I have had a couple of weeks of stress, fun and stupidity.  First my good friend’s husband died and I went with her to Iowa to plan his funeral.  I am so glad that I could be with her and we had a lovely long ride and a chance to talk a lot about our feelings and such.

A group of friends gathered and drove together to the funeral that Saturday.  Two and a half to three hour’s drive each way.  We did stop in a little town on the way home and had a tour of the place and we girls had a pizza.  The boys weren’t hungry.  It was called The Silent Woman in Fennimore, Wisconsin.  Very cute atmosphere.  The pizza was undercooked and Nancy sent hers back.  They topped the pizza with balsamic vinegar.  Very interesting!

On Thursday night, Garnet, Lauri and I went to Madison, Wisconsin.  It took a while to get there as Wisconsin has decided to go into orange barrel mode.  County T had a detour that I had forgotten when we drove through for the funeral.  And then a little farther up they had another detour.  Garnet sat next to me and brooded that we were lost and wouldn’t make the concert.  She is such a fraidy-cat!

We finally made it to the roundabout in Oregon, Wi and I missed my turn so we had to make another round about the roundabout.  Take about embarrassing!  Lauri had sent me a map of a DETOUR to take because we were hitting Madison at rush hour.  It took forever to drive this country back road to get to Target where we were meeting Lauri.  We went through another roundabout but I refused to do it a second time for Garnet.  The most aggravating thing was that Lauri kept texting me and Garnet couldn’t figure out my phone.  (She can’t figure out hers either.)  So I finally stopped and texted Lauri that we had just crossed Fish Hatchery and that must have made her satisfied as she quit texting me.

We made it to Target and gathered in Lauri’s car and headed off to the Mexican restaurant that Lauri had decided to introduce us to.  She almost ran a red light before I screamed for her to stop.  We were busy talking and chatting.

We had dinner at the Mexican restaurant and I had a delicious chiies rellenos, a tamale and a tostado.  Topped that off with a Corona with lime.  That being taken care of we ventured on to our destination.  We went to the Majestic Theatre in Madison to see one of my favorite bands, Over the Rhine.

I had ordered tickets way back when I saw they were coming and the week before the Majestic emailed me that if I wanted box seats to call the phone number listed.  I called and said I wanted three box seats and gave them my name, phone number and number of the tickets.  I never heard back.

When we got to the box office I asked the girl at the ticket booth if I had been okayed for the box seats.  She checked her computer and asked if I was Marla.  No, I’ve been called a lot but not Marla.  She asked about another name but it wasn’t mine.  I was so pissed!  When I got the tickets initially I asked for the box seats and they told me that their theatre was general admission and first come first serve.

We headed in to get our seats.  The balcony seats I had asked for were empty and I told the girls that we were taking them and if we got thrown out, so be it.  I volunteered to go get the beers.  Figured if we got thrown out I wouldn’t be present.  Not really, I just wanted to treat my girlfriends to a beer.

Well we didn’t get thrown out.  We sat right above the stage for the entire concert.  First up was Lucy Wainwright Roche whom I had seen before with OTR and she is quite good.  She has a very interesting voice that I cannot describe.  She is the daughter of Loudon Wainwright III who wrote Dead Skunk in the Middle of the Road.  I hate it when people mention that song because it becomes my next brain worm.

She did a very short session and we all headed to pee one by one so as not to lose our snarfed box seats.  We got settled and the lights dimmed and out they came.  They had a guitarist, mandolinist, other stuffist guy and I didn’t catch his name.

Karen let us know that they were a little low key because they had lost the Big Blue Dog, Minnie Pearl that week.  It broke my heart.  Lauri lost her husband one week and had to put one of her dogs to sleep the next.  My Jessie had died in March.  We all shared a moment of dog love.

They did manage to play one of my favorite songs, Born.  It goes, “I was born to laugh, I learned to laugh, through my tears.  I was born to love.  I’m gonna learn to love without fear.  Great song.  Yes, I cried.

