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I didn't go biking this morning. Today was a repeat of yesterday with high humidity and thunderstorms threatening all day and a little shower in the late afternoon. It cooled off a little but the humidity was still high. I spread the mulch around my portulacas. They were finally big enough for me to do that. Then my neighbor's granddaughter came over and helped me plant some flowers along the yard where it meets the road. They are shallow rooted so they won't interfere with the phone lines. I was about 18 inches back from the road and still hit the road two inches down. I wouldn't have been able to plant azaleas even if the phone lines weren't there. I'll have to plant them back further. The flowers were given to me by my neighbor, Marlene, who got them from another neighbor, Juan. They look like vincas.
Janine, my neighbor whose granddaughter helped me, cut my grass on the west side while she was cutting the house next door. Janine lives on the east side and I usually cut the little bit of her yard that adjoins mine. She also helped me the other day when I found a tick on my back and couldn't reach it to get it out. Ticks are a part of like around here. Ug! It was a dog tick. They don't carry lyme disease but could carry Rocky Mountain tick fever. This place is buggy but I had ticks in Vineland, too. There were also stink bugs in Vineland but not as bad as here. The air smelled like stink bugs this morning. I don't know why because they should be out in the famers fields this time of year.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
I went biking this morning with Charlotte. I walked Sparky but the humidity was terrible. Rain threatened all day and finally came in the late afternoon. I went to Bible Study. It is always a wonderful experience discussing the Bible verses with our class.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
I was up at 5am, took Sparky out, packed up my bike in the car trunk and drove into town where my friend, Charlotte lives. We rode down the canal path until we came to the end of the road. It's only a couple miles. It was a beautiful morning. We scared up a great blue heron as we road by. Also scared up a northern vulture.
I planted my portualcas when I got home. I wasn't quite down when Verizon came to mark their underground wires. Good grief, their wires go all over the place, north, south, east and three lines go west. I was hoping to plant bushes up close to the road but with the three lines of phone wires, I won't be able to. I'll have to plant back further and perhaps get some landscaping timbers and put along the road. Bummer!
It is 97 degrees in the shade. UG! The sun is now slightly toward the west and it will be blazing when it starts shinning through the windows. The air came on at 11:00 and has been running ever since. Sparky is sleeping with his ears straight up. He must be cooler that way.
The cable has been out since before noon. It's now after two. I like to sit down after lunch and watch. The phone is out, too. I hope the Verizon guys didn't disconnect me when they were working out there.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
I hung out some wash and then went to Walgreen's to get my prescription, then onto Redner's Supermarket, Concord Pet, and to my friend, Joan's whose son has greenhouses full of flowers. My portulacas did not do a good job of reseeding themselves this year so had to get another flat.
I sat outback in the shade for a while but misquitos got me. Could hear rumbling of thunder all day but it passed to the north of us. Sparky can't take the heat. He walks for awhile then lays down in the shade to rest. Sometimes, he lays down in the mud.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
I was the lay reader at church this morning. Everything went well. We had a laying on of hands for my friend Ursula who was diagnosed with breast cancer. The ladies of the church knit prayer shaws and we gave one to Ursula. She was overjoyed at the number of people who came up to lay their hands on her. She seemed a little out of sorts when we were getting the deposit ready. She is going through a lot. Her husband has Alzheimers and she doesn't know what to do. Her daughter is coming to care for her when she has her surgery. Keep her in your prayers.
