The Oakglen arrived at Duluth today, Friday at 4 PM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctGrBIKsdjw

Wow that is some sight to see, and what a length of a bulk carrying boat...I bet that could tell some stories...

Hi Everyone. We are in for another cloudy day with a high in the mid-70s.  It is sort of like day and night the way I felt all day yesterday and last evening and how I am feeling this morning.  I actually feel a little more human today and looking forward to the day.  Late this afternoon are the last two semi-final games in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  They are getting started early enough that I should be able to watch all of both of them. 

The top Amateur women golfer from around the world are competing in the final round of the first Annual women's golf tournament ever played at the Augusta National Golf Course.  This is the only round they will have played on the true Master's Course as the other two days were played at another course.  I am sure I will watch quite a lot of the men's Tournament, which gets underway Tuesday with special events and then the actual tee off for the Tournament starting on Thursday.  Even if one doesn't care for golf just looking at the magnificent golf course and all the beautiful blooming plants is worth while.  This is considered the premier golf course in the world.  Many people fly in using their own or company planes and the roads are clogged and the restaurants and other businesses love it. Many people rent out their homes for this week for thousands of dollars.  The schools have their Spring break this next week and many residents leave town.  Our Church services have reduced attendance, except we older folks plus many of the activities of the Church are cancelled for the week.


I have read all of the postings but don't see anything I could have said other than what you all have already posted so will just do this check in for today and wish you all well.

Larry, did you read that one of the women scheduled to play at Augusta had her clubs and associated equipment stolen from her car?  She was able, with help, to put together a set of clubs but was unable to make the cut.  I think her name is Anne Parks.

Even though Michigan State is in at the end of the tournament, I do not watch the basketball games.  I did listen last Sunday on the radio, however, as Tom and I drove home from Sheridan.  When Jim and I would drive from Florida in late March, we'd watch the March Madness from our motel rooms.

Jackie, the Oakglen is not the largest ship on the Great Lakes.  I didn't check the length of that ship, but the Paul R Tregurtha is one of a few ships over 1,000 feet long. 

Patricia, I watched the American Spirit run aground, then saw them try to get it going again.  It seemed odd to me, and I don't know the circumstances, but at no time was the ship headed for the bridge area; it was headed to the buildings and fortunately stopped before it hit them.  The drone shots let you see more of the shipping area.  Thanks for posting the video; I missed that arrival.  I did see one on the Soo this morning and several yesterday. 

I think we will have a nice day today, no rain or snow shown on radar.  I've showered and shampooed so I am ready for the weekend.

Mary Ann

Good morning from another warm Interior day! I have Salvation Army deliveries this morning, plus maintenance is coming to look at my stove as well as some phone calls to make so my computer time will be sporadic. Here's hoping its a good day for all!

Good morning. A quick stop this morning.

I need to get a few things done and then give myself some time to get ready to go out this evening.

Larry and MaryAnn,  On the Today Show this morning,  the weather girl was telling that you cannot have any cell phones  and you cannot run on the course.  She also had a pimento cheese sandwich that she had paid $1.00 for, that she was tasting.  She was saying she thought that was a good buy.  I wouldn't think that they would allow food on the course either.  But, she was just passing on  couple little facts about that particular course. She also said that Condolessa Rice had just walked past her.

I am not interested in golf at all, but I do think it is quite an honor for those women to be able to play there.

Larry, I hope you will have a good day.

Joy

Jackie, there are thirteen ships that are 1000 feet long on the great lakes, not four.


I posted four screenshots of some here;    https://www.seniorsandfriends.org/index.php?msg=153108

Yes the Paul R Tregurtha looks the more gigantic one...How on earth do they stay afloat on water carrying such heavy loads, 60,000 plus tons of iron ore or coal, plus the weight of the freighter? just mind-boggling...Interesting to read,"there are often VIP passengers on board." 

I Am enjoying some sunshine today after the all day rain yesterday.  But we did need the rain.  The dwarf azaleas that my hubby planted are looking good.  My Christmas cactus is looking pitiful and I am about to give up on it.

