Treadle Made by the Treadle Maid

When was the last time you were home alone... laughing almost uncontrollably... from something you did? I don't know about you, but it makes you feel wonderful and I know I don't do it nearly enough (perhaps that is a good thing). Today I had one of those fun, just me, times.

My sciatica has been bugging me (dull thing to report) so I got it in my head that perhaps I needed to add a different kind of exercise to my everyday life. Solution, convince my husband that bringing down the old (circa 1901) treadle sewing machine from the second floor was something that was a good idea. (Trust me. Husbands after a certain point in life learn not to argue with a wife's good ideas...). So, walla, that treadle sewing machine is now downstairs. It's even cleaned and oiled thanks again to a husband who is intrigued by all things mechanical. Face it, how many machines can you list that are almost 110 years old, left to veg for 30 years and then, with just a little oil and clean up, work like the day they were made? Who wouldn't find that at least a little fascinating?

Anyway, I digress. We live in a old house, older than the treadle by more than 80 years, and the floors have tilts that go this way and that. Hence, it is far too much to expect the new location for my treadle to be level. Nor is the spot where you sit. No big deal until you add the coordination needed to keep the machine stitching together with the rollers on the chair together with me hanging onto the machine to keep from sailing across the room, not to mention I'm laughing so hard I'm almost crying. But, do you know what? My sciatica does feel better and, through the laughter, I did get one jolly "green" hot pad made. It's made from old jeans padded with an old army blanket and sewn without electricity. How's that for green?!

PS - I related how funny my first "sewing experience" was to my husband who thought that, of course, the chair would roll. (Was it my imagination or did I see his eyes roll too?) However, I do hear him in the other room stitching and chuckling away. Laughing yoga may be the up and coming exercise, but perhaps treadle laughing won't be far behind...

Sweet flowers...

My friend Harriette is a candy artist. When she told me this, I though, yeah right, a few flowers on a cake etc.  Then she brought in ten teapots full of these flowers.  They look like porcelain, don't they?  Well, they're not, they're sugar flowers.

I was speechless.  Next time when Harriette says something I will believe every word she says!!!  And to think she lives in little old Earlville! 

PS - I must also tell you Harriette is extremely generous with our community making donations of her creations where they're needed.  She does not sell her wares locally (not that we could afford them) - those go to the city. 

Tiptoe Through the Mustard

May - upstate New York - fields of wild mustard are in bloom. Although the farmers don't like it there, the rest of us think it's just beautiful!!! If one could only learn an efficient way to harvest those tiny tiny seeds, I'm sure wild mustard would be the high priced gourmet treat of the year.

I suggested John & Terry do a Tiny Tim imitation and "Tiptoe Through the Mustard Patch". That's the best they could do. They're getting much too conservative in their old age!!!

Daffodils for my mother...

My mother loves daffodils but finding the bulbs let alone getting them to grow in Texas is another issue. Ours are finally starting to bloom here in upstate NY. These are Tom Thumbs - only about 6 inches tall although you can't tell that from the photo, and are always the first to bloom.

Although the wind was blowing "a gale" as they say down east, I did manage to get in a few hours of gardening today (and can barely move to prove it!). Transplanted more plants, "found" a few more where I thought I was going to put the first ones, discovered more seldom used muscles, and finally got organized again about what tools were where and which worked best.

Gardening gives me time to "refocus" (don't you love that word?) for the season. Although I know a few of you are dedicated blog readers, I just don't feel I can continue to do a daily blog. However, not to leave you entirely, my plans are to publish on www.ontheroadinthevw.blogspot.com once a week so you'll have something new to read on Monday or Tuesday. John & I want to get Tillie back on the road and visit places we've never been to or spent much time at in New York State. So look for the first of these next week (actually the first trip is to Pennsylvania in Rambo but give me a little slack. John was out today hosing Rambo down trying to find that pesky leak over the driver's seat. Rain in predicted....)

A meeting of the elders...

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day. Only a week ago the weather was trying to give us two feet of new snow and today everyone (except for those you see here and me) were outside gardening.

Today was our town's bicentennial event for April (we're doing something every month). It was a meeting of the elders in the town who came and told stories of their youth growing up in the town. Picked peas and bean by hand into baskets made with timbers cut in the area, then shipped the produce by train "somewhere". Everyone had ice houses and chickens and cows... a typical rural economy. Actually it was very interesting. Probably if I'd stayed home and gardened all day I wouldn't be able to move right now. My primary job in being there, however, was to dish up the ice cream. It was MUCH more popular than when we gave it away in February.

Almost forgot... the elders also planted two "Chenango Strawberry" apple trees - a variety that was discovered and developed in our town. They're very rare these days but we managed to located a nursery that donated two of them. Let's hope they grow!

Energized over Energy...

John & I went to an energy conference yesterday just because... It was VERY exciting to hear about some of the things that are happening in the area of alternative energy in our area. Morrisville College is turning cow manure into methane. SUNY School of Forestry is turning used oil from their kitchens into biodiesel. The City of Auburn is making use of their hydropower along the river and is using geothermal to heat and cool its buildings. Plus NY has all its wind farms.