I ran into Pastor Charlotte of the Episcopal Church. She lives in town right near where I park my car under the cherry tree. (It's in the shade on hot days) We arranged to ride our bikes together at 6:30am, Tuesday through Saturday. My bike is all ready so I go tomorrow weather permitting. I think we'll ride along the canal to the west.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
Don and I went to see the Zombies last night. I drove to Don's house after I dropped Sparky off at the Vet's for boarding. Sparky did not want to even go in the door. I had to pick him up and carry him in. He does not like that place. I hope he did OK. I took his blankie so he would feel at home. Don and I got a pizza at the new Pat's in Holmes and then off we went to the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA. The Keswick is one of the old movie theatres that has been refurbished. They used to have some magnificent theatres when I was a kid. Most are gone now, replaced by the cinemas with 12 or 15 or more mini theatres inside one building. They look like black holes. The old theatres had a stage and area for an orchestra if needed. They had grand staircases and balconies. They were like palaces and admission was a lot cheaper. Twenty-five cents for an adult to get into a matinee verses $9.00 for children and seniors. I don't even know what the adult fee is.
I got up early, walked to the WaWa to get my coffee. I got a 20 ounce cup. I should have got two of them. I opened the windows and breathed in the pollen all night. I felt horrible when I got up. I also saw the the air pollution was high today. UG! I headed to the Vet's but stopped at Verizon to get my tablet fixed. They had to wipe it clean and restart it. I also got my phone fixed so I could sent texts. I thought that had been done the last time I was there but somehow, it wasn't. I got that share everything program but was unable to share. I also got a memory card so I can download photos from my phone and tablet to my computer. The above photo was taken with my phone. It came out OK. It took me awhile to figure out how to download it. It would not import into photoshop but I could download it into my computer and then from there open it in photshop. I may try to zoom in on it and capture Colin, the lead singer for the Zombies. They have been singing for 50 years. Imagine that. but then, I have been out of highschool that long.
My facebook account was wiped off my tablet and I can't seem to find it. It wants me to create a new account and now I have an account with nothing on it and can't find the one I already have. It is still on my computer but these android things are different. Ug! again.
News from the Vorlon Wife
My Easter lilies are blooming and so are my Stella D'Ora's taht I brought from Vineland. They are doing well this year. I'll have to get some more. The ones I planted last year are budded up and should be blooming soon. The wax plants are doing well but my portulacas are slow growing. Maybe it's been too wet.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
I don't think I did anything today. I transplanted some more portualcas that were growing in the road and sprayed some weeds with roundup. I forgot to shake it and it doesn't appear to have done anything with killing the weeds. I'll have to do it again. Bummer!
I walked Sparky a few times and that was about it.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
I went to Bible Study in the morning. I didn't do much in the afternoon. I read some of my book and reading makes me sleepy. Sparky laid around. I don't think he is feeling well. He threw up on Tuesday and has been eating grass. It scares me because of what Danny went through last summer. Sparky picks up all kinds of stuff on the road and most of the time I can pry it out of his mouth but sometimes he eats it before I can get to it.
I did some research on the computer for a trip to Chincoteague in July. the pony roundup is then. Don suggested we do that. He had been there once many years ago and took my parents. We'll have to discuss it when I see him on the weekend. Maybe we can explore around the Eastern Shore - Cape Charles, Crisfield, Smith Island, Cambridge where my ancestors first came, and the historical society and try to find information on my 3rd great grandfather. He was born in Caroline County but we have been unable to find his parents.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
I planted my butterfly bush that my neighbor had given me. I put it nest to my flowerbed on the west side. I can see it from my computer room window and my deck. I also dug up some hosta lilies that were growing too close to the side of the shed. I planted them along the road. I guess another flower bed will go there. Maybe when I thin our my irises, I'll put them there. I will have to have a kid scrape up the lawn that has grown out over the road as when I went to plant the irises, I only got down two inches and hit asphalt. I got the planting done before the rain came. It rained all day until about 7pm. It was a light rain so I was able to take Sparky out. I spent the day catching up on my ironing. The summer cottons need ironing and so do the some of the summer clothes that were crammed into the back closet during the winter.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
I went to the church to help with financial computer work and did the filing that piled up for the last month. I also helped Tina set the tables for a funeral on Tuesday. I had the secretary print out the first part of "God Bless America". The Sunday before the 4th, Tina and I will be singing that and I want to read the first part and give a little history of the song. Written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and then toss aside until 1939 he gave it to Kate Smith for her radio show. She sand it as her closing song and it was such a big hit she closed with that every time on radio and TV. She also sang it for the opening of the Flyers game in Philadelphia instead of the Star Spangled Banner. Wildwood, NJ would use it on their PA system at 5pm when the lifeguards went off duty. The American Flags were lowered, the tram car stopped and everyone on the beach and boardwalk stood at attention with their hand over their hearts.
