Poor man . . .

At 32 degrees and windy this morning I'm sure Grampa was not in the mood to go fishing. Kiddo and I played badminton in the driveway and when it warmed up to 42 degrees we went for a walk to the river . We were going to throw rocks but there were two fishermen in our favorite spots so we came back home. Kiddo cajoled Grampa into digging for worms and they are on their way to Sterling pond. I hope they catch a few fish. It would be cool for him to catch something big enough to eat! Before they left Kiddo picked the asparagus so I think we'll bring it to his Mom and Dad. Maybe he'll even try a bite? He did ask how it tastes!

After lunch at Richoni's we'll go to Coventry, RI to see the new horseshoe pits. It's a good sunny, cool day for an excursion.

Quote: Men might be better if we deemed better of them. -The worst way to improve the world is to condemn it. __Bailey

A good deed and a splurge . . .

Got a call from Groton daughter that husband was taking the day off therefore I have a day off. Decided to buy one more two pound weight so I can have a pair! Of course Benny's didn't have any except the ones I already have 3, 5, 6 and 8 pound. Only slightly dejected I went to Central Coffee to get some Kcups for middle child and French Roast Decaf for the Bunn. They only had Expresso Roast Decaf which the man swore, on the proverbial stack of Bibles, would be just what I wanted. Wrong. It's just minimally okay. I have to doctor it with instant chicory imported from France. It's not too bad and it did wash down the cranberry-orange scone rather well. So much for my splurge.

I finally went for a walk up Main Street and through the Little League Park using the heart monitor. I certainly do get my heart rate up to 135+ easily. I thought I would have to do some running. Not the case. Just a fast walk does it. On the way home on Ward Avenue I saw a truck pull out of Winco and go immediately left up the one way! I tried to wave him down but he kept going until a car coming at him got on the horn and he took the side street in front of Sunnyside. I called the Plainfield police because they had a accident a few days ago when another idiot did the same thing but got a lot further! I did mention that there is no sign as you come out of Winco forbidding a left turn. With this economy there are a lot of people selling scrap metal. Winco is probably getting a windfall of copper piping from all of the abandoned properties and those for sale in Eastern Connecticut!

Just saw bluebirds in the dogwood. Damn, I need a really good camera with a telephoto lens. Mine is good but no telephoto. Grampa should be home shortly from his mowing job at the Yankee Flyers' Field. Perhaps he'll go flying and I can go along for a more relaxed walk.

Quote: Surely there is something in the unruffled calm of nature that overawes our little anxieties and doubts: the sight of the deep-blue sky, and the clustering stars above, seem to impart a quiet to the mind. __Jonathan Edwards

Now that was nice . . .

Just returned from Top of the Bay at Oakland Beach in Rhode Island where Puppy's Pop and I had a very nice lunch. When I came home from Backus Rehab and Central Hyundai where the Elantra's ignition cylinder was installed I asked him if we could go out to lunch. And so we did. Nice ride on this partially sunny, cool day. Puppy's Pop had spent all of yesterday painting and cleaning up the furnace/laundry room in the cellar. He found enough old paint (balsa, white, light blue, medium blue ) to mix up a very decent concoction of super, very white light blue. The room looks quite nice. I am impressed.

  I spent last evening with Kiddo. We ended up at Bluff Point in Groton where he was going to practice casting. It it was so windy and cold he settled for a lot of running round, trying to fall in the water and our favorite rock throwing! Naturally after all that running around on a cold windy evening we needed to stop at Dairy Queen for a snack! Thank goodness for mini-Blizzards. I worked off the extra calories with my Backus12 mile stationary bike ride and lifting weights. (Only five pound weights) I always feel good when I leave that class. I hope I will keep up the exercises when I'm finished with the class in late June. I must admit I get somewhat lazy and have to push myself to work out.

Time to blanche some asparagus and throw it in the freezer.

PS I do not like the new Blogger interface. I do not like it, Sam I Am. As one can plainly see my picture is in the wrong place and I'm not in the mood to figure it out.  I'm lucky I got it on here!

Quote:  A fool always finds some greater fool to admire him.  __Boileau

Rainy Sunday . . .

