Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 5:30 a.m. in "The City."

I was planning to make this a sort blog and maybe I'll keep it that way.

We show a current temperature of 44° under clear skies. Today's high is forecast to reach 60°, At 2:00 p.m., the NWS has issued a Small Craft Advisory that will last until 5:00 a.m. Thursday for the shores of the "Big Lake" from Holland to GH. 25 - 30 knot winds and 3 - 5 foot waves are expected. Plus, Thursday's forecast includes a high temperature of 58° with an 80% chance for T-storms. Today the sun will rise @ 6:29 a.m. and set later @ 8:53 p.m.

Baseball news was once again half and half.

The 20 - 13, once again 1st place Cubs, lead the NL Central by .5 games over the 21 -15, 2nd place Cardinals. Will it last? I dunno, but I am enjoying the ride. I watched until the wee hours last night as LHP Jon Lester pitched bravely, but was lifted with the score tied at two all. It took until the bottom of the ninth for the Cubs to pull out a victory and once more go into the W column, 5 - 2 over the hapless 10 - 25, 5th /last place in the NL East Marlins and their LHP Adam Conley. 3rd baseman, Kris Bryant, KB, sent a ball into the basket for the winning runs. The Cubs entertain the Marlins again tonight @ 8:05 EDT when RHP Kyle Hendricks, 2 - 4, goes for his 3rd win versus the Marlins RHP Jose Urenga, 1 - 5.

My beloved, 18 - 19, 3rd place in the AL East, Red Sox, out-dueled the 5th/last place in the AL East Orioles, 8 - 5. The Sox RHP Marcus Walden, 5 - 0, got the win over the Orioles RHP Branden Kline, 1 - 1. The Sox' J. D Martinez blasted his 200th career home run. The Sox and the Orioles go again tonight in Camden Yards @ 7:05 p.m. when the Sox send LHP Chris Sale, 1 - 5 against the Orioles RHP Andrew Cashner, 4 - 1.

The on again off again, 15 - 17, 4th place in the AL Central Tigers, fell flat once again, this time against the 16 - 19, 4th place in the AL West Angels, 2 - 5. The Tigers LHP Dan Norris, 1 - 4, tried, but with no success as he took the loss. The Angels gave the win to RHP Griffin Canning, 1 - 0. Tonight's game in Comerica Park features the Tigers' LHP Matthew Boyd, 3 - 2, against the Angels LHP Tyler Skaggs, 3 - 2, @ 7:10 p.m.

The 14 - 16, 5th place in the MWL East Caps dropped another game, again, to the 14 - 17, 5th place in the MWL West Peoria Chiefs, 2 - 5. Reminiscent of the days we took the students to see the Kane County Cougars, the Caps will begin their game @ 11:00 a.m. today against those same Chiefs on this School Kids Day.

I had a great time at my Coffee and Coloring session yesterday. I am working on a scene of flowers on a background of my own choosing. Two hours flew past like they were mere minutes. Kerry, the facilitator offered up her suggestions as to the background and I like her ideas. But then, she is the experienced colorist with an impressive array of drawings to prove it. I can't wait until next month.

While I was out, Mary was able to get into one of her remaining cookbooks and modify a salad for our lunch. This one featured homemade French dressing, cauliflower, cannelloni beans to go with an Italian lettuce blend salad, green olives, and onions. It was great! here is a pic taken by our Senior Staff Photographer and her Smart Phone camera. A marked improvement over my own, woefully inadequate shelf pic, taken with my not so smart tablet camera used in my previous blog.

Looks good and tasted great!

Dinner last night was a casserole of toona with water chestnuts and Daiya™ cheese mixed with egg-less noodles and baked. I liked that too, but sadly, no pic.

Today, John will return, we'll be off to the chiropractor in the afternoon after some local errands. What can I say, busy, busy, busy. Oh, this was not my idea of a short blog. Maybe next time.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It i just past 5:00 a.m. in "The City."

What is it that the ephemeral or ubiquitous "They" say about the best laid plans? That was pretty much my day yesterday. I had plans to enjoy retirement, but John was here, Dawn was here, the fur-children were feeling discombobulated, and my plans for a relaxing day were upended, so to speak.

