I Saw the Duke Yesterday (Really!)

Hey, Y'all,
Well, yesterday began quite ordinarily...I went to a friend's house to pick her up so we could go to breakfast at the Old West Cafe and we arrived quite safely and went in to have our gravy and biscuits. When we got there, I looked back in the corner and saw a life-size statue of the Duke (John Wayne, of course) sitting astride his horse. Wow! There was plenty of room on the back behind John to sit on the horse. I seriously considered getting up there behind him, but there was no step ladder (and even so, anyone who knows me, knows that I don't get more than three feet off the floor. ha.). The people sitting in the booth right next to the Duke and Old Paint offered to help me up there, but I declined. 

Anyway, I got one of the waiters to take my picture holding the reins of Old Paint, and here I was. 

Don't I look like a cool fool? Ha!

 As you can see, I was having a great time acting silly! Well, we did have a really fun breakfast. By this time the rain was returning. It had stormed most of the night, but I figured that since the sky was clear when we I picked her up for breakfast, that it was gone. After we left the cafe, Connie said she would go with me to Staples to UPS a gift to a good friend of mine, so off we went. It was raining pretty good, so I turned on my car lights. I forgot they were on, and ran into the Staples to ship the gift. When I came back out, the car wouldn't start. I called AAA (thank goodness for them). We sat there for about 40 minutes waiting for them, and when the very nice fellow came, he tested the battery. Of course, it had outlived its usefulness, but we got it started so that I could go to Walmart to replace it. 

Walmart was another experience...a long wait (Connie waited patiently with me- even though she could have called her husband to pick her up- she is a doll!) So, having time on our hands, we did what any red-blooded women would do, we decided we could do a little looking around inside and shop! Which we did. By the time I got my car it was after 1 p.m. I took her home and then went home and deposited my groceries. I decided to watch a rerun episode of "The Closer" and then went back out to go to Hobby Lobby and get some cloth and spend my gift cards I had received for my birthday. 

That was the majority of my day yesterday. I hope yours was as interesting as mine was. :)

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later. 

Chasing Little Pismires

Hey, Y'all,
(Wow! Don't cha' love the colors in which you can do a post?)
Well, yesterday was spent chasing little pismires (commonly known as piss ants) that were coming from somewhere outside into my kitchen and running like crazy all over my cabinet near the window. When it rains really hard outside like it did the night before, they are chased inside. (Quick, Henry, the Flit!!)

For those of you who are too young to remember, on the radio they had commercials (yes, even then) for Flit bug killer. The mama would see a fly and she would yell, "Quick, Henry, the Flit!!" and Henry would come running with the Flit bug spray. 

Well, I reached into my lower cabinet shelf and pulled out the bug spray and after fingering as many of the little buggers as I could, I sprayed the window edge, the underneath edge of the cabinets, opened the back door and sprayed the doorstep, outside the doorstep, inside the doorstep and around the lower base of the cabinets. 

Of course, it rained hard again last night and so the first thing I did this morning was to check the cabinet top and saw no evidence of the little nasty persistent fellows (bless their little workaholic hearts). Hopefully, I have staved them off for the next few weeks. We can't really blame them too much for trying to get in out of the rain, now can we? 

In a few minutes, I am headed out to have breakfast with one of my friends. I am so blessed to have good friends, aren't I?

I am working on a story board for my next story. It will be a little better planned out than the last one that I wrote. My daughter, Teresa, tells me that is the best way to plan a story. 

I have a white board calendar that I got when my Sweetie Pie was still living and beginning to have problems knowing what day of the week and month it was, so each month I would fill in the calendar and each day, I would circle the day.

Well, that is about it for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Bye for now. More later. 

Trapped!

Trapped~~yes! I was standing in an immense room of highly polished steel. There were people entering and leaving all around me, but they would not talk to me. There was a large hallway that I could go into and elevators that others could enter and leave, but not I. 

