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I love the hours of my new job, but it is not so easy to find time to run. It’s too hot for me at four in the afternoon. My alternative is to get up a four in the morning, which I did Wednesday.

Running in the dark brings back my Army Basic Training. Only then we ran in groups, somebody else set the pace and it was altogether less pleasant. Still, the army is where I learned to run and where I came to love to run.

It would seem that 4:21 of a Wednesday morning would be a safe enough time to run as I do, on the sidewalks under street lights. Most evildoers would have gone to bed and probably sleep in, I tell myself. Still, I have a vivid imagination. When I heard a car motor behind me, I felt sure it was slowing down. It very well may have been, but the jeep drove sedately by me without incident. I ran on.

I always look for lights on in houses. I fell less alone when I see signs of life. One upstairs light was on and the front door wide open. This was a house I had walked by with Tabby the day before. In the front lawn I had observed a bucket and a single pink winter boot. I wondered about it. By the upstairs light I could see a large room completely empty, possibly freshly painted (yes, I run slow enough to observe all that). I surmised that some renters had moved out, thus explaining the garbage on the lawn. I pondered that as I ran on.

A few other lights were on. No movement in the houses, no cars. I started to feel a little lonely. I ran through Meyers Park. Closed from dark to dawn, the sign said. Oops. I decided I was through traffic, which was probably all right.

As I ran down Park Avenue I saw a pedestrian walking towards me. A young man wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up. Was it that cool at a walking pace? Perhaps he was walking home from a night shift. Or doing the walk of shame from a one night stand. That would explain the hidden face. I did not greet him as I ran by. For all I knew, with his face hid behind a hood he was the Grim Reaper. I think I mentioned I have a vivid imagination.

As I turned up Marion Street I saw a pedestrian carrying a white bag. Head uncovered, didn’t look threatening. She turned up a driveway. When I got a little closer I saw it was a paper carrier.

“I wish my newspaper delivery person was this early,” I said to her.

“I’d love to pick up that route,” she answered, apparently knowing just what I was talking about.

I only ran for twenty minutes, to make sure I had enough time to drink coffee and hang out before work. It was a good run. I was ready to face another Mohawk Valley Day.

Subtitle: I eat a lot.

I realized that a week or so ago Steven and I had patronized a well established business in Herkimer, and I had not blogged about it. To repair that omission, I submit the following about Brian’s Roast Beef Deli, 122 N. Main St.

I have actually never had roast beef at Brian’s Roast Beef Deli. We often get a sub to go, sometimes with Italian Wedding Soup. Yum! (Actually, looking at the menu I see they call it Italian Style Chicken Noodle.) Last week we decided to sit down and be served. That is really one of the delights of my life: to sit down and have somebody bring me food and know that they are also going to wash the dishes. OK, sometimes Steven does that for me. This way I don’t owe him one.

Steven ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger Deluxe with Fries. I ordered an Antipasto Salad. the waitress asked if I wanted garlic bread.

“Sure.”

I was expecting a nice little basket with two or three tasty slices. I got a loaf with garlic-y butter soaked into it and cheese melted on top. Oh, was it ever good. I am quite the connoisseur of garlic bread. My favorite is a Garlic Bubble Loaf I make with an unbaked loaf they sell in the freezer section. You chop it into pieces, dip the pieces in melted garlic butter, let it rise and bake it. This garlic bread was almost as good.

The salad was huge and filled with yummy things. Tomatoes, cucumbers, black olives, salami, cheese, hot peppers. I had plenty left over for another meal. Steven finished his burger and fries and pronounced himself stuffed.

We have been to Brian’s many times, for lunch or dinner, eat in or take out. We will probably go again soon. I might blog about it.

For more information about Brian’s call 866-3664.

One more post about our weekend out of town, then it is back to the Mohawk Valley. One place we always try to go when we visit Steven’s family is the Burger Den Restaurant, Rt 22, Cambridge, NY. We went there for lunch on Saturday with two of his sisters and one niece.

They have renovated the place since we were there last. They now offer outdoor seating. It was too hot on Saturday to take advantage of that, but perhaps if we return in the fall. I do enjoy to dine al fresco. The air conditioning inside was very welcome.

As we sat waiting for our food, one of the doors to the porch opened then closed. It is not so disconcerting for a door to blow open, but when it stays open for only a few seconds then closes, it looks as if something unseen has entered or exited.

“There’s a ghost!” I said.

Apparently this happens frequently, and it happened a few more times while we were there. I don’t think any ghost hunters or psychics have checked it out. But it added a little adventure to our meal.

