“To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.”– Theodore H. White

 
Barbara is in N.Y. or rather Long Island visiting her sister and the grandchildren. George made a wonderful saurebraten dinner with Kartoffelkloesse (german potato dumplins), red cabbage plus a wonderful bottle of Cava from Spain. A great meal and afterwards we enjoyed watching MaMa Mia with Meryle Streep et al. A grand evening and we were invited back for leftovers the next evening.

Don sent us a wonderful box of temple oranges and though seedy they make the most glorious sweet juice for breakfast. 4 temples make enough juice to fill up an old fashion glass and that is plenty of vitamins and minerals. We shared 8 of them with George so he has enough for two breakfasts.

 
Donna sent me a picture of the boys in 2005 and it is one of my favorites. Ryan is impish as usual, Scott is somber and Andrew is happy as always to have his cousins come and visit. This picture has been on my refrigerator for 4 years and over those years the cousins have grown, with 2 of them into their teens this year. Also their minds have grown as their activities have. Snow boarding, water & snow skiing, computers, golf, all kinds of sports, music lessons, book reading and more. The bat is a memento from when we took Andrew to the Louisville Slugger Factory and they made him a bat with his name on it. This year I thought I would try my hand at Folk painting and this 16″ x 20″ acrylic is the result. It took me about 8 days with about 4 hours a day average. Faces are not my forte yet, but I really enjoyed painting this memento of 3 fine grandsons. The title of the painting is “The Cousins and The Games They Play”

"The Cousins and the Games They Play"

I then spent 3 full days painting this one. “Self Portrait at Age 74©” This is a 16″ x 20″ acrylic painting of myself on canvas board. In February of 2009 I turned 74 and decided to get those well earned wrinkles documented. I am a “hat” person and in 2007 Bob and Nancy Steele sent me this red hat from Hawaii. Since I am also a writer of gardening articles and a gardner, I thought this would be the best choice of hats for this project. I framed it in barn board.

"Self Portrait at Age 74"

I have just had my 8th book published. Titled “From Black Thumb to Green Thumb in Just 73 years” and I have assembled and created a gardener’s digest of articles written about what I has grown over those years.

The book covers good practical gardening “know how” from A to Z plus she shares some great recipes using the fruits and vegetables that she has harvested. This book tells you how to plant and grow trees, shrubs, fruits and vegetables. Also how to add charm to your garden on a frugal budget, how to attract birds and butterflies, plus many other things to create a stunning, budget friendly garden and how to feed yourself and your family organic, healthy food. If you buy just one gardening book this year then let it be this one. Not only will you receive great gardening advice on “how to do” gardening, but also on “what not to do” in your garden. As per author’s efforts all the royalties from her books, articles and paintings go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

This book will soon be available in Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com, but now a hard copy can be purchased or it can be downloaded by clicking here.

Don sent us this photo of Scott at his first day of work. Good for Don and good for Scott. Work never killed anyone and all our kids had great work ethics and still do. Scott is working at the new Hale’s produce barn that Don opened up just a little north of Vero Beach. Carl’s sister, Joan, says it is a great place on Route 1.

Scott's 1st Day at Work

 
This is an interesting article I wrote that has been published after trying to redeem some coupons.  $10.37 plus $4.92 equals $25.00! © click here to read

If you are a vet or know a vet or believe in the men and women who protect our country then take a minute to read this areticle I wrote that just has been published.  I Can’t Believe This is True or Can I? Click here to read.

