http://www.pfalzstorch.de/index.php?id=13

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2017/03/eagles_return_to_nest.html#incart_river_index

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

Jeanne, the first site is for the storks in German.  The second site is not the one you watched, probably in Decorah IA, but is along Lake Michigan near Frankfort.  I found the site for the Decorah eagles, but I have not watched it for a while as the site was shut down for a while after the young were hatched.

Mary Ann 

Hi everyone.  It is another cloudy day with a 20% chance of rain but we will be in the 70's again this afternoon.  Pat will not be going to Sunday School and Church with me this morning as is in a lot of pain.  I had a very pleasant surprise yesterday afternoon.  I had tuned in to the golf channel and then thought it might be on CBS so turned there only to find the Division II National Basketball Championship being played and there was my Alma Mater playing and they won the National Championship for the first time ever.  The football team has won 4 of the last 8 National Championships.  This was a nice achievement for Northwest Missouri State University from which I graduated in 1962.  There were about 3,000 students there when I was attending and they now have 6,500 students.  Division II is for the smaller Universities. I did watch the two Division I basketball games played last night and will watch the last two that are on tonight.  This will establish the Final Four teams to play for the Division I National Championship.

Patricia, it sounds like Alan has found something to keep his interest and fill in some of those hours he used to spend working.  Both the bold and the unbolded settings you use are easy for me to read.  I have no problem reading any of the postings here in the B&T Shoppe. 

The weather here sure is bouncy. Yesterday it went up over 70; today it won't get out of the high 40s. Tomorrow is to get up into the 70s again and then back down into the 50s on Tuesday.

My daffodils survived the heavy snow dump on them last week and are blooming just fine. This year, I cut a bunch before the snow. They lasted in the vase about five days. The bunch I cut after the snow melt were ones that had their stems crimped and were pretty much laying on the ground, but still in very good condition.

The cats are into their major morning nap. I am about to go wash dishes and then head upstairs to catch up on my bills ad such before Don's Classical music show comes on at which time I usually work on my Latin lessons while listening.

We have a slightly rainy day today and radar looks like it will continue all day.  Dot and I did our usual OTB and covered a lot of topics.  Tom did not go to church this morning but slept in (and he needs the sleep) and just got back from OTB at Cheers.  Visitation for his friend is this afternoon into evening and he headed downstairs to write her eulogy.  I suggested he might nap and he said he'd rest on Tuesday.  Dot gave me some onesies she bought for the twins and the next time Tom goes to Holland, he will take them.  I doubt they will fit either girl for a while, however, I don't know.  James and Alicia have their hands full with two babies.  I am happy Terry and Jan are back home so when/if he needs medical help he can have his own doctors.  It isn't that the California doctors aren't good, they just aren't familiar with Terry.  Jan being an RN does help. 

Me?  I just plug along!

Mary Ann

Good morning to everyone from the same, temperature-wise Interior. We are due to have our big warm up early next week, probably by Wednesday.

Absolutely nothing new here other than receiving next month's building activity calendar and noting down all the activities that I will forget about and miss when the time comes! 

We have the bi-yearly fire extinguisher check on the third and I'm sure that was just last month?

This anonymous quote came in today's Gmail via my word of the day. "I had a dollar. I met a man with a dollar. We exchanged dollars, and when we parted we each still had only a dollar.
I had an idea. I met a man with an idea. We exchanged ideas, and when we parted we each had two ideas.

New Trivia Quiz

http://www.seniorsandfriends.org/index.php?topic=95.msg80205#msg80205

The ARK is coming along nicely.  Almost finished.  Rained all day and more tonight.

W.Joan, if you should be so kind as to blow some of that wet stuff down to us here is So. Ca. you would not need the Ark. Please

Oh June, I wish I could.  Honestly. 

Mary Ann - Tom seems like a very well organized man, who does a lot of thoughtful things for other people. I'm sure the service that he has planned for his friend, will be a very nice one. Do you plan to attend?

Patricia - I liked your quote about "dollars and ideas".  I'm planning to save that one. 

wjoan - when you finish your ark, would you please come on down here to Northern Cal, and help me build one?  Another storm due here tonight, and we've already had over 25 inches so far this season!   Unheard of amount for this town!

