Boy, people watching was good today at Golden Corral. Rhea Pearl was there complete with her red hair and greenish cap-shaped hat! I talked to her husband a little bit about another unusual couple. I guess this other couple goes there every day and sit at the same table. They wear identical suits every day complete with matching shirts. Today was the first time I had seen them. They were wearing white suits with pink and purple print shirts! Kids can you see Dad and me?!?!?!?! This man told me they have several identical suits including a pair that are catsup red! It made me think of Ed and June Sarver dressing in the same colors, but these are identical!

It's interesting to notice people who look like people I know at home. At church there is a lady who looks a lot like Lois Oldham only she's taller. She leads the 9/12 group and is a very good singer. There's also another lady in the choir who looks like June Sarver 20 years ago. I've noticed others too, but I can't remember them right now.

It's almost 10:00, so I'm going to quit for now. Remember to keep the warming going for me!

As Ila says, blogging sometimes gets to be a drag. Friday morning I saw McMillan and Life for the first time. She used to be with the Lesters and I don't remember who the men used to be with. They were good. Along with them the program included Geraldine and Ricky. They were hilarious as usual. (Ricky is a dumby.)

Saturday night it was Great Vision and they were good as usual. Then last night I saw N'Harmony and they were good. I was quite surprised when the bass singer was introduced as Will Van Wyngarden from Pella, Iowa! That's where he lives yet. I talked to him after the concert and found out that he grew up on a farm south of Peoria in Mahaska County. He asked if the van he saw in the parking lot with Mahaska County plates was mine and, of course, it was. He said when they drove in and he saw it he was extremely surprised. His great grandfather immigrated from Holland to Pella about the same time as my grandfather immigrated from Holland to Pella.

I plan to leave here either Friday noon, or Saturday morning and be home the following Wednesday or Thursday. I'm going to see Bill and Carolyn Allison in Georgia and Chris Fiscus in Tennessee and stop and get some new shoes in Missouri. I may also see the Tooley's if I can get hold of them and they are free.

Get it warmed up for me and get rid of all the snow! Oh, yes, I'm freezing some strawberries to bring home for strawberry shortcake on work day.

A lot of water has gone under the bridge since I last blogged. I hope it doesn't turn out to be real water under the bridge and out of it's banks this spring or before in Iowa. I saw on the weather channel they have a new way to sort of sand bag that they are planning to try in Cedar Rapids this year.

Sunday night we had a quartet called the Taylors that I had never even heard of. They were fabulous! They are all siblings. The tenor is 22 and the soprano just turned 18. The alto and bass are twins who are in between the other two in age. They also have 2 older brothers who are married and have families. Their dad is pastor of a country church in North Carolina and their mom is the minister of music. They had fond memories of when they were 10 to 12 and their mom taught them all 4 parts of hymns to sing at revivals at their church. Their blend is extremely good and they have a very pure ambiance. I would highly recommend them! They had to drive home Sunday night because the youngest 3 of them had mid-terms Monday.

Yesterday I got out at the lake and looked around a little bit. There are several birds setting, including several swans. They let you walk right up to them and just look at you. I sat at a table beside one that was just sitting, but not nesting and it just looked at me. I took it's picture with my camera.

I was going to go to see the Guy Lombardo orchestra this morning at the Strawberry Festival, but when I got there, in addition to paying $8 to get in, I was going to have to pay $5 to park. It was raining, and severe storms were forecast. So I drove around the perimeter of the grounds and decided to not stay. The town is smaller than Oskaloosa and the grounds are probably 3 or 4 times the size of the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds plus 16 parking lots. I figured that whereever I got off the tram at would be the opposite end of the grounds from where the concert was and I didn't know if I had to pay more to get in to it or not. Of course by not going, I missed my opportunity to get some fresh cotton candy. I haven't had any of that in several years. In fact, I think the last I had Dad and Aryc bought for me when they went to the fair and I stayed at Ella Maude's. Now that was a LONG time ago! Aryc wasn't in school yet. I don't like the stale stuff they sell in plastic boxes in stores.

