Just had to do it . . .

Only one of the many shots I took.  Can't come close to the reality of that evening sky.

When I returned from my new bra fitting session Monday for some insane reason I decided I should be rewarded with lunch at the Red Boot Deli in Clinton and I'm happy to say that P&D's Pop concurred even though we had eaten at Walk Ons with Big Kiddo and his wife Saturday after seeing Free State of Jones. We took some new roads to Clinton and I was again impressed with the beauty of the land here. A few of the roads were pretty rutted but still 55 mph speed limit! So bumping and cruising along as we passed ranches, farms, horses, cows gorgeous properties, hovels we arrived at the Red Boot in about an hour. We shared our favorite Muffaletta with chips and this time also shared a beefy tomato and pepper soup. We managed to eat it all which was a good thing because we still had leftovers we had to eat for supper! But I think the real reason I wanted to go to Clinton was to walk around and look at where the Free State of Jones was filmed. Most of the scenes that took place in a small town were filmed right on Main Street just down the street from the Red Boot. So after lunch we walked down the street so I could see all the work that had been done to turn Clinton into a Mississippi town during the Civil War. Really a very neat experience because we were in Clinton last year when they were building and remodeling the store fronts for the movie.

Have had a few more cool experiences yesterday too. I haven't been able to go to the flying fields with P&D's Pop for over a week because I was helping out at Bible School so yesterday I got a chance to go to Walker to get my daily walking in. Well, wouldn't you know a great egret decided to hang around the fishing pond and I got some pretty good photos and to top it off last evening I was on my porch swing after the thunderstorm and a rainbow popped up in the East. I ran to get my camera and was taking pictures of the rainbow when Grampa came out and advised me to turn around. I turned around and the most vibrant sunset I've ever seen was in the western sky. I couldn't stop snapping. I've seen glorious sunsets in Connecticut but never like the sunsets here. I think that the huge 3D clouds coming up from the gulf add to the beauty of the setting and rising sun.

And . . . I have also learned that walking barefoot on a cement driveway at this time of year is asking to get burned! Wow, impressive heat coming into your feet; it's like walking on a cookie sheet that has just come out of the oven. I already knew better than to go barefoot on the grass because of the fire ants and I do remember the hot tar in Moosup but this surprised me because the driveway is kinda whitish.

On a somber note I was appalled once again about the Islamic jihad at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul but I was downright scared for our Seattle nephew, his wife and two little ones who had just flown to Turkey to visit her father. Fortunately they landed in Izmir the night before the attack and will leave from there next week to go to Germany before getting on a plane back to the USA. Life is to be lived to the fullest and I don't want to get paranoid about flying, airports, theatres, malls, hotels, churches but the world is a tough place when no Western countries will try to stem the tide of the Islamic Barbarians who refuse to live in the twenty first century. They must be wiped out. Satan is in his glory.

Quote:  There are thousands hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.   ___Thoreau

Wow. Only 9:45 am and I've had to change clothing . . .

Mockingbird eating out scruffty tomatoes.

Again it seems odd but when I got up at about 6:50 this morning I looked at the temperature 72 degrees and thought I should have a quick breakfast and go out and walk while it is so cool. I can't imagine that I'm already thinking that 72 is cool! But out walking I did go, my six laps around the circle and then past our neighbor's house on the straight away. As I was walking Jerry called me over and gave me two white vinca plants. He is a landscaper and helped us when P&D's Pop messed up his back and couldn't mow for a couple of weeks. He said he used to give his leftover plants from the jobs he has to his neighbor to his right but she has remarried since her husband died and he's uncertain if the new husband will mind if he gives her the plants So this is pretty cool for me as I will try to make whatever he may have extra grow. He told me to only water it every two to three days. I had to work so hard to dig up the ground under the front bedroom window but I think I've got them planted pretty well and surrounded with pine needles for mulch. I hope they thrive. Perhaps when we figure out how our money lasts down here we can have Jerry keep the front of the house in pretty plants. He has coleus in his yard right now and that is already the second or third planting he's done since February. I don't care for coleus but his yard is quite neat and trim. Since he's a native Louisianian I think I should follow his lead!

