Category Archives: Uncategorized

One thing I particularly like to do is send postcards. When I was in the army I periodically sent postcards to all my nieces and nephews. When my younger sister was home recovering from a heart operation, I sent her a postcard every day. The last time I went away on vacation I sent my co-workers a postcard in case they missed me. Currently I send cards to a soldier I know in Afghanistan and one in Ft. Gordon, GA. I’m waiting on the snail mail address for a third.

I have a big pile of post cards to choose from, because I used to collect post cards before I got so into sending them. They range in subject and origin, but these days my favorite ones to send are local.

Most recently I sent my Georgia soldier a picture of a lovely funeral home in Little Falls. I felt the main attraction of that card to someone in Georgia was the new fallen snow. To my Afghanistan guy I sent one of a country road. I’ll be honest, it could have been from many places in New York or even Vermont. The back of the card only said, “Country Road,” but it was from a New York company. I like to think if was from around here.

I seem to have a lot of postcards from Little Falls. It is, of course, a very picturesque spot. I think my cards of the Herkimer Courthouse and 1834 Jail ended up in my sister’s scrapbook. I have one of Grace Brown and Chester Gilette (of the 1906 murder) I haven’t quite made up my mind to give away. I think I’ve sent all the ones I had of the Herkimer Home. I retain one of General Herkimer directing the Battle of Oriskany from the ground after he was wounded. I haven’t sent that one yet, because the blurb on the back takes up so much space I would not have room for much of a message. Someday when I’m feeling short-winded, perhaps.

I think people like to receive my post cards. Even if they can’t decipher my hand-writing, they can enjoy a picture, often of the beautiful Mohawk Valley.

I suppose this would have been a better post if I had a scanner and knew how to use it, so could show my readers these post cards. Sorry, maybe one day I will. Someone might even argue that this has been a lame blog post with a spurious connection to the Mohawk Valley. Well, I had fun writing it, so with apologies to S.J. Perlman, I would explain to that person, “Shut up.”

I have a family wedding to attend this weekend. I bought a new dress and new sandals. Do you think I would trust my own talents to paint my toenails for such an occasion? I’m feeling a little stressed this week, due to things that have no place in my totally fun blog. But I was determined to do something about my overgrown toenails with the chipped orange polish I put on myself about a month ago.

I went to Luxury Nails, 103 N. Washington St., Herkimer, NY. I knew I was taking my chances by walking in, but I figured if nothing else I could make an appointment for my other free morning this week. Luck was with me, however, and they took me right in.

I felt a little guilty, as Steven was working around the house while I sat with my feet soaking in warm, bubbly water. About the time the exfoliant was being rubbed on my callouses, however, all I felt was happy. I can and do paint my own toenails. I even have a pumice stone and a few other tools of the trade. But sometimes I just want the attention of a professional.

I decided to get a manicure as well, something I have done once before in my life, about six years ago. I used to paint my fingernails all the time, back in the ’80s. That was when Wet’n’Wild first hit the shelves. I had some wild fingernails in those days. I never knew what to do about my cuticles, though. I still don’t know, but ooh, they look nice.

Back in the ’80s, my blue fingernails were startling to some people (like the priest at a church I attended once). Now I felt downright conservative, asking for just plain color. I love to see the designs and decorations on others. I think the new cracked look is a little strange, but to each his own, as the old lady said when she kissed the cow. For me, straight color is the way to go.

I was quite delighted with my gold fingernails and green toenails. As I sat with my hands under the blower, I chatted up another patron. She had light blue fingernails and was a first time customer at Luxury Nails. We admired each other’s choice of colors and agreed that it is important to treat ourselves well.

Of course, now I have traded one stress for another, as I feel convinced I will chip my lovely nails before Saturday. No matter, they look wonderful now and will probably continue to look good enough for at least the near future. Luxury nails is open Mon. to Fri. 10 am to 8 pm and Saturday 10 am to 7 pm. For an appointment call 315-866-0020.

I confess I did not take advantage of any 4th of July happenings in the Mohawk Valley. In my defense, I worked Saturday and Monday, and we had a few things to take care of on Sunday. Ah, but what excuse can there be for a veteran like me? I did not even watch my DVD of 1776 (too long), and I lay in bed on the night of the fourth hoping whoever was shooting firecrackers would finish soon, because the noise was bothering my dog.

We did go for a very pleasant walk earlier and explored a spot we have walked by many times but never looked at closely: Herkimer Reformed Church, located at the Historic Four Corners.

