POSTAGE INCREASE

Yup folks, they're doing it again. Monday (May 11th) our postage rates go up again. This time First Class postage will increase by 2 cents. So what costs you 42 cents to mail today will be 44 cents Monday. But....they say if we go get some of their "Forever Stamps" today...they'll still work after the increase.

The Postal people say that they ended 2008, 3 billion dollars in the red and that could mushroom to 6 billion this year. There's talk of going to a 5 day delivery instead of 6 days. That would be fine with me....they could cut out Saturday home delivery and I don't think it would be a problem. Actually it would be nice to know you could go away for the weekend & not worry about the mail laying in your mailbox. But I do feel the those Post Offices that are now open on Saturday should remain open on Saturday for those who need their services and can't get there during the week.

I try not to complain about our postage rates. From what I've heard.....we have some of the best service and perhaps the lowest rates in the world.

And I understand that people just don't write letters anymore in this new electronic age. For me, I pay all of my bills on line except one~which I have to mail. I still love to send birthday and Christmas cards, so I do that and probably will continue unless the postage goes so high it becomes prohibitive.

So folks, if you can.....get out to the Post Office and get some Forever stamps so at least for awhile you'll have a break from this upcoming postal increase.

FOOD FRIDAY

Thanks to Lovina Eicher (The Amish Cook) for this recipe. I tried it & it's good!

Rhubarb Upside Down Cake

2 tablespoons butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 cups diced rhubarb, 1/4 cup shortening, 1 cup white sugar, 1 egg, 2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 cup milk

Melt butter in pan, add brown sugar and rhubarb, stirring over low heat.

In a separate bowl, to make batter, cream shortening and white sugar together. Add egg and beat. In another bowl sift dry ingredients together and add alternately with milk. Combine with rest of ingredients of the batter mixture.

Put rhubarb mixture into a 9 by 13 inch pan. Top with the batter mixture. Bake at 375* for about 45 minutes. Turn upside on a platter or a cardboard cake board. Whipping cream would be a wonderful topping.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!!!!!

I want to take a moment and wish Jimmy in Miami a very happy birthday! He's ___ today and I'm sure even though it's Thursday, he'll be somewhere in his 'Area 51' celebrating his special day. If you have never read Jimmy's Blog.....you're missing a real treat. You'll find him at; http://jimsulliv3.blogspot.com/ Hugs to you Jimmy !!!!

Rainy Wednesday !

It seems like it's been raining for weeks but actually it's only been a couple days. Monday afternoon, I was able to get my front lawn mowed so it hasn't been raining forever. But along with the very heavy rain we've also had some winds at times gusting to 30-40 mph. So when it's raining cats & dogs and the wind is blowing, it seems so much worse.

Today was our monthly Reader's Group at the local Round Table Pizza. Our guest speaker was author Sheila Roberts. She is so delightful, very out going, funny ~ just a really great gal. We always look forward to Sheila's visits. She has a new book out, called 'Love in Bloom.' I will absolutely be buying this book in the next few days. It sounds like a fun read. I hope you'll look for it too, I know you'll enjoy this book from Sheila.

We are planning on leaving town again for about 4 weeks. Our estimated blast off date is Monday May 11th. We're thinking about taking a round about way to get to southern California. Perhaps going east for awhile and then heading south thru Salt Lake City and the west to Pasadena. Then come up I-5 on the way home. I have a dentist appointment June 10th and Bob has a grand daughter graduating from high school on June 11th so we'll be back just before that.

I've printed out lists of penny squisher machines in Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. I'm prepared !

Last night I bought a new laptop. It's one of those little Acer Aspires in a deep red. I wanted the pink one but no one in the area had one. I'm excited and hopeful that I will be able to use it where ever WiFi is available. It was decided by my local PC repair shop that my old laptop just won't work wireless. It works great when hooked to a DSL cable but not wireless....it's just too old. So once I get home, I may just put it on Craig's List for use as a secondary computer for a child or just to have a back up. I used it when my hard drive was in the shop and it was fine.