In the large room were hanging glass shelves, suspended on chains, that held both live and inanimate objects. Some of the live objects were birds, bird nests with hatchlings, monkeys, puppies, etc. I could swing the shelves and they would dip to one side or the other and objects would slide off because the delicate balance was upset. The shelves would then right themselves. 

Birds were flying around overhead and I wondered what people would do if the birds pooped on them. No one seemed to be worried about them.
 
I was asking people who were sitting there at steel tables, "What are we doing here? Who are you? How do I get out of here? Why can't I go?" Some would just look at me with a blank expression, or a frown. Others would smile mysteriously and turn their heads away. 

Someone was polishing the floors, another was looking at me curiously, as if to ask who I was.  I turned to someone who looked as if he were in charge and said, "I just have one question to ask..." He said, "Yes, what is it?" 

Then I awakened. What one question would you have asked if you had been in my place?

Can You Identify This Plant?

Hey, Y'all,
Well, my French Toast casserole was a definite hit (how could it not be?) and after we ate, we had no room for dessert, of which we each took portions for later on (today some time probably). I also sent most of the rest of the casserole home with my domino-playing friends. 

We had a blast! It was so much fun! I didn't realize how much I had missed having friends (or anyone) to play with. We laughed and joked; we just generally had a great time!

When they came in past my big flowering bush, the blooms were all closed up and they wanted to know how long it would be before it bloomed. I replied it would bloom after dark, later in the evening. Well, when they left around 9:30, a whole bunch of blooms were opened. They remarked it was too bad that no one could see them open. I told them that the blooms last until around noon or so the next day, then they wither. More blooms keep coming on as long as the warm weather lasts. I don't know the name of the plant. Can you tell me what it is called?

 Well, yesterday by 3:30 p.m., I had prepared supper, swept and mopped six rooms and two baths, cleaned both baths, tidied up the kitchen, picked up various items all over the house and put them more or less where they belonged, and left the house dust where it was comfortable (ha). I have a contract with my dust: as long as it doesn't bother me, I don't disturb it. That way, I can live peaceably without sneezing my little old head off. Then I just rested the rest of the afternoon. 

Sometime today I will be putting the quilt binding on granddaughter Amy's quilt. Then I will probably take it to her when we celebrate granddaughter Julia's birthday on Monday afternoon. That way EVERYONE can see and admire it at one time. :) After the hard work I have put into it, I am very pleased with the results and am glad to have it admired. (of course):)

I also plan to spend some time chatting with daughter, Teresa, on Skype today. Sometimes, even seeing technology grow and develop, it is still difficult to realize how far it has come in my lifetime - from just radio to computers to Skype and beyond. It is absolutely amazing! From when I used my first little Apple IIe back in the 1980's, to now when one can communicate in so many ways, it boggles the mind! But- get this- it can never replace fully the pleasure of face-to-face physical contact - but until then- better than not at all. Right?

Well, that is about it for today. I need to get my two tables set back up in the living room for sewing, don't cha' know? This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. More later. Bye for now.

Holy Moley, Shazam and All Those Kinds of Expressions!

Hey, Y'all,
Well, this is a day of housecleaning for me. I am procrastinating, don'tcha know? I am Queen of putter-offers because I am quite good at it, but I do eventually get it done. I have already prepared supper for this evening and if my cardiologist knew what I am fixing, he would have a hissy fit or a heart attack. He would probably use all those words in the heading today. I am making a French Toast casserole and it is going to be yummy. It has half and half, eggs, bread, butter, cream cheese, maple syrup, and a bit of sausage to top it off. It is in the fridge, waiting to be put into the oven and baked this evening. Bad girl, Ruby, bad girl! I promise not to eat a lot of it. I can't say for the three ladies who will be joining me for supper. I do have fresh strawberries to go with it, though.  That should count for something, shouldn't it?

We are going to play dominoes after we eat. I am going to get back to my housecleaning after I finish up here. I still have breakfast to eat and will probably have toast and oatmeal. Good healthy breakfast should offset supper, eh?

