Founded December
17,1912 Ceased Publication Thursday February 1, 1951
Book 1 Volume 23
At this time, I
think it would be wise to make some
kind of a statement as to the motives, as well as the purpose behind
this web page
Recently son, George, and
grandsons Andy, and Jason, encouraged me to turn this from a letter
into a web page. A web page offers a vast new opportunity to also
display pictures along with text. They set it up and instructed me how
to put it on line every week. Bear in mind, for this old geezer, this
represents rocket science.
I do have an agenda. I try to write
an upbeat page, with a bit of humor
and not get too confrontational in my opinions. I do have some very
firm opinions that have a way of working their way into these letters.
I am also very much computer oriented and try to do as much as I can to
encourage their use. I do regret that most of the pictures have to be
reduced in size, due to space limitations from Prolog, thus limiting
their quality.
I hope to reach out to former
Palmertonians, as well as other friends
and relatives, with whom I would like to maintain contact. We may not
agree on everything, however, my intentions are honorable.
I suppose the on going saga of the
adventures of Queen and Bobby is
about as fascinating as watching paint dry or grass growing. We don’t
lead a very fast paced life. However, with us what you see is what you
get. I really must say that there is a lot of love in this house.
If anyone is offended by my
content I am sorry but at 77 years
of age, I am doing something I enjoy very much. I am not about to
change my ways now. As our late son Jack said,” I am me and you are
you.” Phrased more succinctly, "Tough beans” There is always the delete
key. Ha!!
Our Butternut
Saturday, April 24, 2004
A new week is
beginning for this web page. It is a
cloudy day but clearing is predicted.
This morning the weight is still 204
and the blood glucose is 135. Last
night’s Tuna noodle casserole certainly did no harm in the health
department. It was also damn good.
This morning I
want to apply the Turf builder to the
yard before the next rain that is due Sunday evening. Then Queen
suggested that instead of applying the Turf Builder that I really
should cut the grass.
I did that while she and Butternut
checked out the yard. She was
cleaning up recycled dog food. It is much nicer just out of the bag the
first time around. Ha!!
Now,
it looks as though someone actually lives here. Sheez!!
As usual, it was
work awhile and loaf awhile. Hey, I
am paid just as much no matter how long it takes me. Besides I can now
claim that I am simply following my Cardiologist’s orders. His advice
will be put to good use. <Harrumph and guffaw>
These are the just opening
blossoms of the Viburnum bush. When fully open they smell just
wonderful.
I had to go down
to the bank and then get my
prescription at Rite Aid. While I was in that store Queen and I saw a
woman sitting there also waiting for her prescription. She sure looked
familiar. Well she should, she was our neighbor up on Princeton Avenue,
Jim Balliet’s widow, Pauline. We had a nice conversation. This is what
is so great about living in a small town.
Earlier last week
I emptied the gas mixture from
the snow blower and poured it into a metal garbage can lid to
evaporate, and then I started it and ran it dry. Next, it was put to
the back of the garage and the lawnmower moved forward. This morning I
checked the lawnmower’s oil gassed it up and away we went.
I
showed this same dogwood bud last week. Things are changing fast.
Well today was
my big day. As George Ashman says, “another 15 minutes of fame.” Pattie
was very kind in her assessment of what I am doing. I am honored and
flattered that they would bother to run something like this in the
paper.
A few corrections I was in High
School not grade school for the press
washing and recasting of the type. However in grade school I did run
errands on my bike for the company during the summers. Then also the
Palmerton Printing Company was never a direct subsidiary of NJZ but
men of authority such as Mr. Hardenberg, and others in the company who
needed his type of service financially backed my Dad by co-signing his
loan at the bank. If Pop went up the flue he would have lost
everything. That is a good incentive to succeed. Basically
Pattie is correct in her content.
It would be nice if the old Palmerton
Press printed papers were
available to scan to access and search for past items of interest. Last
evening George Ashman phoned and did say that the Historical Society
was going to make them available on microfilm. Perhaps there is a way
to work from that. At any rate it is a good start.
Nowadays all newspapers are computer
generated. A small paper like ours
could easily be composed and made up here on this computer easily
today. However it was a Hell of a lot of work in those days. Believe
me I know.
