I never know what to title my posts.......

Today's high temperature was: 83 degrees

Today's humidity was: 51%

Sunny, breezy

==================================

Awake at 8:45 when Don the Lawn Mower Man showed up and was mowing under my bedroom window.  Staggered out of bed--the last two days worth of parties have tired me.

Started laundry, dusted, vacuumed bedroom--remade bed, put away clean clothes.

Paid Don the Lawn Mower Man and asked him to put me on the same schedule as Jackie and Dar--every 10-12 days.  There were 5 Mondays this month--at $20.00 a mow--well--I can't afford that!!

I don't know what happened, but suddenly it was noon and time for some food and then my Soap and then walked up to Merle and Pearl's.  Took them their photos from yesterday and we chatted for awhile.  Or, Pearl and I chatted and Merle tried to read his paper and ignore us.

Their cat, Tiger, is a big orange, fluffy cat.  He is NOT friendly, but he usually runs to greet me when I walk in and let's me give me a small pet.  Today, for some reason, he growled and hissed at me and hid under the dining room table.  When I got ready to leave and walked past the table on my way out, he jumped out and bit my ankle.  Apparently, Pearl is the only one who can touch him now.  He hisses at Merle and their daughter and grand daughter's.  I don't know what's wrong with him, but he has turned into Grumpy Cat.

As I came back onto the front porch, I noticed something.  My succulents:

 May 30, 2014

Now look like this:

Rotten rodents!!  Either squirrels or chipmunks have dug them out and--see those teeth marks on the leaves?  These succulents are not cheap and they have killed them off.  I am so angry and discouraged!!

Maggie The Cat has mats in the fur on her back.  I have brushed and brushed and brushed her and can't get them out, so today...I figured I'd cut them out and then brush her every dang day.

She was all cozy on my lap, half asleep--I was petting her on her matted area.  Then when she dozed off, I reached over and got the scissors and gently started cutting.  She reached around and bit me!

So I got the brush and started trying to brush them out and she jumped down and starting running around the living room.  I'd catch her and pet her and then brush her and then she'd run some more--it was quite a sight.

I finally wore out from bending over trying to brush her.  Meanwhile, Buddy was everywhere we were, trying to get me to brush him.  When I sat down, he jumped up on my lap and I brushed him for the next half hour.

===================

I am quite done with the Our Time dating site and any other dating site.  It has been interesting to see what is "out there" and I truly feel sorry for women who are looking for a man because......there sure isn't much to choose from!  For instance:

This one says his daughter is helping him because 

he isn't very "computer swavy".

I think she also needs to dress him a bit better

and take another photo for his profile.

Yes--he is looking for marriage. 

Well--lookie here!

Another biker! 

One thing I have noticed--not just on the dating sites, but out in public--all I see are old geezers with beards!  Grey, scraggly beards!  What's up with that?

60th Wedding Anniversary Party

Queen Anne's Lace/Wild Carrot and roses in a green Ball jar.

Would be beautiful for a country style wedding

=========================================================

I was in my nightgown until noon!  Then, I took a shower and put it back on, while I dried.  Got dressed, filled up the bird feeders, ran a Prilosec up to Pearl who had bad heart burn and sat down to watch the baseball game.

I got so sleepy and closed my eyes at 3:00 and woke with a start at 4:25, BECAUSE I HAD TO BE AT MERLE AND PEARL'S 60TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY!!!!! YIKES!!

Made it!

Her youngest daughter, Margie, had reserved one entire side of the local Bob Evans restaurant--40 people came.  Pearl wanted me to sit right next to her.

Kind of an odd different family.  No one had a camera and no one wanted to have pictures taken, so I got bossy just so I could get one of them  and one of them and their kids.

Their eldest is Vic (given the name of Victor so he would be victorious)--he looks just like Merle, but he doesn't talk--or smile!  I greeted him when he arrived and when I left and he only mumbled something I could not make out.

Their eldest daughter, Cathy, (named for Catherine the Great) is a very religious woman.  Two weeks ago, she got mad at her husband and cut off most of her waist-length hair.  She thought it would make him stop drinking.  Ah-hh--NO.

Their youngest daughter (between them) Margie, (named for Princess Margaret) is the one I adore!  She reminds me so much of my Pammie.  Happy and smiling all the time and very, very fun.

I did manage to get Pearl to let me take a picture of the roses that Merle gave her.  Well, actually, Margie got a card and the roses, took her Dad out to the car, gave them to him and he brought them back in for Pearl.  She wasn't fooled for a minute and turned to me and said, "He didn't get me these, Margie did.  He has never bought me a flower in our lives!"  Which, when I remember how many flowers Fred brought home to me, made me sort of sad.

