My cousin's garden . . .

Puppy's Pop And I went for a walk around town after breakfast and my cousin L. was out walking his pretty black Scottie. We went all around his property looking at his extremely beautiful flowers. As we were walking to the back where most of his dahlias are he stopped a bit short and said, "Oh, I think I've caught a skunk." I looked past his shoulder and corroborated this fact. In his Hav-a-heart trap was a sleeping white skunk with a thin black streak down its back. L. continued on but I was a little hesitant so we made an agreement that I would return to pick some flowers after Grampa and I completed our walk. We completed our walk and I grabbed the Swedish Cookbook that my older brother had given to me to bring to L's wife and my camera. When I got back to my cousin's home he had a black garbage bag and was walking toward the skunk! I kid you not. But when I called to him he put aside the bag and his wife stopped hanging out the clothes. They were very unconcerned about the skunk so I just did as they did and we admired the flowers. I now have a beautiful bouquet on the dining room table and loads of photos that I shall share with you! "Yay!" say you. Filled the Elantra with gas today and drove to Groton averaging 39.2 mpg. I am still wowing. Kiddo has been testing this week so he was ecstatic because he didn't have any homework. What a life. He told me he was going to do some reading tonight but I'm wondering? Middle child was home early so I scooted out just ahead of the heaviest EB traffic. Must admit that I'm feeling much better since I've stopped the milk. Seems odd that an intolerance can just pop up. But it's all for the good because Grampa is lactose intolerant and now I'll be even more careful with the products I buy and cook. It's really not a big deal and I've lost about 5 pounds. That's a good thing! Problem is my appetite is coming back!

Quote: What a desolate place would be a world without flowers? --It would be a face without a smile; a feast without a welcome. --Are not flowers the stars of the earth? --And are not our stars the flowers of heaven? __Mrs. Balfour

Yard activity . . .

Getting ready to go visit older brother and his wife. I haven't been there in quite a while. Not sure how I manage to get so busy! We'll have lunch and perhaps play some cribbage. I'll be going in the Elantra which still has about a half tank of gas! I haven't bought any gas yet! They filled it for me Thursday and it's Tuesday! Wow, I am impressed. It holds a little over 12 gallons. Puppy's Pop is at the VA getting new glasses and I'm just reading the paper while the turkeys comb the hill for food. The fog is lifting but the air is heavy and clammy. Feels like we're living near Newcastle, England. The birds are finally back at the feeders. We had run out of black oil seed and Puppy's Pop put out the sunflowers I had picked from the garden but the birds refused to eat them. I think I picked them too early and all of the damp weather has caused them to rot rather than ripen. He finally broke down and had to pay $37 for 50 pounds of seed. That is outrageous. But we can't cut back on bird food. After all they bring us great pleasure and exercise when we have to run out and scare the pigeon and squirrels off of the feeders! Yesterday I found a little seedling growing in the picnic table bench. I think it may be a sunflower. I hope I can keep it growing. It would be funny if it actually bloomed before the frosts descend upon us.

Quote: The punishment suffered by the wise who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of bad men. ___Plato

Phone call ended a pretty decent day . . .

