The Summertime Lame

Posted on September 5, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

I bet you thought I was going to make my Lame Post Friday blog post on Saturday morning (you know who you are).  I’ll tell you what, it may yet happen, because I got nuthin’. Quick, throw in a picture and say something about that!

Oh my goodness gracious.

This was me in August of 2022, in LiFT (Little Falls Theatre Company)’s production of Love’s Labour’s Lost.  Oh how I miss summer Shakespeare!  But it is not summer any more.  Well, technically it is, officially and unofficially.  Officially it is until Sept. 22.  Unofficially we have until Monday.  Outside it is hot out to me.  Feels like summer.  I’ll call it summer.

Wait a minute! I thought he was my boyfriend!

Here is a rehearsal shot from that play.  I do not remember what was going on, but doesn’t it look dramatic?  I must get involved in another play.  My body seems to be behaving.  I’ll ignore that new little pain in the hip.  Uh, I mean, I don’t have a new little pain anywhere.

Plenty of time left to relax in the warm weather!

To avoid this being an entirely theatrical post, I share a picture of me relaxing.  I loved these sneakers so much I completely wore them out.  Now I am in the market for a new pair of flowered sneakers.  Oh yeah, I was going to clean my house before acquiring any new clothes.  I guess I’d better be less lame about cleaning.

 

1 Comment

Posted in humor, personal, Lame Post Friday and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Is It Spooky Season Yet?

Posted on September 4, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have been making a few late blog posts lately (see what I did there?), and I am doing it again with a Throwback Thursday made early-ish Friday morning.  My early gets later and later as I go, because I find I love staying in bed.  If I wanted to be really productive, I would get up at 2 or 3 a.m., when I am wide awake, but I say, “No, no, I want another REM cycle!” and do relaxations techniques or count sheep till I sleep again.  Then at five or six,  I want to stay asleep till seven or eight.  Judge me if you are so inclined.

I wonder where I put this little cutie.

I delved in my Media Library back to September 2017 and saw several spooky illustrations.  For me and my late, beloved husband Steven, spooky season began after Labor Day, or on years with a late Labor Day like this one, Sept. 1.  Actually, Halloween for us was less of a season than a lifestyle.  I’m sure real goth and horror buffs would laugh at our idea of the macabre, because we loved cheesy horror movies, not gory slasher flicks, and we had no problem with the cutest of Halloween decorations.

Well, maybe one gory slasher flick.

Then again, we loved Carrie, which you could hardly call cheesy.  Actually, I found Carrie more sad than scary.  She was so happy on prom night!  And everybody was NOT laughing at her, just a few of the mean kids.  The thing I found least believable about Carrie was that there was not one misfit kid in that school to befriend her.  I was a misfit kid in junior high, and I had friends.   We weirdos tend to stick together.  Was her school so small she was the only one?  But I had to suspend my disbelief for dramatic purposes.  And I agree with my husband that the gym teacher did not deserve what she got.

OK, here’s a silly one, not particularly spooky.

I add this one merely to honor the recently passed Tim Curry.  My family has spent many hours happily entertained playing the game Clue.  The movie certainly has a stellar cast.

I see I am over 350 words.  Score!  I guess I had better get to work cleaning my house, so I can start decorating for this year’s spooky season.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, personal, Throwback Thursday and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Not Exactly Guns n Roses

Posted on September 3, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I would do a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday post so looked in my phone for a few pictures I have not used yet.  I picked three.

I got this one while the gettin’ was good!

This was one of the pictures I took to go with the story I wrote for the Daily Sentinel about the Ilion Village Board meeting on Monday.  The chair of the Ilion Marina Committee said this sign would not last the winter so they would like to relocate it to the Ilion Fish and Game Club, who will undertake to restore it and display it there.  Remington, unfortunately, is no longer in existence.

Nice!

Here is a picture from Herkimer, taken on a walk I took last Friday.  There were several flower boxes in front of The Java Shop, which I have also written blog posts about.  I do like to see flowers planted around town.

More pretty flowers!

