My blogging has suffered because it takes entirely toooooo long for the pictures to load. It may be my computer it it may be blogger.

JUNETEENTH

Degrees in the 70's with a cool breeze was perfect for this years Juneteenth Celebration. Opened by the Allstars  Band comprised of star band students from all over the state. A fantastic band, the students were multi-talented displaying dance steps and practiced moves that seemed second nature to them.

The Corvette Club took up the rear of the mini parade. Auto owners flaunted the special features of their "rides" as onlookers cheered and photographed or videotaped the show.

The talent and vendors  this year were not as large as in the past but still worth seeing.



The Goins Sisters singing Gospel



 A lady in green allows me to take her picture.

This post has been a headache which I believe to be the blogger website. Slow downloads af pictures and constant halting while typing text. I've had the same thing happen with the typing on public computers. The cursor disappears.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

To make the detergent, I chose the recipe from The Burlap Bag. I had no problem locating Borax but washing soda and Fels-Naptha soap was a different story.
Sis suggested that I try ACE Hardware. Low and behold, I found the soap ($1.29) and the washing soda ($4.29) sitting right there on the shelf together.

Here is the recipe for:
HOMEMADE LAUNDRY DETERGENT

1 c. borax
1 c. washing soda
1 bar soap (I used 1/2 bar)
Grate soap into bowl.  Pour in borax and washing soda. Mix until it looks like regular laundry detergent . Store in a plastic tub. Use 1-11/2 TBS per load.

NOTES:

• I grated 1/2 bar of soap instead of the entire bar.
• Mixing it together it still didn't look like regular detergent. If you look at the photo at The Burlap Bag's site you'll see that mine looks pretty much like hers.
• Burlap Bag warns not to use on exposed skin for too long. Good tip because it made my hands dry and itchy. I would suggest using household gloves for any  hand cleaning.
• Also, don't expect sudsing.
• I increased the amount of detergent I used per load
  I made two batches of the laundry detergent. One with the Fels-Naptha soap and another with Lavender scented Yardley soap that I got from the Dollar Store.

These are my dark clothes inside the washer.  I'm using the Fels-Naptha soap recipe in this load. As stated before, The Burlap Bag tells us that there will be little to no suds. Suds don't do the cleaning . They're really just there for aesthetic purposes to make us think the product is reaaaalllly cleaning.

When I did my second load which was lighter clothing I used the lavender soap mixture.

I was pleased with the results of both loads.

My detergent won't last as long as the recipe's author because I used a cup for a large load, 1/4 cup for a small load and 1/2 cup for a medium load.

I plan to begin using vinegar as my fabric softener after I run out of the store bought type. BTW- I have used vinegar in the rinse before and NO there is no vinegar smell left in the clothes.

THAT'S IT ***

COMIC BENEFIT

This was my first time using the camera on my phone. This little feat which is probably a breeze to most is one of the many technology tasks I have in my head to learn to do.

WRITTEN MAY 27th Right now ATand T is holding hostage the photos I took at Sundays benefit for baby Marley. I took the photos with my phone and uploaded them to photo locker at the ATandT site and now it won’t let me have them back. It continues to tell me that it’s not operating at this time. ( I really, really, really detest ATandT) 

After  hours of trial and error my pictures were released. 



Eric Johnson



The 18 month old baby referred to here  along with her father were in a car accident on highway 78 during rainy weather. The baby was trapped in her car seat barely breathing and received severe spinal cord injuries. Doctors are saying she may not ever walk. Her Dad was thrown from the vehicle and also taken to the hospital.  He is recovering from his injuries.



Comic Felicia
The man filming is their manager, Bennie Mac



Comic Felicia cracked us up telling the story of how she went to church one Sunday wearing a girdle, something she says is not a part of her dress code. She related the various mishaps that took place because of the girdle, such as pockets of gas in her system, the inability to breathe fully and fainting. Fainting made those around her think that she was "slain in the Spirit."

The Titusville A.O.H. Church of God sponsored this event and let it be known that the parents didn’t ask them to do this but it was something they wanted to do for the family.   A businessman I know promotes several local comics and some of his comedians would be appearing on the show. For some time he has been urging me to come to one of the shows.  After seeing them perform I’ll probably attend future shows.

Comic Xavier

Xavier began his spot by telling us he has  eight children and that he supports them all. He also said

that he’s been married three times. There was a low growl of disapproval in the audience.  

The first wife died after eating tainted chicken salad.

The second wife died of food poisoning after eating chicken salad.

 The third wife died after being beat with a baseball bat.

(PAUSE

 She wouldn’t eat the chicken salad.

The audience roared.

I’m pretty sure they kept it clean since it was church but that’s the sign of a real comedian to me. They can tell clean funny jokes.

As you can see from the program with the baby’s picture on it there was much more to the event. After making my donation I made a discreet exit.
THAT'S IT***

RED HATTERS

It may have been 97 degrees or higher outside on Saturday, but this didn’t stop the Red and Pink Hatters from dining al fresco at Vulcan Park.






This was my first Red Hat Society event.  Queen T. did a fabulous job of planning the event

The picnic area we were in required going up and down steps a few times but once we got settled the Queen had us do an icebreaker game. We were divided into two teams. There were two paper bags with their tops rolled down. Inside were a pair of garden gloves and peppermint stars. A person from each team had to unroll the bag, put on the gloves, unwrap the cellophane candy and put it in her mouth. Once that was done, she was to remove her gloves, put them back in the bag and roll it back down whereupon the next team member took over. The team to finish first would be winners.  Each member of the winning team was given a small red and white or pink and white flowered tote bag.

Before eating a business meeting was conducted. I have to hand it to the Queen, she had a calendar of events all the way up to February 2013. I just love organization and timeliness.  This particular chapter has only been in existence for a year.

 I’m looking forward to the camaraderie and activities. I guess I’ll be accumulating a lot of red and purple.