Some of my discombobulation had a happy ending, with more than a little assistance from John, and the shelves were installed as viewed in this picture.

While not the quality of the pic usually supplied by our Senior Staff Photographer, Mary, this pic taken with my tablet camera gives a sense of how the shelves look with Mary's decorations in place.

I think that the end result is hands down an improvement over the previous shelf configuration. However, the noise generated by John during installation drove STWD into paroxysms of fear and made her day less than enjoyable. When coupled with a visit by the cable installer to our neighbors, the intrepid weather dog spent much of her day in hiding. She was not happy when she went outside to do her duty in the morning, so she waited until her evening run to do her duty.

The kitchen is taking shape, the house is clean, and the clutter in the mud-room/pantry has been moved to another room, thus making Ginger happy to have her bench back for her regular landing spot when she goes out or comes in from doing her duty. Still, I as I told Mary, I am getting to an age where I dislike anything that upsets my equilibrium. So...

My beloved, 17 - 19, 3rd place in the AL East, Red Sox, they should have been 18 - 18, except that those plans were upset by the 13 - 22, 5th/last place in the AL East Orioles, 1 - 4. The Sox' bats couldn't get any hits and Sox' RHP Josh A. Smith, 1 - 4, took the loss for the Red Sox, while LHP John Means, 4 - 3, got the win for the Orioles. The Sox and the Orioles play again tonight @ 7:05 p.m., when RHP Hector Velasquez, 0 - 2, takes the ball for the Sox and pitches against the Orioles RHP David Ness, 1 - 4.

The 19 - 13, once again 2nd in the NL Central Cubs, 1st place lasted all of one day in their division. The Cubs were doing okay last night in spite of some early pitching woes. However, in the bottom of the 9th, the Cubs LHP Kyle Ryan, froze up and threw to 1st base versus the plate on an infield hit and the Marlins plated another run. It was the first loss for the Cubs, in eight tries.

Usually reliable reliever, RHP Pedro Strop, couldn't get anything over the plate and issued three consecutive walks that assisted the Marlins in their win. Oh well, tonight the Cubs and the Marlins go at it again @ 8:05 p.m. when LHP Jon Lester, 2 - 1, takes the ball for the Cubs while LHP Caleb Smith, 3 - 0, gets the ball for the Marlins.

The Tigers were off.

The 14 - 15, 5th place in the MWL East, were victorious over the 13 - 15, 5th place in the MWL West, Peoria Chiefs, 2 - 0. The Caps and the Chiefs play again tonight @ 7:05 p.m. as the Caps look to get even with the league.

We have a current temperature of 50° under mostly-cloudy skies. Today, no rain is in the forecast and the high has been forecast by the NWS to reach 57°. There is a 90% chance of rain late tonight into Wednesday. Friday's high temperature is forecast to only reach 48°! The sun will rise this morning @ 6:30 a.m. and set later @ 8:52 p.m.

In between, I have my monthly Coffee and Coloring session @ the library from 10:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Then, I have no plans other than to read today's edition of the Grand Haven Tribune and do more reading and some things in the kitchen. I also plan to play with the girls and hopefully select the new color for my office/music room/art loft. John has personal business today, so he won't be back until Wednesday to finish the mud room and start in my domain.  Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 5:00 a.m. in "The City."

We show a current temperature of 51° as we head towards sunrise @ 6:31 a.m. Later today, the high temperature has been forecast by the NWS to reach 55° with a 70% chance for rain. So much for our plans to get outside and do some gardening in the vast gardens of the PE. The sun will set @ 8:51 p.m.

I had a great morning/early afternoon in the kitchen yesterday. I made my world famous vegan Italian meatballs, some of which became part of our lunch, along with some vegan Ball Park™ hot dogs from an internet recipe. So, I don't know whether those hot dogs will become world famous or join the ranks of my epic failures. Only time and taste will tell.

