Good evening ladies. Thought I would post tonight as I might be sleeping in tomorrow. We just got home. I told you I wanted to go somewhere and go somewhere we did. I got this wild idea to drive to Vicksburg, MS and see the civil war battle stuff. I thought it was about 2 hours but it is actually about 4 1/2. We didn't leave until 10:30 and stopped for a bit of lunch so we didn't even get there until after 3. You can hike around the military park or you can also drive it. We didn't get out much mainly because they have had so much rain the grass in a lot of areas was overgrown to almost knee high. I figured we didn't want mosquitos, chiggers and possibly even ticks so we mainly drove it. We did get out at the cemetary and the USS Cairo, which was a Federal (Yankee) wooden gunboat. It got hit by a cannon and went straight to the bottom of the Mississippi in about 14 minutes. The ranger's talk was quite fascinating as he said they stuffed 175 sailors on board the ship and I would bet the section where the "non" officers stayed wasn't more than several feet and less than 6 feet high per deck. He said that they literally stood toe to toe because there was absolutely no room in sweltering 90+ degree heat in woolen jumpers that were from neck to ankle. It was steam powered so the had to work putting coal or wood or whatever into the boilers. They had a lot of difficulty getting people to join up. The rangers said to get people to join up they did everything from enticing them to what a great experience it was to shanghaiing them, he said even drunks were taken aboard that were passed out. When they had 175 men they hurriedly shoved off and then they were stuck to be sailors! It was sad seeing the cemetary. Of the 17,000 yankees killed over 13,000 are unknown soldiers. Their graves are marked by a cement square 6" by 6" with no name or information on them at all sometimes. Ladies, their are literally hundreds and hundreds of these small blocks of cement in this cemetary. We watched a great 18 minute film about the battle, but my history buff hubby had told me the whole story sitting in the theater while we waited for it to start. We were the only ones in there so it wasn't like we disturbed anyone by his telling what it was all about. My guy is pretty smart, he was dead on in all the facts too. We spent a couple hours there oh and as you drove, and this place is huge, you would see plaques that would say such and such a regiment or division were encamped here, then you would see monuments of all sizes and some simple and some very ornate telling what state, and the military information about whatever regiment or whatever were in place where the monument stood. Every little bit would be a monument to some general or other who served in the battle. Jean, I saw a couple of big ones with IOWA on the monument. Then you got to the ship and the cemetary and got out and looked at all that then you traveled back to the main area with the "rebel" side having the same plaques and monuments only with southern states information on them. One of the cool things is the battle of Vicksburg had only one home that still stood after the battle. They have restored it to stabiliation, you can't tour it as it is all blocked off, but the big board tells the story of the woman's house and the house itself looks just as it did when it was in the middle of the battle, tore up, broken windows and all. The only thing they have done to it is to stabilize it so it can continue to stand. In all, it was a grand way to spend a boring Saturday.

You all have a very nice day tomorrow and I will try to check in after I am up and around.
Faye

Good afternoon, ladies! Cloudy today so more rain is coming. There was an article in the paper that said the 3 year drought was officially over, however we still have to conserve water from June through September. You get to pay a lot extra for all that is over the winter average.

Faye, my dad took me to Shiloh battle field when I was 10. That battle was so bloody the creek running through it ran red with blood and at that time there still put dye in the creek to make it red. It really impressed me. Of course, I live in the historic triangle - Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Yorktown (where the final battle of the Revolutionary War happened). There are so many historic plaques and places to see from that and then some from the Civil War as well. We have many historic intrepreters and re-enactors for the battles.

Just the usual Sunday - church and a quiet day. I'll be quilting after lunch. You all have a good day!

Good morning gals! Looks like another scorcher here in Elvisland today. We are supposed to be up in the 90's. Jack turned the AC way up yesterday because he got cold and forgot to turn it back down so it was very hot upstairs and I had to come down around 1 and turn it down. The house was near 80. I keep telling him we can't turn the AC up too much or the upstairs gets stifling by the time we go to bed.

This morning was weekly weigh in and I am down another 4 lbs!

Looks like somehow, I got a bit of poison ivy. I know what it looks like as I have had it before. I have no clue how I got it as it is a small area mid abdomen and that was all covered when we were in Vicksburg. I didn't touch any plants or whatnot and here at home Fortune doesn't come in contact with even grass let alone poison ivy so I know I didn't get it off his fur or something. I know it itches like the devil. Not much you can do for a real mild case and this is very small. Calamine doesn't do much. I put aloe vera on it last night and it stopped the itching for awhile but boy does it itch this morning.

