Tag Archives: herkimer ny

A Little Taste, Please

Posted on December 8, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I stopped in for the tasting at Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer on Saturday and enjoyed some Bailey’s.  I used to never miss a tasting at Valley; my friend Kim and I used to start our weekends there every Friday.  Am I slowing down in my older years?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!  Be that as it may, Saturday I was out for a walk and my footsteps took me to South Caroline Street, so I stopped in.

I should have tried to get more Christmas decorations in the picture.

Katheryn, the woman pouring, was very nice.  We talked about how good Bailey’s was in coffee or hot chocolate.  I declared the Salted Caramel delicious, just to make a change from my usual accolade of “yummy.” The Espresso Cream was also very nice.  The Chocolate was my favorite.  I wrote down “Yummy!” but observed that it would be dangerous, because I would love to down a big old glass of it, as if it was chocolate milk.  Bailey’s also offers a non dairy flavor, but they were not sampling it Saturday.

I see that Valley Wine and Liquor is offering a number of tastings between now and Christmas.  You can check it out at shopvalleywine.com.

 

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Slacking But Still Blogging!

Posted on November 23, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am going to make a Slacker Saturday post before I continue to slack.  Full disclosure:  I slack many days.  I have always been kind of a lazy bum.

NOT a slacker.

I am looking at an episode of Columbo, which I found on Roku TV recently.  Regular readers know how much I love Columbo.  Earlier today I went on a two mile run, and after I finish this post I will walk to the post office with my usual Saturday post cards, which I have already written.  I am afraid that is the extent of my productivity today.  Well, I might work on a letter as I go.  No promises.

Good place to eat.

Maybe I will treat myself to dinner later.  There are several good choices in Herkimer. This is the first one I came to in my Media Library.

I could never do my hair this way alone.

How vain of me to share a picture of myself.  It relates to the post, however, because this is from the Ilion Little Theatre production of Prescription: Murder, the first episode of Columbo, which was also a stage play.  I was the murder victim, and I think a lot of people were happy to see me go.  It was probably the only way to shut me up.

It is easier to shut me up from blogging, and I will sign off now.  I hope to have a Mohawk Valley Adventure soon to write a blog about.  When I am done slacking.

 

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Can You See the Rainbow?

Posted on November 20, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

My first intention was to make a Running Commentary post about this morning’s run.  However, those are best done soon after the run, while my in-head narration is still fresh in my mind.  So I thought, I know, Waste Not Want Not Wednesday.  The problem with that is, I only have one photo that might go to waste, and I’m not sure it is all that good a one.

It looked much better at the time.

It is a rainbow I saw as I walked away from the post office last Thursday.  I walk to the post office almost every day, because I am trying to send more letters and post cards to family and friends.  It is my small way of trying to brighten up the world.  With my messy handwriting, it is questionable how much brightness I actually provide, but one does what one can.

Who, me? Like wine?

With not much else to say, I share a picture from November 2019, “All packed and ready for Thanksgiving weekend!”  I am looking forward to Thanksgiving.  Food, family, and fun, yes, please.

I have a few Mohawk Valley Adventures planned in the next week or so, raising my hopes that I can get back to daily blogging.  As always, I hope you will stay tuned.

 

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I’m 61 and I Still Run

Posted on November 13, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought of that rhyme as I walked my cool-down walk after today’s run.  I’ve been 61 for over 11 months, and this is the first time I thought of it.  What the hell, me?  However, waste not, want not: I’m still 61 and I can use it for a headline for a Running Commentary post.

I did not run for the last two days, so I really felt obligated.  In my defense, yesterday it was snowing and I just couldn’t trust the roads.  I walked later in the afternoon and couldn’t trust all the sidewalks, but it is less of a problem for walking.  I did not trust the sidewalks today but stuck to the roads for the most part.  In general I prefer to stay on the sidewalks.  I like to give myself every advantage of not getting run over by a car.

I often run by the Court House.

Full disclosure:  This picture is from February 2021, but it shows a landmark I ran by and it shows snow.  Regular readers may recognize this as part of Herkimer’s Historic Four Corners, a favorite place for me to walk or run by.  I was on the second half of my run by this time.  I was using the Map My Run app on my phone, making a lot of turns in hopes of mapping out an interesting shape, and saw that I was just over a mile.  Go, me!

I was holding the phone in my hand, because I could not find the strap I hold it on my arm with and was too impatient to look for it.  It made it not so easy to blow my nose as I ran, but you can’t have everything.

Also not taken today.

