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!

A picture = how many words?

Ice on... foot up... enough said about that!

And speaking of ice, it was COLD outside this morning! 4.8 degrees BELOW zero Fahrenheit. On the plus side of negative degrees - it usually means clear skies and sunshine (something this part of the country often sees too little of in case I haven't mentioned that before). On the other hand we only have a light covering of snow. It is pretty strange when my mother & sister who live in Brady, Texas (the heart of the state) have more snow (they have 2 whole inches) than we do in New York (only a light covering).

Back to the photo... cold weather also means warmer clothes. Fur lined slipper on the left foot (my right foot at this moment was VERY envious!). And pleasure of pleasures, a sort of comfort food for the body - flannel lined jeans! I hadn't had a pair since childhood and they are WONDERFUL!!! Gone are the days when I tried (usually in vain) to be somewhat stylish. Here to stay are the days when I'm snug as a bug and setting my own style.

Ode to a Toe

It's COLD up here at last! 14 degrees as I write this. Since I'm still off my foot (theoretically), I'm been trying to get our income tax paperwork together (almost as boring as keeping your foot up). Buried in the paperwork (why is anyone's guess) was the following little ditty that I wrote on one of those trips when the scenery wasn't much to look at. As I recall John was NOT impressed when I tried it on him at the time. But... since it's winter and YOU seem to be inside reading this blog AND a toe is surely part of a foot, I thought I'd give you a chance to read it.

Ode to a Toe

There once was a little fat toe
That lived at the end of the row...
of toes.
Pampered and powdered and painted so fine,
until WHAM, BANG, #!Z!!
The toe lost its place in the line.

What happened to that little fat toe?
It got prodded and poked,
X-rayed and stroked, until finally it spoke.
"Just leave me alone! I'm fine as I am.
I'll get rid of my blue and apply some glue
and live 60 more years without any fear
at the end of the row... of toes."
(If you're from North Dakota, you can add "don'tcha know")

A Village

When you have four adults who don't have small children in their homes, it really does "take a village". After the kids were in bed you would have loved our "strategy sessions" for the next day's activities.
One of the biggest successes was the pizza making that John spearheaded. As you can see, Peyton helped make the crust. And both boys helped put on the pepperoni although it tended to be one in the mouth and one on the pizza. (They couldn't have learned that trick from their Uncle John, could they?) This pizza was a BIG hit with the small fry. The second one with caramelized onions was a BIG hit with the big fry.

What IS that that Uncle Bridge is making? And why are there no children in the picture? Turns out the kids thought the project was far too messy and wouldn't have anything to do with it. When completed, it's supposed to be a baseball pinata for Dillon's birthday party. Let's just say it has a looooooong way to go and Bridge took it home with him to complete it. He promised to send photos which I'll share with you when they come.

Luggage packed... paper airplanes packed... kids packed & plugged into their DVD... everyone still smiling (always a good sign) as we said goodbye to Uncle Bridge & Grandma Joey.

Now, eight hours later, the cat has finally decided it's safe to come out of the basement. Guess it takes awhile for the noise level to return to normal.

Not rain, or sleet, or ice...

Kids are like postmen. (Or is it postpersons or perhaps postal workers?) Even though the weather outside is nasty, they're still on the go. Nothing stops them.

Coloring books, playing cards, Dr. Seuss, cartoons, hide and seek, cardboard boxes, peanut butter & jelly, a nap (for Uncle John & little Peyton). How many hours do we still have left before it's their bed time? Too many!

The four adults put their heads together and decided what was needed was a walk in the "fine Irish mist". (As LUCK would have it I still need to keep my foot up!!!) Next challenge - how to entice the boys outside. Any guesses? The answer is.... a dead deer (actually, thanks to the coyotes, just a pile of bones but who's being fussy?!) And now for our next act...

Couch Potatoes

Oh the joys of organic gardening! Yesterday there was one couch potato... today there are three!

As a Christmas gift to Peyton (left) and Dillon (right) from their Uncle B (Bridge), Bridge brought them to our house for the weekend. The wonderful part of being an adoptive family is that we never have to age. If we were blood related we'd be the kids Great Uncle & Aunt. As it is, we get to be just their great Uncle & Aunt. Works for us! (Speaking of not aging... did you notice how the boys - or was it the camera? - took my wrinkles away? On the other hand where did that double chin come from?! Christmas followed by forced sitting around is obviously taking its toll!!!)

