Category Archives: Throwback Thursday

I Like LiFT

Another day, another late blog post, and I am tired.  This is getting to be a theme with me.  I guess I need to get more exercise and eat more vegetables.  Anyways, it is early Friday morning and I am going to try for a late Throwback Thursday post.  I can only hope the coffee kicks in as I scroll my Media Library.

It was a dramatic moment.

My favorite kind of throwback is theatre throwback.  This is from Much Ado About Nothing, the first Shakespeare play I was in with LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company.  They have once again not done summer Shakespeare for a couple of years. Perhaps I can help get something going for 2025.

I always hang out with suspicious-looking people.

Here is another project with LiFT, Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, an interactive movie mystery set in a 1920’s speakeasy.  I was Ruby, and that may or may not have been coffee I was drinking earlier.

I miss rehearsals!

Here is a rehearsal shot from The Tempest, another LiFT production.

This was a fun one.

I had to search for this one.  It is Donate to Murder, a murder mystery LiFT put on to benefit Herkimer Elks back in 2018.  As we rehearse there for other mysteries, I have talked to the Elks about doing another, but we haven’t nailed down any particulars.  I hear Little Falls Elks would like a murder mystery.  I do like doing murder mysteries.

As I type this, I am on a temporary hiatus from theatre.  I need to finish writing one for Herkimer County Historical Society.  I also need to get my house clean, get my bills paid,  finish the yard and deck work my Mom and sister got such a good start on, answer a couple of letters, oh, and return an overdue library book.  I have left a couple of things out, but I see I am over 300 words.  At least I have made Thursday’s blog post!

 

How Will My Garden Grow?

I thought I would try for an on-time Thursday blog post with another Throwback Thursday.  I am a little afraid I re-use the same throwback pictures again and again.  Of course I am too lazy to go back and check which pictures I may have used recently.  I shall trust to my sometimes reliable memory.

Pretty!

I went back to May of 2017 and found this “before” shot of plants I had purchased for the container garden on my deck.  It has been years since I have had a container garden, but I hope to have one this year.

I always hope they’ll fill in a little as the summer progresses.

Here is one of the pots from that same year.  I always enjoy putting the different flowers together.  I do not always have “the thrill, the fill, and the spill” that the gardening articles advise for an ideal container, but some of my containers are not very big.

At least two of these pots are now in pieces.

I also make use of different levels.  I don’t know what shape those tree sections are in.  They may be rotted by now.

I must get a pedicure soon.

And here is a picture of what I would like to be doing, eventually.  Lounging on my deck, glass of wine nearby, enjoying an evening with my container garden.  So I have pursued two purposes tonight:  I made a Throwback Thursday blog post, and I encouraged myself to get my act together at least to the extent of having another container garden.  May this turn out to be a Preview of Coming Attractions!

 

When Will I Return to Rome?

I had hopes of making my Throwback Thursday (or some other kind of post) Post on Thursday, but it was a true blogger’s sick day.  I left work with a migraine and spent the rest of the day having a headache.  Migraine sufferers know, sometimes that is all you can do.  But never mind my health woes.  It is early Friday morning (woohoo!) and a Throwback Thursday Post is just what I am in the mood for.  Media Library, here I come!

Isn’t she cute?

I thought I would throw back to previous Mohawk Valley Adventures.  Here is a place I would like to visit again: Franca’s Roma on West Dominick Street in Rome, NY.  They play jazz music!  They serve great wine and great food!  What more could Mohawk Valley Girl ask?

Did somebody say books?

Near Franca’s is Keaton and Lloyd Bookstore.  The Franklin Pangborn Parlor hosts readings and other such events.  Who doesn’t love an independent bookstore?  Oh, I suppose some people don’t, but I think they are wrong.

Books and Groucho Marx? Yes, please!

Here is another view of the bookstore.  In case you can’t read the quote, it is, “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend.  Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”

Regular readers know I live for the theatre.

I close my Roman memories (memories of roamin’ in Rome?  Nah, too cutesy) with an evocative if a little dark shot of the Capitol Theatre, also in the area.  It is a beautifully restored 1920’s theatre.  I myself performed on the stage and in the orchestra pit roughly a hundred years ago.  But we needn’t throw back that far for this post.

