, because I couldn't actually sit down. He started choking and gagging and I dropped to my knees on the floor and sat him on the bed to have access to him while he did a little projectile vomiting. I jerked on the emergency light and a nurse trotted in and took the little guy back to the nursery for real nursing care. Later that day, my doctor came into my room and asked me, "What's this I hear about you sitting on the floor to feed the baby?" So, from one busy nurse who had misunderstood the situation... I was suddenly some kind of kook or perhaps starting "post partum depression". This is what is happening in the medical blogs and they are supporting each other with such lack of savoir faire.

I've Been at the Machine

I've been reading Molly's blog over at The Molly Bawn Chronicles and she made me feel guilty. She is a very prolific quilter and here I am....older than dirt and wasting the little bit of time left to me by playing on the computer, instead of cranking out quilts for my kids and grands. So, I started to clean up some of my backlog (there are lots of quilts in my head and heart) and now I have a couple ready to be quilted. This one has been riding back and forth to Florida for a couple of years. There are eighty blocks altogether, which means 1360 pieces of fabric that needed to be attached to each other. Finally pieced! Those are my hubby's tootsies peeking out at the bottom. Thank you, honey! He is my official quilt holder. Does that make him a model?
This week, I also finish piecing a baby girl quilt, which involved a lot of teeny, tiny applique stitches. I had been doing all the hand work while I watched T.V. Since I was raised before television, but listening to the radio.... I always need to have something to do while "watching" T.V. (actually, I listen more than watch), so applique is a real answer. It's really better than reading, because I keep getting the plot of the book confused with the story on T.V. Knitting works, too, but is not as much fun as having bunches of wonderful fabric in my hands. This one is a "grandmother's fan with white lace gathered along the top of the heart. I have made this one before, but it pays to be ahead with baby quilts....someone is always having a baby!

When we first got home from Florida in June, I finished putting my embroidered boy quilt together. I have finally learned to use some of the features of my expensive Bernina. I cheated and sent this quilt out to a professional long arm quilter, so I would have time to put a few more tops together.

I'm thinking that I quilt better than I take photos, but you get the idea. The quilt store is fifty minutes away and I can't wait to go there again....they have some really nifty wall hanging patterns that I need to make for my Florida home. There was a machine quilting class last Friday and while it was fun, I am not ready to wreck one of my masterpieces with my klutzy machine quilting, yet. (How much does gas cost to go ninety miles? ... this store is worth every penny.)

This was a double Bargello quilt that I made for a nephew's baby while I was in Florida. The obvious movement of color on the larger pieces was okay, but the smaller half inch pieces ran the opposite direction. The reverse movement of color confused the heck out of me and I had no extra fabric to fix the thing, so I let it stand. Someone once told me that " Only Christ is perfect".... this is an example of never making a perfect quilt. God would be happy with me!
This brings me to this king size quilt that has faithfully traveled along with me to hither and yon for lo these last four years. I have quilted the main body (I love hand quilting the blank spaces...double click on the picture to see the quilting) and I stitched in the ditch around all the little squares and colored blocks, but have been unable to mark the dark borders. Nothing works! The water soluble pens don't show, chalk doesn't show, silver pencils don't show. I had just about given up completely, when the owner of the quilt shop in Bettsville said, "I guess you'll be using masking tape to follow the lines."!!!! Of course, I replied that I was doing that as a last resort. The light bulb didn't go off over my head ... it exploded. Looks like I'm finally going to finish that big sucker! My first quilt teacher told me, "Quilts are meant to keep people you love warm." And so it is!

Congressional Recess

!

I haven't figured out how to add videos, but please, please go to this site and check out how much work our Congress does for us. I'm going to have to look up the perks they get for working all these days! It's going to shock you.... with righteous indignation!

(Uncle Jay explains the congressional news)

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/5a645e013b

The Pure Perks

-An annual salary of $158,000 for U.S. Senate & House of Representatives.

