Thursday (April 24)

Thursday.  My lilacs are blooming.  Life is good for me whenever I have lilacs in it.  I cut 2 off and brought them into the house so I can enjoy their beauty and fragrance for the next few days.

Rachelle stopped by in the afternoon with the kids (Lucille and I were napping).  Mallory found some wildlife that had stopped by for a visit.

A baby turtle had stopped by on the carport for a visit.  Joe put it on this fly swatter to get a good photo so you can see how little it is.  Although Mallory and Clayton wanted to take it home with them, Joe carried it out to a bush by the back yard and let it go free.

We all went to dinner (Mike, Rachelle, Mallory and Clayton went with us) to the Log Inn down by Haubstadt.  This family-style restaurant is officially recognized as the "Oldest Restaurant in Indiana," built in 1925 for Noon Day Stage Coach Stop & Trading Post.  The placemat says we can dine in the same original log room that Abraham Lincoln was in, in November 1844.  The food was delicious, and plentiful.  There are several rooms, so I don't know if we ate in the Abe Lincoln room or not, but it was definitely a rustic, old log cabin.  We plan to go back on our next visit.  Joe and I had been there once before, several years ago, but we didn't remember how good it was.

When we left there, Joe spotted a sign to a campground on down that same road, so we drove down there to check it out for the future.  It wasn't anything grand, but it looked like it had full hookups, and would be pretty convenient for our last night before going to Lucille's house.

It had interesting landscaping -- I guess it was representing the rural Indiana life.

Tuesday-Wednesday (April 22/23)

Tuesday.  We woke up to a nice, sunny day -- a little windy but that was ok.  My lilacs are about one day away from full bloom so I am keeping a close eye on that bush. Joe and Cathy went to town, then drove up to Verne to see about getting our Explorer looked at (Joe hears a noise in one of the wheels), but they didn't have any luck so he came home and pulled the left front wheel.  Fortunately, he didn't find any problem so maybe we lucked out on a repair bill.

It was time for a Bobe's pizza again, and Fred and Judy met us there, then came out for a card game. 

Wednesday.  Cathy left today, with her arm still wrapped up for her dislocated thumb.  By the time she got everything loaded, including the dog and recycle bottles, it was getting close to noon.  I decided to make my run to Oaktown to my sister's grave, then made my annual trip down memory lane through the backroads of Decker Chapel.  I tracked down my schoolbus buddy, Mike Carter, in the field and had a nice chat with him.  He was busy farming, getting the field ready for corn planting.

 
As I drove on down into the bottomland, I could see where the river had just gotten back into its banks.  Some I of the fields were still wet, but I came upon a tractor at Newton Farms that knew to deal with that.

 

































I finally worked my way back home and came into the kitchen to smells of ham and beans for dinner.  Fred always gets invited out for beans, so he and Judy joined us, and then, of course, we played cards for the rest of the evening. 

Monday (4/21/2014)

Monday.  Well, the party is over, time to do the clean-up.  I think Lucille ended up with about 60 birthday cards, and 2 more arrived today.  We weren't very successful at getting our party attendees to sign the guest book, so we don't have a count for yesterday, but suffice it to say, a good time was had by all.  It was a beautiful Easter Sunday, and the privilege of getting to spend it with family celebrating our matriarch's 98th birthday really made it a memorable day.

Jim headed back to Ft. Wayne this morning, and we started putting away the party stuff.  Of course, one thing always leads to another, and to put something in a drawer, Dixie always thinks we have to clean out the drawer first.  So she gets sidetracked frequently.

































 Joe and Cathy took off for town, for the soda run and whatever other roads Joe sees his name on.  Upon their return, we did learn that the Cannonball Bridge was closed, due to construction-not high water.  The next thing on the agenda was my annual trip to Princeton to put some flowers on my families' graves.  So we loaded up Lucille, the dog, and the 5 of us, and off we went, checking out the farming, the river, the road to the mine where Mike F. works, and anything else of interest.  After the cemetery, we had lunch at Taco Tierra (don't have to go back there), made a stop at the Donut Bank of all things, for tomorrow's breakfast, then browsed through Finder's Keepers, an antique/swap meet in Princeton.  Finally, we headed home with just one side trip and started preparations for dinner.  Judy was bringing out some country ribs she had been cooking in the crockpot all day, so we added some baked potatoes and baked beans and had another fine meal.  After clean-up, we played one game of 6-handed euchre that lasted about 3 hours, so we had a good end to our day.

