Today is Sue’s* Birthday – hope she got the card I sent her. Brenda and Tom washed clothes all day today, she only has 2 clothes lines and it was a beautiful, sunny, windy day out. Clothes were dry in 2 hours, so I’d take a line down and hang a line up !  This went on all day long!

Brenda fixed stew meat, noodles, corn pudding (recipe I brought her) left over fresh green beans, and fresh strawberry shortcake with whip cream for desert. She is a good cook, and can make due with everything she needs. Like she can’t buy cream style corn so she takes whole kernel corn, puts it in the blender, adds a little water and presto – cream style corn!  Also she bakes like her grandma Mixson, she never measures, just dumps or throws it in!  I can’t believe her!  I’ve always measured everything.

We played Uno again today. Oh, we talked to Larry today and found out that Connie* hasn’t had her baby yet. He said he bought a new house, in fact it’s not built yet.  Brenda told him all about building their house. It seem funny that here we are in Austria talking to Larry in Florida. It really doesn’t seem like we’re really here!

“Lake St. Wolfgang on the way to Bad Ischl, Austria.
Tom stopped and took this picture. To me it looks like a postcard.”
Caption by Mom written on back’

I guess when we’re driving down the roads and miles after mile you see plush, green, rolling, hills and mountains with village after village of Austrian houses and barns and always the snow capped mountains in the background, and always a beautiful swiftly running river with the clearest prettiest water I’ve ever seen anywhere – then I can believe I’m here!  The hills here look like they are terraced, and the most beautiful color of green that I’ve ever seen.  Mile after mile of this, oh, I almost forgot, from Linz to Bad Ischl there were miles and acres and terraces on the wayside and mountains sides of bright yellow dandelions. I have never seen anything like it before.  I wanted Tom to stop and get Kristopher and Jeremy picture picking some, but the field was always too far from the road, beyond fences or no place to stop the car!  By this week most have gone to seed.  Roses are just beginning to bloom this week. The tulips are about gone but the geraniums are just beautiful, so are the Iris’s and pansies. The lilacs trees are still pretty but the apple blossoms are gone, a little tiny apples are starting.

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