Thanksgiving Is Over

For the past couple of weeks, when I have to report to the workplace at 9:00 am, I stop at the stop sign at the bottom of Green Hill Road. Across the street, at the church parking lot, is a bus stop where three little girls catch the bus.

During these past couple of weeks, they've been at the bus stop along with a wild tom turkey that seems to have adopted them, or maybe it's the parking lot that it's adopted.





Anyway, today while out and about, there was the wild turkey, in all his glory prancing around the church parking lot. When he saw us, he chased the big red truck up Green Hill Road. Amazing.

Finally, we just couldn't take it any longer. We had to go get the camera.



We returned to the parking lot and got some amazing pictures of this very large tom turkey that was in full feather display and prancing round with his courting song, pretty as a picture and knowing it. He even allowed us to touch him.

A woman stopped by and asked if the turkey was bothering us. "Of course not." We just wanted pictures. "Yes, he is a wild turkey." "He has adopted the three little girls that live in the house next door." "He's the neighborhood turkey and everyone is feeding him." "We worry that he might wander into the road and get hit or someone will shoot him." "He sleeps on the little girls deck railing."

I have to admit, I do enjoy seeing this turkey around. He is just a beautiful bird, though be it a little strange. He just came around and stayed. I have an idea that when breeding season does start, this turkey will leave the three little girls that seem to love him so. He just needs practice to intice the girls of his own kind.

Yummy Chocolate!!!

I had promised Husband yesterday that I would make my chocolate tapioca pudding today. OK. This morning came and I did remember the chocolate tapioca I wanted to make. While waiting for the recipe to rest...it sits before and after cooking to let the tapioca become saturated, I went looking through the tiny cookbook where this recipe resides and found several other recipes that I had at one time and lost. Some of my favorite recipes and I wasn't aware that all this time I had them.

Once the tapioca was finished I started putting this one and all my other favorite in my personalized cookbook of all the recipes I love the best. No hunting for anything in this book. It is just my recipes that I enjoy cooking the most. I am filling this cookbook up now.

Winter Continuing...perennials

Finally, my last order to date was with Wayside Gardens. This possibly could be the most disappointing of all my orders, since I've had good and bad with them. I kept my order smallish, however, with the idea that I might order some other plants that I want closer to spring, or after this shipment comes and I can see what their stock is like. There have been years with Wayside that I've been impressed and other times when I wasn't. They do seem to run in cycles. Last year I was impressed.

From Wayside, I will generally get perennials. This year I ordered 3 Ajuga Black Scallop (Bugleweed). I've been getting about three of these a year for the past three years. I'm using it as a ground cover around the edges of one of my major flowerbeds. I like this plant and it's grown nicely for me over the past couple of years. I want it thick enough to prevent weeds from coming up and it's been good at this.

I also ordered 3 Hypericum 'Briggadoon'. I have one of these plants from last year and will move it to another major bed where I will use it as a ground cover. Another nice plant as a ground cover.

Then I ordered 2 Aruncus dioicus 'Goat's Beard' for the back of the large perennial bed. This plant will get about 5 feet tall and resemble the other grasses in that bed. It should fill in the edges of that bed nicely.

Then, of course, another Heuchera villosa 'Encore'. I must have about 25 of these now of different varieties but am always looking for more.

Last but not least, I found this Paeonia 'Bartzella' very interesting and want to try it. It's a new variety that is a cross between my beloved tree peony and the herbacious peony. I'm curious to see how this one grows.

For now, these are my spring orders. Now for spring to get here.

Winter Continuing...roses

I've also ordered my roses for next spring. I got these coming from two different suppliers, one of which I've ordered from before and have always been totally impressed with their stock. Vintage Roses http://www.vintagegardens.com/. This company send own-root rose slips that are strong and grow into nice bushes in one season.

There are a lot of folks who don't want to wait a year to get a rose bush, but I've found that to get the own-root slips makes for a stonger, healthier bush that is less prone to the common blights of this area. Own-root roses can live much, much longer than grafted roses. I have own-root roses in the garden that are almost 20 years old now and have been moved all around two counties while I built my home and they are stronger than ever. Most of the grafted roses I moved have since perished.

