Being Patriotic

 

"It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one."

~George Washington (Unaffiliated)

"Liberty must at all hazards be supported."

~John Adams (Federalist)

"The government you elect is the government you deserve."

~Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican)

"Everything dependent on human action is liable to abuse."

~John Tyler (Whig)

"There is nothing stable but heaven and the Constitution."

~James Buchanan (Democratic)

"The presidency, even to the most experienced

politician, is no bed of roses."

~ Abraham Lincoln (Republican) 

"We admit to government by divine right."

~William Henry Harrison (Whig)

"It is the responsibility of the citizens to support

their government. It is not the responsibility

 of the government to support its citizens."

~Grover Cleveland (Democratic)

"We are all imperfect. We cannot expect

perfect government."

~William Howard Taft (Republican)

"The president is always abused. 

If he is isn't, he isn't doing anything."

~ Harry S Truman (Democratic)

"May God save the country, for it is evident

the people will not."

~Millard Fillmore (Whig)  

Hope you all enjoyed this post.

I included a lot of presidents quotes,

 from all political parties.

We must honor and respect each and every

president the people elect...

otherwise what is a Democracy.

I fear this dear country of mine

is heading towards Communism.

My favorite quote was from Grover Cleveland,

who was a Democrat.

We should all heed his advise.

Also to paraphrase Mark 3:25

A house divided will always fail."

In other news,

early Sunday morning my mom

had an episode.

Her vitals went extremely high once again.

Since then they have not been able

to manage to keep them down

without adding medicine into her IV.

They did 3 tests to see if they found the issue...

but all came back negative.

She would not eat breakfast or lunch yesterday.

Day and night she just sleeps,

which is not a good thing.

A cardiac doctor has been called in now.

She apparently has plaque build up

on her aortic valve...and they will not do surgery.

They did an EKG and waiting on 

the results of  this test now. 

We are getting  very concerned she will not make it.

Bob and I are headed out soon 

to get me some new tires for my car.

Will go see my mom afterwards.

God Bless America Blessings To All!

Janice

  

July CupboardScape

 

I pledge allegiance to the flag

of the United States of America,

and to the Republic for which it stands,

one nation under GOD, indivisible,

with Liberty and Justice for ALL.

~ Captain George Thatcher Balch

(Union Officer in the Civil War- 1885)

In other news,

your thoughts and prayers helped mom.

She is out of ICU and should be released

from the hospital on Monday now...

back to the rehab center.

The nurse told me all records indicated

she would not make it the night she went in.

She also told me my mom was a strong cookie.

That she is.

Happy 250th Birthday America Blessings To All!

Janice 

Summer Mantles

 Today am sharing my Summer mantles.

Hope you enjoy.

In other news,

Debby asked how close do I live to the river.

Well Debby I can see the river from

my front 

porch and living room.

Happy Canada Day to my

Canadian friends.

Hope you have a great day!

I was able to see the Strawberry Moon

rise the other night.

I was driving so could not take a pic,

but it was the brightest strawberry color

for sure, and it was a beautiful sight.

Now the reason I was driving home so late

on Monday evening was because my

mom was rushed to the hospital

as her blo0d pressure was dangerously high.

I had seen her 4 hours earlier and she was fine.

 We all drove to the hospital and

the entire night she had no idea who we were.

It was determined she has an Ecoli UTI and Sepsis. 

Not a good situation for an elderly person.

Yesterday her blood pressure continued

to spike high and low...

same with her heartbeat.

She did however know who we all were...

but did not know why she was in hospital.

She also could not answer the questions

correctly that the nurse kept asking

every now and then.

I called my uncle (her only living sibling)

She knew him as well when he arrived.

Her hemoglobin dropped to 6.9,

so she was given a blood transfusion.

They also are giving her some heart medication

to get her vitals stable.

She will remain in ICU for now.   

Am heading back there today 

when visiting hours resume.

My brother has to work and will go afterwards.

My sister made plans to go to their

Summer home a few hours North and 

will not change her plans...

even though I thought it might be a good

idea if her kids came to see their gramma.

This may be their last chance...we do not know.

The boys have not seen her in 2 years.

Oh well...I could only suggest.

Please keep my mom in your

thoughts/and or prayers.

Much appreciated.

Also for those in the extreme hear wave

as we are, please stay safe.

It was 97 when I left the hospital

at 4:30 yesterday. 104 with heat index.

UGH

When I got home an hour later,

the temp never got lower.

Summertime Blessings To All!

Janice

June CupboardScape

 It's Strawberry month...

well for a few days anyway.

