One Of These Frags Just Doesn't Belong Here

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Ahhhhh, Friday Frags.  That time of the week when we all get together to rid our souls of the bits and pieces, fragments if you will, of useless - though possibly entertaining - information that have been collecting there.

Many thanks go to Mrs. 4444 for hosting this meme AND putting up with all of us.

I am once again LATE to the party - - - but here I come anyway, hoping late is better than never.
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Oh my dear bloggy friends, THIS is the footwear that Fisherhubby deemed appropriate for Sunday-Go-To-Meetin' wear this past Sunday.

My attempt to dissuade him and get him into more church-worthy foot coverings was an abysmal FAIL.

I KNOW Jesus wore sandals, but I'm pretty sure He did NOT pair them with Packer socks. 

Shaking my head.
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This is little Miss Piper's latest artistic rendering.  It is, of course, her Mama and Daddy.

We do NOT know why her daddy needs to shave his entire face NOR why her mama looks like Jar Jar Binks.
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My friend Eloise (pronounced E - Lois) and I went on a shopping adventure one day this week.  I'll talk more about the shopping part in my last frag of this post.

When we were hungry, we stopped at Chili's for lunch.

Imagine our surprise to find on our table a game/payment/internet terminal box.

We began to play the "kick a field goal" game.
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It was a little harder than it looked - - - so exclamations of joy and high 10's were in order when Eloise kicked it through the uprights for the first time.

She is so fun.
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Sister Pam, BIL Joe, their daughter Misti and her fam have gone to West Virginia for a wee fall get-away.
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They've been taking in the sights, hiking,
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And even biking for miles and miles.   After days full of all that - - -
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Some of them have been found unwinding in the hot tub.
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MOST of the frags of my week involve FOOD.  Dreaming of food - - - getting food - - - and ENJOYING food.

This was my supper tonight at our fave Mexican Restaurant.  It's called Jimidore con Pollo.

It is SOOOOOOO yummy I am forced to go ummmmmm, this is sooooo good - - - right out loud - - - with every bite I take.
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Our sweet little Pipes is suffering terribly with her very first true love crush.

She's crushing on her young computer teacher at school.

Whenever he is around she gets red in the face and wears a goofy expression.

"He's pretty cute, isn't he???"  queried her mama when they were safely out of ear shot range of the school.

"No!!"  says Piper, "I HATE HIM."

Yep - - - it's gotta be true Kindergarten love.

Now, don't you DARE tell her I told.
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WARNING - WARNING - WARNING

Do not read any further if you 
Don't wan't to encounter TMI.

Do not read any further if you happen 
To be a male reader of this blog.

OK - - - If you read further and then are 
Appalled and incensed 

I don't want to hear anything negative
From you about it
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For:

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Forewarned is forearmed.

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When Eloise and I went shopping this week, it was for me to purchase some new bras.

Girls, I HATE shopping for bras - - - all that stripping down and trying on only to do it all again when the size is wrong.

Bucky here consented to model one of my new bras, though he was NOT happy to do it.
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Mostly because, and I HANG MY HEAD IN SHAME TO ADMIT THIS, I have had to graduate into the infamous GRANNY BRA!!!!

I don't know WHY I am so shocked at this, for I AM MOST CERTAINLY a granny these days.

I guess I just didn't want to ADMIT I needed over sized sling shots to corral my boulders.

I also learned something rather more disturbing than graduation to granny bras in this process - - - 
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I learned that one of my girls "just doesn't belong here" because she is substantially larger than the other.

AND, as far as I know they do NOT make bras with a leftie DD and a rightie D.

So - - - I was forced to choose between suffocating leftie or allowing rightie to swam free.

I shall leave you to GUESS which I chose - - - suffocating or swimning.

And such is the life of a senior.
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And that's it for this week's edition of frags.

Please head over to Mrs. 4444's place

To check out more frags.

I'm pretty sure none of them 

Will be as shocking as mine.