We did have a brief shower about 5:00 p.m., but then the sun popped out briefly and I captured a picture of an Indiana sunset.

Pre-party workday and the Party (4/19/14-4/20/14)

Saturday.  Today was "get ready to party" day, which means cleaning out and starting to prepare the party treats.  Cathy gave Lucille her shower this morning (as the day evolved, Cathy was sorry she didn't jump in and get her shower when Lucille got out), then Cathy, Joe, Jim and I all went to town for breakfast, while Dixie stayed home and fixed Lucille her breakfast.  But when we got back, Dixie was underway with laundry and making punch, I started up the vacuum, then Dixie moved on to dusting, and Cathy resumed her window-washing chores (yesterday, she did the front door and the living room, but she still had the back porch to do).  Unfortunately, she fell off the step ladder and dislocated her thumb.  She spent most of the afternoon at the emergency room, getting x-rays, getting it put back in position, then picking up prescriptions.  What someone won't do to get out of washing windows!  Fortunately, she had them all done except one.   Joe took his mother to her beauty shop appointment and picked up the cake.  Never a dull moment.

Speaking of the walking wounded,  Dixie took a tumble out in the yard on Thursday (those mole hills get her every time), then she fell right beside me and Lucille on Friday morning in the kitchen.  Fortunately, she only suffered a scrape on the cheek that time, and nothing apparent from the day before, so we think she is ok.  But there seems to be a theme in that strain of the bloodline.

I'm still keeping an eye on the lilac bush.  It's greening up nicely, so if a storm doesn't come along and blow all the blooms off when it does bloom, I might get to see some lilacs in the next week or so.

Joe and I attended the Decker Chapel Alumni in the evening (for the first time).  This was the first time Joe and I had been inside the Decker Chapel Community Center, and I was very pleased with how nice it was.   I had some pictures I wanted to donate, and I got to see some people I had not seen since grade school.  The highlight of the evening for me (and my bestie Barbara Seitzinger Holscher) was visiting with Mike Horrall, who had left us and moved away at the end of our Freshman year (he was the heart throb of most of the girls in our class [4 out of 6, I think], including both of us).  Barbara and I had not seen him since 1962, although we have had many, many conversations about him over the years, and we were both thrilled that he showed up.  We had lots of laughs, but I'm not sure he will ever be the same.

Sunday was Easter, and the day of the birthday party.  Lucille was awake early and yelling up the stairs for us to get out of bed.  We all made it to church (not to Sunrise Service, but we did have a good family turnout for the 10:00 service), then the granddaughters (Jaclyn, Cathy, and Rachelle) put on a delicious Easter lunch.  We got set up for the party, and spent the rest of the day in birthday celebration mode (more chocolates and more flowers).  We didn't have as good a turnout for the party as we had planned for, and I'm sure that the Easter holiday had a big impact on that.  But still, several people stopped by, most of the family were in attendance, and she had a lovely day.

The kids had an Easter egg hunt, played a little baseball, and got creative with the sidewalk chalk.

The weather couldn't have been nicer, and it was a great day to just enjoy being together.

We missed our immediate family a lot, though, but we did get new pictures of our Florida baby.  Sure hate that we have missed so much of his first year.  We got new pictures, though, and I never know if I'm successful with posting them, but here goes.  I can't seem to make it any smaller, so I'll just go with it.

Here's another one.  It looks like Florida had a pretty nice day too.