There are other delightful destinations on West Dominick Street in Rome.  I really must plan another trip there soon.

 

Like the Plague

So I did not make my Thursday blog post on Thursday.  Never mind why; explanations are tiresome.  I had meant to write it “about” something, you know, a Mohawk Valley Adventure or some such, but you know what they say about good intentions.  Something about some road to somewhere being paved with them.  I really should avoid cliches, but sometimes they are oh so tempting (as Oscar Wilde once had a character in a play say, I can resist anything except temptation!).

Where was I?  Nowhere I guess, except perhaps leading into a Throwback Thursday post, and another opportunity to work with my Media Library on this new computer (scrolling issues aside, I do love to ten finger type while lounged on the couch).

I don’ think they have taken the lights down yet this year. Must check.

I first throw back only a year to Janurary 2023 and a shot of the pavilion in Meyers Park in Herkimer, NY.  I walk by or through this park many times and enjoy how the seasons change its appearance.  I believe there is a similar amount of snow there now, as we have had snow then rain.  The rain is dreary, but it clears away some snow so I don’t have to shovel, so I count my blessings.

Look how cute he is!

Now I go back to January 2017 (my Media Library began in November 2016) and a shot of Spunky.  That basket was given to me by my sister Cheryl to put yarn in, but Spunky took one look and claimed it for his bed.  I naturally gave him his way.  One side is still caved down where he used to climb into it.  I think I still have the crumby sneaker I forgot to remove before taking the picture.  This is one reason why I am not a professional photographer.

Scary!

Here is a throw back a bit further, 1963’s The Bird, directed by the late, great Alfred Hitchcock.  The picture was in my Media Library in January 2018.  I mentioned the movie in a Facebook On This Day post, mentioning that Steven (my late, great husband) and I were watching it.  I always thought it strange that there seemed to be no cats in Bodega Bay, where the movie takes place (I add for the benefit of those who have not seen the movie), especially since Annie Hayward clearly should have had a few.  Annie (I also add for the benefit of etc) moved to some dumb little burg with nothing going on just to be near a guy who didn’t want to date her any more.  “That friendship means a hell of a lot to me.”  Yeah, right!  You were hoping he’d change his mind!  But I digress.  Before I finish digressing, though, in the interests of Judge Not, I will confess that I may have done something similar, probably based on mixed signals which I would have interpreted in the best possible light for me.  Many years ago when I was young and stupid(er).  There I go, continuing to digress.

Holy cow, my digressions have gotten me over 500 words!  My blogs never run that long!  Oh well, I guess sometimes.  Is exaggeration (which you have told me 1,000 times not to do) as bad as cliches? Points to ponder.

 

OK, So It’s Not Really Thursday

Was I too tired or too lazy to make my Thursday blog post on Thursday?  It does not matter, but here I am early but not early enough Friday morning, typing frantically, trying to make some semblance of a post while I can.  Full disclosure:  I would have plenty of time if I did not just have to arrive at work early enough to work on an anacrostic puzzle.  Never mind that, let us try for a Throwback Thursday post.

Santa is a voyeur!

I may watch King Kong right along here, only without the Santa hat.  I have always considered it a New Year’s Eve movie, just because we happened to watch it one year on New Year’s Eve.

I don’t suppose that is sheet music to a Christmas carol.

Actually, Nosferatu looks a little like Ebenezer Scrooge, although that is not the Christmas Carol I was referencing in the caption.  I guess I have veered into Midweek Monsters, making this a kind of a Non-Sequitur Thursday Post.  You see how flexible I am.

The ONLY Grinch for me! I will die on this hill.

I did not watch any Christmas movies or specials this year, and the only one I missed was Boris Karloff as the Grinch.

Ooh, this brings me to over 200 words, and I still have enough time to fill in a couple of clues on that puzzle.  I hope to see you later when I make my Lame Post Friday post.  How much later is an amount to be determined.