While I worked in the kitchen, Mary went to work culling her vast collection of cookbooks, some vegan, some not. She reduced her cookbook stash down to one shelf in her china cabinet. During our afternoon errand runs, we dropped off four bags of cookbooks at the library's used book store, Cheap Stacks, for them to sell and give the Friends of the Loutit Library some additional funds for various projects and programs. The was a win-win, for us and for Cheap Stacks, to use that overly used phrase.

Mary's efforts were propelled/impelled by the repainting of the kitchen and the removal of the shelves in the corner of that room that have been there for over 20 years. I know that some things are meant to be, but those shelves were not integral to the house or the kitchen, unless you count that they were installed when the kitchen was remodeled in the late 1990s. The carpenter who built the shelves made them very substantial, making each piece independently and gluing/screwing them to the wall.

As you may recall, Mary had originally planned to have John repaint the old shelves and then reinstall them. However, one of our errands yesterday was a trip to one of the big-box home centers for replacements that are totally different and more modern. John will be installing them today.

We also made a stop at J C Penneys for some articles of clothing I had ordered for me. I tried them on earlier this morning and I think they fit and look fine, but I will await Mary's opinion later this a.m.

We also stopped at the discount grocery store and another of the big-box home centers in Norton Shores, before ending our day @ Stan's in Spring Lake. Home for a dinner of vegan gyros. Mary had previously made the tzatziki sauce to go on the gyros that also worked well as salad dressing @ lunchtime. Truly, multi-purpose. All good, and then it was time for me to head upstairs to watch baseball while Mary went down the worm-hole of quirky movies that she loves so well.

Baseball news yesterday was once again 75%.

My beloved, 17 - 18, 3rd place in the AL East Red Sox, took another game from that other team from Chicago, 14 - 18, 4th in the AL Central. Final score, 9 - 2. The X man, Xander Bogaerts, nailed a Grand Slam late in the game to seal the deal. Red Sox RHP Brandon Workman, 2 - 1, got the win over that other team's RHP Delvin Herrera, 0 - 2. The Sox move on to Baltimore to face the Orioles tonight @ 7:05 p.m., when RHP Josh Smith, 0 - 0 goes for the Red Sox while RHP John Means, 3 - 3, pitches for the Orioles.

The 15 - 16, 3rd place in the AL Central Tigers, defeated the 12 - 23, 5th place in the AL Central Royals, 5 - 2. Tigers' RHP Buck Farmer, 2 - 2, got the win over the Royals losing pitcher, Ian Kennedy, 0 -1. OF Brandon Dixon got the walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th to get the win for the Tigers, who welcome the 15 - 19, 4th place in the AL West Angels to Comerica Park tonight @ 7:10 p.m., when LHP Dan Norris, 1 - 0 takes the ball against the Angels RHP Griffin Canning, 0 - 0.

The 13 - 15, 6th in the MWL East White Caps, fell to the 18 - 12, 2nd place in the MWL West, Burlington, IA Bees, 5 - 9. The Caps welcome the 13 - 14, 5th place in the MWL West Peoria Chiefs, to the Fifth/Third Ballpark tonight @ 7:05 P.M.

I thought I'd save the 19 - 12, 1st place in the NL Central Cubs, for last. The Cubs rode a strong pitching performance by LHP Jose Quintana, 4 - 1, to sweep the 2nd place on the NL Central Cardinals and their RHP Adam Wainwright. 3 - 3, to record a solid 13 - 5 win. The win was the Cubs 7th in a row. The Cubs 3rd baseman, Kris Bryant committed two errors in the field, but he looks to be back on track at the plate, going 2/4 and nailing a Grand Slam of his own. The Cubs other big-boppers, Javier Baez, Willson Contreras, Jason Heyward, and Ben Zobrist also hit well, as Zobrist sparkled in left field with great catches and terrific throws. All in all, the game would have been a total blowout if the Cubs relief corps hadn't yielded some late runs to the Cardinals.

The Cubs are home again tonight to face the 9 - 24, 5th/ last place in the NL East Miami Marlins, as the Marlins send RHP Sandy Alcantara, 1 - 3, go against the Cubs LHP Cole Hamels, 3 - 0 @ 8:05 p.m. EDT.