For my June CupboardScape,

I grabbed some strawberry items to display.

Most I made myself.

Others are antique or vintage items.

 

I recently made a strawberry rhubarb pie.

My favorite Spring pie.

Also made a romaine salad with

grilled chicken, cucumbers, fresh strawberries

with strawberry vinaigrette dressing.

Do you like strawberries?

If so, what is your go to recipe to make with

this delish Spring/ Early Summer fruit. 

In other news,

I am enjoying seeing the fireflies

twinkle now at night in the trees behind

our house.

Folklore has it they come out 

when the wild strawberries start ripening.

Coincidence or truth? 

To answer Carol's comment,

the freighters sail all 5 Great Lakes.

However only the ones under 1000 feet can go

through the Welland Canal, so the larger

ones cannot sail into Lake Ontario.

Living here by the river for 24 years now,

I have seen every freighter except for one.

The Stewart J Cort only sails from

Duluth to various ports along 

Indiana and Illinois...back to Duluth

all season long.

One day I will make a trip to see it somewhere.

I have kept a yearly log of freighters I have

 seen since I moved here. 

Currently 200 different ones have

passed our house this season.

For those interested in seeing where

all the freighters are currently in the lakes,

click below.

ais.boatnerd.com

You can see them all here.  

Strawberry Festival Blessings To All!

Janice

Someone Hit A Milestone

 Hello Friends.

Well on June 16th my baby brother

turned a young 60 years old.

Ever since we have been going to my mom's

he has become fascinated with the freighters.

To the point when I got in the car each time,

he wanted to know if we would see any

on our way up or back from my mom's.

So Bob and I took my brother Tom

over to Harsen's Island for his birthday

so he could see the freighters up close.

Here we are on the ferry getting ready

to take off.

On our way now.

It is a 5 minute crossing.

Here comes the first freighter.

The queen of the lakes herself.

Big Paul Tregurtha.

This is the biggest freighter on our great lakes.

She is 1,013 feet long.

Here comes the second one about

5 minutes behind.

The Canadian freighter 

CSL St Laurent.

This one is 730 feet long.

 Tom was really enjoying seeing these

freighters and decided to take pics

for himself.

Finally the last one before we left.

This one going down the channel,

while the other two were going up.

The American Mariner.

Another 730 foot freighter.

I was so glad my brother got to see 

some freighters that day.

After the American Mariner passed,

we headed off the island.

It was a good thing we did too...

as it started raining when I was driving

back to catch the ferry home.

We had a nice lunch.

Tom had a BBQ pork sandwich with fries.

I had a Turkey Reuben with fries.

Bob had some kind of Jammer sandwich.

It was Roast Beef, Bacon, sauteed Mushroom,

Swiss Cheese on a Ciabatta Bun with

a Horsey Sauce.

Not for me, but he liked it.

We shared a bucket (6 bottles) 

of Labatt's Blue beer.

It is a Canadian beer that we like.

The next evening my sister and BIL,

Bob and I, mom and Tom

had dinner at the Olive Garden

to celebrate my brother's birthday.

He got a free cheesecake 

which looked really good.

Bob and I indulged 

in a Strawberry Mango Margarita.

I had Chicken Parmesan.

Bob had Steak and Shrimp Tortellini.

Mom had Spaghetti with one Meatball.

The rest had Ravioli with meat sauce. 

All in all I know my brother had a few

wonderful birthday celebrations.

I hope he has many many more.

In other news,

The estate sale is over and done with.

Thank the Lord.

Next Monday Tom, Bob and I are

going to head back up to decide

what to do with what is left.

The remaining furniture will probably 

be put to the curb for FREE.

We cannot sell it in our store.

Its not in good shape.

The remaining books will be

donated to St Denis Catholic Church

for their book sale.

If  anything looks good the rest will be donated to

St. Mary's Catholic church for their

White Elephant sale.

Ladies from both churches approached

my friend who was doing the sale,

asking if we would donate.

She passed the info back to me.

My brother and I agreed to do it.

My mom would like that since

she volunteered at both churches. 

Birthday Blessings To All!

Janice

Friday Finishes

 Hello all my friends out there.

Today I wanted to share with you two new finishes.

This will be a short post.

I did finish the Summer Saltboxes

and recently got them back from

Hobby Lobby where I have them

frame all of my pieces.

Debbie does an awesome job.

This is the left one.

Once you look at the flag on the second one,

you will see why.

These sheep are adorable.

However I always love a good horse.

I did stitch all of that white at the bottom

for both.

It is suppose to look like 

an old Polaroid picture.

