I have spent the morning catching up on housework.  Vacuuming and sweeping the floors, unloading the dishwasher, dusting,  got one load of laundry done, and gonna go put it in dryer and start second load.
All this fishing has me a little behind on my "chores"......I spent yesterday fishing and caught 7 fish.  They weren't biting for anyone...... (I think it had something to do with the low pressure system that came thru late last nite and this morning.....)  I called Dad and asked him if he wanted a "mess" of crappie and of course he did not turn that down.  The deal is----Wednesday nite after church he was hinting to me that he was ready for some more fish just like the ones I gave him last week.  They were cleaned, cooked and ready to eat by the time he got his hands on them.  So when I caught those fish yesterday I decided I would cook them and Dad could pick them up on his way home from work, which he did.  There were some left over for us.  They sure tasted good.  Nothin' like a fresh batch of crappie......
I was thinking earlier about going down there after all my work was done, but I think I will wait till this evening, so the weather will have a chance to settle a bit.  Plus, I don't want to drive my truck down there in the mud.  I'll wait till Ritzy gets home with his truck and drive it down there, hahaha!!!!!!!
I sure do have quite a "fisherman's tan" going.  The past couple of times in the sun I have worn long sleeves to protect my arms.  Someone asked why I didn't use sunscreen and I told them that sunscreen wasn't exactly the first thing on my mind when I was headed to the fishin' hole  ;-)
Don't know if anyone believes it or not but with all this fishing and pulling in all the  fish and taking tackle in and out of the truck, I seem to have aggravated my "tennis elbow".  In a way it is kind of funny, but when the arm is hurting there is nothing funny about it.  After the second day of fishing, I noticed my arm would hurt expecially if I was lifting or putting pressure on it.  I then realized that I had stirred up my tennis elbow.  I did not ever have a problem until 2 years ago when Ritzy was on active duty in Iraq that the son and I would mow the lawn.  He would mow and I would do the weed eating.  Handling that weed eater is what started it all.  I finally found a "strap" that goes around my arm.  So I ordered it and started wearing it.  It took a few months but the pain finally went away........til last week when I started fishing.  I am now back to wearing the black band around  my arm until the pain goes away.  It hurts to make a fist  or straighten out my arm, and I don't have the strength to lift anything very heavy with that arm.  (Fishin' was worth the pain, hahaha!!)
I wonder if Ritzy would let me take off for "rest and recuperation" leave till it heals.....hehehe!!!!
Well, I better go put those clothes in the dryer and start the last load washing if I want to get my work done for the day. 
With that, Ritzywife is out............................

I don't know how else to express it.  My grandmother who was 89 years old in February passed away yesterday evening.  I was at the "crappie hole" fishing when I got the call from mom.  I was sad to learn of her passing, but she had lived a long and happy life, and most important of all........ she was ready to go. 
I was telling one of my uncles today that I always remember Grandma as being easy talking and kindhearted  to everyone.  I don't ever remember seeing her mad.  When I was about 12 years old she made me and mom matching red gingham aprons.  I still have mine and it helps decorate my kitchen today.  In fact I have something from both my grandma's.  My other grandma made me an "Indian Costume" out of feed sacks and scrap material 40 years ago when I was in grade school and in a Thanksgiving play.  It hangs in my and Ritzy's bedroom.  Those items are very special to me. 
The picture is of the fish I caught today. 
I got to the fishing hole around 9:30 this morning and left at 5 only because  I HAD to leave to come home to clean the fish and get ready for Wednesday night church service at 7.  I also have one heck of a sunburn.  Stick a fork in me---I"m done!!!!!!
I had decided that the fish caught today were going to be given to our Pastor and his family.  They have 3 young children.  Those 15 fish made a good "mess" of fish for them.  I think they were very happy with them.
I think I had better stay home tomorrow and stay out of the sun.  I look like a ripe tomato, hahaha!!!!!
The housework doesn't do itself, darn it......I will be catching up on that so I can justify going fishing some more......
My grandmother's funeral service is Friday, so that day is going to be a busy day. 
One thing I will always remember about her is that she did NOT want to be called "Granny" and she let us kids know that little fact ;-)
I think the name "Granny" is sweet, but Grandma did not see it that way.........
That's about all I have for today.
Ritzywife out...........................

