Fun Memories

Gretel and I were talking on the phone yesterday and one of the things we talked about was funny memories. I mentioned the time I dropped my iron (which I do alarmingly often). Only this time I dropped it onto a can of spray starch and punctured the can. I had starch dripping from the ceiling. It was very dramatic. Gretel mentioned the Thanksgiving that she and Martha were baking pumpkin pies. Martha balanced the spatula on the side of the mixing bowl. While the electric mixer was running the spatula fell into the bowl and she had pumpkin all over the kitchen. My mom mentioned the time she was trying to jam a can of "Pam" into her kitchen cupboard. She took the big plastic top off to help it fit. When she jammed the can into the cupboard it depressed the nozzle and sprayed oil all through the cupboard. Worse yet she had a hard time unjamming it to get it out of the cupboard. Hubby had a funny memory. He needed to buy a 12 volt automobile battery for some special use and he needed to make sure the terminals were a specific distance apart. He was buying it from Sears, so he whipped out his metal tape measure and stretched it across the terminals. Needless to say there was a large bang which caught every one's attention in the departments and melted the measuring tape.

The Garage Sale

Hubby and I filled both cars with stuff for the garage sale. I stayed all day (from 8 to 4). About 10am Hubby drove up to warn us that we had about 5 minutes before a large storm hit. We covered things with plastic and it rained hard for a good hour. Afterwards the place was like a sauna. We sold a lot of stuff at bargain prices but it was all for a good cause and it was lots of fun.

Getting Ready for the Big Garage sale

Tomorrow is the Lions Club garage sale. We make most of our money by renting out the spaces in the parking lot for other people who want to sell things. We do have our own booth though. I will work at the garage sale all day long but I am also bringing lots of stuff. It is such a good excuse to get rid of a lot of junk. Of course the trick is not to buy anything. I am even bringing some houseplants I no longer want. I am sure there is a ton more that I could part with, maybe next year.

Lunch

Yesterday, Wednesday, I had lunch with my Mom, only this week my sister-in-law came along. My brother and I are quite close in age. We don't do a lot of things together but when we do I enjoy his and his wife's company a great deal. We have a system for visiting Mom, not a formal system but we each know that twice a week someone is there to check on her. Mom says, "What do you want to do, take my temperature?" The truth is Mom is not likely to complain or even tell us if something is wrong, so a visit is kind of essential. A visit with Mom though is not a duty but a pleasure.
Last Saturday, Gretel was in town so we took Mom out to lunch at the Olive Garden. The waiter dumped 3 full glasses of coke on her. She was soaked from head to toe. The waiter didn't tell anyone and we didn't get any remuneration at all for her clothes or the inconvenience. I sent an email message to Olive Garden from their website last night and this morning they called to apologize and send us a $50 gift certificate.

Cattails

Hubby's rain garden has been doing very well and filling in quite nicely. He is very careful to keep the cattails extra watered and his effort is certainly paying off. He has about 6 cattails forming. This plant is a varigated cattail so it is a pretty plant even without the brown cattails. The big plant in the middle is a swamp milkweed which is supposed to attract Monarch butterflies. The purple flowered plants are spiderwort. He has day lillies planted in the front of the garden. Hostas are not supposed to like the wetness but they are surviving.

The C-47

Today Hubby and I flew to Cleveland on a C-47 which is the Air Force version of the DC-3. We left about 8:30 this morning and had an incredibly smooth flight across Lake Erie to Cleveland. We landed at Burke airport and toured the Women in Aviation Museum. Then we walked down the street and toured the U.S.S. Cob. That is a 1945 American Submarine. I was surprised how big it was. We had to enter and leave by crawling down the hatches. I often have nightmares about having to crawl through a narrow opening like that and not being able to do it. After that we had lunch at the Great Lakes Science Museum and then toured an ore freighter, the William G. Mather. Then we took a long walk looking for ice cream and took the plane back at about 4:30. There were only 12 of us on the plane.

Lion's Club Board of Directors

Tonight the Lions club had their Installation dinner. They installed the new officers and new board members. They also gave out awards. The top award went to Lion Patricia who is a nurse and for the last 9 years has volunteered to set up and be camp nurse for a camp for handicapped children. She is a bundle of energy and is 70 years old. I was appointed to the board of directors. At the meeting tonight all the Lions introduced themselves and their spouses. After hearing all the other Lions say their name and "this is my wife ----" I said "I am Lion Peggy -- and this is my wife" I really got teased for that.