In the afternoon John & I took the tour of the closest windfarm where 20 large turbines are almost silently producing non-polluting electricity. This is the same windfarm that I mentioned yesterday that our electric company is drawing for a weekend getaway to. For the life of me I don't know how you would spend the weekend. The tour (which was VERY thorough) only took an hour and a half. Other things to see and do in Fenner? Well the town (there is no village that I know of) has only a population of about 1600 with four times as many cows. So maybe if you're into milking cows...

Anyway these wind turbines are BIG - 200+ feet tall before you even add the 3 props. The props each weigh 7.5 tons (a huge craine put them up there) and are about 120 feet long. (The one on the ground was given to Fenner for their planned education center for communities to learn about installing wind energy generators.) These propellers were made out of balsa wood and alumnimum in Brazil although we were told GE is now making them out of plastic. Everything is controlled by a computer that turns them to face the optimum wind currents.

Our guide lives in Fenner and was instrumental in getting them installed. The average person is not allowed to go up in them. However, because of his involvement with the project, he was able to arrange for him and his wife to go to the top of one (it was being worked on at the time) for their anniversary. He also mentioned that to get to the top you have to strap on a 65 lb. safety harness and climb a 210 foot ladder inside the post. (So what happened to dinner and roses?!!) He said when his daughter called to ask what they had done on their anniversary he told her they "got high and physical"...

One last note to Joe - turns out most of the guys who work on these turbines, both installing and maintaining them, are ex-Navy guys. Want to give up golf in your retirement and move north Joe?

The mail...

How much junk mail do YOU get? Unless you've moved recently, it's probably a lot!

Now the next question is, what kind? If you're a quilter it's about sewing. If you're into boats you get all sorts of woodworking stuff. And if you've recently bought a rusty old RV (like our Rambo) you're now on that mailing list as well.

I will have to admit this RV stuff is a bit different than anything we've gotten before. There was one almost (but not quite) irresistable offer for a book that would tell us...
- how to dip aluminum foil in water (that sounds hard), then rub it on the exposed metal where it's rusted (like all over) and "Voila!". Supposedly it works wonders - humm...
- we could also learn how to install a 36 inch flat screen TV when there's only room for an older 24 inch one. (Are those flat screens flexible or what? - curiosity almost got me there)
- and the one I loved the most - a "clever way to prevent someone from stealing your sewer hose"... think about it...

Today's mail also had a mailing from our local electric company offering its customers a chance to "Win a Weekend Getaway to a New York Wind Farm!" I can tell you I've been on that ridge under those wind generators and its one of those remote places... However, since we're going to an Energy Conference tomorrow that includes a tour of that very same wind farm, I'll let you know what the real scoop is.

What does all this have to do with the photo? Nothing, except it's the view as we leave our post office. Isn't that purple house cheerful? It really shows up against the snow. Those folks do NOT let winter get them down!

Things are looking up...

In spite of the weatherman's forecast this morning of another "fairly drab day" (Can you believe he actually said that?! Talk about making you depressed!) we had a bit of blue sky and enough sun to give us some shadows. I quick took the photo just in case it didn't stay long, which it didn't. But it was in the 40's today (just barely), the birds are singing, the robins are hogging the bit of open ground there is, and the snow is melting quickly but not quickly enough to cause flooding. A pretty good spring day all around. I even tossed aside my winter coat and wore my lightweight jacket into town today. (As opposed to yesterday, I've had it with being a wimp!)

Snow Geese?

At the bottom of our hill live a bunch (or is that a gaggle?) of geese who decided to abandon their owners and move into "the wild". All summer long you can see them floating contentedly on the small stream that runs through a small valley. (If you look hard - that dark thread that runs left to right just under the posted sign is the stream.)

Until today, I never stopped to wonder what they did in the winter. Do they go back to the barn? Do they try to tough it out in the wild? Domestic geese aren't much for flying so I doubt they head south. At any rate, this morning they were all lined up along the road looking longingly at their stream. We (and that includes the geese) got 19 inches of snow yesterday.

We came home a different route so am not sure what they decided to do. Upstream we saw two hardy fisherman in their waders in the middle of the stream (after all - 15,000 trout had been released two week ago and were just waiting to be caught). If the snow didn't slow down the fishermen, perhaps the geese weren't turned away either. As for me? I think I'll wait awhile before heading to the waters. (I confess, I'm a wimp!)

Snow???

Need I say more?

The good news is...

- it's mostly stopped
- spring snows are GREAT for the garden as they melt slowly into the ground taking all those good nutrients from rotting leaves etc. with it - known as "poor man's fertilizer"
- John listened to me (if you can believe that!) and moved the snow blower last night (before the snow came) from the shed far away from the driveway, to the driveway. It also gave him a chance to put some air in that flat tire on the tractor...
- The tire did NOT go flat again overnight (wonder of wonders!)
- the squirrels have stayed away from the feeder all day, much to the delight of the birds
- and, the best news of all.... it's supposed to get warmer every day this week ending up with 60 degrees and SUNSHINE (I've already cleaned my sunglasses in preparation) on Sunday!!!!!!!!!! EVERYONE, including those without electricity, are feeling better about things!

Signs of Spring?

