Tag Archives: writing

Fought the Lawn, Fought the Deck, What Next?

I got out early in hopes of making a Lawn Order post instead of my usual Wrist to Forehead Sunday blog post.  Well, fighting the lawn (and the lawn won) did cause me to swoon, dramatically posed with the back of one wrist to my forehead, but I felt I got something done, so I took a few pictures and I will attempt to make a blog post recounting my adventures.

No, really, this IS the “after” picture.

I maybe should have taken a “before” picture.  I spent some ten minutes yesterday and a little bit longer today with clippers, chopping away at dead daisies and past their prime peonies (I made up the alliterative titles while I worked) while trying to let the purple flowers live.  There was a insidious invasive species I tried to do away with as well.  One sprig of purple blooms ended up in my green waste container, but I clipped it with a pair of scissors and it now resides in a bud vase in my living room.  Sorry there is no picture of it, but my living room is quite cluttered.  I hope to fight that mess to a standstill as the week progresses.

Not party ready yet, but getting there!

After puffing and panting out front (bending and straightening is not fun for my age and weight) (yes, I KNOW I can do something about the latter, I’m trying, but these things take time, give me a break!) (you know who you are), I went out back to my deck.  There were still leaves on it from last fall, which I know is extremely harmful to the wood.  I huffed and puffed first with a rake then with a broom.  I feel I met with some success.

Luna, the dog next door, came out on her back porch and barked at me.  There were no balls handy for me to throw for her, as I explained to her.  She watched me work for a while, making sad noises from time to time but in general acquiescing in my refusal to play with her.  I felt bad, but there is only so much an old lady like me can do, after all. Quite frankly, if there had been a ball handy I might have thrown it a few times and let some of the leaves go hang, but we’ll never know.

Yes I know the lawn needs mowing.

Three containers is the most we can leave out.  Also, they don’t like stuff to stick up over the top of the containers.  So I felt I was in compliance.  I went back in the house and like any normal person got on the internet for a while.  After scrolling around, I noticed some weird brown puffy things on my shirt.  Oh dear.  This is what happens when you don’t get into the shower right away.  It was awkward to get a picture of the shirt (I do like to document these things), but luckily there were some on my socks.

It’s an old pair of sneakers.

This is turning out to be a long blog post.  Isn’t that nice?  Maybe I should try to write a few other things.  Maybe that novel I keep talking about.  I’ll let you know how that turns out.  Maybe a horror novel about invasive species and little brown puffy things who terrorize old ladies who just want to have parties on their decks.  What do you think?

 

Would Coffee Help?

Well, I am having a difficult time making my Lame Post Friday post.  I do not want to go on about my health woes, but I have some pain that comes and goes (mostly comes), and it keeps coming especially strong every time I sit down at my Chromebook to write.  Could it be psychosomatic?  I fear my post will be dull and boring so I am subconsciously trying to keep myself from making it?  It could be, but then, what am I subconsciously trying to prevent myself from doing the rest of the time?  Also, I am almost always afraid my posts will be dull and boring, yet I make them anyways.  Once again I say, what the hell, me?

At least she dies happy.

I add a silly picture to pep things up.  I personally have not had coffee or tea since Friday.  No wine, either (SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!!!).  When I do finally have a cuppa, I expect to enjoy it.

Pretty!

I add the Luna Moth because it is beautiful.  I was happy to get a picture of it while I was supposed to be working.

Who, me?

While searching for a third picture, I found Candice DeLong of Deadly Women and other true crime shows.  Last night while I was clicking around RokuTV, I found Deadly Women and watched a couple of episodes.  It is a total re-enactment-fest, which I don’t particularly like, but I loves me some Candice DeLong.

Reading over this post before I hit Publish, I think it reads like I haven’t had coffee in a week.  Maybe I’ll try for a caffeinated post tomorrow.

 

I Whine on Wuss-out Wednesday

After two days of posting from my phone, I am home, on my couch and ten-finger typing while Dateline plays on RokuTV.  Sounds cheery enough, yes?  Well, it isn’t too bad, and I certainly do count my blessings.  Sometimes I whine about my un-blessings while I’m counting, but you’ll have that.

I will not be climbing rocks any time soon.

As usual, I throw in a picture to pep things up.  It is a t-shirt I got at Venture Fourth in Little Falls, NY, just to give a quick shout-out to a local business.  I got red to wear on Fridays, because on Fridays, Elks Club members wear red for the troops that are overseas.  Alas, Mohawk Valley Adventures and trips to the Elks Lodge recede further into the future.  I hate to go into any details about my physical ailments. For one reason, I don’t really know any details so would only be able to whine about the symptoms.  How boring is that?

This is at the Elks Lodge during Lent.

If I feel better enough by Friday, I could go someplace and get a Fish Fry.  That would make a good blog post and a good dinner.  I have a sneaking suspicious that will not be the case.  However, tomorrow is Thursday, so I can do a Throwback Thursday, then I can take advantage of Lame Post Friday.  If I remain immobile indefinitely, I will have to find something to continue to blog about.  Eventually there may be doctor appointments or physical therapy to blog about, but I must be wary of HIPAA violations.

