Eva White invited me over last week to get some cucumbers from her garden. We had such a nice visit. She was pleased to show me the new porcelain flooring in the back of her house – it is very nice. Eva says she is keeping busy with gardening and, like so many of us, is concerned about various neighbors especially with this heat. Some don’t have air conditioning.
A medical visit last week in Springfield gave me the opportunity to have my vacuum serviced and best of all to visit and have supper with my granddaughter-in-law, Angel. The vacuum is important for daily use as fleas had again become a problem. I’ve “bombed” the house and Randy (bless his heart) sprayed pesticide in the yard. It looks like we are ahead of the fleas.
Friday on my way to the office on Hwy 14 about 7:15 a.m., there were between 15 and 20 good looking Brown Swiss heifers mostly in the middle of the road by Doris Haynes place, not a human in site. I carefully drove between the heifers and proceeded to Rollan and Debbie Stewart’s place to find Debbie in the milk barn. She said Rollan should be back soon on his 4-wheeler and he’d get to the heifers. I went back up the road and I saw Bob Huskey and wife trying to notify one of the Stewart families. At Doris’ place I saw that the heifers had moved off the road and good thing as a car sped up the road. Bob pulled in and we visited a few moments. Then Doris came outside and Rollan pulled in and they herded the heifers behind the gate. This is not the first time cattle or horses have been on Hwy 14. Be alert!
Bob Wagner was mowing my ditches early one day and ran out of gas. Randy and Kim heard the problem and came over on the 4-wheeler. Randy got gas for Bob, and then he and Kim came in for a visit so I fixed breakfast for us. The Goucher place across the road from Randy is still unoccupied and the weeds have taken over. Eva Wymer would be so disappointed to see her old home as she put in so much time and effort to have it a showplace.
August 6th has been declared by Gov. Perry of Texas as a Day of Prayer for this Nation and plans are to fill a huge stadium. The Freedom From Religion Foundation, an atheist group, has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Perry for promoting religion. I’ve been trying to get the word out to those who are believers to pray on August 6th, and every day, for this nation, for our citizens…..for our America and for us to get back on track. I, for one, am disgusted with the road we’ve been placed on.
Rex Boeddeker popped in with a bag of washed and stemmed blackberries for me. They aren’t as big as usual but they sure are tasty. Arlene Boeddeker returned to work Monday. Sure hope this isn’t too early after that nasty leg break.
Part of Fr. Paul’s homily on Sunday said, “Churches are not showcases for saints. They are a shelter for sinners.” We are all sinners and should seek the shelter God has provided us.
From the desk of Jamey Herd:
Pleasant Ridge Baptist had another great day in the Lord with good attendance for the morning service. Pastor Carl brought the morning message from the book of Luke21: 29-33 about Baptism and why we follow Christ’s ordinance to be baptized. Right after morning service we traveled to just north of Elkhead to Stewart Creek where six were baptized. With the dry weather and lack of rain it was hard to find enough water for the service. But we found a nice spot with nice spring fed water that was clear and clean and waist deep. Other than “oh that’s cold” from the candidates, Pastor Carl conducted the baptismal service with some singing and great joy from the bystanders.
Laveta and Susie had 14 children in Children’s Church. They always have a special song just before going back for their class. Wanda Dugan also sang a special. She always blesses us with a special song with Paul Dugan on his guitar and Randy Dugan on the drums.
Joan Workman was getting ready to leave for church when former Dogwood residents showed up at her door. Leroy, Gary and Connor Stafford of Liberty, Iowa dropped in for a visit. She had not seen Leroy since girlhood. Leroy is the son of Sig Stafford who joined farms with Joan’s parents. She reports they had a wonderful visit. I am sure there were many stories of past times that they shared.
Joan also reports finding sign in her front yard of a bear being there. Then she found out a neighbor had seen the bear in her yard. We do have several Black Bears in this area now so please take precautions with children and pets. There are also small black Panthers here that have been sighted off and on.
The heat and dry weather continues for us with no relief in sight. My daughter reports that her area, Augusta, Kansas, is under water restrictions with Ohio Lake getting low on water. The news reports 16 states having drought conditions. We are fortunate to still have green grass but it won’t last long with this heat.
Billy Joe has been picking wine berries. I don’t know if any of the black berries made or not. Ruby Williams told me years ago that the wine berries were brought here by the German settlers. They are a raspberry but much smaller than the tame varieties. They have only shown up on our place in the past couple of years. I suppose birds and animals carry the seeds. There have been a lot of them around the “O” and Highway 14 area ever since we have lived here.
Jim Cudney reports that the new people on the Lynch place on AK Highway had been by to visit and to get acquainted with them. They attended Pleasant Ridge a week ago but I did not get their names. We want to say welcome to the area. Also Pastor Carl and Laveta paid a visit to Jim and Erma this past week. They report Erma has made some progress with in-home therapy. Keep getting better, Erma.
Till next week stay cool and well and I wish you God’s Blessings.
