Hail, Hail. . .The Gang's Almost All Here. . .

Our anniversary was quite busy and festive. We dropped Gracie off at Sharon's and then headed to the Belhurst Castle where we had our favorite private room, called the library. The traffic there was quite heavy - there was a wide-load truck that kept us traveling around 10mph for a while, and it was stop and go traffic. Yuck. I've never seen such traffic on Route 14 before. We traveled alone with the SUV because the plan was for Dorothy to drop off Emma, Greg, Brenda and Bode there and we were to bring them home with us. The reason for the Card Club celebration was Dayle and Daryl leaving us for the southlands. The little girl was Paula's granddaughter. She was good as gold. The buffet was quite scrumptious.
Our card club seems to be dwindling in size - due to other obligations and such.

Miss you, Greg and Noi. Poor Greg is still recovering from his leg accident and couldn't travel yet, so Brenan and Neenee arrived at Elmira Airport traveling via their unaccompanied minor service.

Greg said it took an hour to get them set to fly here with all the rigamarole needed. Paul, with picture ID, met them a little before 7 PM.

Brenda, Emma, Eric and Bode arrived earlier in the day. The Wimpies were delicious and fit the bill for no set mealtime. Paul even had a "snack" of them before bedtime.

Bode is so like Gracie. It's cute to watch them tumble and play. Bode is a little smaller than Gracie, but just as active and cute. I will get pictures up soon.

We offered the downstairs guest room to Brenan, as we thought he'd like to be alone. He declined as he preferred the Kids Kamp upstairs.

He didn't want to miss anything going on. So - upstairs, he is.

Sunday - Traveling time

Sunday, yesterday, was Lindsey's graduation party down in towards the city. Sharon and Ida joined us because they were by themselves. Gracie came along because we'd be gone too long. The trip is a little over three hours there and back - 190 miles each way. We set up a "hotel room" in the back for her - with her car carrier, her sleeping cage, a puppy pad, toys, food. Everything a pup could want. Sharon and Ida settled in the seats behind the front seats. Gracie hated the idea of separation and ended up squeezing through the side of the puppy barrier Paul put up, and spent part of the time in Sharon's lap and the rest in mine.

Susie (Lindsey's mom), has a beautiful home out in the country that looks like a small stone cottage from the front. Note the pictures. But - it has four bedrooms - two up and two down. If you go around back, you can see how much bigger the house is than it looks from the front. We didn't get a picture of the back, though. But we did get pictures of the inground pool in the back. Note Ida and how she's grown! Teenagers, young kids and their parents settled there. It was very sunny. BUT I couldn't stay there because it was too hot.

The front had nice huge shade trees and cool breezes, which is where the dogs settled, plus their owners, and several others of us. Dog: Two Bernase Mountain Dogs. Plus Gracie made three. Gail and Arthur (Lue's daughter and son-in-law from a suburb of Boston) brought Brady who is a 6 year old male, and HUGE. This is their fourth or sixth bernase. And Greta came with Lue. This is her second or third bernase. They're kinda related. . . like Gracie and Bode are. Same breeder, different litters. When you put Brady next to Gracie. Oh, my.

Susie had a house-full. There were people in the back around tables by the pool, people in the house, and people out front under the trees. I am getting to know people, and can now relate people to people, and am beginning to remembering names.

Wimpies?

Do you like wimpies? Bet if you're not a member of my present family - both sides - you probably don't know what that is.

No. It has nothing to do with being a wimp. Which to me means. . . scaredy cat, unable to handle a kind of something stressful looking that is a task at hand. (that's my definition. Not a dictionary's.)