  

Considering that no one wanted pictures, but I knew that later Pearl would say, "I wish we had pictures of our party,"  I just kept clicking away, without my flash and no one had a clue.  HAH!  Then I put some together and printed them out and will take them all up to her tomorrow.

I accidentally hit my water glass with my knife and someone thought I was "clinking for a kiss" and they all started clinking and we did get a tiny little peck kiss out of them.  I didn't get a picture of that, but.....

They were sharing a milk shake and I did get a couple of photos of that--Pearl put whipped cream on Merle's nose. LOL

I wonder how anyone can live with the same person for 60 years and not get so tired of them and their ways--you know exactly how they are going to react to everything.  No surprises--maybe that's a good thing?  I could barely live with MYSELF for that long without getting bored.  

I guess you just start out, go through all the fights and problems and then, finally settle down and you get to be like brother and sister, or something--friends?  I don't really know what makes a long term marriage.  Is it just habit?  Neither one wants to rock the boat so...you just settle?  Better to be together, even though you can hardly stand each other, than to be all alone?

Merle and Pearl barely say a word to each other.  Most of the time, when they are together, they ignore each other.  He snaps at her on occasion...she gets so mad at him.  I guess that's what these long anniversaries are all about.  A celebration for putting up with each other for life?  

Oh well, I will never know and honestly...that's quite all right with me.  I'd rather be alone than have some MAN tell me what to do, how to do it, when to do it and get mad if I don't do it his way.

====================

Whenever we go to Bob Evan's to eat, Merle and I order a side of biscuits.  Pearl and Margie tease  him on how he eats a biscuit.  He first, cuts them in half, then slathers one half with butter.  Then he puts the tiniest bit of honey on the edge and only bites that part.  (He doesn't put honey on the whole half.)  He then puts on a tiny bit more of honey and eats only that part--on and on until the biscuit is gone.  

He stated in his dry way, "Keeps the honey from making a sticky mess."  So, tonight, I surreptitiously got a pix of him eating his biscuit.  I can't wait until they all see this photo!

I am a bit worried about Merle.  He has had terrible back pain for the last 6 months.  Has gone to the Chiropractor and the doctor.  Now, they finally want to run tests--CAT scan--MRI.  The family and Pearl aren't worried because they have no clue that it is anything but arthritis.  Knowing (way too much) about medical things, I can worry about Pancreatic/Lung/Kidney/Liver cancer.  Only I can worry--I am not saying a word about my worries to anyone else!

I've had a nice full weekend.  Filled with people that I enjoy and love and who love me...and none of them are related to me.  Just like at Drew's grad party yesterday--he was so glad I was there.

They don't HAVE to be nice to me.  That's kind of nice!  

Heirlooms-Harangues-Hoorahs

Today's high temperature was: 87

Today's humidity was: 61%

Hard rain from 3:30 to 5:00

===============================

Who said heirlooms were only "things" passed down through generations?

I have heirloom flower plants!

The parent plant of this Peony, was planted on The Farm by my Great Grand Mother-Sophia- in 1910.
My sister still has the original, my daughter Pam has one and I have one.

My Mother got a clump of these from her Mother, in 1950.  Lemon Lily--because of the color and they smell like Lemons.  My Mother brought over a small clump of these, in 1959, and planted them at my new home.  I now have them in my garden here, my sister has them in hers.  One summer day in 1976, a lady, driving by, stopped at my house (when I lived on the farm) and asked if she could have a piece.  I dug up a nice clump for her.  I have no idea who she was or where these lilies are now growing.

I call this plant my Mama Iris.  My Mother ordered the peach colored hybrid corm from Breck's and planted it in the fall of 1968.  Two years later, the fall after she died, I dug a corm from this plant and put it in my garden down at the farm where I lived.  The children from this plant now are growing in my garden, Karen's garden, Jen's garden, Pam's garden and my sisters.

Whenever I moved, I needed to take a part of something from my "home" and plant it.  I also have 3 rocks from The Farm, the farm where I was born and the farm where Pammie now lives.  I need something from my "roots" to anchor me to my new home.

The children from these flowers were planted and still live (I think), in Clio (1988), Mt. Morris (1989), Otisville (1990), Lennon (1991), Saginaw (1992-2003), and here.  They also have been planted by my girls and sister in: Binghamton, New York (Susan), Whitmore Lake (Karen), Hartland (Jen) and Pam's farm and my son Mark, still has the original Iris, as he lives on the farm where my Mother planted it.  He loves that he still has something from his Grandma.