I don't get around to housecleaning much when I am sewing, because I pretty much am single minded when it comes to working on a project. I will be putting quilt binding around Amy's quilt on Friday and thus will have it finished. I am excited about giving it to her! I think it is quite pretty. I will post a picture of it when she takes one and sends it to me. I don't have a bed big enough to put the quilt on. It will be about 88x110 inches. 

Now I need to begin my sweeping and then mopping. I have two bathrooms to clean, and a little more straightening to do. Right now I'm in the process of emptying trash cans of paper and bagging it up so I can stash it in the garage till tomorrow morning. Throw rugs to launder, kitchen to clean where I made supper, shower to take after all that is done, and a bit of television to watch sometime today. (In between jobs as I rest is when I do the watching). It is only 7:30 a.m. so I have a good bit of the day left. 

The high for today is supposed to be 95 with a humidity of 59 percent. That's Texas in the summertime and it's not even summertime for another three weeks or so. I need to water my flowers in a bit. Carol mowed my yard last evening so it looks really good. Thank you, daughter, dear. :)

Back to business...This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later. 

Flotsam and Jetsam

Hey, Y'all,
Well, last evening I watched the Final Finale of "House" and was not disappointed. I have been a faithful viewer of House for eight years, and have seen his character through many different situations and pulled for him all the way. I recorded the final episode so that I could watch it again at my leisure. 

I was awake this morning at 3:30 or so, and decided I needed to carry out the trash so it could be picked up. It had not been taken out for a couple of weeks (I wasn't here, you know) but there wasn't much before I left and I had to collect it all last evening and get it ready. 

Then I figured that since I was awake, to a degree, that I would fold the laundry that I finished yesterday, and I got that done and the clothes that needed to be hung up, I folded and put into the laundry basket so they can be hung up later today. Then I lay down and slept some more. 

Later on, I took the mail out to the mailbox and noticed the grass growing so nicely in amongst the flowers in my flowerbed. I thought, "Well, I'll just take a few minutes and pull it up" which I did and then watered the beds with a good soaking and removed the few flowers that didn't make it through the heat while I was out of town. When I went inside, I noticed a few itchy places on my arms and hands. Yep! Those daggoned little skeeters had struck again! I must have very juicy skin, cause they do love me too much. I could do with a little less love from them, don'tcha know?

Well, time to get back to my quilting and thinking. I do a lot of cogitatin' while I'm sewing. Tonight is American Idol and I want to see the two last ones competing. Jessica and Phillip are the last two standing. I hated to see Joshua kicked off last week, but he will go far anyway. 

That's about it for today. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later. 

Back to Daily Life

Hey, y'all,
Well, I have unpacked (actually did that on Saturday and have washed all my clothing, both what was here before and what I brought home) and have settled back in to daily life. 

Yesterday morning, the Bennett family gathered at Andrew and Julia's for my birthday and for Mother's day for Carol, Whitney, Julia, and me. There was a really yummy breakfast prepared by Andrew and Julia and followed by many presents. :) There was a bonus of seeing all my grands and great grands on that side of my family, except for Ben (Emily's husband) who was sorely missed.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to see "The Importance of Being Ernest" and when I went to sleep in the first half of the play, I knew the play wasn't going to be enough to keep me awake in the second half, so I left during intermission. If only they had done the play in American English instead of  "The King's English" I am sure it would have kept me awake. Almost every time I have attended that theater, it has been booked solid. I am sure the "English accent" is the problem, because the theater was more than half empty. 

Since I had not had lunch, I decided to go across the street to the Buttermilk Cafe and have supper. Well worth my time, it was! Upon arriving at home, I decided to work on making some "thank you" cards with my Cameo Silhouette and some creativity. 

This morning, it was off to Sunday School and church, followed by a lunch with some of my friends that I dine with most Sundays. We have a wonderful time joking and laughing; we decided to get together at my home on Thursday evening for a spot of supper and a few rounds of dominoes. Yay! Great fun ahead! 