Wimpies are: sloppy joes. So. This morning I made up a batch using the "old family recipe." It tastes better the second day. Getting ready for the family coming tomorrow. I made a big mess. (What else is new.) It called for 4 pounds of ground beef - started in one pot -one that Paul suggested. The ground beef filled it to the brim - so I transferred the raw beef to a larger pot. Started to chop onions and then decided to use the little electric chopper instead. Worked good. Needed parsley - got fresh and chopped some up using scissors. Found lots of spices needed. Began adding that to the brew. Then it looked like the ground beef cooked down enuf to use the smaller pot. So - I re-transferred it to the smaller pot. (It fits in the fridge). And then added LOTS of ketchup. (24 ozs.) yellow mustard, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce. (And other odd and assorted things)

I could hear myself saying - Don't leave a mess. Clean up as you cook. Clean. up. as. you. cook! Don't leave a mess. Well, there's much truth to the fact that my sloppy joes were sloppy. Two pots, one electric chopper, one chopping board, measuring spoons, etc. Spices out. Cooking utensils. Stirring spoons. They weren't wimpy - I needed a long time to clean up the kitchen. Such is my cooking life. Paul gave his seal of approval, though. On the wimpies.

Paul's planning on sampling the wimpies for lunch today when he gets home from doing list-making things. This didn't take much convincing on my part at all.

He's such a good man. He started cleaning it all up, but then Gracie threw up. Not once. Not twice, but several times. That caused our cleaning efforts to be directed elsewhere. It could have been caused by whatever - who knows. Just puppyhood. She still eats whatever she sees, if we can't get to her. She's settled down now. Sleeping on the futon. You think she'd learn.

Normalcy has Descended

Things are back to normal here at the Woods Edge.

What I mean is. . .Gracie is running around - acting like a puppy should. She has not only bounced back from her operation, but she's bouncing all over the place, playing with her toys, running around. (She's inherited some toys of our old cat, Ella, who passed on in February.) As an aside: Paul wondered what we should do with all her toys - guess we'll put them in a container of some kind.

Tuesday - other than not wanting to stretch her hind legs, she came home reasonably comfortable. She had pain medication that night and didn't seem to react any way other than well. Amazing how fast she is recuperating.

BUT - Her size makes it easy for us to forgive her lack of manners. But you know actually - she's really really not bad. In fact, I've never ever had a dog so well-behaved before. BUT -I've had the thought perhaps she should possibly have "manners training" some time in the future. Two Thursdays in a row, I read about someone in the Thursday papers who has such classes. Does that constitute a pattern of thought? Only time will tell, with my dim brain. I may wait for an encore reading next week. We're going to be busy though - We have a lot of company coming:

Next Tuesday, our 3rd anniversary, is going to be hectic. Let me back up.

Sunday: From California: Emma, (age 16) and Brenda (and Bode - their male 5-month old papillon puppy) are flying in to Rochester on Sunday and staying up there overnight with Jeff, Paul's oldest son, and his wife, Dorothy. Monday evening - Eric, Brenda's husband, flies in from California at midnight. He'll stay up there with them that night, too.

Tuesday - We are going to the BelHurst Castle in Geneva for a card club farewell luncheon party for Dayle and Daryl. Dorothy will drive Eric, Brenda, and Emma (and Bode) to the castle around 1:30. (It's a little less than half-way) We'll take them back to our house. That evening: Grandchildren Brenan (age 14) and Neenee (age 13) will be flying in to Elmira from Florida. We're due to pick them up at 7 PM. Everyone will be staying with us til the middle of July. Good! We'll have a full house. But there's always room for more.

Nancy is finishing up her year of working in the University President's office at the end of June. She's now 5 months pregnant with "Lily," Vincent's name for her. Nancy will welcome the time off, but she said she'll still be working this summer, doing work in the math (her) department. She's planning to begin the semester. When the baby comes, end of September, beginning of October, she's planning to be off for a while. Even longer than the allowed time. Good for her!

Nancy's so far away. Sigh. I wish we were closer (in mileage,) but it is what it is. Jil and his family are even farther - half a world away - in the Philippines. Wish he were closer too. Fortunately, with his blog, I can keep in close contact with him. And his life. BUT - Good thing I have Paul's family. I am very lucky. And I know it. And am very thankful. In fact, I thank my lucky stars all the time.

Had an appointment yesterday in Bath and had lunch with my good friend, Ruth, and her 94-year old mother, Emily, visiting from Buffalo, at the "Chat" Restaurant. Emily is staying with Ruth for the summer, recuperating from a fall this Spring. She's so spry after having this accident. But, I could see a change. She's beginning to show her age, but just a little bit.