Joan, I have a practically new coffee grinder sitting in the cupboard that I never use.  I only drink one cup of coffee a day so I went to a keurig compact one cup coffeemaker, and I use those coffee pods which are so simple to pop in.  My husband use to be a BIG coffee drinker but he gave it up after getting Barrett's Esophagus.

We used to live in a busy neighborhood in Ocala, but here we live in an area of houses that gets almost no traffic.  Sometimes it seems eerily quiet.  We have our office in what is supposed to be a front bedroom.  It has a nice bay window and the computer sits in front of one of the windows in the bay.  I was at my computer yesterday working and never saw a person or car on the street except the postman (of course, it was a rainy day).  I'm not complaining because we formerly lived on a street that was very busy, but we were used to it.  I guess I haven't adapted yet to this quiet neighborhood.

My husband is out in the yard doing a few odds and ends and I guess I should go see how things are going.  He calls me his "sidewalk superintendent" (every man needs one, ha ha).

Jackie, those ships manage to float with their heavy loads, but I wonder about them being on Lake Superior in storms.  Many years ago in November, the Edmund Fitzgerald was caught in a bad storm and went down with all aboard lost.  There is a song about the Fitzgerald that often is sung in November, the month the ship went down; I don't remember the year. 
I think there are none on the Great Lakes, but there are concrete ships, maybe none as large as "Paul" but not small.  And they float!

Mary Ann

Mary Ann......( 1975 )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST6hVRj2A

FlaJean, I drink about 3 cups a week is all, but sure do like Kona coffee the best.  Since none of the local stores carry it I ordered it from Amazon.com.  Came the other day, but it is the beans.  Since my eyesight has gotten so bad after my fall I asked my son to grind it for me next time he is in the area.  He said he would.  Can hardly wait.  I have a one cup pot also.

Joan - Glad you finally got your Kona Coffee!  I was planning to volunteer to make a special trip to Hawaii, to buy you a couple of cans. LOL!   Alas, now I won't have an excuse to go!

I sent Shirleyn, a message on Facebook last night, but I haven't heard back from her. I'm pretty sure that she's done with her treatments, and hoping that she is doing well. 

Joy - Good to hear that you're going out this evening? Is it a family gathering?  A cheese-pimiento sandwich sounds tasty, and for $1.00, I would definitely buy one.

AJ is waiting for me to go with him to the library, so I'll sign off for now and say hello later, to everyone else who posted so far today.  Jackie - a question I wanted to ask you about British food, but I'll save it for later   Mary Ann - I'm really enjoying Grand Haven, now that it's finally back in working order! 

Jackie, thank you for the link to the Edmund Fitzgerald.  One year when Jim and I were in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (UP), we visited a museum at Whitefish Bay where the ship's lantern and bell are displayed.  There are a few other artifacts, but on the whole, the ship was left in the water off Whitefish Bay.

Marilyn, I too am glad the Grand Haven site is working now.

Mary Ann

Marilyne, ROFLMAO


fINALLY GOT BUSY AND ORDERED SOME CLOTHES THAT FIT THE new ME.  lol  tHE t sHIRTS CAME TODAY AND i LOVE THEm.  tHEY ARE TWO SIZES DOWN FROM WHAT i HAD IN MY CLOSET.  aLSO ORDERED SOME PANTS, ALSO MUCH SMALLER.  tHEY ALSO CAME TODAY AND SINCE THEY ALMOST FIT i DEcIDED TO ORDER FOUR MORE PAIRS.  tHEY ARE JEANS AND WILL PROBABLY SHRINK SOME SO SOME OF THE LOOSENESS WILL GO AWAY.  Could not find any bras I liked so will suffer with what I have.  Tat is the latest from the GNW.  LOL  Sorry for errors

Here's the message I got from Shirleyn today on Facebook Messenger.

