Ten on Tuesday– 10 Things I’d Buy if I had a Million $$$

 

1. An exercise trainer to come to my house and make me exercise!!
2. A new Dyson vacuum — or someone to vacuum for me!!
3. A wii — and who doesn’t want one of those?
4. A Hummer — like Horatio’s. Maybe I could pay him to drive me places in it, too.
5. Make that 2 Hummers. I’d buy one for my sister too, but she’d have to get her own driver.
6. A chef to cook healthy meals for me so that I wouldn’t have to think about it.
7. An electric knife — just always wanted one.
8. Kenny Chesney season tickets — if there is such a thing.
9. Six months in Scotland/Ireland/England
10. A Tivo and cable

I’m not sure what that adds up to, but it would certainly go a long way toward making me happy!!

Ten on Tuesday — come try, it’s fun!!

Sunday Scribblings #95 — Miscellaneous

A couple of months ago, I was knitting and just kind of letting my mind run. It found all of these memories of living with my grandparents lurking in the corners that I hadn’t thought about in a long time. It’s strange how one memory can piggyback another. After 3 or 4 memories had passed and it seemed that more were coming, I started writing them down before I lost them again. The prompt from Sunday Scribblings this week seemed to be the perfect backdrop for these miscellaneous memories. Please pardon any sentimental sighing that you might hear.

…There was a very old three section freezer in the woodshed which was attached to the back of the house. . The center section was the one where Nanny froze her apples that she would use during the winter to make apple betty. I also remember my sister eating the apples frozen. UGH!

…Nanny would make red jello in clear glass footed dishes as a treat for us when we got home. There were four of them. If she put the dishes too close to the square freezer section in her fridge, the tops of the jello would ice over.

…My sister liked to eat oleo and sugar sandwiches. Also crushed ice, because she had tonsillitis often as a child. I remember Nanny putting 2 or 3 ice cubes into a washcloth and then pounding it with a hammer on the floor of the pantry.

…After watching cartoons all morning, our Saturday lunch was always pancakes spread with oleo and sprinkled with brown sugar, then rolled up into a tube shape and eaten.

…Grandpa had a ham hanging in the woodshed. He had a special saw that he woulduse to cut off a steak or two for supper. At least I think hope it was a special saw.

…Nanny had a little egg poacher saucepan. I was pretty sure she was the only person in the world with this kind of saucepan.

…Grandpa had a small milk can (about a foot tall) that he would take to the farm (owned by our uncle) and fill with raw milk. He would also bring home eggs in a special basket that was used just for that purpose.

…Nanny brushing her teach with baking soda — there was a spot on the corner of the sink counter in the pantry where she would sprinkle it, then tap her brush bristles into it.

…Sunday night shower — standing on the toilet seat cover after and being powdered with a poofy powder puff, then having our fingernails cut with Nanny’s little cuticle scissors.

…Nanny’s red dish drainer. Also, her vacuum cleaner that she kept in a cupboard in the kitchen.

…The smell of Grandpa’s pipe and how it made his clothing smell.

…Grandpa’s cud of chewing gum that he would chew for a bit almost every night, thenput it back on the chair rail of the wainscoting beside his chair in the living room. Yeah, I know — kind of gross to think about.

…My sister and I taking turns sitting in Nanny’s blue speckled enamel colander and spinning in it on the linoleum in the kitchen.

…There was a small hot water heater to heat water for the kitchen and pantry. If you wanted to take a shower, you had to light the heater behind the stove that was attached to a big silver painted hot water tank in the kitchen. When the water was warm half way up the tank, it was warm enough to take a shower.

…Nanny and Grandpa had a small morning stove in the kitchen, next to the gas stove. It had two grates on top that could be lifted off in order to put wood inside. Grandpa put a big piece of wood in first, then some crumpled up newspaper, then some thin strips of cedar, then lit it.

There are more, but I’ve nattered on long enough about the good old days of the 50’s and 60’s. But such good memories!!! And of course, there are a lot more that I could list, but I’ve held you hostage on this subject long enough for one day. Thanks for sticking with me through to the end of this little blurb.

After re-reading this, most of these memories seem to center around food. Anybody know what that might mean? I’d be interested in hearing any ideas.

If you would like read more about any and all things miscellaneous, click here for Sunday Scribblings.

