Larry, it is so good to hear how upbeat you are these days.  Glad your meal out was enjoyable.

Mary Ann, I'll take your 80 degrees.  It is in the 90s here.  Thank goodness for air conditioning.

Marilyne, I hope your ultra sound goes well.  I've gone through all my library books so will probably go to the library today.

I did make a new little video for the photo forum.  I hear from Sato every couple of days on Instant Message, but I wonder how Sachiko is doing.  Since she moved to Fukuyama, Sato has lost contact with her.  I did leave a message on her Facebook page, but I don't think she even checks her page.

Hi, Joy.  How is your weather these days—-not as hot as ours, I'm sure.

Hope everyone is having a good day

Jean, I'm glad you hear from Sato often.  He does such a good job with flowers.  I wish Sachiko would check in if only to say Hello.

I've had quite an afternoon and now that I'm almost finished, it's funny, but it was frustrating while in progress.  In the morning I saw the date and I had been invited to a retirement party Friday which I knew I would not attend but I did want to send the woman a note and I'm not sure it will get there in time.  I wrote a note and got the envelope addressed and stamped.  However, while looking for a stamp, I saw an envelope in which to send my estimated taxes to both Federal and State.  I know I wrote something about this earlier.  Anyway, I have had the blanks and envelopes in something beside my feet.  Only it isn't there.  I don't know if Robin put it elsewhere - or did I?  I knew I could get the info from my tax return which is on another computer.  When I wanted to print the blanks, I got the message that they should be printed on Adobe Acrobat.  OK, I have that on my computer, so I wanted to save to that program what I wanted to print.  Adobe said it was already on the program, did I want to replace it?  No, I did not.  But I couldn't find where to print it.  I went back to square one and managed to print from there - through Adobe Acrobat.  I needed to print for only one month of each, but I decided to print all of the blanks to get them done.  And I had to print labels, three each for Federal and State.  This took much of my afternoon.  Somewhere I decided I had had nothing to eat so I found something and later I thought I'd better get to the bathroom.  I may be retired, but I can always find something to goof up and prolong the day.  Never a dull moment; at least I don't get bored!

Tom is gone for an hour or so and will be back to grill some kabobs I bought in our grocery order.  Then he'll go to the Condo Association Annual meeting in my place.  As a resident, he is eligible to be my proxy and it's good for him to go to the meeting so he knows what is going on.

Ah, the a/c just went on all by itself.  Jean, it is 86 degrees now.  Still want our temperature?

Mary Ann

Yes i would be happier too if we could hear from Sachiko, she has been absent from our S & F's for far too long...Another member i would like to see back is Mahlia ( Molly..)

I'm home from my thyroid ultrasound, and happy to be here!  I certainly hope I don't have to have one of those things again any time soon.  Mostly just uncomfortable, but also painful, when the technician had to press really hard. Nothing that wasn't tolerable, but I was surprised that it hurt, and that it took such a long time.

Jean - As soon as I finish here, I'll go to Photos, and take a look at your video.  Nice that you're in contact with Sato.  I wish he would post in the Photo forum, as he did in the past. I talked to him once on the telephone, many years ago, when he first came to S&F.  He was working on his English, at that time, and was doing well. He used to post videos on Vimeo, that I would look at and comment on.  They looked very professional - complete with music.

Jackie - I remember Molly, Mahlia or sometimes called Persian. She posted quite a bit in lots of folders, and then seemed to stop abruptly, and was never heard from again?

Mary Ann - I meant to mention that I saw a smaller than usual ship last night on the Canal Cam.  It was called, Industrial Song, and on the side it said, Inter Marine.  There was no Country of origin on the schedule, but later I looked it up and found it was from Portugal. The hull was painted a bright blue, so it was very attractive.

Mary Ann, We went to the library and it wasn't as bad as I thought.  92 but a little breeze and didn't feel too bad in the shade.  The neighbor, his wife, granddaughter, and another helper are laying sod in their back yard. Larry loaned them a wheelbarrow and a shovel, then he came back into the house.  Thank goodness.  We are both getting too old for that kind of work, especially in this heat.

