Tag Archives: Halloween

I’ve Got That Holiday Feeling

Posted on September 9, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yes, it’s Lame Post Friday.  As regular readers know, however many foolish posts I make during the week, I always feel free to enjoy Lame Post Friday.  I am sitting on my couch in Halloween pajama bottoms, bra off (don’t you DARE say TMI!), glass of wine beside me.  There is an episode of 20/20 on the television that I would like to crochet and watch, but blog posts must be made (at least mine, by me).  So where shall I start…

You can’t tell, but I really do have pretty good legs for a woman my age.

Since I had mentioned my Halloween pajama pants, I thought I’d grab my Tablet and take a quick picture.  As we all know, the Halloween season begins the day after Labor Day.  However, I like to celebrate the holiday all year long.  To that end, we leave a few favored decorations out.

He was a Christmas present from my dearest husband, Steven.

Steven bought me this lovely vampire at Aubuchon in Herkimer, now sadly closed.  He is holding a Christmas ball in one hand and a bag of skulls in the other (I purchased the skulls for another purpose; he’s holding them for me).  We also put the little stocking around his neck to make him even more appropriate as a Christmas decoration.  I wonder if we ought to add a couple of accessories for Thanksgiving, Easter and the Fourth of July.  Points to ponder.

The frog is her friend, not a former prince.

This is one of our loveliest witches.  We have quite a collection  If we put them all out this year, perhaps I could make a witchy blog post with pictures.  She did not come with the frog; he is part of Steven’s extensive collection of such amphibians.

It looks as if Scrooge grumpily thrust Marley in the back in order to dominate the photo.

Just to show you we are not complete Halloween maniacs, I include a picture of a couple of our year-round Christmas decorations.  This is a Buyer’s Choice Caroler of Jacob Marley, which I purchased for Steven in 1989, after he had played the part of Jacob Marley in a production of A Christmas Carol.  My, that WAS a long time ago!  I cannot remember who gave Steven the nutcracker of Scrooge, but I believe it was my mother.  That is a kaleidoscope in the foreground.  We have a pretty cluttered knick-knack shelf.

 

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Is It Halloween Yet?

Posted on August 31, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I just can’t get around it:  I have had a rash of really foolish posts, and I am about to make another.  I stared at a blank sheet of paper for a while on break at work today.  I just could not write down a word, not even a whiny word about how I could not write down a word.  In fact, right now I am by main force preventing myself from backspacing out the foolishness I have typed in thus far.  I have rehearsal for The Tempest at six.  I have to post and go.

I already wrote about The Tempest at the Herkimer Elks Lodge this Friday (perhaps you read my blog post about it).  I just yesterday posted pictures from monster movies.  I can’t do that again, can I?  Or can I?  Regular readers know, I like to make Halloween last all year.  In fact, it is almost time to begin celebrating Halloween anyways.  We can begin the day after Labor Day, right?

Isn’t she sweet?

Not from a monster movie, but a Halloween picture of my own.  We got this lovely lady at Pumpkin Junction in Sauquoit last fall.  We LOVE Pumpkin Junction (I wrote an article about them for Mohawk Valley Living magazine).

Decorations by Steve.

Here is the front view of our house last October.  I wonder what Steven will come up with for this year.

And here is the decorator himself.

This is a shot of Steve at Pumpkin Junction.

So I guess this is my Wuss-out Wednesday post.  A few pictures from last year and a wish for Halloween.  Now it’s off to rehearsal for me.  Happy Wednesday, everyone!

 

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Halloween Pictures on Tired Tuesday

Posted on April 12, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

My hair is actually a little shorter than this.

This is my new profile picture on Facebook.  I open today’s Tired Tuesday post with it, because, what a surprise:  I got nuthin’ else.  Of course I like having the Bride of Frankenstein as my profile pic, I’ve had it before, but I really liked this one for the saying.  I like to embrace my own imperfections.  They are what make me, me.

I don’t suppose it is October yet.

This picture has nothing to do with the preceding paragraph, but it is Halloween-ish and I have not used it before.  Also, it is Bela Lugosi.  There could be no possible objection.

My hair is more grey than this kid’s.

This must be a picture Steven downloaded at some point.  He finds the coolest stuff.  This is an appropriate picture to include here, because as soon as I hit “Publish,” I am going upstairs to read in bed before going to sleep.  I am actually not reading a ghost story.  I am quite absorbed in a biography of John Barrymore.  I am a huge fan of his brother, Lionel, and I also admire their sister, Ethel.   However, John was pretty cool too.  The next time I run in place on the mini-tramp, I may watch the silent movie, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” starring John.