Of course I am going to bill this as a Wuss-out Wednesday and of course I am going to apologize for the lack of substance.  However, my daily blog is something I can hold onto in times of stress.  Oh, doesn’t that make me sound like a drama queen!  Oh well, I always say go with your strengths!

 

Tired and Not Typing

I thought I could manage a Tired Tuesday blog post.  I am pecking in words one letter at a time with a stylus on my smarter-than-me phone. Yesterday I also made my post via cellphone, only I fat-finger pecked, because it seemed like too much trouble to reach for my purse to get the stylus. Yesterday, of course, I had the advantage of a picture and something to blog about. Today not so much.

Who could be un-cheered by a duck?

I search my Media Library for a cheerful picture. The caption is a paraphrase from a Winnie the Pooh story.

Often on Tired Tuesday I can get a post out of why I am so tired.  Today, however, I fear it would be tiresome.

On the brighter side, I just figured out how to italicize my captions.  As regular readers know, technology eludes me.

A nest for the duck?

So I guess this is one of those posts where I share a couple of pictures and spew a little nonsense.  You know, I don’t remember the stylus pecking being this onerous when I was making all my posts from the Tablet. I suppose I was younger and more fit in those days.

Pretty!

I end with a pretty picture and an optimistic thought. I hope to soon get back to having and blogging about Mohawk Valley Adventures.  I hope you will stay tuned.

No Excuses, But Monsters

Well, it’s Wrist to Forehead Monday, because I neglected to make my Wrist to Forehead Sunday post.  I am quite mortified, as you may imagine, especially as I have no good excuse.  I am also a little shame-faced, because I am making a Monstrous Monday post.  I just don’t have it in me to write about any of the Mohawk Valley Adventures I have been having recently.  In short, I am tired.  Could I be too old for all the running around I have been doing lately?  SAY IT AIN’T SO!!!!

Me, aghast at myself for missing a day’s blog.

That is from the silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, 1920.  Very atmospheric.  I must watch it again.  I rarely watch silent movies, because it is difficult for me to knit or crochet and watch.  I like to run in place on the mini-tramp while I watch, although that also has its drawbacks.

Not the cure for insomnia.

Here is Vincent Price with the eponymous Tingler, a William Castle masterpiece.  I kind of identify with this picture, because I had the weirdest post-apocalyptic dream this morning.  It just kept getting stranger and more scary.  That is what I get for trying to get back to sleep after my body said, “I’m wide awake.  Let’s get up now.”  In my defense, it was two in the morning.

“I told you to blog about the Mohawk Valley!”

I finish with this scary guy from Carnival of Souls, a low-budget masterpiece from 1962.  When I DuckDuckGo’d the movie to see what year it was, predictive text suggested “Carnival Cruises,” and I thought, “How about a Carnival of Souls Cruise?”  Passengers can spend the whole time running from the undead.  In luxury conditions, of course.  I hope some entrepreneur jumps right on that idea, because that is a cruise I might actually save my pennies for.

 

Mid-Swoon on Mid-Memorial Day Weekend

I pause in doing not much of anything to make a Wrist to Forehead Sunday post.  I really do feel like swooning today.  My poor-pitiful-me meter is registering extra high.  What’s that all about?  Get a grip on yourself, me!  I drink a little water and calm down.  Things are not really that bad here in the Mohawk Valley, only I have not had any Mohawk Valley Adventures recently.  I must get out more, but it is difficult on a rainy holiday weekend.

To remind myself why it is a holiday weekend.

Just to make me feel ashamed of feeling sorry for myself, I call to mind those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.  So I throw back my shoulders, lift my chins, and try to make my own contribution, whatever that may be.  At this time, I suppose, a blog post that may momentarily entertain those who read it.

Now, I am not one of those holiday shamers, who post memes of mourning army widows with snarky captions of,  “And you thought it was national barbecue weekend!”  I feel that one of the things soldiers fight for is the right to enjoy fun times with family and friends.  But I do not want to start an argument.  I am no good at arguments.  I usually try to get out of them by changing the subject with a line like, “So do you think the Yankees are going to go all the way?”

I am wandering from the point, but then I do not think I had a point. I apologize to my readers for making yet another placeholder post.  In my defense… never mind my defense.  It’s a long story and not very interesting.  In the meantime, I approach 300 words of nonsense.  Let me look for another picture to end on a positive note.

Will my deck ever look this good again?

This was my deck some years ago.  I aspire to reach such decorative heights again.  Will I attain them?  Or will I have yet another reason to swoon?

 

A Pause for a Post!

