A night in Roanoke

This is the star from the hotel. It is much larger to the naked eye, even from 5 miles away. Perhaps it can be enlarged by clicking on it.




Sunday we arose and fired up the GPS to lead us to church in Roanoke. We followed the directions and arrived in plenty of time. As it has happened many times, we arrived on the day of a potluck. We were blessed by the message and especially the friendliness of the congregation. We have been to many LCMS congregations and this one had all the others beat. We had a great visit with many of the people and were surprised at how many people were from the Fort Wayne area. In fact one girl had graduated from Heritage and Ball State and was the granddaughter of Bob and Jane Miller from Bethlehem Lutheran in Fort Wayne. We left there and drove to the Roanoke Hotel to get a room for the night. The cost was more than I had ever paid, but we got a free breakfast thrown in. We had trouble getting connected to the Internet and a hotel engineer and I worked on it while Evelyn napped. The wireless was supposed to work in the lobby where it was free, but, since it didn’t, he connected me to the DSL in the room which cost $10 per day. He fixed it so that we won’t be charged because of the problem in the lobby. This was a blessing because it is easier to work in the room than lug the computer down to the lobby. We took a walk to downtown Roanoke through the market area where there was a wine festival. The charge to drink wine was $25 and just to walk around was $10. We thought that was pricey so we just walked around the town and back to the hotel. We ate some of the food we had brought along because we were concerned about spoilage even though we have kept things iced down. After dinner, we drove up to the area where a huge metal star has been erected and lighted each night. We had forgotten the camera and could only take a picture from the hotel when we returned. We also looked out over the valley where the city lay. We came home and just relaxed until bed time.

While in Roanoke, we stayed one night in the Roanoke Hotel. These are pictures of it and one of me doubled over in pain after paying $150 per night to stay. Evelyn loved it--the stay I mean. Or was it the doubling over she loved?

These are pictures taken on Mount Mitchel, the highest point east of the Mississippi River. We were driving the Blue Ridge Parkway to Roanoke, VA and stopped for a visit.

This one of the games we played on the final day. The beach ball represents the world, and we were to say, "Jesus love you!" to the world as it hit the sheet.



One little boy who has hearing and other developmental problems needed some one-on-one special attention.

Pictures from VBS

One of the 12 adults serving the children supper.






Evelyn is busily supervising the children as they complete the crafts in VBS.

several days of work

Tuesday brought some much needed wide spread rain. I was off to work while Evelyn worked on preparing for her LWML meeting Thursday. She is hostess and makes the food. She picked me up at 12 and we came directly home for lunch. After I showered, we took a nap and then went to Waynesville to get some paint for the house, return some red yeast rice, exchange a can of putrid tomato paste and go to VBS. I was able to exchange the rice for some other supplements I need. I was only able to exchange one of the bottles we had because the man tried to convince me that I need the stuff. Our doctor knows of two of his patients who became very ill after taking it. VBS went well even we were pelted by the welcomed rain. We played a game of moving water from one bucket to another using a sponge. The kids enjoyed it and got wetter than they would have in the rain. When we returned home we found that Shirley had delivered my beer and popcorn she had brought from home. We plan to play golf tomorrow afternoon, weather permitting. No one would mind if we were rained out. Today even though late, I received a funny Father’s Day card from daughter #1. She always seems to find something outrageous on these occasions. I wish I were that creative.