At last I am over 200 words.  I’ll call that respectable for a Tired Tuesday.  I hope to see you all on Wuss-out Wednesday.

 

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Non-Sequitur Spunky

Posted on March 30, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I wrote while on breaks at work today, but not a blog post.  Feeling quite bereft of ideas, I did what I usually do these days and skimmed through our downloaded photos.  The first one that caught my eye was a sweet shot of our dear, late dog, Spunky.

He was cold, so Steven covered him up.

I put it in the blog but could not find further pictures of Spunky that I haven’t already used.  The pictures does not go with the other ones I selected, but I just can’t bring myself to delete the photo.

It’s nice to see a family enjoying the fresh air together.

This was the next picture I noticed.  It is one Steven downloaded.  At first I thought it was Hirschfeld, but on closer inspection I see it is not.  I confess, back in the day when we watched all the good re-runs, I preferred The Addams Family to The Munsters.  I have not seen either show in years so have no idea how I’d feel now.  However, with that in mind, I append a nice shot of Gomez.

The house actually looks less creepy than I remember it in the show.

I was still thinking I could bring myself to not use the picture of Spunky, so I clicked on another Halloween-y picture Steven must have downloaded.

He’s a charming fellow, and I love the skeleton on the left.

That makes this a rather disjointed post, but I think I’ll let it stand.  After all, we’re only one day off from Non-Sequitur Thursday.

 

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And to Think, I Almost Didn’t Run

Posted on November 17, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

How about a running commentary to break things up? I have not done one of those in a while, for the simple reason that I have not been running.  I started again this weekend with two runs on the mini-tramp while taking in a silent movie.  I think I mentioned that in my Wrist to Forehead Sunday post.  I cravenly did not run Monday or Tuesday, so I knew it would be a very good idea to run today.  I also knew I would be very clever about taking myself out of it.

As my work day wore on, I pondered what to do when I got home.  Run?  Clean house?  Not go home but to the store to buy my great-nephew a birthday present (he turns two this week)?  I was feeling increasingly downhearted, for many reasons that do not bear repeating.  I was also feeling rather bloated, because I am back to eating normally, which, for me, means too much.  Obviously running was the right thing to do.

It was not precipitating as I left work, as it had been yesterday (when I did not run).  It seemed cold, but that is no deterrent.  I have leggings and long sleeves.  As soon as I got in the house, Spunky wanted to go for a walk.  He only wanted to go to the end of the street and back.  I thought it felt chilly.  My thermostat said it as 51, well within shorts and short sleeve range for me.  I didn’t think it felt 50, but who am I to argue?  I put on shorts and short sleeves.  Getting a hot flash while I was changing made me feel a little better about the cold, although it made putting on the sports bras a little more awkward (sorry if that was oversharing).

I set out.  Normally when I run for the first time after a break, I run up to German Street, turn left, run to Caroline, then down Caroline, up Margaret, down Henry only as far as I need to to complete the time I want to run.  I decided to turn right today, just for something different.  Then I almost changed my mind, because some kids were walking home from school in that direction. They were on the opposite side of German from me, but I felt self-conscious.  Then I told myself to stop being silly; those kids were probably not paying the least attention to me and who cares if they were?  I turned right.

The cool air felt good.  It really wasn’t cold; I could tell my hands were not going to stiffen up as can happen when it gets below 40.  My ears got cold after a while, but I just moved my headband over them.  This was great.  More to the point, my body was having no problem with the run.  My legs and arms pumped along steadily, my breathing was no problem.  I could handle this!

I turned down Main Street, because that street can be a little difficult to cross because of traffic.  Instead of going all the way down Main, I turned at Church and followed that all the way to the end.  I felt pretty pleased with myself:  instead of going up and down, I was going back and forth.  As I ran, I admired houses, envying screened in porches and noticing who had and had not raked their lawns (not judging, just noticing).  Many houses had harvest decorations: scarecrows, pumpkins, corn.  I saw a few jack-o-lanterns left over from Halloween.   They get really scary looking when they start to rot;  their mouths gape open and the insides are all black with mold. Ew!

I ended up running 27 minutes, which I thought was pretty good.  I did 30 minutes on each of my mini-tramp runs over the weekend, and I usually do not run as far during the week.  I have it in mind to run a 5K in December, and I think I will be just ready for it.  I’ll probably write a blog post about it.