The concert was very laid back.  Garnet had threatened to dance but they only played one song to dance to and she refused my request.  Bitch!

They played their set and came back with Lucy W R and did a really great version of a song that slips my mind right now.  Song about everybody needs someone to love.  But it was a song from a man’s perspective and Lucy and Karen kicked its butt!  (After the fact I thought of it.  It was Hungry Heart by Bruce Springstein.)

Then they finished with OTR doing an easy going version of All My Favorite People which is a song Karen wrote when her mom was in a nursing home and she realized that all of her favorite people are broken.  Really touches your heart.

Lauri got us safely back to my truck at Target and said our goodbyes.  Garnet reminded me of the detours and I made my mind to take a different route.  When we got close to the Amish farms in Brodhead, I headed east to the first road and took that south.  I was sure it would take us to Route 11 and we ended up riding for quite a while in a lovely but kind of spooky country road.  At this time Garnet started on her whine about being lost and having to call her hubster to come and save us.  I asked her if she had locked her door.  She quickly did.

I was just hoping that we wouldn’t come across a bunch of deer.  She was hoping we would see civilization which we didn’t see for quite some time.  A light came over the next hill just about when I was ready to stop and get out my smart phone.  We ended up in Orfordville, which is the home of the famous Knute’s Bar and Grill.  They have this blue gill and walleye fish fry on Fridays which is fabulous, if you’ve never been there. And their potato pancakes are the best ever!  It is well worthwhile.  We were just a few miles out of Brodhead on Route 11.  Told you so!

We went through Brodhead and took Mt. Hope Road to Stateline Road and made it home safely about 12:30.  Garnet and I said goodnight and she drove home in the dark and I was so worried about her but she texted me and said she made it safely.

My next adventure this week was the annual Lake Summerset Garden Club’s Fall Plant Sale, of which I was in charge for the first time.  I had ordered my $200 in small bills and a money box from the bank in Davis.  Plants had been ordered, signs made, put a notice in three papers and put it on the Neighborhood on-line site for Lake Summerset.  I was all set.

I packed up my truck with my supplies the night before and was all set for Saturday at 6:45.  I got to the front gate and put up my signs and started setting up.  The lady who was in charge last year was there to help me get set up.  Little did I know that the email to garden club members had said to be there at 7:30 and not 7:00 as I had scheduled.

The truck arrived at 7:00 and the two older folks who delivered and we two gardeners started unloading.  The guy who drove the truck said, “All your volunteers are watching us and will show up when we are finished.”  What an attitude!  At 7:30 several volunteers arrived on time and we finished unloading the truck and van.

We had to count the plants before we started and I kept getting 120 of mums instead of 130.  Stupid calculator.  I’m used to an adding machine.  We counted again and I was satisfied.

Just about the time we got into full speed with the plant sale it started to rain.  I hadn’t thought to bring a jacket because it was supposed to rain a little and stop.  The wind was bad and we were all soaked in no time.  We actually sold quite a few plants despite the rain.  One lady had an extra jacket and I put it on.  I was out there in shorts and a tee shirt and they all had on parkas and umbrellas.

One volunteer admired my naturally curly hair.  Naturally fuzzy if you ask me! I took a photo of the volunteers but they insisted that I be in the photo so one lady volunteered to take the photo.

Just before my second crew arrived the group insisted that I go home and change my clothes and wet shoes, which I did.  The dog acted as if I had been gone for a week.

I got dried off with fresh clothes and went back to the sale.  At the end we had nine mums and two asters left.  Not bad, not bad at all.  I went back later to take down my banner and the security chief bought two mums and the two asters.  Seven mums were left and I am taking them to the Garden Club meeting on Monday, where I am the speaker for the day.

I am giving a presentation tomorrow to the Garden Club on vegetable gardening.  I don’t know how many will show up for this.  I can’t imagine it is an interesting subject for most gardeners.  Most of the gardeners have really pretty yards whereas I have a vegetable garden and a so-so yard.