Speaking of flowers, here is an attractive indoor display from my sister Diane’s house, taken when I visited her last week.  She cut some blooms from her hydrangea bush then some of her oregano which had gone to flower and combined the two.  I did not know oregano had purple flowers, but then I have not had an herb garden in some years and cannot recall if I grew oregano when I did have one.

I do like to take pictures just because something catches my eye, so I have something for my Waste Not Want Not Wednesdays.  As always, I thank you for tuning in.

 

3 Comments

Posted in humor, personal, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

My First Mexican Burger

Posted on September 2, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

My Elks friends who meet for breakfast every week occasionally go out for lunch.  When my friend Michele messaged me that they were going to the ParkSide Drive-In in St. Johnsville today, I was happy to join them.  Seven of us went in two cars, and it is a nice drive out Route 5 to St. Johnsville.  I took a picture of the sign for blogging purposes.

Note to self: ParkSide is one word.

Some people were ordering from the take-out window, but we went in and ordered at the counter and sat down.  I had no idea what to get, until Jack reminded me the place was known for Mexicans, which is a burger with peppers and onions mixed in and special Mexican sauce.  I had never had one, so I got that.  I asked for sauce on the side, in case it was too hot.  I got coffee to drink, not being one to drink soda.

The other specials did look tempting.

The Mexican was yummy!  And the sauce was not too hot at all.  I did not use it all, but Hitch was happy to take the rest to dip his fries in.  He said he was going to ask for Mexican sauce to dip his fries in from now on.  I said I liked to dip my fries in different things.  Cheryl mentioned enjoying fries in tartar sauce and was surprised to find I liked that too.  She had a hot dog with sauerkraut, mustard, and relish.

After lunch, Cheryl, Michele, and I had ice cream.  Yum!  My weight-loss daydreams recede a little further into the distance, but at least I hadn’t also gotten french fries.

Parkside Drive-In is located at 7485 State Rt. 5, St. Johnsville, NY, phone number 518-568-2802.

 

6 Comments

Posted in humor, local business, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

My Monday Mood

Posted on September 1, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

I just got hit by a bout of “Here I Am! Take Me Or Leave Me!”  It actually feels pretty good.  First I posted it as my Facebook status, then, having very little else, I decided to write my blog post about it.  Let’s see if I can get 200 words.  I can bill it as a Monday Mental Meanderings.  I can’t call them Middle-aged Musings anymore, unless I live to be over 120.  If so, I will leave instructions in my will for somebody to go back and re-categorize accordingly.  Perhaps I could do it myself on my deathbed.  I probably will not have much else to do at the time.

Yes, I am feeling a little silly.

I need more bling in my life.

Regular readers may recall the Minnie Mouse ears given to me by a friend recently.  She gifted a few other friends with different colors.  We are all going to wear them to the Herkimer Elks Lodge one day soon while Jack makes ice cream drinks.  Yum!

Politics must intrude.

I got hit with my merry mood after taking a shower kind of late in the day and putting on a cute outfit (or do I flatter myself?).  I have to cover the Ilion Village Board Meeting at 5:30.  These meetings have been lively lately, because many residents have attended to protest an AI Data Center which is proposed for the former Remington Arms building.  Remington Arms, for those of you who do not know, was a large gun manufacturer for over 200 years.  It was a terrible thing for the village when they closed.  I worked there for almost 10 years.

It is nice to see people getting involved with local issues, and they are not only talking about the data center but about other issues.  However, this blog is intended to be “totally fun,” so I will probably not write about them here.  I merely mention them in passing.  I will write about them for the Daily Sentinel, a paper out of Rome, NY.  That is my side hustle, a freelance reporter.  Doesn’t that sound cool?

I see I am over 300 words.  Score!  As always, I thank you for tuning in.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Monday Mental Meanderings, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

A Post with a Pause

Posted on August 31, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

You know you are having a Wrist to Forehead Sunday when you ask the Magic 8 Ball whether or not you should get in the shower.  It told me to ask again later, in case you are interested.

Probably not the best way to prepare for the week ahead.

Actually, I am not particularly dreading Monday.  I just wanted to throw in a picture to pep things up.

I miss my adventure buddies!

