Hyundai debit card !!!

Marriage Contract

Memere and Pepere Caron
 

Yesireebob, just received the notification from Hyundai that we will be getting a debit card for gas as long as we own the Élantra. Pretty neat! Haven't figured out how much yet because we have to have the dealership confirm the odometer reading which we'll do when they check it out on December 10. It just passed a 27000 mile check up with flying colors but they couldn't find the reason it will scare you once in while when you start it so they want it over night to do some more testing. They plugged the tire that Puppies' Pop had to fill with air. It seems we had picked up a nail. All of this is at no charge which is a good thing! Just called Doyle's Drugstore in Plainfield. They had sold out to CVS but I'm guessing that five years has gone by so he can get back into business. We will now transfer our prescriptions back to him. Yea for the little guy. He had kept a 5 & 10 going so he's in good shape to reopen Doyle's. Cool beansies. Puppies' Pop never liked to go to CVS.

Grampa found an ad in the Turnpike Buyer for a couple that will come to your home and relieve you of your junk or do an appraisal. I couldn't go along with it, at least not yet. It seems I'm attached to the old stuff in this older than the stuff house as you can tell by the photos I'm digging up. I'm going to try to get rid of some things that are just hanging around but not sure how or when. Poor man, here he is ready to clean up, make a few bucks and I'm holding back. Maybe turning 70 in a month is making me nostalgic. I feel a bond with this place and have trouble letting go even though I don't often rummage through the "stuff."

Bought a monster book from an Amazon seller, Winter of the World, by Ken Follett. I got to page 50 and started on the next page, naturellement, and it made no sense. The next page was 110! I searched the 940 page book for the missing 30 pages and no luck. Wrote to the seller and he said he checked out his books and found a few more like that. He sent a new book with all the pages intact. Weird.

Got a call after 8 last night. Kiddo was all excited. He got his basketball jersey! It's red with Groton written on it. Made me guess his number. When it took me too long to guess accurately he helped me out by saying, "Between 1 and 12." It's 12. That kid likes to make me suffer!


Quote:  Those we call the ancients were really new in everything.    ____Pascal

Lost in this old house . . .

The man from the home heating oil company came to check out the furnace for the winter months. After he had replaced a valve  he asked if he could check out the radiators on the main floor. I let him in by the upstairs cellar door and he did his checking. When he completed his task he started to turn in a circle! He was lost looking for the cellar door. That's a new one for me although I recall youngest telling me that when she and G. visited in September he couldn't believe there were so many odd places to wander in! Met some old friends from Central Village at the Roadside Diner Sunday morning and they are selling their home and leaving for Crossville, Tennessee. They were so impressed with the beauty of the mountains but especially the fact that the taxes are non existent in comparison to Connecticut. How right they are. The community they are moving to is made up of northerners, mostly from Ohio. She had her own business here and her husband is retiring from the DOT. They'll be in heaven.

Kiddo likes his new twin bed with the comfortable mattress. We had to go up and see where the futon was. We put it in the pink room and set it up as a couch. He suggested we move the small TV into that room! Then he moved on into A's old room where we have a queen size double air mattress bed. He sat on the bed which he has always liked and said, "Mémé, you have to be more explicit." Says I, "About what?"  " You didn't explain which bed you were bringing downstairs." What a nice pain in the butt!  Found out last night that I really do like the glider we've put in his room downstairs. I've been getting the urge to watch Masterpiece Theatre once again. It's been years. They will be starting the third season of Downtown Abbey in January and I was trying to figure out how I could get caught up on two seasons. Went to Amazon and lo and behold they offer free streaming to their prime customers. Yes, yes, yes! I watched the first episode on the HD computer screen in Kiddo's room and didn't even bother Grampa who was already asleep. Modern marvels are curiouser and curiouser! Fantastique.

Quote:  Temptation rarely comes in working hours.  It is in their leisure time that men are made or marred.    ___W. M. Taylor

Happy Thanksgiving . . .

 

Cooling off before setting out over the river and through the woods to grandson's house. (I know, you must forgive the corniness.)

Riotous Thanksgiving Cactus . . .

I impress myself. I've kept my Christmas Cactus going for quite a few years. Such a marvel to behold. It survives because I just forget about the poor thing. It goes out on the porch in the Spring and is put upstairs in the Fall where somehow it prepares itself for the glorious, riotous blossoms of Thanksgiving! Ooouuuuuiiiiiii!

 Puppy's Pop and I made the trek to Mount St. Mary's Abbey yesterday. It was a very beautiful ride on Diamond Hill Road in Massachusetts. I'd forgotten how long it has been since I had driven to see the nuns. The last time there I may have gone with my older sister. Previous to that I remember driving Ma Tante Rose to the Abbey in the Corvair. I'm startled by the passage of the years. The nun's have a thriving candy business and a brand spanking new gift shop. Sister Peter, with a sweet Scottish accent, decided to test a Christmas perfume of frankincense and myrrh. It was all I could no to with hold a smile as she patted some on Puppy's Pop's hand. The gift shop is loaded with books, CD's, icons and Catholic/Christian bits and pieces. The Sisters seem to be working hard and having a blast. You can find them on line at www.trappistinecandy.com. I was amazed on the ride to find out that Wrentham has many religious organizations in the confines of the town. We also ended up at the Premium Outlets to get some Reebok's for Puppy's Pop. Ended the afternoon with dinner at the Roadside Diner in Central Village. I had homemade pirogi and Grampa had fish and chips. All very nicely prepared and delicious. Met a retired Killingly High teacher and his wife who is still teaching 1st Grade in Brooklyn. She has been teaching there for 52 years! Of course the powers that be are trying to push her out the door but she will not go gently into retirement. The kids have asked her to start Christmas projects but one parent is upset by Christmas so Joyce has had to remove the angels pages from her counting sheets and the cover of her Christmas workbook for kiddos. We're talking about Brooklyn, Connecticut. I think if it were up to me I would remove all holidays from the calendar and revert to classes in posture, etiquette, reading the classics, writing, English grammar, penmanship, real, honest to goodness mathematics, civics, geography, and history all taught in a factual manner without social commentary. Just think  - our schools could supply Connecticut with sharp, clear minded, acute, sensible workers who could reason, think and write succinctly. Such a dreamer am I.