- The Vice President, top leaders in the House and Senate and the chief justice receive $198,600.

-Associate justices of the Supreme Court get $190,600

and the House majority and minority leaders receive $171,900.

- President Bush makes $400,000 in salary a year.

-Free life insurance and a generous retirement plan

- Free office space in Washington and in the home district.

- A staff allowance of $752,400 for each House member and from $400,000 to 2.4 million depending on the population of his or her state and its distance from the Capitol for each senator. Plus more for committee aids.

- An expense account for telephone, stationery, and other office costs.

- Thirty-two fully reimbursed round trips home per year.

- Travel allowance and free travel to foreign lands on Congressional inquires.

-Nearly unlimited franking privileges.

-Access to free Congressionally owned and operated video and film studios to record messages for constituents.

- Discounts in Capitol Hill tax-free shops and restaurants. (the bean soup is $1.40 a cup in the Senate Dining Room)

- $10.00 haircuts at the Congressional barbershop.

- Free reserved parking at Washington National Airport.

- Use of the House gym or Senate Baths for $100. a year.

- Free fresh cut flowers from the Botanic Gardens

- Free assistance in the preparation of income taxes

The Peaceful People

My firstborn and I went on a three day retreat from the hustle-bustle of modern society and traveled to Holmes County, Ohio. This is home to the largest Amish Settlement in the World. Notice this home has no electric or telephone lines, which the peaceful Amish people believe would bring bad influences into their homes. After many such visits, I agree with them that the outside world is messing with our hearts and souls. Each day more and more harmful thoughts and ideas creep into our lives and we become inured to them inch by inch, minute by minute.
Amish youth enjoy a period of "rumspringa" or "running around", which begins about sixteen and ends when the teen decides to commit to the church and be baptized into adult membership of the community. During rumspringa, the teens party with beer, cigarettes, drugs, wearing "English" clothing and makeup. This taste of wild American life allows them to make an informed decision to live the remainder of their lives for God under the rules of the Amish Ordnung without feelings of having missed out on some nebulous big-time experience. Ninety percent of the teens return to the church after this period of "running around"to marry and become full members of the Amish community. They raise their children in the church, speak only German in their homes and follow principles handed down for centuries. By staying faithful to the simple, plain life, these peaceful people eschew modern conveniences and work very hard. Their lives are productive and successful.
We drove from Northwest Ohio down to Bettsville, Ohio to visit our
favorite fabric shop. We tried to not spend too much money on our quilting addiction, but we have some great fabrics hiding in the sewing room. We failed miserably! Then, we picnicked beside the Tiffin River and leisurely drove on to Holmes County to The Inn at Honey Run. The rooms are very nice with quilts on every bed and hiking trails accessible by simply stepping out the window. Hummingbirds and tiny squirrels flit past the windows and the air is alive with the chirping of many different types of birds. The best part of our trip is driving the car off the main drag at dusk to ogle the Amish as they bring in the big teams of Belgium Draft Horses Horses for the night. Children play games and chase barefoot through the deepening shadows. Moms are out tending the flower gardens. The Amish dress plainly and wear no jewelry. The homes are plain and functional, but beauty comes into their lives in the form of flowers. Though they work very hard all day at chores, the evening is devoted to tending the flower gardens and quilting... no wonder we love the Amish!
This little gal is a living weed eater used for grass control on rolling hillsides and she gives milk, too. The whole area gives an aura of peace and tranquility, which is needed so much by the fast paced American life. When you need rejuvenation of spirit and a picker-upper to carry on in your life....head for the nearest Amish community and learn how to slow down and smell the new mown hay or pig poop. The oldest daughter does not have a feeling for the farm smells, but she loves the quiet. Soon, she will be back teaching a roomful of third graders, which is anything but quiet.

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The Computer

I have a joke for you today....thought it would keep a smile in your week-end. It's a beautiful day in my neighborhood. Smile!

