HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

THE KILLING CONTINUES

The killing goes on. I have been watching the greenery grow beside the fence in my back yard. As hardy perennials, Daylilies keep coming back each year. My mother had the bulbs planted over 20 years ago, and we have been enjoying them each year since.

This year my hopes were killed, along with my lilies. Earlier this year, the neighbor on my left trapped and stole my cat, Daisy, and as far as I know, she could be dead by now. He hates cats and also deprived my neighbor across the street of her cat, Ole Tom, by doing the same thing. Ole Tom could not survive on his own due to a couple disabilities, so we are sure he is already in cat Heaven.

As I watched the green leaves grow, the lilies were going to bloom soon. However, the neighbor on my right took it upon himself to spray Roundup (or something similar) on my lilies while I was not looking. He does not live there, but owns the house which he rents to his girlfriend. He takes care of the yard work.

I went outside with my dog a few days ago to find yellow, wilted leaves. I was shattered at the sight. The above photo shows what I found. The photo below shows what they are suppose to look like.

My 'flower-man' who planted my geraniums this year took a look at the lilies and immediately said, "They were sprayed with something like Roundup." A second opinion just enhanced my disappointment.

The killing needs to stop. Some people have no respect for other people's property - the little things that make someone happy. Why do these nasty men pick on a senior lady who minds her own business?

EQUAL RIGHTS

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [and women] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." So says the Declaration of Independence signed in 1776.

PROUD

Of all my flowers so far, this one is the most beautiful. I am so proud to have it bloom every year and make me happy just to see it.

EVEN SQUIRRELS NEED A DRINK

It rained this evening - that's good for my flowers. I have been watering them, but a good rain soaking will help them grow.

I sit out on my porch and admire my flowers and watch the birds at the bird feeder I try to keep filled.

I also have a bird bath I try to keep filled with water. Even the friendly squirrel likes a drink now and then.

HAPPY HOUR

AGE HAPPENS

FACT OF LIFE

DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT 'EM, BUT I GOT 'EM

I'm not a flower person...by which I mean I don't know the names of many different flowers. I have always been familiar with the 'normal' ones (to me) like roses, carnations, daffodils, peonies, pansies, lilies, geraniums, and mums. But many others are just pretty, but have never been planted in my garden. (The yellow in the back is Sunray Coreopsis; the two in the front are Glowing Magenta Primrose.)

This year I am trying something new – branching out. A couple days ago, I wrote about my peony garden being redone and upgraded. Now it's time to fix the mini-fence and two flower pots that will make my porch look more lively and bright. (Red and white Geraniums and yellow Marigolds.)

The same fellow that upgraded my peony garden, just planted my flowers for me and I think they look great!

The two bird feeders are filled with seed, and now I am sitting on my front porch admiring my new flowers, the birds who have come to visit and eat, with my dog on the porch and my cat resting comfortably in the garden on the fresh dirt. The sun is shining and all is well with me today! BRING IT ON SUMMER!

MY MOTHER'S DAY

I had a lovely Mother's Day.

My son John picked me up and took me to The Fast Lane Grill for a late lunch. The Grill was serving a special buffett with ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, macaroni and cheese, salad, rolls, and cupcakes for desert.

The food was good and I was quite full when I left there.

The interior is decorated in true NASCAR motif, so I was right at home there. The owner and staff are friendly. One of the gals was telling me about their regular lunch menu, since I had never been there before.

After lunch, we drove around town to see the sights. There is always something new or nearly new that he can show me.

After we got back to my house, I was able to show John the items I had acquired at an auction the previous day. All was quiet until his fire pager went off, and he had to leave for the fire department. Duty calls!

It was a good day with good food, and I got to dress up a bit too!

MY GARDEN

My garden is SO improved and approved. I've been wanting to weed the peony garden this year. I finally found someone who does a really good job with flowers.

The rotting landscaping beams were removed, all weeds were removed, tulip bulbs were replanted with the other flowers in the flower bed, and new white fencing was added. The bed looks so much better now with the peat moss around the peonies, which are blooming in pink.

Before that work started, I cleaned off the front porch and driveway of all debris from my trees. The front yard looks so much better.

ANSWERED PRAYER

My prayers were answered and I have a new kitty. I thought of an old favorite show of mine (GUNSMOKE) and named her MISS KITTY. She is so sweet and tame. I can pick her up and hold her and she loves the attention. She likes it under my porch, so that's where she hides.

After looking at her a lot, and her mannerisms, I would swear she's Daisy's child. Daisy had one litter of kittens about a year or so ago here in the neighborhood, but no one knew where they went as they grew up.

Miss Kitty loves to roll over and have her belly rubbed, same as Daisy did, and she meows back at me when I talk to her. They are so much alike. I have been blessed.

WARNING: Don't mess with my new cat! I know who the MONSTER is, and I know the new rules!

WOMEN ARE SMART

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

"House" for instance, is feminine: "la casa."

"Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz."

A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether "computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun.

Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that "computer" should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora") because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic.

2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else.

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

(THIS GETS BETTER!)

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be masculine ("el computador") because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on.

2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves.

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time, they ARE the problem; and

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The women won.

I SHOT 'EM

A man awoke one evening to discover prowlers in his storage shed. He immediately called 911, gave his address, to report the prowlers and possible burglary.

The operator at the other end said "Are they in your house?" He said they were not, only in his storage shed in back of the house.

The operator said there were no cars available at that time. He thanked the operator, hung up the phone and counted to 30 and called again. "I just called you about prowlers in my storage shed. Well you do not have to worry, as I just shot them all dead!"

Within seconds there were 3 police cars, an ambulance and fire engine at the scene. After capturing the prowlers red-handed, the policeman asked the caller, "I thought you said you had shot them all!"