Not much going on this gray, rainy coolish day. Puppy's Pop tried to get away with not taking me to our usual Sunday morning breakfast date at Lizzy B's. That takes nerve. He tried to take off early for fishing for the love of Pete! Because we went to breakfast at Old Tymes in Norwich yesterday he thought we'd skip today. No way. We went to breakfast but he only ate a corn muffin because he had already indulged! He did get a chance to go fishing before the rain set in but only caught one trout big enough to eat so he put it back even though he lost his favorite lure as the trout was being freed! We brought Kiddo to Sacred Heart early yesterday morning for a three hour preparation class for his First Communion. Mom and Dad picked him up at noon and I think they went out to buy his new suit. Spent the day reading, listening to the race as I worked on my embroidery and making Gumbo for supper. Almost time to eat. Smells good. We've been eating fresh asparagus lately. It is very good. Have to make some stewed rhubarb soon. My mouth waters just thinking about it!

Quote:  ___How singular, and yet how simple, the philosophy of rain! ___Who but the Omniscient one could have devised such an admirable arrangement for watering the earth!  __Ure

Donkey power . . .

Went to see younger sister yesterday. After lunch we went to Granville,MA for our ice cream treat. ( I'm not lactose intolerant. It just seemed that way when I was having the stomach problems. Yay!) We go to a farm where they have a petting barnyard. Two years ago their male donkey, Taco, was loaned to UMASS for stud purposes. He's still hard at work. The farm now has one of his baby donkeys, Tacquito and baby's mother, Anna, too. They are much better tempered than the father donkey. They had to post warning signs to keep your hands away from him. He hee-hawed a lot too. Noisy character, Taco was.

The Élantra is fine. Waiting for a new ignition cylinder to come in and then we'll go to Central Hyundai to have it installed. Thank goodness Monday's fiasco didn't cost us anything but lost time. We also bought a spare tire kit, just in case we ever need it. We have roadside assistance but it's a good thing to be prepared to fix problems on your own and not have to wait for someone to show up. Waiting is painful! I still have no patience. Getting worse with age!

Started to work out with four pound weights today after my 25 minute biking exercise. Pretty neat. Jeff is going to add more weight exercises Friday. I hope he has a sheet to remind me what I'm supposed to do and how many repeats. It felt good.

Kiddo spent yesterday evening running through the lawn sprinkler. That's how hot it has been the last couple of days. Today is more seasonable but still warmer than usual. Too windy for flying though. I will leave shortly for my cribbage fix with S.

Quote: It is on the sound education of the people that the security and destiny of every nation chiefly rest. __Kossuth

Flooded @&$#%*¥£€><~#%^ . . .

Yep. The the Élantra wouldn't start this morning as I tried to leave for Backus. Puppy's Pop also tried but it just made weird noises so we called Hyundai Roadside Assistance and at 9:55 the man came with the tow truck because we were going to have it brought to Plainfield Hyundai. But he started it! Said because of the weather the car thought it was still cold and since it was over 70 degrees it put in the wrong mixture! Hell's Bells! What's a person to do in a case like that? Puppy's Pop is bringing it to the dealership in Plainfield anyway because the dinging sound that's supposed to stop when you take the key out just keeps on dinging unless you press the inside ring at the ignition. Don't know how else to explain it. Oh well. I missed my exercise and stopping at younger brother's. But I did work out with the Wii Fit and that went really well. Hope Puppy's Pop has good news from the service department. I think we'll be bringing the car there from now on if and when it needs servicing.

Quote: Do you wish men to speak well of you? Then never speak well of yourself. __Pascal

Hoping for a phone call . . .

The entrance to the Train Museum in York, England. We'll now be studying trains!

Puppy's Pop and I went to the fundraiser at the Jogues Club yesterday. They had a fantastic crowd and I was so glad to see that our old friends had weathered the winter and are ready to start playing horseshoes again. John, the 98 year old, has been playing in his backyard with some of the regulars every Saturday. He's an amazing man. His friend Dot hasn't been well but she's starting to get better from a bout of infections she suffered when she had back surgery last summer. She ended up being hospitalized or in rehab for over seven months. Moral of the story: don't go to a hospital in Rhode Island! We bought tickets for a 50/50 raffle and also bought tickets for what I would have called a penny raffle, but is now a dollar raffle! I put most of the tickets on three baskets of booze worth $150 each and one ticket on a bike. Since we didn't stay late I'm hoping we get a phone call today to say we won something! They had a lot of fantastic stuff. Three different horseshoe leagues participated in the fund raiser. The new pits are going to be really nice.