Marilyne, good that the ultra sound is over.  The only ultra sound I have ever had was on my heart.  The attendant said it looked good "for my age".  I think they found one of my valves a little leaky but not serious, however, the ultrasound didn't hurt at all.

Jackie, I remember Molly.  She was married to an Eqyptian man and she had a son that was a Chaplain in the Army?  I believe she was having a lot of medical problems—-such an interesting and nice person.

I haven't posted for several days but have been keeping track of the messages here.

I also miss people like Sato, Sachiko, Molly and others who have drifted away. I know Molly had some serious health problems and also Sachiko.

The place on my finger where they did the Mohs surgery without stitches has been very sore today. I'm going to call the doctor tomorrow to make sure it's healing normally. It's like an open sore so I know it will take awhile. It's a nearly 3/4" circle.

I've been spending time with the Facebook page I made for descendants of my maternal grandparents. There are several new members. As I mentioned before, there were 15 children in my mother's family and all but one had children. I have 50 first cousins and many of their children have discovered the page. Some of the younger ones weren't aware they had so many relatives.    It's been fun to see people re-connect. The page has many photos, old and some not so old. My grandfather's brother was a studio photographer so I have some very good old photos of the family.

We have had several very hot days. One afternoon it was 100 for several hours. Thank goodness for A/C! Today we've had more normal temps.

Good morning. Popping in to let you know I am still around since I haven't posted for a few days.

Marilyne, I saw a clip of Industrial Song last night. I hadn't checked ship's registry. To my surprise, Industrial Skipper is Liberian, and Happy River was built and registered in the Netherlands, so I guess they are owned by other companies. I kind of assumed that they were all "related", but I see that Happy River's sisters are Happy Rover, Happy Ranger and Sailor Jupiter. I think I will mosey over to Marine Traffic and see where those three are operating.

Since I had a dermatology appointment yesterday, I missed the Paul going up St. Clair River, but I did catch Lee the other day going downriver and then back again yesterday. It seems so much smaller than Paul, but it seems such a proud, self-assured ship with its bridge at the front on the high prow.

I wonder if anyone posted the tugboat races that someone mentioned on the Port Huron webcam chat. That would be fun to see. Another thing to check out.

Yesterday it hit the high 80's and is going to stay there and into the low 90's at least for the next 10 days. Ugh! No rain forecast. Not at all looking forward to lawn mowing in that heat.

On my way to feed George's cats on Tuesday I saw what I think was one of the cats from the cat colony got hit out on Rt.11 & 15 almost in front of the James Bar behind which they had been making a home. It really bummed me big time. The last of the colony seems have to disappeared as the year progresses, except for one black; that may have been it. After several years of lots of squirrel activity, they seem to have gone too. On the up side, I have a baby bunny roaming the yard now.

My "typing assistant" has arrived. On top of this keyboard being so sensitive, he has gotten a bit big for the space and wants to lay directly across it now. He had a scare last weekend when the local park set off fireworks. He ended up sitting at the top of the basement stairs, eyes wide and ears swiveling. What a dilemma for him, all that scary noise and afraid to go down the basement. 

Update. Happy Rover is operating around Finland at the moment. Happy Ranger is at Split. Sailer Jupiter's name and registry have changed several times, and it it now operating as Han Yi out of Singapore.

International Tugboat Race 2019, held June 22 on Detroit River: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXc723-FS0o

What interesting reading so early in the morning!  At least to me.  MarsGal, I imagine the tugs come from places other than Detroit.  I have a cam of Detroit with the camera in Canada.  I could not identify the buildings but that's not unusual because I'm not that familiar with the Detroit area.  It looks like a lot of fun.  Did you notice all of the vehicles on the Ambassador Bridge?  Most were semis and probably were waiting to go through Customs.

Beverly, someone in my family should have put a family genealogy entry on Facebook but I really am the only one interested in it.  I have never been on Facebook as I did not want all of the "friends" requests from people I didn't know.  As it is, I got some anyway, some from relatives, but many were not.

MarsGal, I think those ships can register anywhere they want but don't have to be from the country.  I know there are ship viewers who are knowledgeable about that as I am not. 

Seeing it is Thursday, the lawn mowers are here.  We didn't have rain the last two days but we've had enough recently for things to be nice an green.

