Ready for Adventure

Posted on January 11, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

So I sat at work (while working of course; it’s that sort of a job) pondering what all I had to get done in less than an hour and a half.

“I have to take my shower, figure out what to wear, walk my dog, make my blog post and walk down to the Belly Up Pub to meet my husband,” I said to my friend.

“You’ll get it all done.”

“Or I won’t.” Which is the sort of thing another co-worker might say to me. And in fact, I didn’t. Unless we’re going to count this nonsense as a blog post. And, you know, I might, in which case I did get it all done and more, because I figured out what to wear at least twice (figured it several times; actually got dressed twice).

I wrote a blog post while at work today, which I found pretty amusing. I will probably use it in the future, but it seemed to difficult to type it in and edit it today. I wrote a pretty good Pedestrian Post in my head as I walked Tabby just now. Again, too much trouble to get it out of my brain right now. And my gyrations of deciding what to wear could also make for some good blogging.

Tomorrow, however, I hope to write about our fun at Happy Hour at the Belly Up Pub. I’ll be heading there shortly.

Just a further note: another co-worker suggested I make my blog post later. Well, I plan to be moderate, but it is often a bad idea to drink and type. I’m just saying.

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Post-Christmas Shop Talk

Posted on January 10, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I seem to remember NOT giving a shout-out to some of the places where I Christmas shopped, because of fear some recipient would have his or her surprise spoiled (could I have obviated the danger with a well-place Spoiler Alert?)(too late now). Well, Christmas is over, presents have been opened, I’m even almost over my post-Christmas letdown. Let’s talk shopping.

The Remington Country Store in Ilion, NY, is a fun place to shop. It is located on Catherine Street, attached to Remington Arms. You walk through the Remington Museum to get there (also worth a visit, but today we’re talking about shopping).

I got all my nieces and nephews Remington t-shirts. I decided to channel my Grandma, who used to get all her grandkids the same thing. Convenient, and you can’t be accused of playing favorites. Grandma used to divide by gender, but I decided to go gender neutral and get everybody the same thing (I could further discuss this decision with some half-baked philosophy on Lame Post Friday).

Full disclosure: my nephews may have felt ripped off, because I got them Remington t-shirts last year. I was still dividing by gender at the time. See, I’m still evolving.

I also got a green Remington beer glass for my Dad. He likes to drink his beer out of a glass, sometimes frosted in the freezer. For my Mom, I got some notecards with Jim Parker prints, and a Remington pen. My Mom writes a lot of letters and sends cards on many occasions.

There are many more items for sale at the Country Store. I don’t imagine I’ll wait till next Christmas to shop there again. The store is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information call 315-895-3200 or 800-243-9700 or visit wwwshopremingtoncountry.com.

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Weather Wuss

Posted on January 9, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

In my defense, I blogged about Mohawk Valley adventures Monday and Tuesday this week. Can’t I have a Wuss-out Wednesday? Pretty please? Who am I kidding, this is my blog and I can only write what I can write.

In my further defense, I think my brain is frozen. True, it was warmer today than yesterday, with less windchill, but I think the weather is having a cumulative effect. Then, too, there is my age (middle).

Anybody who is inclined to say something snarky like, “You think YOU’VE got it cold!” or even, “It’s January, for heavens’ sake!” just hush your head (pronounced “hush yo’ haid”). In fact, I’ve been comparing notes on Facebook, and the Mohawk Valley has been colder than a lot of people who have been doing even more griping than me (that’s you, residents of southern states!). And YES I AM grateful we haven’t had another blizzard. Yet.

Here’s a bit of half-baked philosophy I may expand upon some Lame Post Friday: It could always be worse. Most of us still like to complain. And many will deny that it could or they do.

I actually don’t mind the cold all that much, except that it has been too cold to take my nice little dog for a walk. Dogs like to go for walks, you know. And I can usually get a blog post out of a stroll.

So, sorry folks, that’s all I got. I’m going to go drink some hot chocolate or tea and ponder what sorts of Mohawk Valley adventures are available to me at sub-zero temperatures. We’ll try for something more interesting tomorrow.

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Love that Sausage Gravy

Posted on January 8, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Mohawk Diner recently moved to new digs (I thought I wrote a blog post about it, but now I can’t find it. Oops). I noticed that their old digs, on Main Street in Mohawk, NY, is now Liz’s Mohawk Diner. Saturday morning I checked it out.

We know Liz from other diners.

“Is Steve on his way?” she asked me as I sat down.