This picture is to denote passage of time.  I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I called my mother.  I am extremely blessed to have both parents alive and in reasonably good health, and I try to call them every day.  In the course of chatting with my Mom, I mentioned the Magic 8 Ball and asked it again should I get in the shower.  It said, Yes, Definitely.  As if the Magic 8 Ball has a sense of smell!  Maybe it just assumed I am a stinker (not an unreasonable assumption).  Anyways, I got in the shower and now I am clean and fresh and ready to finish the blog post.

The second picture is of my bestie Kim, who moved away, and my late, dearly missed husband Steve, on one of our many Mohawk Valley Adventures.  I will never be done missing my husband, but there is no point in wishing for what I cannot have, so I take a deep breath, look for a suitable pair of shoes, and get ready to head out in search of further Mohawk Valley Adventures.  Will I find any?  Or will I just walk around the block and return to sit on the couch, knit, and watch Dateline or Snapped?  A little uncertainty adds interest to my Sunday.

 

3 Comments

Posted in humor, personal, Wrist to Forehead Sunday and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Thanks, Lisa and Valley!

Posted on August 29, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have not been going to as many tastings at Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer, NY as previously, but yesterday, I noticed that Adirondack Winery was there, so I had to make the trip down and see my friend Lisa, who I knew would be pouring.  It was a warm walk, but I needed the exercise.  I may have mentioned how grateful I am to be able to walk again.  I bet you thought I was going to whine about the heat (you know who you are).

She’s awesome!

Even though I am quite familiar with the product, I was happy to sample again.  There were also a couple of new wines to try!  I started with the Cabernet Sauvignon, one of my favorite flavors.  This one rated my ultimate accolade of “yummy.”  As regular readers know, I am not a sophisticated oenophile (I pronounce it “oh-nee-oh-file”).  I found the Pinot Gris a little sweet for my tastes, but then I tend to like my liquor bone dry.

Pina Colada was a new one for me (the Pina should have a tilda over the n, but I do not know how to do that on my Chromebook, or anywhere else for that matter) (as regular readers know, technology eludes me).  It tastes just like a Pina Colada!  It was amazing!  Sweet or not, that is a great summer drink!  I found the Strawberry very strawberry-y. Hey, my Chromebook is not underlining “strawberry-y.”  I guess it agrees that should be a word!

As always I found the Lavender delightful, the wine and the story behind it.  The owner of the winery invented it, because his wife so loved all things lavender.  I told Lisa of a conversation I had with a charming 12-year-old girl once where we were talking about lavender and rolling the “r.”  It sounds better when you say it than when you type it.  The Blueberry was also yummy: fruity but not too sweet.  I mentioned that 1,000 Islands Winery also makes a Blueberry wine.  I will have to get a bottle of both sometime and have a taste-off.  Perhaps sometime when I have another W(h)ine and Cheesey Party.

The last thing I tried was the Lavender Lemonade, two parts wine and one part lemonade.  I decided I liked the straight wine better, but for a summer party this would be OK.  I took a recipe for Serenity Lavender Lemonade, which is a little more complicated.  I also took a flier about the winery in Lake George and the Queensbury Tasting Room.  I would like to get a group together to visit one or both!  With a designated driver, of course.

Valley Wine and Liquor is located at 326 South Caroline St., Herkimer, phone number 315-867-5800.  They have tastings almost every weekend.  You can follow them on Facebook or check out their website at shopvalleywine.com.

 

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, local business, personal, wine tasting and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

A Walk of Some Lame

Posted on August 28, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I would do a kind of a combination Lame Post Friday and Pedestrian Post this morning.  When I discovered I had left my Garmin plugged in overnight, I took that as my sign I should walk right away.  It was prior to 8 a.m., an excellent time for a stroll.

Regular readers know I have not been walking as much as previously and I have not been running at all.  I recently started to get back into a routine of walking every morning, only to come down with a nasty cold or sinus thing that sidelined me, followed by a stomach thing more recently.  Yes, I am whining a lot, stop playing that miniature violin (you know who you are)!

The wreckage of my running dreams?