While you're there, why not join in the fun???

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Wanderings on Sunday in My City

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Fall has arrived on the highways and byways of my state - Wisconsin.
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This year it seems to be a kinder gentler Autumn in many ways.
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One way it is kinder and gentler is that we are still very warm for mid October.  Highs have been in the mid to upper 70's.
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The other way it is kinder and gentler is that its colors are quite muted.
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Many leaves seem to be falling while still pale green, yellow, or brown.
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I think these muted colors are a result of drought and no early frosts.
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Still - - - the leaves are falling,
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The corn and beans are ripening,

And the farmers are harvesting.
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The sun has gone down on summer,

And the clouds of winter are on the horizon.
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But for right now let's just enjoy these in-between Fall days, shall we?
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Thanks to Unknown Mami

For hosting Sundays in My City. 

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Two Frags Diverged in a Yellow Wood aka Who Am I Kidding? Frags

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OH, WHO AM I KIDDING???  I've never just had two frags in my life.

I've had NO frags - - - but never just two.

Frags are those bits and pieces you want to share on your blog and our friend Mrs. 4444 gives us the outlet to do so on Fridays.  Welcome to the party!
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A few weeks ago our oldest son, Kelly, came with a friend of his from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Milwaukee to take in a Brewers / Reds game.

As you can see, Kelly is an avid sports fan.

Not.
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He did, however, manage to snap this gorgeous pic of the Brewer's stadium for his mama.
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OH, WHO AM I KIDDING???  He probably never thought of his mama once, but she DID enjoy the photo anyway..
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It has been noted here before that my great niece, Carson, is a chip off her old great auntie's block.

Notice the disheveled hair and tongue hanging to the tip of her chin???  Um, yah - - - pretty sure that was my look all during my growing up years.
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OH, WHO AM I KIDDING???  It's still pretty much my look!!!

Lately this similarity has shown itself in her going to AND ENJOYING football games.

RAH RAH Carson, keep it up!!!
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Did you see this?

Earlier in September, during the Texas Tech / TCU football game a fox ran onto the field.

Yep, a real live fox.

I snapped a pic of my TV screen so I could show you.

He said to himself, "OH, WHO AM I KIDDING????  I JUST WANT OUT OF HERE!!!

Escape proved to be more difficult than entry.

They never said how they got him off the field, but I think it's safe to assume no foxes were harmed in the making of this frag.
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Papoo and Pipes like to keep a close eye on each other via skype.

Speaking of Pipes - - - looks like Kamma Kamp will be in full swing again next summer toward the end of June and the beginning of July.

It will be a fun week of enjoying the grans.

OH, WHO AM I KIDDING?  It will give me tons o blog fodder.  ;-)
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On Tuesday suddenly and with no warning our TV decided to fade right out of existence.

Not sure why they make TVs these days with a life span of only about 5 years.

Oh, WHO AM I KIDDING??  Of COURSE I know why!   They do it to make more $$$$$  when we buy a new one.

Fortunately for us, we had already planned a day trip to Eau Claire where there is a Best Buy and were able to get this new TV.

Ain't she a beauty?  46", ultra slim, HD, 3D, and internet.

I may be blogging from her soon.

But not today.
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While in Eau Claire yesterday we stopped for a mid afternoon repast at one of our favorite watering holes, seeing as we don't have one anywhere around here.
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I was a very good girl and ate ONLY salad and Cheddar Bay Biscuits.
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OH, WHO AM I KIDDING????   I had the roasted garlic crab bake too.

ALL OF IT.

It was delicious.

I like to eat meat, and do NOT feel one bit sorry for the crabs, shrimp, and scallops who gave their all so I could feast.

Have you seen what THEY eat???

I rest my case.

It's all about eat or be eaten.

I eat.
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And THIS is the evidence left at the scene of the crabicide.
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In my last post I showed my fall decor.