Today, indoor chores, music. art, reading, to go with retirement. I don't know what Mary has in store. I've already started my day in the kitchen, as I made my soon to be famous apple and cabbage Cole slaw with creamy dressing. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 5:30 a.m. in "The City."

I got up a while ago, but with all that I've been doing since then, I just got around to sitting down to blog. You know how it goes, reading emails, putting things away in my office, emptying the dishwasher, letting out the fur-children, playing with the girls, etc, well...

At any rate, we have a current temperature of 39° under clear skies. I could see one of the planets, probably Jupiter, but it could be Mars, Saturn, or any of seven possible planets, when I let the fur-children out arond 3:00 a.m. Who knows? We are anticipating a high temperature of 65° under mostly sunny skies. Here's hoping.

We have only one plan for today, to get up late, do a few small errands and some indoor chores, and then kick back and retire. The sun will rise this morning @ 6:33 a.m. and set later @ 8:50 p.m. By the by, the high temperature tomorrow will reach 59°, albeit with a 70% chance for light rain. Tuesday's high is forecast to reach only 49°!

I was listening to Coast to Coast AM and guest host Jimmy Church was playing Emerson, Lake and Palmer's, From the Beginning. Here is a link to that song from YouTube.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9kXfW2gIcw

But as usual, I digress. I was just running some music through my mind and I started singing/strumming Mary Fahl's Going Home. Ms. Fahl was formerly the lead vocalist for a 90s band named October Project and Going Home is a song that I'm working on right now. While it is song that was written about the American Civil War and  technically not an Irish tune, it has some familiar parallels in its lyrics and time signature, so that's why I'm working on the song for my Irish Jam Session. Naturally I had to go to YouTube for Mary's version. I'll add that here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiigALCLBzA

Baseball news yesterday was 75% good, but that other 25% was bad, very bad!

My beloved, 16 - 18, 3rd in the AL East Red Sox, pounded that 14 - 17, 4th place in the AL Central other team from Chicago, 15 - 2 yesterday. En route, the Red Sox got 10 hits in a row, two shy of the Major League record of 12! Red Sox LHP, Eduardo Rodriguez, 3 - 2, was victorious over that other team's RHP Manny Banuelos, 2 - 1. The Red Sox and that other team play this afternoon @ 2:10 p.m. EDT, as RHP Rick Porcello,2 - 3, takes the ball for the Red Sox and RHP Dylan Covey, 2 - 1, goes for that other team.

Sadly the 14 - 16, also 3rd place, albeit in the AL Central Tigers, fell flat on their faces, as they lost to the 12 - 22, last place in the AL Central Royals, 3 - 15. Starting and losing RHP Tyson Ross, 1 - 4, lost to the Royals own RHP Homer Bailey, 3 - 3. Ross was so porous, that he was pulled by Tigers' manager, Ron Gardenhire, after 1 1/3 innings! The Tigers and the Royals wrap up their series today @ 1:10 p.m. when Tigers RHP Spencer Turnbull, 2 - 2, goes against the Royals RHP Brad Keller, 2  - 3.

The Cubs $126 million man, Yu Darvish, looked as human as ever, as he had the Cubs down 1 - 5 with a series of bad pitches early in the game. Fortunately for Darvish, the Cubs' back-up catcher, Taylor Davis, came to the plate following an intentional walk to the Cubs' Kyle Schwarber to load the bases and got his first Major League home run, a grand slam, to tie the game @ five. The game remained tied through several relief pitchers until the Cubs' All World Player, SS Javier Baez, deposited a ball over the wall to give the Cubs the lead. 6 - 5, and then the victory as RHP Brandon Kintzler was relieved by closer RHP Pedro Strop. Strop got the save and Kintzler the win.

The Cubs are now 18 - 12 and in 2nd place in the NL Central, just 1/2 game behind the 20 - 13. 1st place Cardinals. LHP Jose Quintana. 3 - 1, goes for the Cubs tonight @ 7:05 EDT against the Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright. 3 - 2.