Cleaning lady is here today for her once-a-month cleaning. What a gift to myself she is. If I set my mind to do the things she does, I could. But I just don't want to. . . Nor do I want Paul to. . .

So - that's all the news from the Woods Edge. What's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?

A Different Start to the Day. . .

A different start to the day. . .Gracie went to the vets in Watkins Glen "to be fixed." this morning. We pondered the idea of leaving her "as is" since she's a purebred, but the idea of little puppies running around didn't seem like a very attractive idea to us. Lucrative, yes. But, still. . . no. She wasn't allowed any food from last night at suppertime, and I'm sure she wondered why Paul didn't give her anything to eat this morning, due to the vets' rules and regulations regarding surgery. He said she was acting differently - just lying in the rocking chair in the dining room , by his kitchen chair at the breakfast table, looking at him. Gracie isn't a barker at all, but still it seems quiet around here. When we got back from taking her over there, Paul said. . . well, we didn't have to worry about her slipping out the front door when we opened it. (She's really quick!) I'm sure she will have lost some of her bounce for a while. I know she will. Do you think she'll ever forgive us???

I went to Panera Bread yesterday and met with my Florida and Bath friend, Carol. We hadn't gotten together in a long time and it did my heart good to see her and see how happy she is! Her life is going so well for her and she's so busy and active. Good for her!

Paul has done such a beautiful job with all the landscaping around here. When we got back this morning, we walked around the yard looking at the flowers. It's fun to see them blossom and then make way for others to come when they die off. I'm talking about perennials, of course.
I put gerber daisies in the big ceramic pots I got last year for the back deck. They look nice.
Paul wants to make a list of all the plants, where they are. Perhaps if I remind him, he'll make one up. That is if I remember!

Speaking of remembering, I got Paul a white board for his shop, for Fathers' Day Sunday. He wanted something to write on, when he does things, to help him remember. . . such things as when he mowed the lawn, fertilizing stuff. . .outdoorsy stuff. Or workshop stuff. I was so pleased to get him something he wanted I hid it in the trunk, but forgot to hide the receipt which was on the front seat of my car, and he read it. Oh, well. He didn't know I got him a Clive Cussler book too! (Clive's an author he enjoys reading.)

Fathers' Day - Sharon's family and the Corning crew took us to Red Lobster on Sunday afternoon. What a treat! I had my favorite - coconut shrimp and had to take a doggy pack home. Paul and I enjoyed it later on.

Both Paul and I commented on seeing the kids going to school this morning. It seems like they should be off from school by now. It is their last week. It seems though that last week should have been their last. Perhaps its because so many of our grandchildren are not from NYS. States have such different vacation times. California is off the end of May. Florida is off early too. But they both start earlier, too. New York is so much later. On both sides of the coin.

Okay - it's lunchtime and I hear Paul coming down for lunch. I'd better close. I'm hungry too!

So. . .what's happenin in your neck o the woods?

Now. . .Weight a minute!

Got a call from Lue last night. She laughingly told me she'd read in my blog yesterday that Gracie weighed 3.75 lbs. and is (5 months old. ) Greta, her Bernaise Mountain Dog was at the vets (yesterday?) and said that she had gained 4 pounds this past week - and now weighs 37 pounds and is 16 (?) weeks? The pictures below are of a "play date" they had, two weeks ago when Lue came for dinner. Hard to believe that she's only 16 weeks. And she'll continue growing for quite some time. Not sure of that fact. But we know she'll probably weight more than the predicted 80 pounds.
I thought these pictures would be too dark, and they are (!) but the third one down shows Greta. The top two show Gracie on Paul's lap. And then, the flowers on the back deck, which when Paul told me how to fiddle with the camera, I was able to take a decent picture.

