Callie, first my congratulations to your grandson on his graduation. What are his plans for the future? 

Second, Ali and Dan will be living in  a suburb called Jenks In OK. What ie Ellen's last name?  Ali and Dan like shows. . Maybe they'll get to see her. It would be nice if they knew they saw her.

Sorry! I forgot my manners. Thank you Everyfriend for the compliments for Ali and Dan.

Good Morning, I woke up at one o'clock. four hours of sleep, so I feel a bit loopy. Expected my housekeeper at seven o'clock and she still has not arrived. I hope she is o.k.

The sun keep trying to break through, but hasn't made it yet. I know just how it feels.......

Good morning, Larry.  It rained again during the night, but by daybreak had stopped.  We need more--so many brush fires.  Enjoy your late lunch out.

Janie--I heard you say "thank you".

Good morning, June.  Sorry you got so little sleep.  It would be courteous if your housekeeper called if she was going to be late or not coming.

Good Morning Everyone!

Up early here, had to go down and pick up the cleaning lady, which I did and she is now busy as can be.

Gloria, no adult beverages involved in my screw ups.  Haven't had one in some time.  Did you get your window unit installed yet?

Dry here yesterday, last night too.  But it is very cloudy here this morning and looks like it wants to rain.

I don't know if my yard man is going to try cutting grass today or not.  He came by the other day and said he would be by today or tomorrow, but I would bet he is stacked up and way behind.  With all the rain we have had.

Everyone have a great day.

Janie,  Jenks is a very nice suburb of Tulsa.   I'll message or e-mail you more info on Ellen and the August productions as the time gets closer.  Tulsa has several really good local theater venues and one major venue.  This morning's paper said that Dolly Parton's first national tour in 25 years will be in Tulsa on August 12. That's opening night for "Oklahoma"!

Carson is working this summer and going to Oklahoma State University in the Fall.   Sister Emily will be a Senior there, which will be A Good Thing......most of the time! 

Haven't seen any news yet today so don't know if there's been any more information about the bridge/overpass collapse.
A truck hauling some kind of crane had successfully gone under the bridge in the east-bound lanes.  However, when the driver returned in the west-bound lanes, he failed to notice that the overpass is 4 inches lower on that side.  SMACK!!!!!!!    Fortunately, there was no traffic going across on the over pass so no other vehicles were involved and there were no injuries.    Both Northwest Highway and May Avenue are major arteries for commuters and public transportation.   Rerouting is going to be very difficult but I think people will adjust.

halkel--With all the rain you've had I imagine it's hard to find a time when the lawn is dry enough to mow.

Callie--Your grandchildren sure do keep busy.

Good Morning from a cool and cloudy Interior! It seems we are following along weatherwise with all of you.

Jane, a good photo of a handsome newly wedded couple, congratulations!

Callie, it's always nice to see grandchildren and great-grandchildren finishing school and off into a new world. I don't count going to the University as such because that is an entirely different game plan and good luck to Carson and to his big sis!

After spending yesterday morning and afternoon under the bed, Farrah ventured out and started playing with some of the toys. She then plopped herself on the couch to sleep and was still out this morning!

After breakfast, scratches, (She comes to you and you do not make sudden moves or attempt to pick her up. Just scratch and rub along her back.);  and a little more chasing that mouse, she has again retired to under the bed. I'm beginning to think of it as her safe spot or den if you will.

Good Morning from the
absolutely fabulous, rocky coast of
Maine.     (My favorite time of the
year here in the North East!)

All is well!
Sandy

angelface--Farrah seems to be settling in.

Sandy--Glad all is well in your corner of the world.

Sure is quiet here in the SS.  I am going to watch some TV.

I'm still awake….

Bis, I had a substitute housekeeper. She told me my girl had a Drs. appointment. This one did an excellent job.

Hal, I agree with Bis, your yard man may have customers lined up after all the rain you have had.

Callie, I have read quite frequently about big trucks misjudging the space they have going under an overpass. That can really mess up traffic.

Gosh, when I see airports on the news I am SO glad I am a homebody. It costs so much to fly, and then to go through the agony of long waits on top of it, I would stick to train travel if I had to travel. Do people have to be in such a hurry all the time, to make it necessary to fly ?

I took a cool shower trying to make myself feel alive, then decided to get into my P.J.'s because I don't intend to go anywhere but an early bed. Now I remembered I still have  to go downstairs to check my mail, oh well..tomorrow is another day so the mail can wait.

Well yardman came and got it all mowed.  Ready for next round of rain.

Got a phone call from daughter in Del Rio a nd it seems her daughter is home visiting was walking one her dogs and a black panther walked across the road in front of her.  Donna lives on the edge of town and there is nothing beyond her but ranch land.  needless to say she was shaken and hightailed it back home.