Wednesday was another slow day at work. I had my work done by 10:15. Oh, there was a bit of excitement. I always drain the grease from the deep fryer first thing in the morning and run it through a filter to strain the scrap tortilla chips, potato chunks, etc from the grease. The manager, unbeknownst to me, had turned the burner back on and the grease was hot enough for frying. When I drained the grease, smoke began to roll. Fortunately we caught it before it caught fire. The pan the grease drains into was hot, and I had a difficult time in dumping it back into the fryer. The manager apologized later in the morning for not telling me. I also went to Lowes to get the hose we need to reach the areas I need to spray each day. Unfortunately I got a 5/8” hose instead of the 1” we have. I will try it tomorrow to see how it works. Shirley came to get me at 12 to go play golf. Evelyn was at the Christian Women’s Club and then had to buy supplies for tomorrow’s Bible study. We played 9 holes together, and I played the back 9 by myself, Shirley riding along. I played much better on the back 9 which is much more difficult. The course was trimmed better than the first time I played a couple of weeks ago but it is still hard to find the way around the back 9. We came home and I showered, preparing for the VBS. I was exhausted. Even in riding a cart (it is $20 for 18 holes and a cart) the terrain makes it tiring to walk up and down hills to get to the ball and the greens. I was of little help at the VBS and came straight home. I wrote this and went to bed to watch some of the Cubs game before I fell asleep.
Thursday was the day Evelyn hosted the LWML meeting. She had prepared an egg casserole and sour cream coffee cake and just had to cook them in the morning before taking them to church at 10. I worked the usual way and was finished by 10:30. I mess around finding small jobs to do until 11:30 when the rush begins. Today, however, two girls had saved me two pieces of pizza from the birthday celebration yesterday. Those two are very good to me, and I appreciate them very much. I had to stay past 12 today because Evelyn couldn’t come until after cleaning up at the church. It was after 12:30 when she came, and we left immediately. We came home and I ate some of the casserole for lunch and had a piece of the coffee cake for dessert. We rested after I showered and then went to the hotel. What problems. The internet didn’t work on floor two, someone was using my chair on floor four and there was no place to sit on floor five. I just sat on the floor. I had trouble downloading the websites until I made a correction in the connection I had. I was then able to ask the John Purdue Club for parking passes for the games we want to attend and check to see that our credit card bills had been paid. I had additional trouble getting my credit union site to accept my password and tried so many times that I was blocked out. I may have to call the CU to get this straightened out. We went to the 4th night of VBS which featured the theme of the Resurrection. I still helped with the games and Evelyn with the crafts. The game was the best one so far. We came straight home and watched “At Sea”, a comedy about men who go on cruises to dance with single women. We liked it because we had just seen two “lounge lizards” on our recent cruise and enjoyed the memories.

Friday was the final workday for me for a while. Things are going well in most areas. Evelyn walked and then went to fill the car with gas for the weekend trip. She then went to weight watchers and weighed in. She went to Wal-Mart to buy some towels for our bench on the deck. She picked me up on time and, we came home for a lunch of left over steak. We took our afternoon nap and watched part of the Cubs/White Sox ball game. We talked to a landscaper before going to VBS for the finale. The landscaper cannot do anything until at least July , so we will probably use the one who was to give us the diagram of the finished yard. Evelyn paid $50 to the designer and has not received anything for her money. She has only received ideas from the designer. The VBS seemed to be a success and we thank God for that. I will try to publish some pictures.

We left Saturday morning and had a pleasant, slow drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stopped at the highest point east of the Mississippi River: Mount Mitchell. It was quite cool there but beautiful, not as clear as one would have liked but beautiful. We drove on to a picnic area near a creek and ate some of the sandwiches Evelyn had made because we had things that would probably spoil before we returned. Evelyn tired of the Parkway so we left it and drove to Boone where we fueled up. The road was nice and relatively flat (have you been to NC?) until Mountain Home. From there on it was quite like the road to Hot Springs--twisty, up and down, full of switch backs. A sign cautioned against traveling in anything more than 35’ long. I wonder if our 32’ coach could have made some of the turns. We caught I-81 at Bristol, VA and headed toward Salem. We stopped at a rest area and found a coupon in a travel booklet offering the room where we had reservations for considerably less than we had paid. We arrived at the HOJO and took forever to check in because I was trying to get the difference credited back to my account. Hotels.com guarantees that theirs is the lowest rate. We tried to check into our room but the key wouldn’t work. I had to leave Evelyn standing on a balcony while I went to get the key re-programmed. The desk clerk was very busy and had to give us a different room. This took 6 minutes. I was quite upset. We went up another flight of stairs and put our things into the room which was quite nice. We left there and went to Appleby’s for dinner. Evelyn ate from the Weight Watchers menu because she learned yesterday that she has still made weight. We came back and I tried to use the wifi promised at this motel but doesn’t exist. I went to bed after typing this.