 

Mohawk Valley Memories

So I posted yesterday morning but not this morning.  By the way, I said it had been ten days since I posted, but I was mistaken.  You see, I thought it was the 15th.  Imagine my amazement when I got to work and discovered it was only the 13th.  But I knew all along it was only Wednesday, so I did not suffer the chagrin on realizing it was not Friday.

An all-time favorite meme.

I said I was going to post about Mohawk Valley Adventures.  However, I am fighting fatigue as well as my recalcitrant Tablet (I don’t think I have ever used the word “recalcitrant ” in a sentence before).  Perhaps a Throwback Thursday Post would be OK.

A great place to go!

Here is an adventure from December 2017.  My late beloved husband Steve and our friend Margaret Rienzo, proprietress of the So Sweet Candy Shoppe in Utica, NY.  I was there more recently with my sisters Cheryl and Diane.

I loves me some nutcrackers!

Here are some Christmas decorations in Fratello’s Pizzeria in Frankfort.  The picture is from 2021, but I saw the nutcrackers there again just the other night.

It’s the good stuff!

For my last photo, I switch it up with a Preview of Coming Attractions.  This was from a tasting of Dikin Dirt Distillery at Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer.  Now where did I put my tasting notes?

 

I Start Lame and Go From There

Perhaps posting every other day will be a thing for a while.  No promises.  However, I managed to find my way to the dining-room-table-top and, well, here I am.

I just paused to get some coffee.  Surely that will help (after all, somebody’s name might be Shirley).

Not the cup I am using, but I wanted to add an illustration.

In my favor today:  it is Lame Post Friday.  Although I have made a habit lately of making my Lame Post Friday post early Saturday morning and my Throwback Thursday post early Friday morning, I feel fairly certain today’s will be somewhat of a lame post.  Then again, a couple of Throwback pictures might pep things up.

A favorite scene.

From spring of 2019, a scene from Morning’s at Seven at Ilion Little Theatre, with my dear friend Jim.  That play is a great theatre memory.

Oh yeah, Christmas is coming.

I was casting about, looking for other theatre memories but found this shot of my late, dearly missed husband, Steve, and a newscaster from WKTV whose name escapes me, stuffing the bus with toys for poor kids for Christmas 2019.  I must purchase something with which to stuff the bus this year.  Or perhaps I could win something at 4Pet’s Sake Food Pantry’s basket raffle on Saturday (preview of coming attractions).  I donated an afghan to the event.

May be an image of text that says 'BASKET RAFFLE 4PetSake Mohawk Legion 43W.MainSt, 43 W. Main Mohawk Food Pantry Inc. Benefits 4PetSake Food Pantry Saturday December, 2nd from 12-4 PM'

I plan to be there!

So now we have veered into Non-Sequitur territory, and I am over 200 words.  I adjourn for more coffee and wish you all a pleasant Friday.

 

All Lights, Camera, Murder! All The Time?

Full disclosure:  I would not have made a blog post this morning, but my attempt to walk was foiled by rain.  Yes, I know, some people like to walk in the rain.  I personally do not mind it but did not want to either change my clothes or show up for work in a sodden state, although in a general sense I am not especially fastidious (I just wanted to use the word “fastidious” in a sentence. How often to you get to do that?).

Where was I?  Ah yes, making a blog post.  I think I will begin with a plug of our latest murder mystery, Lights, Camera, Murder! to be presented Saturday, Nov. 11 at the Herkimer Elks Lodge for the benefit for the Herkimer County Historical Society.

May be an image of text that says 'HERKIMER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND CYNTHIA QUACKENBUSH PRESENTS LIGHTS.... CAMERA... MURDER!! CAN YOU SOLVE THE MURDER BEFORE MURDERER IS REVEALED? SATURDAY NOVEMBER 11th Elks Club 112 Mary St. Herkimer, NY Doors Open at 5:30pm Dinner at 6pm Basket Raffles & 50/50 Raffle Dinner catered by PK Pubs Tickets $40.00 per person Tickets are available at The Herkimer County Historical Society 406 North Main St, Herkimer 315-866-6413'

Wow, that turned out big!

