Category Archives: humor

I Need More Monsters

Posted on June 4, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I feel so ill-used when I oversleep and still feel so tired when I wake up.  I was dreadfully tired when I went to bed last night, too, but managed to put on coffee for the morning, so I can be mildly functional now.  But enough whining from me, on with my late Monstrous Monday post.

You can’t see the monsters, but it is a scary shot nonetheless.

In a previous post I used a shot from Invasion of the Body Snatchers but foolishly did not identify it.  I remedy the omission with another shot from that movie.   It is a pretty good flick, but I confess my favorite scenes are early on, when the menace threatens in an undefined manner, and the characters are drinking martinis.  I like martinis.

Watch your head!

Here is a monster of the human variety, Joan Crawford in StraitJacket.  That is one of my go-to movies.  William Castle was a highly entertaining producer and director.  I love his stuff.

Why is she so horrified? I forgot.

I continue this rather disjointed post (Non-Sequitur Monsters?) with a shot from a silent movie that doesn’t get a lot of attention, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.  I have not seen it in a while but remember liking it.  I will have to watch it one day while running in place on the mini-tramp.  That is my usual way of watching silent movies.  Otherwise I want to knit and crochet while I watch, and you really need to keep both eyes on a silent movie.

Now I am over 250 words, so that is enough trolling my Media Library for today.  I hope to get some new monsters to share one day soon, but you know me: No promises.

 

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More Lawn, Still No Order

Posted on June 3, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I did not have a majorly productive weekend, but I did manage to do some yard work today, Sunday.  That gave me a good reason to have a Wrist to Forehead moment, but I shall try not to whine.  Too much, anyways.

When mowing my lawn with the non-power mower, I have left a lot of crap around the edges.  Today I tried to clean up some of that.  One thing I learned, or perhaps was reminded of, is that wild grapevines are quite invasive.  The roots go on forever!  And the vines cling with tenacity to everything handy.  I clipped, I pulled, I hack-sawed.  I added to a growing pile of crap.

One nice thing was becoming a pricker bush slayer again.  You see, some years ago I spent a Sunday taking down a huge pricker bush behind our garage.  When Steven got home from work, he took me out to Miner’s Table at the Herkimer Diamonds Mine.  I wrote about it for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  For the article I took a picture of Steven toasting me.  When the article appeared, the caption of that photo read, “Steven toasts Cindy, pricker bush slayer.”  I may not have that word for word, but close enough.

Evidence of my pricker bush and wild grapevine slaying prowess.

I soon filled a couple of containers for yard waste pick up tomorrow.  I posted on Facebook that I had literally put my blood, sweat, and tears into my yard work.  I do have some bloody-looking scratches on my arms and legs, and I was ready to cry by the time I gave up and went inside.  I have a lot more work to do, but I felt I had made some progress.

I guess it isn’t all that beautiful.

I was thinking I should have taken a “before” picture but it was too late by the time I thought that.  So I took a picture of a section I did not get to.

Something to look forward to.

My father gave me some advice on getting my power mower going, and offered to come over and work on it if I continued to have troubles.  So I may be making more progress on Lawn Order soon.  In the meantime, I have to be pleased with what I was able to get done.  I can only hope it made an entertaining blog post. Once again, thank you for tuning in.

 

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I Slack, But I Post

Posted on June 2, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am afraid this is another post I am making just for the sake of making a post today.  I wonder if I should make that a  category.  It is important to me to post every day.  When one skips a day, it is easy to skip the next one, and the next, etc.  I will try in the future to make more substantial blog posts.  For tonight, however, I will continue to indulge in my Slacker Saturday.

Old slippers but same position.

I am lounged on the couch, feet up, Chromebook on lap, Columbo on DVD player.  The slippers are a pair my late, much loved husband Steven gave me for Christmas some years ago.  I wore them out but show the picture to illustrate my slacker mentality.

Another happy lounger.