Had our usual Sunday outing to Oneco for breakfast and then I finished dusting the house and cleaning the bathroom before heading off to Mass. Puppy's Pop went off to make a few bucks at the Yankee Flyers' Field. He's getting good at bargaining! He bought a radio control plane at the pawnshop downtown for $40 and sold it for $50 to a Yankee Flyer minus the engine. He kept the engine because he can use it on his control line planes and new it costs $150. Pretty good wheeling and dealing. Younger brother and his wife stopped by to get the rest of the gourds before going to their grandson's football game in Killingly. J. helps out with the coaching and they are having a good year. I spent most of the day reading a decent dairy free cook book. Couldn't believe how much interesting material the author has about what can ail you! So far my stomach likes being dairy and wine free. Made a very plain meatloaf for supper with baked potatoes, green beans and sliced tomatoes. I put Grey Poupon, salt and pepper on the potato. It was excellent. I also used some McIlhenny Co.'s Green Pepper Tobasco Sauce on the meatloaf. Yes! Very tasty supper. Then came The Phone Call. Chase Visa called to verify over $3,000 worth of purchases made on our dedicated on line shopping card. I refused to talk to the lady that called because I wasn't sure she was really from Chase but when I called the Chase number on my card they really had initiated the call because of the weird purchases. We cancelled the card and she moved the few purchases we had made to a new card, still with a $1000 limit. This is a first for us. It is upsetting but I have to say Chase did a good job catching the false purchases and will continue to investigate who made the charges (which were all declined.) Bummer. Hopefully I won't make as many purchases now that I'm leery of purchasing on line. But I really like to shop at Amazon so it may give me pause but the Chase lady assured me they're watching out for us! Almost time to hit the hay. It's been a hazy, lazy day.

Quote: I could never draw the line between meanness and dishonesty. --What is mean, so far as I can see, slides by indistinguishable, gradations into what is dishonest. __G. Macdonald

New wheels . . .

The Pontiac annoyed me for the last time. Puppy's Pop had to bring it for an alignment; the right rear bearings had to be changed and the straw that broke my back, Wednesday I was told it needed a new heater core to the tune of $850. Thursday at 1pm middle child and her husband followed me to MJ Sullivan's after we had cleaned out the Pontiac. I drove home late Thursday afternoon with our 2012 Hyundai Elantra GLS. It's pretty basic: black exterior, beige interior, 29mpg city, 40mpg highway. We love it. The odometer read 3 miles when I signed the paper work and I'm the one who put the miles on the car when I went for a test drive. It had just been taken off of the delivery truck. Yay! We're back on top of the world. The Pontiac was worth $8,500 in the trade. The Elantra handles nicely and although it is a four door it's not bad looking. The Kiddo sits really well in the back without his booster seat. Needless to say he loves that. We were going to go to Vermont for the Hot Rod Show this weekend but Grampa cancelled all reservations because of the car fiasco. That's just great because now we're just spending a quiet weekend at home trying to get caught up with the Autumnal Equinox. It's 79 degrees, partially sunny and muggy but no complaints. It just feels so good to have a reliable car that gets good gas mileage. Still can't believe we bought a brand spanking new vehicle and it's Korean. The new Rich at Rich's Service Center told me not to buy American. He hated to say it and I hated to hear it but he explained that all he ever fixes is American cars! He suggested a Honda, a Hyundai or even a Toyota! So everything is right with life at this moment!

Quote: The true boundary of man is moderation. --When once we pass that pale, our guardian angel quits his charge of us. ___Feltham

Found in the milk room . . .

I asked Puppy's Pop if he knew if we had anymore old fashioned canning jars and he knew just the place! I went to the milk room and voilà. So I grabbed a couple to fill them with various teas I have all over the place; we now have a little order out of the chaos in one of the cabinets. I've taken to drinking tea again and I was really hurt. I bought a box of Red Rose tea and was excited to be able to get the neat little figurine they always pack inside. I scrounged around and not finding it, in desperation, I read the fine print on the cover of the box. "FIGURINE NEWS! See side panel for details. . . Look inside for more information and your official order form." Bummer! You can now select the figurine you want, send a UPC bar code for each figurine AND a small shipping fee. (1-3 figurines - $2.00) Super merde! Not even a merdeski. What a bunch of dorks. That isn't the right descriptive word but it'll have to do. I'm disgusted. I shall just pout for a week or so and then what? I may never see another Red Rose figurine again! That is upsetting. I really enjoyed not knowing what I'd find. Now I know; nothing. Et encore merde. Might as well drink Tetley.