Today I am practicing my presentation.  I hope to get outside and tackle my tomatoes which are pretty much done for the season.  I also want to get a few weeds out of my flower and shrubs.  I also have to change the hummingbird feeders and it will probably be the last week for the birds to come visit.

Fall is a wonderful time but I start getting depressed because I know winter is coming.  I used to enjoy winter and went cross country skiing and walking on the frozen lake but I am older now and afraid of falling and being unable to get up.

After tomorrow’s presentation, I plan to veg for a while.  I was thinking of going to Cheese Days but heard it is a crowd of thousands and I can’t deal with that any more.  Although I am a cheese addict I think I will stick to the house or maybe go kayaking with Garnet.

I also have a class on Thursday night this week.  I am taking a class to learn to use my I-phone.  I am very excited about that as I am constantly embarrassed that I can’t figure out how to use it properly and to my advantage.  Wish me luck.

Peace be with you.

Yesterday I went kayaking with friend, Garnet.  We dropped off my truck and took the kayaks to our put in station. We put in on the Sugar River around 7:30 in the am.  I was a little ambivalent about attacking the river for the first time in a kayak but Garnet reassured me (imagine that) that it would be a blast and I wouldn’t even want to kayak the lake any longer.

We set off and I oared around a bit until I realized the river’s current was going to carry me along.  I straightened out and ambled leisurely down the river.  It was so pretty.  The sun was not too bright and I even took off my sunglasses for a while.  Garnet and I took pictures of each other on our phones.  We are just so technologically up to date.  (She had learned that morning how to take photos and I am going to take a class in September to learn how to use mine more effectively.)

The trip was uneventful except for one sharp turn to the left and back to the right.  There was a tree hanging over the turn and you had to dodge it.  Garnet rowed herself right to the shore.  I just ducked.

Garnet said she didn’t want the trip to end so I told her that we should go have breakfast and come back and do it again.  We agreed that was what we would do.

We got to the place where we had parked my truck to ride back to her truck and I was first in line to get out.  The dock was not very big and Garnet suggested hitting it hard and fast.  I did such and got the nose of the kayak onto the pavement.  The worst part of kayaking is getting out of the darn thing after you have been in it for a while.

There was a guy fishing on the bank next to us and I thought how nice it would be of him to come give me a tow.  I stood up and got my right foot on the bank.  My left foot was in the kayak and suddenly the kayak moved and went back into the current of the river.  I was doing the splits and willing my body to work and get back to the dock.  I was yelling a very bad word over and over.  My body would not cooperate with my brain.  I fell to the right and into the river.  I was out of the kayak though and was quick enough to grab the tow bar before it got away from me.

What was Garnet doing all this time?  She told me she was watching my legs and that my muscles had popped out and she was in awe of my leg muscles.  I told her they were useless as they didn’t do the job I had asked them to do.

Garnet pulled up and I hopped down to tow her in further.  She had a tough time standing up to get out.  She has bad legs because she had polio as a child.  She finally got her legs in gear and made it to shore.  We pulled her kayak out next to mine.

Assessing myself, I realized that I had skinned my knee and I was pretty wet all over.  I was physically shaking but otherwise I was fine.  I got my beach towel that I had brought to sit on and dried myself off.  I was walking to my truck when it struck me that I had left the keys on the floor of Garnet’s truck so I wouldn’t lose them in the river if I tipped over.

Holy Mother of the Buddha!  I told Garnet my news and asked who we should call.  My first thought was our friends who live about five minutes from where we were located.  The Good Samaritan fisherman asked if we needed a ride.  Bless his heart and soul.  He took us to Garnet’s truck and we were so thankful and relieved.  We each confessed that we both had thought he was going to kidnap us and mutilate our poor old bodies.

We got back to the kayaks and thankfully they hadn’t been stolen.  The Good Samaritan was back fishing, bless his heart.