Folks around here (including myself) are getting a bit upset with the state of April weather... overcast... cold... snow most every night even though it melts during the day... (not to mention the mouse situation in some households!)...

One good - no GREAT - thing is that the fresh fish truck has returned to the Village Green on Saturday mornings. He gets there at 9:00. I got there at 9:05 and you can see I was not the first in line. He is appreciated! Two (or is it three?) hours of selling cold fish on a cold day out of a cold truck - not a job for everyone.

So... in spite of it being in the 30's,
and damp...
and cold...
and taking an hour for the charcoal to get hot enough to cook on...
we had wonderful grilled FRESH fish for dinner.



This morning we, of course, woke up to the scene to our left. Okay, so it is beautiful but we're ready for a different sort of beauty now. It is April after all.

Perhaps we shouldn't complain too strongly - the weather person is saying we can expect another one to two feet of the white stuff overnight. Maybe the schools will have a snow day.

For immediate release...

HAMILTON REPORTS RUN ON MOUSE TRAPS & PEANUT BUTTER

Hamilton store owners today reported an unexpected run on mouse traps and peanut butter. According to one store owner an unidentified couple came in and purchased every mouse trap in stock. Another store owner reported a couple came in asking specifically for Victor mouse traps made in Pennsylvania. Having only traps made in Taiwan, the couple had a heated discussion, then purchased the entire inventory. It was also reported the couple was overheard questioning grocery store owners if they had any "recalled" peanut butter left.

Speculation has run rampant on why the sudden sale of mouse traps and peanut butter. One source, as yet unconfirmed, identified the couple in question as artists who are planning an upcoming installation entitled "Mouse Moat at Midnight".

Store owners state it will take at least two weeks to replenish their stocks.

Ok, ok... so I made this up. However, I am pleased to report we all slept soundly last night (Adam, the cat, included). We did NOT catch any mice in our numerous traps overnight. What does that mean?

WARNING!!!!

If the thought of a mouse story gives you the willies, read NO further!

For all you other brave souls, read on... No pictures today - your imaginations can do the work.

We live in a 200 year old farmhouse in the country. While we continue to seal up any openings we find, a family of mice always seems to join us in the fall. The traps go out (there are just too many hiding places for our cat, who is a GREAT mouser outside, to be effective.) By Christmas the mice seem to be gone. Then spring comes and we find ourselves with more mouse visitors.

This year has been no exception (so at least we're assured spring is on the way) and the mousetrap (we were down to one) has been put to good use. Last night as usual, we turn off the bedroom lights and the cat joins us (he sleeps at our feet). Rather than settling in like he normally does, he keeps on walking up to our heads and stops. Then I hear the pitter patter of little feet!!!! on the comforter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sitting straight up in bed and flinging the covers I yell to John (who probably already has my full attention) to turn on the light - that I think Adam (the cat) has brought us a mouse. Of course, there's no mouse anywhere I look - just Adam sitting there blinking at us. John tells me I'm imagining things and to go to sleep.

1:43 a.m. John & I simultaneously sit straight up in bed, awakened by the pitter patter of little feet on the top of the pillows above our heads. This time John SAW the mouse in the moonlight before he turned on the light!!! Adam is blinking at us at the foot of the bed. John moves the mousetrap to behind the bed (why oh why have we let ourselves get down to only one usable trap?!!), then tells me to go back to sleep. Right!!! 1:58 - I hear it under the bed and jerk up again. John says to relax, it will stay on the floor. Right!!!! 2:14 - John jumps straight up. (I refrained from saying "I told you so!")

On go the lights. We pull the bed 2 feet away from the wall (while I'm silently considering how practical it is to either move back to the cold upstairs bedroom or spend the night on the love seat). Then we spy the mouse being "herded" back to us by Adam (guess he was determined we were going to have his "mouse gift" or else). By this time the mouse (measuring all of an inch) has about had it with indoor life himself. John easily traps him in a jar and "relocates" him to the great outdoors.

2:34 - Adam is heard munching on his cat food (obviously rewarding himself for his gift giving abilities). John is heard snoring. I'm of course wide awake listening for the pitter patter of little feet...

Yellow works for me...

Perhaps yellow is my favorite color (at least today). It's so hard to believe that these delicate looking crocus could look so good after being frozen every night and snowed upon every day for over a week. Yet they still look beautiful and more than welcoming when I look out the window. I do have to admit they open up fully and REALLY look happy when the sun shines (but don't we all?!!!)

Eggy Art...

Did you "do" Easter eggs this weekend? We hadn't really intended to, but when Wynne (the artsy artist on the left) and Bridge (the artsy attorney on the right) came up for Easter, there really was NO choice.

In our usual way, it turned into a MUCH bigger deal than one might imagine. First, I had plenty of our neighbor's fresh BROWN eggs, but, as you know, they don't dye the best so we had to get white (very inferior) ones at the market. Then we didn't have "egg dippers" so we had to find some wire and make our own. That then lead to the creation of the egg holder/art piece in photo. It made a GREAT table centerpiece as you could see through it. Once we get by the egg thing, perhaps red balls at Christmas? It's on its way to Seattle so we'll expect a full report at the end of the year.