This afternoon, I had the pleasure of chatting on Skype with daughter, Teresa, and then working some more on the thank you cards. I hope to get them off into the mail in the next couple of days. Nothing like striking while the iron is hot, so to speak. Tomorrow, back to working on Amy's quilt and hopefully get it completed before the week is out. 

Well, that is about it... I hope to soon be working on the next chapter of "Sleuthin' Sidekicks" where Anna Belle and Lucy Mae run into more trouble. It will be serialized on my blog just like the previous one. One day at a time is how it will progress. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later. 

Suitcase Not Unpacked Yet?

Hey, Y'all,
Well, yeah, I am back in Texas, as of yesterday evening, but I was too zonked out to post last night. I brought in my suitcase and purse, put them on my bed, and went into the living room, turned on the tevee to watch, leaned back in my recliner and that was lights out until about three hours later. I woke up and took my night time medications, put my eye drops in for my Glaucoma, and went back to my recliner for the night. I did have supper at the local KFC when I got in from the airport.

My daughter, Carol's, neighbor, Linda, picked me up at the airport and took me back to Carol's; I picked up my car there and  headed to KFC. I was glad to be back home, even though I had tremendously enjoyed my visit to Tennessee. 

While I was there, I got to visit with several good teacher friends (Phyllis, Carolyn, Carolyn, and JoAnn); I visited with my good friend, Ina Ray, who is still recovering from cancer; I visited with my good friend, Judy, who is recovering from major back surgery. I stayed most nights with my sister-in-law, Mae, who has been in my family since I was four years old, so I have known her forever as long as I can remember. I was able to see my niece and nephew (Norma and Fred) while at Mae's home. I visited with my sister in law, Imazo, and she is doing well. 

I also spent Saturday night in New Market at a bed and breakfast, called The Minnis House. You can find it online. Just type The Minnis House at New Market, TN into your browser and you will find it. It is owned locally by Christian friends of mine. My daughters went to school with them. If you are ever that way, it is a lovely place to spend a night or two. They serve an old-fashioned country breakfast, too. Yum! Then on Sunday morning, I went to worship at my old church at New Market and saw a lot of my friends there.

I was able to spend some time with my some of my friends I went to Carson Newman with back in the sixties (fifty years ago-- wow!) ( Ginger and Gwen) Also I spent an evening with my neighbors from when I lived in New Market, the Benjamin family. It was wonderful to see everyone and I enjoyed all my visits tremendously. I was going to take a lot of pictures, but changed my mind. I just wanted to keep the memories in my heart. 


Today, we are celebrating my birthday and Mother's day at Andrew and Julia's with breakfast. It will be wonderful to see every one there. It will be the whole family together as they haven't been for a while. 


I'll bet my flower bed needs watering and I wrote some checks for bills this morning early. My suitcase is still lying on my bed, unpacked....oh, well... Going to the Artisan this afternoon to see "The Importance of Being Ernest". Tomorrow is Sunday School and church. I might get around to unpacking tomorrow afternoon. I'll think about that tomorrow, because "After all, tomorrow is another day..." :)


This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.

Preparations

Hey, y'all,
Well, I spent a pretty good night last night, (I think), but I'm a little off my feed today and yesterday. It must be the strong anti-biotic my doctor put me on Monday. There are also other effects from it as well. A good one seems to be the coughing is a little less intrusive on my body. I suppose, too, that having less appetite right now could be considered a good effect. However, at my age, eating is one of the great pleasures of life. Right? Do I get an "Amen" from anyone out there in Blogland? 

I am well on my way to finishing granddaughter, Amy's, quilt. I am in the process of attaching the four sections together. I will finish it after I get back from Knoxville next weekend. In case you are worried about my house while I am gone, my neighbor across the street, "Old Cooter", who is a dead shot with a shot gun, is watchin' it fer me. He won't let anybody bother it. He's there all day long, and promised me he'd keep an eye on it. Old Cooter knows everything goin' on in the neighborhood, don't cha' know?