Friday (April 18)

Friday.  Today was the nicest day we have had here in Indiana.  It got up into the 70s and the wind was probably about 10 mph.  Dixie and I went to town shopping for, hopefully, the last of the birthday party essentials.  It took several hours and 3 stops, but we finally got done.  When we got home, the rest of the crew were all sitting outside enjoying the sunshine.  They had even put the swing back up on the back patio. 

This beautiful, blooming tree in the front yard is one that David planted several years ago.  We see a lot of these trees around the countryside right now, and have been wondering what they were, not realizing it was the same as we have right here. 

 

A neighbor, Norm Snider, stopped by to wish Lucille a happy birthday.  It had been lots of years since anyone had talked to him, so that was a surprise.  Joe did maintenance on the back screen door again.  All that wore Lucille out, so she got a nap in. 

(This is what being  98 does to you)

Then Rachelle stopped by in her new wheels, on her way to a Pampered Chef party.  Quite a nice ride!

  I had cooked a roast yesterday so we had Philly Cheese Steaks for dinner.  Fred and Judy joined us, then Judy, Dixie and Jim went to Good Friday services at church.  We were still sitting outside when they returned.  Eventually it cooled off enough to send us inside.  Judy, Cathy and Dixie played Mexican Train with Mallory and Clayton until Lucille decided it was time for everyone to go home so she could go to bed.

Thursday (April 17)

Thursday.  Dixie and the boys went to town this morning, so it was my turn to do some chores and stay home with Mom. Dixie needed some adjustment on her glasses, and it was grocery-shopping time again, to get ready for the party on Sunday.  Of course, with Joe driving, they had to make a side-trip back across the river to look at those watermelon plants again, and then there was another road with Joe's name on it, so it was mid-afternoon before they got back home.

Don Wagoner stopped by with his mowing equipment to get the lawn ready for the Sunday party, and he came in and visited when he finished his work.  He knows a lot of history about the area and the people, so Lucille really enjoyed talking and listening to him.

Cathy arrived about 5:00, with her dog, Bird.
 
 She brought Grandma an Easter Bunny.  Grandma thought Bird might like the bunny well enough to eat it, so she introduced them in the hope that the Bunny will stay safe.
 

 

After our dinner of Dixie's beef vegetable soup, we played 6-handed euchre for a while.  We finally wore Lucille out, and she gave up her seat at the table to Judy, who stopped by after church.   

We had to switch sleeping arrangements around upstairs, but we all had a place to lay our heads for the night.

 

Tuesday-Wednesday (4/15-4/160

Tuesday.  I guess spring has come and gone.  We all survived a very cold night.  I don't think we had any frost, but the wind sure kept the house cold.  I finally turned my "warmer" all the way up to try to find a warm spot in bed.  I think it was 34 this morning, but a very cold wind.  When I came downstairs, Lucille was already up and dressed.  Joe, Jim and I went into Denny's for breakfast, and Dixie stayed home and did chores. 

The birthday cards keep coming in, today's mail brought 9.  She did get another "letter" from the Indiana House of Representatives acknowledging her 98th birthday.  Billie stopped by in the afternoon and brought her a box of candy from Charlies, but otherwise it was a pretty quiet day.

An amazing sight after dinner tonight, Joe got up and started washing dishes.  This is something that just doesn't happen!  Jim dried, but he does that all the time.  Joe must have thought he needed to take on more duties in the care-taking role, but it's good for me.  ( I think we had leftovers, so it was a "light" dish night, but still.)

Tonight I was included in the group, mostly from church, going over to Mt. Carmel to the play put on by the Church Basement Ladies, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our Basement."  I rode over with Barbara, after a drive through the cemetery where my family is buried at Princeton.  The play was quite funny, and very enjoyable.  Even more entertaining was getting Judy back to Vincennes.  She had driven down from Lawrenceville (getting lost 3 times trying to find the college where the play was performed).  Barbara offered to have her follow us back to Vincennes on the way home, so we dropped her off at her car.  But somehow while we were turning around in the parking lot behind her car, she thought we got in front of her, so she hurriedly took off, following a car in front of her, while we were behind her supposed to be leading.  It was confusion for a while, and we almost ended up in Albion, Illinois, but she finally answered the cell phone, we got her stopped and turned around, and we finally all got headed in the right direction.  Something else Barbara and I will laugh about for years to come.
  

