Category Archives: personal

Happy Mother’s Day from Me and Joan

Posted on May 15, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

A very Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers everywhere, most especially to my own very wonderful Mom.  I also send prayers and good thoughts out to all who are celebrating Mother’s Day without their mother.   I send love and respect to those who through choice or circumstance are not mothers. I am feeling tired and melancholy this afternoon, but one must make a blog post every day when one is me.  When other people are feeling down, I never can find the right words of wisdom and comfort.  All I can manage is to make stupid jokes in hopes that a little humor will take their minds off their troubles.  With that in mind, I submit the following picture I have used before.

In my defense, I do like candy.

Yes, it is Mommy, Dearest herself, Joan Crawford.  The picture is from a fine chunk of cheddar (that is, a cheesy horror movie) from William Castle, Straitjacket.  In the movie, Crawford plays a mother who also does not the set best example of maternity.  More than that I won’t say, though, in case you  have not seen the movie.  Perhaps it is one to screen in honor of the day.  It would also make this a Severed Head Sunday, one of my favorite kinds of Sunday.

So this is my short, silly post.  We’ll call it a Wrist to Forehead Sunday and hit publish.  I shall publish a post again tomorrow, and I hope it will not be Melancholy Monday.

 

 

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Getting Some Sugar at the Shack

Posted on May 13, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I usually give shout-outs to Mohawk Valley businesses, but once in a while I like to mention favorite destinations when I travel.  One of the best is The Sugar Shack in Arlington, Vermont.  They are a country store selling Vermont products including maple syrup, cheese, baked goods and more.  You can also buy all sorts of touristy items such as t-shirts, sweatshirts, glasses, post cards and other things.

Additionally, the store is home to a Norman Rockwell exhibit which was previously housed at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Arlington.  When the museum closed, the Sugar Shack gave a home to the displays.  My husband Steven and I were  so happy when this happened.  We used to stop at that museum whenever we were in Vermont and were very disappointed when it closed. We love Norman Rockwell!  We have several framed Rockwell prints on our walls as well as a few coffee mugs featuring his work.

Speaking of coffee mugs, one of our favorites is one from the Sugar Shack featuring the owner’s lovely dog Shack.  They have two dogs now, and the last time Steven and I were at the store, Steven noticed there is now a mug available with both dogs.  Our kitchen cabinet is quite full of coffee mugs.  Still, we might find room for a mug with both Sugar Shack dogs.

We follow the Sugar Shack on Facebook. We don’t need a reminder to visit when we are in the area, but it is nice to hear about fresh cider donuts and see pictures of the dogs.  The Sugar Shack is located at 29 Sugar Shack Lake, Rt. 7A, Arlington, VT, phone number 802-375-6747.  For more information you can visit their website at http://sugarshackvt.com/.  And you should definitely Like them on Facebook.

 

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It’s a Mystery Why I’m So Lame

Posted on May 13, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Frangelica Inferno

When in doubt, insert a picture of a beautiful woman.  Some of you have seen this picture before or seen other pictures of my friend Kim in this very costume.  She wore it for the Doodah Parade in Ilion, NY last summer.  I was so impressed with it (and by her ability to walk the entire parade route in high heels) that I wrote a murder mystery featuring a character who would wear that outfit.  It was Who Shot JS? which was presented to great acclaim as a fundraiser for the Herkimer County Historical Society.  Perhaps you read some of my blog posts about it.

So it’s Lame Post Friday, and I feel myself utterly incapable of making a proper blog post.  Rather than whine any further or take a Blogger’s Sick Day, I am looking through downloaded pictures on my laptop and trying to come up with something that might amuse.

Not to be confused with The Overlook Mansion in The Shining. Um, it was The Overlook in The Shining, wasn’t it?

Speaking of murder mysteries, isn’t this a great setting for one?  This is the Overlook Mansion in Little Falls NY, where LiFT Theatre Company presented Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, also to great acclaim.  Perhaps you read a few of by blog posts about that one.

Just listen to me brag about myself.  Presenting murder mysteries to great acclaim, indeed.  You’d think I was having Toot My Horn Tuesday (a feature I have not utilized often).  It’s Friday!  I can’t think of anything alliterative and egotistical for a Friday!  Oh well, sometimes these things can’t be helped.  I’ll look for one more picture to round things out and call this a post.

