Larry, Candy did not get the car she reserved, tis a much larger car so is using a lot more gas.  A shame they did that to her since her cash is limited.

Today I was showing Tom H some family pictures and I got a few pictures where they read "failure" or something like that.  Then I got so I could do nothing with the camera.  Tom H and I left for Annie H's about that time but I had recharged the camera.  We were too late for the garage sales (I forgot it was Saturday - 2nd day of sales) but we were able to talk to  Annie and meet her cat, Magnolia (bought from Magnolia Farms).  Tom left to meet a friend and they went to another friend's to advise or suggester furniture placement in her new home.  I was with Annie about three hours and we talked and napped before she brought me back to Tom's for supper.  She has since gone home and I am alone because Tom went to a concert.

It has been a beautiful day and I have no idea of temps, but anytime I was outside, I was comfortable.  We ate supper on Tom's back porch.

There will be no pictures and probably all I would have taken would have been family pics and I'm not sure I would have posted them.  The family may all may be on Facebook, but that is their problem.

Tomorrow - church, then Tom's brother's in the late afternoon.  Probably brats for supper as that's what Bob usually serves.

Mary Ann

Hi Everyone.  It is a very foggy morning here but we are to have a sunny day getting up to 93 degrees this afternoon. 

I am ready for Sunday School and Church this morning.  I am bringing the devotional for today at Sunday School and also expect I will lead the singing if none of the choir members (we have two or three in our class) are present.  We brought home left overs from eating out at noon yesterday.  We went to Pizza Hut and started to order a medium sized pizza when the waitress told us that a large pizza was actually cheaper than the medium. So now we have our lunch for today probably with a salad. 

We did stop for some strawberries, a couple of ears of sweet corn and 4 beautiful peaches on our way to the shoe store.  When we got to the shoe store we found it was closed yesterday due to a death in the family and would reopen on Monday.  I am looking forward to the finish of the golf tournament today. 

Joan, I guess the saving feature is that she shouldn't have any trouble getting her things from storage into the bigger car.  It does make one wonder what good is it to reserve a certain type of car.  Do you expect her back today?

Mary Ann, sorry about your camera.  Since I have a great camera on my iPhone I have lost track of where my last camera is and may have dispensed with it.  I was shocked at the very large number of cars stopping at the garage sale across the street.  It was only on Saturday and it was over at noon. It sounds like you had a nice visit with the other Annie.  A three hour visit is generally enough and can be very tiring.  I have always liked brats but it has been a long time since I have eaten one.   

Larry, not really.  She got lost in San Jose and had trouble finding her way to Santa Cruz.  This made her about 2 hours behind so she said she was going to head for Willows and spend the night there.  Assuming that is where she did spend the night, I figure she will get to Klamath Falls sometime this morning and rest there and then be home tomorrow. 

at least she got her stuff and now just has to figure out how and when she will get the major storage done.

Joan - I can sympathize with Candy . . . getting from San Jose to Santa Cruz on a weekend, is a major ordeal in the summertime.  Millions of people decide they want to go to the beach, and there is only one highway available. So there is gridlock, for 20 miles over the mountain pass, from mid morning to sundown. Top speed, between 5 and 10 MPH.

Larry - Sounds like you had a nice old fashioned summer day yesterday.  Stopping at the fruit stand for fresh strawberries, corn and peaches is something I enjoy doing. Our local stand doesn't open until next week.  They only carry what is available at their orchard>>> first comes cherries, then apricots, plums, and finally peaches.  They don't grow any veggies or strawberries.  However, we aren't far from Watsonville/Salinas, which is the Strawberry "capital" of California, so we can get them fresh in all stores. 

Mary Ann - Sounds like you're having a wonderful time, and enjoying everyone's company.  I didn't realize that you had another Annie, in the family? Has your Annie, Tom's daughter, ever been to Indianapolis and met any of these relatives?
I'll be disappointed if you don't have any pictures to post, but maybe you can tell us the name of someone on Facebook, and we can take a look there. Some FB members post "Public" pictures, for all to see.