Susan: I love Williamsburg and Yorktown. We never went to Jamestown. When we lived in VA Beach, Jack and went to Williamsburg when we were first married. I remember I bought this tiny white and pink "dust" hat for our new baby that I was expecting, but since I had a boy no one ever wore it. I couldn't find it when Kelly was born, but we had moved three times by then. Years later, when we were stationed in VA Beach once again, we took the Cub Scouts to Yorktown. I finally finished the pillow knitting and now all I have to do is block it and sew it together and put in the form. I tore out Jackson's hat that I had almost finished as the brim looked too big. I used a seed stitch to match his sweater but it was too stretched out so I went back and did a k2 p2 rib for th band and it is much better. I also started another pillow and have that sleeve to knit for his sweater.

Jean: Now how long does it take you to drive to the lake? I think that is one of those all or nothing trips. You either go and spend the day or don't go at all. Hope you are all caught up on your laundry now. I had to hurry around and start a load first thing this morning as Jack accidently tipped the ice tea pitcher out of the fridge and it poured all over the floor and my blue and white throw rug. Mess to clean up that was for sure, but at least it was unsweetened tea so it didn't leave a sticky mess I had to deal with.

Everyone have a grand start to your week. The days are sure flying by.
Faye

Good Morning, Flowers! It's another windy and rainy day in my corner of the world. I've got the dishwasher going and will head to the basement with another load of laundry. Then it is out to the garage and I will sort and pitch -- we leave for MN the 20th and I want my half of the garage "clean."

I talked to my AZ "sister" last night. She sounds and feels good, is upbeat, and looking forward to the trip back to IA and MN next week. She said she has been pitching things so her husband won't have to do it later. I don't know if I could be that calm when talking to someone else, but she is a trooper.

"Gma" -- Congrats on another GREAT loss! I hope the poison ivy itch is gone soon. It is a mystery how that happened! Do you run your AC/furnace fan constantly, or do you let it cycle off and on? It seems like we have talked about this before, but when we put in our furnace the installer told us to run the fan constantly since our bedrooms are upstairs. It supposedly circulated the air better. I do that in the summertime when the AC is running, but not in the winter. You have so much patience when you take your knitting projects apart and redo them! It takes us about an hour and 15 minutes to drive to the cabin, depending on traffic. It's 2 lane highway and we go through a couple of towns on the way. We could go backroad blacktops, but the time is about the same because of the stop signs along the way.

Susan -- Hope your day at work is a good one without any computer glitches today!

Maggie -- What are you up to today?

I need to get busy! Have a great day!

Jean -- from Iowa!

Good evening, ladies! In the high 80s today and sunny.

Everything is fixed at work so it was a lovely day for a change.

Jean, I don't run the fan all the time, but I do run the ceiling fans (6). I've tried it both ways and the fans won out. I'm immune to the heat and never set the thermostat below 79 unless it's very, very humid. I had a cat many years ago that adopted a ball of angora yarn for her own. She used to carry it all over the house with her. I have a lovely wooden suskin (sp?) that Stan bought me many years ago that I keep projects in that I am currently working on. That keeps Cupid out. The only thing he likes is thread. He thinks that is a great toy. He also likes a big button I tied on a piece of yarn and suspended in the sunroom for him. He'll bat that around half the day.

Faye, Congrats on another 4 pounds gone for good! You go, girl! My boss came in this morning with calamin lotion all over his arm and leg. He asked me what it was and what to do because it was so itchy (bet you didn't know I was a doctor!). It's poison ivy so I told him to go to the drug store and get Ivy Dry. That stuff works good at drying it up and keeping it from spreading. The thing with poison ivy is you don't have to touch it, it can be in the air and get you.

Hi, Maggie!

Tomorrow is night Quilt Guild with dinner before hand.

Have a good evening.

Good morning ladies! Boy I have a feeling this summer is going to be a hot one. We are running upper 80's into
90's already this summer. Boy, sure would be nice to have the darn pool open!

Susan: I had a couple of catnip toys for Butterscotch and one of them was a cloth veterinarian that Alicia bought him. He would toss that thing high into the air. I sure do miss the big guy. He has been gone over a year now, but I just can't replace him. Fortune is 10 years old now and well over his halfway life span and I am not sure I will have more animals once he goes. I get way too attached to them. I noticed yesterday I have some poison ivy inside the crook of my elbow and I wonder if I spread it to my stomach instead of vica versa. I put aloe vera on it and haven't touched either and they already seem to be drying up. I seem to have a real allergic reaction to the stuff so it isn't a surprise I got it airborne. I was more surprised it popped up underneath my shirt when I hadn't come in contact with it, but now I think it probably was on my arm first and I transferred it to my stomach undressing or whatever. The last time I had it was years ago and I was mowing the backyard. Well, because I sweat, I spread it all over me including my face so I was in big trouble. I ended up with shots and the whole nine yards to get rid of it.