Photo by Mark C. Hanna

Perfect!  This is Engaged to be Murdered, which was presented at the Morning Star Methodist Church in Ilion last year.  I do love to write murder mysteries.

I am now over 300 words and have included three pictures.  I call that respectable, especially for Lame Post Friday.  Have a nice weekend, everyone.

 

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A Better Blog Post Would Have Been Nice

Posted on May 11, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Some things in life fall under the heading, “It would have been nice.”  I expressed that thought on Facebook once and came across it just now on my On This Day.  I really enjoy On This Day.  Sometimes I find that I once said something witty or profound or, you know, at least worth repeating.  Dare I say, worth making blog post about?  Because other than this, I got nuthin’.

It is kind of a weird week for me.  I know, how does that make it different?  My life never goes according to plan, and that may be because I rarely have a plan.  I’ve heard that if you fail to plan you really plan to fail, but isn’t that kind of a contradiction?  You plan by not planning?  That’s too paradoxical for me.  The fact is, I have learned that when I make a plan, something usually comes along and blows it all to hell.  Or at least upsets things and requires I make adjustments.

Some people feel they can take all possibilities into consideration while making a plan.  Personally, I am usually surprised by an unexpected contingency.  Now, I have a pretty wild imagination, so if I can be surprised by developments, how can more mundane mortals take everything into account?  Maybe life is trying harder to surprise me.  Well played, Life

I’ve probably published nonsense like this before.  Of course I never plan to repeat myself.  However, it is a frequently observed fact that shit happens.  I’m going to put a silly headline on this and call it a day.  Happy Non-Sequitur Thursday, everyone.

 

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Trying to be Cheerful on a Mid-Week Run

Posted on May 11, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I went running this morning and started to make a Running Commentary post, but I was just too distracted.  I thought I would feel less distracted as the day wore on, although I confess I don’t know why I thought that.  Never mind, I’ll just start the post and see if it works.

The thermostat said it was 40 degrees out, well within my range for leggings and long sleeves.  Only I couldn’t find a pair of leggings I didn’t mind getting dirty (hey, sometimes you have to plan your wardrobe ahead and you can’t count on being able to do laundry in a timely fashion).  I finally found a pair of spandex tights which I put a pair of shorts over.  What a late ’80’s/early ’90s fashion flashback! I used to LOVE wearing leggings or tights with shorts!  This was back in the day when one covered one’s butt while wearing leggings, unlike our current permissive times.

I only got a house or two away from home when I realized I had forgotten my hat.  That would never do.  I ran back home and pretended that was a warm-up.  I started out the second time running in the opposite direction to what I usually take: toward Meyers Park.  I ran through the park and over to Main Street.  There was a fire on Main Street last night.  I refrained from going down and rubber necking while it was going on, but surely it would not be too inquisitive to run by on the opposite side of the street and view the extent of the damage.

It didn’t look good.  The business on the ground floor seemed untouched, but upstairs windows on one side of the building were black holes.  Windows on the other side appeared to have been knocked out.  Damn!  I continued up Main Street, looking for something more cheerful.  Unfortunately, there are several un-cheerful sights on Herkimer’s Main Street.  I like to keep this blog positive, so I’ll go ahead and skip to the rest of the run.

My head was feeling the cold, despite my toque (it was the knitted watch cap I got in the Army; Steven calls it my toque).  I pictured a warm scarf wrapped around my face and thought that would feel good.  No matter, I told myself.  I could take a hot shower when I got back home.  I looked around at flowers in people’s yard and reminded myself that things WOULD warm up.

I only ran 32 minutes, but I thought that was all right for a mid-week run.  I had things to do that I felt I must recruit my energies for.  In fact, I’m still recruiting them and not getting a whole lot of things done.  But at least I made my blog post.

 

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Soup and Post on the Light Side

Posted on May 10, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Here is a cooking post.  At least, I’m going to call it a cooking post, but perhaps I am stepping up in class.  No matter. It is Tired Tuesday, I fixed something for dinner that did NOT involve the telephone and a credit card, and I’m going to write about it.

First I poured myself a small glass of Chardonnay, because I wanted to cook with wine.

I had an open box of chicken broth in the refrigerator (I drank one mug of it recently when my stomach was bothering me) (you see, I DON’T write a blog post about every little ache and pain, although it sometimes feels that way).  I also had some leftover brown rice.  I put them both in a pot on the stove and turned on the burner.  I went to the freezer and pulled out broccoli and spinach, which I also added to the pot.