UPDATE...Candy decided to drive right thru to Klamath Falls and got there about 2 this morning.  She had a few hours sleep and take it easy today.  Tis almost a straight shot home from there. so she cannot get lost. <I hope>

I got the camera to work again the same way we get computers to work again - I took the card out to see if there were any missing pictures and there weren't, then I tested the camera to see if it worked - it did - then I put the card back in the camera and everything worked.  I took a picture at church this morning of the minister, his wife and me (a nice man really took the picture).  A friend of Tom's came home with us and he and Tom fixed brunch; he just left and I am going to attempt a nap.  We will be going to Tom's brother's in about an hour.  I doubt I'll post any family pictures and I doubt any of them will take any.  Their last name is Harton but if they don't take pictures, none will be shown.  I will say they all have phones so, who knows?

Mary  Ann

Good afternoon, yesterday got up to 89, to day not going to get out of the 60's

Mary Ann glad to see you posting, also that you are having a good time

WJoan, Nice to see that Candy had less driving to do to day. Also means youhave  a few less hours to worry!

Larry, I have not bought corn so far the year. Right now Stop and Shop has fresh corn (so they say) but it is in a package of 3 and shucked on one side. I thin I will wait for the local corn

Marilyne, and I thought we had heavy traffic.  In the summer, when I leave my house it should take me no more then 5min or less to get to the traffic circle, with summer it can take 15min. June 14 Strawberry season starts, In Mattituck, a few towns over they have a 4 day strawberry Festival which brings 1000's out here  Then the road is jammed.  Also the USOPEN start which is another 15min from my house

It's been a busy day and we got to Tom's about 8:15 pm and I'm already ready for bed.  I won't go for a while.  We went to church in the morning and came back here afterward where Tom and a friend prepared a brunch for us - scrambled eggs and a whole wheat waffle.  It was very satisfying.  I napped a bit then about 3:30 we left for Tom's brother's and four of the five children were there.  They all acted so happy to see me and it made me feel great.  This is the family with quads; one of the quads works in Nashville so was not there.  Their parents have done an excellent job on bringing them up; they all are great people.  We were there until about 7:45 and left for home. 

I've met more new animals down here - well, actually two.  One girl has a cat named Magnolia for Magnolia Farms (Fixer Upper).  Another girl and her husband have an Austrian Shepherd, who has the prettiest fur I've seen.  Black, brown, grey, white wavy stripes and the fur is very soft.  The other animals I had met and let me pet them.

I'm tired and may not say what I mean, so I won't write more.  Tom H and I will leave here tomorrow morning about 10:30 to meet Tom Tock at Baker's Square in Merrillville IN about 1 pm.  We'll transfer my stuff and go on our separate ways.

TTYL

Mary Ann

Hi Everyone.  It looks like we are going into a period of sunny and hot days for awhile and that the rain has moved on.  It was 94 yesterday and very humid.  Church ran about 15 late as it was Graduation Sunday.  Our graduates from high school and college this year were recognized.  Our Church awards quite a number of scholarships and those were awarded.  The High School graduates participated in the service and two of them spoke rather than having a sermon.  Afterwards the seniors and their parents were treated to a nice lunch in our Fellowship Hall. 

I didn't realize that the golf tournament had started early and when I tuned in at 3 pm it was in a playoff already. We are still having phone problems as apparently the signal is so weak it won't work on Pat's phone and at night it won't work on mine either.  I went out on the driveway last night and the phone worked fine but could not call out inside the house.  I will be looking into this today as this is unacceptable.  If Pat is up to it we will pick up her shoes and run a couple of other errands. That will be it for today. 

Joan, I know you will be relieved when Candy is safely back at her apartment.  It sounds like she had a frustrating trip down to get her things. 

Marilyne, our strawberry season is just about over as this hot weather does a number on them.  I asked the man at the fruit stand yesterday how much longer would they have the strawberries and he said not much longer. 

Mary Ann, glad you got your camera working again.  Electronics can be interesting.  I hope you have good weather on your return trip home this morning. Nice you were able to see most of Tom's family yesterday. 

deAngel, a day is the 60's is probably welcome up your way after the hot weather.  I am pretty sure the sweet corn I am buying at the fruit market is not yet from this area but probably from Florida.  It is good none the less.  You still have your strawberry season to look forward to and ours is about over. 