 

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Good-bye, Halloween, and I Miss You, Brain!

Posted on November 7, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I guess iced coffee is my current beverage of choice, especially when sipping and typing.  I must say, not as much fun as wine, but not at all bad.  And when I say iced coffee, I don’t mean that bottled stuff you buy or the various concoctions they make at Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks kinds of places.  I mean I filled a large glass with ice and poured over it the coffee in our pot that was left over from this morning.  We have a goodly amount left over today, because I did not drink any this morning, hot or iced (I’m not allowed hot yet, dammit!).

Incidentally, the glass I used is Ballast Point Sculpin India Pale Ale, which I acquired at a Steal the Glass promotion at Copper Moose Ale House in Little Falls last summer (did I write a blog post about that?).  Just to sneak in a local connection.

I am typing off the cuff as my husband packs away our Halloween decorations (those we do not keep out all year).  I am a little dopey (yes, more than usual, you wise ass) from pain medicine and probably from lack of food.  I ate some yogurt earlier so a not to take the medicine on an empty stomach, but I have certainly not been eating my usual amounts.  On the brighter side, I’ve lost four pounds.

So it is definitely Wrist to Forehead Sunday as I feel too brain dead to write a decent post, too body dead to do any more useful chores, and not a little sad to see Halloween go away when I feel I have not sufficiently appreciated the season.  We’ll blame my health woes for that.  But I will not go on about my health woes, because, you know, HIPPA rules and all that.

My ambition now is to NOT take the pain medication again but to rely on ice and stillness to keep my pain in check.  And I hope to salvage some Halloween enjoyment by watching a few more Halloween movies, possibly of the cheesy variety.  And as soon as I get my brain back, I hope to write a better blog post.

 

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Wussy Post about Cheesy Coming Attractions

Posted on November 3, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I’m afraid it’s Wuss-out Wednesday.  Never mind why.  It just is.  However, due to  my perhaps unhealthy obsession with publishing a post every day, I will attempt to think of something that will entertain.

Halloween continues at Mohawk Valley Girl’s house. For one reason,  Steven has had no chance as yet to take down our decorations.  What, me take down the decorations?  I don’t want to take down the decorations!  I want to make Santa hats for the ghosts and witches.

More to the point, I have many Halloween movies I have not yet watched, or at least not watched this season.  I bet there are even some I have not written blog posts about.  You know how  I love to write blog posts about cheesy horror movies (and if you did not know I’m telling you now:  I love to write blog posts about cheesy movies) .  I have several movies awaiting me on my DVR, some previously viewed and/or written about, some not. Additionally, I purchased a new DVD last night while on our bat and skull mission.

We found Attack of the Killer B’s in the $5 bin at K-mart.  It is a 10 movie collection.  Some of the movies I have on other collections:  The Brain that Wouldn’t Die, The Killer Shrews, Eegah!  Some look vaguely familiar.  I may have DVRd them from TCM or something.  But a few are definitely new to me.  I coyly suggested Steven buy me the movie for my birthday.  He said, “If you want that DVD, we can buy it.”

So we did.  And this is my blog post about it.  I guess it’s kind of a  lame post for a Wednesday night, even one of the Wuss-out variety.  No matter.  It’s over 200 words and I’m hitting publish.  I hope to see you all on Non-Sequitur Thursday as well as for future posts when I write about  such movies as Teenagers from Outer Space or Invasion of the Bee Girls.

 

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Wrist to Seeds to Shout-outs

Posted on October 31, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

Well, it is Wrist to Forehead Sunday, we all knew it would be.  I’m still trying to get over my cold.  Yesterday’s chicken soup helped, especially when I heated up two more bowls of it this afternoon.  Extra sleep has helped too.  I may stop complaining about my ills any day now, but let’s not expect miracles, shall we?  At least I can stop whining long enough to give a shout-out to a local business that helped us out today.

In the best of circumstances I don’t often cook something good two days in a row.  Additionally, the oven was already occupied by roasting pumpkin seeds. Yes, we waited till the day before Halloween to carve our pumpkin.  What can I say, it’s been a rough month.  But today Steven carved a delightful face in the pumpkin we got from Pumpkin Junction in Sauquoit (ooh, that will make two shout-outs today).  I gathered the seeds and put them in the oven to roast, after tossing them in olive oil with salt and spices.  Just to give another shout-out, I used the Salt Free Essential Spice Blend I got from So Sweet Candy Cafe  (it was at their booth at the Mohawk Valley Garlic and Herb Festival in Little Falls, so it actually may have been So Sweet Candy Confections, but what’s in a name) (and I just gave a shout-out to the Garlic Festival, didn’t I?).