Found out why the sky looked funny today.  We are getting some smoke from the fires in Canada. This happened before but that time the smell came with it. My daughter had a good time today. She conducted a spelling Bee with the youngsters she has been teaching to read. Even the principal was there to see it. The one who was the quietest won. She had prizes for all of them of course. She did not want any of them to go away empty handed.
My CNA  was here today and boy a got a good back massage. Found out today that it is now 1 year since she first came here. She sure improved a lot from that inexperienced girl.

CALLIE  I did see about that bridge collapse. Glad no one was hurt. Congratulations to your grandson. Great news for Ellen.

JOAN  no rain but it sure got warm in here today. 

HAL  hope to get it in tomorrow. One son or the other can do it. I know you did not have an adult beverage, just wanted to get to you. Yikes I would stay in the house if I knew there was a panther in the area.

Have a good night everyone.

Time to call it a day. I think we have reached what is called the Vesper Light..it is dimming down out there and in a wink of an eye it could be dark. So, it is time for this person to call it a day and get ready for bed and book. I pray you all have a very peaceful night, waking to a rested and eager day. I don't think we heard from Lloyd today, so I pray he is O.K. and the same for Kelly who has been absent for several days. So....keep well and happy, and I send you all Love and Hugs and more Prayers. June

Good Saturday morning, Everyfriend.   There's cherry strudel to accompany your coffee or tea. I wish everyone a good day!!





The Rare Bible

A collector of rare books ran into an friend who told him he had just thrown away an old Bible that he found in a dusty, old box. He happened to mention that Guten-somebody-or-other had printed it.

"Not Gutenberg?" gasped the collector.

"Yes, that was it," said the friend.

"You goober!!" shrieked the collector. "You've thrown away one of the first books ever printed! A copy recently sold at auction for half a million dollars!!"

"Oh, I don't think this book would have been worth anything close to that much," replied the friend. "It was scribbled all over in the margins by some clown named Martin Luther."




The New Teacher
(Author Unknown)

After being interviewed by the school administration, the eager teaching prospect said: "Let me see if I've got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids, and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning. And I'm supposed to instill a sense of pride in their ethnicity, modify their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse and even censor their t-shirt messages and dress habits.

You want me to wage a war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for weapons of mass destruction, and raise their self-esteem.

You want me to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship, fair play, how to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook, and how to apply for a job. I am to check their heads for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of anti-social behavior, offer advice, write letters of recommendation for student employment and scholarships, encourage respect for the cultural diversity of others, and oh, make sure that I give the girls in my class fifty percent of my attention.

My contract requires me to work on my own time after school, evenings and weekends grading papers. Also, I must spend my summer vacation at my own expense working toward advance certification and a Masters degree. And on my own time you want me to attend committee and faculty meetings, PTA meetings, and participate in staff development training. I am to be a paragon of virtue, larger than life, such that my very presence will awe my students into being obedient and respectful of authority.

You want me to incorporate technology into the learning experience, monitor websites, and relate personally with each student. That includes deciding who might be potentially dangerous and/or liable to commit a crime in school.

I am to make sure all students pass the mandatory state exams, even those who don't come to school regularly or complete any of their assignments.

Plus, I am to make sure that all of the students with handicaps get an equal education regardless of the extent of their mental or physical handicap. And I am to communicate regularly with the parents by letter, telephone, newsletter and report card.

I am to do this with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books, bulletin board, a big smile, and on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps!

You want me to do all of this and yet you expect me NOT TO PRAY?"




"The man who keeps busy helping the man below him won't have time to envy the man above him."

- Henrietta Mears

Good morning everyone.

Another fine day in the making here. Laundry and putting the garden in today are two of he important things I need to do. Yard sales all over the place today so I may take in a few of those too.

Better get a move on or nothing will get done.

Joan,thank you for breakfast.

Enjoy your day everyone.

Good Saturday morning, but a chilly and rainy start to our day....

Our neighbour two doors down keep beehives, do bee-keeping in their small piece of garden which their garden, next door neighbour and our garden all kindof mesh as one, a grassy piece of land that stretches along all three...you often spot her and hubby decked in full rigour of bee hiving clothing down to their white covering suits, protective gloves and helmets covering their faces....The lady has just this minute asked us if they can pass through our back garden carrying some, we have a gate at the very far end which leads out onto the slopey driveway leading in and out of our site-homes....I thought she was actually asking us if they could put some of their beehives on our land, the part to our left that is meshed to separate from ours and next doors garden, although officially that small part is in fact belonging to us, so we are told but....what they are doing is transporting beehives through our land, our back garden, there are 3 or 4 of them........All the land to our back are on a slope, which the slope gets higher as you go along, guess our part is the flatter of the three or so....

I asked her how long has she been doing this, she told me 10 years, I then asked her if she makes enough to sell, sadly she doesn't....

Joan..."  The Rare Bible " talk about throwing money down the drain...." ouch....

