I learned the only way I can eat meat is with a lot of sauce. A1, Heinz, or something homemade. I make an orange chicken that is really good and I can eat a lot of that. Yesterday I made a beef burgundy with fresh pasta, but ate two bites and was too full to eat more. I can eat filet but only cook it to rare and slice very thin.

Julia, that milk sounds awful but might be good for a milkshake with lactose free ice cream. My sister has tons of cherry tomatoes and I have been eating them a lot. A few more weeks of good tomatoes and then that will be it until next August.

You and Marilyn have such great adventures together. I love reading about your vacations and look forward to pictures. Have a wonderful time.

When I was growing up, girls did not usually have stuffed animals. Girls got dolls, often with diapers and baby bottles so we could prepare to be mothers. My brothers had teddy bears. It was part of giving kids the "correct" toys. Stuffed animals for girls were a big thing in the 70s and some girls had a bedroom overflowing with them.

When I was in grade school there was a candy store that sold a box of pumpkin seeds for a penny. I think they were roasted and salted. It was one of my favorite treats. I wanted to grow my own pumpkin. I saved some seeds when my mother made a pumpkin pie and planted them. A pumpkin plant grew and was so pretty.

I had planted it in the front lawn. I was about six. My father put up with it for a while but finally cut it down. I tried again as an adult at my own home. The plants grew and got pumpkins but the rabbits at them.

My favorite nut now is macademia.

Relationships are hard no matter how perfect the other person is. Knowing when to get out is a good thing.

30 months for me.

I am planning my October trip to Portland and looking for ideas for fun. Planning for a day at Oregon Zoo and a plane tour of Portland. Also want to see the volcano and the Columbia River and the Oregon coast. I was doing some work years ago for ascis shoes in Beaverton but working all the time I was there and no time for sightseeing. I am finally getting to do that.

Before I went to ascis, I called and asked about their dress code. They said wear anything you want as long as it is not a suit and does not say Nike on it. They were super casual dressers and some of them bought their dogs to work. I still plan to meet you there and take you on a dinner cruise.

When I lived in my first house I planted geraniums, petunias, and impatiens every spring. I had several flowerbeds and they were spectacular with beautiful colors. I also had window boxes and hanging baskets. I went out and watered for about 20 minutes every evening. In the daytime I deadheaded everything.

I was in Europe one summer and kept seeing homes and businesses covered with beautiful flowers, mostly petunias. You do need bushes too and I love holly. Blueberry bushes are quite pretty and you can get blueberries if you can outsmart the birds.

When I was younger I walked or rode my bike all Spring, Summer, and Fall. Now I am happy to be at the pool and sitting in the sun. I am usually cold and appreciate the hot days and warm sunshine. Winter gets more depressing every year and I understand why people to south. I keep thinking about North Carolina. My sister and her husband have a home there and said I can move in with them any time.

I love my condo and my cat so staying here as long as I can.

I remember many women in the plant where I worked taking their summer off by having some minor surgery done on their feet and then saying it was not healing and staying off wor****il their kids went back to school. One day they made a list of the 100 worst offenders of sick leave in the plant and 20 of them were in my department.

They had a union that backed them and in order to keep the job they had to have worked eight hours during the past 365 days. It was the last work day of the year and I had one guy who had not completed eight hours that year. He came to work that morning. At noon he came to my desk and had only worked four hours. He said, "you will be hearing from my doctor and my lawyer." He left and slammed the door.

Because he had not put in eight hours that year the union could not win his fight to keep his job and he was fired. This was a man in is 40s who was quite healthy.

I was always fascinated by downhill skiing. I love water but never waterskied and not sure why. My brothers had a boat and waterskis but it just seemed like something I would not be safe doing and I jus****ched the kids doing it.

There is a place in Pennsylvania that grows peaches called Chambersburg peaches. The soil there has to do with growing them. They are ripe from now until the end of August and I can't stop eating them. They have smooth skin like a nectarine and so much juice you have to hold a napkin under them to keep it from spilling on the floor.

Your shepherds pie sounds so good with mashed sweet potatoes. For the next few weeks I will eat a lot of tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and corn on the cob. When I was growing up we lived off the garden in hot weather. No air conditioning then but always a great garden so not heating up the oven kept the house a lot cooler.
"

Our weather has been delightful, sunny, high 70s with a light breeze. In a condo there is nothing to do outside excep****ch the yard people do yard work. We are not allowed to grow agricultural products of any kind, not even a tomato on the porch.

Last summer one of my neighbors who is a doctor grew a beautiful garden in her backyard. Nobody wanted to say anything to her but board members were all upset. She is such a nice person and just did not know about the rules. They are not written down anywhere. She has no garden this year so I am sure someone talked to her about it.

People sometimes start gardens and then leave vegetables on the ground that attract rodents. There is woods behind us with lots of racoons, chipmonks, and I am sure mice and rats if something is left out to attract them.

Both the ocean and mountains are attractive to me. I did some mountain climbing when I was younger and never did deep sea diving. The diving would be fun as I love to see fish in the ocean.

Blueberry will be wonderful. Enjoy the blueberries. I have been diabetic since I was 39. One thing they caution you is to never be barefoot. A tiny cut could fester and cause you to lose a leg. When you are diabetic wound healing is very slow.