Greta, of course, has all the characteristics of puppyhood that Gracie had at that age (and continues to have. ) Greta's size makes us careful of her playing with Gracie. All the big dogs that Gracie has been introduced to, have been quite well-behaved and patient around her, but Greta doesn't know any better yet. The introductions have been made, however, and the seed sown for friendship. It'll take time, but I think they eventually they'll be able to play together as good friends. Actually, Greta was more intimidated by Gracie than the other way around. It was amusing at first to see this big dog sit and lean into Lue's leg. That changed very quickly, however, after the tentative sniffing went on.

Lue said Greta got ahold of the tv remote and chewed it, and Lue had to "work at it" to make it work again. Her size makes her more available for trouble. Gracie hasn't chewed the remotes yet. We're waiting (in anticipation) . . .so we put up the remotes. Plus Paul's new hearing aids. We put them up too. His audiologist told him that dogs love to chew them up. That would be an expensive costly undertaking!

My turn to get up with Gracie this morning. She got up at 6:00. That makes for an early beginning of the day. She's now taking a nap on the futon.
Perhaps I'll join her. But, maybe not.

Paul is off this morning for his last medical examination of the week. He's certainly been busy. He said it wasn't necessary for me to go with him to Corning, so I let him go by himself.

Gracie is lying on the futon behind me in the computer room. She likes to prop herself up and lie on the towel against the sofa back - after trying to scratch out a nest. A big no-no, which she obligingly stops when directed. Our living room sofa is against the front windows, behind the front porch, which shelters the sofa from the damaging affects of sunlight. One of Gracie's favorite things is to sit on top of it, and look out the window. She stays for quite a length of time there - just looking out. If the windowlight is such, you can see how skinny she really is. I'll be glad when her adult coat appears and hides her thinness. It's coming. We went to the vet's on Wednesday and she weighs now - the incredible weight of 3.75 lbs.. Up from 3.3 lbs. last month. There's more weight to her tummy. The vet predicted that she'll weigh about 5 lbs. fully grown.

We've been using the new (to us) Netflix downloaded to our tv from my computer with the blu-ray system. Ah, yes. . .I must tell you. . .
Paul got his hearing aids yesterday afternoon - and he said he's pretty much pleased with them. He listened to the NPR station on the car radio on the way home from Sayre. I've been "playing" the game of "Can you hear me now. . .?" from behind him, away from him. . .and they do seem to be working. So. . .anyway. . .
the Netflix system for blu-ray doesn't have subtitles. We watched "Julie and Julia" and he followed along, fine. There were small parts he said he couldn't understand, but those were understandably difficult - French people with french accents. If you haven't seen this movie, do. I can see why Meryl Streep was nominated for an academy award. She gets into the Julia Child's part so very completely. It is amazing to watch her act.

Today is just gorgeous. Low humidity, sunny - low 70's. Yesterday was cool and cloudy. The day before, rainy and cool. Tomorrow the forecast is 92, cloudy with a chance of rain. Sunday is 90 and sunny. Everything that should be green is green. And some of it is still the new green that comes with the Spring. Paul put up two hanging baskets of flowers on a double shepherd's crook on the corner of our back deck. The colors are magnificent. I took pictures of them, but they don't do them justice. I'm not going to even publish them.

Have finished an enjoyable $.99 Indie (Published independently) book on my Kindle - The Colorado Sequence. As I was reading it (it has 400 pages in paperback form), I realized that it was a Young Adult Sy-Fy Book, and that it had a book written before, related to it, that wasn't mentioned by the author til I got 3/4 of the way through. Luckily, it was not necessary to read it first. The author is a college creative writing professor, from Arizona, who has four books to his credit. The book's plot has to do with a math theory called String Theory, with a good explanation for us novices.

There is a 100 Best-Seller Kindle list which includes a lot of the NY Times Best-Sellers also. Since these $.99 books aren't usually advertised, the best way to get to know them is to read the Kindle reviews. One reviewer mentioned: It had a little of Indiana Jones, Stephen King, and The Wizard of Oz. BTW - Target now sells Kindles. Same price.

Busiest day yet this week. . .