It
started here in the composing room
Type
was cast on our Monotype and printed on the Premier letterpress.
*********************************************************************
Printer's ink runs in his veins (From
The Times News)
Bob Elliston sits at his computer ready to publish another weekly
edition of the Palmerton Press. He is always happy to send the e-mail
publication to anyone who wants it.
Palmerton man follows in father's footsteps
By PATTIE MIHALIK
Bob Elliston got through more than seven decades of his life before he
made a startling discovery: He has printer's ink in his veins.
Publishing is his siren's song, luring him to his computer to publish
his weekly epistle, The Palmerton Press.
The Palmerton man actually stole both the name and the masthead.
It stole it from his father, George Richard Elliston.
But that's okay. If the late George Elliston can see his son from his
heavenly perch, he must be smiling.
The elder Elliston was the founder, editor and publisher of the
Palmerton Press, the town's first or second newspaper. Actually, what
brought him to Palmerton in the first place was an offer from New
Jersey Zinc, the company that literally built the town.
NJZ hired Elliston to run its printing department and start a weekly
newspaper. With backing from the company, he opened a print shop and
newspaper office in the spacious building at the corner of Delaware
Avenue and Third Street, present location of Pencor Headquarters.
The first edition of the Palmerton Press was published on Dec. 17,
1912, with Elliston filling every role.
In grade school, his son Bobby had a role, too. A dirty role.
"I washed down the presses every night and removed type then recast it
in ignots," says Bob who is probably one of the few who can recall the
early days of setting newspaper type.
When his father had a heart attack in 1939, Bobby's brother Richard
moved back to town to help his dad in the publishing business. "I was
only 13 at the time but I did whatever job I could," he says.
To him, that's all publishing was. A job. He didn't share his father's
great love of printing and publishing a newspaper..
It was actually his new interest in computers that led Bob Elliston to
start writing.
He explains how that happened by first talking about his favorite
subject, his wife Ruth, better known as his Queen.
"Over 20 years ago, I married my brother's widow. Thus, all of my
stepchildren are also my nieces and nephews. Our marriage is absolutely
the very best thing that ever happened to me."
Keeping in touch with geographically scattered family members got
easier when Bob bought his first computer and discovered the joys of
e-mail.
He started sending "news chats," detailing what was going in his life
and in the town.
Those epistles kept growing longer as did the list of recipients. Bob
soon found himself publishing his own electronic version of a folksy
weekly newspaper.
It's an unorthodox version, to be sure, which might be part of its
charm.
A typical issue always includes his personal diary of activities,
including details of the food he enjoys at "the best restaurant this
side of heaven." That's Bob's fond reference to his wife's home
cooking. And if one gets hungry reading his posts, that's no problem.
Ruth's recipes are sometimes included. "And are always available by
special request," Bob promises.
Each week's edition usually includes present day news as well as a trip
down memory lane. It's a little bit of Prairie Home Companion, a little
bit of local history and links to other newspaper stories deemed
interesting.
"The Saturday edition of the TIMES NEWS is my favorite part," says
Elliston. "I like the variety of personal columns. Even if I don't
agree with a particular point of view, I enjoy reading it because it
makes me think." Those columns frequently are included in his weekly
mailing, "by permission," he adds.
"I try to write an upbeat letter with a bit of humor and not get too
confrontational in my opinions," says the 77 year old writer who is at
his best when he gives his simple philosophies of life.
Love one another, value friends, stay close to family and take plenty
of quiet time for personal introspection, he advises.
Each morning Bob begins his day, cup of coffee in hand and Butternut
Fred at his feet, sitting on a park bench in his back yard. He watches
the sun come up while he thinks about his life. "And every time I do, I
feel so blessed," he says. Some of those early morning reflections find
their way into his weekly newsletter.
That newsletter really took off in both appearance and popularity, Bob
says when "son George and grandsons Andy and Jason encouraged me to
turn this from a letter into a web page."
That means he can post pictures from his wanderings around town as well
as photos from the past. It is those vintage photographs that appeal to
so many of his readers, many of whom write back to share their memories
and information. That, too, finds its way on the web.