P&D's Pop is at Doyle's Bayou Park in Zachary then he'll be stopping to visit with Big Kiddo while Big Kiddo's wife comes here after her nail fix and we'll be heading out to see The Little Mermaid at a small theatre in Baton Rouge. We're hoping we find the theatre exciting because then we can think about getting season's tickets. Tomorrow the four of us will be going to see The Free State of Jones at the new movie house on Juban. Parts of the movie were filmed in Clinton where Grampa and I like to go to eat muffulettas at the Redboot Deli. We're wondering if we'll recognize Clinton, LA in the movie when we see it! The staging crews made a lot of changes to the buildings and roads so it may just slip by us as we watch. We'll try to go have a bite at Walk Ons after the noon show and hope they aren't too crowded. There are, amazingly to me, beaucoup people everywhere we go! Our own little neighborhood is peaceful and calm but it doesn't take long if you want to get to busy and hectic.

Quote:  Before God can deliver us we must undeceive ourselves. ____Augustine

It's been interesting . . .

I've spent today and yesterday helping out with snacks at Immaculate Conception Summer Bible School. We have about 87 kiddos from Kindergarten to Fifth Grade and it's working out very well. I've also met Nick who is the young man in the confirmation class who is in charge but not in charge. I have to be careful not to take away his quasi authority. The school wants their big kids to learn how to help out with all aspects of Bible School but an adult must be present at all times - so, I'm Nick's adult! He won't be there tomorrow and neither will I. I'm sure they'll make do without us. I have a good excuse; I'll be helping my daughter-in-law with her foster grand kids but Nick will be in court with his Dad! Seems he was driving 84 mph in a 55 mph zone. Not a good thing. It'll be interesting to see if he'll be driving himself to school Thursday when we both resume our duties. He's only had his license for about 8 months!

Our crepe myrtles along the fence are finally starting to bloom. I'm so glad that they are all going to be shades of pink. The white ones are really too plain for my taste. I'm also looking at queen sized beds because I think we'll break down and buy a queen bed for the quest bedroom rather than the full we have now. This way when youngest child comes to visit we'll have better accommodations. I have to look into it more. Have no idea anymore about costs of anything. We haven't bought a new bed in about 50 years - mattresses, yes, but not a new bed. We have the time to look around and get something we like but isn't outrageously fancy. I still tend to like early American, if that even exists anymore, Danish, or Mission type, plain wooden pieces. I don't even know the names of the different types of furniture! I don't expect to buy a set either, just a bed and an excellent mattress and box spring - not sure they even sell box springs anymore! I don't want all sorts of newfangled number beds, or trampoline-cushion-entire-family-with-animals-included-bed. Just a perfect queen with a perfect mattress that will never need replacing!

Waiting for the One Hour air conditioning technician to come and get his check before I start exercising in the house. I don't want to scare him! We are going to pay about $250 a year to make sure they are always on call to fix anything that may go wrong. I think we could go without heat in the winter but never without air in the summertime. There is nothing wrong with our unit but some parts of it are almost 20 years old so we certainly don't need to take any chances.

Quote:  As are families, so is society. __If well ordered, well instructed, and well governed, they are the springs from which go forth the streams of national greatness and prosperity - of civil order and public happiness.   ____Thayer

Interesting days . . .

The Big Kids' Dad and I went out for Father's Day dinner Wednesday at the Longhorn Steakhouse in DS. It's easier for us to go out for a late-lunch-early-dinner; the traffic isn't bad and we don't have to contemplate waiting for a table. We like things easy! Their shrimp appetizer was excellent. I'll order that as my main meal next time. It's odd how I can eat some seafood down here and really like it. We ended up bringing home enough food for our next day's supper.