I went to Redner's supermarket in the afternoon. I was about a mile from Redner's when the road ahead seem to be in a fog. As I approached, I could see it was a rain line with sun shining brightly where I was and pouring down rain up ahead. When I entered the rain, it was coming down so hard I could hardly see. It let up a little when I got to the parking lot and had stopped and was drying up when I came out. It never got to Chesapeake City but went north of us. We did get a shower later in the evening. Sparky was sleeping on the bed and came running to snuggle up to me. The thunder had scared him.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
Rembering Dad on Father's Day.
I tried to wait until the sun burned off the moisture from the grass. I thought it would because there was a small breeze when I was hanging out the clothes. No such luck. At 10am, I fired up the mower and went to work. I also cleaned out the extension in back of my shed. I had my contractor cut a door I had brought from Vineland. It was the correct width but was too long. He cut the door too short and the leaves and debris blew in under the door. I'm glad the mice didn't move in. They may have been there in the winter but I didn't see any signs of them. He also cut the wrong end of the door. It's a paneled door and the top of the frame had a wider area than than the bottom. The idiot cut the bottom and took out part of the panel so there is nothing to hold it up. I put a metal weather strip piece on the bottom and a molding on the top. There were gaps at both top and bottom. I wish I had to skill to do things myself . I can see what needs to be done but doing it is another thing. I even drew a chalkline where I wanted it cut. The metal weather strip should hold it but I will put a couple braces on the frame and panel. I also have to paint the molding.
Everything inside was dirty so I had to hose it all down. By afternoon, the sun was nice and hot so it all dried quickly. I had put things in there when hurricane Sandy was coming. My electric bar-b-que, some trashcans and Danny's dog house. I had a piece of vinyl I was going to put on the floor but it is ruined.
I got cleaned up and went to our family's Father's Day Celebration for my brother, Rick, my nephew, Rick, and my nephew by marriage, Ed. There were 15 of us. We went to Schaefer's Canal House. It opened last year and some told me it was very expensive so I never went. It turned out to be very reasonable. More so than the two other waterfront restaurants in town. Schaefers is on the north side of the canal and has a different view than the south side where I live. We had a nice view of the canal, the bridge, and the marina.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
My orange lillies are blooming as well as the pink, mauve, and the yellow Stella D'Ora lillies. Als blooming are the shasta daisies and purple cone flowers. The hydrange are budded up and I learned how to make cutting from them to transplant.
News from the Vorlon Wife
I was up and out early to the Acme supwemaeket. I got two quarts of Mr. Ron's coleslaw for the luncheon after Jack and Helen's funeral. Jack died on Sunday and his wife, Helen died Wednesday. They had both funerals together. When I got back from the Acme, I took Sparky out before the rains came. I made it back in time but had to wait until after the downpour before going to the church. We got an inch of rain but were spared the horrible winds that hit nearby areas.
It's a good thing I wore dress clothes to drop off the food and a pretty mum for Patti, Jack and Helen's granddaughter. Patti is our music director at church. I helped fold the bulletins for the service and stayed to give my condolences to the family during the visitation. It was difficult to see the family who lost two loved ones so close together.
I took out Sparky when I got home and waited for the next round of storms to come through. The were predicted to be high winds and possible tornatoes. That didn't happen; we just got rain. The ground is saturated. The sun came out making it hot and humid.