I have a lot to accomplish today. Gotta go to the store, clean up my kitchen, do some filing, pack my suitcase, go to the doc's office for a follow up, straighten the living room a bit, visit with some of my great grands this afternoon, then to the church for supper and choir practice. After that, back home to watch "American Idol" and whatever else. Oh, yeah, somewhere in there, (this morning, I figure) a shower. Ha ha.
I usually throw my clothes into a suitcase the night before I travel. I really miss driving the distance, but am advised on all sides, "No, you don't want to be driving by yourself a long distance" so I reckon not. 

Thanks to Carol, the snake from yesterday morning around this time has been identified as a smooth earth snake. Whatever! All I know is that the only good snake is a dead snake, and that little feller sure met his demise within a couple of minutes from the time these old eyes set sight on him (or her).

Well, y'all, I gotta move these old bones and get 'em to shakin' around here. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later.  

A Tiny Reptile Can you identify it?

Hey, Y'all,
Well, I am just about recovered from my month-long blogging challenge. I almost got burn-out from trying to read so many other blogs during the month (I read over 900 other blogger's work in that time, as well as writing my story). Right now, I am also recovering from a cold that I believe almost turned into pewmony. Went to the family dr. yesterday and got a shot in the rear, a breathing treatment, and a prescrip for an antibiotic. 

This morning, though, I was walking through my hallway, looked down and saw what I thought was a curved strip of batting or cloth. I reached down to pick it up and WHOA! It moved, wiggling around. I immediately stepped on it several times. It moved into the living room and I grabbed up one of my plastic crocs and began whomping the Dickens out of it. It was a tiny snake, about 4 to 5 inches long, no bigger around than a Q-tip, but I don't know what kind of snake it was. Didn't stop to ask it. I slipped a couple of sticky notes under it and carried it outside, to rot in the elements. 

Now I am wondering, "Where did it come from, and are there any more of them, and if so, are they in the house? Where is the mama?"

I reckon I'll have to do a little investigating. The next question: Do I really want to find them? What if it is a poisonous snake? Anybody got any ideas?

On Thursday of this week, I will be boarding an American Eagle and heading for Tennessee for a week. I'm hoping to see a lot of my friends and family during that time. Of course, I will be taking pictures to post when I get back. 

That is about it for right now. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. Bye for now. More later. 

Can you identify this little sneaky snake?

My Week in Review

Hey, y'all,
Well, now I'm gonna tell you about my last week (beginning with last Friday to today). It hasn't been really great, but surely could have been much worse! 

Last Friday began with much sneezing and snortin' and blowin' of the schnozz. I must have used up a mega roll of toilet tissue keeping the drip from my nose wiped away. I ran out of kleenex and had to resort to the toilet tissue. Thank goodness for a good supply of that! Then my temperature began to spike and by Saturday morning, much coughing with a four degree rise in temp. Slept in my recliner from Friday night on and will probably do so till my cough is gone. I did very little of anything in the house, including eating. I did call a couple of my Sunday School class members to tell them I wouldn't be able to come on Sunday, so they had to manage the lesson without  me. 

Sunday morning dawned and went till about 11:45 a.m. and I had jabbing pains in my front left shoulder. I thought it could be my heart, since I do have heart problems, so I called my oldest daughter, Carol, who was at church. She knew I wasn't feeling well, so she answered her cell phone."What should I do?" I asked her. 

"I don't know," she replied. "Call Teresa and ask her." Teresa is my daughter who lives in Alabama and has had nurse training. So I called Teresa. Her advice was to call 911. So I did, and waited for them. 

In the meantime, I printed off a copy of my medications, took a nitro tablet, put on my housecoat, got my billfold with insurance info in it, along with my keys, and by the time I had availed myself of the bathroom, I could hear the sirens. 
I thought, "Boy, I'm providing some excitement for the neighbors! Ha!"