And of course there was the issue of what to use to dye the eggs. Martha Stewart Living had just had an article on natural dyes so we went for that. Our review... the turmeric worked the best making a pale yellow (squint and you might see a blush of yellow on some of the eggs). The "pink" from the canned beets was, well, subtle - perhaps we needed beets WITH skins? And the coffee? - we might as well have used the brown eggs au natural. Bottom line - it was a great way to spend a cold, snowy Saturday and lots of FUN!! (plus I certainly had more to write about!)

Dyngus Day

Dyngus Day??? No, I'm NOT making it up. If you haven't heard of it, it probably means you a) are NOT from Buffalo, NY or b) are NOT Polish-American. So.... if you'd like to learn more I'd suggest you start with
www.dyngusdaybuffalo.com

What does this have to do with the photo? Well, that bushy tree on the left is actually what was supposed to have been a "small" ornamental pussy willow. (As you can see, it rather ignored its genetic instructions to stay small.) However, on cold spring days like today I always harvest a few sprigs to enjoy in the house. (Few is the operative word - I can barely reach high enough to cut off the tips of the branches where the "pussies" are.) And what do pussy willows have to do with Dyngus Day? I'll leave it up to you to find out.

Where is she?

Tune into our other blog to find out...

ontheroadinthevw.blogspot.com

New look at the pancake breakfast...

This morning was the "Valentine's" pancake breakfast put on by the firemen of Earlville who deserve extra credit this year. They spent ALL of Thursday night at a house fire in Earlville (the family got out safely but their home unfortunately burned to the ground - started from an electric boot warmer). Then the firemen were called out again last night because parts of the rubble had started to burn again. However, they were all at the fire hall serving breakfast at 6 a.m. (this is farm country remember)... with smiles on their faces (even if some of their eyes were half closed).

The turn out was great - guess this COLD weather is making everyone feel "housebound" so folks are more than ready to go out for everything. "Housebound" madness seems to have reached new levels as you can see from the new hairdo on the kid in the photo. His mother (sitting across from him) proudly told me it's easy to do with a combo of hairspray and Elmer's glue and that it washes out easily. The snowmobilers were speculating how you could make a helmet fit...

The Joy of Cooking...

Breaking news... it's still winter. Just north of here they've gotten almost 8 feet of snow (going for 100 inches) from this storm. We've gotten just "a touch" in comparison. However, we've shared in the wind and the cold which means I haven't been walking. (Been working on broadening my hips I'm sure!)

To do this, I've been cooking - mostly on the wood stove. I'm still learning but getting better. Haven't burned too many things and am learning what those trivets were really made for - to separate the pots from the top of the stove if you want a lower cooking temperature. It works. In the past couple of weeks we've only cooked one meal on the regular stove. John even used the oven one night and roasted a chicken. Tonight's menu is gumbo with rice to put us in a Louisiana frame of mind since that's where we're headed next week (barring any sneaky storms coming from the west). I'll continue blogging as we travel but probably on the other blog site - will let you know, I promise.

PS - the best part of cooking on the wood stove in weather like this is it keeps the kitchen warm without guilt or impact to the pocketbook.
PSS - I finished those beastly seats!!!!!!!!!!

Oscars & Beans

In case you've forgotten, the Oscars are coming up the end of February. Until about five years ago, they really didn't hold much interest for me (other than curiosity as to whether I had actually seen ANY of the movies nominated for best picture). Then we happened to visit a friend on Oscar night and discovered that if you're willing to pledge a few dollars and enter a "contest" to see who can come up with the most correct winners, the Oscars become a WHOLE lot more interesting. I happened to "win" that first year through no fault of my own. I've been hooked ever since. I've also lost ever since - through no fault of my own, of course.

So, what, you may ask, has that to do with beans? It goes like this... When the Oscar nominations are released, John & I diligently print out the list and attempt to see as many movies as we can either in the theater (preferred) or on video/DVD. We happen to have a fairly OLD TV (it still works doesn't it?). It's so old in fact that the connections for the video/DVD are in the front. This is okay (who cares about looks anyway?). However, there's a short in the connecting plug in the TV which can't be fixed. This means sometimes you get a picture, or sound, or nothing, or, if you're very lucky, picture & sound - together! John discovered by chance that if you hold the cord "just right" and your mouth "just so" you get both. Rather than holding the cord throughout the movie (he does rather block the screen for anyone else who wants to watch), a jar of beans makes a fairly decent substitute. Of course the trick is to make it to your seat without jiggling the cord AT ALL (VERY hard to do in an old house). Our house sitters for some reason find this part of the "what you should know about our house" instructions fairly perplexing. Will we ever replace it? Only the Oscars know for sure...

Return to the BS

That's BS as in "beastly seats"...
Having finished everything else I really wanted to do, the back seats from the camper have finally reached the top of my list. Yesterday I finished the bottoms, today I'm working on the backs. Talk about using every inch of fabric. One of the final side pieces that could have been done as one piece has now evolved into four pieces. Ah, the stress of it! So, I'm taking a break and writing this instead.