I neglected to show THIS, most important bit - - - the red football ornaments in the wire chicken egg basket with the "On Wisconsin" beads around it's neck.

OH, WHO AM I KIDDING????  This bit of decor will stay with me all through fall, Christmas, and right on into February and the Super Bowl.

RAH! RAH!!!
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It would appear that our new TV is a smart one.

OH WHO AM I KIDDING???  It's WAY smarter than moi, as evidenced by the fact that last night while I was TRYING to watch a You Tube video on my equally smart phone, it (the You Tube video) was suddenly transported and displayed on the TV screen.

No, I had NO idea how I did it.

I think I've figured it out now, but for a while there I thought the new TV came complete with programming fairies intent on working their mischief upon me.
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And that's it for this week's edition of frags.

Please head over to Mrs. 4444's place

To check out more frags.

While you're there, why not join in the fun???

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Presto Chango Fall

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Some of you bloggy gals have decorator blood running through your veins.  You give your homes seasonal makeovers replete with mantles and vignettes galore.

I admire your handiwork, but am too bone idle to do the work involved.  So today I gave our space my own version of a ptresto chango fall redo.

First I strategically placed this pillow on a chair.

Next I plopped a set of placemats and napkins - WITH pumpkin napkin rings - on the dining room table.

Lastly, just for good measure AND because Sister Pam reminded me of its existence, I draped a Fall afghan over the back of the love seat.


PRESTO CHANGO - Fall decorating is done.

Best of all??  It cost me NADA 'cause Sister Pam GAVE me all these things when she moved out of the midwest and into Florida's tropical clime.

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It's That Time on the Soon to be Frozen Tundra

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You may think I refer to Fall when I say "it's that time" but that would not be precisely correct.

What I refer to does of course happen in the Fall, but I'm referring specifically to cranberry harvest time.

Cranberries are very important to our county and to our state.

This county previously was known for paper and cranberry production.  Sadly, paper production has dropped off due to various factors like the death of "Look" and "Life" magazines and the outsourcing of paper production.

Thankfully, cranberry production is on the rise.  This little county produces more cranberries than anywhere else in the United States or even the world.

Harvest is an awesome time.
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A few days ago, my friends Shawn and Stephanie took their three youngest children out to look over the beginning of harvest.

Shawn has himself worked on the marsh (as cranberry bogs are collectively called) until he went into law enforcement.  His dad retired from the marsh, though why he says he's retired I do not know as he still spends plenty of time working out there.  One of Shawn's uncles is a current marsh employee.

Cranberries are in their blood you might say.
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So it was that on a particularly fine Fall day last week, Shawn and Stephie took their children out to "check" on the cranberry harvest, which was just beginning.

In the above picture you can observe one of the access roads used to reach the bogs.  A bog is a bed in which the cranberries grow.  You can see a bog, with some red from the cranberry hue, on the right side of this photo.

That particular bog does not appear to be flooded as yet for harvest.

Because of the popular Ocean Spray commercials, some folks who are unaware of cranberry growth and harvest think that cranberries grow underwater.

This is not the case.  They grow in hollowed out rectangular bogs which are NEAR a steady supply of water - - - usually in a marshy region.  The water is used to keep the plants/berries from freezing when the temperatures dip below 32 degrees.  At times like that they are continuously sprayed with water as liquid water is not yet frozen and will protect the berries.

When harvest time comes, the bogs are completely flooded with water to assist in the harvest process.  This results in the images you are used to seeing in the commercials and which I have shown at the top of this post.

Once flooded, the berries are gently "loosened" from the vines at which time they float freely to the surface.
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Once floating on the surface, they are corralled to one end of the bog with large floating booms.  From there they can be gathered into the back of waiting trucks.  The water is gently shaken off the berries as they ride up a conveyor belt.  Any flotsam is separated away from the berries to the bed of one dump truck while the berries are taken the other way into a delivery truck.
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Little Jessie, seen here in his cranberry bandana, is only 5.  I don't know how much of previous harvests he can remember, though he is fascinated by this one.
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Fortunately for Jessie, big brother Dane is in 5th grade and is an excellent guide, explaining all the ins and outs of the harvest.
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Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Frags

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I lied.  There will be no planes or automobiles in these frags - - - but there WILL be trains.  One out of three "ain't" bad???

