Susan Says . . .

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

— Foggy mornings and cool, crisp days and nights remind us again that fall is almost here. The crepe myrtle has a few blooms and the water plants in the fish pond are sporting pretty blue flowers but most of our outdoor flowers are gone. We're getting a few ripe tomatoes and peppers and friends have been sharing their vegetables so we're eating lots of healthy produce.

My birthday flowers have wilted so I replaced them with a fall arrangement of sunflowers, leaves and berries in autumn colors. Over the weekend I got out my wooden pumpkin cutouts and welcome sign and took them around to decorate the front yard.

Monday was Labor Day, one of those occasional Monday holidays, and Jim took the day off. Niece Laura came in early in the morning and visited for over two hours until her grandmother came to pick her up for a shopping trip.

It wasn't really a holiday for us as we mowed the yard, Jim did some brickwork around the fish pond and I worked three hours at the office but it was nice to have a shorter work day and a break from the regular routine.

Jim went to work over in Delaware County Tuesday morning but had to bring his drills home for recharging so he was already back when I came home at midday. He brought home a big box of tomatoes and a few peppers, a gift from the lady for whom he was working, but we just warmed frozen dinners in the microwave for supper.

I attended the monthly library commission meeting that evening.

It was raining when we awoke Wednesday morning so Jim wasn't able to return to Oklahoma to work.

We made a trip to Siloam after breakfast to buy some supplies and went to get haircuts when we returned to town. The showers had stopped by that time so Jim walked home and did a little more work on his brick walkway while I wentto the store for a gallon of milk.

I drove to the clinic for a checkup Thursday morning and stopped to visit niece Laura on the way home.

She came to town with me to do a little shopping and her mother soon arrived to pick her up. Jim and I went to Westfield Home Center, purchased a few materials and delivered them to Oklahoma for the next day's job before coming home to broil pork steaks and prepare au gratin potatoes for our evening meal.

I worked a few hours at the office Friday morning and stopped by to visit aunts Leda and Leta and a neighbor on Persimmon Street before coming home.

Jim came in from work that evening with another flat of tomatoes so I returned to the neighbor's home to share some with her. We picked up grandson A. J.

and drove to Lion Stadium that evening to watch second game of the season. We cheered our team to victory over the McDonald County Mustangs and enjoyed cheeseburgers from the concession stand.

Jim worked Saturday morning while I visited the farmers' market to purchase green beans, squash and cucumbers and went to the library to help with some cleanup chores. I returned in early afternoon and broke the beans while Jim watched a televised golf tournament. We watched part of the football game and part of the NASCAR race that evening.

We made a trip to Southwest City Sunday morning and returned for a late breakfast of bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy. We did a few loads of laundry and I called for a phone visit with sister Nancy before parboiling some green peppers and making stuffed peppers, slicing more tomatoes and cucumbers to accompany our leftover green beans and potatoes. Jim watched the final round of golf that afternoon and tuned in to the Green Bay - Chicago game later in the evening.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 09/16/2009