Puppy's Pop traded in all of our old gold high school, college and other plain gold rings we no longer wear and came home with several hundred dollars. I was pleasantly surprised. I also heard from my APRN today that the cat scan showed that my stomach is fine but I should put more fiber in my diet! I guess it's a touch of diverticulosis. That's all good news but I still have to stay away from milk and wine because my crazy body doesn't function well if I drink them. C'est la vie. I guess I'll go mope because I didn't get my nice little Wade figurine. (I just noticed: at the bottom of the side panel it says FIGURINE NO LONGER ENCLOSED. I've got to remember to read side panels on boxes from this day forth.)

Quote: Most persons would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions. ___Longfellow

Green thumbs and a pocket full of shagbarks . . .

Just got back from a walk up the street and shagbarks are falling in places I didn't even know they were growing! Must be some newbie trees just dropping their first harvest. The squirrels have already eaten many but I did manage to get one whole pocketful. We went to breakfast at Cozy Corner in Wauregan today and were not impressed. Did see a lot of people we knew but the food was less than mediocre and the kitchen was slow. So much for trying new things. The plus was our waitress. We hadn't seen Missy since the Britanny closed up several years ago. As a matter of fact the building, which was part of the PM Motel, has been torn down! Time is flying. So far our best bet for breakfast for food, service and speed is Zip's. Poor Lizzy B's is having a terrible time getting even one competent waitress and the cook owner doesn't delegate well so she has to cook everything herself. We still like to go there but if the place fills up you're doomed now that their best waitresses have all left. It's a tough business and I'm always tempted to help out when I'm there; serving coffee, bussing tables, giving out menus, being polite and neat. I really am crotchety at this point in life. I like to go for a relaxing meal not feel like I should be setting everyone straight. Such a busy body am I. Well time for Mass. Let's see what this Sunday service will bring. I'll be going to Kiddo's 7 years old birthday party at Chuckie Cheese this late afternoon sans Grampa. What a chicken. Only 19 kids coming!

Quote: Genuine good taste consists in saying much in few words, in choosing among our thoughts, in having order and arrangement in what we say, and in speaking with composure. ___Fenelon

Pumpkins and gourds . . .

Pretty good week. Excellent day. Kiddo, Grampa and I had a really good Friday. Picked pumpkins and gourds. Shot oldest kid's old bow and arrows. Scootered to the River and Union Cemetery so he could walk on walls and climb up to the top of the hill so we could overlook Moosup. Had fun watching him make the hot wheels drop, race and go through loops before ending up in the bedroom. Watched The Great Race with Max and Professor Fate before hitting the sack and sharing reading for half an hour. All was accomplished between four and nine pm. Today before he went home he picked more gourds and had to wash them in the sink before he could bring them home to Mom. He's so full of energy. I love it. When we got back from Groton, Grampa took off for Oneco to mow his flying field and fly while I ended up in Brooklyn at the att store to get a new sim card for the iPad. But it didn't need a new card. The young man just brushed the old one off and put it back in the iPad and it's perfect. They would have given me a new one if I had needed it. Very nice. Southern daughter had helped me to fix it a couple of evenings ago but it started to misbehave again so the store was the best option. Made pork chops for supper tonight, floured, seasoned and fried in a bit of olive oil along with home grown Yukon Gold potatoes mashed with soy milk and Earth Balance (fake butter). Also had plain beets and garden tomatoes. Not too shabby. I'm feeling much better since I've stopped eating dairy, spicy meats, cooked tomatoes in any form and all wines. Go figure. I'm retired and can afford to have a drink or two or three and it doesn't agree with me. The doctor thinks I'm working on an ulcer but I think my body slowed down a bit too much! I'll have it checked out Monday ruining the day I had planned to spend with N. Damn, that ticks me off but I do have to get the stomach back into some reasonable shape.

Quote: Happiness consists in activity. -Such is the constitution of our nature. -It is a running stream, and not a stagnant pool. __J. M. Good

Newport Rocking Chair Co. VT, you rock . . .