I'm sitting outside this evening as the heat is quite bearable and as I write two hummingbirds who decided to stay here for the summer are busy chasing each other around the feeder. They look like females but I'm not sure. Seems odd that they are still here when I do believe most of the hummers are up North somewhere. I had a good afternoon learning how to load a 22 target pistol and shooting off about five clips. I've been wanting to target practice for a long time but the last time I tried was in Connecticut when I let the Big Kiddo take the 22 rifle and do some target practice in the yard behind the house. When P&D's Pop heard about it, he was at the apartment in Vermont, he was very unhappy with me. It seems I was breaking the law and even though I was brought up shooting a 22 right in the same place when I was a kid I guess I didn't even consider I was doing anything wrong. My instructor today taught me how to handle the gun safely (always treat any weapon as if it were loaded) how to make sure the safety is on unless I plan to shoot. I'm sure he must have been surprised when I tried to sight in on it by bring the sights up towards my shoulder like I used to sight the rifle. The safety was on and I did not have my finger on the trigger but he probably expected me to know a little bit as I had shot a gun before!  So I learned how to grip the target pistol properly and line up the little red ball at the end of the barrel with the white line somewhere above the trigger before I undid the safety and made my first shot. It's a good thing I had a good set of earmuffs because the sound is astoundingly loud. I was consistently low on the target so I certainly need a lot more practice. I will take more lessons and expect to go to a shooting range on a regular basis just to try to be a good shot. I used to love target practice when I was a kid with the 22 rifle but also with a bow and arrow. I even had bales of hay on Highland Extension so I wouldn't be shooting into the neighbor's yard and we shot the 22 rifle and Pa's shotgun out behind the shed at MaTante Rose and Mon Oncle Joe's house, the house Grampa and I bought in 1969.

I spent a good part of the day Friday helping out in the office at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. I was amazed at the amount of work there is to do in that office. It is a big parish and I spent time filling in the Mass Calendar for all of the people who pay for masses for their loved ones, deceased or living. It's really a tricky business because there are only so many masses on weekends and only one daily so the calendar fills quickly. There are so many requests that Sunday masses can have numerous people people listed and you have to be sure to list if they are living or deceased. Then you have to address and prepare a Mass Card to be sent to the family of the deceased to tell them about the dates and times and who paid for the masses; then the Pastor has to sign the card. I had to be very careful to write in my best script or printing and no mistakes! Must say I had to use some white out because  if someone paid for five masses for a friend you had to make sure not to schedule all at once or too soon. Pretty wild day. I also met the teachers for Summer Bible School next week. They asked me if I would help out so I'll be there most of the week from 9 to 12. Then the following week I'll start what I hope will be my regular volunteer job on Thursdays and Fridays from 10am to 1pm helping out in the Early Learning Center. I believe it is a preschool program so we'll see if this is going to work out okay.  I'm looking forward to it.

Quote:  Remembrance is the only paradise out of which we cannot be driven away.  ______Richter

And he's mowing . . .

9 am and husband is out mowing - temperature 84, humidity 85. It's terrible out there and he's already got a pretty good cut on his forehead having run into the air conditioner on The Shed. At least the sun has gone behind the clouds at this moment but that will not last. Phew, I can't even go out and do my stretches without sweating and he's out there working but he does have a hat on and shorts! I guess there is nothing I can do to get him to let the neighbor mow, at least in summertime. We'll see. It must be a man thing.

Having said that it is now 1pm as I stopped writing to go outside and help with the lawn! So I guess I'm as crazy as he!  I did the trim for about a half hour, repotted the Sun Parasol Mandevilla because I think it was drowning where I had planted it. It was losing leaves like crazy, turning yellow and dropping rotten blossoms. It is now back in a pot and out front hidden from the down pours yet in a partially sunny spot under the Magnolia. We'll see if I can save it. I had to take a shower and wash all of our clothes because when you work in the tropics you get sweaty, really sweaty! I do believe I'm going to call that stint out of doors as my exercise for the day. I have made myself an iced mocha just to keep me sweet and comfortable!

I suppose I should have some words to say about the Orlando massacre but I am at a loss. It's inconceivable that there can be so much pure evil in this world and somehow good no longer works to eradicate it. I'll leave it at that because I am unsure of what's churning in my own mind.

Quote:  Evil is in antagonism with the entire creation.  ___Zschokke

Pretty busy week . . .

Fresh peaches gave way to a cobbler

Must say that it feels good to be home hanging out with P&D's Pop and the puppies. Big Kiddo and wife are off on their first excursion with the travel trailer and it seems that after today they will already be old hands at towing a 32 foot trailer in gusty winds, rain and lightning! That was not in the cards for today but what the heck it's almost like living in Connecticut where you just have to wait a minute and the weather goes from beautiful to yucky to sensational to horrid in two shakes of a lamb's tail. This was the first time I got caught. I was shopping for groceries and the weather was gorgeous when I went into Rouses. The storm came crashing down as I shopped. I was amazed at the sound of the winds and rain. As I tried to leave the store had closed its big garage type glass doors and people were lined up waiting for the storm to end. A few people told me to wait until it slowed down and the lightening and big winds stopped before I ventured out. So I did as the natives said and when there was a lull I ran pell mell to the car, got soaking wet through and through and through, threw the groceries into the trunk, put on the heat to defog the windows and headed home. I still had to drive about 40 mph max because it was raining and the roads were covered with inches of rain. But I was home and under the carport easily enough where P&D's Pop and the puppies helped me out. I couldn't save any of the plastic bags as I usually do because they were dripping. My shoes are still out on the porch drying out. So that was quite a new experience for me. I've driven in the hard rain down here but never had to leave a store in the middle of wild weather. A bit scary but doable as long as you use common sense and wait for Mother Nature to calm down.