Tom went to the Condo Assn Annual meeting last night and said not much went on.  He was home shortly after 7:30. 

Mary Ann

Just past 7:00, here, but I've been up for a couple of hours.  Accomplished nothing, except to respond to some emails, and try to figure out how to get rid of some little black ants, that have invaded my kitchen counter.  First time we've had ants in a least ten years, and I don't know why they suddenly appeared?  No food left out, so nothing to attract them.  I'll let AJ handle that problem when he gets up.

MarsGal - Industrial Song, was a new one for me.  I like that name, along with, Sailor Jupiter, and the two Happy's!    All unique and cheerful names.  I hope they return to the Great Lakes soon, so we can get another look at them.  I missed Paul yesterday also.  The last time I saw him at Marine City, the camera operator kept him on the cam for a long time, so I got a good look from all angles.

Mary Ann - I've never heard of the genealogy pages on Facebook?  I'll have to see what I can find, as I'm pretty sure that there will be something there from my mother's side of the family.  From dad's side, probably not?  I have a number of "matches" on Ancestry, but they don't seem interested in carrying it any further.  I've emailed a number of cousins, that I found on Ancestry, and never got any responses.   

Marilyn, Beverly was the one who mentioned having genealogy information on Facebook.  Since I don't belong to Facebook I don't know if our family info is there or not.  I do know that younger members post pictures of their children but unless someone copies the picture and sends it to me, I do not see them.  My family is good to me, however, and sends me pictures occasionally.

It is warming up here and the a/c will go on soon.

Mary Ann

Hi everyone. We are to have a mostly cloudy day today with a high in the upper 80's and no rain in the forecast.

UPDATE: Pat is back from the Prompt Care and is already better as she had a nebulizer treatment and came home with the equipment.  She will also take a 5 day course of Prednisone.  She is feeling better already and she has one very relieved husband. My major concern this morning was Pat who was pretty sick. Our son was awake and came right out when I talked to him and he came out right away to take her to Prompt Care. Yesterday she thought it was asthma but this morning she was  pretty sure it was bronchitis as she is wheezing, her oxygenwas down into the mid-80;s but fortunately we do have oxygen available in the house and she feels terrible..

When I went to bed last night I was again totally exhausted due to not sleeping the night before and all the craziness I had created trying to plan a surprise for Pat. The solution was to throw that plan out entirely and just tell her of the surprise. Then I needed to clean up the mess with where the new TV would be delivered and hauling it out here. The simple solution was going online and setting up both UPS and FedEx where all the tools for changing delivery addresses and many other tools are available. I had to chuckle at myself as I had in mind it was FedEx that had the TV until I got everything set up and went to use the tracking number and found that it was UPS that was delivering. That actually gave me a good laugh at myself. So now I have both services fully set up to me and was able to go online and get the delivery here to our house and will be able to track it on the delivery route this afternoon, Scott will set it up after it arrives. He said this TV has a lot of new technology that he has never heard of and is the type of thing he loves to get into.

The ramp in the garage was basically finished yesterday expect for one little piece of wood and Pat was able to use it to get to the car with her walker this morning. The man will be back this afternoon to finish it and I have his check ready as the materials were just around $ 140 but I am including a few more dollars in the check to pay for the gas he used to make the trips here and to Lowe's for the lumber. I will be going online this morning and making a like contribution to the Church Ministry area that has the Ramp Builders.

I fixed a light breakfast for Pat this morning, something I haven't done in several months. It is amazing what one can do sitting in a wheelchair (as I know Bubble and Don can well attest). We had used up all of our silverware so I got out a big bowl, filled it with hot soapy water and washed up all of the silverware. There are plenty of clean dishes but we had used the silverware an now we have a clean drawer of that. I used to do this all the time and this morning I just sat in the wheelchair and accomplished the task. I now expect to have a very quiet day probably resting in bed, at least this afternoon. I will turn off my "jet motors" and hopefully keep them off. I have never been a procrastinator. Just worried about Pat but also know she is fully in God's hands so must remember to turn that matter over to him (although I want to take it back and worry some more! How foolish but we are humans!).