Wednesday.  The Birth Day brought our much-needed sunshine, and even though it remains cold, the sunshine does help.  Joe and I went to a funeral this morning, the sister of  from high school friend, Ed Williams.  Following the funeral, and lunch in town, we drove across the river to see some watermelon plants that had been set out under plastic.  We were told that they will survive down to 29 degrees, and it looked like they had survived.

Another "happening" event in Vincennes is the destruction of the old Executive Inn, located just as you come into town from the north.  "During the 1980's and 1990's this hotel was amazing. The restaurant had some of the best food in town. Lots of entertainers would come to town to do shows in the convention center."  I remember this as a very popular place back in the day, but it has been an eyesore for some time so it's good that it's coming down.

More birthday cards arrived in today's mail, and Lucille received a pretty bouquet of flowers from Judy Kay.

We went into town for the birthday dinner at a new restaurant, Gilbert's.  Fred and Judy met us there, and we had a very nice meal (although they did not provide a cake for the birthday girl).  But Fred gave her a 2-lb. box of turtles from Charlies, so we were not without a sweet.

Just after we got home, Mike and Rachelle and the kids stopped by to share their birthday wishes, and she got several phone calls throughout the day and evening from family, so the event was well celebrated.

Monday (April 14)

Monday.  Another rainy day, although the sun was shining when we got out of bed. Today was not a good day for Lucille.  Her back ache returned, and she was out of sorts all day long.  She had a doctor's appointment about noon, and they took an x-ray, so we should find out in the next day or two whether there is anything "structurally" wrong.  But in the meantime, the doctor gave her for a muscle relaxer, and we are hoping tonight and tomorrow are more comfortable for her.  We had lunch at "Dot's" in town, and Joe found the largest tenderloin yet.  It was very good, probably the best he's had so far, but the coating was a little hard.  But he thoroughly enjoyed it.
I copied this picture from my Facebook posting since I took it with my phone, so it may not show up.

I had a few errands this morning, but I got back in time to switch cars so they had the transport chair (wheelchair) with them. I stopped by Barbara Holscher's, then Fred & Judy's.   It poured down rain just as they got Lucille out of the car at the doctor's office.  Jim and I stayed home from the doctor's appointment, but we met them at Dot's for lunch.  Then Dixie and I did a little shopping for Sunday's birthday party, and got the cake ordered.

Lucille got 6 more birthday cards in the mail today, along with an Easter card from her newest great grandson, Andrew Thomas, in Florida.  He even sent a couple of colored "eggs" for her.


It was a pretty quiet evening.  I gave Dixie a lesson in "hand & foot" card game, but the boys chose not to join us, so that didn't last too long.  Finally, we all sought out our chilly beds. Jim always goes up first and turns on each of our bed lights (in hopes that we won't turn on the hall light when we come to bed).  So tonight, he also turned on our bed warmers, even though his bed doesn't even have one.

Reunion, Alumni (4/11-4/13)

Friday.  I finally ventured into town today on my own.  Geez, these Vincennes streets are narrow!  I drove around a little, had lunch, got my hair done for Joe's 50th class reunion tonight.  So much has changed here since we grew up that it never feels like the same town, especially downtown Main Street.

The reunion was a lot of fun.  It was held at the Harmony, and we had a delicious catered meal.  17 of his class showed up (2 left before the picture-taking) along with one of their class sponsors.  One of the absent members sent a quiz that generated a lot of memories and discussions.  Amazingly enough, Joe's name came up several times in those old-time stories. 

 

The only thing they forgot to provide was nametags, and I had to ask someone who several people were.  A lot of changes in 50 years!!!

Saturday.  Today it was Lucille's turn to go to the beauty shop, for tonight's alumni.  So Dixie was in charge of her mother, while Joe, Jim and I all went to town for breakfast, then took a scenic drive back through the country and some of the surrounding small towns.  We did come upon one interesting sight -- a small herd of Dutch Belted Cattle.