Looking in my Media Library for another illustration, I came across this one of our late, dearly missed pooch, Spunky.  He looks so relaxed.  He was an old guy when we adopted him, so he was never very active.

I was not very active today, although I began with great ambitions.  A headache got in the way, alas.  I did get a run in.  No, I did not have a run-in with anybody; I went running.  Sheesh!

Not the sort of run I went on.

This was the first picture I found that had anything to do with running.  I am now over 200 words.  Score!  I hope you are all having a delightful weekend.

 

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Feeling Friday, Feeling Lame

Posted on June 1, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I strive to conquer the type-it-in-backspace-it-out disease at least for long enough to make this week’s Lame Post Friday post.  I am typing it in, at least with all ten fingers, on an unfamiliar computer, never mind why, explanations are tiresome.  All I want to do is make with a few random observations, spout a little half-baked philosophy (the traditional components of Lame Post Friday, I add for anybody just tuning in), hit Publish, and drive on.

“This is a good boy!”

Or I could resort to my Media Library and throw in a few random pictures.  This one is from Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein, one of my very favorite movies.  I quote it often.

“Ah-OOOOOOH!”

I was feeling Friday all day long today, which made it an enjoyable day.  What will the weekend bring?  Perhaps not much howling on my part, but one can always hope.

I gotta say, that hood is not a great look.

Perhaps the weekend will bring some cheesy movie watching for me.  The above is Horror Hotel, which is also known by another name which I cannot remember.  Something about a city, some sort of city.  Either way is not the best title, because it concerns an inn in a village, not a hotel in a city.  Can you recognize a young Christopher Lee in the hood?  I did not even know who he was the first time I saw the movie, but after watching a few Hammer Horror films, I recognized him here.

I love that purple!

I go a different way for my final picture.  I am afraid this has been a rather disjointed post (Non-Sequitur Friday?), but I am approaching 300 words.  I must think of a title, hit publish, and get back to enjoying my Friday.  As always, I thank you for tuning in.

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Lawn Order? Not So Much

Posted on May 31, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yesterday I mentioned how I did not work on my lawn, in consideration of my aching back.  Today once again my back gave me grief, but I chose to ignore it.  I thought, I’m old and overweight:  I’m going to have back pain.  I might just as well get what I can done.  With great effort, I got the garage door open.  Despite great effort, I could not get the power mower going.  I hauled out the  non-power mower and had at it.

My overgrown lawn from a different year.

Off I went, up and down the yard, pushing, pushing, getting caught in sticks, throwing said sticks aside, throwing other sticks aside before I got stuck on them.  I soon found I could see a difference between where I had mowed and where I had not, so that encouraged me.  I did the back then the front.  Then I grabbed a set of clippers and tried to chop down a few tall monstrosities that had popped up out front.  I think I got most of them, throwing their corpses into one of the plastic trash cans I keep for such a purpose.  I went out back for more chopping but had pretty much run out of steam by then.

My ambition for the future.

This is my container garden from another year. You can see the lawn not overgrown in the background.  I have a long way to go to get such a backyard oasis for this summer.  Will I manage it?  A little uncertainty adds interest to my spring.

 

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Don’t Wuss! Walk!

Posted on May 30, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

So there I was, sitting on my couch feeling utterly exhausted.  I mean not just tired, but entirely used up.  It is a feeling I get a lot lately.  Oh, stop playing that miniature violin (you know who you are)! One thing I do not need is condescension.  My original plan for today was to go running after work.  Unfortunately, I did something to my back and it was quite painful by the end of my work day.  At first I thought I would go ahead and run anyways.  Worst case scenario:  I stopped running and walked.  Then I thought the real worst case scenario is that I wake up tomorrow with an even worse backache, so I told myself don’t be stupid.  Run tomorrow.

Picture to pep things up.