That's what you could say about the daughter and I today.  We spent the afternoon and evening fishing.  I had a funeral service to play the piano for this morning.  After that I came home and loaded up the truck with fishing gear to head down to the "crappie hole".  We go to the bait shop across the road only to find out they are out of minnows, and learn that everyone else is out too.  We proceeded to drive to Oologah Dam to see if the bait shop had some bait.  They were out also.  As a last resort we decide to go to Nowata and find a tiny bait shop that had what we needed.  A 30 mile round trip to go 1.5 miles away from the house to go fishing.  As you can see, we did pretty well.  We ended up with 34 crappie which made a gallon of fillets.
Tonight I was supposed to cook fish that the daughter and boyfriend had caught over the weekend, but once Ritzywife gets to fishing and as long as they are biting, there is no going home till it's dark.  So......everyone was on their own tonight for supper.
My nephew came down there to join us this evening and caught a few. 
While leaving, he asked how I was going to clean them and I proceeded to tell him that I would use my trusty fillet knife.  He told me I needed to use an electric knife.  I tried that once and butchered the fish and didn't try again.
After I got home, he called and asked if he could come help me clean the fish, I didn't turn that down.  I tried to give him some of the fish, but he refused so I told him I would give him a call when they were ready to eat and that was ok by him.......
There is nothing like hauling in a good sized crappie.  I love it!!!!!!!
I should have put on the sunblock or wore sleeves, tho.  I got a "little" red after spending all afternoon and evening in the sun.
After getting home and putting everything up, the daughter was still bent on frying up some fish, so I told her how to do it and while I took my bath she cooked.  That fish sure tasted good!!!!!
The weather has been beautiful.  This week will be perfect fishing weather.  The crappie are just starting to move in and will be spawning soon, so there is a short time frame to fish in this "spot."
I hope to be posting more pictures of our "catches".....
Ritzywife out....................

I hope everyone had a blessed and happy Easter.  Our church had a sunrise service and breakfast at 7:00am this morning.  We all enjoyed meeting outside for a short while and then coming inside for a fellowship and breakfast.  The food was wonderful.  Ritzy and I showed up at 6:00am to help.  I didn't do much because I have had a nasty cold the past few days.  I sound terrible and it's been hard to sleep at night.  The daughter came down with this last week and I think she passed it on to her mama.  We had regular sunday school and worship services then dismissed services tonight.
After lunch at Granny's I came home and got on my bed.  At 5pm I woke up.  Ritzy has been cutting wood all afternoon. 
Well...... I have all the "stuff" to start redoing my countertops and replacing my sink, but now I am going to have to wait until I start feeling better. 
  I am thinking about going outside and sitting in the porch swing for a while, but the only thing holding me back is the fact that the wind is really blowing and I start coughing if I feel any breeze at all in my face.  I have even had to shut off my bedside fan at night.
I got the rest of my window blinds hung yesterday.  I enlisted the son's help.  He did a good job.  I just handed him whatever he needed and he got the job done.....
Not too much else going on around here this weekend.
Ritzywife out.............................

March 31 is Ritzywife's birthday....... I spent the day getting up late. going to Lowe's to purchase ceramic tiles for my kitchen countertops and eating dinner at my niece's house after church.
She called earlier just as I was beginning to assemble pizzas for supper and told me to STOP!  She then told me that she was having enchiladas and cake and ice cream for me at her house after church.  We all had a good time visiting and watching the kiddos play.
I am waiting on my new sink and faucet to arrive so I can start laying the tiles in the kitchen.
It has been really nice weather in Oklahoma this week.  Sure has been windy tho.  Didn't know if the warmer weather was ever going to get here.  I hope it is here to stay............
I sure am tempted to plant some flowers, but am holding off for that last frost of the season.    The potatoes and onions are growing good in the garden.  I sure hope they don't get "bit". 
Will be planting some beans, tomatoes, okra and cucumbers as soon as the frost danger passes.
I am in the process of hanging new blinds in the windows.  I have always had mini blinds, but last fall I ordered 2-in blinds that look like wood.  Have the ones in the kitchen finished.  Still have to hang blinds  in the dining room, living room, utility room and bath room.
Ritzy informed me that this was "my" project and he was staying out of it, hahaha!!!!
Not much else going on around here.......I am also waiting for the water to warm up so I can go fishing for crappie.  Unless we get a lot of rain that will raise the lake so that I am unable to get to the fishing spot, I should start in a couple of weeks, if the temps stay as warm as they have been.  But we all know how quickly that can change around here.
Ritzywife is out for now................