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine of feminine. 'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la casa.' 'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.' A student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'? Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, males and females, and asked them to decided for themselves whether 'computer'should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of the feminine gender ('la computadora"), because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;

2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be masculine ('el computador') because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;

2. They have a lot of data, but still can't think for themselves;

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

Who do you think won?

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

One is the Democratic Party and one is the Republican Party. We are what the winner will poop out after the election! NEVER GIVE UP!

Zero Speed Tolerance

You had better obey the speed
limits when driving through
Ohio. With the advent of our new speed cameras, it appears that the state is serious about slowing traffic down and stopping deaths from auto accidents. It does give new meaning to the idea of coming to a "dead stop"! lol

I'm sorry if you didn't realize that this is a joke. Ohio has many wonderful Highway Patrol officers, most of them have never used their gun for any purpose. I know, my son-in-law has been in the Patrol for over twenty-five years and one grandson is waiting for a new class to begin, so he can join. Forgive me for being flip.

Summer Daze

I was snooping around over at Big Mama's place
on the net and discovered she was wilting under the hot Texas sun. Since she is looking for easy summer food, I thought I'd
stick up a quickie meal to keep her from turning into a puddle of sweat. She really has too many people counting on her for entertainment to allow any such catastrophe to happen. This was a variation on an old recipe that I got from a friend on the INTERNET.

Brown 2 or 3 pounds of Stew Meat in oil ... I use Crisco Canola Oil . (You can use an English cut roast beef, but it is easier to let the butcher do the work)
Stick the browned meat in a crock pot
Sprinkle with McCormick's Stew Mix (or any other company's stew mix...it comes in a packet like Taco Mix) and stir around to coat meat
Add enough boiling water to just cover meat
Cook on low for six hours or so, while you are at the pool
Thicken with a little Wondra Flour in cold water when you feel up to the effort
Cook some noodles or even a couple packages of Ramen Noodles without the sauce packets and serve the beef over the noodles...they only take about 5 minutes

I just cooked four English cut roast beefs for my kids' birthday dinner on Wednesday night and served it with mashed potatoes, sugar snap peas and green bean casserole with cheese sauce. When I cook a roast, I stir the Stew Mix into a little cold water to dissolve it and then add the boiling water. The twelve pounds of roasts took four hours in the oven on 300° and they ate all twelve pounds. I didn't mind using the oven, but I live in Ohio, not Texas.

The Boy in Trees

A new T.V. show began a couple of years ago called "Men in Trees". I watched it and discovered that they literally meant the men were in the trees. You know, lumberjack types were overhead trimming the branches from the fir trees.

Sunday is Father's Day and I want to tell you about my Dad and the unusual life he led. The first thing that popped into my head was the tree thing, so.....

Dad was born December 3rd, 1897 in Jonesboro, Arkansas somewhere in the middle of eleven children. Being a very bright little boy, he finished elementary school at twelve and then quit. Quit? He left home and joined his father in the logging camps of Arkansas to help support the family. He was "A Boy in Trees" for four years, until the thirst for knowledge overcame him and he left for the big city. He stuck out his thumb and hitch hiked to Toledo, Ohio where he had cousins, who would allow him to live with them.

This is a picture of the youngest nine children (the two oldest girls were already married and gone). Notice the children are nicely dressed, but barefooted and dusty. Dad was the second boy from the top on the right side with suspenders. It must have been taken about nineteen ten, before he hitch hiked to Ohio.