Then I went out the the living room, sat on the couch and looked a Facebook.  I feel that is an important part of the recipe.  After a while I went back out the the kitchen and added garlic powder, parsley, basil and oregano to the pot.  When it started boiling, I lowered the heat and let it simmer for a while.

Steven and I ate the soup with bread and butter.  Steven said it was very good, not too heavy, just what his stomach needed.  I hope this modest little post is just what my blog needed.  As for me, I may have another small glass of Chardonnay.  Happy Tuesday, everyone.

 

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Wrist to Non-Sequitur Monday

Posted on May 9, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Sometimes after you indulge in a Wrist to Forehead Sunday, the very next day you experience a Wrist to Forehead Monday.  And then what do you do?

Well, if you’re Mohawk Valley Girl (that is, me), you go ahead and post something anyways.  But what to post is the question?  I suppose I could go to my other standby: posting pictures.  What have we downloaded lately?

I like dogs.

Have I used this picture before?  It was in my Media Library here on my WordPress dashboard.  I have to appreciate a rebel.  I wonder what else I can find?

Isn’t he wonderful?

From dogs to cats, here’s Felix.  My husband Steven likes Felix the Cat.  I do, too.

One sacrifices one’s yarn basket to a sweet pooch.

 

Doggy buddies.

Back to dogs!  The top picture is our recently departed Spunky.  When I thought my yarn basket was still my yarn basket, Spunkman had other ideas.  He looked so sweet in it, I gave it up to him. I haven’t been using it as a yarn basket again yet, even though I suppose I could.  The second picture was taken at my sister-in-law’s house.  It is her husky, Sapphire, and our schnoodle, Tabby, both sadly passed over the Rainbow Bridge.

I see I am over 200 words, so I end on a sad note, thinking of our dear, sweet doggies.  Still, one must take the sadness of losing them after enjoying the joy of having them.  I suppose that is a trite, obvious thing to say, but it is the best I can manage.  I guess I’m kind of all over the place today, which gives me an idea for today’s headline.  I hope you will all tune in again tomorrow, when I will probably have a Tired Tuesday post.

 

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Running with a Salad

Posted on May 8, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

As I was running this morning, I thought, “I’m going to have a Let Myself Off the Hook Day.”  I was headed towards the hill to Herkimer College and I did not feel like running up it.  Well, as it happened, I not only ran up it but continued uphill towards the buildings. I did not run all the way across campus but I ran further up than I have run previously this year.  So then I thought I would let myself off the hook by making two Running Commentary posts in a row.

And then I didn’t make a Running Commentary post.  I still could, I suppose, but I really prefer to make those sooner after the run, when it’s all still fresh in my mind.  Instead I waited while not doing much of anything else, which makes this a pretty typical Sunday for me.  The kind of Sunday I like, if you really want to know (and it is the kind of Sunday I like even if you do not want to know) (but really, I don’t see how the “kind of Sunday I like” rates a TMI).

In other words, here I am, making a Wrist to Forehead Sunday post.  It is not that I feel like whining today.  It is just that I feel too tired to do anything else.  I suppose I am feeling my age and need to lead a healthier lifestyle.  Running this morning was a good — wait for it — first step.  I shall go out to the kitchen and fix myself a salad for the upcoming week’s lunches.  Then I shall go back to sitting on the couch, crocheting and watching Snapped.  First I must think of a headline for this little bit of nonsense and hit Publish.  Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

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Run Before Lots of Running

Posted on May 6, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I have not done an out of bed, out the door kind of run in a long time.  And it has also been a long time since I made my Running Commentary post so soon after said run.  Well, I have an extremely busy day planned, so getting my blog post done and out of the way is a good idea.

I thought it was supposed to be cold last night and this morning (I confess, I did not pay a great deal of attention to the weather), but our thermostat said 51 degrees.  Excellent running temperature!  It was just past 5:30; the sun was up but the world was not fully lit, so I put on one of my ARMY t-shirts with the reflective decal on the back.  Safety first for Mohawk Valley Girl!

During my last couple of runs, I have been wondering when they were going to stop sucking.  Then I told myself, wait for the weekend.  Running first thing in the morning is DIFFERENT from running after a full day’s work, I thought.  And for once I was right!  Yay me!  It was a great run!