Hi Marilyn.  So sorry I have been so scarce.  These last few treatments have been very hard on me.  So weak & not feeling like conversations.  I just had my last chemo treatment on Tuesday.  On the 18th I have a Pet Scan to see if there is any cancer left in my system.  Have not been told about any radiation treatment yet.  Tell everyone hi for me & I will get back as soon as I feel better.  And thanks for asking and caring.

Do you know, I have never been so angry as I am now, why?...Well at least once a week I take a shower and wash my hair, yes once a week, and I will ALWAYS wait for Richard to get out of his bed, wait till he's in his bathroom and loo which is just outside my bedroom, and opposite to his, my shower is off my bedroom...I do this for MY safety ( and he knows this ) as he usually spends a good half hour in there anyway. I will always tell him when I go in and then when I come out but this morning because his breathing is bad again, he decides to sit watching tv holding Toby on his lap utterly feeling sorry for himself, at the far end of our home in the living room, and I had no clue that was where he had gone, he didn't even tell me until I went looking for him AFTER my shower.....Well I am so angry with him because as usual I call out to him when I am out of the shower, so this time no answer, well of course not, he was at the other far end of our home with the tv sound on...Of course when I told him how selfish he is, he just makes excuses and gets angry with me, he just is so selfish and really doesn't care about anyone else, nor their safety..I told him through my anger and tears.." do you honestly think I would put myself through the risk of getting in the shower if no one was around to hear my call if I got into a risky situation, even that doesn't sink into, nor register with him...I have totally lost trust in him when it comes to my MS safety, and will never put myself in this situation again...How utterly selfish can anyone get, it is all about him...he is cold, callous, heartless, and totally uncaring, although he makes sure none of this shows when amongst company...And to make matters worse, he never sees that it is him that is in the wrong, he will try to twist things around if he can...
I just need to let off some steam...I need two of these...     

Hi Everyone. We are to have another cloudy day with it getting to 80 this afternoon.  It wasn't that warm yesterday but still comfortable to to sit out on the porch yesterday afternoon, which I did for 30 minutes or so and hope to do so again this afternoon.  I had to wash the pollen off the porch chairs.  In the past I have done that with the garden hose but can no longer get to the turn on valve. 

Happy to say I had a day yesterday that I was not anxious to have it end as was feeling a 100% different than on Friday and enjoyed the day.  This is the second day in a row my blood pressure was too low to take the diuretic as was only 59 and the doctor told me it must be at least 60 or above to take it.  The main thing I have on the agenda today is to go to Church by listening to last weeks Church service online as I can visualize being there. I did watch a couple of hours of golf yesterday afternoon and then watched the first game of the Semifinal of the men's basketball game.  I didn't try to watch the second game as came on too late.  However, when I got up to have my Camomile Tea I did catch the last few minutes of it.


Mary Ann, I did not hear of the woman golfer having her clubs stolen as they didn't mention it on the news.  Michigan State lost in the last few minutes of the game.  They had gotten to within one point of the other team with about 3 minutes left and then it sort of fell apart and they lost by several points.

Patricia, it sounds like you had plenty to do yesterday.  I also hope you had a good day. 

Joy, I look forward to readying about your outing last evening.  So nice you are included in the family activities that give you a chance to get away from your apartment for awhile.  The Masters is noted for the inexpensive food and drink available and you are right about cellphones.  Condolessa Rice as the first women ever admitted to the Augusta National as a member and know is also a good golfer.  She may be there to help with the Tourney as it takes a lot of people and a lot of volunteers. 

Jean, when I was sitting on the porch yesterday I noticed our little dwarf azalea bushes were beginning to bloom and their were many buds.  They do brighten the yard.  We also have a dwarf magnolia tree in our small front yard.  My wife also uses the one cup Keurig.  I also took the front bedroom of this house as my office and sit at a ninety degree angle from the double windows and have a good view of the street as I sit here every morning. Does your husband enjoy working in the yard?

Joan, my wife wants one cup of decaf every morning and her sister has talked her into using the hazelnut creamer, which she just started. 