When the weekly epistle is ready for publication, it first has to pass
scrutiny from the proofreader, Bob's Queen.
Elliston has received many requests to put more vintage photos and
stories on line from his father's earlier Palmerton Press editions. One
copy of each edition is now stored at Palmerton Library. Bob has the
technical ability to scan each edition onto his computer but the
program results in so many mistakes that it's too time-consuming for
someone to sit there making thousands of changes.
The Lehigh Gap Historical Society wants to find a feasible way of
coping those old newspapers onto a computer base so people could do a
word search and find what they are looking for. Anyone with suggestions
is asked to contact George Ashman at gashman2@juno. com or Elliston at
elliston98@yahoo.com.
"Someone will know how to do that," Elliston says. "I'm just waiting
for them to share it with me."
Meanwhile, he is happy following in the footsteps of his father,
publishing a computer version of The Palmerton Press.
This afternoon, I got a marvelous
e-mail reply from
a memory of my past hobby in Ham Radio. Here it is:
--- Anne Keiser
Hi Bob, I wonder if you remember
talking to me
on the 255 repeater many years ago. I think your call was WB3DIN
Was that you?? I always wondered what happened to you, so I guess
you switched your interests to newspapers. I looked up your call
on QRZ and you still are listed so I HOPE you are still active in
Amateur radio.
You and I
have something in common. We both have wonderful
spouses. Don't know what I would do without my husband. He
is a GOD_SEND to me, as he has been here all through my cancer therapy
and I am still here after 9 years of the after-effects of it, which
have at times been pretty rough. Between him and The Good Lord above I
am still fighting this dreaded thing. Maybe you remember me as
WB3FVJ. I changed my call when I passed my Extra class test about
15 years ago. Would like to read your column in the Palmerton
Press. Never heard of it.. All the best of 73/88, de, Anne
Keiser/KO3M
It is
always a joy to hear from nice folks like her.
I made many friends in my short time in Ham Radio. They are indeed a
fine group of people who always went out of their way to help.
One thing does please me was that
before he died recently, I was able
to give Pattie’s Mihalik’s husband Andy a push in the right direction
to fulfill a life long dream to become a ham. He now is a silent key
also but he is among some very fine company.
This morning’s meeting with
Pauline Balliet is another memory of
past Ham radio days. Her husband Jim W3BBS was another fond memory. The
ranks, as I knew them, are rapidly thinning. Well so far, I am not a
“silent key”!!!
This evening I
heard from Ed Naritil W3BNR who lives
in Phoenixville Pa near Philadelphia, Pa. He too will be on the mailing
list. Ed is, John Naritil’s son. John was W3AMC.
Gee Whiz, but
tonight’s supper was out of this
world. Queen made her homemade Strawberry shortcake. I notice that it
does not significantly raise my blood sugar level. I complimented her
on the meal and she said she was tired this afternoon and it was easy
to make. Boy, I am sure glad she considers it easy to make. It seems
like a lot of work to make it from scratch the way she does.
Sunday, April 25,
2004 7:17:19 AM 43deg at LVIA and 43.3 in the bus stop
It is a bit chilly
Sunday morning. Butternut has
been out and I shall follow soon. This morning the blood glucose was,
138 and the weight still 204.
It has been very
gratifying to get so many responses
from Pattie’s article on this thing. I have been able to re-establish
contact with old acquaintances as well as making new friends with this
epistle. I am pleased.
I just came in
from sitting out on our park bench
.As I viewed our yard I was amazed that something as small a cutting of
the grass will improve the appearance of the place so much.
I just got inside
from putting the Turf builder on
the lawn. I suspect friend Tommy is right. All summer you bitch about
having to cut the grass twice a week and then you go and feed it!!. His
logic is very true.
This morning one
of my welcome e-mails was from my
new reader Anne Keiser, KO3M. She too writes interesting stuff. I am
always glad to hear from readers. In part she writes of my past ham
activities,” I remember you as being a very quiet and not too talkative
person. Not on the radio too much either.” I suspect that that is true.