Carol Herzig sends us this.
WHY ARE WE BANKRUPT?
Informative and mind boggling!
You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much? Read this:
Boy, was I confused. I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us. I now find that to be RIDICULOUS.
I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until they are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them. I also have included the URL’s for verification of all the following facts.
1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments.
Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77
2. C2 $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary- and secondary-school education for children here illegally and who cannot speak a word of English!
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html
5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens–known as anchor babies.
Verify at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
6. $3 Million Dollars per DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.
Verify at: http://premium.cnn..com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html
9. $200 Billion dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens.
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html
10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that’s two-and-one-half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US .
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html
11. During the year 2005, there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our southern border and as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth., heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S. from the southern border.
Verify at: Homeland Security Report: http://tinyurl.com/t9sht
12. The National Policy Institute estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion, or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five-year period.
Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf
13. In 2006, illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances to their countries of origin.
Verify at: http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm
14. ‘The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One million sex crimes committed by Illegal Immigrants in the United States.’
Verify at: http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml
The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR.
Are we THAT stupid?
If this doesn’t bother you, then just delete the message. If, on the other hand, it does raise the hair on the back of your neck, I hope you forward it to every legal resident in the country including every elected representative in Washington, D.C. – five times a week for as long as it takes to restore some semblance of intelligence in our policies and enforcement of them.

Carol also sent us this.
By Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON — The post office will get an extra 2-cents worth when you mail a letter starting in May.
The U.S. Postal Service announced Tuesday that the price of a first-class stamp will rise to 44 cents on May 11.
That gives plenty of time to stock up on Forever Stamps, which will continue to sell at the current 42-cent rate until the increase occurs. They will remain valid in the future regardless of rate hikes.
“The Postal Service is not immune to rising costs which are affecting homes and businesses across America today,” said Postmaster General John Potter. “Even with the increases, the Postal Service continues to offer some of the lowest postage prices in the world.”
Postage rates go up annually in May, with the new prices announced in February. The overall change is tied to the rate of inflation in the year before.
While the new 44-cent rate covers the first ounce of first-class mail, the price for each additional ounce will remain unchanged at 17-cents.
Postal officials estimate the increase will cost the average household $3-a-year.
Buffeted by rising costs and declining mail volume, the Postal Service lost $2.8 billion last year and, unless the economy turns around, is headed toward much larger losses this year.
The agency could have cited extraordinary circumstances and asked the independent Postal Regulatory Commission for larger increases, but officials felt that would only result in a greater decline in mail volume.
The post office has been cutting costs, reducing work hours, and has asked Congress to ease requirements for advance funds for retiree benefits and to allow mail to be delivered five days a week instead of six.
Other changes taking effect May 11:
• The postcard stamp increases 1-cent to 27 cents.
• The first ounce of a large envelope increases 5 cents to 88 cents.
• The first ounce of a parcel increases 5 cents to $1.22.
• New international postcard and letter prices are, for one ounce, 75 cents to Canada; 79 cents to Mexico; and 98 cents elsewhere.
Most Postal Service shipping services prices were adjusted in January and will not change in May.
Copyright 2009 The Associated
Arlene says, “The lost art of letter writing may have another reason to stay lost!”

My niece, Ginger, writes.

I was glad to hear that you were not affected by the ice storm. We have been having really cold weather here. Yesterday it warmed up to the 50″s so I was able to walk around in a light weight jacket.
I am still working part time at A C Moore. My hours got cut again. Last week, our store hours went from 610 a week to 580. The customers come in and are angry there is no one to help them! I’ve gone from doing three things at once to five things. The store is now doing field trips so it has become another responsiblility for me on my limited hours. I work hard for the little bit of money I make. But we say every day: be glad you have a job….
Still, I need to look around for something else this week. Ralph’s business has been hit hard by this economic situation.
Dylan is going to be in the Regional Science Bowl held at the Brookhaven National Lab on March 7th with a team of 5 students, they moved it up 3 weeks. There is an academic competition and a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car Challenge. The winners will go compete in Washington DC.
William has a mandatory Science Fair project this month. I just hate all this Science stuff! Give me something to quilt, scrapbook, or bead and I’m there! He is doing a “Green Science” Project. Building a robot out of a recycled can. Yes, they sell kits for that! All you need is $20 plus shipping and your own can. I can handle a fancy display board.
I added another jewelry class on Tuesday morning. So far no takers, but I think I may have some this week. I’m focusing on some new projects, since I do have a Wednesday night following. Finally! It only took me nine months.
Hope all is well, enjoy your birthday!
Love,
Ginger