Tag Archives: blogging

Still Ill on Throwback Thursday

Well friends, it is another Blogger’s Sick Day, but I think I can manage a Throwback Thursday post.  I spent most of the day trying unsuccessfully to sleep.  Perhaps I will be better enough tomorrow to get some exercise, which I would think would help me sleep.

He was so cute and sweet!

This is from January 2017, our second dog, Spunky. That basket was not meant to be a bed for him but a container for my crochet projects.  However, he went right over and made himself at home.  How could I deny him?  I am thinking about getting a dog, for company and for a reason to go for more walks.  We shall see.

 

My reason for attempting a blog post.

My brain truly does not want to write today.  I attempted something earlier and managed a page of nonsense.  By my rules for me, Any Writing Counts.

A fun theatre memory.

Since it is Throwback Thursday, I share a picture from rehearsals for Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, the murder mystery LiFT, Little Falls Theatre Company, did at the Overlook Mansion, back when it was a Bed and Breakfast and Destination for weddings and other things.  It was a 1920’s setting, and I am dying to do another set in that period.  I started to write one that I hoped to do at Salisbury Grange.  I could work more on it.  When my brain feels a little bit better.

In the meantime, I am over 200 words.  Score!  Maybe some more hot tea with lemon and honey would help.

 

Not Well on Wednesday

It is a Blogger’s Sick Day.  One reason I am making the post is that it makes me sit up and drink water.  I spent most of the day in bed, trying to sleep, so have become dehydrated. I must say this cool water tastes wonderful.

No, no! Only water today! Maybe a little tea.

I thought I should throw in a picture to pep things up.  It was really an inconvenient day to get sick.  I was supposed to meet some friends for lunch, and tonight is the Elks Club meeting.  I have missed the last few meetings and meant to go.

Tea in my new mug. And maybe try a little more writing.

One thing I did this morning was heat up the neck pillow my sister Cheryl gave me for Christmas.  It is from Irish Dreams Cookies: Cookies, Accessories, Apparel.  They are based in Waterville, just to give a should-out to an area business.

The problem with being sick is that pretty much all you can do is sit around and feel sick.  How boring!  And how boring to blog about it!  I guess I’ll call this a Wuss-Out Wednesday and drive on.  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.

 

Scattered Tuesday?

I just went adventuring with my mother and my sisters Cheryl and Diane.  Did I take any pictures?  Um, ‘fraid not, but perhaps my Media Library can help.

Our first stop was Athenix Books and Brews (only books so far) in Little Falls, NY.  They are going to carry some of Diane’s books.  Yes, she is a published author, and I must up my writing game.

A regular stop for me now!

Mom, Cheryl and I browsed around while Diane talked with the owner.  I found a book by Fannie Flagg, one of my favorite authors.  Cheryl and I were looking at the shirts when she pointed out me one with a ghost.  It was 50% off.  How could I resist?  She took a picture of me holding it before I decided to buy it; maybe I can get it from her for blogging purposes.

After that stop we pondered where else to go.  So many shops are not open on Tuesday!  When we drove back to Herkimer, looking for lunch, we saw Mohawk Valley Community Market.  How did I not think of that?  It is a great place to shop!  We spent a goodly amount of time browsing.

I have one of those bags!

Renewed and Rescued is the anchor store of the Market, the people that started it all.

At last we went to lunch.  Many places are not open for lunch on Tuesday, but one my favorites, Salvatore’s Pizzeria and Restaurant is!

There was snow on the ground today.

We had a delicious lunch.  I’m still full!  And after all those adventures, I have plenty of time left to do something useful around the house.  As soon as I read some of that Fannie Flagg book.

 

Mummies and Memories

I’m afraid it has to be a Monstrous Monday Post today.  It has in some ways been a Monstrous Monday, as I have been feeling sad and low.  A dear friend from up North passed away.  We had only been Facebook friends recently, but I have great memories of working with her in the Seaway Valley Footlighters, a community theatre based in Massena, NY.

He kind of looks like I feel, only I don’t have a hat like that.

Here is Christopher Lee, looking melancholy as The Mummy.  At least, I don’t think he is a mummy yet.  I have not seen the movie enough time to recognize the scene.

Oops, no monsters here.

Unable to settle on a monster, I share a community theatre memory:  a rehearsal from The Tempest, presented by LiFT, the Little Falls Theatre Company.  There were no monsters onstage, but the blond in the back is a wizard.  Does that count for anything?

Now there’s a mummy, if you like.

This is not Christopher Lee.  I quite frankly do not know which mummy this is or what movie it is from.  This post is definitely not one of my best efforts.  I guess I’m going to bill it as a blogger’s sad day and drive on.  As usual, I will try for a better blog post tomorrow.