I never was a good “rag chewer” I was much more at home on George
Keller’s [W3SAP] 440 repeater with a very limited group of hams, W3WJY
Noble Wolff, Bill Gersbach [K3BTU] and Jimmy a ham from over in the
slate belt area whose name and call elude me. Sheez!!
The late Noble Wolf W3WJY and George
Keller W3SAP
The
late John Naratil
W3AMC
George Keller former W3SAP now in Florida
The late Jim Balliet
W3BBS
Still kicking Bill Gersbach K3BTU
The
late FW Green W1JDE
The above picture is a ham friend
from my New Hampshire days. His name
was Fairbanks W. Green. He was a ham radio operator who lived up on
Squam Lake N.H. He was nicknamed Doug. He had been a radio operator
on board a ship during WW2. He was a very interesting man. He was full
of stories. Later upon
his death, we rented and stayed in his former home on
the lake for a week.
When this
picture was taken I was active in Ham radio and took my 2-meter rig
along and operated from in the house using the truck’s outside antenna.
Those were the good old fun days of radio for me. All were nice
folks.
I remember
helping George, W3SAP, install Noble’s 440 antenna on the roof of his
house in Jim Thorpe. George designed and built it. It was a box like
affair about 2 ½ ft square and about 4’’ deep. It really worked
well. He had a pretty darn good line from Nobles roof toward his
repeater in Slatington. Somewhere, I have pictures of the whole thing.
Somewhere!!!
George is living in Florida now and
is retired from his days at what
used to be Western Electric.
That 440 repeater was almost like a
telephone. I recall that at one
time I got into hot water for using “colorful language” and George,
rightfully, but politely, chewed me out.
I seem to be much more at home
writing my thoughts. That way I
can compose them and more accurately and reflect on my ideas. In
addition, intemperate words can be seen for what they are. I am not a
pot stirrer although I know many who are. There is nothing wrong with
that, but it is not my style. Oh, Queen hears a lot of @$3%&!(XX#^x
words for which I catch Hell. However, she can’t seem
to get me to change. Hey, she was a telephone operator for the
Palmerton Telephone Company for over 20 years. When someone called to
complain about his or her cable service or a telephone problem she was
the lightning rod she heard it all!! The women were about as bad as the
men. She had to listen to them all and be polite. What they didn’t
realize though was that she recognized some of their voices. Sheez!!
Man, you should
have seen the two Stooges this
afternoon trying to repair my computer glasses. The small screw in the
sidepiece had fallen out. Where it went, I haven’t a clue; fortunately,
Queen knew where we had a spare. There were the two old timers trying
to insert the screw. Of course, since I couldn’t use the glasses to see
what I was doing, we were forced to resort to a magnifying glass.
Finally, I got it in the hole and Queen tightened it as I held the
sidepiece. My God, what a time, but we did it!!!
Bob Green sent this that he saw on E Bay. Boy, that brings back
memories
This also is from Bob
Green,
Accept that some days you're the
pigeon, and some days you're the
statue.
Always keep your words soft and
sweet, just in case you have to eat
them.
Always read stuff that will make
you look good if you die in the middle
of it.
Drive carefully. It's not only
cars that can be recalled by their maker.
Eat a live toad in the morning
and nothing worse will happen to you for
the rest of the day.
If you can't be kind, at least
have the decency to be vague.
If you lend someone $20, and
never see that person again, it was
probably worth it.
It may be that your sole purpose
in life is simply to serve as a
warning to others.
Never buy a car you can't push.
Never put both feet in your
mouth at the same time, because then you
don't have a leg to stand on.
Nobody cares if you can't dance
well. Just get up and dance.
The early worm gets eaten by the
bird, so sleep late.
When everything's coming your
way, you're in the wrong lane.
Birthdays are good for you; the
more you have, the longer you live.
Ever notice that the people who
are late are often much jollier than
the people who have to wait for them?
If ignorance is bliss, why
aren't more people happy?
You may be only one person in
the world, but you may also be the world
to one person.
Some mistakes are too much fun
to only make once.
Don't cry because it's over;
smile because it happened.
We could learn a lot from
crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty,
some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors but
they all have to learn to live in the same box.
A truly happy person is one who
can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
Happiness comes through doors
you didn't even know you left open.