From Vintage I ordered some lovely singles, Ellen Willmott, Mrs. Oakley Fisher, Vesuvius. Until recently I didn't realize that there were more hybrid tea single roses besides Dainty Bess that is already growing nicely in my garden. From Vintage I also ordered Smoky, virus indexed variety. I find the color of this rose quite unusual, a red with a smoky haze. I'm hoping the virus indexed variety will be stronger and better producing than the one I had before.

From another company I've never ordered from before, I ordered 3 climbing roses, Dublin Bay, a beautiful red, City of York, white, and Summer Wine, peach/apricot. Even though I've never ordered from Roses Unlimited before, they don't come without a great reputation so I'm fairly confident that the own-root rose slips I get will be very nice.

I am considering ordering one more City of York from Vintage Roses so I can compare the two. Besides, I really want two of this rose and two of Summer Wine. However, Vintage doesn't sell Summer Wine.

It's beginning to look like spring is going to be a good season.

Winter Continuing...seeds

It's 18º outside right now. This is the coldest so far this year. This is usual for these parts. Sometimes it gets even colder. But I'm near the Mason Dixon line here, surrounded by two major rivers and am usually warm compared to other parts of this same county.

We're reaching toward the end of January now. I'll have one more free weekend before the gardening fun begins. February starts the conventions and very early shows. March is completely filled now. Somewhere toward the end of March I must start finding time to get outside and start my late winter gardening chores. Things will begin to slow down by the end of April. That's when spring planting begins.

But for now, I think I have most of my garden ordering done for this spring. This year I went to a new supplier for seeds. Well, at least one I'd never ordered from before. Vermont Bean Co. From them I ordered Cranberry and Blue Lake bush beans for fresh and dried cooking, atomic red carrots, a mixture of loose leaf lettuce which we love and look forward to fresh every year. Oh, BTW, my co-workers have asked when I'd bring fresh salad greens in for a treat. I promised them and haven't done that yet.

All my seed packets I've ordered from Vermont Bean have arrived in good time and await planting when the season arrives. They are wintering in the garage where it is cool and dark. I've also ordered 25 Honeoye strawberry plants that should arrive just in time for planting. I've dedicated and entire raised bed in the garden for these little plants and will have some of the best strawberries around next year. In the meantime, I have some of last years crop frozen neatly in the downstairs freezer and they look sooooo good.

I have to admit, I've been pleased so far with Vermont Bean and hope that my strawberries come in good shape.

I'm making arrangements for a party in February. I'm planning on some light food and am thinking of making meatball sandwiches with cheese. Having the usual party food but also having some strawberry shortcake and a pumpkin treat which is my Husband's favorite, using both some of the strawberries and pumpkin that I have in the freezer. I'm looking forward to a really nice party.

It's That Time Again

Many years ago, I went to a seminar that a local, well-known nursery was having. There were several speakers and a number of subjects that I was interested in. After the seminar, I had the opportunity to visit with Mr. Stauffer, the owner of the nursery, with a group of other gardeners. After this visit and an inspection of the nursery's back 40, Mr. Stauffer offered each of us a plant to take home.

"These plants," he said, "are good plants. It's not that they won't be nice in your garden. It's just that they don't show well in pots. If they don't show well in pots, they won't sell."

Since Husband came along with me, I had a choice of two plants. I picked out two daylilies called Barbary Corsair. I took these two tiny daylilies home and chose a spot in my very front bed along the road. Within weeks they more than doubled their size and began to bloom. What little beauties! They were 3", rich velvet plum with a lime green throat. The plants were wonderful and the flowers seemed weatherproof. I really liked it.

When we sold that property, I left those little lovelies behind thinking that I could easily replace them. Of course for years afterward, I couldn't find them. But, now I have and I plan on purchasing a couple of roots for my garden. They are the perfect color and would really match my house. I'm also planning on another called Auroa Raspberry that does appear to match Barbary Corsair with contrast.

This will be my daylilies for this year. Of course, I might have to break down and order a Barbara Mitchell daylily as well. I'll see.

It's time to start ordering what plants I want for the garden now. My roses are ordered and waiting for planting season. I've already heard from both Vintage Gardens and Roses Unlimited about my orders. More on them later.

