Tag Archives: late post

After Being Ill, Some Stuff About Ilion

OK, so I posted late for Monday on Tuesday then missed posting at all on Tuesday.  In my defense, I was feeling rather ill on Tuesday.  However, I have very little excuse for not making Tuesday’s post late in Wednesday morning.  Not no excuse, since I was sending stories to Sentinel Media which should have been sent on Tuesday.  Oh dear, I am doing very badly.

It was a delightful occasion.

This is part of what I was occupied with on Monday.  Ilion Village Board had a public meeting to present the next budget.  After that meeting, they had a short board meeting during which they officially appointed Andrew Monahan as Fire Chief.  He has been Acting Chief for some two years, so it was good that he became officially appointed.  Many members of his family turned out for the occasion.

Other firefighters.  I love firefighters.

A number of other firefighters also turned out to see their chief officially appointed.

Mayor John P. Stephens

Before the meeting, Ilion Village Board presented their budget for the 2025-26 year.  It was a very good budget, with less than 1% increase on village taxes.  I wrote an article about it for Sentinel Media.

I feel my submissions to Sentinel Media take precedence over my blog posts, but I will endeavor in the future the keep up to date on both.  As always, I thank you for staying tuned.

 

Good-bye, Columbo!

AAAaand we’re back to late posts.  It is early Tuesday morning, and I am sitting at my Chromebook hoping to do my Monday blog post.  It should be my last post about Prescription: Murder, the play I was in at Ilion Little Theatre.  The second weekend coincided with what is either a cold or a very bad batch of allergies.  I am hoping for the latter, because I hate to be contagious.  Then again, don’t say I never gave ya nuthin’!

He is a cop, after all.

I brought donuts from the Friendly Bake Shop in Frankfort, NY for the last performance.  People often bring treats to share backstage, and I have not been to the Friendly Bake Shop in a while.  Yum!  I especially like the plain donuts, such as Lt. Columbo is eating right now.  We all teeheed about the cops and donuts cliche.  Really it is a silly cliche.  EVERYBODY likes donuts!  It is not exclusive to cops.

Isn’t she pretty?

This is our illustrious director.  She did a wonderful job and was great to work with (the two do not always go together, unfortunately).  She is also just about as cute as allowed by law.

Two lovely ladies.

And one more picture of the two female characters who survive the entire play.  Actually everybody but me survives the play.  This isn’t And Then There Were None, which Ilion Little Theatre put on in 2010.  My late, beloved husband Steve and I were both in that one.  Neither of us survived.  More than that I shan’t say, in case you ever get the chance to see the play; I don’t want to spoil the ending.  In any case, I can recommend the book by Agatha Christie.  Fun read.

Auditions for the next play at Ilion Little Theatre are Sunday and Monday, April 13 and 14.  I do not plan to audition.  I must conserve my energies for Recipe for Murder Royale, which is coming up sooner than I like to think (preview of coming attractions)!

 

Late Blog Posts Are Apparently an Option

     AAAAaaand the late posts continue, as I type in my Lame Post Friday post early(ish) Saturday morning.  I probably shall never feel I am up early again unless it is 5 a.m. or earlier, just so you know.  I open today with a bit of half-baked philosophy.  I was on Facebook yesterday and a friend posted a list of advice.  Most of it was pretty good, but one said to choose to feel happy, being sad should never be an option.  I flashed on drill sergeants saying, “Failure is not an option,” meaning of course that it was a shameful option (ooh, here I go philosophizing again).  Anyways, this is what I commented:
     Except the part about being sad should never be an option. Some things ARE sad, and sometimes we have to allow ourselves to feel sad. You can’t always choose how you feel. That said, you can tell yourself things that might help you feel better, you can choose to have a cheerful attitude, you can accept feeling sad and that might lead you to feel happy sooner. The whole “you can just decide to be happy” idea has caused me no end of grief and sadness, because I felt something was wrong with me when I would try to choose happiness and only end up feeling more depressed. Sorry about the long comment. Perhaps I should put it in a blog post.

How could you choose not to smile at this scene?

     I like to put I a picture after two long(ish) paragraphs.  This fits in with the theme, because it falls under the heading Little Things That Bring You Joy.  Longtime readers know my late dearly missed husband Steve and I liked to dress our skeleton Bonita for the season.  He was really a great one for decorating for various holidays.  I am unfortunately still trying to unbury my house from the mess I let it get into over the last few years (I confess since even before Steven died).  However, sometimes decorating the mess makes me feel a little cheerful.