Marilyne, here also.  This is desert and we just do not have these kind of Winters.  I will talk to my son and we will head on down your way when the finishing touches are put on.  Would love to be back in CA.  Miss it./

Marilyne, no, I will not be going to the funeral today.  For one thing, I require some attention and Tom will be too busy to do things for me or take me home when I might want it.  They're not important in a way, but I might not want to spend the number of hours he will be busy.  I can walk around OK, but I would not know most of the people.  When he got home last night, I said, "I'll bet you had a class reunion" and he said there were a lot of people from their class and other classes before and after.  Tom will collapse tomorrow!

Tom is quite organized if he wants to be, but if I ask him for help if he doesn't want to do it, he says he'll have Annie or James do it, so nothing gets done.  Someday I'll tell him my thoughts - if Robin (lady friend) needs help, he'll go right away, if Mary in Holland needs help, he'll go on Saturday, if I need help, he'll ask Annie or James.  But he forgets and that is why things don't get done.  I do appreciate the help he does give me, such as taking me to my medical appointments or lunch with friends, but there are things he could do, such as putting the cereal back in the cupboard instead of leaving it on the table, turning off lights, closing cupboard doors - nothing earth shaking.  Both he and Annie have a habit of putting dishes where there is a space, not necessarily in the same cupboard where they belong.  And they put dishes I use on the top shelf where I can't get at them (shorty!).  Again, nothing earth shaking. 

I think our rain is over for the most part, although it does look like there is some in the area.  We have not had enough to require an ark, however.

Mary Ann

Hi everyone on a bright and sunny South Carolina Monday morning.  It is already in the mid-60's and headed up into the low 80's this afternoon.  The only thing on my schedule today is my noon meeting.  I may stop on the way home to fill the car with gas and pick up an item or two at Costco.  I sure enjoyed the basketball games yesterday afternoon as both of the Carolina's won their games and are now in the Final Four next weekend. 

I have a couple of links to share with you this morning.  One of them will really make your day as it features dogs and the other is a short performance probably like nothing you have ever seen.  I hope you will enjoy them:
     Puppy Power:  https://www.youtube.com/embed/SJoE_lNQdHU
      Unique Brass Band:  http://www.wimp.com/brassband/

MarsGal, glad your daffodils survived the heavy snow.  I don't see many of them growing in our area. 

Mary Ann, I am sure Tom will be happy when this day is past and his responsibilities for the Memorial Service are over.  Sometimes little things become very annoying when they could so easily be done and not left for someone else to do.   

Tom just left for the funeral.  I'm glad it is not raining, however, it is a gloomy day.  I didn't mention this to him, but I'll bet there will be some strangers there just because of the way Gloria died - curious - but it is a closed casket funeral.  The funeral director said there will be time before visitation for the family to view her, but he suggested a closed casket because people would be looking for the stab marks.  Larry, you're right, Tom will be very happy to have the day over.  The funeral is at 11 am and I imagine there will be a meal or refreshments after so Tom won't be home for some time.  By that time, he'll be mentally exhausted, I am sure.

I just looked at the Grand Haven site.  For one thing the water temp is 37 degrees, a degree higher than yesterday.  During the winter the temp was 34 degrees.  They have removed the snow fence they had along the beach.  There were a couple of people walking along the shore and there was a bulldozer working on the beach.  It will be a long time before people will swim in the lake.

Mary Ann

Mornin all.  No rain in the forecast this day and the sun is shining brightly. 

Good morning from the Interior! May I echo Joan's post,(I also am glad she will probably not need that ark! Perhaps turn it into a bed and breakfast, Joan?); and add that we are melting! Spring has turned aggressive.

Mary Ann, I understand your problems in sharing your living quarters with others. You are a good lady Mary Ann and have shared your home and heart with family for most of your life. You have had many benefits from the arrangement, but I know how small things can sometimes become a problem…like putting what you need on a top shelf. I think I would reserve the lower shelf just for ME, and leave a note on the door reminding "whoever" that you cannot reach higher. We hesitate to make our needs known to our loved ones…..we are all guilty of that…not wanting to "bother" them, but at the same time we have a right to let our needs by known. Others can't read our minds or our needs. So, go for it girl…

My area in So. Ca. is sunny and cool, nice walking weather. I have been out and around, but this day is mine…I am just going to be lazy and let happen what will happen.The body deserves to rule at times, or it rebels.

Good afternoon, from rainey NY.

I am not going to write much, just to let you know I am thinking of you. I am home now, feeling better.  Last week I had another heart attack. I was in CCU for a few days.  They took me to Stony Brook U. Hosp. up the Island. I was surprised as I thought we were going to the hospital in town.  No one ask me.  It is very large.  I was on the 15 floor. Stonybrook U. is next to it.
I not writing much, as I am still quite tired.