Of a week full of appointments, today is a gem. . .for Paul. He had an eye exam at 8:30 in Corning. Gracie and I accompanied him and waited in the car. His eyes are fine. Not much change at all. Good! Because of the drops in his eyes, I drove home. BUT not before stopping at Wegman's, our favorite food store in the whole world. I did a quick trip thru - getting their wonderful shish ka bobs for dinner.
We're planning on meeting the Montour Crew for the weekly lunch and will have to leave in a couple of minutes.
We got a video for Gracie a couple of days ago at Petsmart. (I should say "I") Paul doesn't want to be connected to my stupid indulgences. It's called puppy-sitting. Lots of animals, animal sounds, and subliminally (we're not supposed to hear it, it says "good dog, good dog, good dog" throughout. It's not right to say it's subliminal, but it is at dogs' hearing range. Gracie is intrigued by it. She sits and watches it, cocking her head at the sounds. Would you believe we sat and watched it with her. It's terrifically boring, of course, but she seemed mesmerized. Good! We'll try it today when we go out for lunch. Yes. I know. Stupid. There's one for cats too.
This afternoon we go to Sayre to get Paul fitted with his two hearing aides. I'm really hoping it helps him hear better. I really do.

Whatta Week.

Pictures - Sue's party. Sorry they're dark. Should have used the flash, but it looked like it would be okay.

Gracie's picture is for her 5th month. I'm trying to keep up with her pictures so we have a picture-diary of her growth. Note how long her legs have become!

Monday morning - beginning of a busy week - medically. One of those weeks when Paul has a medical appointment every day. This morning he was off to the lab for a blood test. Even Gracie has an appointment on Wednesday for a physical - she's due to be spayed next Monday.

Thursday Paul gets fitted for his two hearing aids in the afternoon, and an eye exam in the morning. So - Corning in the morning and Sayre in the afternoon - both at opposite ends of our ranges. Put us in the "middle" and we go right about 20 miles and left about 20 miles. Somehow that wasn't good planning on our part, but we'll get through it.What strange times these have been - with Phil's funeral last week in Albany, and then three days later, his daughter, Sue's, Surprise 50th birthday party at a restaurant in Rochester. Much happier occasion on Saturday.

Sue was very very surprised about the party, so that made it doubly nice. Her husband Bill did a great job planning and executing it all. He had help from a girlfriend of Sue's, because someone was there ahead of time to greet people, like us who arrived a little earlier than most and her name was mentioned in e-mails as someone to reach with questions. We should have believed the Garmin when it said it would take umpty-ump minutes to reach there. It did. We got there early. Sue's mom, Carole, looked good. There were about 70 people. Mostly their friends. At least 10 tables of 8 each. Delicious food. I mean really delicious. Buffet style - salmon, chicken and beef. Roasted asparagus. Fantastic birthday spice cake. Open bar.

We were asked to bring remembrances of Sue, which I dutifully wrote the day before, printing it out after several drafts. I gave it to her before dinner. She mentioned she reads my blog. So - Sue - enjoy the pictures. Had a great time! And thank you, Carol, for commenting on my new blog set-up. I appreciated that!

Talked with Nancy last night. She had a good flight back from Albany on Wednesday night. She has house-guests Saturday through Tuesday. Grandpa Neal (my former husband) and (his wife) Grandma Judy. They arrived on Saturday afternoon. In the morning, Jane and Scott, Nana and Pop Pop came. Vincent wanted to know if Grandpa Paul and I were going to come also. If two sets of grandparents come, why not the third? Makes sense to me.

Time to do other things, so I'll close. So. . .what's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?

the. . . the. . . the. . . the. . .

Oops. On my last blog, I gave some of you the invitation to visit my blog REAL time, rather than boring old e-mail. Unfortunately, I didn't give you the whole name. Forgive me brain drain. Paul sent me an e-mail that told me my mistake. . .so here it is:
http://thewoodsedgecrew.blogspot.com;

Wouldn't it be great if that worked now???
By the title you can obviously guess that I left the word "the" off my blog title.