News From The Vorlon Wife
I went to Bible Study this morning. We had a good discussion within our group especially since the pastor wasn't there. The Scripture was Luke 7. It's about when Jesus went to the Pharasee's house and the sinful woman came in, washed his feet with her tears, dried them with her hair and poured expensive perfume on them.
I didn't do much the rest of the day except for taking Sparky for his walks. I should have cut the grass but by afternoon, it gets too hot and humid. I pulled a few morning glories out of my west flowerbed. They are hard to get rid of. The roots run deep. They wind around my lilies and yellow Italian flowers. I pull them out almost everyday and they grow about 18 inches overnight. I also transplanted some portualcas that were growing in the road. I put them into the flowerbed. There doesn't seem to be many coming up from last year. I may have to go and get another flat if the nursury still has them.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
I went to the church this morning and got the bills paid. It went smoothly. I still have to do some more financial work maybe tomorrow or Thursday. I got a couple things fixed that were driving me buggy. When my new front door was installed last year, the two locks were installed so that I had to use the key one way for the deadbolt and then turn the key upsidedown to unlock the doorknob. I got out the screwdriver, took the doorknob off, turned it over, and screwed it back in. It will be much easier to open the door, especially when carrying a bunch of stuff.
The coocoo clock stopped running so I took it down and looked inside. I didn't see anything obvious except when I took the pendulum off it ran fine. I think it was not level. I screwed the screw it was hanging in closer to the wall and hung the clock back up. It ran fine without the pendulum but when I put it on, the clock stopped. I got out the level and I also got a couple thing to shim it from the wall. It seems to be running fine now.
After dinner, I went to the kitchen to load the dishwasher and get it started. When I came back to the livingroom, there was a pile of ice from my iced tea on the sofa. Sparky likes ice chips and he had climbed onto the coffee table and one by one took the ice in my glass onto the sofa. I had to clean up that mess before I could sit down. I know better than to leave food on the coffee table but I never gave it a thought about my iced tea. I'm glad he didn't knock it over on my tablet. He kept jumping up on the sofa when I was trying to change the sheet and mattress pad. I use them to protect the sofa from him. I was upset with him and kept yelling at him to get down. He finally got the hint and ran into the bedroom. I think he was upset that I yelled at him. He looked like he was pouting.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
Rain! Rain! Rain! I went to the church to do the bills and couldn't get on the banks website. It wanted to verify my identy and the person who set up the account is no longer with the church. Ursula came and she didn't remember the information and we looked through all the files and finally got ahold of the person who set up the accound and got into the bank. What a big waste of time. Then, there were some odd transactions that had to be researched. It was almost noon and I had to get home to let out Sparky. It's the second day I tried to do the bills and wasted my time not getting them done. I'll have to go back tomorrow and hope for better luck.
Another inch of rain in the rain guage after the three inches we had the other day. It was tricky getting Sparky out between downpours. He got all wet anyway from the grass.
I have thousands of silver maple trees springing up in my flower beds. They started to take down the tree a year ago but never finished. Two of the trunks are down but there are two more. The ones that hang over my house. I dislike silver maple trees. The wood is soft and there is a lot of dead wood in them. There are two more smaller ones along the road of my yard but they won't come down on my house.
I didn't get anything done today. It exhausts me standing around not being able to get my work done.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
Andrea left a lot of rain on Friday but no wind. My rain guage read a half inch all day. I discovered it had a crack in it. The rain flowed down over my neighbors driveway and under the house. They have had problems with that. My concrete drive is higher than the road so I don't have the problem. The community slopes down to the spillway in back of the houses on my side of the road. We had abput 3 inches.
Sat. I went to the supermarket and library to get a couple movies as there was nothing good on the tv schedule. I put some of my things back out in the yard but I haven't opened the shed where I piled things in. I had to stake and tie my asiatic lilies because the rain knocked them down. They didn't look like they would go back up on their own. I fell asleep during the second novie I got from the library.
