Yes, of course it can be December!  That’s what time does!  IT PASSES!   Last week we had our Thanksgiving dinner but with only one of our daughters, (and her family) which is very unusual.  The other four spent the day with their in-laws, which is as it should be.  We had the traditional dinner of turkey (plus a ham) and mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and cranberries and a vegetable or two and pumpkin pie.  AND WINE WITH DINNER.  It was all very nice, and comparitively quiet.

Our Chrisrmas Eve will be different.  We ALWAYS  have the whole family for that dinner.  We try to vary it from year to year.  This year we will hasve 2 roasts…9ne pork and one beef,  And we will have the side dishes catered.  That will save Marthe from some of the work. 

We also have a “grab bag”  where we pick a name (unseen) and purchase a surprise gift for that person!  (I wonder whether they have anything like that in Australia???)  Now that we are in December, we can feel real WINTER approaching.  Freezing temperatures are predicted for this week and even some SNOW!  The first snowfall of the season is always exciting to me, altho some people don’t appreciate that.  I also always love to see the first ROBIN of springtime return to the Chicago area from their stay in the south during winter.

Most of us who grew up in the midwest (like in Chicago) do appreciate the change of seasons.  Now Australia is looking forward to SUMMER and that must be exciting, too.  Today I want to be the first (?) to sayMERRY CHRISTMAS  to all of you.  HAve a great one.  But I would hope I have a chance to post another message on this BLOG before too long.    G’bye for now.

Yes, I am ready to admit that I am getting lazym in my old age!  My Australian Blog friend gat married about a month ago and I am only now sending CONGRATULATIONS!.   (But Im domwish good luck and blessings to both of you!)  

In one week from today we Americans will be celebrating our National Holiday of THANKSGIVING.  It is a day of feasting, usuallu with a roast turkey and a variety of foods  to go with it.  And we should be giving thanks too for all our blessings.  Some of us go to Mass or to services of  their choice, or just say a prayer with the family at dinner time.  But it is a day to give THANKS.   I think it is mostly an American tradition since the time when the colonists first arrived on our shores and settled here in1620.

Then in just about another month we will be celebrating Christmas.  That is another big day to gather with family.  It is a happy time.   I’m sure there is some celebrating all around the world at Christmas time.  Then comes New Year’s Day and what seems to be a long winter,  So we begin to look forward to SPRING!  And we start all the cycle all over again.

I can enjoy any month, any season, any holiday, or actually, any DAY.  When one has family mand friends one can be happy .  Do all of you who read this agree?  So in case I am particularly lazy during the coming weeks, let me say that I really mean it  :   MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR.   But I willtry, really try, to find time to write again.

BYE FOR NOW!

YES!  My computer is sick .  It is discouraging.  Maybe I need a  new one?  Anyway, that is the reason I have not posted any blogs for a while.  But, here I am anyway feeling well and happy!

We are having a beautiful weather week in Chicsago.  But who knows what next week will bring.  The trees are almost bare of leaves now, so I guesss it is really autumn!  Winter is coming!  And Christmas is coming too, fast!  But first we need to have “Thanksgiving Day”  (I wonder if they have a holiday like that in Australia? As far as I know it is strictly an American Holiday)

Hello, “ENNY”.  How are you doing?  You are well into your SPRING now.  I bet you are happy about that, aren’t you?  

I really have a big problem with this computer.  It is discouraging and I don’t know enoough about computers to know what to do or even what to think!  I guess I’ll need to ask one of our grandchildren.  The young ones seem to know more about these things than us “old folks”.   But I know enough to be able to do the few things I want to do, so I am happy.  I am mostly  a happy person anyway. 

Our little dog, NIKO makes us happy.  He is just too cute and funny. He makes us laugh and  we are happy to have him.  We have had him only 10 months, but have had 10 years of happiness with him!      Now with that thought I will say “Farewell” for this time.  I will try to write again soon, if this computer behaves itself.   g’bye

In another week Marthe will be leaving me! OH, not really! She is finally going to be able to go to Canada to visit with her family after 3 years. And because MY family does not want me to be alone for those 10 days, I will be staying with daughter, Michelle, and her husband. I will be alone only a few hours during the weekday and not at all at night. I will be okay with that and the family will have peace of mind and not worry about me. Besides that, I will have NIKO with me.