Yesterday was one of great sadness for me as well when my best friend Rods wife called me with the information that it is likely he has now been taken over by that terrible disease of Parkinson's. A couple of days ago they found he had gotten out of the house during the night and had fallen. While there is always hope that this situation is medicine related as his doctor had put him on two new medications. They had taken all the phones out of circulation as he was calling people and also unplugged his electronics, which he was still trying to fix or use. They knew what was going on. Betty and I shed some tears and now my concern is for Betty. Fortunately she has two daughters that are very attentive, one living on the level above where she now lives. Betty is into her 80's and not well herself. She is a very sweet lady who has loved her gardening and her Church and certainly her family. She and Rod were great friends with Kay Arthur and Betty was one of the instructors in Bible Study for Kay for years. I am so grateful that God brought both of these fine people into my life. Rod is 7 years older than I am but age has never been a factor and until the Parkinson's began to destroy is life he was the strong one. He taught me a lot about computers and would come over to help me at a moments notice if I let him know I had a problem.

I guess that is enough for today and I see I certainly didn't keep anything short in terms of what I have written. I guess I am still working on a little nervous energy.

Larry, you certainly have a lot going for you, serious things.  I'm glad to see that Pat is feeling better after her treatment at Prompt Care.  Sometimes I wonder if it is worth getting older, but I wouldn't trade my life so far - and I am OLD!

Between you and Scott you use your ingenuity to solve problems so I am sure Pat's new TV will work just fine. 

I use a salad plate most of the time along with a salad fork.  Those work best for me and Tom serves me meals on those pieces.  I eat in my chair in the computer room because that is where I spend most of my time.  I find we run out of salad plates before we run out of eating utensils, however, we do run out of those too.  At night, I check what is on hand and often run the dishwasher at that time. 

I'm sorry to hear about your friend, Rod.  He had enough problems before Parkinson's set in.  His wife does need the prayers now because she is the caretaker

When Norm was in Pilgrim Manor and Dementia had set in, he often would order something online and he could do it without a card because he remembered the card number.  Dot said all sorts of things came to the house that she had no knowledge of.  I think the ordering did not stop until Norm died.

Tom is at lunch with a friend and I'm about to get something for me to eat. 

Mary Ann

MaryAnn, I too use salad plates & salad forks.  I had ordered 8 plain white salad plates from Crate & Barrel! Use them every day. Wish I had ordered 12!

Tomereader, I think I have 10 salad plates for everyday use.  Six are from a set I bought in the '40s when relatives were coming to visit and Dad did not want to serve food on our hodge podge of dishes.  Later I bought a set of four white place settings via catalog from Bloomingdale's.  The older plates are Johnson Bros scenic Early America which I love.  The white plates are slightly larger than the others, but I eat off whichever plate is on top of the pile!  I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Mary Ann

Tome and Mary Ann - Start talking about plates and dishes of any kind, and my ears perk up!  I love dinnerware and china, old or new, but especially anything that was produced from the 1940's to the 1970's.   I had an antique business for many years, that focused on dishes from different decades, as well as kitchen items like, ceramic fridge water bottles, cookware, glassware and on and on it goes!

Although I've sold or given away box loads of dinnerware sets and odds and ends, I still have an incredible amount in my kitchen, and on shelves and cupboards downstairs.  I have/had, stacks of salad size plates, as well as all other sizes, that I gladly would have given to either of you!  However, if you like plain white, I have never had any.  I like patterns of all kinds, and I also like solid colors - either pastels, or bright colors like Fiesta. 

Mary Ann - I had lots of the Johnson Bros., Early America, when I had my shop space.  It was a popular pattern, so was a quick seller. Collectors know and want, most of the patterns and colors from days gone by.  I still enjoy going to an estate sale, and always head straight for the kitchen.  I rarely ever buy anything anymore, but sometimes I can't resist!     

I believe some places refer to these as "breakfast plates" is this terminology you are familiar with?

Marilyn, I don't go to yard or garage sales here because for me it's a pastime to be shared with someone.  When I would visit in Florida, Dot and I would go to sales every week, at least one day if not two.  Because I had to take home whatever I bought, I looked for small things such as dishes or cups maybe about 3 or 4 inches in diameter.  I remember going to a sale in Longville MN with my cousin and I bought a small glass container that I still have.  I rarely paid more then 50c for anything, if that much!
Another thing I often bought on trips was a souvenir cup.  One year I bought three in the UP and when Jim took them from the car trunk, he dropped them.  Oddly enough, the cups did not break, but the handles came off all three.  I think I brought them home with the intention of putting small plants in them, but I know that never came to pass and I may still have the cups; I don't know.