Gloria, I am so glad to hear from you and sorry you had a heart attack. I'll bet both you and Taffy are glad you're back home! Take time, rest up, and do just what you need to do. We're not going anywhere!

Some good news about a missing poster. Kelly who is still very ill emailed Marilyne two answers to a trivia quiz I had going on. It is nice to hear from him again!

Gloria de - So sorry to hear that you had a heart attack!  Good that you're back home now, and doing well.  I'm glad you have such caring neighbors, who look in on you, and help you when needed.  Please keep us posted on how you're feeling?

Mary Ann - Tom will be exhausted, when this day has ended.  He's done a lot of good and helpful things for that family, and I'm sure they appreciate his willingness to take charge of the service.

Gloria, sorry to hear about your heart attack but glad you are back home.  Praying for you. 

Gloria de, I'm glad to hear you are home after your heart attack.  I hope you can stay home now and not have any more illnesses - easier said than done.

Marilyne, in Tom's defense, I don't do a lot around here, neither of us do, but I do put some things away if they have an "away" to put them.  I have just started to put my own things in separate places.  I'm thinking "kitchen" as I write this because I have had my own pots and pans and I'm not anxious to give up on them, but Tom also had his and as he is doing the cooking, he has decided he'd rather use his own equipment.  To compound things, last year I had to buy a new range (electric).  I had a range with a large drawer in the bottom that took care of my pots and pans.  This range has a smaller drawer because the lower part of the oven was revamped so the bottom unit doesn't show.  In fact, the salesman told me if I used the self-cleaning feature, I should empty the drawer of pots and pans.  Buying the range I did was my fault because I did not look around the floor to see what else was available; I really thought the two ranges shown were all they had.  It is a Frigidaire, similar in features to what I had.  Anyway, for some time we stored things in the oven, but when we/Tom wanted to use the oven, we had to take out everything and it soon became easier to leave them on the counter.  Recently I decided to use one lower cupboard/cabinet to store my equipment.  I got down on my knees to empty the cupboard and I couldn't stand the pain in my knees.  I did manage to get much of my things in the cupboard but not all and I'm not going to get down on my knees again.  What I need is at the front and I can get to them OK and Tom can use them too if he wishes. 

Such is life in the suburbs!  And everything is not Tom's fault.  He has his own life to live and I let him.  And sympathize with him when/if things go wrong.  He was "my boy" when he was little and he's still "my boy".

Mary Ann

Hi everyone on another nice morning.  Once again we are expecting to get into the low 80's this afternoon.  This morning Pat has a doctor's appointment to discuss the results of her MRI and what her next steps may be.  Following that I plan on going to the Church for our Adult Fellowship monthly meeting.  We have a lady coming to talk about butterflies.  That will be it for today. 

Mary Ann, I do hope Tom can have a day or so to recover from the funeral yesterday.  I liked your comments about Tom being "my boy" and he obviously loves you very much. 

Joan, nice to see you had a day without rain and got some sunshine instead. 

June, you are so right about others not being able to read our minds and the need to express our needs. 

deAngel, thanks for updating us on your last few days.  Rest and recover as that is more important than anything we can write here.

Patricia, glad for the update on Kelly.  I was not aware he was so very ill.  He just stopped posting and I never received a response from a private message I had sent him. 

Mary Ann - Like Larry said, I also thought it was nice the way you referred to Tom as "my boy".  It sounds like you have always been close, and is a good thing that you have ended up together, helping each other.

My kitchen probably looks a lot like yours, with pots and pans now being stored on top of the counter, where I can reach them, instead of way down under!  I have three old Revere Ware copper bottom pans, that I now "store" on one of the stove top back burners.  I find that those three are about all I ever use anymore, and they do nest fairly well, so don't look too cluttered.  I do have a light weight ceramic coated skillet that I use often, and still keep underneath, but fairly easy to take in and out.  I don't think I could kneel down like you did.  Really hard on the knees, and then the painful struggle to get back up again!

Good morning from a cloudy Interior! I thought Farrah was going to have a heart attack today as an owl chased a pine siskin over my balcony and into the glass. As the poor bird floundered about, Farrah zoomed out to full length and ended up on the other side of the glass.

With the cat on the one hand and the owl waiting on the other, that poor little bird hid behind some lawn chairs and waited almost a half hour before taking wing again. Being on the fourth floor, by the river, is amazing and the only thing better would be on the fifth floor!