Puppy's Pop is already at the flying field for today's flying demonstrations. Not sure if I'll join him after Mass. I'm still feeling lazy. It does look like we'll be having a beautiful summer day so I may just veg out on my swing. The Bulletin accidentally left us a Sunday paper. A good excuse for doing nothing and reading less than nothing!

Quote: What is history but a fable agreed upon? __Napoleon

What a fantastic static display . . .

Grampa didn't drive Kiddo home this morning because the Yankee Flyers had a static display at Brooklyn International Airport. So after playing badminton, Qwerkle and driving to Groton I came down Route 169 into Brooklyn to see how they were making out. I was bowled over by the sheer number of planes and their beauty. Of course I didn't have my camera but Grampa told me someone had taken pictures so maybe we'll get a chance to show them to you if they are posted on the Yankee Flyers' web site. I didn't stay long. Grampa has been there since about 8:30 this morning and should be home around 2:30. We're going to the Jogues Club in Coventry, RI for a dinner to raise money for the cement to complete the horseshoe pits for the summer league. I hope all the pitchers weathered the winter well. So many older players are no longer pitching. Think I'll just relax for the rest of the day. I'm pooped. Played soccer and basketball yesterday with the Kiddo.

Quote: The uncertain glory of an April day. ___Shakespeare

Booty . . .

Puppy's Pop and I went treasure hunting at the old fishing spot on the Moosup River in Oneco yesterday. He has borrowed a metal detector from our young boy neighbor who got two for his birthday last year and doesn't use either of them! His step dad brought one for Puppy's Pop to play with a few weeks ago along with the manual. Nothing of any value was unearthed on our property and Claude said we should try at beaches. Our treasure hunt brought us a working cigarette lighter, a snub nosed bullet, a squashed Mountain Dew can, a sardine can cover, a few pieces of wire and a bottle cap. We lose!

I've been beaten at so many games of cribbage lately that cousin S. has decided that we should learn how to play bridge. She's actually got me raring to give it a go. It seems that she and I would be partners against her sister and sister's husband. The two sisters already have a tutoring program for their computers. Mine will be here Friday but I've been practicing on line using S's version of Hoyle 2012. She gave me her unlock key! My robot partner and I finally won last evening. I think we're at a 16% win rate! Contract bridge is a rather intense game. Too much to remember but if S. is willing to stick with me I think it will be fun.

Picking Kiddo up at one o'clock today and we're going bowling. Then we'll get our pick-me-up dish of frozen yogurt at Frogeez. We should have a good day. He's on vacation this week. Monday he beat me fair and square playing scrub but I beat him big time at hallway soccer. I'm also improving at Wii Skylanders! Brought Spyro up another level. Boy do I ever get high fives for that!

Grampa is on his way to the flying field but I decided to stay home and do my walking in the house. Not sunny enough for me yet.

Quote: True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united. __Humboldt

Joyeuses Pâques . . .

Perfect Easter Sunday: 7:30 am Mass with a pretty good group of friends and neighbors; beautifully decorated altar; bread baking, potato mashing, buttered broccoli, turnip, roast beef, best gravy ever, Greg's Chocolate Cake, and other sundries for one o'clock dinner for eight. The sun even deigned to make an appearance and the kids played basketball. Couldn't ask for anything more. Well, maybe someday the oldest and youngest will be home with wife and perfect friend but I'll always be satisfied with what I have at the moment. We even received a beautiful little Easter basket from our neighbor's children which they made themselves. Very nice and perfect gift on this holy day.

The Kiddo has the week off so I'm hoping I'll get a chance to take him bowling and to Frogeez for frozen yogurt. Perhaps we'll be able to do that Thursday. Big brother is also home this week so he'll be able to keep Kiddo entertained! I will be going to visit my younger brother tomorrow after the exercise class. Sister-in-law and I have a date to go walking. I do need the double dose of exercise because I ate so much today. It felt just great to be able to eat everything whipped cream and all!

