Holiday Greetings

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! I am a day late and a dollar short! I had an e-mail this morning from an old friend and she commented about my blog. "MY BLOG!!  EEEEEK!! I DIDN'T DO ANY CHRISTMAS MESSAGE!! EEEK!!", I screamed at myself!
Christmas was spent by myself, which was perfectly ok. I have spent Christmas with friends, was with
Joan on her last Christmas, been with Jim and John in Aurora one year but this time I wanted to stay
here. I had a long talk with my sis, Susi. Talked with my son, Steve and talked to daughter, Rebekah,
the day after. I fixed a yummy chicken recipe, had fresh asparagus, and ice cream with chocolate sauce and cashews. Very good!
Today is New Year's Eve. I have no plans for this evening or tomorrow. I will start my third jigsaw. My favorites are Charles Wysocki's wonderful Americana and the Hometown Collection, featuring
Heronim's Americana paintings. These two artists feature horse drawn buggies, Amish people, quilts,
houses and barns, and.........always one or more American flags. Such fun to do and, as I do them, I
keep in mind that jigsaws, along with word puzzles and reading, keep my mind as sharp as it can be when the brain is 80 years old!
I promised myself I would do some blogs about my yearly visit to Jim and John's wonderful condo and pictures of my amaryllis in it's stages of blossoming. Hope to do that tomorrow.
Good night, readers. Again, may Peace and Joy prevail in this New Year!

FUN ON THE COMPUTER

People have said to me that they don't want a computer,
or won't use their computer, because they don't have time to sit there all day. Well, I have never been in front of my computer ALL DAY, EVER!!
BUT..............I have a lot of fun with my laptop.
I want to share with you some places I go and things I see.
(I use my treadmill 6 or 7 days a week. I do my laundry, clean my house now and then, cook meals, do my dishes so I have no qualms about being at my laptop for a couple hours a day. Notice how I'm
justifying??)
Ok. The sites I go to are:
redballproject.com - look at all the places an artist puts a BIG red ball. Makes you smile!
Google restaurants and enjoy reading the menus - makes your mouth water : element 112, Flemings,
Ruth Chris Steakhouse. Look at the prices! Woweewow!
Go to Youtube and check out these comedians : Jim Gaffigan (his "hot pockets" routine is a hoot!), Jeff Dunham and his weird puppets, George Carlin and Bill Cosby for LOL humor.
For those of us who are a bit older, empty your bladder before taking on the comedians.
If I went to all these sites at one time I WOULD be at this thing for quite a while. but, what the hell! I'm retired and allowed to use my time any way I want!
Ciao!

Heavy Heart

Tonight my heart is heavy. Today 20 children and 7 or 8 adults were shot to death at  a school in Connecticut. 20 children!!!! and because this country will not ruffle the feathers of the NRA and will continue to
allow people to purchase and own guns. The sad thing is that the killer in Connecticut had access to guns that he had no right to use. Hunters
need rifles to kill their prey - for sport - for food. That's ok. Men, and a few women, want their guns to
shoot for games - skeet, etc. These people should be allowed their weapons. But, if you look on Google at the A-15, this type of gun isn't needed to shoot game or clay pigeons. The Glock and Sig Sauer are hand guns. Used to kill deer, duck, bear? I doubt it. They are used to kill PEOPLE!!
I don't know what I can do to try to stop gun ownership in this country. Where can my voice be heard to make a difference? How many children, women, men, babies, pregnant women, older people, congresswomen, just simply human beings have to die before we wake up?  How many?????

Welcome December!! Bring us lots of white stuff to cover the brown earth and leafless trees!
This good-looking young man is my nephew, Ethan. He is my sis Susi's son. He is 34 years young.
Ethan lives in Tahoe, California. He owns a kayak, stand-up paddle board store. He traveled to Massachusetts to be with Mom, Dad, and brother Jody for Thanksgiving. (Brother Jody lives in
Berlin, Germany. he is a flight attendant for Lufthansa Airways.)
Ethan drove to his hometown and is now working his way west. I happened to be on his route so he is staying with me overnight and will leave tomorrow for Chicago to visit friends.

My dear sis, Joan, and NCIS

This is going to be words this time. No pics.
One of Joan's favorite TV shows was "NCIS". When she was in hospice she told me, "Leave the TV on all the time because, when i wake up if it's not on, I'll know I'm gone". How very dear!
The day before she died USA channel had a marathon of "NCIS". We watched it until she fell asleep, never to wake again.
Tonight I didn't want to watch a movie so I checked the TV lineup. Because of the vice-presidental
debate, a new episode of "NCIS" was being shown. It had been bumped from it's normal spot.
I got Joan's picture, that sits on my desk, where I can say "Good morning" and "Good night" to her,
and I put it on the table beside my chair. I said to Joan, "Okay. This is a new episode. Let's watch it together".
When the show was over I put her picture back on the desk.
Did Joan know I did that? I hope so.
I re-read this as a "spell check". If I missed something forgive the error. i can't walk on water either.

Bill's 70th Birthday on July 22, 2012

 What an awful picture! But it's the only one I have!  Billy and me in his backyard.

 This is Dr. Judy, a long-time friend of Bill's. They both went to Heidelberg College in Ohio.
Judy now lives in Las Cruses, New mexico. Bill and Judy are standing in front of his house.

Judy and Judi. Does Bill have a thing about ladies named "Judy/i"?

Bill, for his birthday celebration, had an open house in his lovely front and back yard. It was a
Muffin Party. A few of Bill's friends arrived and spent a lot of the day in the kitchen making muffins -
chocolate chip, bran, lemon, blueberry, raisin, and pumpkin. Very tasty! Coffee, tea, iced and hot, beer and wine was available. I don't know if anyone had a muffin with their beer or a beer with their muffin!
Jim, another Heidelberg grad and good friend of Bill, made his fabulous chicken salad (recipe upon
request) which was enjoyed by the muffin cooks and those of us who stayed way into the evening after the open house was over.

5753 North Main Street, Sylvania, Ohio 43560

 The lilac bush in the winter of 2012. This was the only measurable snow we had!

 The lilac bush in bloom way too early - in May of 2012.

The lilac bush, devastated by the drought, the summer of 2012. 

 This is my moonflower. It is absolutely huge! It has had over 50 blooms so far this summer.
I tell people it is planted in an atomic dump or this spot was the place where the cows shat way back when this was a farm. I like the "atomic dump" story the best.

If you go back a way in this blog, you will see the garden when we first planted it. Here it is now. The tomato plants are growing out of their cages, giving us lots and lots of tomatoes. Also have rosemary, basil and green peppers. In the background is Fran's convertible.

 Another shot of the garden and the lovely flowers Fran has planted.

 These are the steps up to Fran's apartment. She has lined the steps with potted flowers! It is such a
beautiful sight to behold!

 More of Fran's handiwork in the front yard. Fran said she does this because it keeps her out of trouble. I haven't the slightest idea what kind of trouble she could get into! Does she have a secret I don't know?

 Here is our lovely house, made beautiful by Fran's plantings. And below is.......

                      FRAN!! She potted some flowers from the garden to put on the front steps.
                      More beautification! I am proud to have Fran as a neighbor and love our Main St. look!