Well, the upshot is, I went out to meet them (they were surprised that I was walking, but you know me, I must do things in grand style). They helped me into the doorway of the rescue squad ambulance and sent the fire truck on its way. By that time, sure enough, some of the neighbors were out gawking, just like I would  have been in their place. (Are you getting tired of reading this yet? I must admit, I can be rather wordy.)

We went on to the local hospital emergency room where Carol met us, having gotten there before we did, and after spending six hours in the emergency area, having EKG run, giving blood, CT scan and X-rays made, they told me my heart enzymes were good, and I had no blood clots, and to go home and rest. So, praise God, and a lot of prayers, I'm sure, and a good staff at the hospital, I knew I was okay. I believe (as I did before I went) that it was just pain from the coughing I had been doing. The doctor did tell me that he had consulted with my cardiologist and that I was to call the office and see him this week. I saw him on Tuesday and he told me to increase one of the meds that I was already taking. 

By Monday I was already back to quilting, and finished up a quilt for a great grand nephew who was born in California, about the same time as my newest great grandchild here in Texas. On Tuesday, I began working on my granddaughter, Amy's, quilt for their queen size bed. I went to visit my cardiologist, went to the library, had lunch at Freddy's steakburgers. Yum! That made me feel much better. Then went to Hobby Lobby. That improved my attitude even more. Ha!

Wednesday was supper at the church, followed by choir rehearsal. More sewing during the day.

Yesterday morning, I decided I needed to get out my walker and take a walk down to Kroger's (about four blocks from my home) and pick up a few items for my Sunday School class get together yesterday afternoon. I have pictures of that little soiree that we had. We each brought pictures of ourselves to the meeting so that we could see what we all looked like when we were much younger (from about 60 years ago). We were really quite good lookin' chickadees! At least, we think so. Ha. We were celebrating my birthday (we had snacks and little birthday cakes) and also saying farewell to one of our members who is moving away to another town.

   There were actually nine of us (I was taking the pictures) and while I know it may actually look like there were more, some people were in pictures more than once. We were busy filling our faces when I made these, so the laughter was behind and not evident. :) We  had a great time together. I'd say the average age of my class is somewhere mid eighties. I love them all so very much. They are a delight to be around. We only had one absent, and she was at home, mourning the loss of her little dog that she had to have put down this week, due to the doggie's illness.

Then this morning, I collected all the trash, changed the filter in the air conditioning unit, and FOOT-SWEPT the living room floor. You are asking right now, maybe, how does one foot-sweep a floor? Well, if you're wearing socks, and there are a lot of scraps of cloth, and clipped threads, and pieces of tissue (used) lying all around in the floor where they missed the waste basket, you simply walk around and swish it all together into a pile in your socks, and then when you have it all in one place, you pick it up and put it into the trash. You then clean off the debris on your socks and put that into the trash as well. You will have dusted the floor, and cleared up what was in the floor, and "Voila!" you now have an acceptable looking floor again. 

Well, that is my week in review. Thanks for listening (reading) and I hope to be writing a new Sleuthin' Sidekicks story in June, God willing. 

This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Thanks to all of you for reading my stuff. I enjoy writing it all. Love to all my friends and family. More later. Bye for now.  

The Night

The night had seemed very short, because I'd slept mighty good, even with all the noises surroundin' me. Believe it er' not, the nurses comin' in n' out didn't bother me much. Y'know, when yer' used ta' sleepin' in doorways like we wuz', we appreshiated a good bed when we got ta' use one. 

The nurse come in and turned on the light. "Good mornin'," she smiled. "Did you sleep well? I need to get your vital signs and if they are good, I have orders to remove the IV's from your arm. Let me check your arm bands and make you are who the orders say you are. Then you will be getting breakfast and the doctor will be in to check you all,  before you're dismissed."

While Nurse Nancy checked us out, I looked over at Lucy and winked. We sure was gettin' the royal treatment, I thought. Hmm, this was alright. I was anxious to see Clancy and talk to the Lieutenant, but in the meantime, I wuz sure gonna enjoy the good stuff.