What a blessing! Puppy's Pop and I just returned empty handed from Joann Fabrics in Norwich. His glider, at least 20 years old, has worn out webbing under the seat. I looked around the glider and ottoman but couldn't find the company's name so we tried to get our own replacement webbing. No luck. We were trying to figure out how to fix it and I decided to tip it over. Voilà, the company logo! Got their number on line and the number of our glider series. I called them. The new strap webbing will be on its way Thursday! Hip, hip, hooray! The same chair and ottoman run about $1,000 today. I think we probably paid about $700. It's still a beautiful chair, even the upholstery is in good shape. I'm tickled. My glider is on it's third set of cushions. Matante bought it for me 22 years ago. It is also made in The Good Old United States. Getting pretty warm out side but I think I'll see if I can pick my potatoes. Hope they haven't rotted. Also hoping younger sister let's me know when she has time for a visit. It will be great weather for a nice ride. Older sister sent me a photo of Ma when she was about 20 years old accompanied by a very nice laminated sketch she had someone draw from the photo. That is truly appreciated. I don't think I'd ever seen that photo before.

Quote: While one finds company in himself and his pursuits, he cannot feel old, no matter what his years may be. __A.B. Alcott

Back to the old blogger set up . . .

Tried the latest set up from blogger and it is not intuitive enough for moi. I didn't like what it did to my photos. I also had to think about what I wanted to do! Too complicated for someone who likes simple, simple, simple. Puppy's Pop and his partner took first place in the Horseshoe League this year! One hundred twenty dollars to share! They parceled out the money before the final one day tournament this past Saturday. He and his partner didn't make it to the finals, two losses and you're out but they did manage to go five rounds. We had a beautiful day and the food from Meal Works was great. We said our goodbyes until next Spring. Many of the players will be off to Florida for the winter. Puppy's Pop's partner was an excellent B player but he is very sick. I do hope he can get better but he looks terrible. He had to have a sub play his last game and I'm sure that hurt his pride. We made sure we thanked him for such a good year of league play. We were supposed to go to Wrentham, MA Sunday for a control line contest but I couldn't bend down easily to hold the plane. I may have never gotten up if I had tried! I know that one of the other contestants would have helped out but Grampa doesn't care for the venue too much as there is no food available and we have to leave early in the morning. The bathroom facilities are a bit too primitive also. If you close the door it's pitch black, no lights, so you have to fumble around. I used to take a good look at where the toilet, toilet paper, paper towels and sink were then close the door and hope for the best! One of the contestants' wives had to remember to bring toilet paper! (I guess I could have brought a flashlight to leave in the ladies' room. We have a good supply since the unnamed tropical storm cut our power.) Really clean and all; okay for the men; not okay for their wives! It's at a beautiful park but only one person in town has the key to the facilities! (I exaggerate, but only a little!) Years ago we went and they had food, running water and lighted bathrooms. I was able to watch a cricket match in the opposite field but I guess the town and the club have been forced to cut back drastically. Spent some time today at younger brother's home. His wife and I played cribbage and made a date for next Monday.We'll figure out what to do when I get there! I like that. Simple, no fuss.

Quote: I fear three newspapers more than a hundred thousand bayonets. ___Napoleon

Disappointed . . .

Hadn't planned on going to church this morning because I pulled some muscles in my lower back. I was just going to drop off my envelope because I'm a few weeks behind but I saw a Marine in full dress preparing to go into church so I decided I would tough it out. Well, it was not an auspicious beginning as the borrowed priest who spoke after the Introit reminded us about the Catholic priest who was the first responder to die on September 11, 2001 and from there proceeded to talk about churches that were used as morgues in an ecumenical show of support. I was put off by his self regard and egotism on behalf of the Catholic Church. After the Gospel he went on to talk about forgiveness. As he was speaking the Marine walked out. Not sure if he walked out in protest or was ill. But I left also after dropping my money in the basket in the back of the church. I'm hoping that the priest said some words about the horror of that calamitous day and how we must fight evil in all forms lest we become a part of the evil by accepting it.I have to look into my beliefs more because I can't stand apologists for what is good and right. Even a suggestion that evil must be forgiven riles me. You cannot forgive evil. You have to fight it heart and soul with words, deeds and swords. I don't believe that I'm a hateful person but I do believe in death and destruction for cowards who in the name of their god fight to rid the world of Christians, Jews, The United States of America and Israel. That's it for today. I'm so sick and tired of apologists. Just recalled, I walked out on the sermon and songs at the church in Sterling ten years ago.  I guess I never learn.