Winter

Well, it appears that winter made here to the homestead. We have a total of about 3" so far and it's hard to say if we'll be getting to much more.
It did make for a beatiful snowfall and I was awed as usual on my slow trip home from work. The snow is wet and hung on the trees and bushes so beautifully. It clung to my New Dawn rose canes over the arbor and shrowding everything in white.
However, this garden is no comparison to the wild forests around my property. Only nature can make anything that beautiful.
I can't say that it's bitter cold outside because it isn't. Still, even the sight of snow can chill one to the bones. So we stayed indoors this evening curled into a ball on the sofas in various spots keeping warm. Shalimar is taking advantage of the extra soft cushions of the ancient sectional in front of the fireplace. This girl knows what's good.

Florists Roses

Yesterday I received a bundle of 26 florists roses for the house. I also was taken to a rather nice resaturant for dinner. Of course I couldn't eat the entire dinner so a large portion of it came home for tonight's dinner.

Yesterday was my 26th wedding anniversary. Now, to look forward to 27. One year at a time.

New Things

Today was rather warm but not pleasant. This evening it is raining. So today was spent at the local mall. Some time ago, Husband had won a raffle that he played and won $1,000. Normally, I would cringe at this, but when he got the money, he had no idea what he wanted to do with it, so he put it in our joint account and it's been there ever since. Yesterday he decided what he wanted to use some of it for...he got a Bow-flex home gym what was greatly reduced at Sears. I was ecstatic! We'd had a Weidler years ago, but didn't want to put it in storage when we built, so we gave it to the son. I didn't realize at the time how much I would miss that home gym.

http://www.bowflexshop.com/bhg_microsite/products/xtremese/prdcdovr~100026/Bowflex+Xtreme+SE+Home+Gym.jsp

Today we went to pick it up and I got to test out the display one that they had set up. Oh, yeah. I think I'll use that machine as much as Husband will. I will still do my dance exercises as well and take the dog for a walk, especially since this Bow-flex doesn't have the stepper the Weidler did. The Weidler also used weights instead of tension but I think I'm going to like the tension. I also like my dance exercises and will like them more as I get to know the routines.

So today, I did my dance exercises, took Bratley for a power walk and did some playing around on the Bow-flex at Sears. I also played with the cat and made a flannel shirt for Husband. It's been a busy day.

I don't expect the Bow-flex to be set up for about a week. It will reside downstairs in the safe room where the temperatures are usually even at about 68 degrees, but that room doesn't have all the drywall and insulation up yet. The wall where the gym is going to go, needs done and next week Husband will be busy finishing that wall so he can set up the gym. I'm trying to talk Husband into inviting the son over to help with setup.

When we had the Weidler, we had that set up in the great room lower level and when we would have a party, it was also used as a seat. People would ask me if I used that machine and I would say "Every day" which I did. I had a routine that I used with that machine to stay toned. That's what we'll use this Bow-flex for.

While we were out we stopped for a lunch. Now, at dinner time, I'm not really hungry but most likely will be in about an hour. I'm strongly considering pancakes for dinner. Something easy to eat.

Let's Party!

Today I hosted the family Christmas party. After at least one other party this week; getting ready for this party;being on my feet from 4:00 am to 11:00pm each evening; baking 40 dozen cookies; a turkey; sweet potato casserole; cleaning the house; wrapping all the gifts; getting party favors ready; setting up for the party; baking biscuits, gravy, and a pumpkin pie; doing a load of laundry, I am beat.


But the party went off without a hitch. Well...maybe one. The great grandfather of my grandchildren is well into his 80's and rather set in his ways. I think he was expecting a traditional turkey spread and instead, we had a pot luck dinner. My Husband's ex and I both made turkeys (neither of us had one that was big enough for the entire group). She brought the cold turkey for cold turkey sandwiches. I had the hot turkey for the hot turkey on biscuits with gravy. She brought the stuffing and some gravy. I had some gravy too.


Each of the kids brought something as well. Jennifer brought a wonderful green bean casserole and Christina brought the most delicious baked corn I'd ever eaten. In the end it was a really nice dinner and after I explained to great grandfather that he could have his choice in hot food or cold, he ended up having a wonderful time too.

After dinner we spent 2½ hours opening gifts. Now, mind you, we, the adults had swapped names at Thanksgiving. The gifts at this party were for the grandbabies of which there are 4. Those kids made out like bandits!

