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A funeral back home brings back memories

It is Labor Day, so everyone is home today. We washed the laundry, and it is drying nicely on the lines. Daniel Ray is mowing. He mowed my sister Verena’s yard before he started on ours. I pulled the red beets from the garden. We didn’t get a big crop of them. Hopefully, we will have enough to make plenty of pickled beets for church lunch this winter when we host the services. It usually takes around 3 quarts each time. I made breakfast omelets for a late brunch, then I made white gravy to put on top of the omelet. I make each one with whatever they want in theirs. I had bacon, ...

Why the PB&J remains king of the lunchbox

If there is a single sandwich associated with childhood and school lunches in the U.S.A, it has to be the PB&J. Sweet and salty, inexpensive, easy to make (maybe the first sandwich many kids make for themselves?), peanut butter and jelly is as close to iconic as a sandwich can get. It’s been 125 years since the first known written recipe, and the PB&J concept is still going strong. In its simplest form, it’s a lunchbox staple, but it’s also a jumping-off point for creative takes in eateries from delis to high-end restaurants. It’s nothing if not versatile: When peanut ...

Helping a husband get to the point of a story

DEAR ANNIE: My husband is a kind, funny and intelligent man, but at dinner parties he has one habit that is starting to drive me crazy: He talks way too much. He loves telling stories, and once he starts, there is almost no stopping him. A simple story about running into an old friend can turn into a 20-minute play-by-play with every name, date, side comment and completely unnecessary detail included. He often interrupts himself to tell another story, then another, before eventually getting back to the original point. I can see our friends trying to be polite, but sometimes they stop ...

Grasping friend’s Zenker’s diverticulum diagnosis

DEAR DR. ROACH: What’s a Zenker’s diverticulum? My 74-year-old friend was diagnosed with it, along with “cricopharyngeal achalasia.” I’ve never noticed any swallowing difficulties before. — S.W. ANSWER: A Zenker’s diverticulum is an outpouching of the esophagus that extends posteriorly toward the spine, at about the level of the thyroid. The muscles there are relatively weak, and a swallowing abnormality can lead the inside of the esophagus to go through the muscular layer around the esophagus, leading to a blind pouch. The cricopharyngeus muscle is the primary ...

Tub lift solves bathing dilemma

DEAR HELOISE: Recently, you published a comment and question about someone who needed help getting into and out of a bathtub. But after they checked the prices for tubs that you can walk into, they decided not to consider this and figure out a different way to bathe. My mother has always been someone one takes a bath and dislikes showers. She started to have difficulty getting in and out of the tub, until a sibling suggested a tub lift. It’s a chair that goes inside the tub with flaps that slide easily over the side of the tub. It has a simple remote that allows one to lower and ...

Bridge by Steve Becker

There are many slam-oriented conventions, but one of the most valuable is the so-called Grand Slam Force. The GSF is not a new convention, but it has not been generally accepted as a working tool by the average bridge player. This is rather strange, since the GSF is easy to use and hard to abuse. Furthermore, there are many more points than usual at stake when the occasion for its use arises. Let’s see how the convention works on this deal after North’s jump-raise to four diamonds. At this point, South should feel certain of a small slam and should seriously consider the possibility ...