VBS

Sunday was just a blessing of fun. We served as ushers again but were able to complete our duties because the choir didn’t sing during the offering. We passed the plates together but I took the offerings to the altar. During Holy Communion I managed the rows as the people went forward to the altar. The assistants and the usher go first to commune and then the pastor goes. After we were finished, I began to invite the rows, forgetting that the pastor had not yet communed. The Lord, as He always is, was gracious and allowed a woman in the first row to notice this. We waited. All the people went and then the pastor and 1 assistant brought Communion to the elderly who can’t make it to the altar. During the sermon one elderly man felt faint, and we took him to outside of the entrance to the church. The pastor had to virtually go out the door to Commune him. I joked that I had another out in the parking lot because he had come from the very front of the sanctuary for this. We finished the worship and came home to finish preparation for the dinner with our friends. We had a great dinner of steak and visited for a while before they left for their Sunday afternoon nap. We cleaned the kitchen and then took ours. I watched the Cubs get slaughtered again and then we loaded our lawn chairs into the car and went to get our friends to go to the band concert. They had some additional friends who went with us. We enjoyed the concert and learned that the additional friends had been spies during the working careers. Rich, the male part of our dinner guests, had helped design the Stealth bomber and his friend, Lee, had been a spy for the National Security Agency. We were in high company indeed! We also learned some things about Roanoke, Virginia because Lee had grown up there. We plan to take a short trip there next weekend. How gracious the Lord is! We had been trying to learn of some things we should see while on our trip, and He brought us to someone we could talk directly with who had lived in the area. We came home and retired early. Work tomorrow.

Monday was a really slow day during the 4 hours I was there. The main manager was off today so I couldn’t talk about the break and lunch break policy. After Evelyn picked me up at 12, we came home for leftover pizza for lunch and then relaxed during the afternoon. She had ironed and removed some wax from the table cloth. The candle wax from Sunday had fallen onto it. She also found and attached some buttons to a vest she owns.
We put our sloppy joe mix into the crock pot to finish cooking it and then took it to church to serve to the VBS children. Evelyn then helped with the craft section of the activities while I was kind of the back up person for the outdoor game section. The children were divided into three groups so we played the same game three different times. All things centered around the birth of Jesus on this night. Jesus is our promised Savior was the theme of the night. I had invited one of the women I work with to bring her little girl, but she didn’t show up. The age range was 3-11 and her daughter was in that range. The evening began with dinner and then a video was shown setting the theme and a memory verse for the night. Then the children were divided into three groups and sent to different stations: crafts, games, and a station where the pastor read a story. The children don’t have much of an attention span so it is good each station is only about 20 minutes long. The evening finished with another video and prayer for the next evening. We brought our crock pot home and watched some of “The Closer” season premier before retiring to watch the news in bed. There are some vicious storms in Texas, causing terrible flooding. We got some rain this afternoon but are expecting more all this week. We really need it.

plantings

Saturday we were up and off to a flea market. We found some plants that will look good in the yard and brought them home to plant later. One of the ladies who had bought some before we did declared them to be “a buy and a half” at the price we paid. We then left and went looking for another garage sale but didn’t find anything we wanted. We parked and walked the lake while talking with Stacy. We delivered some more Folkmoot brochures and came home for lunch. We rested a bit and then went outside to plant our new possessions. I rained a small amount while we rested and the ground was damper than usual. I did have to use my foxhole shovel as a pickax to break through the hard ground that doesn’t get much water but plenty of sun. Evelyn cut my hair on the deck before finishing for the day. We came in, had dinner and watched a movie, “The Fabulous Baker Brothers”. We then went to bed to watch the news. We have made arrangements to serve a dinner of steak to some friends from Florida tomorrow.