Both the little ones, Laura, the blond and Sarah the brunette, are now pretty much walking. However, it is tiny Sarah that is motoring all around. Laura still wants to crawl around a good bit, but will stand and balance herself. She seems to be a more deliberate child, taking her time with the packages and ripping the paper carefully.


Sarah, on the other hand, is quite the character. She is already practicing to be quite the vixen, standing here peeking over the stool seat, her little butt swinging back and forth like in a provocative dance. Now, remember, she is only 1.

Both of my stepchildren make us proud, but of my stepchildren, Jennifer is the one to be most proud of right now. She has lost about 50 lbs. so far and is still loosing. She is finally starting to look really good and I know she says she feels much better too.

The party was fun as usual. I must admit, I do know how to throw a party. The hot turkey and biscuits with gravy went over very well too. Much of the food left after dinner with everyone, but I did keep some to make with other meals and the left over hot turkey will be remixed with the juices left when I roasted it and I will make turkey noodle soup, most likely Christmas day. Oh, I can hardly wait for that! I've been so hungry for noodle soup and now I have the stock to make it. None of that turkey went to waste. All that went into the trash were the bones.

Now it's time to go visit the neighbors for a cocktail party.

The Holidays

The presents are wrapped; the lost gift receipts are found; the cookies are baked; the office x-mas party is prepared for. I think I'm caught up for now. Saturday will start the cooking. A pumpkin pie; the turkey; the sweet potato casserole will all be prepared and some made. I'll be wiped out until the party gets here, but I will have a good time hosting it.

Sunday is my Christmas party. What happened to Christmas Day? Well, some of us are working so the day of will be a quiet one for me. I've gotten so used to even not having Christmas Day off that it's old hat to celebrate it any time during the week between and around the winter solstice. I was telling my boss about the winter solstice celebration today. He'd never heard of it before. But he did seem excited about the idea.

I'm tired. I've been getting up at 4am every morning this week and on my feet until about 10pm each day. Dinner tonight was soup and sandwich because I was to pooped to cook. I did take advantage of a beautiful day and walk around the yard after work. It was nice to walk around and look at all my sleeping plants - seeing all the stuff I didn't do this past fall. I'll get it there.

It appears that I will be so busy this winter that I won't have time until March to do much in the garden. I have things going on each month, and almost each week. My weekends in January are filling up quickly.

Bratley pulled his shoulder this morning. Right now I'm just watching him. So far, I've not seen a reason to take him to the vet, but if his shoulder doesn't clear up in a day or two, he'll be going. It was to sudden to be anything but a stepping injury. He went out the door just fine but came in limping.

I hope the holidays bring some meaning to everyone.

Things Have Been Busy

Things have been busy here, but I was still able to have a very nice holiday. I spent the day with family and friends with turkey, ham, greenbean casserole, brussell sprouts, mashed potatoes with bacon, filling the entire works! After dinner as well as before there was wonderful comany.

I got a handmade card from granddaughter Abigail, as we all did, but I was rather surprise at mine and what she remembered most about being at my house. Of course there was Bratley. He's always someone to be remembered but she also remembered the day she came over and we cooked dinner for her Daddy and Poppy. I guess I just didn't expect her to write about that day.

When I have her and her sister, I always try to do something with them rather and sit them in front of the TV for entertainment. That particular day, stepson Jim came over to help Husband move a tree. I took the girls since I didn't want them to get in the way and possibly get hurt. We took Bratley for a walk and while on the walk, a herd of doe ran across the street in front of us. It was wonderful and the girls were awed.

As we returned from our walk, I noticed that the men were nearly finished planting the tree, so I took the girls in the house and we started dinner for them. I gave Abigail a knife to cut the hot dogs (she was old enough to be responsible) which she did very carefully and well. Hanna, little sister was standing on a stool to stir the maccroni. That became a little difficult for her after awhile and the noodles got thick so I had to help her stir. The dinner turned out to be a great success and the men made a big fuss over the girls cooking it for them.