I pause in my gyrations to make a Lame Post Friday blog post.  I have been running around all day trying to be an Intrepid Girl Reporter (you know, like from a 1940’s Screwball Comedy or Cheesy Horror Movie).  I wrote my article about the Frankfort Town Board meeting.  I drove all around Frankfort looking for something to take a picture of that was talked about in the meeting. Then I had a dedication to go to, which I also had to write a story about.  I found where I had to go. Being me, this was not easy (that is some sort of dangling participle, I think).

I pause in the midst of that rather foolish paragraph to mention that I have one of my light-headed whatever it is I occasionally suffer from.  It does not feel fun.  Quick, throw in a picture to pep things up.

Could Gatorade solve my problems?

I wonder if I could just be dehydrated?  I do sometimes forget to drink water.  In the meantime, my article about the dedication is hanging over my head.  I mean, it is written.  These articles are not especially difficult:  I take notes, I write up my notes.  But I also have to look over them and second-guess myself.  Regular readers know that overthinking is kind of a hobby of mine.  Additionally, I took a picture of all the speakers and I have to remember which name goes with which dignitary.

On the brighter side, I am over 200 words.  A dithery post is better than no post at all, I say.  Back to work with my newspaper duties!  The rest of you can go back to whatever you were doing when you paused to read this!

 

My Java Reward

When you get your biggest chore done by eight o’clock in the morning, it is a beautiful thing.  That is the observation I made to the staff at the Java Shop in Herkimer, NY this morning after I made my order.

In fact I had more than just coffee.

I had written my article on the Herkimer Town Board meeting for the Daily Sentinel, taken a picture to go with it, and got them both emailed out.  I drank a cup of tea while I  wrote, just in case I decided to treat myself to breakfast out (must watch my coffee intake).  Of course I decided to treat myself.  I ordered a breakfast sandwich with ham and provolone on a toasted roll, because I enjoyed the last one so much.  I got a regular hot coffee.

A writer’s breakfast.

As I breakfasted (broke fast?), I worked on a letter to my friend Kim in Colorado.  I SO miss going on Mohawk Valley Adventures with her!  Dylan, the young man who brought my sandwich to me, asked if I was writing another murder mystery.  I remember Dylan from when he worked at the End Zone.  He remembered me coming in with my friend who had since moved away.  I was pleased to tell him I was talking to that very friend.

That does remind me I need to start working on the next murder mystery.  At least a good breakfast should help!

 

I Probably Won’t Eat Pancakes

It is too early in the day to make a Tired Tuesday post.  How can I be tired already?  I haven’t really done anything!  Well, I have written and emailed out my story on last night’s Ilion Village Board of Trustees meeting.  Always good to get that out of the way.  Now I am hungry and want breakfast. I sometimes go driving around looking for an appropriate picture for the story then go out for breakfast.  Good times.  But I had a picture already, because they swore in a new trustee.  I could still go out for breakfast, I suppose, after I make my blog post, and title this, Pre-Pancake Post.  That has kind of a ring to it.  My readers would never know whether or not I actually ate the pancakes.

Will my deck see any of these this year?

Could somebody please explain to me why autocorrect capitalized M in “my” when I typed in that caption (and why it always underlines “autocorrect”?)?  Never mind.  This is a picture from a few years ago, when I used to have a nice container garden on my deck.  My deck is a disaster area these days, as is the inside of my house.  I must and will do something about it.  I felt inspired when I was purchasing the hanging basket for my mother at T&J’s Fruits and Vegetables.  They had all kinds of plants I could get for my containers.

This is what I aim for!

I searched for another picture to further inspire myself.  The first picture was the plants just brought home from the greenhouse.  This was after I had done a little work with them.  I will do some work!  It will make a good blog post!  Wish me luck.  And a little more ambition.

 

It Isn’t Really So Early, Is It?

I am making a Wrist to Forehead Sunday post at eight o’clock on a Sunday morning.  Too early to swoon, you say?  Nonsense!  The early bird get the worm, or the chaise lounge, as the case may be.  I once said, “The early bird gets the worm, but the late bird gets spaghetti,” with a waggish intonation.  I forgot I said it and when reminded, I said, “I said that?  I’m witty,” arguably a more quotable line, unless you are inordinately fond of spaghetti, which I am.

When I first started typing the preceding paragraph, a little bubble appeared on my Chromebook reading, “help me write.”  I was highly offended. Help me write?  I need no help to write!  I am an excellent writer! And I do not care if I flatter myself.

Mmmm… wine…

I threw in a picture, to distract from the fact that I was flattering myself.  This is Montezuma Winery’s tasting room in Old Forge, NY, which I visited with my sister Cheryl last fall.  I was mentioning their tasting room in Cooperstown just yesterday.  I like to visit tasting rooms.

My situation this morning, by the way, is that I must take my shower and pack, because I am going to Rome to spend Mother’s Day with my lovely mother and equally wonderful father.  I intend to spend the night.  I do not know why I become so flustered over what should in fact be a fairly routine matter, but so it is.  However, I have managed a blog post of over 200 words, so my daily blogging habit continues.  Once again, I thank you all for tuning in.