I have  seen where some folks dont stitch it...

but I wanted to.

In other news,

Monday Bob did get a new truck.

This was the first one on the lot he saw.

We took it for a test drive and it came home.

His van was no longer viable for him

to use as a work one.

It had almost 200,000 miles on it.

The back doors would no longer open...

not good when you need to put things inside.

Then it needed new tires and the transmission

was going on it.

So he is a happy camper now.

Yesterday was the first day for

my mom's estate sale.

Most of her furniture went

except for the one bedroom set (she has 3 bedrooms),

the couch, loveseat and recliner are still there.

Not sure if these will sell because

they were original to when my parents

built the house in 1990.

My mom NEVER bought anything new

since moving in...except for new

living room curtains which she replaced

only once and a she had to have a new

microwave.

All that money stashed and she could have 

bought herself something new. 

Also yesterday my brother sent me this pic.

A tree fell on his house with 

the high winds we had.

His neighbor called him at work and he left

immediately.

He arrived to having the fire department

on his roof accessing the damage.

Thankfully no roof damage.

The city also was there because my brother 

called them a zillion times to have this 

tree removed...which they did not...

so guess what...they are going to pay

for any damage done once they

have the tree removed.

Tonight the First Nation Canadian's

hold their annual Summer Solstice fireworks.

They set them off right across the river from us.

We always have a front line view and enjoy

watching them.

Well hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Friday Is Here Blessings To All!

Janice 

Where It Began

 I have always been fascinated with old churches.

This one has a deeper meaning to me.

This is the church I was baptized in.

The one where I made my first communion.

The one where my parents took us for weekly mass.

The one I was married in with my first husband.

The one where my children were also baptized

and made their first communion.

Weekly mass with them here as well until I moved.

St Peter's Catholic Church.

I had a few minutes before the funeral service

a few weeks ago, so I snapped a few pics.

I had no time afterwards as we were whisked

away to the luncheon by rows. 

We were the first row because mom was with us.

The funeral luncheon was in a room located 

right off the church. 

This display has our US flag.

The statue is Jesus as a child.

The gold behind is mosaic tiles.

St Joseph off to one side with red candles.

St Paul on the other side with blue candles.

This is the altar.

Red velvet behind Christ on the cross.

All edged in gold.

Marble floors and railing.

I loved this area at Christmas.

They would bring in live 20-25 ft Christmas trees.

There were always 4 on each side.

With white lights and gold ones.

The gold ones were the only ones that twinkled.

They were so far apart it seemed like they

were twinkling stars.

Besides the trees, there would be around

50-75 red poinsettias all on the floor everywhere.

Our Nativity scene would be displayed to 

the right of the altar. Life like statues 

with three more 10 foot trees with the same lights.

It was so beautiful for midnight mass.

Am told they no longer purchase the tall trees anymore. 

Where this long bench on this side was where

all those trees were set up for Christmas.

They moved the bench just for this time of year. 

Looking towards the back of the church.

The organist and choir would be up up here.

I always loved these lights.

A row of these on each side from 

the back of the church to the front.

They remind me of Gothic Revival.

There is no air conditioning in this church.

The luncheon was really good.

We had breaded chicken.

Meatballs in gravy.

Mashed potatoes with gravy.

Green beans with almonds

Rolls and salad with Italian dressing.

Dessert was hot apple crisp.

All delish.

Even mom ate everything on her plate.

Was able to catch up with all of my cousins.

It's a shame funerals and weddings are the only time 

we see each other anymore.

In other news, 

early Friday morning around 2:30 a strong storm

rolled in and we lost both our power & internet.

Everything was off for 12 hours.

We did have power at the store, 

so Bob opened for the day.

I ended up going to Burger King for lunch

because I did not want to open the refrigerator.

I also needed to charge my phone which

I did on my ride there and back.

Bob called me later in the day to tell me

a customer came in and said either

strong line winds or a tornado caused

several homes 2 miles South of us to be 

damaged and trees were down everywhere.

Glad we had power once dinner time arrived.

The squirrels are eating my petunias,

while the bunnies are feasting on some

of my annual plants this year.

This is the first time I have ever had a problem

like this...so not sure why.

It is making me quite mad though.

I was very close to the squirrel chowing down.

Guess he was so busy eating he did not

realize I was there.

I yelled at him and he ran up our tree.

Will be leaving soon to get my oil 

changed in my car.

Then I think the plan is for us to go find

either a newer van or truck for Bob.

Our current 2014 van needs to be replaced. 

Hope everyone enjoys the start of the new week.

Where It Began Blessings To All!

Janice