Earlier this evening I went for a walk and took several pictures with my phone. Let me tell you something about me: I don’t like posting on the Tablet, typing one letter at a time with the stylus. I find it well nigh unbearable on my phone. I got most of the pictures uploaded to WordPress. Now I am tired.
However, I still have the wherewithal for a Monstrous Monday Post. Before I left for the walk, I took picture of a couple of our own Christmas decorations that I think my readers will enjoy.
Yes, that is a Santa hat.
That ghost was in an upstairs window for Halloween. He was a little too bright to leave on all night. I brought him downstairs recently for that very quality. I added the Santa hat, because I found some for a good price. I also put a Santa hat on another Halloween friend.
Meet Elliot Ghoul.
He is still plugged in and occasionally lets loose with an evil laugh and an invitation to accompany him to the graveyard. The cool thing is you can see the reflection of our light-up Santa. I was unable to get Santa to light, but my husband Steven cleverly solved the problem.
Unlike me, he is a little too bright.
The beauty part is, I have several pictures and a couple of paragraphs saved as a draft. That means tomorrow’s blog post will be a breeze! I guess Mondays aren’t so bad after all.
Yesterday wasn’t too bad of an evening weather-wise, so I thought I would take a walk. I brought my phone in case of any photo ops. I have mentioned how I hesitate to take pictures of people’s houses without their permission. One Facebook friend told me I could take a picture of her house, but, alas, her lights were not on when I went by. Still, I found a few things to snap. I discovered after I got home that my pictures had not turned out very well. Under the heading Waste Not, Want Not, I decided to use a few anyways.
A lot of houses are beautifully decorated, so I was enjoying my walk quite a bit. However, I adhered to my rule of not photographing other people’s houses without permission. Then something in a tree caught my eye. It was a ghost! Not, I imagine, the Ghost of Christmas Past, but I suppose you never know.
It IS still Halloween!
I decided to walk by my beloved Herkimer Historic Four Corners. As I approached, I noticed a village decoration on a street lamp. First I wanted a shot of a lighted tree in Herkimer County Historic Society’s Suiter House and Herkimer Reformed Church.
It looks a little like the Haunted Four Corners in these pictures.
I must get a closer view of this. For one reason, there is a graveyard.
Oh Christmas Tree!
I crossed the street to get a shot of the County Courthouse. As I look at all the reflections in these pictures, all I can think of is the “orbs” in other pictures that people say are ghosts. I’m pretty sure these actually are reflections, but considering the ghost in the first picture and in the spirit of the season, I am willing to keep an open mind.
This building is also supposed to be haunted.
I wasn’t sure that would be a good picture, so I tried to take one from the middle of the road. Naturally I picked a moment when there were no cars.
You can almost see the colors. Kind of sort of.
I had to hurry back across the street as another car came along. I took a picture of the jail from the same side of the street.
Does the ghost of Roxalana Druse haunt here? I have never encountered her.
I tried to get another shot of the church before continuing down Church Street.
I turned down Prospect Street to make my walk a little longer, since I had not been running since Saturday. I saw some nice lights in front of Bruce Ward Realty. I was sure a business would not mind being shown in my blog.
These lights are way more colorful in real life.
My real goal was Meyers Park, where I had previously noticed the gazebo (or is it a band stand?) was lit.
You can see the colors in this, but, alas, not as well as in person.
It is my first real Sunday since October. I must get up and go to my new job tomorrow and work a whole week. Yikes! On the one hand, it will be nice to get into a routine, to feel the rhythm of Monday through Friday, to once again be gainfully employed. On the other hand, Yikes!
One way to ensure a pretty bad Monday.
There is some satisfaction in being able to post that picture again. I can only hope my new job is pleasant enough that I do not really feel like that. It is early days yet. The uncertainty makes this a true Wrist to Forehead Sunday.
That’s me, with my wrist actually on my forehead.
I am trying to take my mind off my troubles with a little murder and mayhem. I cannot possibly scroll through my Media Library again looking for a logo from Snapped. I still have a few things to do to prepare myself for my work week.