Hanna is a little more doplic but both girls take their jobs very seriously and are usually very careful when they're asked to do something. They're both great kids and wonderful to have around. Now that they're getting older, they're even more fun to have around. Abigail loves the theatre, museums and history. Hanna loves gardening which totally surprised me since once she was asked to help pick strawberries and she had a tantrum when she was told to pick only the fat, bright red ones. She liked the green ones better and was sent pouting to sit with her mother when she refused to listen. She is a little older now and has found an appreciation for it.

The two youngest granddaughters, Sarah and Laura, are only getting started with their lives and it will be interesting to see what interests them as they grow.

I just sent out the CD for the ARS photo contest. I have my fingers crossed. I know I have some beautiful shots on that CD. I just hope I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Right now I'm working on Christmas cards and birthday cards. I need 4 birthday cards and oh, my, I'm not sure how many Christmas cards. I need to get the birthday cards done this week and the beautiful Christmas card envelopes addressed. I just feel so busy right now.

The Little Pumpkin

Although my little Halloween pumpkin was born October 31st, we celebrated her birthday today. She is 1 year old. It is the duty of the grandparents to not forget the 1st birthday of every grandchild and this one is #3. We call her Sarah and when born she weighed in at 5 lbs. 7 oz. Now she is weighing about 15 pounds. She is a very tiny little thing.

That's me holding her. The look on Sarah's face is typical for her. Though such a tiny baby, she is always happy and giggly, curious and healthy. She will fuss like any baby, but that lasts only a minute or two and she's back to her smiley, happy self again. She can catch on quickly when she realized that Poppy's thumb could turn a ring that made her new phone sing and she didn't have the strength to. She would grab Poppy's thumb and put it on the ring. That is probably the only thing of concern with her. Her strength. She doesn't seem to be a very muscular baby and is still trying to gain balance. She will scoot around on her legs if there's someone who will willingly go with her. She still needs to hold on. But then, she is only 15 lbs. She'll probably be on her own by Christmas.

It was a nice party and a lot of fun. Baby Sarah is just a joy to have around.

A Fun Day

This is the last American Elm tree standing at Longwood Gardens. It is checked for health periodically and so far has remained healthy. I understand that the disease was mostly spread through roots of trees that grafted with each other. There is also one bore that can spread the disease, but they are easy enough to fight. As a specimen tree, they can survive and stay healthy. Beautiful tree isn't it?

It was a great day, all day, very nice. Lunch was at lunch time at the cafeteria, grilled chicken, broccoli/carrots, red potatoes and a lovely lemon glaze.

Rain

It's been raining here for the past three days. We got a total of 3" here out of the 6" that we need. This is a very good thing. Now the temperatures are dropping and it promises to get rather chilly tonight. A good night to sleep and I think I'm going to take advantage of it.

Tonight's Dinner

Tonight was a dinner of ham, filling, mashed potatoes and corn. There was a roll for sopping up gravy, orange drink, applesauce and a whoopie pie for dessert. Sounds yummy, eh? It sounds like a lot of starch to me! But you know, it was really quite good. It was all Amish made for the Conestoga fire department dinner. The ham drippings made the ham gravy. That has such a unique flavor and you could tell it was homemade. The potatoes too. They have a wonderful texture when they are boiled and hand smashed. It's nothing like the instant potatoes most places serve. The corn was sliced off the cob with a knife. How do I know? First you go down the cob with the knife cutting off the meat. Then you slide the knife upward across the cob to get the kernels that lay hidden close to the cob. There are corn meat, kernels and silk all mixed together when you are done. You don't find that with an y canned or frozen corn. Then there's nothing like homemade applesauce. I know, I've made it and it's a lot of work. The whoopie pies were made by Granny (a local Amish woman who has a little Amish store here in Conestoga). She probably had a large hand in the fixing of the dinner as well.

I believe I've told you before that eating Amish food in interesting and fun, but unless you were born and raised with it, it's not the type of food you should partake every day. It is a high energy food and believe me, if you're active now, start a diet of such carbs and you go like Pentium 4 in your computer. That's not an exaggeration either. You just might forget to sleep that night.

There was enough dinner for two people. Sorry, but I don't eat like the Amish, or at least I don't have the size stomach needed to eat like the Amish. But they do burn off all of those carbs. They work hard. I ended up eating the potatoes and corn and was full, so I kept the meat and filling for another meal or two. The roll was left behind. The applesauce sits in the fridge waiting for lunch on Monday and the whoopie pie is in the odds and ends basket on top the microwave for a snack or dessert sometime when I'm feeling exceptionally hungry for something chocolate. Shalimar got a nice taste of the ham and she had no problem with it. Bratley did too, and he ate his with is usual gusto.

