"Bewitched, bothered, and bewildered, am I. Umm-hmm That's me, alright. I do not understand why I am made to suffer such indignities. Please put this dopey hat back on the wooden squirrel out in the front yard, where it belongs. This is the most humiliating hat I've ever been forced to wear.....no, wait a minute.... I'm remembering a rhubarb crown made out of construction paper. It might have been worse."(see May post).

Where did all these ghosts come from, I wonder . It's not like there's been any conscious effort to collect them over the years. I guess they just appeared. We had a pretty good week. The pie baking class on Tuesday went well and the Book Babes met on Wednesday night at Julia's house. Next month's book will be The Book Thief, which comes very highly recommended. Also, yesterday, on Make a Difference Day, we held our annual Common Grace Love Walk. It was cold and windy. After a three-mile walk around the Albion park, we joined hands around the courthouse and then sang some hymns. I haven't heard how much money we raised, but I'm hopeful that it was a substantial amount.

***Political tip of the Week: If you are seeking election to one of the the top executive posts in our nation, please do not use the word hollerin' when you are making a speech or talking to the media, because when you use the word, hollerin', I start thinking you might not be any smarter than I am, and that really scares me.

I went to church by myself this morning and when I came out, there on the hood of my Jeep was a can of beer. It was Bud Light, and it was in a red can holder, shaped like a shotgun shell, with the Ducks Unlimited logo on it, so it most likely came from MY HOUSE, alright. But, how did it get there? When I got home, I asked Bob about it, and yes, when he was working on the door of Rob's Blazer, the night before, he had a beer and he forgot and left it on the roof of the Jeep. This means that I drove to church with that up there, and then some fellow worshipper saw it, and moved it to the hood. So my Jeep was sitting out in front of the church on Sunday morning with a beer on it. Nice.

Nick and Stormy were here this weekend! We dined with them at the St. James on Thursday night. Then, on Friday night they came to our house for dinner, along with Shane and Krissy. Here are our Friday night guests. We served a beef tenderloin roast and shared a great evening together. Stormy had to drive back to Wilkes Barre on Sunday, but Nick stayed on to tend to some business, so he was our Sunday night guest for a pork tenderloin roast. He brought along a bottle of Chilean Savignon Blanc to go with the pork. Here's a picture of our lone Sunday night guest and his Chilean wine.

From the Archives:

Our pumpkins, in 1992, as the Statue of Liberty and a purple dragon

Our pumpkins, last year, as adults who can speak civilly to one another

Recipe of the Week:

We had that leftover tenderloin on Saturday so we made beef stroganoff. This dish turns out well when you use round steak, but, it turns out really really well when you use beef tenderloin

Beef Stroganoff

1 1/2 pounds round steak

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

1- 4 oz. can sliced mushrooms, drained

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup shopped onion

1 small clove garlic, minced

1 can Campbell's beef broth

Dash of pepper

Noodles

Cut round steak into think strips; dust with flour and dash of pepper. In a large skilled, brown meat in butter. Add mushrooms, onion and garlic; brown lightly. Stir in beef brother. Cover. Cook about 1 hour or until meat is tender. Stir occasionally. Gradually stir in sour cream. Cook over low heat about 5 minutes. Serve over 3 cups cooked noodles.

"I think the mistake a lot of us make is thinking the state-appointed psychiatrist is "our friend.'" Jack Handey