Trial and Error

I've just spent a lot of time experimenting with the color, print, layout of this blog, and not sure if I changed it or not. My trial and error experimentation will either work or not - depending on the steps required to change the artistry (?) of my posts.
Most people are reading this on e-mail, which is a shame since it doesn't show off my artistic talents (questionable again) to its fullest. Color, type, etc.

It is hot today! Just took Gracie for a walk, and she was panting so, and threw herself down on the cool grass in the shadein the front of our house, and refused to move. She knows where it's cool, for sure. I walked her around the circle twice - to no avail.

Got a nice e-mail from Cousin Carol in Fla. She read my last blog and said that her granddaughter is called Lily. Lily Ann. That's very pretty. Nancy has said that they've decided on, dismissed several names. Vincent will be happy to know that there is a Lily in the family. I expect we will not get to know her name til after the birth. As was the case in Vincent's naming. Now that people know the sex of the baby before it's born, some things should be kept within the immediate family.

Okay. Let's see if the new changes went thru. If you would like to see them, rather than the bland boring e-mail, you can go to: http://www.woodsedgecrew.blogspot.com/

So - what's happenin in your neck o' the woods?

A Short Week?

What a week this has been. It seems like a Monday today even tho it's Thursday. . .let me explain.

First - Tuesday we had an audiology appointment at the clinic we attend "regularly" it seems like. Anyway - we both had our ears tested. Believe it or not. . .My hearing was fine! I went first - my eardrums were fine. Then the physician put on the headphones and I had to tell her (I raised a finger) when I heard sounds in both ears. First left, then right. or vice versa. It doesn't matter.
She said my hearing was fine in my right ear, but my left had a little hearing loss that I seemed to be compensating for with my right ear. So. . .I guess I would describe it, in a non-medical term, of lazy hearing? Perhaps I have to pay attention more. I was sure I would need a hearing aid.

Paul was a different story. He had a hearing aid in his left ear. The physician looked at me when he said the last time he had a hearing test was 10 years ago, and that was when he had the hearing aid prescribed. She looked at me strangely, and I should have responded - don't look at me. . .we were just married 3 years ago. But I didn't. It was just something he put off, and put off and put off. Well, now he needs one in BOTH ears, and his right ear is worse than his left.
He'll be fitted with one next week. Holy Moley - the cost of this is prohibitive - and BC/BS, Medicare don't pay a thing. But - he's worth it! More than worth it. . .

Sunday we found out that my former brother-in-law passed away after a long illness of cancer and alsheimers. One aggravated the other and he suffered a lot. So it was a blessing. We took Gracie and traveled to the Albany area yesterday, leaving early morn, for the 11:00 AM funeral. Another blessing was that we got to see Nancy in all her glory of 5.5 months of pregnancy. She just happened to be at a conference in Burlington Vt. and rented a car to drive down to Albany. It was certainly a blessing. Since she lives so far from us, I haven't been able to participate in this pregnancy, except for phone calls. We're planning on visiting later on this summer, however, possibly August. She got to meet Gracie, too, saying that Vincent would love to meet her. I have to admit, Gracie is adorable. She grabs a lot of people's hearts.

She did fairly well on the trip. This was the first time we'd left her alone in the car at all. We left her in the car during the funeral service, Paul stayed with her during the commital at the cemetary, and we left her in the car while we went to the restaurant to be with Nancy's aunt, cousins, father, step-mom, and 60 other people. Paul went out to check on her several times. She seemed to do okay, but on the way home, she threw up. (On a towel). We had rain and cool weather to contend with, and when she had to be walked, she wasn't happy being wet. Can't blame her there. Who wants to be 3-4 pounds and cold and wet? She shivered a lot even tho she was in my arms, wrapped in a warm towel. Poor Paul had to contend with lots of rain coming down almost continuously on the way home. It was a hard drive.

I asked Nancy to tell us a silly story about Vincent - and she said he named the baby Lily. Now, they wondered where he got that name. He doesn't have a pre-school chum named Lily. There's no one they know named Lily. They finally realized - that they gave all their plants names so that he would maybe "treat them with more respect if they were named." He has a lily in his bedroom. So - they told him he could call her Lily if he'd like, no matter what they named her. Her naming is a work in progress. She says he hugs the baby and calls her Lily and is going to give her his old clock because he has a new one, and she doesn't have any.