A couple a' hours later, we wuz on our way to the station. The day wuz clear and bright; I remarked ta' Lucy about the birds a' singin' and the air smellin' so good. It didn't take no time fer her to agree, 'cause we wuz both so glad to be alive, after last night's scary doin's, don't cha' know?

We sailed inta' the station house, jest a wavin' and smilin' at the guys and gals in thar' like we wuz some a them celebrity tevee stars. They all clapped their hands at us and smiled. 

"Hey, Shannon, your lady detectives are down here," the desk sergeant shouted up the stairway. 

"Where's my little Clancy? Where are ya', boy?"

Here he came, his little ears jest a' flappin' and his tail a' waggin, and a' yippin' like crazy, jumpin' down the stairs and inta'  my arms. Oh, my! I was as glad ta' see him as he wuz ta' see me. He licked my cheeks, catchin' the tears as they run down my face. "Oh, you sweet little Clancy, you! Oh, how I missed ya'!"


Lucy Mae just stood back and wiped 'er eyes, smilin' ta' see us both so happy. The fellers kinda' stood around and hemmed n' hawed. 


The Looie came down and escorted us up to his office so we could talk. "Your carts are sitting over there in the corner. We've been taking good care of them for you. Have a seat, ladies, and let's have us a little chat. I gather they took good care of you at the hospital?"


"Hello, Lieutenant Shannon! Yes, we had good keer over thar'. They wuz really good to us. Thank ye fer gettin' us over thar, an' all. I expect we woulda' been goners if we hadn't a been rescued? Do ye know what Gloria had planned fer us?"


"Oh, yeah...she had planned to take you into your neighborhood by car, and hit you over the head while you were unconscious, leaving you dead. She had some whiskey she was going to pour into your mouth and over your clothes, to make it look like you had got drunk and just fell and hit your heads."


"Why, that old witch!" cried Lucy Mae. "The nerve a' her! She's jest a evil old woman!"


"You're right there," replied the Looie. "You know the gun you turned in, ladies, was registered to her and was used in the shooting over on Castle Way. She had gone over there the day before Xenia Clark was killed, and shot her girlhood friend, Geneva Hyde-Smythe. Gloria was singing like a canary when we got her back to the station in the interrogation room. She couldn't talk fast enough when we showed her the journal. She was bragging about how clever she had been and how she had fooled everyone, until you got to snooping around."


"Didja' find the necklace in the purse? I fin'lly figured out it musta been blackmail payment from either Xenia er Geneva. And the page from the telephone direct'ry had somethin' ta do with some coins 'er somethin' like that, cause coins comes after coffee alphabetical like. I wuz layin' in that nice bed last night a' doin' some thinkin', don'tcha know?"


"Yes, you're right, AnnaBee, as usual. The necklace had been Xenia's last payment, and Gloria had forgotten about it being in the purse. We found a set of coins in Gloria's house when we searched it. She told us that she had had the coins for several weeks as payment from Geneva. She carried her purse with her to Geneva's house with the gun in it, shot Geneva, and then ditched the purse with the journal and the gun in it, getting rid of the evidence, she thought. She thought that when the trash was carried out of the park and put into the city dump with all the other trash, she was home free. She didn't count on two little old ladies finding her out."


Lucy Mae spoke up, "What about Cookie Jack? How are we goin' to tell him that within two days, he lost both a' his mamas? His birth mama, and his adopted mama are both gone now."


Stunned, I looked at her. "You're right, Lucy Mae..but then, he really didn't have 'em to begin with, did he? One of 'em sold him, and the other one lost him to the system. when he was no bigger than a Jack rabbit, so ta speak. I think we oughta see to it that he gets the necklace and the coin collection. Whatta' ya' think, Lieutenant?"


"I think you may be right, AnnaBelle. We did locate a brother of Xenia, who may be interested in helping Jackie, since he would be an uncle to Cookie Jack."