The man answered, "I thought you said there were no police available!"

DON'T CRY - IT COULD BE WORSE

About 3:30 in the morning, a wife wakes up to find she is alone in the bed and she can hear her husband crying uncontrollably. She gets up and starts to look for him.

He's not in the bathroom, living room, or in the kitchen. As she passes the laundry room, she hears his faint sniffels coming from the basement. She turns on the light and goes downstairs to find him.

Finally, she finds him huddled in the corner and crying. She runs over to him and asks why he is crying.

He says, "Do you remember when we got married twenty (20) years ago?" She looks at him and says, "yes".

He says, "well, a couple of months before, your dad said that I could marry you or go to jail." She says, "I already know that. I don't see what the problem is."

He says, "Don't you see!!! I would have gotten out today!"

FROZEN WATER

Saturday afternoon, the doorway to my laundry room knew how I felt. And I felt much better afterwards! Next month, I hope I feel even better.

A little over a year ago, my ice maker stopped working because the plastic line that feeds the water to it, broke. The copper tubing runs from the kitchen sink to the plastic tubing at the bottom of the refrigerator. Then the clear plastic tubing runs up the back of the freezer section into the ice maker. It broke at that connection and I have not been able to afford to get it fixed. The refrigerator is out of warranty and the Sears repairman bill was just out of the question.

I have been buying a small bag of ice every two or three weeks to manually fill the ice bin when I run out of ice tray ice. I like ice in my glass of water, and in my various drinks like Sunny D, apple juice, or pop (which I only have on occasion now).

So I went to the local dollar store now that they sell ice (FROZEN WATER). The price used to be $1.29 and they raised their price to $1.50 now. On top of that, they only had 3 well-worn bags in the bottom of their container - guess they need a new delivery.

Remembering that the last bag I purchased from Ev's (Community Market, but so many still call it Ev's) was $1.39, I decided to go there instead. While waiting at the Customer Service counter for a bit, the woman in the cashier cage was clearly ignoring me, but I was patient. An employee came by, clocked out and left. Another employee walked into the area and set her water bottle on the shelf and started to walk away.

I would have gone to the cashier checking out customers, but there was only one working and the line was not short. She didn't even have a bagger at her disposal.

Finally, after realizing that I was not going away, the woman in the cashier cage said, "Can I help you?" "I just need a small bag of ice please," was my reply. She hollered at the most recent employee that crossed my path, but was no longer at the desk, to ring me up. I put my $1.50 on the counter and she said, "$1.69."

I asked, "When did you raise your price for frozen water?" She could not answer the question. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, I paid for it, took my receipt and left the store. I pulled a bag of ice from the near full ice box. (I guess they got their delivery on time!)

When I got home, I dropped the bag onto the floor in front of the freezer three times. It usually takes that many to loosen up the chunks. I took the ice maker tub out of the freezer and noticed that there were two large chunks remaining from the last bag that would not process through the door dispenser. I set them aside and filled the box. Then I put the two chunks into the empty bag and proceeded to take out my frustrations on the doorway. I flung the bag back and forth, back and forth, between the doorway arch until those big chunks were shredded. Teenie-tiny ice granules are good too!

I felt so much better after taking out my frustrations on a bag of ice chips and it didn't hurt the wall one bit. Maybe this will be the last bag of ice I have to purchase. I'm looking forward to next month when the ice maker might get fixed - I have a wish. One can only HOPE!

BEST OF BILL

I don't get to watch Bill Maher on HBO because I can't afford HBO on my cable network. But I do love to watch his short videos on the Internet. This is one of his best of late. You really need to watch this one! If you need a good laugh, like humor, and/or believe as Bill does, you'll get a boost to your day for this one. Enjoy!

LOVE YOUR CAT

A couple is dressed and ready to go out for the evening. They phone for a cab, turn on a night light, cover their pet parakeet and put the cat out in the back yard.

The taxi arrives, and they open the front door to leave. Suddenly the cat they put out scoots back into the house. They don't want the cat shut in there because she always tries to eat the bird. The wife goes out to the taxi while the husband goes back in. The cat runs upstairs, with the man in hot pursuit.

The wife doesn't want the driver to know the house will be empty. She explains to the taxi driver that her husband will be out soon. "He's just going upstairs to say goodbye to my mother."

A few minutes later the husband gets into the cab.

"Sorry I took so long," he says, as they drive away. "Stupid hag was hiding under the bed. Had to poke her with a coat hanger to get her to come out! Then I had to wrap her in a blanket to keep her from scratching me. But it worked. I hauled her fat butt downstairs and threw her out into the back yard!

The cab driver hit a parked car.

I AM WOMAN

After a three-day migraine and backache, today I was able to get to the grocery...I was out of ice cream...a no-no in my house. I will try to get back in the writing mood. I spent last Sunday rearranging and redoing my living room...a no-no for me also. It destroys my back, already in a fragile state. But it had to be done, and without help, I just dig in and DO IT!

Monday the gutters got cleaned; Wednesday the house got cleaned; and today the yard got mowed. Tomorrow must be a day of rest????? Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but I'll be ready.

I'll share this one with you:

"Three men wanted to cross a river. They had no idea how to cross it, so one man knelt down on his knees and prayed "Lord give me the power and strength the cross the river." suddenly the man became very strong and swam across the river.

The next man thought: if it worked for him, it'll work for me. So he knelt down and prayed "Lord give the skills and the strength to cross the river." the man built a canoe and rowed himself across the river.

The last man thought: if it worked for both of them, I know it'll work for me. So he also knelt down and prayed "Lord give me the wisdom and knowledge to cross the river." He turned into a woman and walked across the bridge."

WOMEN ARE SMART!