Counch Potato

Just when I'm patting myself on the back for "doing the right thing" for my ankle and how well it's doing... I bump into our doctor/therapist at the pool we use. Apparently my sprain won't start to heal until the swelling goes down. He sent me home with strict orders to ice it every two hours and keep it elevated - higher than my heart. And to keep OFF it! Okay, okay...
A couch potato assignment which may sound like a dream to you but it's torture for me. I LIKE being up and about. To pass the time I've been dreaming of this year's garden and the new things I want to try... my favorite suggestion so far is fava beans. Apparently they're pretty, you can plant them when you plant your peas, they're DE-licious (the Italians particularly like them), BUT (why is there always a but?) they're a pain to prepare. Getting them out of their pod appears to be the easy part. Then you parboil them, cool and then peel the skin off EACH bean before it's edible. The article suggests inviting a friend over for drinks, then casually bringing out the bowl of beans to peel while you're talking. (I wonder how many drinks you're supposed to have before you bring them out?) If I don't have any friends left by the end of the summer you'll know how successful that was!

Squirrels

This fall we had a "family" of eight full grown squirrels move into our old barn. They are fun to watch scampering along the tree branches and digging up or burying treasures under the trees. Even their acrobatics at the bird feeder are entertaining. However, providing shelter, even if it is only an old barn, is unacceptable. (You should see the mess they make!) John looked several times for their nest to no avail. (A testament, probably, to how much crap we have stored out there. Let's just say junk often finds its way to our barn. I blame the junk on John's thrifty German upbringing. Obviously, the stuff I've put out there is worth saving.) At any rate, the squirrel nest wasn't in an obvious hiding place until... Do you see that round spot on the barn roof that appeared after yesterday's snow? It is NOT a hole. Our theory is it's those hot little squirrel bodies melting the snow. Let's hope they're taking time to work on an emergency preparedness plan so they'll be ready when we implement our cleaning and relocation plan next spring.

Let it snow!

Finally! We're getting some snow - waaaaaay later than usual. Schools were even closed today - something that would never happen on a day like today if we'd been having snow for a couple of months. We're hardy souls up here after all.

Although my foot isn't "up" (or should it be "down"?) for tromping in the snow, I did go out on the porch to get a photo for you of the snow plow on its third round of the day. Our road crew takes VERY good care of us! The driver honked a friendly "hello" and I returned a big wave. We're all happy to see a little winter here at last!

Gimping 101

Many years ago (about 3 decades to be exact - yikes!) I broke my leg and was on crutches for about 10 months. During those months I saved a LOT of steps.

Luck was with me this year attributed, I'm sure, to an ample consumption of black eyed peas on New Year's. Admittedly, I did manage to fall. But this time, instead of breaking a leg, I just sprained my foot. Once again, I found myself on crutches. Sort of like riding a bike I guess as I didn't need much training on how to use them. As opposed to then, they now come with nice, cushy "underarm" pads and "hand" pads - a BIG plus! And, the BIGGEST plus... I only had to use them for three days! Now I've graduated to gimping along.

For your lesson in gimping, imagine that you ankle doesn't bend, nor do your toes. Now walk. It's not so easy is it? I can assure you, however, it's a whole lot better than using those things in the photo. Hopefully, you'll never have to try either in real life! Saving steps is not always that important.

Big Books

Happy New Year everyone! The Guinness Twins also send you their best. Look for them around this part of New York --- they're the two that always dress alike even though they always swear they never confer on what to wear.

The weather is still warm for "up here" but the days remain distressingly short. (I much prefer the time of year when it gets dark at 10 rather than 4!) On the up side the days ARE getting longer - one of the best Christmas gifts there is. Also on the up side, the colder, shorter days mean more time for reading. Out come the BIG books that we never want to start in the summer. Who knows why? Perhaps it's just the thought of devoting that much time to reading when the outdoors beacons. Or your arms are too tired from pulling weeds to hold such heavy books. Or (and few confess to this) you're so tired from enjoying warm weather activities that you know there aren't enough summer days to finish a book at the rate of 2? pages an evening before falling asleep. This year "Texas" finally made it to the top of my reading list (a must read if you have relatives who live there and want a painless way to get a light overview of Texas history). John's about to finish "John Adams". (John Adams' daughter and her husband owned our whole valley so "we've" found it particularly interesting - my John reads me anything he thinks I shouldn't miss.) If you haven't started your BIG book yet, don't delay. This warm winter may bring us spring quicker than we think.