Almost first day of Autum

 62º and overcast here in Clarinda, IA at 3:00 pm on Thursday.  Definitely cooled off--from the 90º weather a few days ago.

  Have not set off to accomplish a lot this week and I have pretty much got that done.  Have been reading some on Chuck Offenburger, the "Iowa Boy" from the Des Moines Register for many years.  He just got married early this month -- read some of his, and his wife's, columns HERE

Picture of our good friend, Harold Neher.  He had been our neighbor in La Feria, TX for many, many years.  Is having a stay in the hospital in Hiawatha, Kansas now.  We are planning on visiting him tomorrow.

Pictures below are of our great grandkids at a football game in Marengo, IA.

Nancy Tarrant Schaurte was a classmate of Phyllis in High School.  She and her husband, Jim, stayed at our place last Friday and Saturday nights and went to the Class Reunion gatherings on Saturday.  They live in Florida, and just this year bought a house in north part of Chicago and have been fixing it up.  The came here from Wyoming, having been on about a 10 day trip visiting her brother and other stops.

Another picture of our

great-grandkids, this

time with their Mom.

My Niece Angie who lives in Lincoln, NE.

I had a cedar board that was from Harold's workshop in Texas, and finally got it finished and used to expand the top of my bedside stand.

Washed the front of the trailer.

Had quite a few "smashed bugs"

Will be heading to Branson with it

the first week of October.

Having to get some repairs on our riding lawn mower................so worked on the powered-push mower that hasn't been run in about four years.

With draining the little bit of

gas from it and getting

a new spark plug it fired up.

With it less than half the width of the rider, and with walking behind it-----I am looking forward to the return of the rider.

Have been preparing a place

for Phyllis to plant some

of the flowers that have

been in pots in front of

our picture window.

And we got them done this afternoon.

Had thought we would get our

booster Covid-19 shots this

afternoon, but found out we

are a couple weeks early for

the 3 months waiting period

from our last booster.

Got the winter Flue shots last week.

This doesn't really show the

brilliant colors that are in

the pots on the deck.  With the

flowers surrounding the tomato

plant is quite colorful.

I have finally gotten my photos from Macon Bluegrass Festival up on Google - Click HERE

Horse Racing............

One day while he was at the track playing the ponies Mitch noticed a priest who stepped onto the track and blessed the forehead of one horse lining up for the 4th race.  Lo and behold, that horse--a very long shot--won the race.  Before the next race, as the horses began lining up, Mitch watched with interest as the old priest stepped onto the track again. Sure enough, as the 5th race horses came to the starting gate, the priest made a blessing on the forehead of one horse.  Mitch made a beeline for a betting window and placed a small bet on the horse. Again, even though it was another long shot, the horse the priest had blessed won the race.  Mitch collected his winnings and anxiously waited to see which horse the priest would bless for the 6th race. The priest again blessed a horse.  Mitch bet big on it, and it won. Mitch was elated. As the races continued, the priest kept blessing long-shot horses, and each one ended up coming in first.  By and by, Mitch was pulling in some serious money. By the last race, he knew his wildest dreams were going to come true. He made a quick dash to the ATM, withdrew all his savings, and waited for the priest's blessing to tell him which horse to bet on.  True to his habit, the priest stepped onto the track for the last race and blessed the forehead of an old nag that was the longest shot of the day. Mitch also observed the priest blessing the eyes, ears, and hooves of the old nag.  Mitch knew he had a winner and bet every cent he owned on the old nag.  He then watched, dumbfounded, as the old nag come in dead last. Mitch, in a state of shock, made his way down to the track area where the priest was.  Confronting the old priest he demanded, “Father! What happened? All day long, you blessed horses and they all won. Then, in the last race, the horse you blessed lost by a Kentucky mile. Now, thanks to you, I've lost every cent of my savings--all of it!”The priest nodded wisely and, with sympathy, said, “Son, that's the problem with you Protestants. You can't tell the difference between a simple blessing and last rites.”

Later, LC