I was glad we went. It was so good to see all the Albany relatives. Made my heart feel good. It was nice to see these places and people again. (It's good we all get along so well. )
When things occur in your life and you can't understand why they happen, sometimes it just takes time to realize and be able to count your blessings.

So - I'm busy doing wash, getting caught up - and realizing it's Thursday, not Monday. And it's sunny out today, cool and windy. What's happenin in your neck o' the woods?

Winnowing, Contemplating, Considering. . .

I can hear Paul's movements upstairs as he works on the new closet in the new guest room which means that I have to empty the wardrobe we bought to put all my extra clothes in. My first thought is the rule - if you haven't worn in in a year (make that two years), it should go out. Right. I have clothes in our bedroom closet I haven't worn yet, or haven't worn in a long time. But - not to worry. I am contemplating winnowing both places. I am thinking - that should go. That should go. That should go. Thinking about it is the first step. Right? Right.

We had been taking a lot of our summer placemats to Florida and returning them here to the Woods Edge. This year we decided to leave them in Florida, which means we don't have them up here, which means I have had to go to the store and replace them. Such fun! I found a really pretty round pale yellow braided placemat at Kohls. On sale. So - I bought 12 - all of them that they had in stock. Since our family, when all here, will total 24, (after Nancy's daughter is born) I'm thinking it would be nice to have others. I looked on-line and they have them. I'm going to consider this. No hurry.

I got the nicest letter in snail-mail form yesterday from my dear North-Carolina friend, Marcia, who lives with her husband, Hal, near the coast. They've been there for several years and I still miss her. How wonderful to receive a paper letter that you can peruse whenever you want. I know it's become a lost art, but what a wonderful thing to just take the time and send one through the mail. She mentioned that she'd put it down, and picked it up again as she continued writing more another day. That, in itself, shows the time and effort involved. I had responded by e-mail to her, and mentioned that I would try to send her a letter also.

Gracie continues to "mature". If you can call it that. . .Paul took her upstairs yesterday to keep an eye on her while I had an appointment. But. . .He said she was pulling out pieces of insulation and running around with it in her mouth. Not good. So now she's been banished to the downstairs. Because. . .unfortunately, she doesn't like to be in the upstairs guest room (where there isn't any insulation available to her) all by herself. Or anywhere else by herself.
Puppyhood doesn't last forever. Thank goodness. Or not. She is adorable.

She learned how to climb the full flight of stairs last week - up and down. Paul said the first time, she stumbled down the last five steps because she went too quickly. She learned by that "fall" and the next time, took one step at a time - sideways - very slowly. Now she seems very agile and cute. She has to stretch to get from one step to the other because she is so tiny. She's very nonchalant about it now. We forget - until we see her with another dog- how small she is. There are other big dogs in the neighborhood and they've all been very good to her when they are in close proximity. Paul said the dog across the street (don't know the name) lay down and put his head on the ground so Gracie could sniff and lick his face. Animals seem to be aware of "babies."

We have appointments at the audiologist this afternoon. We both are having trouble hearing. I keep saying "What???" Paul keeps saying "What???" We have great conversations. I'm hoping this will be helpful. I'm counting on it.

So - that's all the news from the Woods Edge. What's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?

Charlie had a History class project and asked Grandpa if he could help him. He wanted to make a wooden model of a Civil War Gatling Gun. Paul had a wonderful day, Thursday, putting a lot of it together. (He even decided not to join me at our Thursday lunch in Montour with friends.) Paul's become quite an expert in doing "just enough". He left enough for Charles and his friend Shane to do, so that it wouldn't be considered Paul's project, but the boys'. For those of you who don't know what the Gatling Gun was. . . and I was one of them, it was the first machine gun. Apparently both the North and South had them.

Charles has a busy weekend planned so he wouldn't be available to work with Grandpa. He was to do the "Scouting Ordeal". Lee did it last year. If I remember correctly, he has to spend the night outdoors at the scout camp, all by himself, with only a sleeping bag, and some simple items.