When I am in Indps I have a different server for the computer and Tom may have changed his because I couldn't get on Friday night.  Tom gave me the password and all was well.  This morning I could not get online.  I had noticed there was a power outage just before I got up and that was the cause.  Tom had to reset his router.  Tom is meeting a friend for breakfast (an every week event) so I am on S&F and when I finish here, I'll get dressed.  About 11 am we'll head north to meet Tom Tock.  I called my Tom last night and he was at the Art Festival in Grand Rapids so I only gave him a message from Tom H because there was a loud band in the background. 
Tom H has a 15+ year old cat, Jinx, and she is very vocal.  I rubbed her fur the wrong way and, like Kendrick, she loves it.  When she comes downstairs (she spends most of the time on Tom's bed upstairs9) she comes to me and meows and gets in position to get rubbed. 

I should get home about 3 pm and I'll let it all hang out then!

Mary Ann

Larry, she did.  It did not help that they forgot to come pick her up and then she had to settle fof a different car.  Am sure she will be happy to get home today.

It’s 84F but Weather app says it feels like 88F.  Larry was out watering some flowers earlier and said it was getting warm out there.  I think I will stay inside where it is comfortable. 😋

Mary Ann, I’m sure you are well on your way home at this time.  Sounds like you had a nice visit but it is always good to get home again, no matter how nice the visit.

Larry, that’s interesting about the phone problems.  Must be something blocking the signal.  Hope you can get that resolved.

Our Bluebirds are still feeding their young, and Papa Bluebird goes after any bird or squirrel that gets too close to his house.  Larry went out to refresh the water in the birdbath, and the Bluebird evidently senses he is a friend and doesn’t pay him any notice.

Jean - I also have a birdbath in the yard, and one of us has to hose it out and add fresh water, about every other day.  In spite of keeping it clean, and having a hanging bird feeder, we haven't attracted any birds this Spring.  I'm disappointed, as we always have doves, and sparrows, if nothing else.  I'm wondering if it's the huge crows, that flock into the yard and take over the birdbath?  They are so big and make so much noise that I'm afraid they scare away the smaller birds.

Joan - I'm sure that Candy is relieved that her trips to NV and California are over, and that she has all, or most of her stuff.   I don't have any relatives in Gardnerville, but I've been there a number of times.  It's a nice town, and not far from Lake Tahoe, which I love!

Mary Ann - I'm looking forward to your return today.  I can tell from your messages, that you were welcomed by all of your folks in Indiana, and that you were busy socializing for the three days that you were there.

Yes, I'm back.  After stopping at Mc D's for something for me to eat, we got here about 5:30.  It would have been earlier, but there was a traffic backup just before Mc D's and, of course, we were in the wrong lane.  A stalled pickup caused the problem.  Depending on where  you were, traffic was either light or heavy.  From northern Indiana to home, we were in rush hour traffic.  The weather was beautiful as was most of the scenery.

Kendrick was happy to see me.  Tom said in the morning and evenings, Kendrick would come to him and talk - as if "where is she?".  He's comfortably sleeping in his bed now, but will come out and  be near me.  The other two cats I saw are much more vocal than is Kendrick. 

I hope to watch my Monday night programs, then go to bed.  I'm tired.  I don't like to sleep in the car, but I almost did.  I should sleep well.  I slept well in Tom's bed and I think his mattress is about like mine, but his bout 10 inches thick and I had a hard time getting onto it.

More later if I think of anything.

Mary Ann                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Mary Ann, welcome back home!   It's fun to have a break from the usual routine, but always nice to return to "normal".  Sounds like Kendrick missed you, and is happy to have you home again.

Looks like there's a boat arriving later tonight . . . I think it said 9:00 Duluth time, which would be 10:00 your time and 7:00 here.  I'll most likely miss it, because I have a TV show I want to watch at 7:00.  The last few days most of the  ships have all been late, so if that happens again,  I may end up seeing it later.

Marilyn, you may get to see the ship after all because they've changed the time to 1 AM which is 2 am my time and there is no way I'm going to stay up for that (I wouldn't do it for any ship).  That is 11 pm your time so if you're still up, you may see it.  I notice the ship is out in Lake Superior but they may be waiting until later.

I'm tired and I'm going to bed shortly - it is 9:30 now here.

Mary Ann

Good morning, all.

Two good pieces of news, my plumbing problem is fixed and I can pick up my computer.  I paid a bit extra to have the plumber take a video view of the outside pipe to make sure it wasn't blocked or otherwise damaged (besides, I was curious). The computer tech got my ASUS running again; he said it just got hung up on something. He was able to get into safe mode (which I couldn't do) and recover everything. Despite AVAST's assertions to the contrary, I suspect that it is what hung up the last Windows update.