As soon as I recover from my swoon. It is, as I said, Wrist to Forehead Sunday. Perhaps now that I have a job, I can afford to purchase that chaise lounge for future swoons.
Part of my Scattered Saturday was a visit to Joseph Putrello’s Barista Bar.
I keep repeating to myself, “Barista!”
We did drive back through Utica to Joseph Putrello’s Barista Bar. We drank espresso and hot cocoa, and ate cannolis and gingerbread cookies. Yum!
An obvious photo op.
When Kim went to sip her espresso, she noted that her preferred method of holding the cup hid the logo. I persuaded her to post with logo showing.
It was a delightful interlude, whether you remember the difference between a baristro and a bistro or not. I can only hope it makes for an adequate Scattered Saturday Post.
Steven and I celebrated Friday with a yummy dinner from Salvatore’s in Herkimer. I opted to call for pick up, since I also wanted to stop by Valley Wine and Liquor for accompanying wine.
I could not find a Salvatore’s menu so relied on my memory. Steven suggested lasagna. I suggested Bosco Sticks from the appetizer menu and chocolate spoon cake for dessert. At the liquor store, I selected a bottle of Barefoot Pinot Noir.
We still have not eaten the cake, but everything else was delicious. I hope this does not make for a boring Lame Post Friday, but I suppose these things happen sometimes, especially on a full stomach. Happy Friday, everyone! I know mine is!
Salvatore’s Pizzeria and Restaurant is located at 650 1/2 German St., Herkimer, NY, phone number 315-866-2600. They are open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday.
Valley Wine and Liquor is located at 326 Caroline St., Herkimer, phone number 315-867-5800. They are open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 12 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
So I had my first full day of work since late October. I guess I am once again gainfully employed. However, I am being trained and am still on my probationary period. I am trying to remain positive, but this could still go south.
In the meantime, blog posts must be made. At least, my blog posts by me, to the best of my ability. Full disclosure: I am not feeling particularly able tonight. No matter. I will think of something.
It’s a Barista Bar!
I thought I would throw in a picture to pep things up. I was talking about this place to my mother earlier this evening. It is a lovely place to get coffee, located on Genessee Street in Utica, NY. I may write an article about it to submit to Mohawk Valley Living magazine.
Unfortunately, as I was talking to Mom, I could not remember the name of the place. Something fancier than “cafe.” I knew it began with a “b,” but all I could think of was “bistro,” and I knew that wasn’t it.
“It’ll come to me,” I said. It did not, till I saw the picture. “Barista Bar!” I exclaimed, which confused my husband, although he is used to me.
I could use a cup of coffee to pep myself up right now, but it would probably keep me up all night. On the brighter side, this post is over 200 words. I call that respectable for a Non-Sequitur Thursday Post. I hope to see you all again for Lame Post Friday.
I promised myself I could do a Mid-Week Monsters Post. Who could be uncheered by monsters? That is an homage to Winnie the Pooh, who famously said, “Who could be uncheered by a balloon?” I may have that quote wrong, but nobody is perfect.
It is no shame to be unable to pick.
Regular readers know who my personal favorite is, but I love them all.
He is fine, yes.
I continue with a picture of one of my personally owned monsters, Harold Ghoul. I got him at a neighbor’s garage sale last summer. I gave him the name.
He’s scary!
Back to movie monsters with my beloved Nosferatu. I am currently reading an annotated version of Dracula by Bram Stoker. It is absorbing and educational.
Talk about a hot flash!
Here is a dramatic scene from HorrorHotel, another favorite of mine. I guess this week’s monsters are not particularly interrelated, despite my using Nosferatu twice. But what is wrong with a random stroll among monstrous memories?
Not exactly a monster, but close enough.
Here is a picture tangentially related to the first one. Vincent Price was in TheFly. This particular picture is not from that movie, but please bear in mind my earlier assertion about nobody being perfect. In fact, I am not a fan of TheFly, but I LOVE House on Haunted Hill.
One of my favorite purveyors of monsters.
