Week in Review: Whoa, did we have an exciting weekend. On Friday evening, Bob and I went to Indy to celebrate Lindsey's birthday and to help Brent and Lindsey with some tree-trimming and yard work.




"If there's a bustle in your hedgerow
Don't be alarmed now.
It's just a spring clean for the May Queen.
Dear lady can you hear the wind blow,
And did you know,"
That limb's gonna fall on your neighbor's fe-ence
"Ooh, and it makes me wonder."

See, there was this broken limb, caught in another tree that had been swaying precariously above their neighbor's fence for some time, so the main goal was to get that down. Bob had the idea that he could maybe tie a rope around it and he would do some sawing and pulling and "voila."


Oh, and Bob cut down three more of their trees too (one, unintentionally, but that's another story). In this picture, Bob is telling Brent just how he's going to do something or other. Brent listened attentively.




After some major sawing, Bob's Stihl chainsaw quit running, for some reason. Then, when he was up in the tree, working on the precarious limb, the Poulan chainsaw got stuck in the limb. Brent was pulling on the rope from the ground. Then Bob did some kind of pulling maneuver in the tree, and the limb came down right at him, taking the hat right off his head and pinning it to the tree trunk, as seen here. I swear, this is how close I came to driving back to Kendallville alone.


That night, over some double-cheeseburgers and onion rings at the Culver's in Anderson (Hey, it's good to be alive) Bob vowed that he would never go up in a tree with the chainsaw - no, wait, he will go up in a tree, but he will NEVER try to take down anything that's over his head. That hat was ruined.


I also need to back up to the night before we almost lost our Bob, because it was exciting in its own right. We met Justin and Rachel at the Weber Grill downtown for a tasty dinner, then we went to the Rathskeller to check out the beer garden. Unfortunately, it began to storm just as we arrived, and people were scurrying in from the beer garden. We stayed a bit, then decided to drive back to Brent and Lindsey's for cake. Well, a sort of tornado had gone through the eastern part of the city. We got off at 56th street and drove into some very high water on the exit ramp. Brent managed to keep driving and our car didn't stall, but there were other motorists who weren't so fortunate. Power was out in much of the Lawrence area. We even had to drive around a trampoline in the road. Here are Brent, Lindsey, Rachel, and Justin, enjoying cake after our wild ride home.


From the Archives: My brother, Jeff, and I, on a ladder in, oh, 1958 or 1959, I'd guess. There's some story about this picture, but I can't remember what it is. Either, he wants me off the ladder, or he's getting ready to throw me off the ladder, or after the picture was taken, he did throw me off the ladder. I can't say for sure. Maw-Maw would have to weigh in on that. At any rate, the look on my face indicates that I am oblivious to any potential trouble.




"I've got the horse right here,
The name is Paul Revere,
And here's a guy that says
If the weather's clear,
Can do, can do
This guy says the horse can do.


GO BIG BROWN!!!!!





After such an exciting Friday and Saturday, our Sunday at home was pretty low-key. Bob continued working on the shed, and I pulled some of my own weeds. We had a pork roast for Sunday Night Supper - and for dessert..."Bob's Darned Lucky to Be Alive, Strawberry Shortcake."



Recipe of the Week:
This is the fruit salad recipe I mentioned a couple of blogs ago. The glaze is delicious and people really seem to like it. It makes a ton (hence the name), but it's easy enough to reduce the amount by two-thirds. I got this recipe from my dear friend, Karen Hamilton, in Mt. Vernon, IL. In fact, she made it for Rob's baby shower.


Karen's Punchbowl Fruit Salad
Mix in large punch bowl:
3 packages vanilla instant pudding
3 cans chunk pineapple with juice
3/4 cup Tang instant breakfast drink
Stir to dissolve pudding. Mixture will be thick
Add:
3 cans mandarin oranges (drained)
6 bananas, sliced (add these last)
grapes
strawberries
kiwi
peaches - whatever's in season



"Most of the time it was probably real bad being stuck in a dungeon. But some days, when there was a bad storm outside, you'd look out your little window and think...'Boy, I'm glad I'm not out in THAT."
Jack Handey