Sunday Scribblings #94 Fellow Traveler

Sometimes the Sunday Scribblings prompt brings a story to mind immediately. Others, like this prompt, take a bit of mulling over. This is what I mulled while knitting.

I do not know the name of or what I should call my Fellow Traveler. My FT has been with me since the day I was born and will be with me until I die. I think everyone, to one extent or another, has a similar FT in their lives.

You see, I am not a fan of organized religion. It’s a wonderful thing for other people and I would never condemn their worshiping in what they believe. I admire their confident faith in their God/Allah/Jehovah. But it’s not for me. Tried several, found all to be wanting for one reason or another, finally decided to go in another direction. Not that I am an atheist, however. That word just grates on my nerves. Agnostic would be a better term. And I am a nice Agnostic.

I think of myself as a spiritual person. I believe in something, but I’m not sure what it is. I try always to do the correct thing, not just the easy. I try to be a good person, pass on good feelings to other people, be dependable and reliable. I believe that my FT is the reason that I am as good a person as I am. I also believe that being the best person I can be and making the best decisions that I can make is something that comes from within me, with probably more than a little suggestion from my FT, who is always nudging me in the right direction.

Thank you, Fellow Traveler.

If you would like read more about Fellow Travelers, click here for Sunday Scribblings.

Conversations Through the Window

HIM — “I’m here to pick up the new lenses that I ordered from you people. ” (You people is always a bad sign)

ME — “Okay, Mr. XYZ — is that eyeglass lenses or contact lenses?”

HIM — “Eyeglass lenses”

(Five minutes later after much rummaging through boxes and trays, no lenses can be turned up in the lab)

ME — “Mr. XYZ, are you sure you ordered eyeglass lenses ?”

HIM — “Yup”

(Back to the lab — more digging through boxes, more peering into trays, still no lenses)

ME — “Mr. XYZ — when did you order these lenses?”

HIM — “Let me check (pulls out cell phone)(has to dial 3 times before he can be heard by the other party) Hey Mrs. XYZ — when did we order your lenses?”

HER — “TWO WEEKS AGO” (I can hear her from five feet away)

HIM — “She says two weeks ago”

ME — “Okay, so they’re for your wife, not you.”

HIM — “Yeah, that’s what I told ya.”

(Which, of course, he didn’t)

Not that it made much difference, back to the lab. Still nothing for either XYZ.

ME — “Mr. XYZ, did you order new frames with your wife’s lenses?”

HIM — “Nope”

ME — “Will your wife be using her old frames for the lenses?”

HIM — “Nope”

(Quietly entering the twilight zone)

ME — “What will she be using to hold the lenses in front of her eyes?”

HIM — “Whaddya mean?”

ME — “If you ordered eyeglass lenses, there has to be a frame to put them into so that you can look through them”

HIM — “Hold on — (out comes the cell phone again)(only has to redial twice this time) Hey Mrs. XYZ where’s the frame for your lenses?”

HER — “OH, DO THEY NEED IT? I’VE GOT IT HERE — I’LL BRING IT RIGHT DOWN“. (Honestly, this woman has pipes like Beverly Sills)

HIM — “She says she has it — she’s going to bring it right down”

Five minutes later — little lady comes in holding a very small contact lens case and hands it to me..

ME — “Oh, it was an order for contact lenses!!”

HIM — “Yeah, that’s what I told ya — you people never listen!!”

Oy.

You Make My Day Award

Isn’t this just the coolest? The You Make My Day Award (okay, who is thinking Dirty Harry out there?) is ‘awarded to people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland‘. My friend Christy awarded this to me a couple of days ago and I am just thrilled and honored to receive it. Thanks bunches for the generous and warm words, C. Her blog, Gathering Around the Table was one of the first blogs that I read when I first tried dipping my toe into this blogging stuff. Her stories of her early childhood and her siblings and of course, her fabulous photos, bring a kind of peace to my mind. If I could return this award to her, I would because she always makes my day!

I’ve cut back on my blog reading a bit, but there are a couple of blogs besides C’s that I just enjoy reading so much, that I won’t do without. Giving them this award will probably come as a surprise, because I don’t do alot of (if any) commenting on their posts but I am a frequent visitor just the same. Just call me a …..