The church is a beautiful stone building, surrounded by an iron fence. In between the church and the fence are some very old gravestones. Steven suggested we take a closer look at the grave stones. The gate was open, so we walked in.

Time and weather have worn away the words on most of the stones. We made out a few dates from the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. I could read part of one for the wife of Conrad Folts. No doubt an occupant or relation to occupants of the Folts Home, now a nursing home (and perhaps the subject of another blog post). Many of the graves had markers with a star and a flag, showing that a veteran was laid to rest there. I felt that was a good thing to observe on Independence Day.

A plaque on the church itself informed us that the church was founded in 1723. Later I checked their website and learned that the stone building was built in 1834, after the second building to house the church burned down.

So that is what I did on the 4th of July. I explored an historic church on the Historic Four Corners, and paid my respects to the graves of several veterans.

For more information on Herkimer Reformed Church, visit their website: http://churches.rca.org/herkimer/index.htm, or you can find them on Facebook.

I strive to keep this blog positive. I made the sub headline to read “My Totally Fun Blog,” not just to sound like a valley girl (get it?), but because I wanted a fun blog. That said, I feel I must talk about a fairly un-fun thing that happened to me the other day.

As I was running a car stopped and the driver, a young man, said, “Excuse me,” in a very polite tone of voice. I thought he wanted to ask directions. People often do stop me when I’m walking or running to ask directions, and I direct them as best I can. I approached this car in a helpful spirit, and the man said, “Have you ever seen one of these?” Ahem.

This is a family blog, so I will only say, I have seen them. I do not have one.

I got away from the car fast, before he could show me anything else. I automatically looked at his license plate and noted it. He drove away. I turned around, ran home, and called the police.

What a disgusting thing to happen! I will add this: what I saw might not have been real and might not have been his. I took the merest glance at it and that was enough for me. My disgust remains unabated.

Here I am, writing this blog in which I go on and on about how wonderful it is to live in a town where you can just go for a walk or a run, and then I meet up with some pervert. Thank goodness something like this didn’t happen to me till now: I’m 47 and have been around the block. If it would have happened when I was 15 and innocent (I was), I would have been devastated.

I suppose as encounters with perverts go, this one was pretty tame. I know many more terrible things can and do happen to women out running or walking. This to me was a reminder of that. If the man meant it as a joke, it was not a funny one, and it was obviously one I was not meant to share. A male co-worker told me that any way you looked at it, this was wrong, and I did the right thing to call the police.

I went running the next day with no incident. I will continue to run and to walk my dog unaccompanied. I won’t even refuse to give directions to any passing motorists. But it is going to take me a while before I feel as comfortable about it as I used to feel. And that makes me sad.

My hair had grown out to that in-between stage, and I had been struggling with bad hair days for at least a couple of weeks. I had to time my next cut, though, because I have a family wedding to go to July 9. Must have good hair for that!

So on Friday, my last weekday off before the big event, we made our way to Cuts & Colors, 402 Mohawk St., Herkimer, where we had made an appointment with our hairdresser, Jackie Williams. Jackie has done our hair for a number of years now. So nice to have a regular stylist who knows the look you want.

Cuts & Colors is a full service salon. It’s an open, airy place with hardwood floors and big windows so you can check out what’s going down on Mohawk Street. At least, I can check it out till I take my glasses off to get my hair washed and cut. Never do remember to put contacts in for these things. The stylists are all friendly, and it’s the kind of chatty place I particularly like.

As always, I brought up my sister who wants me to dye my hair to take the grey out. I dyed my hair for years, just for fun, because the few greys I had at the time weren’t particularly noticeable. I usually did the L’Oreal Light Auburn, with occasional forays into other shades. Now I embrace the grey, and Jackie says it looks distinguished. Who can you believe if not a hairdresser? Wouldn’t she recommend an expensive color treatment with regular touch ups that I would undoubtedly pay her to do, if that would really look nice?

Steven got his hair cut too, so we both looked pretty when we left the place. Um, Steven looked handsome. I looked… well, I was finally having a good hair day.

Cuts & Colors is open 11 am to 4 pm Sunday, 9 am to 8 pm Monday through Friday, and 9 am to 6 pm on Saturday. You can call 315-866-8514 for information or an appointment. You can also like them on Facebook.

Friday was my day off, and we planned to go shopping in North Utica. This made it a handy stop to eat at Dave’s Diner, 2251 Route 5, Downtown Schuyler.