Quote:  Desultory studies are erased from the mind as easily as pencil marks; classified studies are retained like durable ink.  __Cooper

Hammock taken down . . . the cold is here . . .

WW II Museum, UK

 

Was going to walk indoors today but when Puppy's Pop decided to go flying in the early afternoon I figured I'd best get some out of doors time before the weather decides to get too hellishly cold. (Is that an oxymoron?) It was a good day for a little shopping to pick up what I needed for the bread and desserts for Thanksgiving in Groton. Looking forward to spending time with Kiddo and family. Got his new set up in the downstairs computer room and I really like it. With the piano gone I can finally put a glider in and his twin bed. Now he'll have a very good mattress and a reading corner that we can share. Think he'll like it.  Tomorrow after breakfast at the Roadside Diner we will be off to Wrentham for a shopping spree! Yes, both of us! Puppy's Pop wants to go to the New Balance Factory Store and I will get to go to the Abbey Gift Shop. I couldn't believe it. The nun's at Mount St. Mary's have opened a gift shop for their candy so instead of paying for shipping we'll just go and pick up the Christmas fudge. The photo of the gift shop in their catalogue looks inviting. I hope I don't over buy!

Quote:  Pleasure is the flower that fades; remembrance is the lasting perfume.   ___Boufflers

The House on Allen Hill - courtesy of Normand Chartier

 

Can't even write about this photo without crying. How I miss you, my friend.

Pleasant days . . .

Normand Chartier - watercolor

Cousin Susan and I went to a small art gallery in Willimantic to see "Narratives and Tales" by Normand Chartier. His watercolors are heartwarming. Even though his Maine watercolors were featured I found that the best were his paintings of northeastern Connecticut, Brooklyn, in particular. One of the paintings was of my friend Angie's old home up on the hill: took my breath away. He called it "End of an era." How sad but true. He makes our old maple trees look as glorious as my live oaks. Couldn't afford a painting but did come home and order three books which he has illustrated. They are children's books. I bought them for the illustrations: homey, warm and comforting.

Kiddo set up the train last night and he really had it blasting around the track. Tomorrow my kid brother will come and get the piano so we'll be able to bring down the really good twin bed to set up a better sleeping arrangement for Kiddo. Visited my younger sister this week. We had a good pepper and egg grinder before heading off for desert at the Harvest in Simsbury. Also had a chance to catch up with Oneco friends. Life is just calmly flowing along in spite of the politicians, media and idiocracy.

Quote:  The object of art is to crystallize emotion into thought, and then fix it in form.   ___Delsarte

Veterans' Day 1012

I love you so.
 

Abject failure . . .

 

Puppy's Pop noticed that downtown Johnny's has reopened as Billy's so I convinced him to take me out to breakfast this morning. More than an hour later we are back home. Nice people but no celebratory cigar. We expected to see our usual waitress, Natalie but the lady in charge said that they tried to get in touch with her and she never returned their calls. The owner cook had a heck of a time making Puppy's Pop's pancakes! It took him three tries before he had the grill hot enough to cook them correctly and my bacon was outrageously tough and tasteless. Perhaps they will improve but I doubt we'll give them a second chance. We were supposed to be celebrating Grampa's nomination for President of the Yankee Flyers!  It will be interesting to see what happens when they vote in January. There are about 50 members but only about 10 active members! There is some kind of discord at present and the  President and Vice-President were not at the meeting. It was chaired by the Treasurer, I believe. Elections are held yearly. I'd forgotten that Grampa had been President beaucoup years ago.

Quote:  The world is full of fools; and he who would not wish to see one, must not only shut himself up alone, but must also break his looking-glass.   ___Boileau

What a wonder he is . . .

New wall paper.

This good, solid, caring husband of mine can do whatever needs to be done. My almost two year old, no longer under warranty, Oskar Air Humidifier would only show a single bright red LED light when I pushed the On button. It was immaculate; it had two new filters; it had the Ionic Silver Cube. He took his charge tester and found out that the contacts were messed up. Brought it down to the Hangar;  did some wiring and Voilà! we had ignition. I'm a happy lady; $150 saved.

But the best, wonderful, very difficult thing he's accomplished this week was seven straight hours of arduous work wall papering the big bedroom off of the bathroom. I had prepped the room and the walls as best I could but I really was afraid to tackle the wall paper. Puppy's Pop led the way and I followed as best I could. It came out so well. The room looks great. We're not going to hang anything on those walls for a long time. I think my next job will be to tackle the ceiling in the small bedroom and all of the wood trim. Ma Tante Rose and Ma Tante Blanche put up some very good, tough wall paper years ago so I'll just have to scrub it down. I thought about the living room ceiling but it'll have to wait. It's too big for me right now. Although my help meet doesn't agree with me I'm quite sure I shall buy a medium height, light weight stepladder with a folding shelf. At this very moment he's taping all of the storm windows to stop all of the air that leaks in and around. That was a huge help last year for conserving  black gold! Hate to think what oil will cost this winter. They are going to be filling us up soon, I imagine. We started out this Election Day at 16 degrees. That's pretty damned cold for this early in November.

Quote:  None but cowards lie.   __Murphy