One thing that tends to inspire me when I have to do something I really DO NOT want to do, is to think of other jobs I might be doing that are far worse. (Cleaning for example...) This morning I noticed what you see in the photo. There are three people up on that round area of what will be Colgate U's new science building. They are working not only up in the air (you could never get me that high without being strapped down to something), but they are attempting to put down metal roof decking... in the wind (at least 20mph)... in 13 degree F. weather... (I know 13 is Colgate's lucky number but not for these folks.) Whatever they're being paid it is NOT enough. I'll go back to my BS and count myself lucky.

Boys at play...

What do men in the north do in their free time when they're not out in subzero weather barbecuing chicken?
They play at being Mr. Science in the workshop and dream of making wooden boats that won't sink in the summer.

Bruce proved to be master at mixing up the "magic goo" that

John poured over the canvas that

Steve stretched over the hull of the boat.

Apparently it worked for the boat now has a fairly solid top for the first time in 30 years. (If they'd only figure out some way to keep the bottom from leaking!)

You'll notice that Tillie is snuggled securely in the corner of the workshop looking more like a storage unit than a vehicle of leisure. She, too, is dreaming of summer and the wonderful trips that lie ahead.

Snow, wind, cold...

It's winter up here! (If I only knew how to turn that ! upside down - "up" excitement is not quite what I'm trying to convey here.)
The good news is that we're in this magical little spot where we're still measuring the snow in inches rather than feet - that's reserved this time around for Buffalo and the Tug Hill Plateau. However, we are among those who can count the temperature on their fingers (one hand, please, and make it heavily gloved). The minus numbers are counted on one's toes. And the wind continues to howl making New Year's resolution walks out of the question.

However, the Colgate U. pool is still heated and available and we can paddle about thinking of warmer times and places even if we do have to tread through the cold to return home. And, of course our weathermen (they do seem to be all men up here) LOVE being the center of attention. They wouldn't trade their location with Hawaii for anything in the world - too boring. We, on the other hand, after complaining about NOT having winter, are only too ready for "boring" to return.

Bicentennial Celebrations

Today was our town's BIG kickoff celebration for its bicentennial. The photos tell you how hardy the folks from Lebanon are. Most communities would NEVER even consider having a chicken BBQ in February but our most hardy were there at 6 AM building the fire. (John is NOT a native and was NOT among them. He just ventured down to take photos.) It should be noted the temperature at 6 was below zero with a breeze. In this photo around 1:00, they're just beginning to take the chicken off and it was DELICIOUS!!! They did 175 halves and we sold every one. (You might note in the photo there's still snow on the ground next to the grill - temp only got up to 5 - no wonder the guys still have their hoods up! Also note the bottle sitting on the block behind the guy to the right. That is or was blackberry brandy...)

Not to be outdone, one of our local teams of horses came with a wagon to give rides to the adventurous. (The high was 10 with a nice breeze.) Fun seekers were more than happy to come inside after their "refreshing ride" for chicken dinners, homemade desserts and all the ice cream they could eat. Speaking of desserts... there was a contest so of course, in the spirit of things, I had to enter something. I won first prize in the historic category. (I haven't been able to decide yet if that was an honor or not... By the way, it was an apple pie.)

Can this be true?

Yesterday morning I was half listening to NPR news about students at the Univ. of Iowa monitoring their laundry via web-cam. Having spent many hours in my pre-washer-ownership days, this sounded like a very practical use of technology. Then the news reporter went on to say that another school was using fingerprint identification to let students access their accounts to pay for meals. Thoughts sprang to mind of a large university getting a grant to do this. I stopped dead in my tracks when they said the school was in Omaha, Arkansas.

They must have meant Omaha, Nebraska, right? But no. I went to the web site and it was Omaha, Arkansas. (So....? Big deal!... What's your problem you might ask?) Well, it's the public school I attended and graduated from... with a class size of 13. By anyone's standard that is SMALL. It's also rural (less so now that Branson, MO, the next wide spot in the road north of Omaha, has decided to give Nashville a run for its money). Had something happened to suddenly cause Omaha School to explode in population?

I went hunting on the web for the local paper (from Harrison the next wide spot to the south... I told you Omaha was small). According to them the Omaha cafeteria during the 2 hour serving time was a "beehive of activity" serving about 560 - that's K-12 plus staff. (Many NY schools serve thousands so that seems rather small. However, it definitely indicates the school population has grown since I went to school there). I guess a small problem to some, is a big problem for others. Of course the bottom line is cost. How pricey was this fingerprinting account system? $375 That's cheaper than a computer. I'm surprised other schools haven't caught on.

Our own version of Punxsutawney Phil...

In case you missed it, today was Groundhog's Day. The forecast was for overcast skies - always a good sign since in upstate NY that means ONLY another 6 weeks of winter instead of at LEAST 6 more weeks of winter.

Daybreak comes and I'm awakened to... sniff, sniff - is that skunk or do John & I REALLY need to brush our teeth? The odor was there again on our walk this morning - sent the groundhog back into his hole I'm sure.

I always thought skunks hibernated until a skunk came and ate seeds under our bird feeder most of one winter. I was always careful to make sure he wasn't there when I let the dog out until... You guessed it! I let the dog out without looking. Just as I remembered, Red was getting sprayed in the face. NOT FUN!!!! especially in February!!! A fan of the internet, I immediately went to the computer to do some research (and avoid dealing with the Red who was busy burying his nose in the snow.) "Douche" they said (on not in) so I called John to stop at the store. John's dilemma? What scent to choose. Poor Red ended up smelling of "Spring Flowers" with a slight under-aroma of skunk the rest of the winter. We were ALL glad for spring that year!!!

