Thursday, June 30, 2011

And Good News for Bruce!

From Theresa....
Good news!
 Bruce is out of the hospital finally,
after having every kind of test available and then some.

They finally concluded that he should have the hole in his heart patched and will do that in two weeks as out patient.

 He had a couple more clots in his brain,
 no stroke though hopefully the surgery will prevent anymore.

 He is in a transitional rehab now.
He is walking and getting his strength back.

 Luckily he is only five blocks from my daughter's
 so it will be handy.
He was lucky I could bring Chip in to see him everyday.
That was a real plus.
Of course, the nurses fell in love with him (the dog that is).
Of course, they liked Bruce also.

Thanks for all the notes and support.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Good News for Lanny!

We spent a fascinating couple of weeks at M D Anderson Cancer Center in Houston finding out what has been accomplished by the surgeries, radiation & chemo in my cancer treatment.
I’ve been to two state fairs & Kansas City,
but I’ve never seen anything like M D Anderson!
 It must be experienced to believed.

The news is all thumbs up – no new tumors,
 no cause for further surgery at this point,
and the tumors in my shoulder & liver have been reduced.
 MDA recommends continuing on with another round of chemo, every 3 weeks this time rather than the weekly in round 1.
 The additional time between sessions
 will give me welcomed additional rebound time,
and I can get the chemo here near home in Texas at
 the local office of Texas Oncology.

I’m feeling well, got my energy back, & experiencing pretty minimal side effects, so we have a lot to be thankful for.
The cards, notes & calls have meant a lot to us
& we really appreciate all of it.

Love & Hugs,
 Lanny & Donna Talbott

Monday, June 27, 2011

John & Mary Go To The Circus!

Oh to be kids again!
Everyone of us would like to do that.
 Here in Wisconsin Mary and John
had an opportunity to do that for one day.

We went to the Circus World Museum in Baraboo.
 
The Ringling Bros. Circus was founded in Baraboo, WI, in 1884 by five brothers: Al, Otto, Charles, John and Alf T. Ringling. Ringlingville was the name for the original Ringling Bros. Circus winter quarters in Baraboo. The buildings, standing along the north bank of the Baraboo River, date from 1897 through 1918 and are the largest surviving group of original circus structures in North America. There are also remains of a footbridge which employees took to cross the river in the winter.

The world-famous circus wintered in Baraboo for 34 years until 1918, the year before it merged with the Barnum & Bailey Show (which the Ringlings purchased in 1907) to become the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows.
 
The entire area has been declared
 a National Historic Landmark Site.
 
Circus World's collection of circus artifacts is perhaps the largest in the world. It includes over 210 original wagons and vehicles once used by American, English and Irish circuses. Circus World houses an exceptional collection of circus ads and posters, with over 9,500 multi-colored circus posters that range in size from half-sheets to a large 80-sheet Buffalo Bill Wild West poster measuring 9' high and 70' long. The collection also includes thousands of journals, manuscripts, business records, original fine art oil paintings, hand bills, heralds, programs, artifacts of circus performers and a collection of rare photographs and negatives.

Everyday at 11am the Museum puts on a one ring circus.
This event includes a dog act from England,
 trapeze artist,
balancing act,
 horse act,
 clowns
and it would not be a circus without elephants.
This place is a worthwhile visit. A person could spend the whole day. It is open rain or shine.

Till next time,
John & Mary

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Calling all girls lunch!

Calling all girls lunch!


time: meet at 11:00 am, at the front gate
when: Tues, July 12th
where: Rene's of Sharyland

2600 e. Griffin Parkway

Mission

956-519-7595

rsvp to Nancy 949-375-6805

Girls, this should be fun. 
 Food and shopping in the same place!
 




Monday, June 20, 2011

Tours from the Show-Me State!

Jon, Donna, Joey & Barry
have been practicing
 their knowledge from the
"Wine Appreciation Classes"
while touring central Missouri wineries.
 He is a wealth of information on
everything from grapes to bread....which he also let us sample.
We took the new "walk over" the Missouri River at Jefferson City with the Capitol in the background.
They found the very best at Heinrichshaus Winery at St. James.  (Here is Vintner Heinrich himself).

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

John & Mary Tell us about Cranberries!

Just had an update from John & Mary
about their camp worker experience in Wisconsin. 
The weather sounds delightful to someone who has experienced not much rain in what...nine months or so!!!
******************
Greetings from Warrens, Wisconsin,
the Cranberry Capital of Wisconsin.

Jelly Stone Park in Warrens is a huge family oriented play ground. Surrounded by wooded areas, hiking trails, tent sites, pull through/ back- ins for trailers and motor homes, camping cabins, bare bone cabins as well as luxury villas. As if this is not enough the park offers a variety of activities for the young and not so young at heart; put-put golf, sand volleyball, baseball, train rides and about 8 different water pools for ones enjoyment.
Then they offer movie nights, arts and crafts, visits with Yogi Bear, Bobo, Cindy and Ranger Rick, and many other activities for children.

On one of our days off we visited the Cranberry Discovery Center. Did you know the cranberry is one of three North American fruits; the other two are blueberries and concord grapes? Cranberries are grown in peat swamps or marshes where the soil has an acidic nature and there is an abundant supply of water and sand.
Cranberries mature in the fall when the crimson berries are floated to the surface and then dislodge by a mechanical harvester………….thanks to modern technology.