I felt delightful this morning, and moreso as I began to walk.  I decided to walk downtown and try to check the progress of the demolition of a building on Main Street.  The above picture was taken a week or more ago, when the building had just come down.  They are hard at work clearing away all the debris.  There is another condemned structure, but apparently the village lacks the funds for more demolition.

Another view.

I did not bring my phone with me so did not take a picture of what is currently there.  Perhaps later when I go to have a drink at Pete’s Tavern or the End Zone.  Uh, I mean when I go down to shop at Collis Hardware or Mohawk Valley Community Market (see how I slide in plugs for local businesses?).

I walked for a mile and a quarter and it felt great.  Now I have blogged for over 250 words, and that doesn’t feel too bad either.  Time to get on with my Friday!

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, Lame Post Friday, Pedestrain Post, personal and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Oh, the Avocado!

Posted on August 28, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

This morning I did not want to get out of bed.  I was so comfy and sleepy, I wanted to doze for at least another hour!  Isn’t that always the way it is?  I was wide awake at three.  If I had no place in particular to go, I would have been up and at ’em by five, six at the latest.  Because it was the day for breakfast with my Elks friends, my treacherous body wanted to sleep.  I suppose this is of less interest to my readers than the cafe where we enjoyed breakfast, though, so I will cut to the chase: Castlewood Cafe in New Hartford, NY.

It is perhaps not a castle, but there is a lot of wood.

I knew it was across the street from Sangertown Square mall, and I worked for almost seven miserable years at said mall (the less said about that the better), so I felt I certainly knew how to get there.  Several different ways, as a matter of fact.  Of course I haven’t worked there since 2011 and rarely shopped there, so the different ways of getting there are pretty much all mixed up in my head, so it was perhaps not as smooth a drive as I envisioned.  However, the road I picked did come out where I thought it did, and for once I did not drive right by the place and have to back track.  Yay me!

Not as good a picture, but I wanted to break up the prose.

My sister Cheryl has eaten there and said they sometimes have stuffed French toast as a special.  Yummy!  Sure enough, they had three different kinds on special, and a few more in the regular menu. Hitch got the pumpkin-stuffed kind and said it was delicious.  I was my usual indecisive self.  I had just about decided on Crepes Florentine, having only recently discovered crepes, but then Bonnie ordered an egg sandwich on Focaccia bread with avocado, hard-cooked egg, tomato, cheese and red onion.

“Oh yeah, that!  I’m totally getting that!”  I said.  My friends laughed at me for my sudden change of mind, but they laughed in a nice way.

It was a delicious meal, accompanied by Paul de Lima coffee, which I particularly like.  I also got the chance to give Michele the duck I had gotten for her last Thursday (perhaps you read my blog post about it).

Castlewood Cafe is located at 8548 Seneca Turnpike, New Hartford, NY.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, local business, personal and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Dig That Funky Music!

Posted on August 27, 2026 by mohawkvalleygirl

This is in the nature of a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday post, but it is really about a band I had been wanting to check out, largely because of its name: Uncle Charlie and the Meatballs.  I finally got to hear them at Community Day last Saturday at Town of Herkimer Park in East Herkimer.

They were awesome!

They rocked out with classic rock tunes, such as an old lady like me loves.  Unfortunately, none of my pictures turned out very well, hence my calling this a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday.

Of course I took the opportunity to dance.

By the time they started playing, I had run into my friends Kelly and Jim, so we made our way over and sat down at a picnic table.  I stood up and danced my way over to take a couple of pictures.  On my way back, I ran into another friend and stopped to chat, during which time I accidentally hit something on my camera which videotaped our feet.  I believe I have mentioned my problems with technology.  I erased the video, though, because we did not feel our conversation bore repeating.

I will be delighted to hear them again.

I did not listen for very long before I danced my way out, first dancing over to the tip jar and leaving a tip.  I met another friend in the parking lot with (I think) his grandson.  I mentioned that I had been dancing, at which the grandson immediately started boogeying down.  Let’s hear it for the younger generation!

I follow Uncle Charlie and the Meatballs on Facebook, so I hope to hear them play again soon.

 

Leave a comment

Posted in humor, personal, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
← Older Posts
→