Have an awesome day, and know
that someone has thought about you
today...
Monday, April 26,
2004 7:37 AM 45 deg at LVIA and 45.3 in the bus stop
This morning the
blood glucose is 152 and the weight
204. <Sigh> It is raining steadily this morning. I took the
recyclables to the alley and got the car out. I think I shall go to the
Iron Works. I wasn’t there all last week. There was so much to do I
didn’t really have the time nor the steam to do both. Another one of
age’s forced compromises. I can do one or the other but not both,
Sheez!!
Now at 8:49 AM it
is raining pitchforks and hammer
handles. I shall wait before leaving for the “Ironworks.” It looks like
I picked a good time to apply the Turf Builder to the yard yesterday.
I went to the
“Works” this morning but I didn’t push
it very hard. I walked only a quarter of a mile, but I did get my heart
rate up I went mostly for the upper body stuff. Swimming season will be
upon us soon.
I saw many
regulars there. I spoke with Nan Campton,
Connie and Bob Reinhart, Jean Bechdolt, Marylyn Ord and many others. It
is a very congenial place to meet folks.
This morning I
received this e mail. It is very much
appreciated.
Hi Bob and Queen.
I look forward to reading
your site every Monday. It has a very
down home quality/ that is so very refreshing and relaxing in today's
fast paced world. I know it is hard work for you, but believe me you
are both very appreciated. I especially love your spring flower garden.
The pictures come out so clear and sharp. And that precious Butternut.
You just want to hug him.
When I'm out
walking, if I see Butternut out in your
yard, would you mind if I stop to say hello to him? I love dogs. I
adopted a Greyhound in 1997(Handsome) and I had to sadly put him down
in 2000. He had cancer. It was a very sad time. I had nursed him so
hard through his illness and I was hoping to prolong his life for at
least awhile longer. But after about 8 months into his recovery, Dr
Shelly came me the news that the cancer had spread. Cancer can
sometimes be common among racing Greyhounds. I believe that the tracks
feed them too many steroids to get them to run fast. It's all about
them making quick money. The owners have no regard for the dogs future
health. And of course you know the rest of the story. Anyone who has
pets knows the heartbreak of saying goodbye. But thankfully I had
adopted Handsome and when he passed away, he became a loving memory and
not just a statistic. I was pet less for awhile, but now I adopted a
little poodle mix from the Carbon County Animal Shelter. He is about 11
years old, partially deaf and partially blind. He looked so sad sitting
in his crate at the shelter. So now he is here on Lafayette. He has
medical problems and I know that sooner rather than later I will
have to go through that heart wrenching trip to Dr. Shelly. But you
know, for now he is a very happy little dog and I just love him. Well,
both of you have a happy day and keep writing…Cookie Bollinger Greene.
( I see in your writings that Lee is doing his daily walking)
My main comment on the above message
is that while it is work, it is
not hard work. I love to do it. I understand that there are actually
people who take money to do this. Nobody would be so foolish to
actually try to pay me to do this stuff. Sheez!!!
Tonight for supper we dined in God’s
Restaurant. Washday is spaghetti
night. Wonderful.
Yesterday, I worked my out of a real
pickle here with the computer. I
was working on my Web page when the computer started doing all kinds of
weird stuff. Lines running down the screen, all sots of strange
characters appearing, and I couldn’t stop it. I did an emergency
reboot. Then it would not allow me access to my start column to get the
usual way of curing problems like that. After considerable thought, and
many unsuccessful attempts at repair, I rebooted in safe mode and
gained access to the program in XP that permits one to go back in time
to a place where everything worked. Once I was able to do that all was
well. What the problem was I don’t know. It took a while for the old
geezer to figure out how to accomplish this task. After that, I ran all
the maintenance programs defragging and scan disk now all seems well.
Thank God!!
Geez, tonight my assessment of Green
tea was confirmed. I got this
completely unbiased message from our good friend and neighbor Tommy
Davies,” Hi Bob. I got a free GREEN TEA bag in my last box of tea.
Decided to try it tonite. You are right it's really cat piss. Somewhere
there is a bunch of cats pissing into a barrel. Tommy.” I just knew it,
I Love it!!