Received bad news yesterday evening and a phone call today about a friend who took his own life. He was not a close friend but we know many people who have been devastated by his death. I don't think anyone would commit suicide if they thought about the consequences to the folks they leave behind. I feel in my gut that it is nasty, cruel, thoughtless and downright ornery for someone to quit living and let everyone in their lives pick up the pieces of the mess they have created. Of course I have no idea why this happened and neither do his family, friends and employees. They will carry on because they will choose to live but their lives will be forever changed by this cruel, heartless act. I don't like to dwell on it but I have known four men who decided to quit living and destroy themselves.  I find them despicable and I don't imagine that is very Christian of me. Not sure at all how to help the people they left behind cope with their selfishness.

Well, don't want to end on that note so I'll just mention that I should read the complete instruction manual before I use a new device. I bought a new digital thermometer for cooking and put the batteries in it, set it up to cook a nice rice stuffed boneless chicken and almost burnt the chicken! The fire alarm was screaming as both Grampa and I smelled the beginnings of smoke in the kitchen. The chicken was really delicious even if the skin was crispy. Problem: I had put batteries into the thermometer but had not but some in the base i.e. it looked like it was working but it wasn't! In any case I shall be more careful.

Quote:  Good nature is the beauty of the mind, and like personal beauty, wins almost without anything else - sometimes, indeed, in spite of positive deficiencies.    ___Hanway

And they're off . . .

I forgot.  I can't find a lot of my photos.  I messed around with the computer yesterday and I think I've thrown out things I didn't mean to throw out.  Oh well, c'est la vie! This is the Live Oak in the backyard, probably taken in March.

They're off to Ponchatula to pick up Big Kiddo's brand spankin' new travel trailer. The "they" is comprised of P&D's Pop, Big Kiddo and Southern Daughter. It's really pretty darned exciting. They already have a place to camp for this weekend when they go to New Orleans for some travel team baseball. Southern Daughter's nephew plays in a league and there are a couple of games this weekend. He's from Texas and has been warned not to go hanging out in New Orleans at night because you have to know how to maneuver in NOLA but he said that wasn't on the agenda. I believe his wife and young son will also be there to root him on. I have to find out the team's name. It's pretty neat that Big Kiddo already has a place to go on the first weekend that they have their travel trailer. We'll keep the puppies. We'll be old hands at this puppy sitting soon! We already know that we only need one crate for old Shelby and just a dog bed for Daytona. I think they're going to like it here! Old dog just likes to eat and sleep in her crate; new dog likes to lie outside in the shade and watch the world go by. They're very easy to have as guests! I even have two old blankets, one which I made for our kids and one which Ma Tante Rose crocheted they can use for lying out on the porch in the shade or in the cool of the kitchen.

It's been a little busy this week as I've been to Slaughter to help M. get to her doctor's appointment and physical therapy. She can't drive yet because she has to take pain pills before the therapy but Wednesday, with no pain meds, I will accompany her and B's foster children to their visitation appointment in Livingston. The child will be fine in the car but if the baby gets grouchy M. will need help and I hope I can help! Both kiddos are doing so well with the love and care they are getting from B. It's too bad the state insists that their parents must still be allowed access to their castaways. I certainly don't have the answers but I do believe that if someone is taking my tax money I should be allowed to tell them they can't make any babies and I will pay to have them neutered. I also believe that visiting parents who refuse to care for their progeny, and by that I mean, feed them, keep them clean, teach them right from wrong and educate them, should not be allowed to be a part of the children's lives. When children are treated worse than animals it's time to lock up the parents in a jungle with all the other bad parents, throw them bread and water and let them try to live in that environment. It can bring you to tears to see how some people live and it is grossly unfair for the state to perpetuate this.