Bert the Birtday Gorilla wanted to get into the act too.

     I’m afraid Bert looks more Hawaiin than Easter, but I did not want to spend too much time searching my house for decorations, and I felt it was the wrong thing to do to buy more stuff when I am trying to get rid of things (although the dollar store had some cute stuff!).  I felt good about myself that I had been cleaning for a while before I dressed up Bonita and Burt.
     Now I feel good about myself , because I have managed a blog post of over 400 words. Yay!  What will my Saturday bring?  I do not know, but I hope an on-time blog post.

Throwing All the Way Back to the 1920s!

Well, I guess I am back to making late blog posts, because I did not make a post on Thursday, and here I am early(ish) Friday morning, thinking I can get away with a Throwback Thursday post. Or perhaps Non-Sequitur Thursday.  The possibilities are almost endless.

We thought we were hot. OK, KIm was (is) hot.

This was back in 2017, when my friend Kim and I got dolled up and went to a Prohibition Party at Gerber’s 1933 Tavern in Utica.  I saw on Facebook that today they are doing a Meet the Artist with RC Oster tonight.  I actually met RC Oster at Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts once.  I LOVE his artwork!  Will I take a drive to Utica to meet him again?  It’s difficult to say what I will do on any given Friday.

There’s a couple of cheese-eating grins!

Here is me all 1920’d up again at a fundraiser for the Landmarks Society of Greater Utica.  The gentleman, whose name escapes me, is one of the movers and shakers behind the Society, I think.  Hey, this was 2019.  You can’t expect me to remember things perfectly from the last decade.  At least, I guess you could expect me to, but you would be doomed to disappointment.

Another time I thought I was pretty hot.

I guess I had to do it: share this picture of me showing off a little leg.  The setting is another fundraiser for the Landmarks Society, and the costume is the one I wore as Ruby Van Rensselaer in my murder mystery Rubbed Out at Ruby’s.  One of the cast members keeps saying we ought to revive that one.  It might be fun.

I feel this has been an unusual post in that I am in all the pictures that I shared.  I am usually not so vain.  At least, I suppose I am vain, but I don’t have so many pictures of myself that I like.  I am more apt to look at pictures of me and say, “Damn, I’m not nearly as cute as I thought I was.”

In any case, I am over 350 words.  Score! Will I make a Lame Post Friday post later today?  As I said earlier, it is difficult to know what I may do on any given Friday.

 

Post Post-Rehearsal Post

Yes, I neglected to make a blog post yesterday, in the morning or in the evening.  I don’t know why I feel so obligated to call attention to my shortcoming, but so it is.  Yesterday I was writing in the morning, just not on the blog (my side hustle, covering local board meetings for the Sentinel).  In the evening, I had rehearsal for Prescription: Murder, the play I am in at Ilion Little Theatre.

Me and my husband, till death do us part.

This picture is actually from last Tuesday’s rehearsal.  The director took a few pics of my big scene and texted them to me.

I don’t know what he’s looking so upset about.

I purposely bought the nail file for this scene.  It’s a fancy glass one.  I like to take a little trouble with my props.  I am having a lot of fun at rehearsals, and people seem to think I am doing very well with the character.  I need to do a little better with the lines, but I am working on that.

And that’s the end of me.

I did mention that I am the murder victim, didn’t I?  I guess I’ll end up spending most of the play backstage crocheting.  I feel fortunate I do not have to spend too much time lying dead on the stage trying not to sneeze.  It was my murderer’s idea to kill me so my body lies behind the couch, so the audience will not be focused on watching to see if I move.

Prescription: Murder will be presented March 29 through 30 and April 4 through 6, 7:30 p.m. on the Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. on the Sundays, at Ilion Little Theatre, Remington Avenue, Ilion, NY.  For more information you can go to their website http://www.ilionlittletheatre.org or visit their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ilionlittletheatre.

 

Best Lame Plans for Blogs and Gardens

So I did Wednesday’s post on Thursday then neglected to make Thursday’s post on Thursday or Friday, and here I am Saturday morning thinking I might just make a Lame Post Friday post.  Full disclosure:  I am feeling a bit lightheaded (cue jokes about how I am always somewhat dizzy).  This could be from the last remnants of my cold or it could be from the decongestant I took earlier (it was the kind with the D on the box, that you have to ask the pharmacist for) or it could be a kind of a migraine.  My head does not lack variety, I’ll say that for it.