We were bungeeing up the kayaks and the second one was a toughie.  I stretched the bungee further to help Garnet along.  She let go of the thing and it bit me big time and major league on my bad finger.  My right pointer finger has arthritis from Hades and is probably my worst pain in my body except for my neck.  I had a deep cut from the corner of the fingernail to my first knuckle.

All I could think of was that it hurt so badly that it was numb.  Or maybe I was numb.  I remembered that Garnet had brought a frozen bottle of water and went to the river to retrieve it.  I washed my finger off in the river not thinking about all the germs, fish urination, and god knows what else in there.  The water had melted but it was fresh so I drank a big gulp before washing my finger with the water.

I know Garnet was a girl scout in a previous life because she has a first aid kit that she keeps in her kayak.  I had a clean cloth and a band aid, bless her heart.

We got in our trucks and off we went to eat breakfast at the Rowe’s A Frame in Durand.  I turned my air conditioner on high and held my finger to the register the whole time I traveled.

I was wet but I put my shorts on anyhow and looked presentable.  We had a lovely breakfast.  I had biscuits and gravy, of course, and Garnet had a breakfast burrito with chorizo sausage.  I am definitely trying that the next time I eat there.  Garnet joked when we got there and asked if I was ready to do the kayak trip again.  I told her I had enough of this bad luck streak I was rolling in and I was going home and going to bed, which I did.

I have to say that my one foot on shore and one foot in the kayak was the first time I have ever felt my age.  And it was not a good feeling.  I just hope I have gotten the bad luck streak broken and it is out of my system.  Perhaps I will burn some sage today.

Peace be with you.

Photo is of Anderson Gardens in Rockford and I am going on a tour there today.  Wouldn't it be great if Garnet and I snuck in and kayaked on their pond?  And yes, I tried to retrieve the photos on my phone and couldn't do it.  Can't wait until my i phone class.

I read my email and look at Facebook every morning while I eat breakfast and drink my ginger tea or coffee.  Ginger tea if I am having a relaxing day and coffee if I plan to accomplish everything on my “to do” list.

For the past while I have been noticing “suggested post” posts.  I resent the fact that they suggest my teeth need whitening, I have wrinkles and bags under my eyes, and that I need an energetic breakthrough kit.  My friend, Lorraine, welcomed me to algorithms. Friend, Lauri, said to forget it as you can’t get rid of them.  I have taken to hiding the post and hope that will take care of the problem.

We are living in that “Big Brother” world I read about years ago.  And you know the stupidest part of the thing is that we know we are living this.  And yet, we are too apathetic or lethargic to do anything about it.

I watched this movie a couple of years ago.  It was about a young lady who worked from home.  All of her friends worked at home also.  They would make plans to get together but it never happened.  All because they were glued to their computers and didn’t want to go out.  Their entire friendship was based on email and instant messages.  I vowed that this would never happen to me.

I do enjoy my hour or so on the computer in the morning but so far have not become so addicted that I carry my phone around just in case I get a new spam or suggested post and break away from the important thing I am doing at the time.  Lately it is weeding the garden, harvesting produce and canning stuff from the garden that takes most of my time.

However, I do have to admit that I have a computer addiction.  Friend, Lauri, gave me a software package a while back to do jigsaw puzzles.  When I take my breaks from chores I like to do a puzzle.  I used to enjoy a game or two on my computer but since Windows forced me to upgrade to Windows 10, I cannot play my favorite games.  (Windows changed the little “X” in the upper right hand corner to “accept” instead of “close”.)  So be careful.

This I believe is a blessing in disguise.  Windows in their blatant butt f..k of me, actually did me a big favor.  I am spending less time on the computer and more time in my garden, kitchen and walking my dog.

Peace be with you.

Photo is of Anderson Japanese Garden in Rockford, Il.  One of the only positive aspects of that city.  I am going on a tour on the 29th of this month.  Only $18.00 if anyone would like to go with me.