More from Podunk

Finally! At last the paintings are done that my town requested!! (I hate to run this close to a deadline but sometimes it can't be helped.) From left to right...
The Old Mill - no longer there but we knew the Irishman who salvaged a lot of the stone.
Lebanon Federated Church - the Baptists & Congregationalists decided in 1920 to merge & kept the "better" of the two churches.
Old Schoolhouse - one of the few remaining that looks like it did then.
Lebanon Community Center - the town's old depot.
Stowell House - home of abolitionist Horace Stowell & on the "Underground Railroad".
Tomorrow they get printed and made into cards (or at least that's tonight's plan - you know how that goes...)

Podunk

Did I tell you our town is having its bicentennial this year? Yelp - on February 6th we'll be 200 years old. To celebrate we're having a big "do" on Sunday afternoon complete with chicken BBQ - and that's chicken BBQ done over coals in the great out-of-doors. The high on Sunday is supposed to be about 10 F. so let's hope those chickens go on early.

In conjunction with the bicentennial, I was asked to do some of my folk art note cards for the committee to sell to help raise funds for some of the planned activities. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I got the final pictures to use so I've been busy painting. (...a PLEASANT change from working on those beastly seats!) Today I went to the library to scrounge up some local history to add to the back of each card.

Local history is rather addictive which is why I spent MUCH longer there than I intended. Some things you might find interesting...
- Lebanon was way ahead of the times - the high school kids from Lebanon used to take the train to go to high school in Earlville (and you thought only city kids commuted by train!).
- The town didn't get its first snow plow until 1930 and even then, roads weren't plowed on a regular basis for another 3 years - people either had to shovel themselves or go around the drifts.
- Kids went to school eight months of the year - 3 months in the winter and 5 months in the summer. There were never snow days and of course they walked to school.
- Spring was called the "thawy" time of year.
- When the town fathers proposed putting a new road straight to Hamilton, two mill owners, whose mills it would bypass, dug up some graves in the middle of the night and created an "instant" cemetery in its path thus forcing the new road to go past the mills. (I always wondered why that road took such a crazy turn!)
- And, my favorite bit of all, "South Lebanon was known by one and all as Podunk".

I didn't wear purple but...

In my youth it would never have occurred to me to go to something if I'd been told they couldn't take me. However, with age comes experience. So today I appeared at a Planning Board training session that our town was told was fully booked. Sure enough, I got in. (Of course, that might have been because we'd had a LOT of snow overnight & some folks chickened out, but who's quibbling?)

And for this "courageousness" on my part, I learned such interesting things as the benefits of "deep hole analysis" vs. "perk tests"; "small wind" development (this had nothing to do with the consumption of beans); and the meaning of a whole new set of acronyms - SEQR, NYCRR, EIS, DEIS, FEIS (you get the picture).

For my next act, perhaps I will wear purple and try something more exciting.

Comfort Food

I'd thought I'd go way out on a limb this morning and share a recipe I discovered in the last few months that I think is terrific, especially if you live where you can get really good Italian sausage. Hopefully it's warmer than 2 degrees where you are!

Polenta Casserole (dull name but, trust me, you'll like it)
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil - heat over medium heat in a deep skillet
1 onion, sliced into thin wedges (rather than rings slice the other direction)
1 red or orange or yellow pepper (cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick)
Saute about 5 minutes
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound bulk Italian sausage, either sweet or hot (take off the casings if you can't find bulk).
Separate sausage into bite sizes pieces & add with garlic to the pan. Saute until cooked.
1 28-oz. can fire-roasted tomatoes (this is the key ingredient - sometimes you find it in the regular section, sometimes in the organic section. You can make it with regular canned tomatoes but these are MUCH better.)
1 teaspoon oregano
Hot pepper to taste and/or to can add a fresh hot pepper with the onion
Add all to sausage mix and bring to a simmer. (See why you want a deep skillet?) Cook for 10-15 minutes while you work on the polenta.
2 16-oz. tubes of polenta (or you can make your own)
Slice & arrange in a greased metal pan about 9 x 13. Broil polenta until lightly browned. (Or you can grill them & put in a pan.)
Top with sausage mix.
8 oz. mozzarella, sliced 1/4 inch thick
Arrange on top of sausage and broil until melted & lightly brown.
It makes GREAT leftovers & freezes well. You can also cut the recipe in half or you can just make up the sausage/tomato mix and freeze it in portions. When you want it, thaw & heat in the microwave. Toast a couple of slices of polenta in the toaster-oven, top with heated sausage mix & a slice of cheese & pop back into the toaster oven for a couple more minutes.
Hope you like it & stay warm!

Musings from NYC

Okay, okay - I don't always have to muse from the country, do I? With the Big Apple only a four hour drive away, can you blame me? Our major goal this trip? To finally see the pillars of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine for ourselves (something we've been planning to do for at least 20 years!)

