http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ Failure Is Not An Option en-us armstrong@tedkarol.com 2012-05-20T07:01:42-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004917steeplechasin.html Media Presbyterian Church in Media, PA. Obviously, it was raining the day this was taken,]]> 4917@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-20T07:01:42-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004916saturday_may_19_2012.html There was no zumba class today; the instructor was sick. We went to the library, the bank, and then to the VFW flea market. We looked at the flea items then went inside. I bought a cake, some cheeseburgers and fries for lunch. Then we headed to Elkton to go to Deals. It is sort of like a Dollar Store but some things are more than a dollar. There are a lot of dollar items. Next, I went to the cleaners to drop off my coat and to the pet store to get Danny some food. The vet wants him on a low protein diet. She suggested Hills Science Diet but dogfoodadvisor.com rates it as one of the worst dog foods. It has ingredients in it that can be harmful to dogs. I got Danny California Naturals. It is a dry dog food and he won't eat it unless I wet it down. I have some broth in the freezer to wet it down with. After the pet store, we went to the supermarket. When we got home we watched a movie we got at the library. News from the Vorlon Wife.]]> 4916@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-19T22:01:17-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004915friday_may_18_2012.html I planted my gladiolas today and weeded the flowerbed in front of the fence. I was delighted to find hundreds of tiny portulacas. They reseeded themselves and now I will have them all around the house in the sunny areas. They were delightful last year and will look nice along my new walk. Two men came this afternoon and started to take the old silver maple tree down. They may have to get a cherry picker to get the large limb that hangs over my house. It made a lot of shade but it is dying and I fear it will come down on my roof one of these days. Erin and I looked at a couple mobile homes today. One is very nice and costs more than the other but it is in better condition. The problem is another lady had looked at it last week and she came back. I don't know if she put down a deposit or not. We'll have to see. News from the Vorlon Wife.]]> 4915@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-18T21:56:21-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004914friday_flower_bloggi.html The irises are doing well but I see very few that I brought from Vineland. This is one of them. I have many that were already here. They are all blue ones. They are pretty but I miss the variety I had in Vineland. I may have given some to my niece. I'll have to look in her yard. Yesterday, I had lunch with my friends that I grew up with. Dottie's church has a luncheon every other month and we all get together with her. Two of her sisters were there and two of her other friends. We had a nice time. They played a few games of bingo. Dottie won a prise. They we rolled the dice on the table and whoever got doubles got a prize. We kept passing the dice around and almost all of use got a five and a one. I finally rolled two fives and got a prize and so did Dottie's friend. We both picked out flower kits. I took the impatiens and she took the daiseys. I went to choir practice and only four of us showed up. Me being the only soprano, Tina the only alto, and two of the men. I hope more show up on Sunday. We will be singing a familiar hymn and we practice again before church. Tina followed me home and I gave her some mushrooms. She and her husband love them. I guess one either loves them or hates them. My brother called yesterday. He went to the mall on Saturday. When he came out his car was missing and he had his cell phone in the car. He went back into the mall to use a phone to call the police. They said, "Oh, that's the car that was on fire. We had it towed away." What a shock. I'm glad he wasn't in it and I hope no other cars were damaged. News from the Vorlon Wife.]]> 4914@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-18T06:16:50-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004913thursday_may_17_2012.html It's been a busy week. Tuesday, I took Danny to the Vet to have his teeth cleaned. He had to have 3 teeth pulled. My poor little baby. His digestive problem seems to have cleared up but he needs to take his antibiotics until they are done. He also needs to take pain medicine and antibiotics for his dental surgery. While he was knocked out, I had them do his nails and glands. He also got his lyme disease booster. Getting him to take medicine is a challenge. I tried almost everything. My friend Linda suggested putting the pills in peanut butter. He ate the peanut butter and spit out the pill. Erin said her mom would hold there dogs head up until they swallowed the pill. That worked but he was not a happy camper. There are a couple mobile homes for sale down the street that Erin is interested in. We looked at one. An elderly man lives there and he let us look around. It had been remodeled about two or three years ago. It has a new heater but I see a window airconditioner. It has a fireplace which Erin liked. The place is a mess and needs a good cleaning throughout. I have to make an appointment to look at the one across the street. It has just been remodeled but looks like it needs a new roof and back door. Several neighbors said the old man's mobile home is a better deal. The one that needs the new roof belongs to the mobile home park and they had to do a lot of repairs. I don't think they will come down on their price as they want to recoup their expenses. It had a sky light that leaked so it needed all new carpets and flooring. Who knows what else was damaged or if it needs a new heater and h/w heater. The neighbors thought the price was outrageous. It is $10,000.00 more than the old man's trailer. News from the Vorlon Wife.]]