Marilyne, it looks like Joan thwarted your excuse to go to Hawaii.   I just bet you might come up with another reason to go.  We never made it to Hawaii.  Thanks for sharing Shirleyn reply to your Facebook posting.  Glad those chemo treatments are over for her and hope she soon starts feeling better. 

Jackie, sorry that Richard is not attentive to your needs.  Have you considered getting a Lifeline device so that if you have a problem and he isn't their for you that you can summon's help.

Larry Hanna...
...his lame excuse, he says he sat in there with Toby to keep him quiet...Whilst Richard was still in bed and before I took my shower, I fed Toby his food, then left our kitchens back door leading to the garden part open for if he wanted to go out and do his toilet, ( after food ) I had let him out after I got up of course to allow him the chance of doing an early morning toilet, sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't want to go outside...When Richard got out of bed, I told him I had fed Toby and the back door is open so all he had to do was let Toby in or close the door, then Richard does his usual in his bathroom-loo...The kitchen is situated in the centre of our home...Well usually my shower gets interrupted by Toby continually barking, I often let Richard know in no uncertain terms that just for once I would like a peaceful shower, but it just never happens so, what did Richard do this morning, he sat with him, turned on the tv, totally ignored me taking my shower...You see, his priority in his mind was keeping Toby quiet versus looking out for my safety...If he had only told me this before, I would have delayed my shower...Been 8 hours now and not one of us has spoken any words to each other...just keeping out of each others way..
Yes maybe time to start considering a lifeline for myself...thank you for the suggestion...

Larry...I should imagine your goal is to attend your church in person one Sunday morning...

Larry, I drink my coffee black so no cream for this gal.

Feel pretty good this morning.  New clothes came yesterday and I don't look like I am wearing my Mother's old clothes.  Lost two sizes so I feel good about that.  We are having rain again today..  Oh well, lots better than snow.  LOL

Have a good day alll

Jackie - Sometimes men can be totally clueless and forgetful. I hope that by now, you and Richard,  are back on speaking terms.
I've been wanting to ask you about a British food that I like a lot - mushy peas!  About twenty-five years ago, daughter Sandy worked at a British Pub, in SanJose, that served lots of interesting food that I had never heard of.  Mushy Peas and bangers, were the two that I liked the best.  I've been buying the peas over the years when I could find them in a specialty shop, (rarely), but recently I discovered I could order a full carton of cans from Amazon .. . which I plan to do ASAP!  Do you like them, and do you eat them much?

Mary Ann and Larry - I intended to watch the golf tournament this weekend, as I know it's one of the most interesting and beautiful, of all of them throughout the year.  I haven't watched any of it so far, but I plan to tune in today. 
Larry - you sound much stronger this morning.  I hope this continues throughout the day, and into the coming week.

Joan - Good to hear that you got yourself a bunch of new clothes.  I didn't realize you had lost so much weight, but I know that that's a good thing at our age. (Even though the circumstances were far from ideal.) Where do you order your clothes?  I have two or three affordable favorites online, and need to order a couple of things for the warmer weather.     

Marilyne...
...I rarely eat them but that doesnt mean I dont like them...   they are a favourite in our fish and chip shops along with a nice piece of fried fish and chips...

Good morning from the back in the fifties Interior where the sniow is gone at least as far as I know. And everything is awaiting that first greening.

Farah is still feeling frisky and wanting more attention. She has re-instituted her stalking game several times and yesterday even kept running at me from behind, pulling up just before colliding. So now I feel terrible thinking she must have been in such pain with her teeth and I never knew or suspected.

 Or perhaps it is Spring itself causing her playfulness and good moods? At any point, she is doing well. One thing that hasn't changed is her little sphinx pose. You can be taking a shower, computing in your chair, or reading a book; when you look over and there she is on the floor or some surface, quietly staring back at you as if you were a bug on the rug.

