Okay, this is going to display to everyone my total ignorance of all things computer, but what the heck!
My sister, Nan, at Just My Opinion, would like to learn how to embed pictures in her blog, and how to create links. I’m going to try to explain how to create a link, and if any of you have suggestions on ways to improve this tutorial, please share them with us in the comments.
1. In your blog, highlight the blog or text that you want to link.
2. Open a second window and go to the blog or text that you want to link.
3. At the top of the screen, in the Internet Explorer section, copy the address of the blog/text.
4. Go back to your blog, make sure the highlight is still in place, and click on the small box at the right top corner of the Entry Body that has the letters “URL.”
5. A box will open with a place for an address. Click on the address line, and then right click and select “Copy.” Click on OK.
6. The link is done. You can check to see if it’s working by going to “Preview.”
Any corrections or suggestions?? Oh, Nan, I usually save my entry in Draft mode first, and then go back to do the links before I publish. I forgot that today and had to go back to retype the entire entry. 🙁 And, you can highlight the address on the text and THEN highlight what you want to link….it works both ways.
Happy linking, sis!

…Of the big family gathering, and all through the house not a creature was stirring.
They’re all too pooped to pop, let alone stir, but they had a GREAT DAY!
When everyone was seated, I think we had twenty-seven people to dinner. Several of those people will not have to cook for a day or two, or will have plenty of ham for ham and eggs, ham salad, ham croquettes, turkey and ham tetrazini or bean soup!
It was wonderful. Nan and her family came in last night. We rose before dawn to get ready for church, and filled one entire pew. We made it home for a little breakfast, and Dear Husband and Son #2 came in from the airport around 10:30.
We worked from 11:00 to 2:00 getting tables set, making room for desserts, cleaning shrimp, setting out appetizers, washing and tearing romaine for Caesar salad, and all the things you need to do to feed 27 people.
My sister took over the flower detail and created four beautiful bouquets for the tables, cleaned off the things on the foyer table and organized the decorations, and folded a load of clothes for me. She also found my “To-Do” list, and kept me on track. Her daughters were my slave labor, and they did a fine job of getting the tables and salad ready.
My oldest sis came in with loads of hot veggies and potatoes, and all the girls brought desserts. I have never seen such a collection of sweets, and do not expect to see such a collection ever again! It was absolutely astonishing!
Brownies, iced sugar cookies baked on lollipop sticks, standing in a”garden,” a chocolate FOUNTAIN with angel food cake and strawberry dippers, cupcakes, something that looks like Snickers in bar cookie form, white chocolate dipped pretzels, chocolate dipped strawberries, cream and berry pies! There was almost no end to it, and we tried to send it all home with our visitors. And we have enough candy that we could open a candy store.
The best part of the day was the chance to talk to so many of my family members, and that my sister’s families got to meet my stepdaughter, her husband, and their two year old daughter. It was a long day, and it took a lot of work to pull it off, but it turned out fine.
I’m going to toddle off to bed. I’ll check on all of you tomorrow.

I LOVE entertaining my family. I really do.
BUT……..there are times when I’d like to throttle them!
All through today, I was fairly confident that I could set three tables with eight place settings and have plenty of room to seat everyone. Then, my step-daughter called tonight to confirm that they would be joining us.
No problem, I’m delighted they are going to join us. I’ll get to show off that adorable pixie of a grand daughter of mine!
So…back to the drawing board, counting on fingers and toes…making sure I have enough chairs and room. NO PROBLEM! I’ve got it covered.
A quick call to my oldest sis to talk with her about plastic Easter eggs for an indoor Easter egg hunt. In the process of the call, I confirm who is coming and I’m just about ready to hang up, when I realize that her son-in-law’s brother is going to be visiting. IS HE COMING ON SUNDAY??? No…no…he’ll be going home Saturday. But…….her son-in-law’s MOTHER will be with us. Talk about last minute notice!
Sheesh…..back to the drawing board…..getting out the abbacus…..
Yup…we can do it. 24 adults and 2 toddlers at dinner, 2 adults joining us after dinner, and one uncertainty. I have two tables that will seat 10, and one more table that will seat eight. I have 17 chairs, and I’ve reserved 9 more at the rental place (more than I though I’d need….just in case), and I have three bench style seats that can be used in a pinch.
Does every hostess go through this?? I would NEVER turn a guest away from my door, but there are times it gets really crazy trying to seat everyone. I can remember the Thanksgiving I ate my dinner at the desk in the office. I shared my desk with a handsome 18 year old who was really eager to be included in the adult population, and ended up talking my leg off. I don’t know how the planning went awry that time, but I think my brother slipped a couple of extra bodies in when I wasn’t looking. It didn’t matter….everyone got fed, and they all talked a mile a minute.
I’m planning on running my errands tomorrow, doing a little cooking, and then handing out jobs left and right on Sunday!
I hope you all have a wonderful day, and get to spend it with family.