This morning, I went to Church and took care of the offeriing with Tucker. I don't know what happened to Ursula. I called her on Friday, left a message but she never got back to me and no one has heard from her. I hope everything is OK. Her husband has Alzhimers and has good days and bad. By the time I got down to Sunday School, no one was there. I was tole there were so few people so they left.
I'll be going to the StarTrek movie and dinner later today.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
These yellow flowers are blooming in abundance. A neighbor, George, in Vineland gave these to me when we first moved to Vineland. He called them little yellow Italian Flowers. I brought some with me to Chesapeake City and they are doing well. They are also blooming in my shaded flower bed out back. I'll have to transplant more of them out there. The mulching and planting is done except for the portulaca garden out front. I am waiting for them to sprout and start growing. They come up with the crab grass. I weeded yeasterday and transplanted some that sprouted on the road next to the flowerbed. The purple cone flowers and daisies are starting to bloom and so are the Stella d'Ora lilies.
It started raining yesterday evening and has continued through the night and morning. Andrea is on her way. I battened down the hatches yesterday putting everything away that could blow around in the wind. High winds are not expected with this storm but lots of rain. Sparky is reluctant to go out. He stands in the doorway looking up at me as if I lost my mind.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
I have one more plant to put in the shaded area. It is a Baplisia Purple Smoke. First, I want to look it up to see how much shade or sun it needs. The mulching is done except for the fence area. I am waiting for the portulacas to come up. They are starting but as with everything else this year, they are late. They come up with the crab grass. I weeded some of it yesterday but I still have more to do and hope I don't pull out the portulacas with it. There is also nut grass coming up in that area. I have to get out the weed-be-gone and try to get rid of the clover. I have a bumper crop of it. I am afraid I will be left with a mud hole instead of grass.
It rained on Monday so I caught up with my ironing. I washed Tuesday and Wednesday so I have more ironing to do. The summer cottons need ironing.
I have to batten down the hatches today. It's suppoesd to start raining this afternoon with a front moving in and it will be joined by Andrea on Friday or Sat. I'll be keeping an eye on the forecast to see if I have to get out of Dodge.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
I got up early, walked Sparky, got a breakfast sandwich and coffee at WaWa, packed up and hit the road for home. When I got there, I walked Sparky, and got off to church. I didn't have time to unpack the car. After church, I helped Ursula with the deposit and then went to Sunday School. I got there at the tail end and they were discussing what to do for the summer. We will continue with SS for June to see how it goes.
After lunch, Sparky and I took a nap. It was hot and humid and supposed to rain with severe thunderstorms. I battened down the hatches. The wind started to kick up and we had a gentle rain.with less than a half inch in the rain guage. Sparky and I were both tired out from our trip. i just vegetated on the sofa and watched movies.
News from the Vorlon Wife.
I got up early and put my chicken in the oven. I went outside to finish mulching the east side and then planted most of my wax begonias along the edge of my flowerbed near the woods. After lunch, I packed up my things and Sparky's things and drove off to Don's. It was a hot day. We stayed indoors and watched a movie. For dinner, we went to see our cousin, Scott sing at a restaurant called Amici's in Morton, PA. Scott sings once a month. He used to sing at Sam's Restaurant in Glenolden but the owner died and the son ran the restaurant into the ground. It is for sale. it's a shame, It was a nice restaurant and a lot of people went there often. They joined in the singing. Amici's was nice, the food was good but more expensive than Sam's. This was a new place for Scott and it will take time to get the feel of the audience. There were a few people from Sam's and when Scott sang "Sweet Caroline" we joined in the singing and waving our arms and singing "whew, whew, whew." The bartender and others looked at us. I believe the bartender is either the owner or manager. He looked pleased that his customer's were enjoying the singing. Scott and Joe are on a temporary, ten week trial so I hope it goes well for them. Scott is a paper hanger but Joe has always made his living as a musician. Now that Sam's is closing, he has to line up work for himself. He has Scott and some other's that sing for him.
News from the Vorlon Wife.