Gee, hadn't planned to go into children's welfare but there it is. This has nothing to do with ethnicity but everything to do with politics. Our society has produced an underclass of good-of-nothings and allows them to breed. The problem is not poverty because that underclass can also be found in the wealthy communities;  the problem is in a society with no behavioral expectations of its citizens. Perhaps if the schools were allowed to instill discipline in all children and expectations were set for behavior and learning we might overcome some of the trauma you read about daily in the media. But that would be hard work and we would need a judiciary that would insist on keeping children safe, clean and educated in basic reading, writing, arithmetic and history with a capital H. I'm a bit of a pessimist now because I don't see the state helping out except if the politicians can get some votes for themselves to keep the lowly low and keep the power in their own hands. The churches must step in but I'm starting to think churches can also be a problem when they are more interested in telling bible stories than doing the hard work of saving the children from a society that has no rules or expectations. Maybe we need a really good strong intelligent tyrant!

Well, certainly have written some incoherent thoughts today. I should probably quit reading the newspaper! It seems there is never a dearth of stories about the slime and corruption of the political class and the heart rending stories about people behaving worse than any of the other animals God has created. Perhaps the ability to think is a curse.

Quote:  Whether it be for good or evil, the education of the child is principally derived from its own observation of the action, words, voice, and looks of those with whom it lives.  --The friends of the young, then, cannot be too circumspect intheir presence to avoid every and the least appearance of evil.    ___Jebb

Good day . . .

We went to South Park as usual and I wasn't going to lug my camera around as I walked because it was really sticky humid but I lugged it. I was rewarded with a few good photos of the Red-headed Woodpecker, a Brown Thrasher and a fat frog. The fat frog seems incongruous with the birds but just as the birds' songs float out over the park the frogs are often croaking their own tunes. It's almost noisy sometimes - well, you can't call it noise it's just nature's music which can be surprisingly loud.

When we returned I got caught up with a few odds and ends before heading out to visit with southern daughter, big Kiddo's wife, who recently underwent shoulder surgery. She will be in a sling for six weeks so I thought a helping hand would do us both some good. It was neat because I got a chance to help with the cooking. I've never seen chicken fried steak cooked at home before but that's what we made. She beat the heck out of the beef and I sliced it and shook it up in seasoned flour before M. fried it up - smelled so good. I also helped to cut up the potatoes for roasting and M. did the seasoning. That also smelled great. I never have really roasted potatoes because I'm a lazy cook but I think I may try both of today's recipes. Son arrived home earlier than expected so I took off for home. Glad I did because I hit some rain in Central, not too bad but after I got home the heavens opened up and it poured buckets. Had some thunder and lightning too right overhead and then it was all gone. I was amazed at how hard the rain falls down here in Denham Springs. With our tin roof it is nice to listen to the drumming when we sit out on the back porch. It also cooled us off a bit.

I was also impressed today by the kill-the-mosquitos machine our son has in his front yard. Not quite sure how it works but it has a continuously running propane tank that somehow attracts the damned mosquitoes to a container so they can't reproduce and I suppose that if they die there that does the trick! It seems that in about a month's time there will be no more mosquitos in their yard. I do believe they will have to run the contraption for the entire summer just to be safe. Fingers crossed. We really haven't had any mosquito encounters yet but we're generally not out for long in the evenings so they may be here but we're not outside!

Got a call yesterday evening from Dr. Mandy Erwin's Office telling me that my iron levels are very low  - a 10 where I should be a 13. So I've started taking an iron supplement. I've been really slow and dull lately so it could be that I will perk up with the iron. Haven't been tested for that in umpteen years! I was anemic for awhile when I was in my teens but that's ages ago. So perhaps this will work and  I'll get all my pep back!  Yay!

To top off yesterday's news P&D's Pop has decided he needs to go back to mowing the lawn. I am not pleased but I suppose if he needs to do something it might as well be the lawn. I really wish he'd let the man I hired do it because then, selfish as I am, I won't have to try to keep up with the trim.  I can do it but my body doesn't like it and in this heat neither do I!  We'll see if he perseveres. I don't want him to get hurt again but he says he has it under control. Phooey is what I say, phooey.

Quote:  The wavering mind is but a base possession.   ____Euripides