On Sunday 11 May we enjoyed listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in "Music & the Spoken Word" as we got ready for church.

We were glad to be back in our little branch for services today for Mother's Day.  My receiver is not working, so I won't know much of what the speakers have to say.

We had a youth speaker, Sister Naomi Boland.  She wished all the mothers a Happy Mother's Day.  Then the Primary children sang "Mother, Dear" to all the mothers.

Sister Burgess, one of our full-time missionaries, spoke.  And, of course, she spoke about mothers.  There were some chuckles about the fact that the branch bulletin had her listed as "Sister Burger."  President Boland in introducing her said that Sister Burger couldn't make it so he asked Sister Burgess to fill in.

We had a special musical number by Brother Blake Cornell, "Love at Home," accompanied by his mother Sister Debby Van Gelder on the organ.

Our concluding speaker was Elder Cleverly, one of our full-time missionaries.  And, of course, he spoke about mothers. 

I got seven Book of Mormons from the branch library as I have to mail them in the next day or so to people who said "yes" to my Book of Mormon questions as well as to the manager of the Sleep Inn in Owensboro who was so helpful and the gentleman from the Daviess County Public Library who helped me with my genealogy.

Brother Curtis Bond taught our priesthood lesson which was lesson 9, "Witnesses of the Book of Mormon" from "Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Fielding Smith."  The lesson began with following quote from President Smith: “It seems to me that any member of this Church would never be satisfied until he or she had read the Book of Mormon time and time again and thoroughly considered it so that he or she could bear witness that it is in very deed a record with the inspiration of the Almighty upon it.”

All the kids talked with Eileen to wish her a Happy Mother's Day.  We relaxed the rest of the day, watching episodes of "America's Test Kitchen" and "Cook's Country" that I had recorded the last two Saturdays.  

I did more work on the Sawyer genealogy using Ancestry.com.

I began work on finishing my blog for the week of 27 April.

On Monday 12 May we were up early to await the arrival of Brian Shedd and his tree service crew to work in our woods and on the pine trees on both sides of our home.

They arrived and are working hard!  I removed the posts and fencing in the backyard where I had tried several years ago to establish two compost heaps.  Brian helped me with his weed whacker and one of his guys rolled up the two wire fences that had encircled the areas.

Brian is cleaning out a lot of the dead tree refuse on the ground in the woods as well as dead trees and branches still standing.  He is topping and cutting back the big pine trees all along the walls of the house.

They were here all day!  The woods behind our house and next to our house look great.  The backyard looks twice as large as before!

Working in the back yard

Working in the front yard

All cleared out under the trees

I went out and put the bird feeders back up.  I published my blog for the week of 27 April.  I began work on the week of 4 May.

Squirrels like the bird feeders

I worked on the Book of Mormons that I will be mailing.  I found two more index cards in my pocket that people had filled out with their name and address, so I'll need to mail nine Book of Mormons, not seven.

On Tuesday 13 May we slept in which is always delightful!  We got on our way to Ellijay dropping off the recyclables at the dump on the way, going by the post office with mail, taking things to Faith, Hope, and Charity, stopping at the dry cleaners, and swinging by the Times-Courier office for last week's edition.  Then we went to Squiggles for a car wash that it needed badly after our vacation, North Georgia Diamond, Walmart, and Ingles.  Our last stop on the way home was R&A Orchards.

Our nearby dump

Our nearby dump

Ellijay Post Office

Drop-off for Faith, Hope, and Charity to the left
and Legacy Cleaners

Legacy Cleaners

Times-Courier office

Squiggles

North Georgia Diamond

I got new earphones at Walmart so now my receiver works fine and I can hear Eileen again!

We had a delicious chicken and salad dinner which included a baked cauliflower and bacon dish that Eileen called "fake potatoes" although it looked more like "fake rice."  Anything with crispy pieces of bacon in it is yummy!

We enjoyed watching a Father Brown episode that I'd recorded.

Mark Williams as Father Brown

On Wednesday 14 May we returned to the food pantry for the first time in two months!  It was fun to be back and see many friends who also volunteer there.  I was asked to give the prayer after the "meeting" we have to start the day.

Gilmer Community Food Pantry

We picked up the Times-Courier at R&A Orchards.  It had our picture taken at Max's Brick Oven Cafe in Paducah, Kentucky.

Eileen and Ben at Max's Brick Oven Cafe

Back home we called Colleen in Arizona and sang "happy birthday" to our grandson Ashton who is seven today.