Over a 100 years ago granite quarries were the major industry on our favorite island in Maine - Vinalhaven. Granite was shipped from there all over the northeast in all shapes, sizes & descriptions. One of their most impressive commissions was to make 8 granite columns for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The pillars stand 55 feet tall and weigh 130 tons EACH (that's A LOT!). Each pillar was turned on a stone lathe on Vinalhaven (the old lathe is still there but you have to go on a "forced march" - another story - to get there). They were shipped by boat in two pieces - one weighing 90 tons and the other 40 tons. (I apologize for the fuzziness of the photo - my camera freaked out at the sight!) The columns were so perfectly turned and fitted, it's almost impossible to tell where the seam is.

To add to your list of the world's this 'n that, St. John the Divine is the world's largest cathedral. (To put it in American measurements, the "main room" is over two football lengths long.) They've been working on the cathedral since 1892 and from the progress they've made in the last 50 years I'd estimate it may take at least another hundred before it's done. However, they are incorporating certain modern day interpretations as they work on it. Notice our VW - Tillie - in one of the newer stone carvings in the photo? (What's THAT all about?!)

You may be wondering where exactly this cathedral is... Do you remember Tom's Restaurant, the diner where Seinfield and his friends on their TV show would always go? The cathedral is just a block over. (You can also eat at Tom's if you want - we didn't, but you can.)

We decided to eat French food instead. John of course is always making new friends wherever we go. Rene Pujol didn't say much but he certainly saw to it we were served a VERY fine French meal!

But of course we can't go to NYC and just go to church and eat (well, maybe just eat...) Anyway, the Museum of the City of NY is highly recommended as is the Museum of Modern Art. The skating at Rockefeller Center is fun to watch (you can't get ME on skates!). An overnight with a friend is VERY fun (as well as making the trip more affordable) plus we got to meet the Einstein of squirrels that has "deproofed" every squirrel-proof feeder in Brooklyn - very a-musing! (sorry....)

Snow Gardens

Today was absolutely beautiful here in upstate New York. Clear blue skies, clean snow, bright & cheerful sunshine. There WAS one minor drawback - the high temp was 4 degrees F. and the wind was strong. Having had frostbite (my earlobes) once in my lifetime, I am not in any hurry to re-experience the pain. As I recall, that day when I came in from the cold with frozen lobes I (like the bright cookie I am) got out the first aid book for instructions. The main course of action was to immerse the frozen "part" in lukewarm water. Do you have any idea how hard it is to immerse both earlobes in a sink of water at the same time without drowning?! After all, who wants to choose between keeping your right lobe or your left lobe? You can dwell on that one for a bit.

Anyway, my thoughts today turned to gardening and I completed my seed order to put in the mail. (I know, you thought I did it when I was a couch potato, but I didn't.) A friend sent the ornament I thought you might enjoy seeing. Unfortunately, the light was wrong so I couldn't get a clear picture of it and the snow today (photo right) so I included another from December. The poem by Joseph Joubert on the ornament says... "Gardeners live in the most beautiful places... because they make them that way." At least our dreams for our gardens this time of year are beautiful.

My squirrel blog seems to have been a hit with you folks. First I received a picture of a white squirrel, one of two that lives in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. (I wonder if he'll turn brown when warm weather returns.) My friend who lives in Brooklyn also has black squirrels so I was going to add a picture of a black squirrel (exciting right?!) when I saw this map instead. My question is... where on earth did they learn to spell? (As you know, my spelling is not always the best, but really, skwerl?!) I tried to blame the spelling on our neighbors to the north, but that spelling doesn't seem to be listed in any Canadian dictionary I could find.

Then today I got a picture from a friend in Florida of one of their resident "snow bird" squirrels. Sometimes you make writing this blog VERY easy!

How a clunker can fill your day...

Once in a while, someone from "the city" will ask what we do all day. Well... some of us acquire camper clunkers. The purchase itself meant a trip to Maine. And perhaps because it was a clunker (not 100% sure why the previous owners were 5 hours late meeting us) the trip took a day longer than planned.

Arriving home (without any problems - wonders of wonders) John drove it to the garage in town to "talk about" and make arrangements for repairs. We were away ten days but then trips and calls to the garage resumed to "talk about" more repairs they felt needed doing. Let's see... out of the first 18 days we had the clunker, it was in the shop 14 (we DID have it at home for Christmas).

With the clunker in our garage, John took out those beastly seats and replaced the carpet. A friend came to confer about the camper's furnace (not working... aren't you surprised?) resulting in a trip to the RV store for "a part" and another visit by our friend to install it (it now works wonderfully!). Then the clunker was off to the "front end" garage for more talking and repairs. Made two trips today to pick the clunker up because we forgot the mechanic took a Spanish lunch on Wednesday's (3 hours!). Were told we'll "get used to the sloppy steering - it'll be sort of like the VW" - can't wait! Stopped at another garage on the way home to "talk about" the muffler - appointment for Friday. (Do we get extra points for using every local garage there is?)

Need I continue? Our days are FULL!

Why didn't someone tell me?!

Today we took a friend on a shopping trip to Syracuse. Somehow John & I managed to acquire a few things - our friend abstained - go figure!