Stop whatever you're doing and air out the fragments that have been roaming around in the recesses of your brain.  Join us in all the fraggin' fun over at Mrs. 4444's place. 
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When Lee Corso picked Georgia to beat Clemson (he was wrong, by the way) on College Game Day last Saturday, they brought a couple of bull dog puppies onto the set.

This one promptly fell asleep on Kirk Herbstreit's notes.

Awwwwwwww.  So cute!!

And normally I don't even LIKE bull dogs.
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Maxzilla finished his (they say he's a she, but I like him as a he better) metamorphosis this week.

Isn't this stage absolutely AMAZING???  The fact that the chrysalis becomes a clear window and you can see the colorful wings through it is astounding!
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Furthermore, Maxzilla chose Labor Day to complete his morphing so our grans were home to observe the process.
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There was much delight all around as he took his rightful place in our world.  (And now I'm giving him his rightful place in cyber world!!!)
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Our daughter Keri and her hubby celebrated their 9th Anniversary this week.  Aren't they the bees knees??

Keri took all those gorgeous Maxzilla photos above.

I think she should find a career in photography, don't you???
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This little target sticker surfaced somewhere in Fisherhubby's closet this week.

I know it isn't mine - - - I don't bow hunt.

He has no clue where he got it nor why.

I have no clue how he FOUND it in his closet.  (Er hmmmmm)
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One afternoon this week on my way home from the library I decided to hop over to Dollar General for a few good deals.

As luck would have it, I got stopped behind this long, long, long, slow, slow, slow train.

I had plenty of time to snap the photo (into the setting sun) and even tweet about it.
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The train finally passed through the intersection and I continued on to Dollar General.

I shopped for maybe 15 minutes upon which I came out to head home, only to get caught at the VERY SAME INTERSECTION - going in the opposite direction this time - - - by ANOTHER train.

It was shorter and I barely had time to snap this picture and tweet it out.

And that, dear bloggy readers, is the TRAIN portion of this post.

I guess technically there ARE automobiles in the photo AND a huge noisy old plane has been taking off and landing at the airport across the street from us, so there you have it - - - I DID manage to include planes and automobiles in these frags!!!
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All Mack's hard work paid off - - - he had a MUCH BETTER spelling week this week.

You go, Mack!!!
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When mommy and daddy went out for their anni, Pipe's and Mack got to have their favorite babysitter.

Pipes BEGGED her to braid her hair.

I can see WHY, can't you???  Gorgeous.
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Last week I told you I'm the commish of three college football pick 'em games.

Here's a Fisherhubby tale about that:

He was LATE getting his picks in this week.  Being a hard-nosed commish, I did NOT remind him until after he had missed the deadline and he will get the SAME 20 point delay of game penalty as any other player.

When I told him he needed to get his picks in pronto, he disappeared into his room to submit them to me from his i-pad via e-mail.

I opened them - - - he had picked for the week 14 games OF LAST YEAR!!!!

Don't ask me how he manages these things - - - all I can say is that while he makes it his daily goal to "trap" me into some foolish action, all I have to do is sit around and wait and he does it to himself all by himself with no help from me.

:-)  Happy dance.
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We found a new restaurant this week that had a player piano making very lovely ambiance.

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Of course the peaceful Petenwell Lake views from the windows served to enhance the ambiance.
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There was a lovely deck, but it's been too hot here in Central Wisconsin for us to enjoy it much.
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We did, however, certainly enjoy the sunset on the lake.
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And that's it for this week's edition of frags.

Please head over to Mrs. 4444's place

To check out more frags.

While you're there, why not join in the fun???

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