I took Eileen to the Zamora Mexican Restaurant in Ellijay for her Mother's Day dinner.  It was good and my dish was quite spicy!  I got the Molcajete, a great combination of chicken breast, a slice of ribeye steak, sausage, shrimp, onions, pinto beans, cactus, jalapeño, and Mexican cheese. 

Inside Zamora's

Ben at Zamora's

Molcajete bowl

We took a bit of a longer way to get home which was fun!  There was a big log truck in front of us turning onto Big Creek Road, so I went straight and turned onto Roy Road en route back to Big Creek Road.

At home it was still light out and Eileen had mentioned about vines growing on the trees behind the house, which can be seen so readily now with so much cleared out back there on Monday.  So I put on my gloves and pulled the vines off one tree to the left of our house (as you face the house) and off two trees that she had seen.  Then I pulled down lots of old vines further into the cleared area.  I'll have to gather them up and dispose of them another time.

Eileen had a nice conversation with Sue in Florida.  Her next scan is scheduled for June but her doctor is trying to get it moved up to this month.  We are going down there on the 25th after church.

I worked on my blog, inserting pictures from our first day in Hannibal, Missouri.

I enjoyed watching the Yankees - Mets game on ESPN.  The Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka shut out the Mets, who had scored 21 runs in the two previous games against the Yankees, getting his first major league complete game to make his record 6-0.  He even got his first major league hit!

Masahiro Tanaka

On Thursday 15 May we went to my eye appointment at the North Georgia Eye Clinic in Ellijay.  My current eyeglass prescription is still fine.  There is no sign of diabetes in my eyes.  And the cataract in my left eye could be removed, but there is no need to do it right now.  So I told him that I'd see him next year.  The gal at the front desk there said "yes" to my two Book of Mormon questions! 

We stopped at the Gilmer County Courthouse for sample ballots to study.  I got all three, Democrat, Republican, and non-partisan.  Early voting ends tomorrow and Primary Election Day is Tuesday.

Gilmer County Courthouse

 

Eileen is driving as my eyes were dilated at the eye clinic.  We drove to Blue Ridge to go to lunch with Ralph and Holly Hughes.  We enjoyed the Armadillo Grill in Blairsville.

Armadillo Grill menu

Holly and Ralph

Out front at Armadillo Grill

Ben and Eileen at Armadillo Grill

We returned to Ralph and Holly's and enjoyed visiting with them the rest of the afternoon.

Ralph and Holly's in Mineral Bluff

Back home in the evening we enjoyed watching a tribute to Yankee star Derek Jeter on Fox Sports.

Derek Jeter

On Friday 16 May I finished reading "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens which I began on 3 January.  I have read the following by Dickens: The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Hard Times, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, The Old Curiosity Shop, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings, The Trial of William Tinkling, and Three Ghost Stories.  A Tale of Two Cities was read many years ago.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

We had a quiet day.  One of our branch members called with family history questions.  We will hopefully get with her on Sunday after church.  I got eight of the Book of Mormons ready to mail, so I need three more.  I worked some more on my 4 May blog.

Eileen made a delicious cabbage, onion, and bacon dish to accompany our pork chops tonight.  It was partially from an Irish Bacon and Cabbage recipe and a Caramelized Cabbage and Pork recipe.  I made the tossed salad which was quite good if I say so myself. 

I worked some more on my 4 May blog and we watched the Braves lose to the Cardinals 5-2.  I read "Undine" by Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte, Baron Fouqué.

Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué (1777-1843)

On Saturday 17 May we were up and out in time to get to the post office by 11:30 am, i.e., we slept in which was delightful!

I mailed eight Book of Mormons to Kentucky, Missouri, and Georgia, and have three more to be mailed.

We went by Ace Hardware for compost and fertilizer, then Walmart and Ingles.

We received some unsettling news from Florida.  Our daughter Sue is not doing well and has been admitted to the hospital with fluid in her lungs.  Our son-in-law David said that it wasn't known if it was due to her cancer or pneumonia.

Back at home we enjoyed episodes of "America's Test Kitchen" and "Cook's Country."  After supper we watched Rick Steves in Dublin, Ireland.  It was dated 2002, so Rick was out-of-date in reference to the Irish no-longer-booming economy.  Then he was on to South Ireland: Waterford to Kerry.   We enjoyed seeing the monastery at Glendalough again where we visited last August.  Next was West Ireland: Dingle, Galway, and the Aran Islands.  Then came Belfast and the Best of Northern Ireland.  Here again were many sights we saw last August.

Rick Steves