The 13 - 14, 5th place in the MWL East Caps defeated the 17 - 12, 2nd place  in the MWL West Burlington, IA Bees, 6 - 5. The Caps and the Bees go again this afternoon @ 3:00 p.m.

I almost forgot, I made it to that workshop on watercolors @ Hemlock Crossing yesterday afternoon and I didn't come away with a suitable for hanging result. However, I learned some new techniques, painted an impressionistic rendering of trilliums, and also learned that I have a lot to learn.

So like Porky the Pig oft intoned for Looney Tunes,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBzJGckMYO4

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 6:00 a.m. in "The City."

I was originally thinking about keeping this one short, but as is often the case, so much happened in my world yesterday, that I decided that short wasn't long enough. A nice play on words, don't you think?

The weather today will be improved over yesterday. While not significantly different, the fact that we will reach the upper 50s or lower 60s today is a marked improvement. However, that improvement will only last one more day, tomorrow, and then it's back to the 50s until May 17, if the forecast from the NWS is to be believed. Today's high will reach 59° after we fall to this morning's overnight low of 44°. The skies will remain partly-cloudy, but there isno rain in the forecast. The sun will rise shortly @ 6:34 a.m. and set much later @ 8:48 p.m.

Baseball news yesterday was 75% good. The lone dull spot was the 12 - 14 Caps, who lost to the Burlington, IA Bees, 2 - 5. That loss finds the Caps in sole possession of 6th place in the MWL East, while the Bees, @ 17 - 11, are in 2nd place in the MWL West. Both teams go again tonight @ 6:00 p.m.

In Major League™ baseball, the 17 - 12, 2nd in the NL Central Cubs, took one from the 20 - 12, 1st place in the NL Central Cardinals, 4 - 0. RHP Kyle Hendricks turned in a pitching performance reminiscent of Hall of Fame and former Cubs pitcher, Greg Maddux. Hendricks needed only 81 pitches to shut out the Cardinals as he got the win, his second against four losses, over the Cardinals RHP Jack Flaherty, who is 3 - 2. Anthony Rizzo nailed a 3-run home run in the 3rd for all the runs the Cubs would need.

Today, the Cubs send RHP Yu Darvish, 2 - 3, to the mound @ 4:05 p.m. today to get his first taste of the Cubs/Cardinals rivalry, against the Cardinals own RHP Micheal Wacha, 2 - 0.

Meanwhile, the decision was made to activate last year's starting shortstop, Addison Russell, to the MLB™ active roster, but he remains in Iowa with the Cubs' triple A team, relearning how to play 2nd base upon his return to the parent club. Russell has not played @ 2nd since 2015, so he has to relearn how to field from a different angle. Javier Baez is playing so well at shortstop, that the Cubs have no plans to upset the apple cart and move him back to 2nd base.

My beloved, 15 - 18 4th in the AL East Red Sox took one from that other team from Chicago, 6 - 1. The Sox "Ace", LHP Chris Sale, looked like the old Sale as he fanned 10 and nearly went the distance in the win. That other team is not that good, as is true of the Sox, so take Sale's win with that proverbial grain of salt. The Sox and that other team go again tonight @ 7:10 p.m., when the Sox' LHP Eduardo Rodriguez, 2 - 2 goes against that other team's LHP Manny Banuelos.

The 14 - 15 Tigers, 3rd in the AL Central, took one from the lowly 11 - 22 Kansas City Royals, 4 - 3, as LHP Matthew Boyd improved to 3 - 2 with his win over the Royals' Jorge Lopez, 0 - 3. The Tigers and the Royals play again this afternoon @ 4:10 p.m., when the Tigers' Tyson Ross goes up against the Royals' RHP Homer Bailey, 2 - 3.

I started a new book yesterday before we went out to run some errands. We finally made arrangements to have a new carpet made for the mud-room. We returned to the store that installed our current whole-house carpeting. The new carpet should be ready in about two to three weeks.

Otherwise, John has nearly finished painting the kitchen, but Mary's corner shelf remains in pieces, pending a final decision on whether to reinstall it in the original location, or, to change things entirely. Frankly, I am in favor of reinstalling the old shelf and being done with it. But, the decision is not mine to make, as it is Mary's kitchen, However, I'll remind her that the old shelf was/is the home for many cookbooks and her treasured earthenware bowls which are now on the counter, so...