I'm hoping the weather clears before we leave because the grass in my back yard is really getting tall. My neighbor will water my plants (once the rain stops) and I know my son will come over in about 3 weeks and mow. That way it won't be over the house when I get home.

I want to thank Robin again for the lovely Mother's Day package I received today. Everything is lovely, well not the Chick-o-Sticks~they are yummy!

That's all for now, so until next time..........Linda

4th ANNIVERSARY

Four Years ago today, I wrote my first AOL journal entry. Among my first readers was Sandra in England. Soon other's came on board and I've been blessed by all the dear on line friends I've met over the last four years. My electronic pen pals...you are the best! Thanks for allowing me to share your happy times and sad times...and thanks for sharing mine. May we have many more years together.






Hi5, Xanga, Tagged, Blogger Comments @ 123glitter.com

Saturday Sprinkles

Yes, after over a week of beautiful weather, the promised rain arrived during the night. Friday it actually got up over 70*. I've been very busy in my yard~ planting, weeding... all the stuff that goes along with having a yard. It's starting to look great!



Thursday Bob came by and I took a break so he could take me to lunch. It was one of those really pretty days, the sun was shining, the birds singing....Anyway we ended up eating at a place called Dock Street Landing situated on one of Tacoma's many waterways. Since I have this new little skinny camera, I've been carrying it with me all the time. I took the picture below very near where we were sitting in the sun eating our lunch. That ship down there is a big grain ship, sitting at the grain elevator taking on grain for some distant port.







When this boat headed out into Puget Sound, Bob mentioned that it was time to get his sail boat out & also his power boat. This man and his brother have, what I call the "Finnish boat curse." I don't even remember how many boats of various sizes they have between them. I don't really like to go out in his 16 foot power boat and the sail boat is absolutely not for me. Actually, I like my boats about 900 feet long....then I feel totally comfortable on them. That Foss barge you see in the picture below is loaded with sawdust. You can also see a couple other ships out there either waiting to be loaded or unloaded or both. We have one of the deepest ports on the west coast so lots of big ships come in here.

After we were thru with lunch we took a drive up to Tacoma's historic north end. My present header picture is of Stadium High School (star location of the movie "The 10 Things I Hate About You"). Even though I did not go to this school, I've always been intrigued by this classic old building. The picture below shows their football stadium. A natural bowl in the ground offers magnificent views of the waterway and the Cascade Mountains in the distance.

The building with the clock tower is Tacoma's Old City Hall. Built in 1893, it still stands tall, gracing Tacoma's skyline. Once the business of the city was carried on here...now it contains professional offices. Last weekend, we ventured across the Narrows Bridge, to the little town of Port Orchard. If any of you gals out there read books written by Debbie Macomber, this is where she & her husband Wayne make their home. Debbie has written a series of books called the Cedar Cove series. Cedar Cove is a fictional town but in reality is Port Orchard. One of the many landmarks in the town and in Debbie's books is the Victorian Rose Tea House. The picture below is that famous tea house and gift shop owned and operated by Debbie's daughter.