Tuesday, April 27,
20047:15:01 AM 46 deg at LVIA and 45.8 in the bus
stop
It looks as though
it will be a nice day today. It
is Election Day and we will have to go vote this morning. The blood
glucose the morning was 144 and the weight 205.
Everything looks
so fresh and green outside this
morning. Now the virbirnum bush is fully out now and the place to sit
is
right here on the park bench next to the bus stop.
The
virbirnum bush what a wonderful odor it has.
The
dogwood tree is not quite fully out yet. It won’t be long however, the
tulips are great.
This morning as I
sat there, coffee in hand, Marline
and Lee Bollinger walked down on the other side of the street. It is
great that they can walk together like that. I know, walking with my
wife makes wonderful company and she is a good conversationalist. That
way we both have a captive audience. Ha!!
We went downtown and voted. Then we
walked down Delaware avenue to
Country Harvest and back to the car. PennDot is tarring cracks on the
north side of Delaware. Now the street looks just like it used to
before it was resurfaced, a mass of patches. At least they didn’t tar
over any deer, as has happened elsewhere in Pennsylvania!!
On the way back to
the car, Judge Webb greeted us on
his way to his car. It was nice speaking with him again. He is a reader
of this stuff.
This afternoon Queen was outside
clipping dead blossoms and in general
keeping the place spic and span. I used the plastic strips I got at
Shea’s this morning to cover the cracks in the linoleum I put on top of
the new potting table yesterday. I also stacked some of the bags of
potting soil and mulch behind the new table next to the pine tree, It
does look a bit neater now. We still have a lot to do here.
Tonight I was the cook. I made turkey
stroganoff served over noodles.
That with some low fat cottage cheese and the rest of Queen’s apple
crisp with a dollop of ice cream, a cup of fresh coffee made for a
good meal.
I called the Beltone hearing aid
store in Lehighton and made an
appointment for myself. I must do something. Things are gradually
getting worse. I have had three hearing aids in the past, but I hated
them all. All of them amplify everything and it drives me nuts. In a
quiet environment it helps, but with noise such as running water, or
wind, hearing someone such as Queen, who has a soft voice, it is a
total loss. I suspect I am a candidate for one of the new digital
models that have selective electronic filtering. I notice when I can’t
hear instead of keeping asking what did you say, I am starting to
withdraw from people because I simply can’t hear them and don’t want to
keep asking. That is not good. That is when you start living inside you
head. Not a good place over the long haul. I have an appointment for
next Monday. I expect to be ripped off, because as an ex-electronics
man with some experience. I have a damn good idea what the components
for those things actually cost. However!!!!!!
Tommy
brought us a bucket of Daffodils last evening that Queen and I shall
plant soon
Wednesday, April
28, 20047:19 AM 36 deg at LVIA and 35.9 in the bus stop
The weight this
morning is 206<groan> and the
blood glucose is 143. It looks like a good day outside today. I shall
venture out as soon as the coffee is ready. It is chilly though it a bit cold. This morning Tommy phoned
from work to tell me to
go to the back of his house and get a flat of pansies that someone had
donated to him. He knows we are looking for some. I picked them up but
soon will leave for the Ironworks.
<10:08 AM> I just got back from
downtown including the “works”
and the pharmacy. Today, I
walked a half a mile and went through the upper body stuff.
Then, I
stopped in at the T.N. and Sharon had
a message for me. A man in Nesquehoning wanted me to call. He runs a
small paper up there, the Anthracite News. He saw Pattie’s article and
asked if I wished to establish a business relationship whereby he sold
advertising for my “paper.” I assured him that I did not intend to turn
this into any kind of a commercial venture. However, It was nice of him
to ask. Bob Urban need not worry. I have no intention of turning
this from a fun thing into hard work. Ha!!
This afternoon we
planted Tommy’s daffodils. We got
a call from George Ashman this afternoon. He has to be at the
Muhlenberg medical center in Shoenersville tomorrow at 10 am for some
minor surgery and he is not permitted to drive himself. Therefore,
Queen and I will be taking him down. Apparently, it is a six-hour
stint. We will know more about this by tomorrow evening.