I could not find the picture I wanted to share but came across this one.  I was wearing that headband today.  I purchased it in Niagara Falls while on my honeymoon with my beloved dearly missed husband Steve in 1990.  My hair is not that long, but it’s growing.

My run was not too bad.  I went almost two and a half miles in 33 minutes, which while slow is faster than my recent runs.  I did not pet any dogs, although I saw a couple nice ones.  I did get to pet one of my favorite doggy friends, Pugsley the morkie on my cool-down walk (it was right after I thought of today’s headline).  I may be ready for the Reindeer Run 5K in Little Falls this December.  I hope they have one.

 

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I Wouldn’t Waste an Axe Murderess, Would I?

Posted on October 9, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

Regular readers may have noticed that daily blogging continues to elude me.  Ooh, there’s a slimy passive-voice way to put it, as if I am pursuing the goal, but the goal is too clever for me, when the fact is that it is my own efforts that fall short.  You can call me out on that if you like, but you see I have already admitted the fault.  In any case, having missed posting Sunday and Monday but refraining from calling attention to the fact (till just now), I sit on my couch on Thursday morning preparing to make a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday post.

Full disclosure: I did not look like this when I played Roxy.

You can’t read her name tag, but it says “Roxy.”  It is Roxalana Druse, who famously killed her husband and was hanged behind the 1843 Herkimer Jail in 1887.  I had the honor of playing Roxy in the play of that name presented by the Herkimer County Historical Society and Ilion Little Theatre in 2015 (long-time readers may have read some of my blog posts about it).  This Roxy is in Renewed and Rescued at Mohawk Valley Community Market.  I stopped in briefly yesterday but must return for a longer visit (preview of coming attractions).

Just hanging out!

Here is a friendly-looking fellow I encountered one of the mornings I was out looking for pictures to go with one of my Village Board stories for Sentinel Media.  I adore Halloween decorations!  I should take some more pictures and do a blog post of them (another preview of coming attractions?)

This woman did not kill her husband.

I guess I am veering into Non-Sequitur Thursday territory after an ax murderess and a skeleton.  This is Michelle, one of the bartenders at the Herkimer Elks Lodge wearing my tiara.  I wore it for a play I was in last summer (Four Old Broads on the High Seas, perhaps you read some of my blog posts about it).  I happened to wear it to the Lodge one day, I forget why, and Michelle wanted to pose with it.

Ooh, look at me, over 350 words.  I’m almost through my second cup of coffee too.  Time to go for my run.  The East Herkimer Fire Department 5K is Saturday.  I fear I have not been posting nearly enough about that!  Well, as I said in the first paragraph, I have not been posting enough period, at least by my standards for me.  But I thank you for tuning in when I do.

 

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I Practice Art Interpretation

Posted on October 2, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

I just realized I had not shared all the senior parking space art at Herkimer Junior Senior High School.  As I frantically type prior to going out to breakfast with friends (preview of coming attractions), I will repair the omission, at least in part.

I can identify!

I loved that movie Clueless!  What year did it come out?  Too lazy to look it up, and perhaps this senior is not referring to that at all.  I am SO not up on current pop culture (it’s probably not even referred to as pop culture any more).

Oh, I get it!

At first I thought this was just minimalist, then I saw it is a pencil!  Clever!  Unless it is something totally else and I am silly, not uncommon for me, as regular readers know.  I am seeing a theme here of me having no faith in my ability to interpret art.

Pretty!

What’s not to like about this one?  My intent was to share three pictures, but I see I am well under my self-imposed minimum of 200 words.  A minimalist blog? Once I was accused of having Minimalist Monday, because I posted on Facebook:  “Long story, not very interesting.”

It is interesting to me how the words add up, because that little bit of nonsense put me over the top.  Good thing, because it is not Monday, and I am no minimalist (although I used to wear mini skirts) (I would imagine I still could; I have a pretty good set of gams, I can say without overly flattering myself) (preview of coming attractions?)

In any case, I thank my readers for tuning in.

 

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Good Apple Stuff!

Posted on October 1, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

Last weekend (before all the dog stuff went down), I had the pleasure of tasting the wares of Beak and Skiff at Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer, NY.  They were offering only a fraction of their many products, and I am now anxious to try more.

The first thing I tasted was the Honeycrisp Vodka.  Vodka made from apples instead of potatoes?  Interesting!  I liked it.  When I said it was seasonal, because of the apples, Kyle, the pourer, hasted to assure me it was available year round.  I am not a big vodka drinker, but this one could change my mind.

Kyle and I had a fun time tasting. Of course I did most of the tasting.