This morning I had a very strange thing happen to me.  I was sitting on the John reading my book and attending to business.  In the book this guy was thinking about killing this girl in the book.  I had a thought of sudden death and how sad it was.  I thought to myself, I just don’t want to die like Elvis, sitting on the toilet.  I was suddenly overtaken with this stupid thought, and then I thought what if I didn’t finish the book.  I had an urge to go to the end of the book and read the last chapter.  I swear this has never happened to me before and I have never read the end of the book before I finished the book.

Getting distracted from the darn book, I got my thoughts together and knew I was being ridiculous.  I wasn’t going to die on the toilet and I was going to finish this darn book that I keep trying to guess what will happen next and it doesn’t.  I’ve already written my end to the story but I will be surprised at whatever the outcome may be.

I had plans to go to the beach with Garnet today but she called and said her legs hurt and she couldn’t get out of bed today.  I am going to the beach by myself and I am going to finish this book.  I am going to eat the lovely fruit salad that I made just for the beach today and float in the water and cool off and get some vitamin D.

So there!

Peace be with you.

This weekend’s retirement adventure has to do with vegetables.  My garden is just overflowing with wonderful fresh veggies.  We have had stuffed green peppers twice so far and we are having them again tonight.  The first I stuffed with rice, Italian sausage and cheeses, the second I made with smoked sausage and dirty rice.  Tonight’s peppers are going to be stuffed with chorizo and dirty rice.  This is a new recipe for me and I am not sure how it will go over.

Yesterday the weather was a little cooler and I canned tomatoes that I had been saving all week.  I try to avoid canning when it is 90 degrees outside.  I don’t want the humidity in the house.

I estimated that I would get about five quarts of tomatoes but I got six quarts.  I use them all winter for chili, soup and Chicken Cacciatori.  For my next batch of tomatoes I will make marinara sauce.

My cucumbers gave me a surprise this year.  One of the seeds I planted is producing white cucumbers.  Not white, white, but really light green white.  I have been told that there are white cucumbers out there but have never tried to grow them.  I have had this same packet of seeds for years.  (Don’t believe seed companies that try to sell you a new packet every year.  A lot of seeds last much longer.)  I am going to save some seeds from my white cucumbers and try and see if they do the same thing next year.

Emily dot spotty spot has a new love.  I found Jessie dog’s dog puppet that she used to play with and Emmie carries it around with her.  I have already had to sew him up once.

Emmie is coming along.  She met her first doggie friend the other day and I hope to introduce her to more dogs and see if she will calm down when we see other dogs on our walks.

Emmie still hasn’t taken to the hubster but she has let him pet her when lying in bed.  He is just dying to love on her.  She is soft as a rabbit and sweet as honey.  She is under the computer table as I type.  It is one of her favorite places.

Peace be with you.

This is a big shout out to Garrison Keilor who stole my idea of retirement adventures.  I listened in the other day when he was interviewed about his retirement and he said he was looking forward to retirement adventures.  Great minds think alike?

My latest adventures are not some I would have liked to have had.  First I had a cold for over a week.  The sinus problems have stayed with me and it is now in my fourth week.  I have gone through two boxes of tissues and two boxes of Musinex.  I am now thinking I am allergic to my new dog.  I certainly hope that is not the case.

Why doesn’t someone invent a device that you can attach to your nose or the back of your throat and suck that shit out?  In this day and age we should not have to suffer from honkers.  I hate it when people do that huffing thing and suck the snot out of their sinuses and then spit it or, worse yet, swallow that stuff.  I have to leave the room when I get a good one out because I think it is disgusting.  Snot is disgusting!

My other retirement adventure was the death of a neighbor and a friend.  Sudden deaths are sometimes just the worst.  The shock for the family has to be so intense.  I’ve always said I hope I go in my sleep.

I did go to the funeral and it was a Catholic mass which lasted an hour and a half.  The best part of the service was when the priest asked everyone to turn to the person next to them and wish “peace be with you.”  I loved that.  Strangers in front of me and behind me wished me peace.  I have to adopt that.  I wished the deceased “Peace be with you” as his casket passed by me.

