Stupid . . .

Hummingbird Moth

Finished painting the wide trim Puppies and Dante's Pop had put up in Matante's old room. It really is easier to maneuver around using the available furniture. Just walk on furniture, bed included, and use the ladder to hold your paint. Very cool and it worked! Decided to give myself a treat so after putting back all of the stuff that I had to move in order to paint I went to Ekonk Hill for my Maple Bacon Ice Cream - as delicious as all get out. There had been a horrific accident on Sterling Hill Road Sunday early evening. I saw where it happened. Impossible what people do to themselves. As I see it the poor idiots (two young men) were zipping down Sterling Hill into Moosup and failed to take the curve at the bottom of the hill. Went straight into a tree and stone wall at the entrance to the farm. I'm surprised the EMT's were able to get them out alive. Both sent to different hospitals by Life Star Helicopters. It looked like it must have been a tremendous impact. I doubt they even braked. Well, just got called to duty in Groton so I'll be off.

Quote:  Some men will believe nothing but what they can comprehend; and there are but few things that such are able to comprehend.   _____Evremond

Better stay home today . . .

Liberals on the loose cause havoc. No other explanation for my close encounter with idiocy. I left Big Y in Plainfield and stopped at the red light before making a right turn onto the 395N entrance. There was a 150 size red truck with backup lights on 1/4 of the way up the entrance. That made me nervous so I decided to wait and see what he was going to do. He started to back down the entrance and I figured he'd back up in front of me and then go straight when the light turned green. Nope. He backed across four lanes of traffic and headed in the opposite direction. Where do these dopes come from? I swear to Higgs Boson they are obamaites. What else can explain the sheer, unadulterated egos of this ubiquitous cohort of asses?

On a good note, literally, went to a stupendous version of Hello Dolly at Goodspeed with Oneco friend,  her daughter and daughter's friend. I laughed so hard it was almost embarrassing but to heck with embarrassment. Decidedly enjoyed the play and the company. The actors at Goodspeed always seem to put everything they have into a performance and when you have great lines and music it makes théâtre one of the wonders of humanity. Also visited younger sister Wednesday and we split the wins in cribbage. She will be off this week end for a good stay with her family in Maine. Looking forward to hearing about her adventures when we get together in two weeks. Got to keep Kiddo an extra night and two extra days this week. That's always a good time. Bartender problems are certainly a pain in the derrière! Puppies and Dante's Pop had a good day yesterday when he accompanied Oneco friend to Epping, NH for Test and Tune.  To spite the liberals we're still enjoying ourselves!

Quote:  The highest triumph of art, is the truest presentation of nature.   ___N.P. Willis

Crotchety me . . .

First little cukes. Very cute cukes! (No complaining about my wording.  Can't handle any negatives at this point in time!)

Okay, so the dastardly heat is not helping but . . . Too many things are going wrong at the same time. Help, I'm a prisoner in Connecticut and I want to get out! Not all my surmountable problems have occurred because I live in Connecticut but I have to assign blame. Heavens to Betsy it can't all be my fault! Tried to get the computer fixed by a supposedly Microsoft knowledgeable Tech group and have been scammed. Poop, I say, ultra poop! Won't go into details because I'm sick of the mess. I will contact family support when I need help! Have learned my lesson, I hope!

Among other things I have waited almost two weeks to get a follow up call from the APRN's office and when I finally get the chance to speak with a human she informs me that the person who I usually have contact with no longer works for them. That's really a good thing to know. Glad I was able to extract that bit of information from whomever finally answered the phone. In any case I am alive and well will just do some blood work in a month because one of my numbers is on the low side. At this point I don't give a flying shitski because my pep is back. That's all that matters to me! And . . . after many calls and one stop to pick up a new bra that was not in I finally got to speak with Dawn who has no idea where it is! Yay! I have to believe that she will call me sometime in the distant future when they locate it on the pile of itty bitty bras on the chair in the fitting room, that is, if it's not on the floor by now! Okay. Done spewing for today.

The plusses this week were really grand. I spent Monday with Kiddo, Tuesday with a very nice former sister-in-law, Wednesday with my younger sister who is doing very well and Thursday with youngest sister-in-law driving around Norwich in her now brand spanking new Ford Fusion with all the bells and whistles! And . . . she and I spent some time unpacking Mama's 50 volume Harvard Classics and putting them on the wrong shelf of her new loft library which my clever brother built. I laugh when I say wrong shelf. Not really the case. It was the right shelf at the time but we all agree they should be higher so they will show to best advantage. Next time I shall produce my Library Card so I can take out the books! What an interesting set - 5 feet of classics on a shelf. Perfect.

Going to try to get in a half hour of exercise before I head out to Groton.

Quote:  Whenever nature leaves a hole in a person's mind, she generally plasters it over with a thick coat of self-conceit.  __Longfellow     (Now that is funny!)

Under the grandstands . . .

Early breakfast at the DW Diner in Merrimack; nice easy drive to Dunn's Lot and shuttle bus ride to the track. Puppies and Dante's Pop followed me around for a while as I bought the odds and ends I needed for some of the Kiddos. We always sit in the shade and people watch while waiting for the race. I also drink lots of water and eat ice cream! A lovely lady about my age asked if she could share our table as her husband needed to rest a spell before they ventured up to their seats. Of course we welcomed her and then he filed along shortly. What an interesting couple. They knew all there is to know about New Hampshire International Speedway. They've been coming here since its inception and sit under the overhang of the Main Grandstand. They are original season ticket holders and when Bob Behr helped to set up the track in Las Vegas he asked for seats at the Las Vegas track for his season ticket holders! So this couple has seats on the start/finish line in Las Vegas.  Pretty cool. We spoke about the taxes in Connecticut and they explained that they now pay a "View Tax." I thought they were kidding but it's true. New Hampshire has a view tax. I asked how it is assessed and he said they come in your house and if they say Wow! you're in trouble. If it's a Wow! Wow! you're out of luck. They are serious. She is a former English Department Head at a large private academy in Derry so we had a lot to talk about. They were very nice and gave us their card and asked us if we would call them so we can stay with them when we come to the races next year and see their "Wow! view. I will certainly call them or email them as they were very sincere. They are the third owners of the home which is about 100 years old with several bedrooms. Many of the friends they used to come to the races with can no longer climb up to the seats. I explained that we would not be able to reciprocate as our home is certainly not easy for company but that was not a factor. Just really nice people and we seem to think alike! We'll be going up to our seats shortly.