Between sixteen and nineteen, he attended high school, played football and supported himself in assorted jobs. That was just the first step toward an education. After high school, he began college at the local university and worked for a small newspaper as a reporter, doing a little bit of everything. Also, he worked at the original Jeep production plant. After getting a degree in education and he started law courses by mail from the University of Chicago and night classes at The University of Toledo. He met my mom and they married somewhere in the middle of law school. The five children arrived starting in 1928, ending in 1936. Great timing--have a whole brood of children during the "Great Depression"! I suppose they had it much better than most people, because as a public employee --- he was paid in script. He had started teaching high school classes in English, Economics, Sociology, Auto Mechanics and World History the day the doors opened to a brand new school and he was coaching football at another high school for free. Because of the children, his law degree was delayed to the point that he could not afford to open an office and give up the safety of the teaching job. I know he had become a flaming liberal during his college years and yearned for a world where there was no poverty or inequality. He loved to teach about the problems of the world ... we were served history and English with every meal. It was a mistake to ask a question ... that led to a half hour of explaining the hows and whys of the subject. He was active in the union fight at the Autolite Company in Toledo during the depression. This fight made national news for it's bitter physical battles between union loyalists (imported thugs) and the company hierarchy (more hired thugs). About a year after I was born, his picture was all over the local papers and he was temporarily suspended from teaching for reported un-American activities. The problem was that he was now legally an attorney and was busily forming The Federation of Teachers locally. That was the first teacher's union to hit the scene. The fact that he was a card carrying Socialist didn't help a bit. I get the picture of a bunch of young men sitting about and dreaming of how they could make a Utopian society where all would have equal status. I wonder how they could have desired to elevate people who did little to help themselves to the level of those who had worked so hard to educate and sustain themselves? He was reinstated to his teaching job after a few months, but still believed that somehow life should be made easier for the downtrodden. Dad had his office at home and after dinner at night, there was a steady procession of people needing basic legal advice or just wanting to sit at the feet of the master of dreams. People came and went, but if they didn't ask how much for a legal service---- they never got a bill.I watched as he built our home with his own two hands, because he couldn't find anyone who would rent to a family with five kids after WWII. He cut down trees and put through two roads nearby for a share in selling the property. Funny, that sounds amazingly like capitalism at it's best --- diametrically opposed to his share and share alike philosophy. When he died at seventy-eight, this little Ozark boy held a Degree in Education and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence. He was a wonderful and caring man, who built a great life and a terrific family. His name was Clyde and he was "A Boy in Trees". For many years, students from the high school would stop and visit long after he retired. Students either loved or hated his teaching methods, but he did make them think.

It didn't matter to me that he was controversial, because he accomplished so much and I loved him so much.

Who Knew?

Just a little something to let you know there is something new under the sun! Either that or I am dumber than the average bear!

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Who knew? Can't believe I never saw this before......... Well, I'm not telling everyone my age, as most of you already know...BUT...
I had to go into the kitchen and check this out for myself. Who ever looks at the end of your aluminum foil box? What a fantastic idea. Now, if someone would just make plastic wrap that didn't stick to itself. I've been using aluminum foil for more years than I care to remember. Great stuff, but sometimes it can be a pain. You know, like when you are in the middle of doing something and you try to pull some foil out and the roll comes out of the box. Then you have to put the roll back in the box and start over. The darn roll always comes out at the wrong time.
Well, I would like to share this with you. Yesterday, I went to throw out an empty Reynolds foil box and for some reason I turned it and looked at the end of the box. And written on the end it said, "Press here to lock end". Right there on the end of the box is a tab to lock the roll in place. How long has this little locking tab been there? I then looked at a generic brand of aluminum foil and it had one, too. I then looked at a box of Saran wrap and it had one too! I can't count the number of times the Saran wrap roll has jumped out when I was trying to cover something up. I hope I'm not the only person that didn't know about this.
I IMMEDIATELY WENT AND PUSHED IN ALL MY TABS...

HA! SURE DOES MAKE YOU FEEL STUPID DOESN'T IT...?