I always get the dinners the fire department serve. They are always good, homemade by the local Amish and a nice break from my low fat rather sweet meals. And they will give me lunches for the next week.

Tomorrow is spaghetti and meatballs. I've been hungry for spaghetti and since the temperatures have cooled considerably, I think I'll simmer up some of my special Italian sauce for the dish. Yum. You're welcome to stop by for dinner.

More on Trees

OK, so I said I have planted my last shade tree. This is truth. To plant another shade tree would be to begin crowding my trees. They need room to grow and spread.

However, that doesn't mean I through planting trees. I have decided that there is room for another understory tree. One of my forthysia has kicked. I don't know exactly why other than it was root bound. Three of five of them, I thought were bad, but so far only one has died. Of course it is in the middle of the row right at my office window. I've decided that in it's place, for structure more than anything else, I will plant a Service berry in the spring. http://www.hort.wisc.edu/mastergardener/Features/woodies/serviceberry/serviceberry.htm

I had one of these trees before moving here and simply loved it. They are a native tree and sometimes hard to find in nurseries. But more than that, I wanted the right spot for one. The next door neighbor has planted three birch along his driveway. They are just slips, but should/hopefully they survive the winter, they should grow into nice trees in no time. Birch grows in our woods. The service berry I want to plant in the spring is usually planted as an understory tree around here and should do great with the dappled shade from the afternoon sun that the neighbor's birch should eventually provide. This service berry should provide beautiful white flowers in early spring, lovely dappled shade in the summer, color in the fall and privacy from the neighbor's garage. Within a couple of years, the fruit should draw a large variety of birds and it is eatable as well.

It'll be nice to have another service berry in the yard. I really like that tree. But before I do get one, I want to make sure the trees we've planted this year are going to make it. So far they all look good, but I want to be able to give them the individual attention they need.

Dear Diary

Wednesday, October 17, 2007 (8:12pm)

Dear Mr. Pitts:

I was reading an article in the LA Times this morning. OK, so this isn't something every Pennsylvanian will do but this story caught my eye and concerned me.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-fence17oct17,0,3378849.story?coll=la-tot-topstories&track=ntothtml

What concerns me about this story is the attitude of our Homeland Security official Michael Chertoff with his comments:
"Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is urging calm, saying that the Texas fence locations remain under discussion. He has pledged to conduct a thorough environmental review of the fence plans -- but also warned that he has the authority to ignore the results. Congress has allowed Chertoff to waive environmental rules in the interest of national security, a card he has played to fast-track fencing in California and Arizona."

He is outwardly posing as a despot that this concerns me that no matter what, we as citizens have absolutely no say in what environmental destruction he deems wanted in the name of "Homeland Security".

Please understand that I honestly believe that Homeland Security is necessary but not at such serious cost as to loose endangered species of wildlife. It is the right of all Americans to uphold that which we find precious and this story is just one instance of what could/would/will happen, I fear, if this man is left with this much power. This country was never based on a dictatorship and he seems arrogant enough to push by announcing to the country that he has that much power.

He has a job to do, but should find another way to do it. If it makes his job harder, so what. It's his job and one he must do but not at the cost of all the Americans hold dear. This article has to do with the problems of Texas and Arizona and their disgust at his demeanor of everything they've been trying to accomplish. But what next? Will he come to Pennsylvania and try to undermine something that we are trying to accomplish?

In the case of Texas and Arizona, his thoughtlessness could cause the extinction of endangered species of animals that we the people are trying desperately to save. If this should happen, what else will become extinct? Our rights?

There have been a lot of things happening in this country in recent years that has everyone on edge; the housing problems, the insanely high rising cost of energy, etc. But this scares me more than all those others. They are just money and the struggle to make ends meet. But this one man, able to strip us of what is left of our dignity, rights and privilege to enjoy that which we find as happiness is terrifying. What have we become?

He was put into office to protect us from those who hate us. Not to destroy all that we try to build. But he doesn't seem to care. It's in his way so to Hell with the American people. They will just have to grin and bear it. I don't want to grin and bear it. I want him to do his job without destroying that which we as Americans hold dear.