I crossed German Street and ran down the sidewalk towards Main Street.  I had it in mind to run at least up the first part of the hill beyond the “Dead End” sign, up to where part of the road collapsed but pedestrians can still get through.  I saw a car way ahead of me with the emergency flashers on.  Now what was that all about?  Was it broken down?  I remembered hearing how if on the highway you see somebody broken down waiting for help, you should NOT be a good Samaritan and stop, because they might be bad people, decoying you over there to rob you.  I could not imagine anybody doing that in the middle of the village of Herkimer.  Anyways, I didn’t think I was going to run by the car.  Eventually it moved and turned onto Main Street, in the direction I intended to go.  Oh, it was probably somebody delivering papers.  Silly  me and my bad guys with the decoy broken down cars!

I did not see the car again, so I’m not sure where it went, but soon I was on that steep hill and had other things on my mind.  The first part of it wasn’t too bad.  Not fun, of course, but not too bad.  I decided to continue on up, maybe go all the way out Highland Avenue.  That is a good Saturday morning run.  There are no sidewalks, but it is a quiet road.  Steuben Hill, which Highland leads to (oh dear, I think I mean Steuben Hill; how can I possibly check these things?  Google continues to mystify me) is a little busier, but this early in the morning that should not be a problem.

On the second part of the hill, things got a little more difficult.  Just keep going, I told myself.  I remembered an old piece of advice I heard while in the Army, “just look at your feet and shuffle up that hill.”  I made it.   The road continues with some downhill but mostly uphill, but the slope is more doable as you go.  I looked around at all the houses I had not seen since I last ran that hill, sometime in 2016.  Finally I reached the end and was headed back to town.

It was not till I saw the sign reading “Village of Herkimer” that I remembered this run goes outside village limits.  Hello, Herkimer, I thought.  Did you miss me?  I don’t think anybody did.  Houses got closer together.  I encountered a couple of vehicles before I got to the sidewalk.  The truck that went by going downhill seemed to be trying to slow down, but the one on my side of the road (I run left side, facing traffic, as one is supposed to do) was speeding up.  Of course you must trounce on your gas as you go up a hill, or you may not make it, I thought.  I try not to judge.

When I got to Dorf Street and turned onto it, I noticed the “Do Not Enter” sign.  Why did I not remember that sign?  I LOVE to enter where it says “Do Not Enter,” just to be that way.  Oh, I know, they mean vehicles not shuffling middle-aged ladies.  Just let me enjoy the moment, please.

Soon I realized I was quite thirsty.  What to do?  The spring is way on the other end of German Street!  I did not think I could make it there without extending my run well beyond the recommended 10 percent more than last week.  When I got to German I turned in that direction (which is the direction of my house anyways).  I kept looking at my watch, figuring minutes, and turned around before I got to the spring.  I had, as usual, left a bottle of water on my deck for my cool-down run, so I did not suffer from dehydration for long (yes, I am one of those self-dramatizing types that say “dehydrated” for “thirsty.”  I thought you knew that about me).

I felt awesome at the end of my run and quite delighted that it had been a long, challenging run.  I WILL be ready for the Boilermaker 15K!  And now, on to the rest of my challenging Saturday.

 

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Shut Up, Tweety Bird!

Posted on May 6, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

You know how sometimes you think to yourself, “I should have said  . . .”  Well, I had one of those today about a Facebook meme that got a lot of play some time ago.  I thought I would address it now, as both a random observation and a bit of half-baked philosophy for Lame Post Friday.

The meme shows an irate cartoon character, usually Tweety Bird, and reads, “I don’t need anger management!  Other people need stupidity management!”

Yuk, yuk, yuk, very funny, it was so funny I forgot to laugh.  This is why we have Road Rage, because people think they have a right to act any damn way they want!  I never responded to this meme, because quite frankly, I did not want to get the person who posted it pissed off at me.  If they didn’t come on over and beat me up, they would probably tell me to manage my own stupidity and that would probably hurt my feelings.  I’m very sensitive about that kind of thing.

Later on, I thought of a better response.  You cannot control other people; you can only control yourself.  Unfortunately, too many people choose not to control themselves.

Well, there is a lot more that can be said on the subject There are arguments to be made such as you can’t control everything about yourself, and how other people’s behavior does so have an effect on you, etc.   However, it would hardly be a bit of half-baked philosophy if I made thoroughly thought out argument.  My only goal was to get to at least 200 words.  Happy Friday, everyone.

 

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