For those of you who follow me on Face Book ~ you've heard about the great tulip caper. It was around the 22nd or 23rd of April, while pulling weeds I discovered that all but a very few of my blooming tulips had been picked, in fact one area of my yard that had been loaded with blooming tulips was completely devoid of them. The neighbor on the east side of me came out and was loading rubbish in his truck for a dump run and I mentioned to him that all my tulips were gone. He then said that a little girl had rang his doorbell selling tulips for $1. I thought he was joking but then I asked him if she was a thin little thing with dark brown hair. He replied that yes that was the one. Then I started looking around and I found missing daffodils, more missing tulips~some pulled out by their bulbs. I was furious to say the least. Then the 10 year old suspect came swishing by on her roller blades....I hollered at her, she stopped and I asked her if she picked the flowers. Yup, she had......why did you do that, they weren't yours to pick, a shrug of her shoulders......how much money did you get for them, none she replied. I asked her about the daffodils and she told me she got those out of her own yard (that later proved to be a lie~no daffodils in that yard). I then told her that I thought we were friends but I guess we aren't anymore since you stole my flowers. I also told her I'd be talking to her parents. At that, she sailed down the street. Pretty soon I got a call from Dennis, the guy that owns the mobile home where this family has moved in (and aren't paying the rent by the way~he's trying to evict them). It seems Alexis (the culprit) had skated down to his place looking for sympathy because I was upset with her. She told him that she had to pick & sell my tulips because her mom didn't have any money and they needed groceries. She told Dennis that she'd gotten $9 for the tulips. (Remember she told me she hadn't gotten anything for them.) About that time mom & dad pulled into the driveway to the west of me. I told Dennis, I needed to hang up because the parents were home and I wanted to talk with them before they got into the house. I stepped out into my car port and told them "we've got a problem." After hearing my story, the mother said that Alexis had told them that a lady a few blocks away had said she could pick all the tulips and daffodils she wanted out of her yard. And yes she did come home with $9 and they'd taken her to Target so she could spend the money. The mother did apologize and said she would look into it. The next day mom came over to tell me that Alexis had been punished and that she would be doing extra chores around the house to earn money, so she could give me $9. Then last Sunday afternoon mom came over with a small lilac tree and some Day Lily corms as a peace offering. She said again that Alexis would still have to earn $9 and bring it to me. I already have two lilacs and the bed where I have Day Lilies is full, so I've taken those items back to Lowe's for store credit. Meanwhile I was really mourning the loss of my beautiful tulips, so I called around and found some ready to bloom tulips at a local garden shop. So I went over there the other morning and replenished my tulip crop. They're all planted and I'm hoping they're safe from 10 year old hands. I told Alexis and her parents that she is not allowed on my property any longer. So far she's stayed away. The other day she came right to the edge of my front lawn to ask me a question. I think I got thru to her.The following are pictures I took at the Spring Fair. I was intrigued with the use of ordinary items that people use to create floral displays.







We are considering another road trip. This flu thing will definitely keep us out of Mexico. And that is disappointing, because I was hoping we could do the 7 night cruise to the Mexican Rivera that we cancelled last October when I got sick with bronchitis. Right now we are planning on leaving the morning of May 11th but of course if the Swine Flu gets worse in southern California, we may go some place else or just stay home.

It has spread to Washington state. Several schools were closed this last week when it was discovered that some students were ill with the flu. All had contact with people who recently come back from Mexico. This whole thing is sad, in that people can die from this stuff and it will really hurt the Mexican economy. They depend on those tourist dollars. I know a couple from my area that flew out today to Los Angeles, for the 7 seven night Mexican Rivera cruise but they were contacted by the cruise line that their ship will be going north instead of south. They'll be stopping in San Francisco, Astoria, Oregon, Seattle and Victoria, BC then back to Los Angeles. Not exactly Cabo, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. I know the cruise lines have the best interest of the passengers and crew in mind when they make these decisions and I'm sure those on board will still have a fabulous time.

Well, that's about all for now. Sorry for the long post...hope you're not all asleep with heads down on your keyboards.

Have a wonderful weekend and remember Mother's Day is next Sunday, time to start thinking about that special gift for mom. Until next time.....Linda

P.S. Does anyone out there have one of those cute little Acer Aspire laptops? If so, please let me know what you think of it. I'm considering buying one to replace the old bulky Compaq that doesn't work like it should.

FOOD FRIDAY

Cinnamon Rolls

1 teaspoon dry yeast
1 cup warm milk
1/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 cups flour

DIRECTIONS #1
Dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add rest of the ingredients and mix well. Knead into a ball. Let rise until double in size. When ready, roll out to about 1/4 inch thick. Spread with filling as described below.

FILLING
1/4 cup softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon

Spread softened butter on dough evenly. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over dough evenly. Roll dough up and slice roll into 1 inch slices. Place on greased pan. Let rise again until doubled. Bake 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

ICING
1/2 cup softened butter
1-1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 ounce cream cheese
2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt

DIRECTIONS #2
Beat until fluffy. While rolls are still warm, spread lots of icing on them.

ENJOY!!!!