Good morning, Amy.  I guess part of your day will be dancing with garden tools.  Once a year this community allows a yard sale--on a date set by the HOA.  When I lived in NY and AR there were many yard sales going on Spring through summer.

Vanilla-Jackie--Interesting that your neighbors are bee keepers.  I wonder how often they get stung.

Joan, talking of being stung...there was a sad story back where we used to live, I vaguely remember the teenage boy...A father who lived further up in the cul-de-sac from our old road back in Bedfordshire kept bees, one day we heard that his boy got stung by his bee, bees and sadly he died....I only heard of this when they came round with the  collection box...so so sad, as I never knew the boy but I do have recollections of the tall boy wearing glasses in school uniform with his equally tall father, as they passed by...

Vanilla-Jackie--That is very sad.

Good morning everyone. Oh boy I sure have to get my AC in. Just saw the forecast for this coming week. Might be into the low 80's by next week end. Of course the weather guessers are seldom right and it could be 40's. Only time will tell, right?

JOAN  now a cherry strudel will be different and tasty. Food for Thought is too true these days when parents don't teach their kids much of anything. One guess who will be getting a copy of this one?

AMY  another busy day planned for yourself. Yard sale season has not started around here yet. My sis in law used to go to most of them and then in August she has a big one herself.

JACKIE  with all those bee hives that neighbor doesn't get enough honey to sell?  Before the honey bees started dyeing here my son only has 3 hives and got enough honey to sell. He has that bee outfit, too. Some people are very allergic to their stings and have to carry eppi pens with then all the time incase they get stung.

Good morning Everyfriend!  The sun is shining today and the temps are predicted to be in the 80s. My other daughter will arrive from Houston today and we will be on the way home tomorrow. I can't wait to see the doggies tomorrow.

Good Morning Everyone!

Jackie, maybe the lady with the bee's will share a little of their honey with neighbors. 
I used to plant Spanish heather, has a small blue flower, and the bees love it, in those days I had a Chow dog and she loved the bees, to eat, and she would catch those things and get stung, but she kept right at them.  The only thing I could figure out was that thy were sweet from feeding on the flowers.

Nothing much planned here today.

Gloria, our weather has been nice here this spring.  Only 3 or 4 90 degree days so far this year.  And I haven't had to water the lawn once......yeah.

Janie, bet those dogs will be happy to see you.  Know you are enjoying visiting family.

Joanie, anything with cherries is something I enjoy.  Can I have seconds, please.

Hi everyone on this Saturday morning.  It starts out overcast but we are to have sun today with very little chance of rain.

Yesterday Pat and I went to a new restaurant for us called Tin Lizzie.  It is a small chain with locations around Atlanta, Augusta and a three or four locations in South Carolina.  It is an interesting concept in that it has a Mexican Restaurant in the front of the building and a Bar-B-Q place in the back of the building and these are divided by a bar in the middle and I expect the kitchen.  We decided on the Mexican half and had a very good meal trying a couple of tacos we had not had before including a scrimp one and a Korean Beef one.  You do have to pay for chips and salsa but they sent a big bag of chips home with us.  They make their own chips and they were thin and crispy with apparently taco seasoning on them--very tasty.  We will be going back there from time to time. 

They did finish the yard work yesterday and for the first time used a push mower on the back yard rather than a weed eater. We also have a nice clean house as the housekeeper always does a good job.   

Nothing on the calendar for today so will just go at an easy pace and take care of some things here at my desk and a couple of tasks around the house.  I will get some reading done and plan on watching some of the golf tournament later this afternoon. 

Joan, did the heavy rains you had not put out the brush fires?

June, I also hope we hear from Kelly and Lloyd today.

Jane, you are returning by car rather an flying? 

Good morning, Gloria.  I hope one of your sons comes to put your a/c in.  Ray was allergic to bees and had to always carry an EpiPen.

Janie--Good morning.  I know your sweet doggies will be very happy to see you.  Safe travels.

Good morning halkel.  That Chow dog must have liked being stung.  You may have all the cherry strudel you want.

Larry--Good morning.  It sounds like Tin Lizzie has a unique concept.  A few of the brush fires are still smoldering.

Larry, we ar flying home. My oldest daughter has been visiting her married daughter in Houston this week. We will pick her up at the airport today and then we will leave together in the morning. Her husband will pick us up at the airport in PA and we'll be home by 5 tomorrow. They've really ta ken good care of this old lady on this trip.

Good Morning, everyone! 

Janie--Bet you'll not like leaving family, but on the other hand, it'll be good to get back to your own bed and your doggies.

Good morning, angelface.

halkel, heather and clover honeys are nice.....they have now been moved to some flatter ground, assuming away from our parkhomes, as they were passing them into two small vans parked outside our back gate....Think a couple of their helpers were from the bee keepers association.....