Rather grey . . .

Weather has closed in on us. All day yesterday and today we have nothing but clouds, low sixties, wind and rain. The river is high for this time of year but not overly so. All caught up on cleaning and whatever housework I feel like doing which isn't much! I'm also getting caught up on my audio book and walking. It feels good to be back in some kind of routine. I really am a creature of habit and when my life goes caflooey I don't react very well. Who'd a thunk it? Do miss sitting out on my swing in the early evening just drinking in the peace that overtakes me out doors where my thoughts can ramble and jumble about. Will be saving money now that both red and white wines don't like me! But . . . Sogno di Sorrento Créma seems to be mighty agreeable although I no longer have any in the freezer! Middle child said she'll be putting in an order soon so I may be in luck. Time to find a bite for lunch before heading off to Groton for Kiddo pick up!

Quote:  A fig for your bill of fare; show me your bill of company.  ___Swift

And I have ceased my labors . . .

(Enlarge the photo to see a mosaic on a building in York, England.)

We've had a very good week but I'll admit it has been an unusual one. The eldest and his wife flew home from Baton Rouge last Saturday and a tropical storm, which will remain nameless and lower case, hit us Sunday. I had just finished making pancakes when we lost power. At least two trees fell and blocked half of the road and then an entire, very large tree blocked the whole road and various branches from other trees also landed on the power lines. At our home the line was in the yard. Father and son cut the tree limb blocking half of the road in front of our house. Neighbors further up the street opened up the the blocked portions near their homes so at least people could get through. I figured we'd have power back in 24 hours. Foolish moi. Power came back yesterday. We went Sunday to Sunday without power. We are lucky that we have city water so at least we could flush the toilet and with a very old propane camp stove we were able to cook up the thawed meats from the fridge. We had stew and chili for a couple of days and kept the milk, butter and beer and white wine chilled in coolers. Daughter and son-in-law kept us in ice and I did the wash at their home in Groton. They only lost power for about 12 hours. What a blessing! Grampa even managed to get warm water for a limited number of showers by snaking the garden hose on the driveway so the sun could heat it up. He then snaked the hose through the bedroom window, over a chair and into the tub. Neato! Kiddo even started Second Grade Wednesday right on schedule. I think Sacred Heart was the only school in eastern Connecticut to start the 2011 school year on time. We spent time playing cribbage by kerosene lamp and candle light, listening to the radio, reading by flashlight, looking at the very beautiful night sky and sleeping with windows opened in almost pitch dark. Not too shabby. Our Eighth Annual Horseshoe Tournament was held as usual yesterday in spite of the lack of power. The company was great, the kids were numerous and the smoke rose from the chimney at 3:30 pm announcing the arrival of electricity to our humble cottage. We cheered, one and all. When the power trucks started to parade past the party to continue their work in other forlorn places the 50 of us yelled out our "Thank yous!" and they graciously tooted their "You're welcomes." Now that was fun so I broke down and dug out the small amount of Lemoncello di Créma and drank it on ice as a tribute the wonderfulness of hot water. Yay! Getting tired now as we were up at 3:30am to bring son and wife to the airport in Providence. Time for a hot supper, a hot shower and a deep sleep.

Quote: Hail! holy light, offspring of heaven, first born! ___Milton