I like garage sales but I just don't want to go alone and I don't need anything, so unless the sale is in our complex, I stay home and save a little money.

I have always liked my Johnson Bros dishes and they are old now.

Tomereader, I have never heard that term for salad plates, but I can see how it fits.  That is if you have a small breakfast.  A big eater would not like the size.

Mary Ann

Lots of postings today.  The morning has gone by so quickly.  For some reason, I feel tired today more than usual.  We will be eating some leftovers for lunch/dinner so don't have that worry.  Will probably have to go by the grocery store before the day is over to get a few items.

Larry, It is good that Pat went to Prompt Care right away before her condition got worse.  I'm sure you are thanking the Lord every day that you and Pat moved close to Scott.  I know my Larry and I are glad we moved close to our daughter and son-in-law while we were physically able to move.

When our daughter first suggested we move close by, we really hadn't considered it.  But Gigi was just wonderfully helpful in every way.  She even found the house we bought and was so helpful in the selling of our house long distance.  She had friends in real estate and also in house closings that made it so much easier for us.  I never thought we would be signing documents electronically.  Quite an experience.

Mary Ann, it is 92 degrees here and the weather forecast says it feels like 97 because of the humidity.  My Larry did go over to help the neighbors for a little while after all.  He said if he hadn't they wouldn't have finished laying the sod last night.  He always tells me not to worry as he has sense enough to know when to stop.  Our neighbors are so nice, especially the neighbor he was helping.  This house was empty when we bought it from a builder who flipped it to sell.  The former owner had died and it took his family some time to straighten out his affairs.  The neighbor cut the grass during that time so the house would look lived in.

Marilyne, you sure are an early bird.  I usually get up a couple times at night but most of the time I go right back to sleep.  Then I get up around 8 am, but I am so slow in the morning it is usually about 9 am before eat breakfast.  Breakfast is simple an egg, one piece of bacon and one piece of toast, and a cup of coffee, but it is my favorite meal.  If I were more energetic, I would also have grits and my husband hash browns.  But, alas, my energy and morning enthusiasm doesn't reach that far.

Marsgal, be careful you don't overdo the mowing in this heat.  I saw on the news where Europe is having a terrible heat wave, especially in France.  One thing about this area of Florida, there is usually a cooling breeze in the evening.  Haven't noticed any mosquitoes YET, but when we have more rain they will show up, I'm sure.

Have a good day, everyone.  By the way, I'm another one that loves dinnerware.  I have my mother's Fostoria stemware which never gets used.  Come to think of it, my china and sterling silver haven't  been used in years.  I remember as a high school senior a women department store representative made appointments with seniors to help pick out China, silver, etc.  that's when I picked out my silver and started buying it "on time".

Larry,I am happy to hear that Pat is so much better. Also, I am sorry to hear about your friend Rod. I had no idea Parkenson's can muddle your brain like that. I only knew about the loss of motor control.

I remember my Mom used to have plates that were about dinner plate size but with a deep rim. It was a good plate for stews, pot roasts and pot pies, and other things that came with an abundance of sauce or gravy. They would have been great for the dinner sized salads I sometimes make, like taco salad, and Caesar salad. We didn't usually eat green salads when I was young, but there was always a little custard sized dish with fruit.

Big Lift is a company headquartered in the Netherlands. Company website with some neat pix of their ships. https://www.bigliftshipping.com/

Some nice photos of Industrial Skipper https://www.philippe-ships.com/cargos/industrial_skipper.html Notice she was built in 2016, just a baby.

Thanks, Jean.I think I can forgo mowing for a few days. It hasn't been a week since I mowed it last and we haven't had much rain.

MarsGal - I looked at your links, and saw that the picture of Industrial Skipper, looks almost the same as Industrial Song, which I saw the other night on the canal cam. Beautiful clean looking ships, painted in that nice bright blue color.