I have also given pieces of them to others and have no idea where they are.

I look at these and think, "We are born, live and die, but these plants, if cared for, just keep on forever!"
=========================

This morning, I walked up to Pearl's.  We were standing outside looking at her garden--she threw me a hint that we didn't have it all weeded.  I reached over, in back, to pull up a wild carrot weed.

"Oh!  Don't pull that out!  That's Queen Anne's Lace."

"It's Wild Carrot.  It's a weed and will spread like crazy."

"It is NOT a weed!  It's called Queen Anne's Lace."

"One in the same.  Wild carrot...Queen Anne's Lace.  Same plant."

She turned to look at me, put her hands on her hips.  "Is this going to be our plant argument for THIS summer?"

I put my finger up and said, "Nope.  Don't argue with me on this one...I know this for sure."

"I took a class from a Master Gardener and I ought to know what I'm talking about!"

"Yeah."

"What do you mean.. yeah?"

"No argument!  I will go home and Google it and bring you back the results."

"I don't care what the Internet says. This is Queen Anne's Lace."

"I never said it wasn't.  It is also Wild Carrot--they are both the same.  Dig it up and you will find a carrot underground.  I had to dig these dang things out of the fence rows for my Dad.  I hate them!"

"We used to put them in little jars of colored water and the blossom would take on that color."

"Yes--we did too.  Wild carrot."

She took a swing at my arm and almost fell over.  I steadied her and said, "Hold on Honey Bunny...just calm down."

We both had a good laugh.  She said, "Well, you go look on your Internet, but...I'll bet you a dollar, I'm right."

"Get your money ready," I said as I strolled on home

Queen Anne's Lace

Wild Carrot

.

Queen Anne’s lace earned its common name from a legend that tells of Queen Anne of England (1665-1714) pricking her finger and a drop of blood landed on white lace she was sewing. Belonging to the carrot family, Queen Anne’s lace is a biennial that is also known as wild carrot.

So--I printed this out, walked it back up to her house, handed it to her to read and held out my hand (waiting for my dollar).  She read it and handed it to Merle to read.  He looked at the pictures and said, "Oh, Wild Carrot."

"Pearl is a townie--she calls it Queen Anne's Lace.  I am a farm kid.  I call it Wild Carrot."

"I don't care," she said.  "I like it and I am going to let it grow!"

"Fine.  Cut it and put it in your bouquets.  It is a pretty WEED!"

<stubborn Swede and stubborn German>

=========================

This afternoon, I traveled around the lake to a Grad Party for another of Maddie's friends--another French Horn player.

Maddie and Drew last Halloween

 This is Drew when he was little.

Adorable?

 This is Drew's home

7,500+ square feet

 

 This is Drew now.  It had started to rain really hard

and we were a bit damp.

The pool outside the bottom level.

Beyond the pool is a lower lawn level with the party tent and beyond that is a sweeping lawn down to the lake.

I love this spouting turtle.

I wish I could have taken more photos of this magnificent place!  It poured for almost two hours.  Although the food was simple; Taco salad, and other Mexican foods, there was also a huge watermelon boat with fresh fruit, a double tiered cake and a Sundae Bar--it was all catered.  

The house is enormous--but, as I have noticed with a lot of the McMansions, there are a lot of rooms, but they are all smallish.  The dining room also contained a Steinway Grand Piano.  The lower level, where we all stayed, protected from the rain, had a TV on the end wall.  That dang thing was as long as the wall was wide and 8 feet in height.  

I guess you would call it a Home Theatre?

I sat and got acquainted with Drew's Mom's side of the family--the DeOrio's.  They are Italian and they are loud and brash and I had a blast chatting with them for a couple of hours.

On of the tables in this room was a lamp made from an old reel type movie projector.  I asked Drew about it and he said his Dad had made it and he had thought he and his Dad could make my French Horn into a lamp for me. 

Just then, Matt walked in (you remember, Matt took Maddie to Prom)

and came to hug me and he and Drew and I talked about the French Horn lamp I want.  A few weeks ago, Matt had offered to make it for me and Drew was going to help me.  I told them I had found an artist that works with metal sculpturing and that he was going to do it for me.  I really wanted to let these kids off the hook.  They have a busy summer and are planning for college in a few months.   