“No, he has to work,” I said sadly. I’m going to suggest he go there on a day off soon, even if it has to be without me.

The place looks spiffy and bright. I admired the chicken-themed decor and perused the specials board. I decided to get eggs over medium and home fries with sausage gravy. The special included coffee and toast made with Heidelberg bread. Yum!

I really enjoyed the home fries with sausage gravy. The gravy was made with lots of sausage, and the potatoes were cooked to perfection.

The place has the kind of hometown diner atmosphere I love. The patrons and Liz were cracking jokes back and forth.

“Pay the waitress,” Liz told one.

“You know she’s a pain,” he answered.

Liz did know. “That’s why I hired her.”

She wasn’t a pain; she was a good waitress. And Liz is an excellent cook. It was a fine breakfast. Liz’s is open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. for breakfast and lunch.

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New Year, New Shoes

Posted on January 7, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Saturday I made my yearly visit to Melfe’s Shoes in Ilion, NY, for steel-toed work shoes.

The store is located at 64 Central Ave. I parked in Sorrento Pizzeria and Restaurant lot (hmmm, haven’t eaten there in a while; that would make a good blog post) (preview of coming attractions).

I felt fortunate to arrive at a time when the store was not too busy. However, I have also been there at busy times. The staff is very good at getting everybody taken care of.

A nice lady named Vicki took care of me. While she brought out 7 1/2 Wides and I walked around in them, we chatted about the weather and the great outdoors. She likes to go fishing. That’s a sport I think I tried once in junior high. Might be time to try it again (I won’t say “preview of coming attractions,” because it might be a while) (unless I try ice fishing. Hmm…).

I was very happy with the shoes I picked and with the service I recieved. I also got a pink Melfe’s t-shirt. I will probably wear it to work. Melfe’s carries other foot gear than work boots. I may return soon to check out some of their other ware (ah, yet another preview of coming attractions).

For more information on Melfe’s Shoes, call 315-894-4049.

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Back on the Tabby Track

Posted on January 6, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

It has been too cold for the last few days to take Tabby for a walk. This is not my selfish, wimpy decision: I saw on the news that you should not have your dogs out in the cold for more than five minutes or so. We do not want a case of doggy hypothermia or doggy frost bite to deal with (yes, I KNOW those are the same thing as regular hypothermia and frost bite; I like to put “doggy” in front of these things).

Today the my thermostat told me it was 21 degrees out, so we ventured on a short stroll. To celebrate, I thought I’d write a pedestrian post about it.

I put Tabby’s coat on her. She is good-natured about letting me maneuver her paws through the sleeves. I wore my warmest coat, hat, scarf and mittens (the ones that are beginning to wear out; they’re still pretty warm). I wish I had little doggy boots for Tabby’s paws but am doubtful about her continuing good-nature if I attempted such a thing.

At the last minute I thought of my prescription sunglasses. The sun was high in the sky and bright. Let’s hear it for polarization!

We set off down the sidewalk, thankful for the neighbors who had shoveled or snow-blowed their sidewalks (Steven did ours). I had forgotten how much snow had fallen since our last stroll. That’s right, I reminded myself, the first day it was too cold for a walk there was also a blizzard. It had not snowed since, so unshoveled stretches of sidewalk usually had a path worn by several pairs of boots.

We also came to parts the sidewalk plow had gone through. While I am grateful for the sidewalk plow, it often leaves a layer of snow. Then again, maybe there was still ice at the bottom and the layer of snow protected me from it. In any case, it takes more effort to walk through, so I burned a few more calories. Bonus!

I sadly noticed the lack of Christmas decorations on many houses I had admired last month. There were two white metal deer with wreaths around their necks. I liked them but was soon depressed at the sight of Christmas trees at the curb. Oh well, life does go on. I must get over my post-Christmas letdown and on with January.

It was only a short walk, because 21 degrees is really only comparatively warm. Of course there is the possibility for another stroll before the freezing rain is predicted to start (really, never a dull moment). I was glad I had walked. Tabby seemed pleased, too.

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Well, I Tried

Posted on January 5, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

It was SUPPOSED to be warmer today. I had all kinds of Mohawk Valley adventures planned. Oh well, I guess it was warmer. The temperature reached double digits, in fact, it was 17 degrees the last time I looked. Heat wave!

I did venture out this morning, when it was still single digits. I had a bit of what I thought was a sinus headache but as usual hoped for the best. After all, the sun was out; that made everything better. Or did it? The bright sun reflecting off all the snow put my headache in high gear. At the first STOP sign I dug my prescription sunglasses out of my purse. They are polarized. Phew!