Despicable . . .

Summertime near the side stairs

And so the treacherous heat and humidity are still here. I gave Puppies and Dante's Pop the choice of a movie this morning; he chose Despicable Me Deux. I was surprised that I really did enjoy it. We saw the 3D version. I'm so naive. I never expect a cartoon to be so much fun. I never really watch a movie well on TV but put it on the big screen, in your face, loud, noisy and I pay attention. We'll be taking in a few more while this weather lasts. Went to  Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm for Maple-Bacon ice cream but they were out of it. Settled for very good Coconut-Chocolate Chip which did the trick. Puppies and Dante's Pop only had a diet soda and then snacked when we got home. He's such a good Do Bee!

The Big Y wants you to pay $20 a year for their Silver Card so you will no longer have to carry the coins with you. I refused to pay so I've been carrying the coins. A couple of weeks ago I noticed their sign which said free Silver Card for life if you're over 65. What the heck, I asked the cashier to sign me up. When I got home and checked my receipt she had charged me $20!!! So I figured I had miss read the sign but decided to keep it since it was lifetime Silver! Okay, here's the kicker. It was supposed to be free and this past week my $20 bill was returned to me and they apologized profusely. That was pretty nice.

Not much going on with this heat wave but I do have to catch up on my exercises! We went to the Coast Guard Academy yesterday afternoon for a free band concert; lots of people in cool pleasant Leamy Hall. The first half of the concert was great: some John Philip Sousa, surprisingly good Leonard Berstein, Zez Confrey, Anthony O'Toole (written for tuba,) Aaron Copeland (passing good) and the Service Medley (Grampa wouldn't stand with other Army veterans when they played The Caissons go rolling along!) The second half the conductor thought he should explain the opening piece. Big mistake! It was John Williams of movie score fame's A Nostalgic Jazz Odyssey. The entire long piece sounded like a Middle School band warming up before a concert! The saving grace for the second half was the Dixieland Jazz Band. All in all it was a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

Quote:  Would that we could at once paint with the eyes! __In the long way from the eye, through the arm, to the pencil, how much is lost!   ____Lessing

Quiet Fourth . . .

Red, White and Blue plus . . .

Spent time this morning cooking up red bliss potatoes for a nice old fashioned potato salad and baked a Black Coffee Cake too. Later in the day we had an excellent chowder from the Roadside Diner before Grampa grilled us some hamburgers which we ate with the potato salad. The dessert was very good with the ubiquitous Cool Whip! This evening I persuaded Puppies and Dante's Pop to make some whistling booms with slender contrivances (trying to get by NSA's PRISM!) left over from A and M's trips North back in the late 80's! How's that for an old fashioned 4th? It was a perfect day for celebrating the birth pangs of our good United States. Won't get maudlin and mention what a different people we are from what I believe our founders envisioned. Perhaps we'll withstand the test of time better than Roman civilization. I certainly hope so. It will be a shame if we abdicate our responsibility to keep our people free from tyrannical big government politicians. God bless these United States; keep us free from the tyranny of elites. Amen.

Quote:  To see what is right and not do it is want of courage.   ___Confucius

Jogged loose . . .

I remember Mama needing some time away from us kids so she would pack all six of us off, hot weather or cold, to walk up to Gibson's Corner. She would watch from the porch to make sure we didn't cheat and turn around about half way! Memory is hazy but I can imagine that we had little Louise in a doll stroller with David and Pauline riding herd on Rose, Joe and me! By the time we made it to Gibson's we had probably picked up a half dozen more kids, all sizes and shapes and so at least a dozen kids made the trek back home where we were probably given fresh lemonade or hot chocolate for the whole gang. Louise was probably allowed in the house to take a nap and the rest of us played outside; cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, scrub, swinging, knife throwing, whittling.
(The lemonade would have been made with fresh lemons and the hot chocolate from squares of bitter chocolate.  Proustian me is savoring the fragrances and tastes.)

It's amazing that this all came back to me because Grampa needed me to hold a board up in the small bedroom as he was putting up new molding and the old, incredibly crumbly walls became visible. Somehow it conjured up my golden days.  Imagine the old days this house has seen. . .

Had to leave my ramblings for nigh on 18 hours!  Kiddo called yesterday, with permission from his folks, to see if I would come and stay with him for the afternoon.  He decided he didn't want to go to Rec because his Dad got some new DJ stuff and he needed to check it out.  After checking it out he got bored and needed his Memere to distract him!! I found him playing pool and quite contented that I had come we were off and playing water basketball in a jiffy.  Naturally I stayed until about 9:15 and he had to fulfill his contract and read for me.  Poor kid.  I'm just merciless! We did have a very good day.  I was impressed at his desire to win at Guitar Hero.  He hadn't taken that out in at least a couple of years.  I watched him perform for close to an hour and a half. Almost ready to be a head banger! It was interesting, though. Can't believe what goes for music or I should say what was called music in the 70's and 80's.  No wonder we're all deaf and dumb!

Quote:  Idleness is the burial of a living man.    ____Jeremy Taylor