I received one of those "scam the seniors," letters yesterday. This one from a vehicle services department is requesting an immediate response to this notice. It seems I had let my vehicle service contract lapse and warning me of dire consequences of senior driving with lapsed insurance and being perhaps financially liable. Luckily I still had time before it was too late.

This notice was naturally a bit of a puzzle as I am disabled, unable to drive, and I have never owned a car or vehicle insurance in my life. I was also annoyed at the thought of spurious companies using this approach on the gullible. The letter struck the right tone, looked important and official and only in the small print did it emerge the truth about what you were buying. And what type of value you would receive for your dollar overall!

We had a low, last night in the teens rather than minus teens. Yesterday had a high in the mid-forties and we are to reach mid-fifties next week. Such is Spring in the Arctic, slow but steady. Last year was faster but last year had no real snow which we made up for this year. While I feel rejuvenated, I also feel sad as winter occupies us nine months out of the year so this is but a brief respite. I think I'm a bit depressed.

I am still struggling with carving out a new me from the older me. I've gotten rid of all my old clothes, most of my kitchen and bath, and a multitude of knickknacks. I've ordered new hangers, new storage canisters and have an old garbage bag of pieces of papers to go through before I toss them into the shredder. I've lost 55 lbs and a lot of old attitudes. I think of it as a work in progress.

For example, my kitchen had everything including two junk drawers. I had pots and frypans of various sizes, plates, bowls and platters; and all the machines to make ice cream, waffles, pancakes, rice, popcorn, slow cook or bake. The majority hadn't seen use in years. Now I have one Instapot which is a rice cooker, slow cooker, pressure cooker and yogurt maker in one along with sauteing, browning, and soup making.

So all those separate machines went to donations. I now have one dinner plate, one bread plate, and one salad bowl. I have one set of silverware for four and a small crock of utensils. I have three essential knives and two pyrex lidded bowls. I have one cast iron fry pan, one larger wok, and one medium copper bottomed pot. And that is probably still too much.

Luckily the folks planning and building these units incorporated a lower cupboard in the kitchen island that has two shelves that lift up and out. The upper cabinets only have items on the bottom of the three shelves.

My last torturous decision will be going through the books from the 38 book boxes I moved in with and added to since. Many will stay as they are ones I've memorized from rereading or are books of quotes, speeches or are about photography or other interests. The others will be quietly added to each of the five floors common rooms with areas for puzzles and paperbacks.

I'm shedding my cocoon but have yet to see if I will become a butterfly or a moth.

Larry, our temps are very close to yours. We are to have a high of 76 today, then it will drop back to the low 50's tonight. I hope Pat got some good news from the doctor today. I too had no idea Kelly had been so ill. I pray he  is healing now.

Marilyne, I no longer have to fight the heavy pots and pans I had as I have no stove in my Apt. Just a microwave and a small toaster oven. There are no kitchens in the apartments at Rowntree Gardens, just what is called a Kitchenette, and I paid 3500 dollars to have it installed. Three meals a day are included in our rent, so I do very little actual cooking.

Patricia, I think it is disgraceful how some of these places/persons can try and scare the scalp off we seniors.
You should be very proud of what you have accomplished in making the "new you". I found the hardest things to dispose of were the useless items that did have a memory attached to them. But…..a studio apartment does not have the extra nooks and crannies to place things in. There was a post in the S.S. that I love…"The caterpillar thought she was dying, till she started to fly". That is what you are doing.And I am sure you will become a very lovely Butterfly.

Norm and his first wife, Joyce, had three boys in 2 1/2 years - Tim, Tom and Terry - Tock.  Try that on for size!  Tim was the first grandchild in both families and since my mother was not living, his maternal grandmother had him most of the time.  His looks also favored his mother's family.  Tom came next and looked more like our family and he became "mine" because his grandmother claimed Tim.  Terry actually looked much like our family, in fact, I have a picture of him when he had a goatee where he looked like my Grandfather Tock.  Terry went to both of us, but usually to his grandmother.  But there were times when I cared for all three boys - at the same time.  I have been close to all three all of the time.  Tim died suddenly two years ago and I think Norm really never got over it.  Terry is not well, but he is still married to Jan, his only wife.  Tom and Sue divorced 12 years ago and he has never been in a financial situation to remarry.  He has a lady friend, but she is much like Sue, also she doesn't want to give up her house in a questionable neighborhood.  When I die, Tom wants to buy my condo from the estate.  So there you have it. 