This picture is related to the one immediately previous. It is of the producer-director extraordinaire William Castle, coaching one of the other actors in House on Haunted Hill.
My Mid-Week Monsters Post has, indeed, cheered me up. I hope my readers are reasonably entertained. Happy Wednesday, everyone!
So I wrote a whole blog post and WordPress would not let me publish it. It would not even save it at first, telling me I could not use those terms. Then I found it in Drafts with no Categories or Tags (which I had so included), so I am trying again.
This is going to be a Tired Tuesday Post. I did not do much today except to move a little closer to becoming employed. I don’t like to say much about that. For one reason, this is not a work blog. For another… well, I had another reason and started to tell it, but it was too complicated. Or incoherent.
Aren’t they jolly?
I decided to throw in a picture to pep things up. These Santa Clauses did not make it downstairs this year. It has not been a good year for decorating for me.
How about this cutie?
I decided to throw in a little snow for good measure. This is a picture from this year. All that snow went away and has not been replaced yet, which is completely fine with me.
This is me.
This picture showed up in my Facebook Memories. It was two years ago, at the Reindeer Run 5K in Little Falls, NY. I hope the Run returns next year.
I seem a bit disjointed today. This is not unusual for me, especially lately, and I guess it is not really surprising. I am having a difficult time doing anything, and when I do something, I am plagued by the certainty that it is the wrong thing to do and I am doing it poorly in any case.
There, I was trying not to whine about my petty little malaise and I went ahead and did it anyways. I offer my apologies but will not delete the paragraph. For one reason, I see I am over 250 words. By my own rules for me, making a blog post is the right thing to do, so I have that going for me.
I hope to see you all tomorrow. I will strive not to have a Wuss-Out Wednesday, but no promises.
I thought I would go for a little walk with my camera instead of my usual Monstrous Monday Post. It was just starting to get dark, so I could admire neighbors’ Christmas lights. I probably would not take many pictures, because neighbors are not usually out for me to ask permission. However, I did not despair of getting a few shots.
Can you read it?
The first thing that caught my eye had nothing to do with Christmas. It was in the parking lot of the apartment building at the end of our street. I think they could use a new sign, but since nobody was, in fact, parked there, perhaps that one is OK. Continuing through the parking lot, I saw something I could definitely take a picture of.
Baby Jesus isn’t there yet!
This is at Trinity Lutheran Church. Next I remembered a wreath on a hitching post nearby. That should be OK to photograph.
I have long been fascinated by a hitching post in this day and age.
As I continued to walk, I saw a tree in a yard I liked, but it was still too light out to get a decent shot. Then I saw a jolly snowman and friends that I could not resist.
I thought it would be OK, since you can’t really see the house.
Soon I was heading toward my own house, which I graciously gave myself permission to photograph.
I took it at an angle, so Frankentree would not block the lights.
My Santa Claus will not light. I tried changing the bulb, but no luck. I can’t think of anything else to try.
It was a pleasant little walk. I must walk or run in the evening more often, so I can enjoy the decorations. If I see any neighbors, I will ask permission to take pictures.
I am in a rotten, rotten mood, and it does not matter why. What does matter is that I cannot find a decent stylus so am attempting to post with one bad finger. No, it is not eligible for me to move to my laptop for ten finger typing. Again, it does not matter why.
One does not expect to be in a foul mood in December. One naturally expects to be filled with the Christmas spirit. It just feels wrong to be in a foul mood. Then again, that makes this perfectly eligible for a Wrist to Forehead Sunday Post.
So here I am, typing one letter at a time with my finger instead of a stylus. Does anybody else feel devoid of the Christmas spirit at odd times this time of year? Or even at all times? I don’t know about anyone else, but as soon as I feel I ought to be in the Christmas spirit, that is the exact opposite of how I feel.
Come to think about it, I was just thinking about how I ought to make a blog post. That would explain the foolishness of this blog post. On the other hand, I am at 200 words. That makes this respectable, even for a Wrist to Forehead Sunday Post. I hope my readers are in a better than foul mood.
Mohawk Valley Girl 