 

Mid Sunday Wrist to Forehead Post

Earlier today I was at the Regional Competition of the Elks Hoop Shoot.  Alas, I did not take any pictures.  The Herkimer competition took place in December, during which I kept score.  Today I got to chase rebounds, which was much more fun.  Now I am home and waiting till it is time to go to the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts in Little Falls, NY, where there is a farewell reception for Oscar Stivala.

Oscar Stivala is a doctor, musician and artist.  I know him in the latter two descriptions.

Oscar and friends.

The picture is from The Renaissance Pub on Main Street in Little Falls.  It was the opening of an exhibit of Stivala’s artwork. I went for the music as much as the art.

I guess it all sounds pretty good, with no reason for me to swoon, dramatically posed with the back of one wrist to my forehead, on a handy chaise lounge, or failing that my couch (I STILL don’t own a chaise lounge and I feel pretty ill-used about it).  But I am having a bit of a headache, and I don’t care for that. Ooh, I just remembered, my sister Cheryl gave me a neck pillow, the kind you heat up in the microwave.  Yay, Cheryl!

So this is my Sunday post.  As always, I thank you for tuning in.

 

A Breakfast Bribe

I have been putting off going grocery shopping for too long.  This is something I have been prone to for the last couple of years (yes, since my widowhood).  This morning I had the bright idea to go out to breakfast (because there was little food in the house and no breakfast food) then shopping.  Sort of a bribe in advance.  Accordingly, I headed to the Hometown Diner in Mohawk, NY.

I have been there several times and enjoyed it quite a bit.  Today I went for one of my favorites: a breakfast sandwich on an English muffin with sausage, egg and cheese.  I worked on a letter to my friend Kim while I waited for it.  I did not have long to wait, which was just as well, because I did not have much to say in the letter.

As I got up to go to the rest room, I noticed the Valentine’s Day decorations.  Nice!  I had noticed some sparkly red earlier but thought it was left from Christmas. I congratulated the staff for being so up to date.

Not the ones I thought were left over from Christmas.

Naturally I took a couple of pictures for blog post purposes.  It was a delicious breakfast, but it kind of backfired on me.  When I got to the supermarket, I was still full, so none of the food looked particularly appetizing.  The usual advice of  “Don’t shop on an empty stomach” does not work for me.  However, I did manage to purchase a few things, including some toaster waffles and a dozen eggs.  At least breakfast is set!  Then again, breakfast out is always nice.

Had to get a close-up of this cute guy!

The Hometown Diner is located at 150 W. Main St., Mohawk, NY, phone number 315-927-4149.

 

Messy House, Many Adventures

I had an adventure filled day yesterday but foolishly did not take any pictures along the way.  Well, I will recount my activities and trust to my Media Library to provide some illustration.

I started with breakfast with friends at Top of the Morning Cafe in North Utica, NY.  I had never been there before and wish I had taken pictures.  However, the parking lot was quite icy so I did not want to pause and try to aim my camera at their sign.  It was a very good breakfast, though.  I am sure we will return.

Back home, I was planning the best way to go about cleaning my messy house when my sister Cheryl called and asked did I want to go out to lunch.  She needed to get a calendar as well.  I told her I knew a place where she could get a swell calendar free: Basloe Library in Herkimer had a stack of canal calendars.  I told her to take her time coming over, since I was still full from breakfast.

We went first to the library where Cheryl got the calendar and found a couple of books at the book sale.  From there we went to Little Falls and Athenix Books and Brews, where I found a book. I introduced Cheryl to the owner as my sister that did not write novels.  I don’t know if he recognized me as the person who said her sister wrote novels, but it amused me.

A very welcoming sign.

Next we walked up Main Street to Chickweed Boutique, where Cheryl found a couple of things she wanted.  I noticed that the sleigh out front was gone.  The owner told me it had been sold to a man with three kids, so it would get a lot of use.

The sleigh.

I told Cheryl about the sleigh that had been there in December, handmade and beautiful.  I would have loved to buy it myself!

By then I was hungry too, so we went back to Herkimer for lunch at Paradise Eatery.  I had gotten appetizers there but never lunch.  The waitress remembered me, which was flattering.  The food was yummy.  We will certainly go there again.  For one reason, I need to take a better picture.

From a post titled, “Bad Pictures, Good Eatery.”

It was a delightful day.  I was glad I had met my friends, and that Cheryl had called me.  My messy house was waiting for me when I got home.  Full disclosure:  I did not clean it today either.