That was kind of a convoluted paragraph, wasn’t it?  You’ll have that when a blogger is not feeling 100% for some days in a row.  No matter, my original purpose here was to give a shout-out to Carney’s Corners.  Steven called in an order for pick-up, an Italian sub and pasta salad.  I had not had an Italian sub in a while.  I’ve been trying to get away from processed, aged meats, since I heard they may be migraine triggers.  Never mind that they are some of my favorite things.  Salami and pepperoni, YUM!  I thoroughly enjoyed my half of that sub.

OK, I’ve carefully put in links to Pumpkin Junction, So Sweet Candy Cafe and Mohawk valley Garlic and Herb Festival.  I couldn’t find a site for Carney’s Corners, but they are located at 232 N. Washington St., Herkimer, phone number 315-866-7191.  And if you don’t feel like clicking, Pumpkin Junction is at 2188 Graffenburg Rd., Sauquoit, 315-794-4604 (although their last day of business for the year may be Oct. 31, so hurry); So Sweet Candy Cafe is 531 Varick St., Utica, 315-765-6463.

 

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Waiting for What?

Posted on October 26, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I was at the doctor’s office this afternoon.  I won’t get into why because, you know, HIPPA and all.  Nothing serious or even particularly interesting. But I need a blog post and it is Tired Tuesday, so here we go.

They decided to do an EKG (is that how you spell it?  I mean, are all three letters capitalized?  I don’t know from medical terms).  The machine decided to give the nurse a little trouble (yes, I think of machines as sentient beings who delight in tormenting hapless humans).  It would not give a good reading.  I just lay there on the table with all those little wires taped to my body, trying to catch a nap.

The nurse said the machine kept saying, “Waiting for good data.”  I flashed on Waiting for Godot but did not know if she would get the theatrical reference so did not say anything.  I repeated “Waiting for good data” in my head several times, so I could use it in a Facebook post.  I decided to use it here instead.  I hope somebody was amused.

The last thing I had to do was let them draw blood.  I remarked to the phlebotomist that the blood was very seasonal, but she was not amused.  Come to think of it, she was a little cadaverous-looking herself, very thin with large eyes and a dead serious expression.  I’m sure she was not a vampire, because sunlight was coming through the window.  It wouldn’t matter that it was a cloudy day, would it?  I’m not up on all the vampire rules.

Oh dear, do you suppose I could get in trouble for making vampire jokes about a local phlebotomist?  She was a very good phlebotomist; I barely felt the needle go in.   And she wasn’t really cadaverous-looking.  I just threw that in for effect.

This is what happens on Tired Tuesday.  I get a little punchy.  But I see I have managed over 300 words, so let’s call it a post and move on.  I hope to go running tomorrow, so maybe I can write a post about that.

 

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Yay! Halloween!

Posted on October 19, 2016 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had been wanting to return to Pumpkin Junction in Sauquoit ever since I wrote about it for the October issue of Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  I decided Sunday was the day.

I made the decision as I drove to church, over Higby and down Graffenburg roads.  The views were incredible.  I had to remind myself to keep my eyes on the road.  I thought, “Steven has GOT  to see this!”

When Steven got home from work, he readily agreed, so, after doing a couple of chores we didn’t want to put off, we set out. I brought our Tablet, to take some pictures.

“Maybe I’ll finally learn how to put them in my blog,” I said.

I did not take any pictures of the views as we drove but right away saw things to snap photos of at the Junction.  After clicking outside for a while, we went into the barn and spent some good time looking at ALL kinds of decorations.

After acquiring some great new stuff for our Halloween decor, we went out and wandered through the Cornfusion Corn Maze.  We were delighted with our trip.

And now I am typing my words into WordPress.  I see how to add a photo, but am not sure how to… position it.  I wanted to put a photo up top, then words, then another photo, then more words.  Oh dear, let’s see what I can do…

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ALL sorts of pumpkins, gourds and squashes!

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We did not try to guess the weight of this pumpkin, although they had a contest for those wishing to try.

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Just one of the excellent displays

And now I see that I must learn more about this adding photos business. However, for today, here was my text and here are a few pics.  Local readers will like to check out Pumpkin Junction; it is a most wonderful Halloween place.  They are located at 2188 Graffenburg Rd., Sauquoit, and are open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.  You can Like them on Facebook.

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