I went to work again and had a good day. I talked with the boss, and she agreed to basically let me work the days and times I want. I know I do the best job of cleaning and am very cooperative so she must think she needs me. She has come up with some ideas that I like. When she sends me (or when the other workers do it) into the cooler to get bags of lettuce or cheese, it is difficult to get them out of the boxes. She asked me to cut the flaps off the boxes. It really helped and no one else had the time to do it. I worked until almost 1:30 because we had things to get done. We came home and then took a nap. We didn’t get to sleep long because we had to get ready to go to the Asheville Tourists baseball game. We picked up Nan Lolyer and drove to Fiores restaurant in Asheville where we met Phil coming from work. We shared a meal of veal scaloppini that was only fair. From there we all went to the ball park in our car. We didn’t arrive until the third inning and it began raining during the 5th. It didn’t stop until the end of the 7th. We need rain so no one complained. It was dollar beer night and that was quite a draw for many young people who never seemed to get into the playing portion of the stadium. The score was tied at the end of 9 innings, but we left anyway because it was nearly 10. We had trouble finding Phil’s car but finally did. We drove home and were in bed by 11:15.

Friday was a day I have not usually worked. I went in as I will for the rest of the season. I did everything but noticed how clean the parking lot was, causing me to conclude that it had rained quite a bit during the night. I also remembered to cut the flaps again causing ecstasy in the mind of the boss, Kara. It began raining somewhat hard around 11:30 and continued through 1:00. Evelyn was to come at 12 for lunch but didn’t come until 1. She had stayed home because she didn’t want to get out and come into the store during the heavy rain. Kara had agreed that we could have a free lunch a few days each week so we ate there. I didn’t check out before eating because we are supposed to get a lunch break. That is superfluous since we can eat almost anytime we want. Almost everyone but me smokes and takes smoke breaks during the day. I have decided that we nonsmokers should not be punished because we don’t smoke so I take a “nonsmoker” break. My rebellious nature is too strong. J We came home and napped while watching the Cubs beat the Padres. Evelyn had returned some items and baked some rye/onion bread and some brownies so we nibbled while getting ready for the monthly ballroom dance. She found a dress she had worn to our daughter Stacy’s senior prom (she was prom queen) and put it on. It fit! She was really excited and wore it to the dance. We just nibbled because there are usually many snacks at the dance. One of the young ladies who works with me said she wants her and her boyfriend to have a relationship like ours when they are our ages. I told her that she doesn’t see our disagreements, but she sees how we “light up” when Evelyn comes in to get me. She knows we still love each other and enjoy being together. It was quite a compliment, and I tried to make clear that all the glory goes to our Lord. I will try to talk with her more about our relationship later. I don’t know if she really knows the Lord very well.

Demoted

Pictures of me preparing to pick up trash outdoors at Taco Bell and actually picking up trash outdoors at Taco Bell. These are not fake pictures!


Wednesday was another day that promised rain but never completed the promise. I did my usual duty at work while Evelyn walked the lake and came home to clean all three ovens. I guess they certainly needed it. Meanwhile Kara, the manager, and I had a short conversation because I was told she really didn’t need me after noon. She said she would prefer I work from 8-12 four days per week. I talked with Evelyn and we have worked out a suggestion: during June, I will work 5 days from 8-12, except for the week of the 22nd when we plan a trip to Virginia; during July I will work 8-12 five days because we will be here due to family visits and our volunteering at Folkmoot activities; during August, September and October, I will work on a when I want to if it is all right with Kara. We do want to take some more 5 and 6 day trips in the east and will reserve the fall for that. We also want to go to a couple of Purdue football games. I will make this proposal tomorrow. We went to Waynesville to get a piece of jewelry Evelyn had left for repair. After we came home and rested, we went to the hotel for computer work and then to choir practice. We talked with Phil and decided to meet at a restaurant in Asheville before going to the baseball game. We came home and watched the Cubs play ball for a while.