What my head feels like sometimes.

I throw in a picture to pep up the post.  I do not remember where I saw this skull, but I like it.  Studying the picture, it appears to be on my stairs.  Is this skull somewhere in my house?  Maybe if I continue my efforts at cleaning, I will find it.  Just a little motivation to brighten up my day.

THIS is what I need!

I go a different way with my next picture, showing the rhododendron in my back yard one of the years it was especially beautiful.  I am SO looking forward to spring and hoping to plant many more flowers in my yard.  And maybe a few vegetables.  There are some flowers that may show up again on their own:  the above pictured rhododendron and forget-me-nots, some black- and brown-eyed susans, a few daisies…

From a more ambitious year.

I also hope to have a container garden on my deck.  Flowers, herbs, definitely some basil!  Then I’ll have some people over and we’ll sit amongst the plants and have some iced tea or wine or something.  Won’t that be nice?

 

I Mustache You a Question: Do You Like My Blog?

Hello and welcome to a Waste Not Want Not Wednesday post made early(ish) Thursday morning.  I gradually return to a more normal wake-up time as I move further from having gainful employment. Full disclosure:  I keep dreaming I still go to work.  In fact, the last dream I had this morning concerned the difficulties I was having trying to call in sick.  But we won’t discuss dreams; this is blogging, not therapy.

 

Twirl that mustache!

I quickly throw in a picture, to get back to the Waste Not Want Not theme.  I have previously shared the other side of this shot glass, or one quite similar, but I had not noticed the jaunty mustache on the other side.

I guess you can see the mustache, slightly distorted by the booze.

Here is the front side of the glass, which fascinated me because “Frangelico” was the basis for one of my all-time favorite character names, “Frangelica Inferno.”

I had to search the Media Library for this one!

Of course the mustache made me think of this lovely goblet, a present from the cast of Leading Ladies, the play I directed at Ilion Little Theatre, lovingly painted by my dear friend Jerry.

The other side of that mustache, just for good measure.

I used that glass as an effective prop in the murder mystery Fabulous and Fatal, which also featured Jerry in a pivotal role.

The other mustache, looking mysterious.

And to wind things up, here is my first attempt at the Frangelico mustache.  You can’t really see what it is but I thought the shot as a whole was kind of fascinating.  Or do I flatter my photographic skills?

In any case, I approach 300 words, and with five pictures and a pun in the title, I call this a respectable post, at least my my rules for me.  Are they good rules?  Does that matter?  Discuss amongst yourselves and feel free to share your conclusions in the comments.

 

It Snow Joke that I’m Tired

I did not make my Tired Tuesday post yesterday, because I was, you guessed it, tired.  I actually did less Tuesday than I did on Monday.  Monday I cleared my driveway twice.  By “cleared my driveway” I mean I took off the top layer of fluffy stuff and cleared the plow pile-up as best I could.  Also I did a shovel-width on my front walk, in consideration of pedestrians, who usually end up walking in the road anyways, but I can’t help that.

For anybody not in the area, I just mention in passing that the Mohawk Valley has been pummeled with snow and ice since… I was about to say Saturday, but it got bad before Saturday.  Things were also bad on Thursday, because my rehearsal was cancelled (regular readers may remember I am in a play at Ilion Little Theatre), but I can’t remember other than that.  Listen to me whine.  I’m in a house with power, sipping hot tea while my furnace works away, and I don’t have to go to work.  Let’s count our blessings, shall we?

This was in March 2017, but you get the picture.

I throw in a picture to pep things up.  My deck actually looks different now, because I did not put the things on it away in the fall.  In my defense, my life fall apart in 2023 and I have not yet picked up all the pieces.  The ones I do pick up, I keep dropping.   I do not mean this as more whining; only, I try to cut myself a break sometimes instead of beating myself up, which has ever been my habit.

On the other hand, some might argue I deserve, maybe not a beating, but perhaps a stern talking to sometimes.  For example, Monday and yesterday I toiled mightily trying to get the ice off my front steps, at least for a wide enough space for me and the mailman to get up and down safely.  In my head I kept saying, “2005, Cindy.  You’ve had since 2005!”  2005 was when we moved in and had the porch roof replaced.  Steven and I are (were) big porch sitters.  The roof fellow did not put the gutter back.  I felt sure we could do it.  Perhaps we could have.  Perhaps I still can.  These thoughts did me no good as I managed to clear some for the ice.