> 4913@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-17T07:09:03-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004912monday_may_14_2012.html My bleeding hearts in my backyard. It rained off and on all day today. I didn't do much. I went to the bank and then the apple barn . I got a flat of portulacas, a flat of wax begonias, and two yellow begonias. It's time to start planting. Yesterday, my neighbor, John, gave me a bunch of irises so I'll have to plant them, too. I have my glads to plant, also. I talked to Ted's mother today. She was busy with her estate sale yesterday so I didn't call her. I hope she got the Mother's Day card I sent. I think I sent it to the old address. I had a finance meeting at the church tonight. There were only four of us there so the meeting went quickly. We were able to go through the agenda and get things done. It seems when there are alot of people at a meeting, it drags along and takes forever. News from the Vorlon Wife.]]> 4912@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-14T22:06:20-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004911steeplechasin.html Victoria Chapel on the Baltimore Pike, I believe in Wallingford, PA. It is on the border of Media, Springfield, and Swarthmore, PA.]]> 4911@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-13T12:15:46-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004910saturday_may_12_2012.html I didn't do much today. I was afraid to go out with Danny being sick. He slept most of the morning. I raked up the rest of the soil and sowed the grass seed. I watered it down good. I had a nice chat with the lady next door. She is Christine's great aunt and takes care of the children while Christine works. I took Danny out several times but he did not do any business. I could have gone out to do the things I wanted but I didn't want to take the chance. Danny walked a little slowly. I don't know if he didn't feel well or if the antibiotic was making him sleepy. He saw several of his friends and seemed happy to see them. News from the Vorlon Wife.]]> 4910@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-12T21:53:27-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004909friday_flower_bloggi.html My orchid iris. The irises are doing well this year. I finished pulling the weeds out of where I want to plant the grass seed and started to break up the soil with the rake. I had to walk Danny and was freaked out when he had blood in his stool. I called the Vet and took him in this afternoon. I took his stool with me. He had no parasites or anything. They did some blood work and his pancreas levels were high but that is normal with gas and diarhea. They are treating him for a bacterial infection. I am giving him an antibiotic. I hope he will be OK. He seems fine other than his gassy ness. His insides were making a lot of noise for the past week which I thought was odd. We went to dinner at Cheryl and Ed's. Ed made a delicious turkey dinner. Their dog had a similiar problem a few weeks ago. When I got home I found Danny had messed in my bathroom. It was on the tile floor so cleaned up easily. I'll have to leave the door open in case he has to go in the middle of the night. I probably won't sleep as I'll be listening for him so I can take him out if necessary. News from the Vorlon Wife.]]> 4909@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-11T21:53:56-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004908thursday_may_10_2012.html The Club House at Broomall's Lake. The luncheon after Nate's funeral was held here. Jan's house is just beyond the trees. My uncle, his brother, and his father-in-law built the house. My father helped with the electrical work. That was over sixty years ago. I would stay at my aunt and uncle's in the summer and we would walk down the path to the lake and swim. I could only doggie paddle the first time I went there. We would swim from raft to raft and I learned to swim quickly when I knew I couldn't touch bottom. We also ice skated on the lake in the winter. My Uncle Bud was a terrific ice skater. Roy Shipstead want him for the Ice Follies but it was during the Great Depression and Bud was head of he household and had to work to support the family. He didn't have the time to practice and travel with the Follies. He picked out the site next to the lake to build their house. News from the Vorlon Wife.]]