Patois’ Whee! All the Way Home has been a source of humor and insight that by turns makes me giggle and then makes me think. She sprinkles her blog with delightful stories about motherhood (Daughter, Eldest, Youngest) marriage (Husband) that have me laughing out loud. Just love those Weekly Wonderings!!

Sandy’s Knitting is one of my favorite knitting blogs — mainly because it is knitting mixed with family and cats and life in general in the most amusing way. Knitting information, humour, and life, life, life — it’s like head candy!!!

The last blog I would like to award is Becca’s Byline, written by a very intuitive and articulate lady from my generation, who can say things in ways that I would not have though of (or is it ways of which I would not have thought?) She writes of reading and life and family and pets — and written so eloquently. I admire her writing style and stories immensely. Our lives have mirrored each other in many ways — she just says it better than I do!!

Friday Fill-Ins #55

1. The last compliment I got was from inland empire girl: she said that I make her day.
2. I’m reading Barefoot by Elin Hildebrand. Haven’t decided if I like it yet or not.
3. I woke up today and thought FRIDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY!!!!!! YAY!! HERE COME DA JUDGE!!
4. Why does winter seem to last until the twelfth of never, while summer is just a long weekend?
5. The last thing I ate was peanut butter on saltine crackers, washed down with Dunkin Donuts iced coffee. If you mean real food, it was shells and sauce.
   
6. January… it sucketh!!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to spending time with Sweet Baboo and doing some knitting, tomorrow my plans include buying a potty chair for my GrandDolly, and Sunday, I want to just do a general straightening up and putting away in my house!

Come try Friday Fill-Ins – CLICK HERE!!!

A Heavy Snow

It’s 11am on the East Coast. The snow falling, if any, is not noticeable — it stopped pretty much about 1/2 an hour ago, leaving about 4-6 inches in it’s wake. (The weather disaster mongers were wrong once again.) The branches of the pine trees that I can see as I sit at my computer are starting to move about — not good, as this snowfall was extremely wet. Wet, heavy snow can mean power outages. And I just heard a branch from one of the pine trees come down. The sky is brightening and starting to clear.

This is my favorite time of a snowfall — clean, pristine snow, frosty air, the silence is a balm to my ears. It is a small slice of serenity before the world intrudes once more.

New England Braces Itself Again

The weather gurus are all a-dither. It’s going to snow!! Late tonight and tomorrow!! Possibly 1-2 inches per hour during the height of the storm!! What bozos — they report just about any falling frozen precipitation like it’s a re-enactment of the Blizzard of ‘78. No doubt, the grocery stores will be full to bursting with panicked people buying the obligatory milk and bread, because y’know it could be DAYS before the roads are passable and there could be power outages and hurricane force winds are not out of the realm of possibility and hey, what about those frogs and locusts…….

Fer crying in your beer, this is New England, people!!! There have been snow “events” here for centuries!! How did people ever manage to make it through without the media to guide their way?

As lame as these (ahem) meteorologists are when predicting weather and scaring the daylights out of people, it’s still alot of fun when they have to backpedal the next day because the predictions didn’t turn out quite the way they thought. Of course, it’s not their fault — the computer models that they were using predicted the track of the storm incorrectly, there would have been alot more snow but the temperature rose a couple more degrees than they thought it would, yada yada yada.

They make weather predicting too complicated. Sweet Baboo has a stick on the wall of the garage. It points up at a 45° angle when the weather is fair and down at a 45° angle when the weather is not fair. It’s never wrong. And really, that’s all I need to know. The details just muddy everything up.

Socks for Son-in-Law

He said that he wanted orange and green yarn for his socks, and that’s what I found for him. I had him try on the cuff just before I started the heel flap and he liked how they felt on his skin. He has sensitive skin, doesn’t like itchy or tickly anything. I’m using Plymouth Yarn’s Galway Paint color 805. Usually one skein will make a pair of socks, but he wanted a higher than usual cuff so it will take more. Just a couple more chores around the house and I can sit down for awhile and perhaps even finish this one. Although it’s nice enough outside right now, we are in for a “weather event”.  How big and how much is anyone’s guess.

Do You Find Yourself in Catalog Hell?

I get easily 15 or 20 catalogs (not even counting junk mail!!) every week — and found this site while reading our local paper. I signed up and have started (hopefully) getting my name off their lists. It’s called Catalog Choice and it’s free– my favorite kind.  Maybe it can help somebody else, too.