Jean - The same thing when I was a senior.  One of the big department stores wanted us to come in and register patterns for china, silver and crystal. I remember going to look at the selections, but couldn't make up my mind on what I liked best.  Also, the local furniture store gave every senior girl, a   miniature Lane Cedar chest.  Of course it was in hopes that we would want to buy a regular cedar chest, or "hope chest", as they called them in those days. I didn't get one of those either, but I still have my little Lane miniature!

Tome and Mary Ann - That in-between size plate is usually referred to as a luncheon plate.  It's about an inch to two inches smaller around, than a standard dinner plate.   Back in the day, complete dinnerware sets included about five or more different size plates - dinner, luncheon, dessert/salad, bread, and saucer. Besides those you could buy various sizes of platters, and a large round plate called a chop plate or charger. There were also about six different sizes and types of bowls!   The new sets now-a-days are not nearly so big.         

I am not going to try to comment to each posting as the morning is basically gone and it has been a very long morning.  But tomorrow will likely be another matter.

Marilyne, sure glad those ultrasound tests are not something that are non-invasive and easy.

Jean, I have head that a lot of people have a little valve leakage and it usually isn't a problem. I also remember Molly (Persian) very well.  Her husband was an instructor at the Egyptian University and was the senior male in the family and took good care of his family.  I know Molly was looking forward to when he could retire.  She was not in good health with terrible headaches. I also hope she is still OK.  I use to have her email but don't think I have it anymore.

A good friend was here for about an hour to visit with me.  Then the volunteer called and we decided a visit from her tomorrow would work best.

The latest on an unbelievable day. I thought I had the shipping of the new big TV set up to be delivered to our house.  When the UPS truck came she had just a couple of small items for us.  I asked her if she had a big TV and she said no.  Around 3 pm I started to text Scott that there wouldn't be any TV today when he called me saying the TV was sitting in his kitchen. He and Elizabeth were able to get the TV box in the PT Cruiser and now they are getting the TV set up in the living room.

Larry, some things can get really mixed up, can't they?  It's a good thing Scott and Elizabeth could get the TV in the car. 

I remember Molly and her interesting posts.  I think several people did try to contact her after not hearing from her for a long time, but I'm not sure they received any reply.  She led an interesting life, teaching in various countries. 

MarsGal, I saw a listing for the Industrial Skipper but did not see it when it was in any area I watched.  I have seen the Happy River more than once and both are such colorful ships. 

I did not see the accident, but a sailboat and fishing boat collided at Marine City today.  I backed up the screen and saw the two boats but no collision.  A few minutes ago the boats were by the shore and it looked as if some authorities were questioning them.  I had my sound on but it didn't pick up any of the conversation.

When I graduated, I don't remember stores wanting seniors to buy china etc.  Maybe some got asked, but not me, nor any of my friends as far as I know.  We had my parents' good china which I think was a wedding present from my uncle (Dad's brother) and wife.  When Norm was in Germany, I did buy a set of china, and like others' china, it sits in the cupboard.  I bought sterling silver when I was working downtown and that sits in the chest that came with it.  I also have my parents' silver, which is silver plate.  Then a cousin of Mother's died and her husband packed up a lot in a trunk and sent it to Mother's sister in IL.  She took what she wanted and sent it on to us.  In the trunk were several pieces of service utensils which if we have company or a need for a certain piece, we use.  Incidentally, I have three trunks - one was Mother's, one Dad's and the other the one from the cousin.  Not only that I have my grandmother Tock's foot locker which could have come from Germany when they came to the US.  And I doubt one of the family is interested.  One trunk holds my Christmas lights and ornaments, used when I used to put up a tree.  Each family now has their own ornaments etc.

Mary Ann

I am late getting in here today.  I was here earlier, and then I was so tired, I took several naps.  I didn't even go down to play cards tonight.  Just felt so exhausted.  I have not been sleeping well, and I just wanted to sleep almost all day.  I  did have some supper, and now feel better.

