Edie

Edie was my dog of 16 1/2 years. Son Curt brought her home & named her. You can see her photo on my web page.

June 30th I buried her on our 2 acre woods under a flowering tree. I plan to add a stone & perennial flowers in purple. It was a long, put -off call to put her to sleep. Dr. Carlson & staff were so efficient & caring in helping us make this transition.

Edie was a pound pup who just enjoyed hanging out & tagging along ---even from room to room at times--all her life.

So now it's just Harley & I during the day.--going from room to room ---together. We both miss Edie

Ohio Poll Worker Experience

This March 4th I volunteered to be a Poll Worker in my Clark County, Ohio--FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! As there were many openings to choose from, I settled on the Enon Muncipal Building, just 5 miles away. (5 miles away that is until I discovered the connecting bridge over Rt. 4 was closed for repair the Monday prior to elections Tues.) But a slight extended detour got me to the polling site by 5:30 AM on time where I worked until 8:15PM that same evening. We were fortunate to be fully staffed with 2 Republicans & 2 Democrats. I was the "newby" to the team, but we quickly conversed & got to the job at hand to be ready for the first voter at 6:30 AM. The day went by rather quickly as voters kept stolling in all day. Several 17 year olds were anxious to cast their first ballot. A new law allows this if the person will turn 18 before the November election. It did require that they fill out a Provisional envelope & ballot- IN THE VOTING PRECINCT OF THEIR RESIDENCE. This will have them fully registered AND to vote in Novemeber. Several adults were caught without having backup acceptable printed documentation because they had moved their place of residence since last voting. We we able to work through 9 of these voters who did cast a ballot. At 7:30 PM we closed the poll & began to balance our figures to the ballot used. We were able to balance with the machine totals. There are many tricky locks & many steps to get to a proper closing. I WAS MOST IMPRESSED WITH EACH OF THE WORKERS I SHARED THE DAY WITH. It was a most interesting, fun day. I would recommend that anyone with the patience to spend a long day,to preserve & insure proper voting systems, call and volunteer. I plan to do it again.

Snowshoe Rockers & Furniture

Anyone out there with a taste or need for GREAT (handmade, accent, leather woven) rustic style SNOWSHOE FURNITURE needs to check out vtsnowshoefurniture.com. An old company owned the past 4 years by Mike Fontaine 802-365-4636. I had an older L L Bean rocker come to me needing just the leather seat replaced. After a curveball, hearing deerhide was the material to use,--NOT!!, I found Cindy Berrie in VT. She does the COWHIDE weaving for her brother Mike's business. Check them out on line. NICE PEOPLE!! Great craftsmanship. It was a 2 week turnaround for my project, as they promised, in advance.

Seat Weaving Class at E U

Now that the Holidays are over I have time to update about the cane seat weaving class I have been leading at our Elderly United ( E U ) facility in downtown Springfield, Ohio. Friday 1/11/08 was our 9th time to meet. 16 people have or are participating & 12 projects have been completed. We average 6-7 people each class. 8 weavers have become regulars but two are currently out with specific health problems. We hope to have both rejoin us later this month. The gal who comes the farthest is from Washington Court House, Ohio. Millie, in her 80s is the oldest. She has done 2 footstools. Most of us are 50-70s. It is an upbeat, fun filled 3 hours. And a chance to discuss local happenings in our great small town.

We share using the arts & crafts room with pottery crafters, knitters & others. So we get to see other craft projects in progress each week. Tap dancing happens in the adjoining room & becomes hula dancing before our 3 hours end. A group of men(mostly) are always shooting pool at the end of the hall. The clinic for health issues is off our same hallway so visitors, members walking by often stop in to comment on our activity. Upstairs, the dining room is available for great Marriott lunches each day & there is a volunteer run gift shop plus other senior "help" offices. E U is a very busy, necessary offering for Springfield residents.