My most pressing task was to put air in my tires, because the tire pressure indicator light was on. Isn’t it the damnedest thing that just when you want to put air in your tires, so does everybody else? I did my other stuff first.

I patronized two local businesses and had a lovely visit to a library. That should be good for at least three blog posts, right? Well, the headache only got worse. I blamed the frigid temperatures (and, please, anybody who is experiencing sub-zero temperatures, do NOT tell me I don’t know what cold temperatures are)(that’s a good topic for some half-baked philosophy next Lame Post Friday: perspective and the advice to quit whining). Where was I? Soon I had a full-blown migraine with nausea.

Naturally I did what any self-respecting 21st century woman does: I went home and posted on Facebook about my misery. And distracted myself by seeing other people’s problems, political opinions, kids’ pictures and jokes. I love Facebook. And yes, I know, I am not a real 21st century woman. For one thing, I’ve never used the word “hashtag” in my life, except to say, “Why are you calling a pound sign a hashtag? What’s that all about?”

And now I’m getting all distracted by nonsense. My headache is better, but my head is still kind of vague. I put some peppermint oil on my temples, which is supposed to provide intellectual stimulation. Perhaps I have nothing up there left to stimulate.

In my defense, by some calculations the Christmas season lasts until January 6th. Let’s pretend I’m still on vacation.

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Drat those Self-Satisfied Sorts

Posted on January 4, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, once again it is Lame Post Friday, my day for random observations and half-baked philosophy, and, what a surprise, I got nuthin’. Today at work I told a friend I had not written anything yet, that I was going to sit at my computer and type, “I got nuthin’.”

“But then you think of other stuff to put,” she said.

“Yes.”

And usually I do. Today, it seems, not so much. Perhaps it is time to do the dreaded half-baked philosophy on New Year’s Resolutions. I haven’t started working on any of mine yet. All I’ve done is get a little defensive about those self-satisfied sorts who say THEY don’t make New Year’s Resolutions. I believe I have inveighed against those sorts recently.

But here is a half-baked philosophical question for me: why do I get so defensive against people who seem pretty happy with themselves? Could it be related to low self-esteem? Hmm… that sounds less like philosophy and more like therapy. I’m not qualified to do therapy, although I do indulge in table-top psychology on occasion.

Table-top psychology, in case I have not mentioned it before, is an expression I got from a friend, who was quoting her mother. She would use it when she was giving a lay person’s opinion (her own). She would qualify it with, “Table-top psychology,” and rap on the table. Of course, this lady was highly intelligent and insightful. Her opinions were probably based on experience and common sense. Me, I just talk.

So, I guess this was my random observation: I get defensive against self-satisfied sorts. And my half-baked philosophy was: why is that? Could be a job for a therapist.

I must, I positively must get back to having Mohawk Valley adventures and writing about them. We’ve been snowed and frozen in for the past two days, but there may be a break in the weather tomorrow. As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

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An Unusual Voodoo/Witchcraft Kind of Guy

Posted on January 3, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’ve become suspicious of zombie movies, because the word “zombie” seems to cover such a wide fictional territory. Are they undead or just hypnotized? Flesh-eating or hate salt? Fast or slow? Body parts rotting or intact? There are many kinds of zombies.

Doubts aside, I DVR’d Plague of the Zombies (1966) from TCM in October. I ended up being glad I did. For one thing, it is a Hammer Film. I’m kind of a latecomer to the Hammer party, but I am a fan.

Spoiler Alert! I’m going to give away what seems to me important stuff, not just which kind of zombies these are. You might like to see the movie before reading this, if like me you like to be surprised.

The movie opens on some kind of voodoo ceremony. I don’t think the writers of horror movies research these things very well. I think they just put some half-naked Africans beating on drums and throw in whatever creepy stuff occurs to them at the time. In this case, it is a guy in a mask with a little doll (presumably a voodoo doll) and a vial of blood.

The voodoo doll is obviously female. Flash to a lovely woman sleeping restlessly. When mask guy starts chanting something weird, so does she. We see that her wrist is bandaged (and remember it later, of course). Suddenly she sits bolt upright and screams. End of prologue.

Next we meet a distinguished white-haired doctor and his beautiful blond daughter. They are going to Cornwall or the moors or someplace to help another doctor, who married an old schoolfriend of the daughter, investigate some mysterious deaths.