"Oldfartitis"

I read a blog the other day by a pharmacist, which was really a rant about old people. It stated that he would rather argue with a crazed crack head than a confused elderly person. The writer is truly gifted, but has missed the point that everyone gets old (if they live long enough) and fortunately drug seekers are not inevitable. The husband and I are old (seventy-six and seventy-two), but didn't really know it until a few days ago. While we were still helping people move into new houses, wallpapering their bathrooms, painting their living rooms, taking care of their children while they went on vacations, cooking meals for their families when they were sick and generally doing all the energetic activities --- we forgot to notice that we were no longer young. Seventy came and we were grateful to be alive and finally enjoy sitting down. Now, I find that we are no longer respected members of the community, but a blight on the backs of the hard working younger generation. I thought that Grandma and Grandpa Walton were revered for their wisdom and experience by John Boy and MaryEllen.
Check this sitehttp://www.theangrypharmacist.com/ and see if his description of "oldfartitis" doesn't offend you in the name of yourself or your parents. The husband has had an aortic valve replacement and a new knee and I have had my share of vascular roto-rooter jobs, but I didn't think that my children would rather we die instead of using any Medicare money. Kindly remember that Medicare was not our idea! Until the government got involved in medicine, we paid for our doctor bills and our medicines just like you do. We have paid the highest amount into Social Security all of our adult lives, but the government frittered it away in the general fund instead of investing it something that would grow exponentially as the population aged. The whole point of this post is to tell people who are angry at the fumbling, stumbling elderly among us ---- get over it---- your day is coming way faster than you ever thought it could. You will look back and wonder where life went and why there is no respect left for the people who gave you life.

Quilting Each Day Keeps the Psychiatrist Away

I truly believe that quilting is medicine for the soul. It is addictive, but also something that soothes the savage beast. When I was twelve, I copied my sister's shorts pattern onto newspaper and then cut them out and sewed the seams by hand. I was off and running in the world of sewing. My first sewing machine was an old Singer Treadle that my hubby bought for me for $10.00. The tension was terrible, but it sewed! When I was pregnant with the first child, he bought me a Brothers machine and I happily made my maternity clothes.
I made plenty of little girl's clothes and little boy's shirts for a nephew for about twenty-five cents. I just sewed and sewed. My sister-in-law got a Singer Golden Touch and Sew in the seventies and I had to have one like it. I sold the Brothers to the woman across the street and moved on up to my Singer. It saw me through grade school clothes, prom dresses, a leather coat for my youngest (which she outgrew in about six months) and even a wedding dress for a friend's daughter. Once my hubby was earning better money, I asked for a Pfaff and gave the Singer to my daughter-in-law. The quilting bug had bitten by the time the kids were out of the house and even though I was happy with the Pfaff, I coveted a Bernina Artista. The husband was spending too much money on raising quarter-horses at the time, so he didn't complain when I spent over $3000.00 for the Bernina. I love that machine like it was one of my kids. The Pfaff is my back-up machine, but it is living at my oldest daughter's house, because her old White quit working and I had given her quilting fever somewhere along the line.
The little critter on the right is part
of an embroidery card that I finally started using on the Bernina and I put together a baby quilt for an unknown baby boy. It is ready to be quilted and the backing is pieced and the binding is ready. Someone just needs to have a baby!