Still, a walk might help a sore back.  It probably would have been a better idea to take said walk right away, before I sat there on the couch feeling like a big lump of I Don’t Care.  It was the thought of taking a couple of pictures on the walk for blogging purposes that got me into my sneakers and out the door.  I can’t break my streak of posting daily, can I?

The first place I walked was into my own backyard, to check on my rhododendron.  I had seen some neighbors’ rhododendrons blooming and hoped mine was doing the same.  It is blooming but is being overshadowed by a pine tree that grows nearby.  A few years ago I cut a bunch of branches off the tree for that very reason.  I felt like much woman, as my sister Vicki would say.  I guess I need to do it again.  I tried to get a picture of what blooms there are, but the sun was in the wrong place, so I couldn’t get the shot.

While I was out back, I could not help but notice how badly I need to mow.  I need, in fact, to do more than mow, but do some major yard work.  I almost opened up my garage and hauled out the mower.  Once again, consideration for my back stopped me.  Even opening the garage is quite the effort, because some spring or other broke after not being in the right place to begin with (I don’t properly understand these things).  I promised myself to try it tomorrow.  Or the next day.  Saturday at the latest.

Out front, I realized I could take a picture of my daisies, once again taking over the yard.  I just can’t bear to cut them back till they stop blooming.  They are so cheerful.  I put the picture of them after the first paragraph, because I did not want to make my readers wait too long for an illustration.  Then I took a picture of the two peonies that managed to bloom.

I love the smell!

My back was still hurting, but I at least walked around the block.  There were not many photo ops, because I do not like taking pictures of people’s yards without their permission (although I have done it on occasion).  I saw a flowering tree in front of one house, and I wondered what it was.  I took a picture, zooming in so you can only see tree, nothing of the house.  That makes it anonymous enough, doesn’t it?

Perhaps one of my readers knows what it is.

I felt somewhat revived after my walk, at least enough to open the Chromebook and make the blog post.  And I believe I have successfully avoided having a Wuss-out Wednesday.

 

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Tired Shout-Out

Posted on May 29, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

Can I make a Tired Tuesday post before I become too tired to do anything but go to bed?  I’m thinking yes.  The beauty part to a three day weekend is that it is usually followed by a four day week.  We like four day weeks.

I just returned from an enjoyable dinner with my bestie, Kim.  She is leaving the area in the next day or so (not precisely scheduled since she is driving), and I wanted to have one last nice dinner together.  We went to Salvatore’s in Herkimer, NY.

A good place to eat.

Well, that just took me forever to find a picture of Salvatore’s in my Media Library.  I keep thinking I am going to go through and index that Media Library, but every month the job becomes more onerous.  Hey, I just realized this picture is probably from December, because there are wreaths on the wall.  Then again, I know I also have some October pictures with harvest-colored decor.  I suppose I should get some more season pictures of the places I visit.

Our dinner at Salvatore’s was very enjoyable.  The food was delicious, and the service was friendly.  It is a favorite place of both me and Kim.  As I told the waitress, when Kim returns for a visit, we will surely stop at Salvatore’s.  In the meantime, I suppose I will go there by myself or with other friends.

Salvatore’s is located at 650 1/2 German St., Herkimer, NY, phone number 315-866-2600.

 

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Kind of a Memorial Day Run

Posted on May 28, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I pause the episode of Columbo I was enjoying  (a different one from the one I was watching last night) to make my Monday blog post.  Part of me feels I should make a Memorial Day post, perhaps a running commentary involving the run I took this morning.  I see that I did that last year, when I ran up to the Veteran’s Memorial Park at Herkimer College.  I did not run that far today, nor as much uphill.  However, my runs are always reminiscent of military service, because it was in Army Basic Training where I first learned how to run.  I must admit that when I ran today, I felt much as I did trying to run in Basic.  It was painful!  I wanted to stop!  I felt I Could. Not. Do. It.