As the carriage rolls across the countryside, they see a fox, who is shortly followed by five guys in red coats on horses. What, no dogs? I don’t know much about fox hunting, but I thought there were always dogs. Anyways, the young bloods (I know that’s what they are, because that is how they are listed in the end credits) ask if anybody has seen a fox. Beautiful Daughter sweetly misdirects them.

Then it is on to the village, where a funeral is in progress. As Father and Daughter discreetly wait for the cortege to pass, the Young Bloods come thundering back and knock the coffin over a bridge. This makes for a nice creepy shot of the dead body.

The Young Bloods are mad at Daughter for misdirecting them. The brother of the dead guy is mad at both of them. I guess he blames them for the Young Bloods’ intrusion, which I personally thought a little unreasonable. Oh well, he is grief stricken.

It seems that twelve people have died. The families in this backward area will not allow autopsies, giving Distinguished Dad Doctor and Young Doctor a chance for some grave digging (“Could be worse; could be raining”) (oh wait, wrong movie).

We don’t have to wait too awful long to see the zombies, and they are scary. I was particularly fascinated by the motivations of the head bad guy, the leader of the voodoo/witchcraft kind of cult. He uses evil means to kill people and make them zombies, then utilizes them for a sound economic reason. He is also interested in beautiful young women for blood sacrifice purposes (less unusual in these pictures).

I kind of wish they had made more of the economic side of things, because that struck me as something different for a voodoo/witchcraft kind of bad guy. Any number of movie bad guys want to hypnotize beautiful young women for blood sacrifice purposes. However, zombie-izing young men to staff a haunted tin mine is a bit of entrepreneurialism that commands my respect.

Then again, I am a recently converted horror movie aficionado. Economics could play a time-honored role in zombie movies and I just haven’t seen enough of them. Obviously I have more movie watching to do.

In any case, I found Plague of the Zombies a delight. The dramatic conclusion is very satisfying, and Andre Morell as Distinguished Doctor Dad is an excellent hero. In post-movie commentary, Ben Mankiewicz mentioned that Morell is Watson to Peter Cushing’s Sherlock Holmes in Hound of the Baskervilles. That would be a good movie to see again. Love that Peter Cushing.

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Cold New Year’s Walk

Posted on January 2, 2014 by mohawkvalleygirl

This New Year’s I learned a valuable lesson: Party anyways. I have spent the day feeling as tired and useless as if I had tied one on last night, and I really did not. Then again, I didn’t have a headache or upset stomach, so perhaps I am onto something with this moderation and early bedtime. Still, I thought some people would like it if I began my post with “party anyways.”

I deem it acceptable to do one more vacationish post (I am, after all, the arbiter of these things in my own blog). I could wax philosophical about New Years, as many people do (half-baked for me, of course) (I’ll save it for Lame Post Friday). Instead, I offer another pedestrian post.

The cold snap continues in the Mohawk Valley. The next two days are going to be even worse, so we were determined to take our beloved schnoodle, Tabby, for at least a short walk today. We bundled up. Scarves, hats, mittens. I did not put Tabby’s coat on her. I thought to save it for the even colder days to come.

It had snowed. Snow has the advantage of offering some traction, so I thought it would be a less dangerous walk. Then again, it was so cold the snow didn’t pack down at all, and ice lurked treacherously underneath. I kept warning Steven to be careful. Then I worried a little about myself, because just about the time I’m warning somebody else is when I get into difficulties.

The sun was still up, but behind rather extensive cloud cover. We admired the eerie grey light which bathed the neighborhood. I especially enjoyed the sight of bare trees against the sky. I pointed out that if we had waited till after dark for our walk, we could have noticed who still had their Christmas lights on and been disappointed at those who did not.

I don’t understand this passion for taking decorations down so soon after the celebration. Traditionally aren’t we supposed to leave them up till January 6th? The sight of a few lights still up helps ease my post-Christmas letdown. We saw one tree still lit in somebody’s window, and a fox lawn ornament with a New Year’s hat and Santa socks.

Some Christmas trees were already out by the curb. One had almost no needles left on it.

“Didn’t they water it?” I asked in a disapproving tone of voice.

We did not go for a long walk. I was grateful when we were almost home, because my nose was running. I had provided myself with scarf, hat, mittens and poop bags, but had neglected a handkerchief. Then I noticed my mittens were beginning to wear out. Oh dear. I called Steven’s attention to this, but pointed out that as I had stolen them from my sister sometime in the late ’80s, I really had no room for complaint.

Well, that seems to me not too bad a post for a tired New Year’s Day (on Wuss-out Wednesday, I might add). Or do I flatter myself? No matter. It is time to get on with 2014. Happy New Year, everybody.

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