For a while, when I first got there, I just sat and looked around at this house and the others in the neighborhood.  These families of Maddie's friends are very wealthy.  These kids haven't a clue how fortunate they are to live in this kind of environment.  They take it all as quite normal--as they've lived like this all their lives.  

They are privileged and yet, they are all so very nice, polite, compassionate, intelligent, talented and very down to earth.   When I got ready to leave, it was still raining a bit and Drew helped me up the stairs to the main floor, got an umbrella out of the entryway closet and walked me to my car.  

I have never been in so many mansions in my life, as this last month, going to Grad parties.  My ancestor's were millionaires, but we never had houses like these people live in.  Our wealth was in the many acres of land my family owned.  I'm glad I got to rub elbows with these people, but...just think......

that TV they own, or that Steinway Grand--just think how long that young mother, I met at the food bank, could live on what just one of those items cost. 

Friday That Felt Like Wednesday

Today's high temperature was:  82 degrees

Low  humidity

Sunny and nice

===============================

All day, it has felt like Wednesday.

We are having the most delightful weather, compared to a lot of the US--no floods, no drought, no earthquakes, no fires.  I keep telling people, "Our state is formed in the image of God's right hand--you should expect it to be a lovely place to live."

JEAN--the label "Christian" on the dating sites doesn't mean they are regular church goers.  It simply means they aren't Jewish, Muslims, Agnostic or Atheists.

===============================

So--this morning at 9:00 I trotted up to Pearl's to take a look at her "demon" lap top, as she calls it.  By noon, I had to agree with her.  In the first place, it is an older LapTop (2000), and Windows 8 is installed on it.  Windows 8 works well with touch screen devices--she does not have a touch screen.  I have been told by many an expert NOT to load Windows 8 on my PC or I will have tons of problems.  It certainly is not very user friendly, in my opinion.  

In order to even launch the computer, I had to enter her e-mail and password--which remembered from last time and it was the correct one.  There were no icons on the desktop.  I tried for over 45 minutes to get into Google.  Then I kept getting error messages that data bases were missing.  That there was no virus protection.  I entered a bunch of required information and as I was about to hit the enter button, the screen flashed and the information was gone.

Finally at noon, I closed the cover and said, "You tell your kids to come get this damn thing and get you a regular PC computer."

She has a monitor, keyboard, printer, scanner, speakers--all she needs is the box with the hard drive and mother board.  She only used her computer to install and play her few games, read her e-mail and Face Book and check on her bank balance.  She doesn't need Office or anything else on the dang thing.

Her daughter got her a Smart Phone last year--I think I told you many tales about that.  Pearl could not figure it out and the day a "voice" came out of that device, she put it down and wouldn't use it.  They took it back and got her a flip phone and she is very happy.

Her daughter got her the Lap Top for Christmas.  Merle and Pearl have it bundled in with their phone and TV.  She has been paying for High Speed Internet and WiFi since Christmas and can't use it.

Remember---THIS IS PEARL!!!

Not only is it Pearl--it is Dar across the street from Pearl who doesn't know how to open her CD player (didn't know what that was) to put in a software disc.

Old people need SIMPLE.  K.I.S.S.= keep it simple, stupid.

I would be the exact same way if I hadn't had training in computer's when I worked and also knew two computer geeks who taught me so much about how they work.  Both Pearl and Dar are afraid they are going to "break" the thing and on more than one occasion, Pearl has told me that "the computer sees me when I sit down and it tries to do everything it can to stop working for me."  I think she really believes that--like the NSA of  the computer world is watching and likes to drive her crazy.

She was so frustrated this morning that she had tears in her eyes.  "I want it out of my house!  I had a dream to get a new computer--I had almost all of the money saved and they....well they took away that dream when they brought me that evil thing!"

I wish I had the money.  I would put her in my car and drive her over to my computer service store and get her a new computer.  They have just what she needs for $300.00.

=======================

I watched my Soap and then went for a bike ride--adding a bit longer ride--not much, only about another 50 feet, but..............

Pammie called and we had a good talk about Welfare--I did not realize that even though it is a Federal Program, each state has different qualifications AND each county in the State has different qualifications.  The county just north of me and east of Pammie has a really good assistance program.  When a friend of Pam's needed surgery, he could not get any kind of help in his county.  He had a friend who lived in the county east of him, so...he used the friends address and went to the biggest hospital in that county--had the much needed surgery and it was entirely paid for.

Now--that is fraud--what is a person supposed to do?  The young woman I met yesterday used to live in that county--that's where she had her cancer surgery.  Now, she lives in our county and can't get any help for her chemo treatments.  I wish I had known yesterday--I would have asked if she had any relatives where she used to live and told her to use their address and travel the 12 miles up the expressway and get her chemotherapy.