Ya know…..~T~, who hosts me at RedEagleSpirit, told me recently that I had just posted my 1,000th entry! I was really surprised. Despite the doldrums this past year, I’ve still managed a thousand entries.
I suppose I started repeating myself around the 25th one. *G* Don’t tell me….I wouldn’t be able to remember it anyway.
It’s good of you all to come and visit!

I’m sorry to have gone missing again. Everything is fine. We’re just in the midst of getting ready for a family dinner this Sunday. Two of my sisters and their families will be here, about 24 people, I think. I have to find a couple of table cloths in pastel colors. And I may have to reserve chairs at the local rental place.
I was pondering flowers, and I think I’m going to do something with bunches of tulips. They don’t last long once they are cut, but they carry out the pastel theme well.
I have two hams holding down a shelf in the new refrigerator. I have condiments. I’m going to make baked ziti, and a pesto-goat cheese spread, and Elegante Mother is contributing her famous brownies. We’re steaming harricot verts for a green veggie. My sisters and some of their children will bring the rest of the meal. I’ll post a list of the entire menu later this week if I get the time. My youngest sis, who blogs at “Just My Opinion” (see my blogroll for a link), has been missing in action in the blog world. I’ll have to nag her about it while we’re cooking on Sunday.
I made it to the new doctor today, and was told that the problem on my two middle fingers is fungal in nature, and that my beloved latex gloves may be the culprit. He’s also advised me to leave the computer once an hour and do stretching exercises to address a problem of muscles knotting over my shoulder blade.
I got to spend several hours outside on Sunday, and can tell you about muscles I haven’t felt since last year at this time. I managed to get most of the sidewalk gardens, and the herb garden cleaned up. I still need to get to the lower driveway garden. I’ve asked Dear Husband to bring the trailer around to hook up to the lawn mower. I can make just one run with the cuttings, rather than piling things into the wheel barrow and having to make four or five trips.
The maple DH planted in the front yard shortly after we moved here has died. I think it must have had some type of insect infestation. Part of the tree was blighted, and this winter the bark rolled off the trunk, and the top of the tree snapped off in the high winds. What a loss! It was truly beautiful, with a fiery orange-red tint to the leaves in the fall.
It’s late. I need to get to bed, but I wanted you all to know that I was thinking about you, even if I haven’t posted a great deal lately. I hope you’re having wonderful Spring weather!

This morning, when I was so eager to get outside and play in the dirt, I had to stop to pull together information for a meeting. Dear Husband and I wrote our wills in 1992. Since then, there have been changes in the estate laws, and we have been advised to consider revocable trusts. The lawyer sent a letter with a list of the information she needs to move forward.
I was plugging away, typing out names and addresses of executors, trustees and beneficiaries, when it came to the question of specific bequests. We have three generations living here. We’ve combined three households, and created a “Yours, Mine, and Ours” situation. I walked to the living room to take a brief visual inventory, and realized that this was the most difficult, most personal, part of the information request. While you’re talking about “assets” and “executors” it’s just business, but when you have to think about where you want treasures to go, it becomes very personal.
You can’t know if the person you leave the item to will love it as much as you did. It’s possible that they want something of yours as a memento, but not THAT. Or, maybe they don’t want anything at all. For instance, my quilting stash is becoming an amazing collection of fabric. I’m not sure that any one person in my family has room for it, or even wants it. Should my family decide they don’t have room for it, I hope my bee members will offer to take it.
It made me crazy for a bit, trying to think about just what should go into that list of bequests, and I think that I need more time to make decisions. I know that the trust can be amended easily, so I’m going to go for the broadest strokes, and provide more detail later.
If you’ve been a visitor here, then you know that we lost Dear Husband’s oldest son at the start of 2006. His passing, at 41, has made me more conscious of how fleeting life is, and the need to be prepared, so that our loved ones don’t have to suffer through the legalities of probate. It’s difficult, but I’ll rest easier knowing that there is less for my family to do. And, hopefully, I’ll get the bequests right.

Well, Bogie, I have more to “brag” about.
Actually, I’m not bragging, just sharing the pleasure of being outdoors on a lovely day. I worked for an hour or so at the front door planting the pansies I picked up yesterday at Home Depot. Elegante Mother wanted some color at the front door, so I filled two large ceramic pots and two plastic window boxes with plants. I have more than I need, and I’m contemplating planting what’s left on the west side of the garage. They won’t last into the heat of summer, but they’ll be a bit more color for early spring.
After lunch, I went out again and worked on cleaning out the iris along the front sidewalk, and the herb garden. By 3:00, I’d had enough kneeling, and called it a day. Tomorrow, or at the latest, on Tuesday, I’ll have to rake up all that has been trimmed back. I pruned the clematis, the chrysanthemum, the purple coneflower, sage, lemon balm, Scottish spearmint, and part of the oregano. I still need to do the garlic chives.
Chives and fever few, and one weed I can’t identify, are providing good green color in the gardens, but the only other thing in bloom at the moment are the “Ice Follies” daffodils at the front side walk. Each week I expect to see more blooms. The forsythia should be next to flower.
So….no bragging, just simple enjoyment. I can’t wait to see pictures of all the bulbs planted at Bogie’s last year. Crank up the camera, kiddo!