Hi Everyone. Our day starts off a bit overcast but it is suppose to be another mostly cloudy with a high of only 83.  We didn't get out yesterday as Pat wasn't feeling up to doing so.  However, she is up early this morning and eating the breakfast I prepared for her so think she will be up to getting out this morning and going to the shoe store.  I might be able to talk her into stopping at Texas Roadhouse for our main meal of the day (probably won't have to talk very long).  So it should be a pleasant day.

I talked with the Consumer Cellular people yesterday and they checked and found that AT&T is having some issues in our area that may be contributing to our phone problems.  So we will give it a few more days before making a decision to try something else. We still have about 10 days on our initial 30-day free trial.

Mary Ann, glad that Tom H was able to get you back online after the power outage.  We used to have a man who was an artist in our Bible Study on Wednesdays at our old Church and he participated in the Arts Festival in Grand Rapids.  It sounds like you made a hit with Tom's old cat. I bet you were glad you weren't driving yesterday with the bad traffic you encountered. 

Joan, what car rental company did she use that forgot to pick her up?  I have had good success with Enterprise in picking me up to go do the paperwork and getting a car and then taking me back home on my return.  I expect Candy will be ready for a couple of days of rest at home after the long weekend of driving. 

Jean, I try not to be outside more than getting into and out of the car when we go somewhere and later in the day going to the mailbox.  The birds did build a nest in the porch corner but not sure they ever hatched any birds and haven't seen anything and they haven't made the usual mess on the porch floor.  I hung a mobile up to dissuade them from even building the next but they did it anyway. 

Marilyne, I expect the large crows would deter any other smaller birds from coming around. 

MarsGal, nice to see the good news your have reported this morning.  It sounds like you computer problem wasn't too serious and it is always good when we don't lose anything when there is a problem. 

Larry, it was Enterprise.  It all boils down to Management. 

I've had my haircut this morning and we had our breakfast at the Brandywine Restaurant so I'm in for the day.  I think Tom will be leaving because he left the car out of the garage and he usually puts it inside.  He often goes out to lunch on Tuesday.

Last fall everything was so dry and I had a clump of dry stuff that my neighbor pulled out for me.  I was afraid I had lost a plant and I couldn't say anything because I am unable to garden and she does it for me.  Anyway, this spring green stuff came up and I had high hopes my plant would appear.  Well, it has and it's a pretty as ever.  We used to call it "snot grass" and "woods lily" but it really is some kind of "wort".  One year when my grandmother was with us - she must have been in her 70s - we went to a wooded area near us and got some of this plant.  It is a perennial so when I moved here I went to a nursery and found a plant so planted it here.  I like to plant nostalgic plants and that is one. 

It is cool here today, about 60, but will warm up to 70.  Tomorrow will be warmer.  I am very comfortable wearing a sweater. 

Mary Ann

Today is the Primary Election day, here in CA.  We still go to the polling place, so I haven't voted yet, but I will later this morning.  As I mentioned, we have 27 candidates on the ballot for Governor, and 32 for US Senator.  It's an open primary, which means that all political parties are on the ballot, so you can vote for anyone you want, without having to stick with your party affiliation.  The vast majority are Democrat, but a few Republicans represented, as well as the usual Peace and Freedom, Libertarian, and Independent.
The results should be interesting, because it could be that there will be two Democrats running against each other in November, for the major offices? 

Marilyn, last week I received my application for absentee ballot so I have to mail that in order to get a ballot for the August and November elections.  I'll put it in the mailbox today or tomorrow.  Well, I didn't put it in today because I haven't signed it yet. 

I sat on the davenport with the cat nearby and looked out at the beautiful blue sky with some fleecy white clouds.  Our temperature is about 70 degrees and I love it - sweater weather.

I used the term "davenport" in Indps and the younger people were not familiar with the term.  I grew up with a couch or sofa being called the davenport and I heard years ago that it was mostly used in the midwest - where I have lived all my life.  I drink pop too and it has many names in other areas.

Mary Ann

MaryAnn, I had to laugh when I saw your post about your "davenport".  When I was growing up at my grandmother's home, we called our couch the davenport!  I wonder why furniture manufacturers started calling them couches?