Ginger had her dinner last night and true to form, she had to lie about and rest afterwards. She always looks so cute when she is sleeping. What say you?

While only the "Second Cutest Dog on the Planet" she looks great when quietly resting.

Today, I am off to Hemlock Crossing County Park for another art session, this one in watercolors, entitled Wildflower Splendor. This workshop will be led by the same artist that facilitated my workshop on acrylics. I'm looking forward to the session, as I may come away with another, suitable for hanging, painting of flowers.

Mary has a game-time decision to make on whether she will go along and enjoy the splendors of the trails @ Hemlock Crossing as I slave over my canvas, or whether to stay home and keep the fur-children company. I don't know as of this writing whether John will be in the house again today. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 3:30 a.m. in "The City."

Well, my apple pie was an epic failure. It looked great, but somehow, I put cayenne pepper into the apple filling and I got spicy apple pie. Some in the book club liked it, while others, Mary among them, couldn't wait to put their piece into the wastebasket. Not a good way to end my dessert run before we take our summer hiatus next month. Sigh.

We followed my failure and our meeting with a stop at our favorite watering hole for brews and bean burritos. We were joined by Barb and Larry from our book club and had a great time. Phew!

Otherwise, John is making steady progress on the painting. I like the look of the downstairs bathroom more each day. Now he is on to the kitchen. Similar color scheme, actually lanyard, not golden gate as I said in yesterday's blog, for the kitchen and the mudroom.

Baseball news yesterday was once again half and half.

My beloved, 14 - 17, 4th place in the AL East Red Sox, took another game from the 14 - 19 last place in the AL West Oakland As, 7 - 3. Veteran RHP Marcus Walden, 4 - 0, out-dueled the As RHP Mike Fiers, 2 - 3 for the win. The Sox got a home run from Mitch Moreland en route to the victory. The Sox are now off to Chicago to meet that other, 13 - 15, 3rd place in the AL Central team @ 8:10 p.m. tonight, as LHP David Price, 1 - 2 faces RHP Lucas Giolito, 2 - 1, for that other team.

The 16 - 12, 2nd place in the NL Central Cubs, have the day off as they return to the field on Friday @ Wrigley to face the front-running, 20 - 10 Cardinals @ 2:20 p.m. EDT. Last night in Seattle, the Cubs shellacked the 18 - 15, 2nd place in the AL West Mariners, 11 - 0. Three Cubs hit home runs, including Javier Baez, Anthony Rizzo, and Willson Contreras. In fact, the Cubs pounded out enough hits in the top of the 2nd inning to allow Baez to come to bat twice and get a double to go with his home run in that inning.

LHP Jon Lester, 2 - 1, was on cruise-control as he fanned 8 over his 7 innings of work. Jason Heyward also sparkled at the plate and flashed his Gold Glove fielding with a terrific sliding catch in right field. Now it is up to the Cubs and RHP Kyle Hendricks, 1 - 4 to cool off the red hot Cardinals and RHP Jack Flaherty, 3 - 1.

The 13 - 15, 4th place in the AL Central Tigers couldn't get it going yesterday as they fell to the 17 - 15, 1st place in the NL East Phillies, 3 - 7. Tigers' LHP Daniel Norris was lifted for a pinch-hitter by Tigers' manager, Ron Gardenhire, but the pinch-hitter grounded out weakly to end the inning and the Tigers threat as they fell to the Phillies. RHP Buck Farmer took the loss for the Tigers. The Tigers welcome the 11 - 20, last place in the AL Central Royals to Comerica Park tonight @ 7:10 p.m. as LHP Matthew Boyd, 2 - 2, faces RHP Jorge Lopez, 0 - 2.

The 11 - 13, 6th place in the MWL East West Michigan WhiteCaps got shellacked themselves yesterday, as the 13 - 11, 4th place in the MWL West Clinton, IA Lumberkings beat the Caps, 13 - 2. Since the Caps are a Tigers farm team, that loss does not bode well for any help for the Tigers from their A level team. The Tigers and the Lumberkings play tonight @ 7:30 p.m.