Quote: Underneath all the arches of Bible history, throughout the whole grand temple of the Scriptures, these two voices ever echo, man is ruined; man is redeemed. ___C. D. Foss

El Camino back in action . . .

When I returned from Backus this morning Puppy's Pop had the El Camino out so we went for a ride to Oneco to see where they are building the town's horseshoe pits! Some how they have gotten donated money to build a number of pits to teach kids how to play! We saw where they had staked out the area near the gym and library at the old school which is now the town hall. It is on the opposite side from Puppy's Pop's control line field. It seems that a teacher at the Sterling School who is a Rhode Island horseshoe fanatic has gotten permission to go ahead with the pits. Puppy's Pop found out when he went to the last session of the Tuesday indoor pitching group in East Hartford. The Connecticut club is going to help out with the Sterling pits. That's a riot. Puppy's Pop is all excited. Pretty cool.

Made a pretty decent supper tonight with the recipes we got at Backus last week. We had pan seared haddock with orange ginger glaze served with Caribbean rice and baby spinach. I surprised myself. The fish was very good although the rice was a little undercooked. I had run out of Jasmine Rice so I used some brown rice too. Should have remembered that brown rice takes more water and twice as long to cook! But it was still good and tasty. The best part was the sauce. I think I may have to cook some fish at least twice a month. Mrs. Dash's spice is used in every recipe the chef gave us last week. I was surprised that it was so spicy. Helps make up for the lack of salt!

Kiddo and I were talking about music last night and he said he'd like to learn how to play the keyboard. I've got to think about that for a bit. Not sure if he would really put his heart and soul into it. Haven't talked to middle child about music yet. Not sure how this can be worked out. He's only 7 so I don't think we have to rush into anything. I still have my piano but I feel certain that I would like him to be able to play an electronic piano so he can have headphones and not drive his folks bonkers! Besides my piano is staying here in the old house! Oh well, these are just random thoughts and may not amount to a pee hole in the snow!

Quote: Criticism often takes from the tree caterpillars and blossoms together. __Richter

Busy . . .

The pet!

Almost too much to do lately! I stayed in Groton until 9:15pm Friday. Big brother came home early from his date so I could get home to get some sleep. Saturday morning Sue G. picked me up at 6:55 and we went to Bristol, CT for Le Party de Sucre. What a great time we had from 9am to 3pm. Couldn't believe how fast the day went by. Had all kinds of French Canadian foods and music all day long. There were over 400 people in Saint Ann's Church hall for this second annual sugar shack. Last year the venue was really too small and not well equipped but this year was perfect. The best part, naturellement, was La Tire. Oh my gosh. It was more than delicious. I only went up twice but I got a lot each time! La Tire is maple syrup boiled down until it is thick and then it is dribbled onto snow. You take a flat stick and twirl it around in the gooey, sweet, luscious, amber goodness and eat. I would have waited 6 hours with no other food or entertainment just for that.

Middle child, Kiddo and Dad came to pick us last night and we went to Riverview for dinner. We haven't done that in quite a while. So another great day went speeding by. The only downer was that my poor UCONN women got beat by the Irish in the Final Four. Bummer. I hope Baylor kicks their butt Tuesday! I will watch and root for Baylor!

Puppy's Pop is going to pick up his younger brother's roto tiller. We bought it from him so now we'll always have it when we need it. I've really thought it would be a good thing to have so I'm pleased. Of course Puppy's Pop has to do all of the work! The ramps are part of the deal. Neato! Stopped to see kid brother in Preston this morning and he pegged out on me twice in cribbage and all's I got for the agony was French Roast decaf! But it was worth it, really. His wife got home as we were finishing up the beatings. Good company, good coffee and N and I made a date for a good walk next Monday.

Going to see my Primary Care lady in about an hour or so. She's following up on my last visit in September! And yowser have things changed for the better! I must say that I'm feeling just great.

Quote: The first sure symptoms of a mind in health are rest of heart and pleasure found at home. ___Young