I had to add my little 2 cents worth about all the different sets of china.  I love chinaware and glassware.  I haven 3 sets of dishes packed away in my son's basement.  One set is a hand-painted set my aunt made.  Service forn 12, along with 3 covered tureens. I think all the pieces are there except gor 1 cup.  I have another luncheon set that was my mother's. She had gotten them through the Jewel tea company. You bought separate pieces at a time. I think it was some kind of a promotion thing.  The pieces are all  square.  Even the milk pitcher  sugar bowl are square. They have a garland of roses all around the edges.  My mother belonged to a card club and they would take turns hosting. I can remember what a beautiful table she would set with these dishes.  I have another set of the Apple dishes. Not sure what the make of them are.  I also had a set of Fiesta ware that one of my son's took. I also have a large set of Stieff silverware  in the Rose pattern.  It is service for 12. It has several serving pieces  that they don't  make anymore.  I have never had any of them appraised, and  I really would like to. I have the chest of silverware, but I haven't used it for years. I don't do any entertaining anymore.  I also haven another set of china that I had bought when I had moved into a condo years ago.  They were not an expensive set and I did use them for a while. I am sure they will all be sold when I am gone, as my kids are not at all interested in any of  it.  My  mother had finished up with the 12 piece servings of silverware not too long before she died, as  I have 3 sons and she wanted each of them to have enough for  4 place settings.

I also haven some nice crystal glassware that I do use sometime for  taking food to  places for the holidays.

I still like to look at all those kind of things if I got to an antique place or a flea market now and then.  And,  if I see some kind of an odd piece of glassware that I like, I am usually tempted to buy it.

I loved reading all about all different things you all wrote about your china and silver. 

I sure wrote more than I intended to. 

Hope everyone has had  a good evening.

Joy

Joy, I remember my folks buying things like powdered soap and there would be a dish in the box.  Or a dish towel.  And how about Cracker Jack with its toy for kids.  That was how some people got their dishes and/or eating utensils.  I don't know what she bought, but I have a small dish with a chimney that covered a small candle, something my mother liked.  I have an idea some dishes I have stashed away (where??) were included in boxed stuff.  What young people of today are missing - what fun!

I hope you get some sleep tonight.

Mary Ann

I'm sorry if I misled anyone. Facebook doesn't deal with genealogy. What they have is a feature where you can open a "group page" or "family page". One of my cousins mentioned that it would be nice if we could have a place to "catch up" with our many cousins and their families and post photos. We used to have family reunions but none in recent years. In spite of the large size of our family we were all close when growing up. I opened a group page for all descendants of my maternal grandparents. It's a closed group, meaning only members can post there.

Marilyne - I still have my mini Lane cedar chest I received when I graduated!

Larry - I'm glad to hear Pat is doing better. So sorry about your friend who has Parkinsons. It's an awful disease. We had a friend with it a few years ago. One of the problems he had was hallucinations. He would think strange people were in the house or cutting down the trees in his front yard. I had to smile about the delivery mix-up. Last year I ordered flowers to be delivered to my youngest daughter in New Hampshire and they came to our house! I was so upset but when I calmed down I called her to say how much I was enjoying her flowers. Then I sent pictures by e-mail! Another time Chape ordered something from Amazon and it was sent to our daughter in Maine! Good that the TV wasn't too big for the PT Cruiser.

Jean - They must spray some of the areas around here because I rarely see a mosquito. We do get little black gnats, though.

MarsGal - I call those soup plates and they work so well for stews, chili, etc. I really like mine.

Mary Ann - The salad plates are also what I use most. Chape prefers a dinner plate even if there isn't much on it.  I remember dishes and glasses, even small towels being in boxes of washing soap, too. One of them was Duz. (In those days it wasn't detergent!) Also gas stations used to give away glasses. As a kid I loved to get the Cracker Jack prize.

I'm glad to know there are others out there who have an obsession for china and stoneware sets! I complain about not having enough storage space, but you guessed it! The available spaces are filled with dishes.

Joy - You have outdone me with your collection! Like you, I still enjoy finding a nice piece at a sale.

Thursday Night already, and I am not sure when I posted last, so I will just cut to the chase.

Our physicals went quite well....my blood work was fantastic and the doctor was very pleased. No change in meds and he did not even make me feel badly about my weight. 

The family arrived Tuesday Night and we picked them up and headed for Vail.  We arrived right at midnight....ugh, but at least we arrived there safely.  Yesterday Kurt droves back to Denver to run errands, shop and pick up DIL on the same flight from Boston that he and the boys came in the night before.  Unfortunately, Heidi's plane was delayed so they did not arrive in Vail until 2:15 AM.  UGH. UGH. UGH!