This morning on my walk I wished peace to be with every house that I knew the occupant.  Dear reader, Peace be with you.

Photo is of the volunteer squash plant that came up in my compost.  It is a pie pumpkin plant and I am going to have plenty if anyone is interested in a pie pumpkin.  If you have never used fresh pumpkin you will be surprised at how much flavor it has.

Life with the new dog is going well.  Each day she surprises me with her cute antics.  Yesterday I had to go to the grocery store.  When I got home Emily met me at the door with one of my house shoes in her mouth.  Her foster father emailed me to find out how she was doing and he said she normally took one of his shoes to bed with her.  Not to chew on but to lie with.

She has brought me one of my shoes several times.  She even picked up one of the hubster’s croks but he admonished her for it.  I think he should have let her have it and maybe she would take to him easier.  She still cringes when he comes near, although he has petted her several times.

I’ve already started nicknaming her.  I have this thing about nicknames and apply them frequently to those around me.  I have called her Emmie Dot Spotty Spot.  She has little brown spots all over her little body.  And she has the big dot on her head like my little Jessie had.

I have been calling her Emmie most of the time.  I do the motherly thing and call her Emily if she is being naughty, which she really isn’t naughty -- like if she wants to play tug with Mr. Squeaky Toy instead of retrieving it or if she doesn’t want to let go of the Frisbee.  The Frisbee has a hole in the center and if she gets it just right it is hard to get it out of her mouth.  I just say, “Emily, drop it,” and she does.

Funny thing about her is that she hasn’t pooped in her own yard.  She only poops when we go on walks.  We have been able to walk twice a day so far except for one morning when it rained.  I walked her in the yard a bit but she didn’t go.  She held it until it was dry later.

So I am using two poop bags a day.  Each week amounts to fourteen bags.  I feel environmentally guilty.  We did order eco-friendly dog poop bags.  I’m not sure how biodegradable they are.

After she poops and I tie up the bag, I put it in the pocket of my shorts.  Then I start singing in my head, “I’ve got a pocket full of dog poop,” to the tune of I’m Getting Married in the Morning.  So far the lyrics go:  I’ve got a pocket full of dog poop, I’ve got the best dog in the world.  We walk together, in all kinds of weather, but I have to carry the dog poop home.  Needless to say, I’m driving myself nuts with this brain worm.

I am also referring to her as Emily Dickenwoof.  I thought of Emmie Lou Bark Bark but that didn’t get it.  I’m sure I will come up with more nicknames as we progress in our mommy, doggie daughter relationship.

The cutest thing she does is she wants to hug me.  When I sit down to put on my shoes she raises one paw to me knee.  Then slowly brings the other one up.  Then she climbs up to my shoulders.  It is so sweet!

I feel the hubster is getting anxious with her.  He is the one who chose her and she doesn’t want much to do with him.  I know it is eating away at him.  He is feeding her and giving her any treats that she gets.  I told him we should make some bacon and he carry it around in his pocket.  Hell, I’d let him pet me with bacon in his pocket.

Yesterday was hot as Hades and so I was a little laid back.  I decided to finish reading the book I was on as I had only a few pages to go.  I lay down in bed and Emily jumped up at my feet.  The hubster decided to read also and came to bed.  I told Emmie she could come up closer between us and she came right up to the headboard and lay between us.  I finished my book and decided to doze, and she snuggled up and spooned with me.

Life with the new dog is ever changing but we are getting down to our little routine.  Walk in the morning, pick up poop and carry it home.  Breakfast from Dad and try to let him pet her.  Outside for some Frisbee or fetch the ball, back inside for a little brushing.  (I think she likes to be brushed.) Play Mr. Squeaky Toy a couple of times and then walk again at 4 or 4:30.  Then dinner from dad and some treats to try and learn how to sit, lay down and shake.  She is doing quite well and every day she brings us a new surprise.

What can I say?  I adore her.

Oh and I got my first cucumbers.  Isn't that one white?  It was still delicious.