I also found out why our food assistance was cut.  In our State, food assistance and health assistance is included in our Farm Bill.  Who knows why.  Our State recently cut back on the Farm Bill--so the assistance was also cut.  Our State has an $85M flush fund--they are using it to repair our roads--which also are badly needed, but....................

==================

This eye opening condition has me wondering.  I would not know any of this if I lived the life I used too.  We complain about our taxes going for "lazy people on welfare"--I used to say the same.  If you are comfortable or even living from pay check to pay check and making it, you wouldn't give any of this a second thought--because you would never have to seek out assistance and then see how the programs work--or don't work.  

I am beginning to sound like a Liberal.  Tax the rich and help the poor and elder.

===========================

So, today I got one Flirt from this guy--he is way too scary for me:

 He is 6'0" tall and 71 years old

He's not interested in marriage, but wants a "live in sweetheart"  Here are more photos on his profile.

 His home and his dog Buddy.

He proudly claims he has 14 acres of land out in the country.

I have no idea what he's going for here

He lives in Kentucky and I am glad.  No fear of running into him!

Here is another winner who wants to communicate:

He's only 60, so he's still arrogant

I had to copy and past his profile here.  Thought you'd get a kick out of it.

ithinkiluvu

Guys like me are hard to find

Age 60 From Garrett, Indiana - - Online Now 
Man Seeking A Woman (107 Miles Away)

 

Basic Information

I Can Speak		English
I Would Describe Myself As		Hi,,,I am fully functional,,, all my parts work,,,I have all my teeth,,,,I brush regularly, and use deoderant,,,and wear clean clothes,,,,I am very polite,,,right now ,my car is fixed!!,,,,I like to sing and drink beer,,,,,,I go to the movies or I rent them,,,,I eat out ,,,also you can see me on POF site at ---skill46738
Sign		Gemini

Appearance & Situation

My Body Type Is		Average
My Height Is		5' 7 (1.7 m)
My Eyes Are		Brown
My Ethnicity Is		Caucasian
My Marital Situation Is		Widowed
I Have Kids		Yes - At Home
I Want Kids		Not Sure
My Best Feature Is		Legs
Body Art		Wouldn't Even Think About It
My Hair Is		Brown
I Have One Or More Of These		Dog
Willing To Relocate		Yes

Status

My Education Level Is		High School Diploma
My Current Employment Status Is		Retired
My Speciality Is		Retired
I Make This Much In A Year		$15,000USD To $29,999USD
I Live		With Kid(s)
At Home		All Is Calm
I'm A Smoker		No
I Drink		Yes - Socially

Taste

On Tv, I Always Watch		News, Movies, Reality Shows
My Top 3 Tv Shows Are		n/a
When I Go To The Movies, I Always Go To See A		Action, Science Fiction, Comedy, Drama, Family, Animation, Horror, Thriller, Adult
When Listening To Music, I Always Listen To		Blues, Classical, Country, Dance, Electronic, Folk, Gospel, Industrial, Jazz, Latin, Metal, New age, Pop, Punk, Reggae, Rap, Rock, Soul, Vacuum Cleaner Noises, I'm A Recording Artist
When I Read, I Always Read		I Don't Like Reading
My Idea Of Fun Is		I like to sing and drink beer or whiskey,,,,, rummage sales,, gun shows ,,shopping ,,,,hanging out wit my son

Personality

Back In High School, I Was A		Cool Dude
My Social Behavior Is		Friendly, Party Starter
My Interest And Hobbies Are		Cars, Clubbing / Bar Hopping, Computers, Gambling, Gardening, Movies, Music, Theater, Tv
My Idea Of A Great Time Is		Clubbing / Bars, Drinking, Going Shopping, Going To A Casino, Partying, Relaxing, Sleeping, Staying At Home, The Movies, Trying New Things, Tv
An Ideal First Date Would Be		Coffee date or lunch
I've Always Wanted To Try		I think I've done everything
My Friends Describe Me As Being		Friendly

Views

My Religion Is		Christian
I Attend Services		Never
My Political Views Are		Middle Of The Road
My Goal In Life Is		Day by day
My Kind Of Humor Is		Clever

Looking for

What Do You Find Attractive?		Intelligence
What Do You Look For?		Black hair
What Kind Of Relationship Are You Seeking?		Intimate

He lives in Indiana, Marla.  LOL

Frightening what's out there, isn't it.