I was relieved there was no mail on Monday.  Tuesday when I heard the mailman, I stuck my head out the door, quickly remembered I was in slippers and the porch was covered in snow, craned my neck around the door and asked were the steps OK and assured the mailman I tried, I tried!  He said I did great and it was a losing battle.  I thought that was very nice of him, because I really had not cleared all that wide a space, and his feet are bigger than mine.

Somebody got some fun out of the snow!

I close with a jolly picture, to give us cheerful thoughts.  It has not been warm enough for snowman building, and the wind chill has been prohibitive, but weather changes eventually.  If I manage to build a snowman, I will certainly write a blog post about it.  Once again, I thank you for tuning in.

 

It’s Still Winter, and I’m Still Blogging

Yesterday (Thursday; I had to keep reminding myself, because I am in kind of a weird time warp) was a true blogger’s sick day.  I impulsively went out to dinner; I shall not say where, because my stomach started to bother me before I left.  I managed to walk home, barely managed to get my leftovers in the fridge, and somehow made it back to the couch to lie down, where I could not move again.  Eventually I went upstairs and got into bed, shedding my clothing, which had been bothering me but which I could not bring myself to move enough to remove (do NOT say TMI!). What a whiny paragraph!  But I am sure anybody who has suffered a stomach bug can understand.

Now I am lounged on my couch, sipping tea and wishing there was bread in the house for some toast (that’ll teach me to put off grocery shopping), and thinking I could probably manage a Throwback Thursday post.

Yikes!

I throw back to a very snowy March 2017.  For one reason, I feel very thankful the snow I have been brushing off my (only one) car and shoveling out  of my driveway (only from the back of said car to the street) (and a shovel-width on the sidewalk in front of the house) is nowhere near this deep.  Then I remember this is January and that was March, and I  fear for my future. But I try not to worry about these things.

All hands on deck!

I have not cleared off my deck, either of the junk that was sitting on it last fall or the snow that has fallen on it since.   This, also, is March 2017, when we had at least put some of the junk, uh, I mean, decorations, away.  Life was so much better with a husband, but I do not mean to begin whining again.  I must look back with thanks for when I had him and move forward with what courage and grace I can muster.  Didn’t that sound fine?  What I am really going to do is shuffle along as best as I can and try not to complain too much. But now I am veering into half-baked philosophy better suited to Lame Post Friday.  Yes, that is today, but I hope to make a Lame Post Friday post later.

Isn’t he a cheery fellow?

To end on a more upbeat note, I add a picture of a neighborhood snowman from January 2023.  It actually may be warm enough for snowman building today.  If my stomach cooperates, perhaps I will build one of my own.  That would make a good blog post.  And I thank you kindly for reading this one.

 

It Is Still the 20’s

Oh dear, I last posted on Monday and today is Thursday.  I have had no Mohawk Valley Adventures to blog about. I have no profound thoughts to share about the new year, except to perhaps observe we are halfway through the Roaring Twenties and we seem to be wasting them.  Then again, what did I think was going to happen.  Speakeasies and bathtub gin?  It was really not the thrill we make it out to be.  A lot of the illegal alcohol was industrial stuff the bad guys added stuff to that was supposed to make it potable.  Sometimes it did, sometimes not so much.  The thrill, I read, was that you were taking your life in your hands every time you gave the password and ordered a “cup of coffee.”  Yeah, great gamble.  You win, you get a hangover.  You lose, you go blind or die.  Where was I going with this?

Me, pretending it was the ’20s in 2019.

I do enjoy the pretend 1920s, where we wear flapper dresses and listen to jazz music.  Oh why not gloss over all the negative aspects?  We are looking for entertainment not historical accuracy!

Here’s a suspicious group.

These shots were from a fundraiser at one of the Rutgers mansions in Utica, NY.  Look how handsome my husband was (he’s the one on the left, you know, the handsome one).

I haven’t had a chance to wear this dress in a while.

Here is the last year I went to the fundraiser.  I found the dress at a local thrift store.  I fear the headband made me look more That Girl and It Girl, but it was the only way I could make the wig work.

Perhaps I could make one of my murder mysteries this year a 1920s theme (preview of coming attractions).  In any case, I have blathered on for over 300 words.  I’ll slap on a headline, call this a Non-Sequitur Thursday and drive on.  As always I shall try for a better blog post tomorrow, and I thank you for tuning in.