Sue

I Googled it, to see what they had to say about it.  Seems that davenport is an East and Midwest word.  Couch was used West Coast and Southwest.  Divan and Sofa were used in the South.  In Canada the word was Chesterfield!  Now the Furniture manufacturers and sellers, want everyone, everywhere to say Sofa, so they use sofa, in all their ads and sales brochures.

Mary Ann - In California, all cola, 7up, etc. are referred to as soft drinks.  

It is still cloudy here today, and when I got up, it was only 59^oF. This afternoon is supposed to be sunny with promises (HAH) of dry weather for a few days.

I've added the Fuego volcano in Guatamala to my YouTube volcano watch. While mud and ash are not near as fascinating, pyroclastic eruptions are horrendously fast and much more devastating in terms of human lives as well as property.

Hi Everyone. This should be another partly sunny day, no rain in the forecast and a high of 91. 

This afternoon I will make a trip to Target to have the SIM cards changed over to the T-Mobile lines to see if we get better service before we cancel out the Consumer Cellular plan for our cell phones.  There was a T-Mobile store in the shopping center where Pat picked up her shoes yesterday and I checked with them and they said we should have strong service in our location.  I may have to spend $30 a month more to get service through them if what I plan on doing today doesn't work. 

This evening Scott and we don't know who else in terms of Elizabeth and Jennifer, will be out for the evening.  Pat fixed a Jello salad yesterday and the green beans and this afternoon will fix mac and cheese with ham chunks for our dinner tonight.  Yesterday we did eat out at IHOP and had a very good meal. 

Joan, you are so right about the satisfaction of service being tied to Management. 

Mary Ann, nice to read that you didn't lose the plant you were concerned about.  It is sure nice of your neighbor to do the bit of gardening for you. 

Marilyne, I just read an article this morning about your Primary Election results.  I hope you were happy with the results. 

Mary Ann, I think I have waited too long to get an absentee ballot but our polling place is very near by and usually in the middle of the day there aren't too many people at the polls so will try to go vote there.  I doubt that Pat will want to try it.  Where we live on the State line we get TV ads for the elections in both Georgia and South Carolina.  I am thankful for the mute button on the TV remote for those and also for the ads from the attorney's, which seem to be placed one after the other.  I have always referred to a sofa as a couch and we also had pop rather than sodas where I grew up in Missouri.  Marilyne, I can understand Canada referring to the sofa as a Chesterfield since that is a UK company. 

MarGal, we also expect dry weather for a few days with lower humidity but will be in the lower 90's all week.  That is a terrible situation in Guatemala .  They had some of the footage on the news last night.  At least in Hawaii they have had time to evacuate although there seem to always be some who refuse to do so. 

Sue, it sounds like our group here has had davenports, coaches and sofas.  I have heard the term Chesterfield and did a Google search and found that was a term used in the UK and is apparently a company as there is a catalog one can request. 

I knew a Chesterfield was a couch but I've never used the term.  Even now, I hesitate when I use the term "davenport" because of all the other names for it. 

In 1976 Norm's former wife and I went on a tour to Guatemala.  About two weeks before we left they had a massive earthquake and we saw much of the results.  We stayed two nights in a hotel in Guatemala City and all floors were not open to guests.  Fortunately, there was no volcanic action. 

I have a window washer coming this afternoon and I have to get things away from windows.  If push comes to shove, he can do everything from the outside, that is if he brings a ladder.  When he called to make arrangements, he said he had spent three months with an arm in a sling following rotator cuff surgery. 

It was 54 degrees when I rolled out of bed (and I do roll out of bed) at 8:30 am but it is up to 65 now.  I think it will be a nice day.

I don't think I mentioned Tom H's bed - he also has a memory foam mattress and his mattress is at least 10" thick.  I had almost as much trouble getting onto the bed as I did Annie's truck.  I finally managed to get a part of my left hip on the bed and could push myself far enough that I could roll onto the bed and stay there.  And when I left with getting hugs from everyone, I came up to the chest of all of the men - they're all well over 6 ft tall, more like 6'5* tall.  I am more like 4'9".  What a laugh we had then!

Mary Ann

Mary Ann - I see that the PRESQUE ISLE, will be going under the Duluth Bridge in about 10 or 15 minutes.  It might be interesting, in that it's one of those long boats - I think it said 1,000 ft?  It says 10:30 Duluth, so will be 8:30 here. 

Okay . . . that was a waste of time.  The PRESQUE ISLE, won't be departing until 1:30 AM, Thursday.