stood up at church

Today was errand day. I went to the doctor to get orders for my lab work and then went to have blood drawn. Things went quite well and we went to do our daily walk, after which I did computer work. We wanted to get some things in Waynesville so off we went. We took a letter to the post office and delivered some magazines to the Open Door Soup Kitchen. We went to the Folkmoot center to confirm our ushering schedule and hoped to get our complimentary tickets to the evening performance at Stuart Auditorium. They said they would mail them. We went on to a grocery where we bought ground beef for the sloppy joes we will make for the VBS next week among other things. We came home for lunch and then decided to rest and wash the windows after my doctor’s appointment at 3. Evelyn had to do some cooking for the Krauses as we had lunch. They are an elderly couple who needs meals because she can’t cook because of her broken arm. We went to the doctor and learned that he is leaving his practice to go into emergency room work in Asheville. He had my bloodwork results and things are better than I thought they would be. He also made suggestions as to how to deal with my achy leg and my snoring. He spent nearly half an hour with us. We will certainly miss him. We took the meal to the Krauses and visited with her a short while. We came home, I started the charcoal and we washed the windows while the hamburgers were cooking. While we ate our burgers, I put some frozen chicken breasts on to just get a charcoal flavor to them. In the evening we tried to watch “My Boss’s Daughter” but it was too stupid to finish. I wrote a letter to the couple from Australia we met on our cruise and went to bed to get rested for my work week tomorrow.

Tuesday was really pretty slow. I have moreless drifted toward doing the dishes when the lunch hour starts. I don’t mind except that the girls throw the pans into the water without cleaning them. I have to intercept them and clean them so the dish water doesn’t get so dirty. I got tired again today but was flattered to learn that the boss said I could go home at noon if I felt too tired. I made it through, however, and Evelyn brought me home. She had run errands and made the sloppy joes for the VBS next week. I cleaned up and tried to watch Law and Order but fell asleep. We gathered our items and went off to the pot luck/Bible study but no one else showed up. We went to Wal-Mart and got my medicine to help prevent snoring. We came home and baked our pizza we had taken to the dinner. We then walked up to visit with Jim and Kathy’s to talk about the neighborhood romance that is going well. We came home and made plans for Thursday night’s ball game and went to bed. I talked wih one of the church members who said they had the study. We must have left minutes too soon. Cest le vive.

Musical delights

I can’t seem to sleep later on days off. I was awake and dressed by 7:30. Evelyn worked on straightening the new blind while I did the dishes from last night. We went off to walk and then do computer work. We discussed what we wanted to do today. There were festivals both north of here in Hot Springs and south in Dillsboro. It was 10 miles farther to Hot Springs but went there because we had never been and thought we would likely not be there again. Off we went the 35 miles over a typical winding, hilly mountain road. The twisting made me dream of having a motorcycle and leaning back and forth with the wind blowing in my face and Evelyn holding my middle while laughing and enjoying the ride. Actually Evelyn got motion sickness as I would have were I riding instead of driving. We took almost an hour to get there. It was a quaint little mountain town with only one main street. The Brunt Mountain Festival was held near a camp ground and, like most of this type, featured many different groups that donate their time and talents for a cause. This was for the Arts counsel in Madison County. One of the more famous performers was Laura Boosinger, the songbird of the mountains who sang with David Holt last season. We stayed for almost three hours and ate a barbecue lunch because we had only had a snack. We came back via Maggie Valley to get gasoline, which has fallen to $2.999. We came home and washed the car before coming in to have popcorn and tomatoes for dinner. We have talked about going away for a weekend but have trouble finding time to do it, we are so committed to church and the VBS coming up week after next. We will consider a move the Father’s Day weekend. We got our Folkmoot tickets today and look forward to that event.

We were ushers again this Sunday and did everything except collect the offering. We agreed to take a meal to an elderly couple on Monday. She has had surgery on her arm and can’t cook. We called them after we got home and made arrangements for tomorrow. We ate leftovers and then laid around. We had planned to wash windows (as we had for two days) but mostly laid around instead (as we had for two days.) I watched Rio Grande, a John Wayne movie and dozed through it. I also polished my work shoes since they are also my black dress shoes. We came to the hotel for computer work and walked the lake around 6. We went home and had popcorn and watched the Cubs who have been playing better during the past week.