I saw both ends of the train run on the RSTL yesterday. At 8:56 a.m. I watched as MMRR locomotives 2019 and 2025 rolled past heading south, towing 11 DBTCs and one DWTC. Later, @ 1:35 p.m., I saw those same locomotives pass by heading north, towing five CHCs, 17 DBTCs, and three DWTCs, all fully loaded, judging by the shaking of the manse as they passed.

As previously noted, we had a good book club meeting yesterday in spite of my epic failure and that was about the extent of our energy expenditure. The fur-children were out and in due to the rain and they showed no desire to extend their outdoor activities.

Today, I will read more, solve another crossword puzzle and go to the chiropractor with Mary in the afternoon.

Oops, I almost forgot. We have a current temperature of 40° under mostly-clear skies. Today's high will reach only 52°, but there is no rain in the forecast from the NWS. We will reach the 60s on Saturday and Sunday, but then we'll see temps in the 50s for many more days. The sun will rise today @ 6:37 a.m. ans set later @ 8:46 p.m. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, across the nation and across the world. It is just past 1:30 a.m. in "The City."

We have a current temperature of 44° under cloudy/rainy skies. Today, the high temperature will only reach 55° with more rain in the forecast and winds in the mid-teens. It looks like rain will be in the forecast for a few days as will temperatures in the 50s. This is, after all, W. Michigan. The sun will rise later this morning @ 6:38 a.m. and set later tonight @ 8:45. All times are EDT.

We got out late yesterday and that was under rainy conditions. John was in yesterday to paint the downstairs bathroom and it looks terrific. The Golden Gate color is much better than the green that was on the walls. Even the faux antique painted corner cabinet that I thought should be repainted, looks nice against the walls. Who knew?

I had my final P/T appointment yesterday. Ben, my therapist, feels as I do, that I can make additional progress if I stay on track with my home strengthening exercises. It is up to me now.

Baseball news yesterday was good. The 15 - 12, 3rd place in the NL Central Cubs, defeated the 18 - 14, 2nd place in the AL West Mariners, 6 - 5. It looks like Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are coming around to their regular form. The Cubs announced that SS Addison Russell will be optioned to Triple A Iowa when he comes off the suspended list. He needs more at bats and more time at second base to that he can be comfortable at that position when he returns to the Cubs, rather than his accustomed shortstop position, where Javier Baez has been playing so well. Today's game will be @ 6:40 p.m. EDT when LHP Jon Lester, 1 - 1, takes the mound against the Mariners LHP Marco Gonzalez, 5 - 0.

My beloved, 13 - 17, 4th place in the AL East Red Sox, beat the 14 - 18, 4th place in the AL West As, 5 - 1, behind the improved performance of RHP Rick Porcello, 2 - 3. The As just couldn't get a solid hit. Today, the Sox once again play the As in an early start @ 1:05 p.m., when Sox' RHP Hector Velasquez, 0 - 2, takes the mound against the As RHP Mike Fiers. 2 - 2.

The 13 - 15, 3rd place in the AL Central Tigers defeated the 16 - 13, 1st place in the NL East Phillies, 3 - 1. RHP Spencer Turnbull, 2 - 2, had his good "Stuff" and the Phillies couldn't get past Turnbull's magic. Later tonight @ 7:05 p.m., the Tigers send LHP Dan Norris, 1 - 0 against the Phillies RHP Aaron Nola, 2 - 0. A win by the Tigers would be great against a quality team like the Phillies.

The 10 - 12, 7th in the MWL East Caps were rained out in Clinton, IA lat night. They will make up the game today @ 12:00 p.m.

I baked an apple pie for our book club meeting later today. It looks great, see the picture, but the taste has yet to be determined. I anticipate that it will be terrific, just saying.

Perfect!

Today, John will return to paint the kitchen and I'll do more reading and crossword solving. I will also do more strengthening exercises too. Mary has something planned, but it won't be in the kitchen. Ciao.