I'm still getting used to the new desktop that I saved a couple of years for.  It has none of the issues of my aged and broken down laptop, and the speed is instantaneous. With my laptop, I would turn it on, make my coffee, feed and water Farrah, brush my teeth and hair and come back to it having just loaded the viewing screen. Also, the sound didn't work, was only changeable by going into settings and sounded off. There were just too many issues for a not so old, less than five years, laptop. I even had to have a new hard drive put in while it still had a couple of warranty months left.

This new one is very nice, and while I never dropped or spilled anything on the old laptop, I feel better knowing this one is stationary and that each piece, keyboard, mouse, monitor, and tower are all separate so each one is separately replaceable.

Jean, I've heard others speak of issues with their Christmas cactuses and periods of dormancy, so I Googled for more info.  https://www.google.com/search?q=do+christmas+catuses+go+dormant&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS843US843&oq=do+christmas+catuses+go+dormant&aqs=chrome..69i57j0.11699j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Since I have a cat and can't have many possible poisonous plants about, I have a bamboo, money tree, and shamrock up eight feet on the shelf and she has no way to get to them. They are blocked on each side and away from other furniture. Even the lower shelves have items leaving no toehold.

Larry, it is so good to see longer posts from you and to hear about your days, obviously, the rest is doing you a lot of good.

Jackie, it's good to have a place to vent. Sometimes I will write an entire lengthy post on Notepad, about something or someone, correct all the misspelled words and grammar and then delete it.

Joan, I'm so glad to have you back again, and I agree, while the circumstances were bad, the weight loss must feel very good!

Marilyne, good morning and thank you for letting us know about Shirleyn and also letting her know we were thinking about her. Now I'm going to have to Google mushy peas altho they sound far from delightful! When I was in junior high and my older sister was in Europe on a high school swap, we had an English student staying next door and a Swedish one across the street, so I learned about many odd-sounding but delicious foods! Altho while I did try it, I am not a fan of English blood pudding!     

The Edmund Fitsgerald was a favorite song of mine from James Taylor. He and Carly Simon were married for a time and both folk favorites of mine.

Marilyne and Jackie, I learned that the type of pea originated from Japan over a hundred years ago. And while the cooking method and expected taste don't sound as if I'd like a serving, they do sound healthy. "A brilliant source of potassium with good levels of B vitamins and magnesium. Like all legumes, they are high in fiber and protein also. ... Marrowfat Peas are packed with nutrients including Vitamin A, C, B1, Iron and Phosphorous and are rich in protein, carbohydrate, and fiber."

Marilyne, I was in Rehab for 2 months and the food was tasteless so did not eat much.  Water had more taste than the  food.  Wasn't hungry either.  Now just trying to stay at the same weight.  My son got upset when he noticed I had lost so much.  Nice to have some clothes that fit.

Back to my book.

Hanover second hatch/Eagles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY6z88NrlLs

Hope everyone is enjoying their first day of the week.

Nice to see your long post, Larry.  We have a small front porch and a small back porch.  They both have 2 1/2 ft high brick walls around them with a wide shelf top where I usually have several planted flowers sitting in warm weather.  I haven't been shopping for flowers yet, but we are enjoying the dwarf azaleas.  My husband (also named Larry) does enjoy yard work but both of us are doing less of it nowadays.

When we had been married about 3 years, we moved with our new baby girl to an upstairs apartment in the city. Next door was a half acre empty lot so my Larry got permission to plant a vegetable garden.  All the neighbors said they hadn't seen such a pretty laid out garden.  He used string to lay out perfectly straight rows.  We had an abundance of tomatoes,green beans and a couple of other things.  After that we always had a small summer garden.  All those years of picking beans is hard on one's back.  We had a raised garden several years and then with the family so small we just had a couple of tomato plants.

Patricia, the petals on my cactus are not as green as they should be.  I've read everything I could find on the Internet including your link.  I added fertilizer and some iron but it still looks pitiful.  I think my biggest problem is a lack of patience.  However, in spite of the too light green leaves it bloomed it's little heart out this past Dec. but if it doesn't start greening up pretty soon it is going.