"Say, that's great! Now, if you don't need us anymore, I think we need to get on outta your way so you can do some work. I wanta thank ye ag'in fer savin' our bacon last night! We got some people we want to visit with today. We gotta check in with Pastor Joe and all. Come on, Lucy Mae, my friend, let's make tracks."


We got our carts and I put Clancy on his leash, and we headed down stairs.


"Just one minute, ladies! Keep your noses clean today! I can't keep spending all my time and the time of my men, rescuing you out of trouble. Like you said, we've got work to do! Now get out of here!"


"Gee, do ya reckon he wuz mad at us, AnnaBee?"


"Nah, he was smilin' when he said it."


When we left, we didn't notice the Weasel following us.


The End

A Buzzin' In My Ears

A buzzin' in my ears, along with the sound of voices, dragged me from a state of unconsciousness...where was I? Why did the inside of my mouth feel like cotton was stuffed inta' it? Kinda' muzzy like. I moaned, and heard a man's voice. I was confused. I lay there almost like one dead.

"I think she's comin' out of it, nurse," I heard a voice say.

"Nurse? Where in the heck am I?" I croaked, opening my eyes, looking around. "Hey, Lieutenant, what are you doing sitting here next ta' me, and where's Lucy Mae...How'd I get here in this bed? What happened anyway?"

"Well, my little crime-stopper, you've been a busy little bee, as usual, getting into all kinds of trouble, and keeping the department busy pulling you out of it. What do you think happened?"

"Where's my little Clancy, and Lucy Mae? Are they okay?"

"Yeah, Lucy is over here on the other side of me, and one of the boys has Clancy. He's livin' it up down at the station. Lucky for him, Lucretia Borgia didn't give him any chocolate drink, laced with a Mickey. Lucky for you all, that one of my undercover men followed you and was watching her house. He saw her draggin' you out of her house to her car parked out back. What were you thinking? I could just shake you!!"

Oh, my head was bangin' away like a trip-hammer. I was still havin' trouble connectin' ever'thing. Why couldn't I remember? I tried to sit up. There was a needle stuck in my arm, connected to a tube runnin' fluid into me. "What is this? Why is it in here? Whose house? What are ya' talkin' about, Looie?"


"Just take it easy, AnnaBee...You were at Gloria Simmons' home and you and Lucy had just had a cup of hot chocolate laced with knockout drops. You were dead to the world (almost literally) when one of my men caught her dragging you out to her car. He took her into custody, and called 911. They came and brought you all to the hospital. Gloria gave him a song and dance about how you got sick and she was takin' you to the hospital. We found the journal in your jacket pocket, and we know the whole story. Lucy Mae is over here on the other side of me and recovering, too. Now lay back and relax awhile."


"Oh, yeah, yeah, now it's comin' back ta' me...I never figgered she'd catch onta me like she did. Hey, Lucy Mae, are you awake? How are ya', friend? I'm sorry I put cha' in danger like that!"


"That's okay, AnnieBee, we're friends through thick n' thin, ya' know."


"Say, Lieutenant, how'd ya know ta have somebody follerin' us?"


"I had a man outside the station who saw you turning in the opposite direction of where the Mission is located and knew you were probably still on the scent of trouble, so he just kind of ambled along slowly after you. Sure enough, there you went, headlong into the lion's den, thinkin' you could take care of yourselves. Here, have some of this water." He had noticed I was rubbin' my tongue over my dry lips.


"I reckon maybe we owe ya a big thank ye for the rescue, Lieutenant Shannon, and also one ta tha' one that saved us from Gloria."


"If you two could just stay out of trouble for awhile, that would be nice. But, we are here to serve, as our motto says, and I'm happy we could rescue you girls again. You two get some rest tonight and I want to see you tomorrow. They're going to keep you overnight. We still have things to talk about. Goodnight,now."

He left, and I looked over at Lucy Mae and grinned. She looked back and asked, "Wonder what we'll get for breakfast, AnnaBee? I hope it'll be good. It's been a long time since our last one."

"Hmm. Yeah... I wonder about that necklace in the purse and where it came from?" (to be continued)