Downtown Schuyler is how it is described both on the side of the building and on the address on their take out menu, and it is located at a four corners which Steven told me is a famous four corners. I was reminded that when we lived in Schuyler, our mailing address was actually Franklin. That may give you an idea of how bustling downtown Schuyler is. Never mind, Dave’s Diner is a great place to eat.

We got there after 11, I thought great, after breakfast, before lunch, they won’t be too busy. They were busy, but we easily found a table and had not long to wait before the waitress brought us menus. I’ve enjoyed their Chicken Fingers or their Swiss Garlic Mushroom Burger in the past, but Friday we both went for Chicken Salad on rye with lettuce and tomato and cole slaw on the side. Yummy! The sandwich was fat, and the cole slaw just the right amount of tangy.

Dave’s is open for breakfast and lunch, although they do host a cruise in on Tuesday nights, which I have never attended but one day intend to. I know they close at noon on Saturdays, because one Saturday I went there and realized they were cleaning up the place as I was still eating my chicken fingers. I hate last minute customers myself, so hate to be one. I apologized profusely. The waitresses were very gracious about it: “Take your time, we have to be here anyways.”

So there you have it: good food, great service, check out Dave’s Diner. You can even call ahead for take out: 315-735-4332.

A couple of weeks ago I did a post where I took Tabby for a walk then watched a cheesy horror movie on TCM. When I saw The Blob was scheduled for Thursday, I planned to do the same thing. Steven and I love the 1958 version of The Blob with Steve McQueen.

First I made myself a little obnoxious to my co-workers by going around all day singing, “It leaps, and creeps, and glides and slides across the floor, right through the door and all around the wall, a splotch, a blotch, be careful of the Blob! (pop) Beware of the Blob!” I think they were amused, and nobody called the men in the white coats.

My brilliant plan suffered a setback when the walk with Tabby proved to be absolutely uneventful. Not even a neighbor on a porch to say hello to. Of course quiet walks are a good thing, and Tabby was happy to be walking with both her peeps. We enjoyed it, just nothing to blog home about.

For the other horror movie blog post, I sneaked in a little local color by drinking Gatorade out of my Boilermaker glass and tea with local honey from my Ilion Little Theatre mug. Thursday I was in the mood for a little white wine. After making a joke about the Boilermaker glass and not making it through the movie (it holds a good 16 ounces), I asked Steven to find me a local wine glass.

“How about Slocum Dixon?” he asked. Perfect! The glass was from “Crusaders Winemakers of the Mohawk Valley 2011,” of which Slocum Dixon was one of the sponsors. This is a fundraiser the Herkimer Crusaders host at Herkimer County Community College where local winemakers, mostly hobbyists, offer tastes. People attending the event vote for their favorite. The wines are also judged by professionals. Local restaurants offer good food, and it is altogether a fun time and a great fundraiser. That will definitely make a blog post when it happens again, if I can possibly make it there.

So wine in hand, husband and dog nearby, I watched the movie. I must say the largest suspension of disbelief was Steve McQueen as a teenager, but such is often the case (remember the Sweathogs? ). Still, a fun movie. Good effects: the blob itself is definitely more believable than some of the superimposed monsters and giant apes in other movies of that era. The plot is suspenseful if a little cliche: the kids know something is wrong while the grown ups tell them to shut up and behave. A little difference this time, though, as one cop and Steve McQueen’s father are inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I won’t give away the ending, in case you haven’t seen the movie. And now I’m off, to look for some truly local things for my next blog post. Stay tuned!

That headline looks a little like this is going to be about horror movies. Read it out loud. Get it?

Sometimes in the afternoon, if we’re out and about and have a little extra time before we’re supposed to be somewhere and don’t want to stop at home and get our dog all excited, Steven and I like to go to the Knight Spot in Frankfort for ice cream. Last Wednesday, waiting for Mohawk Farmer’s Market to open, we did just that.

The Knight Spot is an informal, neighborhood-y place to eat. The service is friendly and the food is good. In addition to soft serve ice cream, which I almost never want, the Knight Spot offers Gifford’s Ice Cream. Flavors include Chocolate Rain Forest Crunch, Moose Tracks, Cake Batter, and Wicked Good Chocolate. We stood at the freezer to make our selections, then sat at a booth under a plaque that read “Coffee and Friends Are the Best Blend.” I couldn’t agree more. Coffee and ice cream go good together too, and we ordered coffee as well.