Once again, I proved myself wrong.  Perhaps I did not run as far as I would have liked, nor as long (and it is NEVER what you might describe as fast), but sometimes the point is to just get out and try.  My usual method is to run a little bit faster than I strictly want to run.  Running At All fulfilled that requirement.  Never mind, I told myself.  Just persevere.  One thing I can usually do is persevered, at least for a little while.

I managed a couple minor hills along the way and defied one Do Not Enter sign.  I saw a nice dog but did not ask if I could pet him (or her; couldn’t tell from that distance).  I felt moderately pleased with myself when I had finished.

This was the sign I defied.

I spent part of my cool-down walk pondering the Pride Stride 5K in Little Falls, NY in June.  I do not feel that I am in 5K shape, but I also have faith in my own stubbornness.  If I sign up and start running it, I feel certain I will finish.  How crappy I will feel afterwards I could not predict, but sometimes that is not the important thing.  I still have not come to a decision, but if I do not decide soon, it will be taken out of my hands by registration closing.

Oh well, there is no point in bothering you nice people with my dithering and indecision.  I don’t know that this was exactly a Memorial Day post, but I am approaching 400 words.  How garrulous of me.

 

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Sunday Blog Posts Can Be Murder

Posted on May 27, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am so excited about being on a 26 day streak, which according to WordPress I am, that I cannot bear to not make at least a Wrist to Forehead Sunday post today.  Full disclosure:  I have little reason to swoon, dramatically posed with the back of one wrist to my forehead, because I have tomorrow off, and I have very little else to make a blog post about.  Nevertheless, let us see what I can come up with (some pundits would say  that since you should never end a sentence with a preposition, I should say, “Let us see what up with I can come”).

Me, posing dramatically with the back of one wrist to my forehead.

As you can see I have had myriad opportunities in my past for Wrist to Forehead moments.   This was from Dirty Work at the Crossroads, a period melodrama which my late husband Steven directed at Ilion Little Theatre some years ago.  It was a very dramatic moment for my character.

“One more thing!!”

As usual on a Sunday, I am looking at an episode of Columbo on DVD while I post.  The murder is about to happen, always a bad moment for me.  This is actually the first episode of Columbo I ever saw, back in the 1980’s, when the show returned to the air.  As time went on, I caught as many episodes as I could as re-runs, and now I have all the episodes on DVD, thanks to a lovely Christmas present from my parents, as regular readers know.

EEE!  That was a horrible murder!  And I am over 250 words.  Happy Sunday, readers.

 

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Thanks, Weisser’s!

Posted on May 25, 2024 by mohawkvalleygirl

I suddenly remembered I wanted to give a shout-out and thanks to Weisser’s Jewelers in Herkimer, NY.  They helped me out with a gift recently.  Of course I could not make the post till I had actually given the gift, which accounts for the delay.

These guys are great.

My late, beloved husband Steven, had given me a couple of wonderful presents from Weisser’s, and I had visited the store myself, so I knew it would be a good place to find a nice present for my mother for her birthday.  I walked to North Main Street one Saturday morning and explained my mission.

There was a lot to see.

I looked around, admiring different necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.  I hesitated over some rosaries.  My mother collects them, so I thought one might be nice.  However, I was not sure what colors she has and did not want to give her a duplicate.

Who wouldn’t like a Herkimer diamond?

I was taken with the Herkimer diamond jewelry, some of which was paired with different months’ birthstones.  Ultimately, however, I decided not to go with Mom’s birthstone, emerald, because I thought she wore more blue than green.  I picked a beautiful, delicate necklace with a blue stone. Alas, I neglected to take a picture of it.  The nice lady offered to wrap it, which I was grateful for.

Mom liked her present, and I am thinking of returning to Weisser’s soon to purchase something for myself.  Maybe with a Herkimer diamond!

Weisser’s Jewelers is located at 246 N. Main St., Herkimer, NY, phone number 315-826-2544.  The are open 10 a.m. to 5:30 Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

 

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