I ordered Eggplant French Fries. I often get Sweet Potato Fries when they are available, but the Burger Den is the only place I have ever seen Eggplant Fries on the menu. I got ranch dressing to dip them in, and filled out my meal with a 12″ Hot Dog. Steven got a Chicken Salad Sandwich and Small Macaroni Salad. His sandwich was nicely thick, and the small salad was generous.

The Burger Den serves breakfast all day, but no one at our table took advantage of that. I surreptitiously peeked at what other tables were ordering, getting ideas for next time.

This was the only meal out we enjoyed last weekend. The next time I venture out of the Mohawk Valley I hope to entertain you with other culinary adventures.

For more information on the Burger Den Restaurant, visit their website, http://burgerden.com/index.html. Or you can find them on Facebook.

OK, this post has nothing to do with the Mohawk Valley. What I say? Even a dedicated Mohawk Valley Girl has to go out of town once in a while.

We were in Arlington, Vermont Saturday, a lovely town surrounded by the famous green mountains. I believe they even serve that Green Mountain Coffee in a number of locations. Yum.

We went to the Library Book Sale, which is always happening on weekends in the Arlington Community House on Main Street. Years ago it was a huge sale under a tent during the summer. Now it is in a couple of fairly small rooms crammed with books. I love a good used book sale.

We were there close to closing time, but I rather quickly found four biographies, a few pulp fiction paperbacks and a small gift book about Princess Diana. My mom loves Princess Diana. I am currently reading a dual biography of Queen Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. I showed Steven my choices.

“See, this was Queen Elizabeth’s mother and this was her brother and this was her stepmother and this guy lived about fifty years later but it looked good.”

Steven was inclined to not buy me the one about the guy that lived fifty years later, but he relented. He is a nice husband.

From there we went to the Village Peddler and Chocolatorium, 261 Old Mill Rd. I saw some people eating an interesting looking treat and asked them what it was.

“Frozen bananas with dark or light chocolate rolled in nuts or sprinkles,” one lady said.

“You MUST have one,” another advised most strongly.

We followed her advice. I also purchased a few post cards and Steven found a shot glass for his collection. We watched a short film on the history and health benefits of chocolate. Very educational.

I told the lady working there that we had made sure to stop in after liking them on Facebook. We had been urged to do this by an Arlington Facebook friend. It was not our first visit to the Chocolatorium, but we had never seen the film nor eaten the frozen bananas.

While in Vermont we also enjoyed the scenery. I went running twice on Ice Pond Road and Warm Brook Road (they run into each other). Tabby enjoyed chasing some squirrels. We even saw a fox.

Arlington is about three hours from Herkimer, depending on traffic and how often you stop to pee and buy coffee. If you go I highly recommend the book sale, the Village Peddler and Chocolatorium, and the scenery. As I mentioned, you can find the Chocolatorium on Facebook.

Friday I had no time to do anything Mohawk Valley-ish, because Steven and I had to drive to Vermont. Still, we drove by some Mohawk Valley sights as we went.

We headed east on Route 5 going towards Little Falls. We passed Donna’s Diner. We haven’t been there to eat in a while. That might be a good future post. Our vet, or rather Tabby’s vet, is right next door, Mohawk Valley Veterinarian. Nice people there. There was St. Peter’s Orthodox Church, a real Middle Eastern looking building. We went to a sale there once.

On to Little Falls. It is much easier to go through Little Falls than it is to find something in Little Falls. Still, it is worth the effort. I particularly want to do a post on Canal Place sometime. Oh, and there is a lovely Garlic Festival in September.

On we drove. I never remember how far out Beardley Castle is till we pass it. Another place I’d like to check out.

I was not sure exactly when we left the Mohawk Valley. We passed some business with Capital District in its title, but we were nowhere near Albany. And there were numerous businesses with Adirondack in the name. I thought the Adirondacks were in quite a different direction. I guess I need to look at a map of the state.

We went through Saratoga. That took a while, with bumper to bumper traffic, but it was rather exciting to see all the people walking around enjoying the scene. I looked at the businsesses I’d like to check out, especially the bistros with outdoor tables. I also had the opportunity to indulge in a little nonsense.

“Ah yes, I remember my friend Sara when she was little Sara Bedsheet. That was before she married Jimmy ‘The Greek’ Toga.”

We drove on. We had our usual argument over how to pronounce Broadalbin. I tried to say Kayaderrossa — or is it Kayaderosera — River before we drove past it. I was unsuccessful.

We reached vermont without mishap. I think I mentined recently my ability to say a lot without having a lot to say. Well, for one year I plan to post every day. I do my best. Thank you for participating.