My dad and I used to take the boys, but Tom most of the time, to the cottage.  Tom and Tim even rode their bikes to the cottage which was/is (I don't own it but it still exists) 25 miles from home.  Tom learned to sail on a styrofoam sailboat and developed a love of sailing which he has today, but he has Meniere's Disease (or whatever) and cannot sail.  He used to rent sailboats, then take groups up into the Georgian Bay area north of Lake Huron.  These would be week-long trips.  The groups would usually be church groups.  This was when Tom lived in the Petoskey MI area.  The kids in the groups would learn about handling a sailboat.  They paid for the trip and Tom would break even to cover the rental of the sailboat.  I don't know if he still has it, but he did have a captain's license to captain a boat. 

Tom is a big help to me and I think I am to him.  I sometimes wonder if I'm in as good shape as I think I am, but also if I'm in better shape than the family thinks I am!

I have an Ekcoware saucepan and 7" frying pan with a cover to fit both.  Those are my preferred cooking utensils.  And this is silly, but in 1955 when I bought my first electric range, a salesman of traffic (small) appliances had a promotion where I could buy a four-piece set of Farberware (frying pan and three saucepans with covers) for $4.50!  I still have them and they are in very good condition.  If I were doing the cooking, I would use them plus the Ekcoware pans.  But Tom had some cookware that he preferred to use so that is what he uses and I am trying to put mine in a convenient-to-me, but out-of-the-way place.

Plans change.  When you hear only one thing and not more, you have a tendency to assume things.  I had heard that Gloria's husband, Tim, would pay for the cremation of Gloria's son and I assumed there would be no funeral.  Wrong!  Tom just left to have a short service at the place where they arrange cremations (Norm's was by them).  The body has been in a morgue at the hospital but I guess some of the family has agreed to claim the body.  Thus, the funeral.  From there on, no one knows.

Annie's DNA came today but she has been out of town and I'm not sure she has seen it as I have not heard from her.  When she returns home, I am sure I'll get a call.

I think I've taken up enough space today and I am sure something has been written in my absence.  I started this this morning and Tom wanted to go OTB.  I was not dressed, so dropped this and got back to it about 3 pm.

Mary Ann

Wow, Patricia, I am not sure I could accomplish what you have done with your possessions and life.  I spend most of my time on the computer and it seems there is less and less to view here and as for TV, out of the many channels available, I watch only a half dozen.  And Comcast took one of those away recently.  We get Basic Plus and pay for cable through our monthly condo fee. 

June, I often say that I can do anything if I have to or if I'm the one who has to do it and it might not get done in the time frame others want, but I don't know if I could go into a studio apartment.  In fact, I have wished I had more room ever since I moved here.  I came from a 1200 sq ft ranch house to a 870 sq ft condo, both places with living space in the lower levels.  I look at furniture I have and love and think about what I would dispose of.  Right now, I think it will not be necessary as long as Tom is here.  I think it will not be necessary for me to go elsewhere.

The sun is shining and it's a nice day.

Mary Ann

Good afternoon, still raining, got and email from one of my neighbors that works up the Island, and said they had a bad thunder storm, so that most likely coming this way.

Thank you all my friends, for thinking of me.

Patricia, glad you had a report on Kelly.  Yes Taffy keeps tabs on me everywhere I go, and sometimes during the night she comes and sleeps on my legs.

Marilyne, I no longer can reach the 2nd. shelf in my closets, so the first ones are kind of jammed. I keep different size frying pans on one burner. One is a very small cast iron, that was my mothers. By the way, I still have the Revere Ware, that my husband bought me 60 years ago, and it still shines up beautiful.

MaryAnn, my husband was a dear, sweet man, he spoiled me, after I retired he cooked breakfast every morning, sometimes dinner. but when he clean the kitchen counter, he just wiped it off, never going into any corners. He would not see that it was completely clean. As I wrote before I was lucky to have him 62 years. He also was not much for turning lights off.

MaryAnn, I have five rooms in 850 square feet in my apartment. It has three walk-in closets with a gallery kitchen. The balcony is recessed and the length of my living room. Since I was given three days warning to either put everything on my balcony, other than fridge food or furniture and to move all items at least two feet away from the walls when it was our floor's turn to be sprayed, it left a huge impression on me. Thus my final solution as a friend calls it. Since I was already dieting, it all tied together.

Hi Gloria, my husband had been "mothered" so well that he probably thought all cooking and cleaning was done by osmosis. You were lucky!