I will take some books with me and some writing materials. And some cd’s to have some of MY kind of music with me. I’m sure I will have a phone call or two each day from each of the 5 daughters, and friends too, so I won’t feel at all as tho I am alone.  The time will go fast and I’ll be back home.  I really believe that “there’s no place ;ilk home”.  Do you agree?

The summer is over, (we did not have much of a summer this year) and the leaves are beginning to show some autumn color.  We just hope that winter won’t try to begin to soon.  I know that spring is starting in Australia now, Enny, and that sounds good to me. But the thought of having Christmas in summer would seem so strange to us. 

We have always heard Australia referred to as “DOWN UNDER”.  But there is really no such thing.  It is simply the way we “UP HERE” have always pictured it, right?

I am still enjoying all the information you sent about the animals and plants of your country.  Thanks for that.  I have always enjoyed reading about other far away places all over the world, but really don’t hear much about Australia.  I would like to have visited there but it is too late now, even if I could afford it. Probably the farthest I have been from Chicago, would be Eastern Germany.  Or is Mexico farther?  I have travelled far through reading, but that certainly is not the same.

We could not have afforded to travel much, but we have something better…our five daughters.  They are a real joy, and so our grandchildren. 

Oh! Oh!  almost 400 mwords.  I should stop now.  Hope I didn’t bore you too mich.  Maybe one of these days I will simply give up blogging.

                               

On Sep. 12th our daughter #4 (Michelle), will marry Bill. After being a widow for several years, she has finally met the “right guy”. We are hoping for nice weather because she is determined to have the wedding in her garden. She has a pretty decent garden too and we don’t blame her for wanting to show it off. She never had a garden of her own before.

Later today I want to take a bit of time to read.  I really like to  read as well as write.  And speaking of reading, here’s a note for you “ENNY”: In one of your comments to a blog you mentioned the children’s book “SNUGGLEPOT and CUDDLEPIE”.  I was intrigued by those titles and wondered if I could find them here in Chicago.  Well, not at our library, but I did find some for sale on-line.  I used to read children’s books to our kids when they were small, then later to our grand-children!  And I really enjoyed that.  If I can find some copy of Snuggle and Cuddle (and not too expensive) I might just send for it.  It would be fun! 

Now,  I think I will take time out to sit in the back yard and read.  The weather is practically perfect for September.  Blue sky, bright sun, not too hot…just right.  We haven’t had many days like this all summer long.  It has been mostly very cool and cloudy.  Now we can feel autumn in the air while the Australians are looking forward to SPRONG and SUMMER!   Good for all of you.  Enjoy it! g’bye for now! 

I say “Dear Readers” as though I have so many and I am sure of only one, but there could be one or two more besides “ENNY” in Australia, the one who sent me all those interesting articles about Australia. It will take me awhile to read all that because I do other things around the house, even though my activities are limited. I would like to read comments from some of those other one or two readers. Any other reader out there from Germany? France? Peru? India?

That reminds me, Enny, that I am trying to recall a lot of the things my niece told us of her work in India. One of these days, I’ll send it. OKAY? And I just realize that I was wrong in one of my thoughts about Australia. I just check the locations of Canberra and Chicago and found that Chicago is closer to the North Pole than Canberra is to the South Pole!!! I was thinking that you were very very to the South Polar Region! Is that stupid, or what!! Well, We are never too old to learn. Even atmy Great Age I can still learn.
I have always been interested in Geography and could name all the capitals of our states, and most of the countries of each Continent on the globe! But now with the boundaries of countries changing frequently, it is hard to keep up.

Enny, I was just nwondering whether you come from a big family? Do you have brothere and sisters? I amd the baby of a family of 9 children. I had 1 brother and 7 sisters!!! Now, I am the only one left of that family, except for numerous nieces and nephews!

I just noticed that i have typed almost 300 words. Don’t you think that is enough for now? I”ll try to have some words about India soon. Please overlook all my typing errors, okay? Thanks!

This past week-end we had real summer in Chicago: hot and humid. And now we are having a few days of cooler weather. BUT for next week-end they predict more heat and humidity. So we are finally having a real Chicago summer! Some people love the real heat, but Marthe and I prefer something under 90 degrees!