I’ve noted that this is not a real wine blog. I feel free to categorize wines as “yummy” rather than “a piquant vintage with hints of blackberry and plum and a smooth oaky finish.” That said, please enjoy the following about a wine tasting at Ilion Wine and Spirits which I attended with my friend Diane Engell on Thursday.

I’d been to numerous tastings at Ilion Wine and Spirits, but this was Diane’s first. I felt a little proud of myself for bringing a friend. Usually the store does its tastings on a Friday. This one, however, was in conjunction with Ilion Days and on Thursday so as not to compete with Friday’s Doodah Parade (I love that title).

The tasting was run by Scott, one of the owners. I’ve seen Scott at different tastings, and once at a fundraiser for the County Historical Society. He made a generous donation to Ilion Little Theatre for a gift basket we were raffling in conjunction with a show. A very community-minded business.

“Are you going to tell us all about these wines?” Diane asked, after I handed her the list of wines being sampled. He did not intend any such thing.

“Bronson at Vintage spirits does that,” I told her.

“Oh, Bronson.” Turns out Scott knows Bronson. They grew up together. I told Scott I considered Bronson a cousin, since his grandfather was a Quackenbush (we are in fact no relation). Having hashed out that subject, we got on with the tasting.

I started with a Ministry Edict Russian River Chardonnay 2009 from California. Scott did not know if it was aged in oak or stainless steel. This is one of my few bits of wine wisdom: I like stainless steel aged Chardonnay. The oak aged, to me, tastes buttery. This must have been steel, because I liked it.

I went on to the reds after this, because Scott said the remaining whites were all sweet. Diane continued on the whites for that same reason. I often end up drinking wine with the sweet girls.

I tried a Barbera 2007 from Italy and a Yalumba Shiraz Viognier 2008 from South Australia. Both were pretty good. I tried a few other reds; all were good, none reached my highest praise of “yummy.”

A number of people were at the tasting by now. We were all chatting and comparing notes. One lady borrowed my pen to mark wines she like or didn’t. It was cooler in the main store, where the munchies were laid out, so we made a few trips to the food table. Ilion Wine and Spirits is known for the elegant munchies they serve at their tastings. Unfortunately, Thursday was too hot for them to offer their fanciest. I enjoyed some cheese and crackers and chips and dip, though.

Diane purchased a bottle of Adesso Cagnina Di Romagna 2010 (Italy), the one red I did not taste because it was sweet. I found a bottle of Vinho Verde and one of Pinot Grigio that had not been in the tasting, but are two white wines I like very much (although Vinho Verde literally means green whine. Go figure). Diane was very pleased that I had introduced her to the tastings at Ilion Wine and Spirits. She plans to watch for them in the future. Of course I will too. Another fun time to be had in the Mohawk Valley.

Ilion Wine and Spirits is located at 10 E. Main St., Ilion, NY. Phone number is 315-894-8142.

I’ve mentioned before my love of polka music. I know I blogged about how fun it was to hear the music and watch the dancing at St. Anthony’s Festival. So when my friend Diane Engell invited Steven and me to go to an open air concert at the Folts Home featuring Fritz’s Polka Band, I was eager to accept.

Steven had noted in the paper that there was to be a concert at Folts, but the group was not specified. We had planned to run several errands in New Hartford, which we did not like to put off. Well, we did not literally run our errands, but we hurried along and met Diane shortly after seven. The band was already playing, so we quickly found a space for our lawn chairs and settled down to enjoy.

A large part of the audience was residents of the Folts Home. Many were clapping along, all were smiling. I saw the Volunteer Coordinator Linda Geno (at least, I don’t know her whole official title, she wears a lot of hats; I know her from volunteering). Linda danced with a few of the residents, but only briefly. I was disappointed that there was not more dancing.

The music was wonderful. They played a variety of songs, not just polkas. But they rocked the house on the polkas! They were on a gazebo, so I could not see them all very well. Some hanging flowers obstructed my view. I could see the drummer all right. He was just so obviously enjoying himself, and you could tell by the sound that the whole band was as well.

The audience was loving it too. I went right home and liked Fritz’s Polka Band on Facebook. That was how Diane heard about this concert. Now I’ll hear about their gigs, too. I’ll probably blog about more of them.

It seems to be feast or famine with blog post topics. Tracy’s visit gave me two in one day. Right now I’m kind of blank.

Steven suggested that I write about my new job at Remington Arms. That is a business — alas, no longer locally owned — that has been in Ilion for over a hundred years. I agree it is well worth a post, but I intend to research the company a little better. Otherwise my post might consist mostly of my adventures wandering around the factory trying not to get lost (then again, that might be humorous).