During the attacks on 9/11, it was the people, the citizens, who were there to help each other long before the government had time to regroup and step in. It was the citizens who gave their lives for their country and fellow humans as each and every one of us is hardwired to do. This Michael Chertoff either is unaware of this or has forgotten it or simply doesn't care.
I would like to see his power stripped, at least that he cannot make blatant, arrogant assumptions as we the American people will just have to put up with whatever he decides to dish out. I would also like to see him disciplined for making such assumptions.

I was always taught "Where There's a Will, There's a Way". It seems that Mr. Chertoff needs to learn this. The American people should keep our natural lands in tack, keep our animals in tack and keep our dignity in tack. He can look for another way to do his job. And I would expect him to.

Please do not be surprised to see parts of this letter in opinion pages of newspapers. I do plan on having it published as well. This is not a refection on you but I simply feel this strongly. I don't want to be dismissed as over-emotional on this subject. Today it is the wildlife in Texas and Arizona. Tomorrow it could be even closer to home and something that imposes on me personally. I don't trust this man, not after what I read in this article.

Thankyou for your time.

I sent this letter to my Congressman Joe Pitts. I don’t know if anything will come of it, but it voiced my concerns on how out of hand this Homeland Security is beginning to get. To destroy everything we the people are trying to accomplish in the name of Homeland Security is as bad as the witch hunts of Salem and the blacklisting of the 50's.

I might be the only one who feels this way, but I don't think so. I don't want to lose my rights nor my self respect and I won't sit back and just take this.

I guess we’ll just never learn.

From the Diary

I got home from work last night to a wonderful smell in the house. My immediate thought was "Oh, no! Bob is cooking again!" When he cooks, it’s usually with the help of the local grocery store or a restaurant establishment. Then anything that I had been trying to accomplish, such as defrosting meat for dinner usually goes bad and I end up throwing it out. That to me is a waste of money and it always upsets me.

I lifted the lid of the pot on the stove and saw sautéed chicken and mushrooms and another pot of noodles. I asked if that was the chicken in the refrigerator and he said yes. He said he’d gotten some hamburger out of the freezer and saw the chicken, deciding that it had better be eaten, so he decided to cook that instead.

The meal was quite tasty and I wasn’t upset with his attempt to cook at all. He used the meat that I had defrosted and I was OK with that. It was different from his usual attempts at cooking. With the chicken and mushrooms over a bed of noodles, he also served a lovely lettuce salad. Very nice. All this was to help save some time as Monday’s is usually errand evening since we’re both home.

It was nice.

A Funny Thing Happened...

...at work today! It seems that folks found out tomorrow is my birthday!

That in itself isn't such a bad thing I guess. Of course I was announcing it all of last week, so why shouldn't they have noticed or known.

The big thing was a coworker, a lady I work with closely brought me a neckless and a card for my birthday. This was absolutely wonderful! And the beads are so pretty! I told her this wasn't necessary, thanked her and just couldn't help it! I had to wear them. I just love them!!


Later the boss hollered through the football field size room that I had a package at the front desk. He hollered loud enough that the entire prepress heard and all teased me all the way down to the first floor that I had gotten flowers. And wouldn't you know!? I got down there and yes, there were flowers waiting for me at the receptionists desk. Apparently this happens a good bit. Of course, I had to bring them back up to the prepress so that every one could see them, sniff them and read the card, which of course, was from my Husband. Then they proceeded to ask where their birthday treat was.

Now, the balloon that trailed behind everywhere the flowers went, announced to the world that it was my birthday and everyone I passed wished me a happy birthday (which is really tomorrow).

Now, I'm off tomorrow because of my birthday and will go to a local 5* restaurant for dinner. They have a nice package for birthdays and it would be nice to take advantage of that. So I told everyone at work that I'd treat on Monday when I return. So, now I'm committed to taking food into work for a birthday treat. Donuts would be nice, but since I have so much time to figure this out, maybe I'll bake something good. Brownies sound nice.

Last but not least, I couldn't resist a picture of my little halloween cat. She is just the cutest little thing. She is barely 8 pounds. My little Shalimar is the sweetest little thing.