I took some pictures with my phone, but since I still don't know how to post them, I'll see if this photo from the internet will post.  Joe and I have seen this breed a couple times in our travels (the first time on our way to Alaska), but they always make me to a double-take.

The Alumni was good, Lucille was the sole representative of the 80th class reunion, and Joe's class was honored for their 50th.  They didn't have as good a turnout tonight as they did at the reunion, but Ed and Nancy Williams came and they had not made it the night before.  Lucille won a prize for the oldest graduate (an annual win for her), and we won for having traveled the furthest.

Sunday.  We did all make it to church this morning, Lucille's first since we got her back home.  She had missed last Sunday due to a backache, and she was complaining of that again, but we cajoled her into attending today.  It was a good thing, because they sang Happy Birthday to her, and the pastor presented her with a beautiful quilt put together by the ladies of the church.  We went to town for Sunday dinner, then all came home and relaxed.  Mike, Rachelle, Mallory and her cousin Kaitlin stopped by for a little while, then most of us took naps when they left.

It was warm out, but very windy again, and pretty cloudy. Rachelle decided she was going to fix dinner for all of us, so when Mike left with Doug Driscoll to go to Evansville, Rachelle went to town for groceries.  They all showed up a couple hours later with the smoker grill.  While the guys grilled the pork chops, Rachelle and Doug's wife, Kristy, got busy with dinner preparations:  grilled asparagas, candied carrots, potato puffs, rolls, and then to top it all off, Bananas Foster (which Clayton helped make, and Mallory helped serve).  It was quite a feed.  Rachelle put her Pampered Chef talents to good work.

Thursday, April 10

We finally all settled down for the night after the company left Wednesday night.  Dixie spent some time making up beds upstairs, and when I went to bed, I found out she had put an electric "warmer" on my bed.  I didn't know that, but the bed was warm and I could feel electric cords under me that I hadn't felt before.  Dixie stopped in the bedroom door and asked me if I was warm, then told me what she had added to my bed.

I had made a new cake recipe during the day, but the frosting was labor intensive so I didn't have it ready when we had all the company.  Dixie tried it out before she went to bed, but I moved it off the table before I went to bed so Lucille wouldn't see it in the middle of the night and decide she needed to try it (that glass cake cover is really heavy).  When I came down this morning, it was back in the middle of the table.  When she got up, either during the night or very early this morning, she decided she needed to try it and had moved the whole cake plate back to the table -- and that thing was heavy.  And the cake wasn't even that great!

Thursday.  We had another electric problem this morning (probably from early morning excursion with the cake).  Anyhow, the kitchen light wouldn't come on.  So Joe is back on the ladder, fixing things again.  Don't know what the problem was but he bypassed the chain and got light back in the kitchen.

Lucille got 5 more birthday cards in the mail today.  She will continue to look at them every day as more come in.  It gives her great pleasure to hear who they are from and to look at the pretty pictures on the cards.

I told Dixie I was handing Lucille back over to her and I was no longer in charge.  I must have felt some relief from her arrival because I slept until almost 10:00 this morning, something I never do.  

Today's next big event was a trip to town to get Lucille's nails done.  First, Joe was going to take her.  Then Jim decided to ride along.  In the discussion of the color of nail polish, Dixie decided she better go to. None of these things just "happen," it takes a great deal of discussion.  So I finally got some peace and quiet -- I stayed home by myself.

But they all noisly returned, and Dixie made her meatloaf for dinner.  Rachelle and the kids stopped by and brought chicken pot pie and carrot cake muffins for tomorrow.  After they left, we played a couple games of 5-handed euchre.  Lucille can see these new cards well enough to play.  She didn't win but she certainly enjoyed playing.

It got up in the high 70s here today, but it was very windy.  I checked the weather back home and it was 96.  We are supposed to have a few more warm days here before the next cold spell.

Dixie just found out it was "siblings day" today, so she posed with her brother for a picture to memorialize the day.  Fred didn't show up today so he missed out.