 

Prescription: Blog Post

I was going to do a Way-back Wednesday post about Prescription: Murder, the play I was in last year (was it only last year?) at Ilion Little Theatre, because I was watching the TV version with Peter Falk as Columbo on Roku TV.  Unfortunately, I got caught up in  watching further episodes of Columbo (love Murder by the Book with Jack Cassidy) and got too tired.  That is all right though; I can do a Throwback Thursday post now!

Columbo clears up one little point for his report.

I wanted to use the shot with my dead feet sticking out from behind the chaise, but I have several good pictures to share and I use the feet one often.

I totally wanted those shoes.

Our murderer was different from Gene Barry in the TV movie (it was a TV movie that became the basis for the Columbo TV series).  Barry is cold and arrogant.  Our Dr. Fleming was warmer.   Our Joan Hudson (Katherine Justice in the movie), the doctor’s lover and accomplice, was more innocent and endearing.

A staged shot taken backstage (a backstaged shot?).

I liked our Burt Gordon, the district attorney and close personal friend of the murderer, better than the one played by William Windom.  I was sorry ours only had one scene, but he made the most of it.  While being genuinely concerned for his friend, he still managed to make a lot of what he said sound like a political speech.

Rehearsal shot.

Our receptionist gave a more nuanced performance than the receptionist in the movie.  You knew how she felt about every character she encountered.

There were things I liked better in the movie, most notably the ending, but I had such a good time in the play.  I thought my fellow actors were all wonderful in their roles, and the director and assistant director were top notch.  I can’t wait to be in another play at Ilion Little Theatre!

 

Winter Waste Not Want Not

Under the heading Nobody’s Perfect, I missed making my Monday blog post.  Rather than resort to a late Monstrous Monday or an on-time Tired Tuesday (I am a little tired, but never mind), I shall skip ahead and make a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday post.  For one reason, I found three pictures in my phone I have not used.

I have been walking a lot lately.  I find it safer than running, since you never know when ice is lurking beneath the snow.  The beauty part of snow is, it gives you more traction than ice while slowing you down, so you burn more calories with every step.  At least, that is the thought with which I comfort myself when it seems to be taking me forever to get anywhere.  The beauty part about walking is that I can pause to take a picture when something catches my eye.

I did not try to go ice fishing.

I don’t know if this is an actual brook or just a kind of a drainage ditch.  Drainage ditch sounds awfully dirty, and this does not seem unsanitary to me.  I always like to see running water as I walk along.

I would find that cold.

On one walk, I saw this beautiful dog not on a leash.  I took a picture, thinking I should post it on Facebook or something.  However, the pooch did not seem to be wandering, so I knocked on a door and asked the lady who answered if she knew whose dog it was.  She pointed out the house, and I knocked on that door and warned them their dog was loose.  It was my good deed for the day, I guess.

One of my favorite views.

Relaxing after a walk, I enjoy two of my lovely Christmas presents from my parents:  fuzzy socks and soft slippers.  What a delightful thing on a cold winter’s day.

Ooh, look, I am over 300 words and have not once whined over having nothing to blog about.  It can be difficult getting out and about in the winter, but I shall manage something.  As always, I thank you for tuning in.

 

Return to Athenix

I got to thinking about Athenix Books and Brews and The Keep and decided I wanted to join.  Also, I had not purchased anything on Jan 2 , and that is no way to support a business.  I am not extravagantly well off, but I can afford a purchase or two.  Accordingly, I drove to Little Falls, NY.

Cool sign!

This time I remembered to take a couple of outside pictures.  I went in and greeted the owner.  He pointed out his two daughters, after whom the store is named, he was holding one and the other was relaxing on a nearby couch.  I looked around to decide what to purchase.  A number of people were browsing, so it was difficult to see everything.  What a good problem for a store to have!  Alas, no books caught my eye.

My purchases.

I had said yesterday that I did NOT need another coffee mug.  Unfortunately, when I was doing dishes the morning, my Dyn’s Cider Mill mug broke.  I don’t know when I will get to Dyn’s again (they are probably closed for the season).  In the meantime, another Little Falls mug can fill in the gap.  Um, yes, I did already have a Little Falls coffee mug.  But this one is purple!  When I went to pay for it, I fell in love with an adorable ghost pen holder (full disclosure:  at first I thought it was just a ghost and had to be told it was a pen holder).

It took a little while, since I was joining The Keep and because, well, I always talk too much.  I apologized to the woman behind me.  She said that was fine, she was enjoying looking around.  She asked the owner what if somebody wanted to buy one of the books hanging from the ceiling.  He said there would be a $100 surcharge for hauling out the ladder.

The outside is decorated with books, too.

We are all looking forward to the opening of the cafe.  I want to sit there and sip coffee and write.  Maybe I can finally finish that novel.