Well, it looks as
thought Arlen Specter got the
scare of his life in yesterday’s election. He won, but just barely did
so.
The
dogwood tree
I will tell you I thought long and
hard before I finally voted for
Arlen Specter. My hand was on Pat Toomey’s lever but I voted probably
for the same reason a Republican in West Virginia would vote for Robert
Byrd, Power, they both have it. However, all Senator Byrd has to do is
keep on breathing. I still think Arlen had the scare of his life.
That seniority system stinks. I
recall Dan Flood was our area’s representative in the US congress. I
think he finally retired due to either age or health. He could have
been elected on a laundry ticket. His handlebar mustache was well known
in Washington. He did pay attention to his home folks. He helped my
brother Dick get S.S. disability after his accident and stroke.
However, talk about power, that man was able to have anthracite coal
from Pennsylvania shipped to the US Army in Germany in heating their
barracks. As you know there was no coal in Germany!!! Ha, Ha!
Thursday, April
29, 2004 7:04 AM 41 deg at LVIA and 41.5 in the bus stop
Well, the medical
report this morning is better. The
weight is 203 and the blood glucose is 137.
We will be taking
George Ashman to the hospital this
morning for his surgical procedure. More later as the day wears on.
I will head out
with my coffee this morning. It
looks like a grand day today.
<later> Indeed it is a
beautiful day this morning. I sat outside
in the peace and quiet. I saw Marline and Lee heading down Columbia on
their morning walk.
<10:25 AM>
We are down and back from phase one
of George’s trips. My god, but it amazes me how that area has changed
over the years. Of course, old Bobby never uses route numbers, but I
navigate from landmarks. Hey, a lot of them are not there any more.
After we got back
we were busy.
Queen
was busy planting the Johnny Jump ups we got from Tommy.
Old Butternut is keeping his eye on
Mom as she works. Queen had a
few plants left so I planted them for neighbor Jean who
was also working outside. Everyone was busy
I
planted the pansies that Mary and Jim gave us
.
I took a picture of the Vinca. It is
beginning to flower now and soon
will be a mass of tiny blue flowers on a background of lush green.
Then
I took down the tarp we had around the bus stop for winter
We got back about 5:45 pm. It was a
uneventful trip. George seems fine
and all seems well.
Before we left, I had gotten out a
piece of frozen salmon that we had
this evening. We had a baked potato each, sliced tomatoes, and
fresh string beans, cottage cheese and coffee.
Queen had an ice cream bar and I had
some left over Christmas cookies.
Yesterday we gave Tom a big bag of her cookies that were shrink-wrapped
and the air evacuated for Tommy to give a decent burial. Ha!!!
Friday, April 30,
2004 7:17 AM 52 deg at LVIA and 52.3 in the bus stop
This morning the
blood glucose is an unbelievable
121 and the weight is 204. Golly but it looks like a nice day today. We
plan to go shopping this morning.
I was sitting up
on the glider [summer park bench]
and Queen came up asking if I wanted to go for a walk. Golly, but it
was so much nicer than that insipid treadmill. Besides, I could hold
her hand as we walked. We went for our full walk.
I am glad I took along the
camera. The cherry trees up at the
hospital are at their peak. I got some marvelous pictures along the
way. Here are a few of them.
These
cherry trees are at their peak
Our
place as seen from across the street.
Our
neighbor’s new lawn
Well! Our shopping trip is done. In
Aldi’s we met and talked with a
wonderful elderly lady. She had the most positive outlook on life. She
was a delight. She told us her name and we converses for quite a while.
We never met her previously in our lives. As we were leaving a neighbor
and friend of hers who was also speaking with her said she has been
like that all her life. She seemed like a wonderful person to know.
Well I had best send the “galley
proofs” to the proof reader and finish
for this week.
Please love one another, Mom and Bob [Queen and Bobby]
“What would men be without
women? Scarce, sir .. mighty scarce.”
Mark Twain
“Don't go around saying the
world owes you a living. The world owes you
nothing. It was here first.”
~Mark Twain
“By all means marry. If you get
a good wife, you'll become happy; if
you get
a bad one, you'll become a
philosopher”. ~Socrates