I am a little embarrassed they put my name up there in big letters.  I think I should give my little murder group a name like “Q Mysteries” or “Murder for Non-Profit” for such situations.  We have rehearsal tonight.  Perhaps I can get a few pictures for blogging purposes.  In the meantime, why don’t I finish out this post as a Throwback Thursday (or late Way-Back Wednesday) and share a few shots from previous mysteries.

She is always fabulous.

Here is my friend Kim in Fabulous and Fatal in 2019.  She is in the new one, and I expect she will be equally as fabulous.  It is always good to have a tall, gorgeous blonde in the cast.

He is fine, too.   I need to get the other one in a murder mystery sometime!

This is not from a murder mystery but from Love’s Labour’s Lost presented by LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company in 2022.  That is local author C.T. Avis, who is cast as Jarod, the screenwriter of the movie in Lights, Camera, Murder!  He asked if he was being typecast as a writer.  I said that actually I gave him the role on the strength of his portrayal of the lovelorn Don Armado (he was in love with Jacquenetta, played by me, I add modestly.  It was so flattering!)

I will try to show a couple more cast members after tonight’s rehearsal.  I don’t promise any hints about the plot, though.  I want any local readers who decide to attend to be surprised.

 

Late for Throwback Thursday or Wayback Wednesday

Wednesday was a real Blogger’s Sick Day.  I had one of those migraines where the only thing I could do was lie around and have a headache.  For Thursday I have no excuse, unless it was my ongoing struggles with depression.  You would think I would be used to it by  now, and being a fairly high-functioning depressant (or do I flatter myself?) still be able to get things done.  At least more things.  I did do a couple of things but hesitate to list them because (1) there weren’t that many and (2) they were late.

Never mind all that, it is early Friday morning, and I need coffee.

A little blurry, but cool mug, yes?

I paused before getting coffee to take a picture of the mug I am using.  It was Steven’s mug (my late dearly missed husband, I add for anybody just tuning in), so I celebrate a memory as I sip.  I am, of course, using Halloween mugs this month.  I have too many coffee mugs in general, but NOT too many Halloween mugs!

They were a delightful couple.

I share the picture of Bridezilla and her consort, because I dreamed about her last night.  In my dream, I was telling somebody about the costume, and, as happens sometimes in dreams, we were watching it as I was telling it.  Only then she looked all different and was in a different costume, as also happens in dreams.  Don’t tell Dr. Freud on me!

He was looking good!

Bridezilla and the above picture were at a Halloween party at the Herkimer VFW in 2021.  We had a great time.  Another attendee told us me and Steve were the best couple.  How sweet!

She was the Woman of Many Hats.

Our friend Tracy was visiting at the time.  She dressed as herself:  a Woman Who Wears Many Hats, because she does, if you see what I mean.  Nobody took a picture of me.  I was just a common or garden ghoul.

One more scary picture couldn’t hurt, might help.

So I guess this is a Wayback Wednesday or a Throwback Thursday post.  We’ll see if I can be on time for Lame Post Friday, but no promises.

 

October Memories

I guess it’s another Late Post Week (when you put it in caps it looks like more of a thing) as I sit here Friday morning making a Throwback Thursday Post.

I love it!

I go back to 2016 and one of the first pictures I ever shared in this blog.  It is from Pumpkin Junction in Sauquoit, so I can give a shout-out to one of my favorite local businesses.  I don’t think they had this particular display when I was there last year, but there was still plenty to look at and enjoy.

Isn’t he handsome?

Here is my late, dearly missed husband Steve that same year.  We used to have all kinds of Mohawk Valley Adventures together.

I’ve shared this suspicious bunch before.

Another kind of October adventure was our presentation of A G.R.A.V.E. Murder to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society.  I must do some more work on Lights, Camera, Murder! the next murder mystery, coming up Nov. 11 (preview of coming attractions).

Must work on my front porch!

And here is  my front porch, with past Halloween decorations.  So far this year, I don’t even have lights.  I hang my head in shame.

To complete the post, and the shout-out of the first two pictures, I will add that Pumpkin Junction is located at 2188 Roberts Rd., Sauquoit. They are open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m, daily through Oct. 31.  Check it out!