Susan Says . . .

We started the week with a cool, foggy morning and ended it with a warm, sunny weekend and temperatures near 90, a vivid reminder that it will be summer in less than a month. The iris blooms are gone but a few peonies still hold forth. The honeysuckle in the fencerow scents the air with its fragrance and pretty purple vetch dots the nearby hay field. Jim continues to harvest crisp radishes and green onions. Many of the tomatoes and a few potatoes are blooming.

A heavy fog hung over the field Monday morning but the sun soon appeared and burned it away. Jim finished laying new tiles in a bathroom that morning and by afternoon the grass had dried enough that he was able to mow the yard.We ate bowls of leftover lentils and smoked sausage for supper. Tuesday we had a brief visit from brother Richard who was in town to bid on a tree removal job. An old friend was celebrating a birthday so I visited her home that afternoon to take a gift and card.

Jim went to Decatur Wednesday morning to work on shingling a roof but was on the job less than an hour before rain forced him to load up his tools and come home. I went to the Senior Center shortly before noon to visit their annual Health Fair and a heavy downpour pelted the roof not long after I arrived. We enjoyed a tasty lunch of sandwiches, chips, cookies and fruit and heard some excellent speakers from area service agencies. Drawing for door prizes concluded theday and I was fortunate enough to win a couple of choice items.

I made the rounds Thursday, visiting several businesses in town to pick up orders and sell final hamburger fry tickets. I’d picked up extra boxes at the grocery store on Wednesday and went to the library to label them for burger delivery routes. I made a tuna pasta salad for lunch and returned to the library to help fill the boxes with bags of chips and snacks. I worked at the office that evening while Jim went to a meeting.

I went to the library early Friday morning to helpset up tables and put out books for our book sale. I filled bags with drinks for our burger fry customers and when a few burgers came off the grill we put them in bags and began making deliveries. Sister Nancy and her husband came over to browse the book sale and we bought burgers for Mama and Jim. I took a break long enough to go home and eat my burger with them. I returned to the library to select my own box of books and help pack up those not sold and return them to storage. I worked at the office for an hour at the end of the day and enjoyed a big salad and takeout pizza for supper.

We made a trip to Rogers after breakfast Saturday morning and Jim bought me a pretty new wind chime on the way home. Grandson A. J. was mowing Aunt Leta’s yard and we went over when we returned to pick him up, take him home and visit with his family. We did three loads of laundry and I burned our brushpile that evening. Jim hung the wind chime in the patio enclosure where it tinkles pleasantly when it catches the breeze. Nancy called late that evening.

We went to Southwest City Sunday morning and Jim mowed the yard that afternoon. I hoed between the onion rows while he tilled the rest of the garden. Jim trimmed several trees and bushes around the yard and we carried the clippings to our brushpile. I broiled pork steak and heated corn and Jim baked potatoes for our supper. We watched a tribute concert for Brooks and Dunn that evening.

Gravette’s seniors graduated on Saturday and local students are sitting through their last days of classes, looking forward to end-of-school picnics and making plans for the summer. The Memorial Day weekend is approaching with many families planning outings at the lake and backyard barbecues.Drive carefully, enjoy the holiday with family and friends and remember the service Monday morning at Hillcrest Cemetery to honor those who lost their lives in service to our country.

-Susan Holland