After scooping the grounds, I went to Parksdale's and got some celery, strawberries, bananas, and shortcake. I swear that every time I buy strawberries they are sweeter than the time before. Cool weather makes them sweeter. They are exceptionally good. I asked how long they thought they'd be good refrigerated and they thought 4 or 5 days. In that case, I won't be able to get any home. I have a tiny freezer that I might be able to freeze some in to get them home. I'll just have to see.

Now, I've saved the best for last. I have found Wes' in Lakeland. I went there for breakfast today and it was really good. I'm going to go there for lunch sometime too. They're only open from 6 AM until 2 PM. There food is cheaper than the chains, and better too. It's all home cooked at the restuarant. I'm tired of chains.

Have a nice day and remember to get it warmed up for when I come home!

When I saw the Blackwoods on Friday, I was there while they were setting up. All the guys were in jeans and T-shirts except Jimmy. The bass singer's jeans even were minus the knees. Jimmy was wearing dress pants and a polo shirt. They weren't new, but they weren't jeans and a T-shirt. I had to wonder if that was a little bit of "Dad" showing through.

Last night just after I arrived at my parking spot in came the Blackwood bus. I have noticed that the groups' busses don't have their names on them any more. Well, the Blackwood Brothers have their name on theirs. When the bus pulled in, the bass singer was behind the wheel and Jimmie got out to see where to park to unload. You guessed it. He was once again wearing older dress pants and a polo. Pretty soon I saw him shaking a black paint can. He got out their mike stands and proceeded to paint them. I was expecting Billy's boy to go grab one, but he didn't bother either of them. After they dried a little Jimmy took them in.

About half an hour before the concert. Billy came in with Willie riding piggy back and put him on the front pew and left. About 10 minutes before the concert he came in again and squatted down and talked to him and it must have been a fun talk because they were both really smiling. I never saw anyone say anything to him nor did he move or say a word during the entire concert. I had to wonder if Billy remembered doing that with his dad.

There was a large crowd at the concert and shortly before the concert started they put chairs at the ends of most of the pews. I noticed a lady sit down at the end of the pew where I was, but didn't pay any attention to her. There was one lady sitting between me and the end of the pew. Shortly the pastor's wife and the lady on the chair got up and hugged each other and I looked at her and thought that she looked a lot like Ann Downing, only not really dressed up. Well, it was her and she is shirt-tail relation to pastor's wife. She wouldn't go up on the stage to be introduced because she wasn't wearing "platform clothes."

The lady sitting next to me was introduced to me, not by name, but by age. She was 93 and barely appeared to be 83. Her hearing is poor and she doesn't drive anymore. She is from Maine and had been a department store detective!

Well, it's time to get ready for church, so I'd better end this. Have a nice day and keep the warm-up going!

I just watched a brand new Lawrence Welk reunion done for PBS. It was the best one yet. It's funny how most of the men seem to have aged more than the women! Bobby Burgess hadn't aged much though. Perhaps it's all the dancing that kept him so young-looking! Guy didn't look much older either. However Charlotte, who plays the cello, did look quite a lot older.

This morning I saw the Blackwood Brothers Quartet and will see them again tomorrow night. They are really good. Jimmy looks, acts, and sings just like James. He even has his mannerisms. His brother Billy is with them now too singing baritone and he is quite a nut. It's sort of funny that Jimmy has grandchildren and his brother, Billy, had his son with them who is probably 4.

I'm still watching the birds at the lake regularly and they are extremely interesting. There are 2 ducks that I can see setting on eggs. Several people came today to feed them bread and that is funny to watch. Those swans eat it right out of their hands and are quite persistent. Sitting there in the sun is really nice!

Here's a story from the Blackwoods for young and old alike. Those of you my age will remember part of this and those of you not my age will learn some things. In the 50's there was a television program called "Arthur Godfrey's Original Amateur Hour." Jimmy said it was the predecessor to the present day "American Idol." Well in the 50's James Blackwood and the Blackwood Brothers were on that show and won on it singing "Have You Talked to the Man Upstairs?"

Have a good weekend. "It's beginning to look a lot like spring!" Oh, that was Christmas, not spring!