> 4908@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-11T07:21:31-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004907thursday_may_11_2012.html I washed sheets and towels and hung them out on the line. It was windy so they dried quickly. It reminded me of the phrase "Two sheets to the wind." I actually had four sheets. The wind blows the clothes pole around. It turns in a circular motion. I planted the rest of my azaleas and the plants I got for Easter. I have one more Easter Lily to plant. I also planted my tomato plants and found the baskets for them to climb on. My neighbor, John, was walking by so I asked him to carry my bags of crushed marble around back. I managed to get them out of the trunk but they were heavy so I stacked them in the driveway. John was glad to help. He and his wife are so nice. Carol is handicapped and doesn't get out much. Danny loves both of them. He stops in front of their door and watches to see if they are coming out. When Danny sees John he gets so excited, wagging his tail and making a beeline toward him. I pulled the rest of the lamb's quarters out of the soil in the back. I still have to get the dandelion digger for them and the plantain weeds. I have to get the rake out and loosen up the soil for the grass seed. The stone is ready to be dumped in front of the outdoor faucet. The cement men ruined my spray nozzle on my hose. I just got it the end of last summer. For some reason, they took it all apart and now it leaks like a sieve. I watered my plants and got soaked with the water leaking down the hose. The water pressure was weak because of the leaks. I had to set the nozzle on power-wash to get a stream of water. It was a weak stream at that. It should have reached twenty feet and only reached about 4 feet. I went to choir practice. We went over our hymns for the next two weeks and were given the lineup for the month. The 27th will be our last day for choir. News from the Vorlon Wife.]]> 4907@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-11T07:04:35-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004906wednesday_may_9_2012.html I downloaded my photos and started catching up on my blog. I went to my Bible Study class then came home and walked Danny. It was pretty wet out so I couldn't do any weeding until late afternoon. I still have some more to do. I did around the sides as far as I could reach. The dirt was wet so the weeds came out easily. My neighbor, Marlene, came over with the lesson at missed at Sunday School and brought me two tomato plants. It will be nice and sunny on the west side especially when they take down the silver maple tree. I will plant them among my flowers. I made some pasta for dinner. News from the Vorlon Wife.]]> 4906@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-09T22:38:30-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004905tuesday_may_8_2012.html I went to exercise class and then to Jack and Helen's Restaurant with my friends. When I got home, I went to Glasgow to get grass seed and to Home Depot to get some stone for around the area of my outdoor faucet. I had to pull out weeds that sprang up in the new soil around my concrete patio and rake it to brake up the soil. I only did a small patch on the west side of my stepping stones before it started to rain. I sprinkled the grass seed on the part I had worked up. We needed the rain and it came in a light drizzle until later that night. News from the Vorlon Wife.]]> 4905@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-09T22:33:09-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004904monday_may_7_2012.html Snapper soup anyone? This guy was huge. He swims up to the dock at Broomall's Lake when he sees people standing there. He's looking for a handout. The blug gills were there, too.]]> 4904@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-09T22:30:07-05:00 http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/archives/004903monday_may_7_2012.html Nate's visitation was at 9am with the funeral service at 10:00. There were a lot of people there and Don got the last parking place in the procession to the cemetery. He had to squeeze into a space at the corner. The people who came after us had to fend for themselves to find a space. It was a lovely service with a beautiful soloist. The cemetery was not far from the church. I felt sorry for Nate's father. He was sitting in a chair next to the grave and when everyone left, he did not want to leave. His other sons had to talk to him to get him to leave. The luncheon was held a Broomall's Lake Country Club which is right next to Jan's house. My uncle built the house right next to Broomall's Lake. We ate on the outdoor deck next to the lake and when we were finished, Nate's brother, Conrad, invited us inside so we could speak without the noise of the fountain. Conrad started by telling us his memories of Nate and said we would do it Quaker style. Whoever felt moved to speak could stand up and speak. One by one, almost everyone got up to say a few words on their memories of Nate. It was a wonderful tribute to him. He was loved by everyone and he will be missed. I went back to Don's and had dinner there and waited for the traffic to clear out on I 95 before I drove home. News from the Vorlon Wife.]]> 4903@http://www.tedkarol.com/blog/ 2012-05-09T22:16:22-05:00