Steven had a brownie sundae with Moose Tracks while I more conservatively ordered a small dish of raspberry sherbet. I’m not always so well behaved. The brownie sundae includes a warmed brownie, hot fudge, whipped cream, nuts and a cherry. I have been known to indulge, and I briefly regretted my virtue when the waitress brought our dishes of differing sizes. I was happy again after the first bite, though, a burst of raspberry flavor. I usually go for the chocolate ice cream, so this was different and yummy.

The Knight Spot is also a good place to go for breakfast (love the breakfast sandwich), lunch or dinner (love the patty melt). They are located at 265 E. Main St., Frankfort, NY, which is the corner of Main and Palmer Streets. You can find them on Facebook, or call 315-894-4054.

A delightful local resource wherever you happen to live is always the public library. I made a trip to Frank J. Basloe Library just the other day.

Basloe is located at 245 N. Main St., Herkimer, NY, with a public parking lot on Prospect Street, the next street over, parallel. A nice little park leads along the side of the building to the library entrance. There are often people sitting on the park benches enjoying the setting, or waiting for the library to open at 10 am. Sometimes a hot dog vendor parks on Main Street, so you can feed your hunger as well as your thirst for knowledge.

I had been online earlier that day trying to reserve Devil in a Blue Dress, by Walter Mosley. We had just watched the movie for the umpteenth time (great soundtrack). I have never read the book, although I read another one about the main character, Easy Rawlins, later in the series. I was unable to complete my reservation, though, because the computer told me my card needed renewing.

I prefer going to the library anyways. I’m not so adept at these online things. It works for me if I know what I want or at least have an author in mind. I like to wander through the actual books, where I usually find something I didn’t know I wanted. This time I found Roads to Saratoga by Gil Herkimer, the continuing saga about the settlement and defense of New York’s Mohawk Valley during the 1700s. Right up my alley! It is actually the second book in an historical trilogy, but I sometimes do things out of order.

While I wandered through biography and history, Steven wandered through the DVDs but did not find anything to tempt him. When Steven used to work in Massena, NY, he would walk to the library on his lunch and read newspapers. We also used Basloe for its computers before we had our own.

Basloe is open Mon.-Tues.-Wed. 10 am to 7 pm, Thurs.-Fri. 10 am to 5 pm, Sat. 10 am to 2 pm, closed Saturdays during July and August. You can call them at 315-866-1733 or log onto http://www.midyork.org/Herkimer.

I must add a note regarding a blog post earlier this week. I mentioned a drainage ditch in Herkimer that was transformed into a pleasant path. I read in the Telegram not two days later: it was not a drainage ditch, it was a hydraulic canal. That’s what I get for just running and writing and not doing any research. I’ll have to look up more about the hydraulic canal and get back to you.

One of my favorite things about this blog is the unassailable excuse to go out to dinner. Monday night Steven and I checked out Salvatore’s Pizzeria and Restaurant at 650 1/2 West German St. (corner of German Street and Lou Ambers Drive), Herkimer.

Salvatore’s was previously located on Main Street, but the new location boasts a larger dining room and a porch with outside seating. I thought the sun was too bright and hot to sit outdoors last night (we had an early dinner), so we sat inside. The waitress was very nice and offered to bring us ice water with our coffee,which we always want but often forget to ask for. And yes, we have coffee before and with as well as after dinner. We like coffee.

The menu offered many tempting choices. I noted calimari and garlic knots in the appetizers — two of my favorites. I considered an Antipasto Salad or Eggplant Rollentini, but Steven found wrap sandwiches on the back page and that sounded even better. He got the Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap with regular fries. I ordered the Chicken Greek Wrap and asked what Fortunato Chips are. Deep fried pepperoni, the waitress told me. Of course I had to try them.

The food was very good, and the waitress kept our coffee filled. As I said, we were there early, but business was picking up as we sat there. They seemed to do a lot of take out. I noted that Salvatore’s is right on my way home, so I made sure to pick up a take out menu for future reference.

“Better take two,” a guy behind the counter suggested. “One for the car, one for home.”

I told the people working there that I intended to write a blog post about the restaurant. They hoped I would give them a good review, and I said I certainly would. The guy that offered the advice about the menus also suggested a couple of places in Utica that might make worthy blog posts. I don’t think I’ve blogged about anything in Utica yet, but I’ll get there. And I’m sure it will be before I run the Boilermaker in 2012.

Salvatore’s is open Monday through Thursday 11 am to 10 pm, Friday and Saturday 11 am to 11 pm, closed Sunday. They deliver to Herkimer and Mohawk. Call 315-866-2600.