I can't seem to get myself down to the actual quilting, when there are so many fabrics calling my name and so many wonderful patterns to challenge my ability. I need to learn to finish what I start before going on to the next project.
I take some of the really big quilts out to a professional long arm quilter after piecing them. I save my quilting fingers for the ones where you can show off the tiny little stitches required to call myself a quilter. The needles are so tiny (size ten or twelve Betweens) that they make holes in your fingertips. Ouch!
This quilt is called a charm quilt,
because the pieces are all different fabrics. It is a king size and I made four pillow shams to match. I have a queen size just like it--- it wasn't big enough for our king and I am stocking up on quilts for my grandkids, so I just did a repeat. The dust ruffle has dragon flies all over it and I sewed the ruffle right onto the box spring cording. It sure helps keep from tucking the skirt in with the sheets when you make the bed.
I saw this pattern in a quilter's magazine and had to give it a try. For someone who didn't do too well in Geometry classes, I have learned to figure out how quilt pieces work. This one is a standard bed size and is mostly Batik fabrics, which I really love. I found a pattern recently and have to start collecting half yard Batiks again. Sigh! I can't wait to go to Bettsville, Ohio to The Door Mouse Quilt Shop --- they have so many fabrics that I could stay all day just correlating things.
Now we come to the quilt that shames me. I bought the fabric to make a quilt for my older brother. It is huge --- big enough to be a bedspread for a king size bed. I managed to get the blocks pieced and put together. I began hand quilting with a hoop and really enjoyed quilting the open blocks. Then I did "stitch in the ditch" around the colored pieces in the odd blocks. I was slow--- I admit it. My brother died six years ago! And --- the quilt is still not done. There is a huge amount of quilting needed on the pieced border and since he died --- I have not felt like getting it done. I could finish it and give it to his widow, but she has been remarried for almost two years. Like I started out to say, quilting will keep the psychiatrist away,but procrastinating will drive you nuts!

The Deer at Dusk

About three minutes before eight, right after a fierce rainstorm, there were four deer ambling about on the golf course right outside our deck. I had hardly any battery in the camera and couldn't find the zoom button without my glasses, so the pictures are lousy. But, you can see two of them dead center of the picture across the fifth fairway. Double left click on the picture and you can almost see them. One was eating bird seed out of a neighbor's feeder. I guess having to come home to Ohio early from Florida has it's perks. The next thing will be the Forsythia and Flowering Plum trees. Spring is bursting out all over! Welcome!

Blogger Gone Crazy!

I'm ready to throw my computer out the window! My blogspot.com will not let me have comments on my posts, so I miss my wandering blog friends! This is a test, by the way.

Dratted Nose!

Sunday, our church celebrated it's One Hundredth Year in existence. We have gone from a little hole in the wall with thirty worshippers to a multimillion dollar complex serving about twenty-five hundred Christians every day of the week. We are a member of The Christian and Missionary Alliance. The board brought back four former pastors and we had a wonderful day. On Sunday evening, there was a potluck for seven hundred members with the church furnishing the meat and drinks. (Think coffee and punch) I thought about an old dessert that my kids liked at a local restaurant when they were little. It is a huge bowl of angel-food cake cubes, chocolate pudding, whipped cream, bananas, walnuts and chocolate chips. Saturday night, I cooked up three boxes of Jello Chocolate Pudding and then came home on Sunday after church to put this majestic thing together. (Believe me--- it is not cheap!) After piling my masterpiece into a cut-glass bowl, I made a little one for my honey and me. Yuck! It tasted funny! The milk I had made the pudding with was outdated! This would not happen to ordinary people, but I have lost most of my sense of smell --- so I have to depend on my husband to tell me if things smell funny. From now on, I will check the dates or taste things before investing ten bucks in ingredients for the disposal. Once the lovely chocolaty goodness was lost to the potluck, I threw a pot of baked beans in the oven and called it a day, but the dessert was pretty, wasn't it?

This has nothing to do with my lovely dessert, but rather with my blog. Does anyone know why my comments disappeared? I went to the comments section and made sure that they were allowed, but nothing helps! Oh, Dear!

Manic Monday --- "Thousand"

I saw a Meme going around over at Empress Bee's site and in a rash moment, I clicked and then realized that I knew squat about Mr. Linky or much of anything about computer workings. Today, the theme is One Thousand and the first thing I thought of was music and one of my favorites from when my kids were babies.


" The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" --- by Bobby Vee.

They say that you're a runaround lover,

Though you say it isn't so,

But if you put me down for another,

I'll know, believe me, I'll know.

Cause the night has a THOUSAND EYES,

And a THOUSAND EYES can't help but see,

If you are true to me,

So remember when you tell those little white lies,


That the night has a THOUSAND EYES!