Today I met with the optician, Chuck Mishalanie, to order my safety glasses (I did not get lost going to his office). I noticed his email was jazzmish. I naturally asked him about it, and discovered he is indeed a jazz musician. He promised to email me regarding future concerts. Another blog post waiting to happen.

Another blog post I’ve been meaning to get to is a shout out (I love that expression) to YNN. YNN, in case you don’t get Time Warner Cable, stands for Your News Now. It is basically a 24 hour news network for Central New York. When we’ve missed WKTV News at Daybreak, we tune into YNN for our morning fix. They do various features, including Your Home Town, which may suggest future blog posts for me. I’m particularly fond of Cooking at Home with Dan Eaton.

I hesitate to give YNN a full blog post, however, because it is not the local home grown sort of thing I search for. It’s a big network, carried exclusively (maybe even owned by, I don’t know) an even bigger cable company. Obviously there is room in the world for large corporations. But this is not the focus of Mohawk Valley Girl. Still, YNN has a local slant. It’s worth checking out.

So lacking a real topic, I fear to be thrown back on something I’ve blogged on before: a walk with my excellent dog, Tabby. I’ve been taking her for a lengthy walk most evenings lately. Often we walk by the Historic Four Corners, with the Reformed Church, the Courthouse, the Historical Society, and the 1834 Jail. I’ve blogged about the church. I guess it’s time for me to work on the other three corners.

Well, it looks as if I’ve written the amount of an average blog post. It seems I can talk a lot without a topic.

Last Thursday I had occasion to patronize an establishment I’ve driven by many times but never entered, Melfe’s Shoes, 64 Central Ave., Ilion.

Melfe’s is a full service store that carries a good selection of work boots and also offers shoe repair. My mission was to obtain steel-toed work boots for my new job at Remington Arms. The staff at Melfe’s is quite familiar with our shoe allowance and happy to work with us to meet our needs.

Fourteen people, two of us females, were hired at the same time. We did not have to purchase our work shoes at Melfe’s, as long as they were safety shoes, but most of us did. We needed them by 7 a.m. the next morning, so a large group invaded the store late in the afternoon. The staff was not fazed in the least.

I always like it better when someone brings me my size and can tell me about the shoe and make a recommendation. For kick-around shoes or something I’m only going to wear for a few hours, I’m quite competent to make my own selections. For running shoes and work shoes, I like to consult an expert.

I was delighted to discover that steel toes also come in sneakers. Vicki helped me select two pairs that kept me within my allowance. She told us if we had any problems with the shoes we should bring them back, as they also offer shoe repair. I asked if they did other leather repair. I have a purse with a broken strap. Vicki was not sure but invited me to bring the purse in to be looked at.

I have not done that yet, but I will. I want to check out what else Melfe’s has to offer. Another excellent business in the Mohawk Valley. For more information, you can call them at 315-894-4049.

Saturday we went to the Town Wide Garage Sales in Ilion. I was very happy to go, especially since I had missed the Town Wides in both Herkimer and Mohawk (as I believe I mentioned in previous posts).

We did not bother purchasing a map, trusting rather to our luck at driving around and looking. That usually works out pretty well at these things. First we looked for a place Steven had seen advertised in the classified as the biggest sale in town. It was a large sale. I found two rhinestone pins I liked. I had talked the guy down to $1.50 when he mentioned it was to feed children in Thailand. We gave him $2.

Our method was to park where we could walk to two or three at a time. We also hit the sale at Cornerstone Consignments and one at the Masonic Hall. At the various sales we found a few tins, a fancy velvet purse, a Gone With the Wind Game, and a couple of knick-knacks. We also stopped by the Farmer’s Market at Clapsaddle Farm. A couple of weeks ago we had chatted up a lady with a booth there who had said she and her husband would be switching off between the market and a garage sale. I saw a man at the booth.

“Your wife must be at the garage sale,” I observed. He told me they were to switch out at two. That way he could eat lunch at home.

We purchased a jar of dill pickles and two donuts from Jim Parker. I started eating mine before Steven had paid for them.

“There’s an extra charge for that,” Jim told me, and promptly waived the fee.

We did not stay at the sales far into the afternoon, though, because it was too hot for me. It was a beautiful sunny day, such as summer worshipers love. I have a sensitivity to sun and have found it better not to spend all day exposed. I don’t usually burn, because I slather on the SPF 30, but I start to feel ill.

I felt pretty OK Saturday, though, as we returned home with our treasures. I’ll have to start looking around my house, though. I’ll need to get rid of some stuff before the next Town Wide Garage Sales.