Entertaining a new couple

I had turned off the alarm but was awake by 7:19. Evelyn was preparing a pork roast to put into our crock pot for tonight’s dinner with Mickey and Frances Montieth. We finally got to go for our walk around 9, and then Evelyn left me with the computer while she went shopping for a table cloth. She was gone until 11:30. I had to walk from the Kern cafe to the hotel because the Wifi was not working. It was fine at the hotel but what a crowd! The Southeast District of the United Methodist church is having their annual convention this week. We came home and had a sandwich around noon. E. Continued preparation of salad and flowers while I set the table with the good china. We then rested for the big night. The couple arrived around 5:30 and we enjoyed another superb prepared by my love. Afterward we all went to Canton for the picken’ in the park. We usually enjoy doing that but the band there tonight was terrible and we missed most of the clogging. We were home and snuggling in by 10:30

End of week 1

Thursday is my Friday. Work was very busy today and I spent much of my time taking bags of tomatoes, lettuce, and cheese to the food line. I also had garbage bags to carry out because of the large amount of refuse left from the customers. It is really difficult to eat Mexican food without making a mess. It was a bit hotter today than yesterday and more humid. My cleaning duties in the early morning were less comfortable than today. Unfortunately, we have still had no widely spread rain in the mountains. Evelyn spent the morning at the LWML Bible study and was hungry when she picked me up. She had learned there would be no strawberries until next week so she was early. We split a steak gordito but she wanted more so we had a beef and cheese quesadilla. We came home and rested because we had dinner invitations with the Krauses. They served a delicious Italian soup and a chicken and wild rice casserole topped off by a delicious pineapple, walnut dessert. We spent some time visiting but weren’t comfortable because their house is not air conditioned. We came home and returned an call to John and Whitney Knight. She has retired, and they are trying to move her parents from Detroit to Fort Wayne. We hoped they might be able to come to visit this summer but aren’t optimistic because of all the work they have to do in preparing the house in Michigan for sale. We will have a local couple for dinner tomorrow evening.

Days before work begins

Saturday was the long awaited flea market at the nearby fairgrounds. We went there and looked at all the “treasures” for sale. We were looking for candles but found none. I did find a hand sander and some weights for Evelyn. I also bought some plastic shaft savers for my golf clubs. We left there and walked the lake. I had hoped to use the wifi at the lake but none of the sites were working. And we couldn’t park near the hotel because the Seventh Day Adventists were having a worship service and had parked in every space available. We came home because we had invited the Rogers and Anna for a lunch of the free pizza we had brought home from last night. We had a good time and I was grateful that they brought some beer because I had none. They helped Evelyn make a decision about the valances in the living room. Anna also suggested a place to go for material Evelyn could use to make them. She thought she might as well make them from scratch if she had to alter the things she brought. We began to work with the Venetian blind that we planned to install last fall. We laid it on the floor and soon gave up. We called the man who had installed our living room blinds, and he came over and we threaded the ladders together. He then took the blind to the bedroom and mounted the bracket and the blind. He also mounted the other bracket so we could thread the next blind ourselves. We decided to hang our new picture so we had to go to Lowe’s to return the valances Evelyn had brought home yesterday and get some angle picture hangers. While there we went to a motel to place some more brochures for Folkmoot. We finished the pizza for dinner and then I used our laser level to hang our picture. It looks great above our entertainment center. We then watched a movie I had rented for Evelyn over the internet on Direct TV. It was “Employee of the Month.” It was stupid but there were some funny lines in it. We then watched part of “Roughing It” by Mark Twain. It is 4 hours long and we were too tired to finish it.