The History project is due on Wednesday. The Gatling Gun was put together with glue, some hammering and sawing. The boys took it with them Thursday evening after they finished and will paint it when Charles has time. . .after his ordeal.

Gracie decided to jump into the hottub when we were in it.

Paul and I decided we wanted to soak our sore muscles late yesterday afternoon, so Paul put Gracie on her leash and tied it to the end of the deck, on the patio, right near the hottub. We've lowered the temp. in the hottub to 90 from 100, much more comfortable in warm weather. Anyway - She looked so cute trying to see what we were doing. We could see just her big ears and her eyes from where she was standing on her hind feet. She was very unhappy about us being in there without her, so as soon as she discovered the steps next to her, she raced up them, and jumped in with a splash without us even being aware she was able! I don't think she was in there more than a second, because I grabbed her and set her outside as quickly as I could. She looked like a drowned. dripping. wet. rat. It wasn't even a sink or swim kind of episode. It was: blink. I'm wet. blink. I'm out of the hottub. I'm not sure what she'd do if the opportunity afforded itself again. I'm hoping she learned a lesson. We'll see.

We had the Card Club here last night. There weren't many of us - Carole, Tom, Dayle, Darryl, us, and Ruth. We played Double Hearts. It was fun. I lost by considerable points, which was fine, since we were hosts. As mentioned before in a previous post, Dayle and Darryl will be moving at the end of the month to the Williamsburg, Va. area. They're so excited. We're excited for them, but also sad for us because we'll miss them. It's a good place to visit though.

So. . .hoping you're having a good weekend. That's all the news from the Woods Edge. What's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?

Today is starting out as a dark and dreary morning. It was my turn to get up with Gracie and take her for her morning constitutional. I could hear her in the back of my mind, but it didn't register for some time. No problem. She's quite patient when she's inside her travel case. She's gotten used to it very well.

Not so, the metal cage we have in the kitchen where we feed her her meals. The door has to stay open while she's in it, or she whines. She's even uneasy getting in it - as if to say - I'm watching you. Don't close the door while I'm eating. Or I won't eat. I'll get out as quickly as I can. She is a bundle of energy in the morning. Really cute, running around the house. We close as many doors as we can, so we can keep track of her. Otherwise, well. . .you know. . .every once in a while. . .we have clean ups. After all - she's just 4 1/2 months old. But. . .She's doing quite well, thank you.

The month of June is filled with doctor appointments for Paul and me. These are the usual ones that occur for "old people" (although I don't know why I put us in that category.) This week we had two. Good reports from both. Tuesday was the skin doctor for both of us in Elmira, Wednesday I saw my gynecologist, Dr. Lin, in Corning. He is retiring this month. He started in Bath in 1980, 30 years ago, which is when I started going to him. He's a member of my old church, his kids went to school with mine, so we go way back. My kids' pediatrician, also from Bath, retired 5 years ago. Dr. Huang. They both are really really good competent doctors and friends. Old doctors shouldn't retire, they should just fade away. . .Plus, they aren't old - they're our age.

Talked with Nancy the other day and the baby is twisting and turning. Her belly "popped out" where the head made a little bump near her belly button. She's in her second trimester and all is going well.
I find it very thought provoking that Nancy can speak of her baby as a girl. When I was carrying her, people didn't find out what sex babies were until they were born, so we weren't able to use his and her pronouns. We spoke thusly - the baby's doing this, it's doing that. Now it's she's doing this, she's doing that. Neat.
Vincent is all excited about having a baby sister. He found out on his fourth birthday, the end of April. At the end of this month - June, Nancy's internship at the university will be done. She'll be off for the summer months. Then after the baby is born, due date: October 2nd, she will be taking an extended leave. It was well-planned and thought out!
It's not easy having a family and a career too. But it's quite common now-a-days. She has a lot of friends in the same position. I imagine they have a lot to talk about when they get together!

Guess that's all for now. What's happenin' in your neck o' the woods?