The same vodka with blueberries added was also good.  I also enjoyed the Pommeau, a French drink combining brandy and apple cider.  There was one wine, Honeycrisp Apple Wine.  I found it a good middle of the road wine: both dry and sweet wine drinkers could enjoy it.  The last thing I tasted was the Bourbon Cream Whiskey, 75% cream, 25% whiskey.  Yummy!  That would be so good in a cup of coffee!

Beak and Skiff Apple Orchards is located in Lafayette, NY.  Of course Mohawk Valley Girl was even more delighted to find she was sampling local products (yes, I talk about myself in the third person sometimes).   Lafayette being closer to Liverpool than Herkimer, I envisioned a visit to my sister Diane in the near future.   I think she would be delighted to visit Beak and Skiff with me and see what else they have to offer.

 

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More Parking Lot Pictures

Posted on September 26, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

Wednesday I ran early in the morning to beat the rain, and I ran through the Herkimer Junior Senior High School parking lot so I could use more pictures of the seniors’ parking spaces as illustration for a Running Commentary post.  Then I went a different way with my Wednesday post (as you may have read).  Today I ran in the afternoon, when I thought it had stopped raining.  I ran towards the high school, for the same reason, but cars were still parked in the lot as well as driving along the streets, and it just seemed a better idea not to go there.  However, that is no reason not to make a blog post using more of my parking lot pictures.

This one is cool!

I see two names on this one.  I don’t know if that means it is a shared space or merely collaborative artwork. Perhaps I ought to research these things.

Rewind or fast forward?

I had forgotten Kanye West’s full name.  I think he goes by “Ye” now, but I really do not follow rap.

This seems like an athletic guy.

I like the different lettering on this one.

A more minimalist approach.

This one seems quieter compared to some of the others, but that is what makes the parking lot as a whole such a work of art.  It takes all different kinds to make a world.  Let’s embrace it!

 

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Late Post, More Art

Posted on September 23, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

After falling down on my daily blogging ambitions once again, I try to pick things up with a few more examples of parking lot artwork by Herkimer High School Seniors.  I ran by the art on once of my morning runs recently, a great addition of something fun to look at while I thunk along.

Who doesn’t love Spiderman?

This is a good one for me to run by, because for the next mile or so the Spiderman theme song plays in my head.  Yes, I know all the words.

Kitty is nice, too.

This is another one I wish I had gotten a better shot of.  Well, local readers are encouraged to take a walk down and check these out for themselves.  They are even better in person.

Is he surrendering? Or part of a wave?

I’m not sure who this fellow is, because I am not up on current popular characters.  Perhaps it is an invention of the senior who painted it.  That would be cool.

I like the lettering.

I do four instead of my usual three pictures, and I still have some left for future posts.  Which I hope to make in a timely fashion and stop missing days.  As always, I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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Whiskey and Rye

Posted on September 20, 2025 by mohawkvalleygirl

Thursday I made my way down to Valley Wine and Liquors in Herkimer, NY for a tasting with Cooperstown Distillery.  I went to Cooperstown Distillery some years ago with my late, dearly missed husband Steve, and knew they had good stuff.  And of course I am always up for checking out a local or area business.  I was very glad I went.

He was great.

The pourer was a nice young man named MacGuire Benton.  I told him having a last name for a first name was sexy.  I thought I could get away with a remark like that at my age.  At least he didn’t seem to mind.  By that time I had sampled all his wares and we had established something of a rapport.  He gave me lots of good information about the distillery, and encouraged me to return for another visit.

“They’ll take good care of you,” he said.

He said they get their grains locally from Crowe family farm in Canajoharie.  More local!  Spent grains are placed in an underground tank, and farmer’s take them for their cattle.  MacGuire said it was circle of life when he eventually ate a steak from a cow that ate some of their grains.  I speculated that whiskey grains made the cows happy, but I suppose that is just a bit of fantasy on my part.

I tasted a blended whisky, a rye (making reference to “good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye”), bourbon, and some single malt.  I like them all!  I am not much of a booze hound these days, being more of a winer (and and regular readers know, something of a whiner), but I got a bottle of the blended whiskey.  It will make for some good hot toddies if I get hit with a cold.  Or if I just feel like having a hot toddy.  Maybe a shot in a cup of coffee.  Or just on the rocks.  Oh dear, maybe I will become a booze hound after all!  Don’t worry: I won’t drink and drive!

I may, however, take a drive to Cooperstown Distillery (preview of coming attractions).  There are a few other things in Cooperstown I could check out.

 

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