Sunday was a blessing of singing for the Lord, Holy Communion and ushering for Communion. We were surprised to learn that we were scheduled to usher. That is difficult for us because we are to take the offering but sing with the choir during the offering. I got some people to replace us. Afterward we collected the attendance sheets and picked up discarded bulletins. Then we had lunch at a baby shower for the Crume’s new baby. We gave them an ear thermometer. We came home around 2:30 and rested. I called Bollingers to let them know we were here. They never did come, though, because he had a bench that a man was supposed to take out of his way before they returned to Indiana for her 50th class reunion in Geneva. We made popcorn anyway and opened a bottle of white wine (before we knew they couldn’t come) as my drink. It tasted really good and I drank the entire bottle. This was a mistake and I got quite tipsy. I started a movie for Evelyn and went back to watch something else in the bedroom. I don’t think I got very far before conking out. Evelyn came in and turned off the set and I continued sleeping.

I wakened at 3:33 this morning and couldn’t sleep. I got up and read the Bible until 4:30 when I went back to bed and to sleep. We laid in bed until almost 8, not wanting to walk. We finally got up and I prepared the smoker and the country style ribs we had bought Saturday. I put them on to smoke while Evelyn dressed for the women’s club luncheon at the lake. She took her 3 bean salad while I deposited some money in the bank at Clyde and delivered more Folkmoot brochures. I have misplaced a large bundle of them but hope to find them before time to return for strawberries this afternoon. I brought Evelyn home at 12:30. I had eaten a wrap I had made for lunch and she had eaten of the many salads at her meeting. I took the ribs from the smoker and put them into Ziploc freezer bags in pairs. We froze all but two which we saved for dinner Wednesday evening. We then rested until 3 (she did not want more strawberries yet) when we drove to the Iron Tree Golf Course to play 18 holes. We get a cart for $20 and Evelyn can ride along free. Some golf courses will charge for a rider. They probably suspect both people will play when out of site. They don’t have to worry about that with us. I really enjoy the scenery there, but it is truly a mountain course. The back 9 is so challenging that one doesn’t know where the next T is on many of the holes. There was also no water in any of the ball washers. We didn’t finish until 7 so I took us out for a sandwich on the way home. We watered the plants and then watched “The Cutting Edge”. I went to bed early, preparing for my first day at work tomorrow.
da

Decoration

Our new interior decoration. It is a panaramic photograph put on canvass. This the lake we walk around, Lake Junaluska.


Saturday was the long awaited flea market at the nearby fairgrounds. We went there and looked at all the “treasures” for sale. We were looking for candles but found none. I did find a hand sander and some weights for Evelyn. I also bought some plastic shaft savers for my golf clubs. We left there and walked the lake. I had hoped to use the wifi at the lake but none of the sites were working. And we couldn’t park near the hotel because the Seventh Day Adventists were having a worship service and had parked in every space available. We came home because we had invited the Rogers and Anna for a lunch of the free pizza we had brought home from last night. We had a good time and I was grateful that they brought some beer because I had none. They helped Evelyn make a decision about the valances in the living room. Anna also suggested a place to go for material Evelyn could use to make them. She thought she might as well make them from scratch if she had to alter the things she brought. We began to work with the Venetian blind that we planned to install last fall. We laid it on the floor and soon gave up. We called the man who had installed our living room blinds, and he came over and we threaded the ladders together. He then took the blind to the bedroom and mounted the bracket and the blind. He also mounted the other bracket so we could thread the next blind ourselves. We decided to hang our new picture so we had to go to Lowe’s to return the valances Evelyn had brought home yesterday and get some angle picture hangers. While there we went to a motel to place some more brochures for Folkmoot. We finished the pizza for dinner and then I used our laser level to hang our picture. It looks great above our entertainment center. We then watched a movie I had rented for Evelyn over the internet on Direct TV. It was “Employee of the Month.” It was stupid but there were some funny lines in it. We then watched part of “Roughing It” by Mark Twain. It is 4 hours long and we were too tired to finish it.

