Thelma, Intercourse and Ivy

How do you like today's title, lol?

I have the MOST WONDERFUL friend that I forget about sometimes because she moved far away from me, and I haven't seen her for over 10 years.  She is a beautiful, darling, amazing person.  She is from The Phillipines (or is it Argentina) -- one of those places -- and she has an awesome life story.  Was hired to go to work as a Pharmacist in Iran way before I ever met her.  I think she speaks five languages.  I'll try to go borrow a picture of her from her Facebook page if I can figure out how to do it.

Anyway, Thelma is a wonderful Christian, and we used to be very good friends -- the kind of friends that don't just quit being friends one day.  I could call her this minute, and she would act as though I was the most important person on the face of the earth, and she would invite me to come visit. 

She knows me well and knew I would love the following video.  Yes!  I DO love it.  If you want to know what kind of man I would like for President, this is all I require:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvN1jTkzXbY&feature=share

Here are a few pictures of Thelma.  She is a worldwide traveler.  She is always going on vacation to some exotic location.  She retired from Boeing several years ago, and she travels, dances, hikes and whatever else she wants to do.  She has an amazing wardrobe.  She lives in Seattle and has invited me over and over to come visit.  I could barely survive Lu yesterday.  Keeping up with Thelma would probably kill me!

Can you BELIEVE this girl!?  I would probably lose 10 pounds the first week I was there, IF I survived it.  Those 4 pictures are probably from 4 different countries.  She travels everywhere, and she goes alone.  What a woman!

I did visit her a few years after she moved.  Her husband was still alive then.  She lived in Pennsylvania.  She took me to Intercourse, PA which is an Amish City with about a thousand quilt shops.  It was wonderful.  We went into the sewing stores where fabric AND BUTTONS were sold, but the clerks all had their clothes held together with SAFETY PINS.  How nutty was that!?  If a button is a sin, then a safety pin must be one too.  But, I admire their resolve to obey their religious beliefs. 

Lots of people going down the road in their horse-drawn buggies.  All the men had beards and the women wore those little hats.  I thought it was all very charming and quaint.  They looked like the kind of people you could trust.  Wonder if it is still that way now in Intercourse, PA.  What an odd town name for such a religious group of people!  Evidently, they DO believe in that practice, because there sure were a lot of them there. (-;

I probably should be doing something other than sitting here talking with you.  I did go out on my front porch this morning and do something.  I LOVE Ivy plants.  Actually, I LOVE a whole bunch of plants and flowers BUT Ivy seems to be the only plant that loves me back and will grow for me.  Yesterday, when I was at the store and Lu had left, I cut a bunch of runners off the two Ivy plants I have there in the front window.  I put them all in a plastic garbage bag, sprinkled a cup of water over them, and brought them home.  I threw the bag on the front porch to wait.  I went over this morning AGAIN to the barn -- twice in one year! -- and got out my Mule.  I HATE that name, but that is what it is called.  I always name everything, but for some reason, I can't remember what I named this.  Could it be my age?  Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Anyway, I lifted a bag of top soil into the back of it and drove it over to my front porch.  Jerry had helped me pour top soil into the two empty planters on Sunday, but they needed some more.  These two pots were totally empty this morning except for some dirt.  Look at them now:





INSTANT beautification!  That is what I love about ivy plants.  I didn't even grow roots on these.  I just buried them in the dirt and filled the planters up with water and Miracle Grow.  They will be bushy and full in no time.

Now, the back porch has to have some major attention.  My husband took the ELECTRIC HEDGE TRIMMERS and whacked my rose bushes down into a rounded hump shape!  I don't know if they will even survive.  For some reason, he thinks a rose bush and a hedge are the same thing.

Gotta go.  A zillion things to do. 

Hugs, Joy