Used to be that whenever we went to the "big" city, John always had to stop somewhere like Home Depot or Lowe's. Now it's Pep Boys or some other auto supply place. It seems that in our old age we have (or should I say John has) gone from old house restoration to old vehicle restoration. Normally, I refrain from even going in the auto places but I thought it might encourage John not to dilly-dally (bet you use that term a lot, don't you?) if I went in too. And what do you think I spotted while perusing the shelves? Not one, but a WHOLE ROW of seat covers!!! Why didn't I know about this? Why did I spend hours piecing together my own design? They even make tee shirts for seats! My advice to our friend in Brooklyn with the rocker in need of a new cover... go to the store!

New Year's Resolution

Personally, I rarely make New Year's resolutions. The last one I made several years ago was to wash (or make sure someone did) the dishes before I went to bed for the night. I never used to do this, preferring instead to do them first thing in the morning. However, that resolution did it and I'm now reformed - a convert to clean dishes waiting for me in the a.m.

Since our dog died in the fall I've become a real slug when it comes to my daily half hour walk. Red was always VERY persuasive that I go - taking him too, of course. In lieu of a dog... a New Year's resolution. So what did I do first thing after New Year's? Sprain my foot giving my resolution a real problem. Finally, on Friday (oh my - that's 19 days into the New Year!) I enjoyed my first walk! Saturday dawned with temps in the low teens and winds howling and blowing snow. I decided that even if Red was still with us we probably would only have gotten to the end of the driveway. Yesterday? Sunny but I felt obligated to finish those beastly seats first - it was well after dark before they were done so no walk. (Have you ever heard such wimpy excuses?!) I DID walk today and it was lovely - no more excuses! How are you coming on your resolution for the year?

Beast Seats

Have I explained before how I REALLY dislike doing slip covers? Perhaps it's like pain - you tend to forget what it's like until you go through it again.

I am by nature a happy person. Even things like a sprained foot don't make me cry (want to pass out, maybe, but not cry). An armrest in need of a cover on the other hand... In case you don't recognize it, that's an armrest in the upright position on the side of the car seat. I agree. Compared to the rest of the seat it looks like a piece of cake. Well, four of those babies kept me occupied for over 6 hours today and (can you believe?) I still have a bit more work to do on them tomorrow. I was going to cry until I thought about how funny it was to cry over an armrest and ended up laughing instead.

The good news is the photo shows John putting in the final bolts to reinstall the driver's seat before he drove it to the shop. Just in time too. I don't think it's legal to drive a vehicle sitting in a straight chair. The passenger seat on the other hand did not make it (because of those XQZ#! armrests). Tomorrow is another day. With any luck my riping and reconstruction will be successful and I can move on to the "lesser" passenger seats. Oh lucky me!

Dinner

"What's for dinner, dear?"

Yikes! Is it that time already? My how time flies when you're "having fun". The good news is that the covers are on the tops of the two front seats. The bad news is that the bottoms are NOT done and the arm rests are NOT done. And... they have to be done by tomorrow afternoon in order to save John a WHOLE lot of hassle putting them in and taking them out again (and me having to hear about it... Is it my fault that instead of working diligently all week I took two VERY long lunch break with girlfriends - one does have to keep up to date on what's going on after all.) At any rate, tomorrow is another day and I'm optimistic. Stay tuned...

Lodging

With a college in the nearby village of Hamilton, lodging for visitors to the area is sometimes at a premium. I suspect, that while low on the list, this "Hotel Barn" might even look promising if you'd driven all day and find no place to stay for 30 miles in any direction. The ad might read...
- Prime village location
- Plenty of parking
- Quiet location (while it does butt up to the RR, the train only runs once a week and that's early evening on Wed.)
- Large lobby (You may have to walk around the carpet that's warehoused there but...)
- Climate regulated (the temperature is consistently 10 degrees cooler than outside)
- Friendly staff
One could go on and on.

Remember yesterday I mentioned recovering the "beast" seats? Well a friend responded with the photo on the left of a rocker from her childhood and suggested I could put it on my redo to do list. Gave me the best laugh of the day. Thanks for sharing and I trust you are NOT serious!

In loo of flowers...

Great news (I think)... I can resume near to normal activities. I still have to put my foot up and ice it (why or why does it have to be winter?!) every so often. And I have an exciting list of exercises to do. Why don't you try them too so I can pretend it's a group activity? 1. Standing up, roll your foot over something like a rolling pin (this gets the circulation going). And... you have to do both feet (one at a time I suppose). Apparently feet talk to each other and this keeps them in balance. 2. Sit down. Throw a towel on the floor and practice pulling it toward you by squinching (that's probably not a word but you know what I mean) it with your toes. If that's too easy, hold it down with a weight so your toes really have to work on the squinching part. 3. Still sitting, write the alphabet with your toes moving only your ankle. And... make it all capital letters. No small ones please. 4. Smile! This IS fun isn't it?!

So what on earth is the photo? That's John's little "thank heavens your better" gift to me. It's the seats from the new "beast". He DID scrub them, but they still look awful. My project is to cover them up with fabric from my stash so they'll look half way decent. The pressure is on... they have to be done by Sunday! (He has to be able to drive it to the shop for an alignment.) So much for hanging out on the sofa!