Catching up

Wednesday found us walking early again. As we walked we found Sharon, our builder, and talked with her a bit. She seems to be doing well without Joey but prays for him. He has very low self esteem. She also said she would come to look at our door problem but never came as far as we know. Evelyn left me to do computer work and came home. I spent much time looking for sites that would help us eliminate the smoke odor from the near disaster yesterday. I also made arrangements to pay our credit card bills. My computer battery weakened and I had not brought my power cord. I went outside to wait for Evelyn and talked to a nice young marine while waiting. He doesn’t think we can win there because the people in Iraq, etc. Are so steeped in hatred for each other that peace is impossible. We gave him a ride to the bookstore and came home for lunch. We then went to Clyde for strawberries. They were nice and tasted good for $8.50 per gallon. We bought two. We then handed out some Folkmoot brochures and saw a lady who teaches dance. She showed us a step we hadn’t known. We then went to the doctor to see if he would call some prescriptions in to our mail order service. He said he would so we don’t have to track down the doctor in Texas. We then went to the grocery to get some supplies for making freezer jam out of the strawberries. We came home and sprayed some Oust to work on the odor. We took a nap while we waited for the air to clear. We got up and she began work on the berries while I sprinkled some Glade carpet cleaner and vacuumed it up. I walked to Rogers to see if Kathy could learn about some sort of light bulb that supposedly eats up odors. She might be able to get it through her work at the lighting company where she works. We had a salad for supper and then rushed off to choir practice. The choir director invited us to her home for dinner next Thursday. We had thought we would go to see the Asheville Tourists, but we will go to dinner instead. We came home and watched the hapless Cubs. I don’t why people go to see them. They have dropped out of baseball!

Thursday we left to walk before it became to hot. On the way we took more pamphlets to some of the doctor’s offices and small businesses around. We went to the hotel because I wanted to pay some bills on line. It took nearly an hour to do something that should have taken 15 minutes. The computer ran slow and some of the web sites didn’t work at all. We finally got tired of waiting so we left and went to deliver medical records and brochures to our doctor. I left disgusted because I learned that one doctor of the 14 that work there has eliminated not only brochures but Bibles from the waiting room. I am going to talk to our doctor about that next week. We came home for lunch and then rested. We went to Lowes and bought some flowers and some deck stain. We brought it home and then went to play golf. I walk and Evelyn walks with me. The price has gone from $10 for walking 9 holes to $15 for 9. I think I will begin playing at Iron Duff for $20 for 18 and a cart. We did meet a former director of the Lake Junaluska and played most of the round with him. He knew our friends, the Bollingers, who live near us. I didn’t score well but was happy with my shots because they were in the air, straight and looked like golf shots. It showered a bit while we were on the course and it felt good. We haven’t had rain for a very long time. We came home and planted and watered the new plants before we had dinner. Evelyn then cleaned the second gallon of strawberries. We watched a movie, “The Producers”, by Mel Brooks. It was just as crazy as one would expect. We went to bed singing “Springtime for Hitler.”

Friday we walked early again. I had Evelyn drop me at the hotel so she could come back and get Anna, our neighbor who used to work with draperies, and go to Lowe’s to check into some valances for our living room windows. She found some things to look over but doesn’t think she wants them. Meanwhile I was disappointed because the wireless system was not working. I was able to do some work on the in-house computer but some is still to be done. She picked me up and we came home for lunch. We were blessed with a nice rain shower so we couldn’t do much outside. Instead we watched the Cubs “play” baseball. Why do I waste my time? We also dozed off a bit. Around 5 we got dressed to go to town for the “Art after dark” event. We asked our neighbors to go with us for pizza but they wouldn’t go. We went to Pizza Hut because we had a coupon. We met a man alone and invited him to eat with us. He was a salesman from Asheville and was sort of a flake. The waitress got the order messed up and brought the wrong pizzas to both of us. The good news is that we got a free pizza like we had ordered. We went downtown and brought the picture we had bought last Friday home. We visited other galleries to look around. In one of them I spilled some wine on Evelyn’s skirt and white sweater. We also bought a powerful candle, Archipelago, in an attempt to mask the still present smoke odor in our house. We also bought some olive salad for future Mefalatto sandwich. We stopped at the grocery on the way home to get some country style ribs that were on special. This is my favorite meat to smoke. Evelyn worked on removing the stains and was fairly successful while I put the groceries away. We watched the news and then went to bed.