We enjoyed a fun day with the two grandsons.... and it was very special.

We enjoyed our drive back to Denver today.  There is still so much snow in the mountains.....it is so green and beautiful.  We saw many of the horrible snow slides off the side of the road. 

We were going to stay with the grands tomorrow morning when Michele went for her scan, but Dave called tonight to say she will not have the scan as the insurance has denied it🤬🤬 Michele is very upset with this news as she was so hopeful to see that the tumor has shrunk in her lung😢😢😩

My Dad is doing quite well.  The PT and OT have signed him off and he will probably only have the nurse visits for another week.  He sounds very good on the telephone and I am feeling so blessed once again. 

I am headed off to bed......I am bushed.

Pleasant dreams to all.

Jenny

Joy...talking of quality Crystal,  and Portmeirion china, - porcelain...This has now been what I have been doing these last few days, getting out our Dartington Crystal glass ( bought from the Dartington factory shop ) that me and Richard had bought back as one of our earliest holiday souvenirs from back in our early courting days when we holidayed in Devon, Cornwall, The Lake District and Anglesey-Wales..I have Dartington Crystal and Portmeirion ornaments that I have brought out of the kitchen cupboard and now displayed around our-my living room plus flowers which he loved all flowers are on the window ledge and the others are sitting next to the ashes boxes and photo frames near to Richards photo and our three dogs photos...Richard would be so happy to see what I have done, I know he will approve-would have approved...Just wish he could walk through that door to see it all...I know his eyes would light up...

I had also ordered online a lovely set of miniature ( single flower stem ) set of three Portmeirion china flower vases that came yesterday...they too have a picture engraved of flowers, Richard loved anything flowers...I am trying to put things into our home that would have pleased him, made him happy...In my delicate state of mind I am hoping this will bring him back to me...I talk to him and cry each and every day...I still cant believe I will never see him again, nor hear his voice again, he has gone from my life forever, 20 years of our life we had shared...It wasn't all perfect but it is not until one has lost that person that we realise just how much they mean to us, meant to us, how much we do - did love them...

Good Morning Everyone from the
cool, foggy and soon to be
warmer and muggy,
rocky coast of Maine. 

Our forecast here in Maine
 is pretty much the same
for the next couple of weeks. 
Overcast, foggy, and warming
up into the 70's... 

Looks like July is going to be
as Strange here as May and June
have been.   

What can I say.   It is just  one of
those years.. 

I am tired this morning,
mainly because I have spent t
he last couple of days
watching the political
debates on tv. 

No comment on them, 
except they keep me awake. 
It is hard to shut my brain
down after listening to them
for so many hours.   

Today I hope to get some rest
 and catch up on some good
movies and series on Netflix . 

Next week more doctors apts
and  visits from my good friends
from Wisconsin.   
This is the time of the year
hat I play catch up
with  those who are visiting
their home ...  before they go
away for another year. 

All is well here ..
Have a good day,  Everyone .
SANDY

I've never been one for entertaining and expensive dining ware. My sister, on the other hand, used to enjoy entertaining. One of her first investments after she started working was a fancy 8 place setting and cookware. That was back when door-to-door sales and party sales were in full swing. The last I heard, she was looking into selling to one of those replacement dinerware and silverware outfits. I think the outcome of that was that they would only buy pieces they needed, not a whole set, so I think she still has them.

I still have a bone china set of dishes that my Uncle Lou and Aunt Ethel brought to Mom from when they were living in Japan many, many years ago. I also have some smoked glass, stemmed dessert dishes from somewhere (probably Mom's) which I never used, and a rarely used Carnival glass punch bowl set. Mary Ann, those dishes from the soap boxes were all the rage as collectables for a while, especially the rare pink color. I don't know if they still are.

Mary Ann, I too missed the accident. I did see a para-glider over the river yesterday afternoon. The glider seemed to hover over the river at the bend for quite a while before it set off down river.

Jenny, they denied Michele her scan? On what earthly grounds did they base that, right in the middle of treatments?

I see it is time to go do other things for a while.