Marilyne, I'm the only one in my family who likes peas, but I never had mushy peas.  If there were a place around with bangers I would give them both a try.  But I definitely would love some fish and chips.

I know I am late getting here today.  Just had a busy morning and early afternoon, and again,  can't see much I had gotten accomplished.

Larry, my evening out last night was for a surprise party for my DIL.  She is retiring the end of April and also her 65th birthday is this coming week.  My son planned the whole thing before I even knew about what he was planning.  He did a great job and she was totally surprised. She had no idea.  It was at a nice local restaurant that we go to quite often.  There were 32 people there. Mostly her family and mutual friends of both of them.  Plus our family members and some old friends.  I had asked her about going out to dinner last night to celebrate her birthday, as I was going to be busy on her actual birthday. She checked it with my son and also called me back and told me that she had gotten a $15 coupon in the mail from the restaurant where we were supposed to go.  So, I knew then that she did not suspect a thing, and she hadn't.  He did a great job in the planning and getting the room decorated and planned the menu. It was a buffet style dinner and there was even left-overs that the staff boxed up for the taking.  So, I have dinner for 2 meals.  It was so nice to see some friends, who I hadn't seen for a long time.  Nice to be able to catch up on what was going on in their lives.

I have 3 busy week ends coming up.  Next week-end, my grand daughter is coming down from Connecticut with 2 little ones.... the next week-end is Easter, and then the first week-end in May, my family and I are going down to the Eastern shore to go to a seafood restaurant that we have been wanting to go to  And,  it will also be for my birthday, the coming week.  So, I am hoping that all this activity will help me restore some of my energy.  I sit around for days on end, and then, too many things happening all at the same time.  But, it will be something to look forward to.  Not sure where I am going for Easter yet.  My oldest son usually has dinner, but I haven't heard anything about that yet.  I would love to find a place that I could go with the great-grands to have breakfast with the Easter bunny.  Most of the places around here, had it over this past week-end.  I will have to check to see if I can find anymore places close by.  That would be fun !.

I see it is getting onto dinner time and I feel like I just ate breakfast.  The days just seem to fly by so fast these days.

I hope everyone has had a pleasant Sunday.

And, have a good evening and a good week ahead.

Joy

Joy, I saw your post elsewhere about your DIL's party, how nice it was and how surprised she was.  Good!

Tom has just left for Annie's where they will start cooking meals to freeze for Annie and her SO and for Tom and me.  Tom said they are starting out simple so I sent him a link to a group of chicken casseroles.

Annie is a girl (now a woman) who refused to cook and they ate out a lot.  She told her dad she was getting tired of eating the same thing all of the time.  So her about face pleases both Tom and me a lot.  But what I think is really neat is that she wants to do it with her dad!  Of course that doesn't hurt Tom's feeling one bit.  He really has a good relationship with both of his kids, Annie more than James.  But Annie lives about 10 miles from here while James lives 40 miles away.  Tom has told several times of friends who are not close to their children. 

I did not go to church today and it was my loss.  I had another of those nights when I could not get to sleep and I tried while Tom was at church and no luck.  A woman who has been a long-time member and very active is moving to Kalamazoo to be nearer her daughter.  The woman is 97 years old and has no family in Grand Rapids.  This was her last Sunday at our church; her SIL is a minister of another denomination in Kazoo and she will live near them.  Dot said our church was filled, there were lots of family there and probably many friends too.  Coffee afterward was a party for her.  I am so sorry I missed it, but she deserved it.

Mary Ann

Mary Ann, have you ever watch the Marine City, Michigan ship cams on the St. Clair River?  It was a very busy day on the river today, and while I was watching the Alpena, American Century (headed to Duluth), Lee A Tragutha and the barge/tug Marmee/Victory headed to Soo passed by.  The cams are so detailed, you can actually see into the ships.  They also have an online chat group and I learned quite a bit about ships and shipping.  What caught my eye at first was the "Alpena" as my Dad was born and raised in Alpena.  I've never been to Michigan.  Cathie said next summer we will take a trip up to the Great Lakes.

Mary