A bit of trivia, the cranberry was once known as “crane berry” because the plant’s tiny stem and pink blossoms resembled the neck, head and beak of cranes. Over time the word was changed to “cranberry”. Warrens produces an average 40,000,000 lbs of cranberries annually. Only a small percentage is kept for fresh cranberries that we see for the holidays while the rest is used in juices, snacks, jams, wine, cereal, candles, soaps and many more. So when you see the commercial for cranberries please note the guys are really standing in a cranberry bog. These bogs are visible from the road throughout the Warrens/Tomah area.

We travelled on many scenic pastoral dairy farm lands. It was rather unusual to come upon a gift shop. One such shop called “Down a Country Road” appeared well tucked away from civilization. We decided to stop and took in the pristine lawns, beautiful assortment of blossoms surrounded by brightly colored cabins enticing shoppers to browse in the Amish shop, Little Red Shed…..etc.

Our next stop was also off the beaten path, a quilt shop housed in a cabin with a loft. The owner opened the shop for us a she was not expecting any customers that day. Her small quilt shop had a limited supply of fabric and quilting supplies. Her loft was designed to offer classes. Since I am so used to the city and shops mostly on main roads I decided to ask her if folks have a hard time finding her shop. Her response was no not at all: so much for my misconception of the rural life.

We are working 3 days a week, site-seeing on our days off and socializing at camp fires with fellow camp workers. We had some 90 degree days and then back to the 40’s at night with cool days.

Stay tuned for more updates!














Thursday, June 9, 2011

Birthdays & Brunch!

June Birthday's Super Happy Hour!
Join in the fun if it's your birthday this month...or not!
Come count the candles!
Bring a fire extinguisher.
When:  Friday, June 17th
Where: Flip Flopz
When: 5 PM
Bring: a goodie to share.
After Party: Night Volleyball,  Cards
***************************
***************************
Happy Father's Day Brunch!
It's FREE!
It's for all Dad's & Mom's
...if you are one or ever had one!

When: Sunday, June 19th
Time: 7:30-9 AM (still time for church)
Where: Flip Flopz

Guess who's cookin'?
Karen & Nancy! So it has to be GREAT!
RSVP,  PLEASE!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Bruce is Better!

A note from Theresa:

Bruce is doing great.
He is in the rehab center at the hospital and doing really great.
He is walking with a walker, climbing steps,
all the things he has to do to recover.
The doctors are still stumped but say if he continues like he is it will be a week or so and he will be fine.
 Otherwise he will have surgery and they will fuse the three disks in his neck and clean out the arthritis there also.
I haven't seen him so happy in a long time.
  He is so grateful that he wasn't any worse.
Going gung-ho on his therapy.
 We both thank you all for your concern and support.
Miss you all too.
Theresa & Bruce

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Saddle Tramp Report from H-Less & Donna

GREETINGS FROM SADDLE TRAMP CAMP
(Tommy & Terry's Place)


Hi Ya'll,


We have arrived at Tommy & Terry's. Four rigs
and the place is plum full up....
 There are Barry & Joey's, Bob & Catherine, Jon & Donna, and Dave & Debbie's homes.

Gizmo went exploring one day and found a play toy.
 Let's just say,  the turtle wasn't too happy!
 We all went riding one day.
Had a beautiful creek crossing and a photo.
 
 So the question of the day is... HOW MANY GUYS DOES IT TAKE TO GET DEBBIE BACK ON THE HORSE?




We went off to Team Sorting one night. The object of the game is to put the calves in a pen in numerical sequence.
The experts show us how it is done....

TOMMY
 Bob
 Catherine
The ROOKIES have their try at it and were successful!!!!


Jon 
 Dave
 And then there are those of us who didn't sort, but just went riding. Here is the proof that we also got up on a horse.


BARRY

Joey 
Donna ( if you notice, my legs were too short for Bob's saddle.
No feet in the stirrups.
So I wouldn't go any faster than a walk).
 Last but not least... Catherine has taken on a new project.
 Baby Bella (18 mos young) has never, ever been saddled,
 much less ridden.

She has been ponying Bella beside her horse on several rides, saddled her up, and then even managed to talk Bob into getting up in the saddle.

Bella is a real sweet horse. But just like a kid, has her moments of not listening. Fortunately, she didn't buck Bob off!


SO LONG YA'LL

Jon & Donna, Barry & Joey, Bob & Catherine,
Dave & Debbie, and Tommy & Terry

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Let's Do Lunch!

Another month has rolled around and it's that time again.
Time for the ladies who lunch to break out and boogie!
June 7th
New York Deli
(excellent food!)
 829 Dove Ave
(Shopping center is near the corner of 10th & Dove, has FantasyLand Skate center, is on Dove across from Lowes)
McAllen
956-8787

Meet by the front gate at 11am

RSVP to Nancy (949-375-6805)
so she can reserve the upstairs room and we can party in peace,
 plus the wait staff guys are super cute
and we perhaps won't have to share them!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Strong...strong like bull!

As you may have read on Facebook or heard thru the grapevine Jay had a run in with a swarm of angry bees yesterday.
As I understand it (and I almost always get these things wrong, but here goes) he was on the tractor clearing a swath outside the west fence when he hit an underground hive. 
Talk about angry bees! 
 He made a mad dash around the corner and got to the office. 
An ambulance was called, he was whisked away as a precaution.  Firefighters foamed the bees.
Today he's running around the resort feeling OK.
They stopped counting stingers when the number passed 200. 
 200!!!!
That Jay...he is one strong hombre!