Yesterday one of our nieces came over with an album of pictures she had taken on a tour several years ago, to Australia, New ZeAland and Fiji. She had read my blog about the interest I showed in the information about Australian animals and plants that I received from “ENNY”, our friend in Australia. It seemed that most of her time in Australia was spent in Sydney. She even had a picture of herself petting a kangaroo.

Marthe and I were without our computer for about a week while Marty (son-in-law) took it home to “clean it up” for us; emptying a lot of memory that I didn’t need or use. That was good, but I was unable to continue reading all the info “ENNY” had sent about Australia. Now I can get back into that. There is a lot to read and study snd I find it really interesting. and each link has other links that I can go to. It will take me some time to go through it all. But I am really grateful to “ENNY” for compiling all that and sending it to me. Imagine sending that thousands of mile from Australia to Chicago in just a few seconds!!! I wonder how much time it would take to send something by mail????

I think I would like to write a bit about Jane’s (grand-niece) experience in India. Hearing Jane speak of it last week was very interesting. The culture over there is vastly different from ours here in the states. Perhaps if we would learn more about other cultures we would get along without war or fighting! Don’t you think so? Of course, we would need to learn to accept other peoples way of life.

We could go on and on discussing this subject but I’m afraid I already wrote too much. I do not want to bore the reader! I hope you have a nice day!

During the past week I had two very interesting things pop up.One was a visit to Chicago from a niece who has been working with young people in India. The other was a comment on my most recent blog from a friend in Australia!

The niece from India gave a talk to a group of friends and relatives about her experiences iver there. It was very interesting but I will not go into details here…it would take a lot of time for me to organize my thoughts on such a subject and to type them out. But I am thankful to Jane (and her mother who arranged the event) thankful that theyn included Marthe and me in the group.

And Thank You, “ENNY” for all the info on Australia that you sent. I am excited to have it and I intend to read it all. I read some of it, but rather quickly. It is something that I want to read more carefully and study it somewhat. Maybe aI will try to print it all out so that I can read it in my spare time without rushing thru it. In that way I can share it with others.

It seems to me “ENNY” that it must have taken you quite a bit of time to do that and I want you to know that I appreciate it. I’m just sorry that i won’t have time to do that now. I am such a busy guy. I have too many interests and not enough enery to do it all. But, so what? I’ll just sit back and enjoy. Thanks for sending all that.

More later.

Yes, it has been an unusually cool summer in Chicago this year. What happened to all those 90 degree days we used to have in summer? (Would that be about 30 something degrees in Australia and the rest of the world?) In a few days it will be August and then we will begin to notice a feeling of Autumn in the air! And you, Enny will be looking forward to SPRING!

Australia seems to be a most unusual continent, especially as far as their animals are concerned, eh? The cute little koala, the Kangaroo, and that funny lit.I am not sure if any zoo in the U.S. has a platypus!!! And then there is the kookaboora bird. What kinds of unusual plants/trees/flowers do you have down there?

It has been almost 2 months since I last wrote here, but that is because I am getting lazy in my old age. I would like to write a really interesting BLOG, but right now, I can’t think and do not have time.. It is too near to dinner time. I will try to do better next time. (And Niko is still as cute as ever. I’ll say G’bye for now.

Yes, I am 88 years old now! And eight is my favorite number… whatever that means? The family surprised me with a gathering on Sunday and I was really surprised. Actually we celebrated 3 birthdays. Our elds\est daughter had a birthday and a son-in-law- had a birthday…3 days in a row! It was a happy delightful wonderful celebration having with all the kids and grandchildren together.

And how do I feel about being so close to 90 yhears old? I feel just fineand not bothered by the thought. Not at all, honestly!

This morning on TV they talked about an upcoming program for this weekend about Australia having the most venomous creatures on the planet! But I know about that thanks to my friend “ENNY”. She sent me a list of the snakes, and in all my years on this planet I never knew there were some that were so very, very ,very poisonous. Thanks, “ENNY”. Any time you want to tell me something about Australia I will be glad to read it. Maybe I should just check the library fro a book about the continent,. There was some
mention of the platybus being venomous too and I had never heard that. I wonder hos much we Americans really know about Australia.