Jean: Hope you guys have a grand time in Minnisota. I know you have to be looking forward to seeing your sister for yourself to see how she is doing. She must be one strong lady to be able to face what she is going through and trying to prepare ahead of time for whatever comes. I know it is what I would do. I wouldn't want Jack to have to deal with getting rid of some of my things like my handbags for example. I think, because I love bags and shoes that those would be hard for him to have to even see after my death.

Maggie: Sounds like bit by bit the house is coming along. I keep telling Jack I want to do some major moving around, but we have yet to tackle it. I imagine first thing we need to do is sort out his office. It is a mess and I am partly to blame. I need to file receipts and such. I have just been putting it off and there is a big stack on top of the file cabinet in his office. We have to get some more of those big rubbermaid containers to put more outdated computer stuff in he refuses to get rid of, but doesn't ever use.

I guess I better get some breakfast in me and get the day started. Have a great one!
Faye

Good morning ladies! I have Jack home today as he came home sick yesterday with a sore throat and isn't going to work today. I am going to go up and check on him when I get through here and see if he wants to take more meds.

I am completely done with one project and have it gift wrapped to give too. It turned out great so I will post a pic after I give it away. I am almost done with Jackson's hat then with do the last sleeve to his jacket and finish it up, then onto getting wedding gifts finished.

Jean: My poison ivy is about gone, actually. I put aloe vera gel on it for the itching a few times and it has pretty much dried up and I haven't found any other spots thank goodness.

I am all excited because I watched the Tony awards on Sunday so I could see the singers from Jersey Boys perform and fell asleep before they were on. From what I had heard on Sirius radio's 60's on 6, the singers playing Frankie Valli (the broadway guy and the Chicago, Vegas and 2 others from around the country's touring groups) performed together at the Tonys. I found it on Utube and they sounded great pretty much like Frankie Valli in his young years when he could still sing high tenor. Well, thought I would check and see where they were performing the rest of the year and next as I am dying to see the musical. The Four Seasons were a bit before my teen years, more of my sister's but I have always loved them. They are my favorite oldies group. The are coming to Memphis in January and February!!!!!!! I told Jack I am going to get tickets even if I have to go alone. I am getting front row too and don't care how much they cost. I am beside myself being excited. I feel like one of those teenage girls that would go to concerts and scream the whole show. I missed them in Vegas, Nashville and didn't get to go while we were in Indiana last time to Chicago. I thought maybe they would be playing in Cincinnati while we are there for the ballgame and when I went to the website I saw Memphis.

Nothing much else happening here. It is very sticky and warm that's for sure.

Have a great hump day gals.
Faye

Good Morning, Flowers! It's another cloudy cool morning in my neighborhood. Beth is off this week and they were going to spend a few days at the lake. She called last night and said it was too cold so they were heading to the zoo in Omaha today. Bob wants to go up and work on some maintenance projects in between the rainy times. He's going to have to repaint our shed doors that he started on a few days ago since the rain somehow managed to wash some of the paint off. Strange! He thought the paint was dry before it started raining but evidently not.

"Gma" -- I hope Jack is feeling better today. Summer colds seem to be worse than during the winter months, I think. Knock on wood, I managed another year without getting one. I know you will enjoy the concert! It's nice that it will be close to you. Do you have Sirius/XM in the house or just the car? We have it in the cars and I told Bob I'm tempted to switch mine to the house since I won't be driving back and forth to school this year. For whatever reason we don't have good reception for long distance radio stations. We do have a couple of local channels but one is Mexican and the other more modern rap/junk. One used to play "easy listening" which was good background music for the office or even study halls at school. I'm glad your knitting projects are going so well.

Susan, Maggie, Gloria, and Gail -- "Hi!" Hope you are having a good day!

Well, Bob is out working on the farm today. They are running a grain vac to clean out the bins. He gets to use his own tractor so he was looking forward to spending the time on the farm. I need to get busy in the garage; I got a good start and now to to finish it!

Have a great day!

Jean -- from Iowa!

Good morning, ladies! Nice today in the 80s but thunderstorms in the prediction for tonight.

I had a good time with my quilting friends. This weekend Glory and I are going to get together to make our projects for the Challenge. They aren't due until September, but we are the committee and will have lots to do right before getting things finalized and buy the prizes.

Faye, I hope Jack gets better quickly. You certainly are on the fast track with you knitting. I hope you get the front row tickets you want. It'll be a great show.

Jean, I'm trying to think how I can send you some heat so it stays cooler here. I read today that the scientists think an El Nino is forming which means more rain for you and fewer hurricanes for the east coast.

Well, lunch is over so back to work.

Just an FYI for those of you who have seen the shooting report about the Holocaust Museum in Washington and remember my son, dil and the two boys are in DC. Kelly just called and said she called them and they are all fine.