Memorial Day Part 2

You can see Part 1 here.

So, a big activity for many of the family members is fishing.  In fact, my husband actually has a NYS lifetime fishing license.  Young and old alike throw their lines in hoping for a good catch.  This year our daughter had some noteworthy scores.  She caught this guy right when we practically first got there:

Large mouth bass!

Near the end of the day she caught this most unfortunate fellow:

That was one big frog!!

We had actually seen what was probably that very frog when we first got to the park that morning.  (I noticed that he didn't seem to have warts, but he probably could have used some acne medication, ha ha!)

As far as what our family ate all day (no fish OR frogs!), besides all kinds of snacks, we brought some German food to grill.  We had bratwurst, knockwurst, a Hungarian kielbasa, some leberkase and sauerkraut from a local German butcher shop.

Leberkase on rye with a bit of Hungarian kielbasa and kraut.

Also, it was my husband's birthday and one of my sister-in-laws made this really awesome cake!

(I blurred out my husband's name in this photo under "Happy Birthday" - it wasn't all blurry like that in real life.)

Now although we spent the day yesterday having a fun picnic, I did not forget the reason we have this holiday weekend, and I thanked God for all the men and women who fought and died for our great country, and the men and women presently serving, at great personal sacrifice, to ensure that we are able to live in freedom.

Freedom Is Not Free

by Kelly Strong

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
and then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of TAPS one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That TAPS had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.

The end.

Memorial Day Part 1

Our family and the rest of my husband's clan (plus my Dad) gathered for our yearly annual picnic at a local park.

My beautiful daughter and my beautiful niece.

We used to picnic every year at Lake Taghkanic State Park, but people from "down state" (Long Island-ish area) must have discovered the park, and each year the park became more and more crowded with people who rudely blasted loud music and left trash all over the place.  (And before you tell me, "Well how do you KNOW these people you're blaming were from down state?"  If you're not aware of this, people from the Long Island, NY have a very distinct accent - it was not difficult AT ALL to figure out where these people came from.)  It was a shame, because it's a really, really nice park.

So we found a new park to go to a couple of years ago, and we love going there, but I'm sorry, I'm not going to say where it is, lest the people who ruined Lake Taghkanic for us decide to follow us, LOL.  Well, I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you...

Anyway, it's so nice because there is the above lake for fishing and a very short walking distance away there is a sandy beach for swimming.  Bathrooms are close by, as is the parking (so you don't have to lug all your stuff three miles to your picnic site).  One of our clan volunteers each year to get there when the park opens to get our "primo spot" which is pond side, right under a huge shady tree.

Normally one might think a picnic is relaxing, but as you can see in this picture below, there is quite a bit of work in the preparation for a day of picnicking.

You need all sorts of stuff and plenty of food for a full day of picnicking, swimming and fishing.  Two of those coolers were ours, plus two boxes and the orange tote bag.  What you don't see are the picnic tables behind me, loaded with food and stuff as well.

We got to the park around 10am and didn't leave until 8pm.  So if you see me in real life and I have dark circles under my eyes, this is why, LOL!

More in the next post about what we ate, and what was caught in the pond...

The end.

Nothing is Ever Easy

"Easy peasy!" my husband said.  "It's just a belt."  (Referring to the remedy for our broken down lawnmower.)

Two hours and one injury later, the belt is finally on.

 Wow, look at that man-size band aid he's got on there!

In the bible a wife is referred to as a "helpmate".  Sometimes I think I would be more aptly named my husband's "Reluctant Assistant".  "Hey honey, could you come out here and LIFT THE ENGINE BLOCK so I can slip the belt on?"  Easy peasy!  LOL.  I'm annoyed too because I had just taken a shower and sprayed my arms with some new watermelon body spray, and after grappling with the engine block my hands and one arm were covered in dirt, grass and grease and I had to wash off one arm's worth of body spray.  So now only one arm smells nice.  Goodness, the sacrifices I have to make!!  :-P  And my back was just about recovered from the lifting-the-giant-roll-of-fencing for the garden from last week - may need to break out the joint pain treatment - we will see.

I remember one time when I was a kid, my Mom bought a closet organizer that she asked my Dad to install.  He looked at the box which said, "installs in minutes".  Four hours later when it was finally done, my Dad said, "Oh it installs in minutes - they just don't tell you it's going to be 240 minutes!!"

Nothing is ever easy.

The end.

I Was Just Driving Along and it Broke!

Well, that's what I told my husband, anyway.  I'm not lying, that's what happened!

Turns out it was just a belt.  A FORTY DOLLAR belt!

I don't know if it's Cub Cadets, or we have bad lawnmower luck, or it's just riding mowers in general, but it seems like our mower breaks down a least a couple of times a season.  I was talking to one of my neighbors and he's got a Craftsman mower, and his seems just as break-down-y.  He mentioned that another of our neighbors has the deck of HIS riding mower attached with truck cargo straps 'cause it broke.  So maybe it's not just us.  Geez, instead of searching for the cheapest auto insurance, I ought to be looking for stupid LAWNMOWER insurance!

On the bright side, I can't mow the lawn until it's fixed, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

The end.

Kitteh in the Garden

Q-ee checking out the garden

Look at me!

Ha ha!  I'm on the inside and you're on the outside!  (Not sure Q-ee realizes that it's Tex who has all the freedom and is really the one in the better position, LOL!)

So I took Q-ee in the "Thousand Dollar Garden" the other day and he LOVED it!  In case you didn't know, our kittehs are strictly indoor kittehs, so I think it was a big treat to be allowed to "explore" outside.  Not sure yet about bringing Angel out unrestrained - she is so athletic, I am actually afraid she could, and would, climb up the fencing and over.  We do actually have a "cat harness" though, and I was thinking of putting that on her and leashing her so at least she could go in the garden.  We tried the cat harness on "Fatty McFatcat" Q-ee years ago thinking that maybe we could take him for walks, but he's so roly poly and his limbs are so stubby that he was actually able to squirm out of the harness quite easily.  It will no doubt fit a lot better on Angel.

On an unrelated note, my husband just picked up our latest freecycle scaff - river stones!  How cool is that?  They have the most interesting things on freecycle - everything from llama manure (yes, I really saw that be offered, and NO, we did not "try" for that one!) to personalized basketballs to Hot Wheels racetrack!
The end.

This Thousand Dollar Garden Better Save Us a Lot of Money!!

Ok, it didn't really cost a thousand dollars.

But it was pretty expensive!!  In the hundreds of dollars, anyway.  I'd kinda hate to add up the cost of the posts, the million bags of concrete and all that fencing.  Speaking of the fencing, it's too bad I didn't take any pictures of the part where I held this huge, heavy roll of tall fencing 3 1/2 feet up in the air while my husband nailed it to the posts.  We totally should have kept having more children until we got a few sons.  I brag about being "strong like bull", but between the two MAN auger episode in the beginning and trying to hold that fencing upright, I was nearly done in.

I already took Q-ee cat out in the garden yesterday and he love, love LOVED it!  I took pictures, which I'll share another day.

Since this picture was taken we got a few plants in but now we're in the middle of a mini-heat wave and I think we may wait just a couple of days until the weather turns a little cooler to make the big push to get the rest of the plants in, put the finishing touches on (we have a fake owl for the top of one of the posts!) and call this crazy colossal project "done".

All I can say is, we better get a buttload of vegetables from this garden we spent all this time, money and sore muscles on!

Now remind me again, why was it that we couldn't just buy our vegetables from the store?  ???

The end.

Sixteen Years Ago Today....

That's my husband and I, overlooking the Hudson River at our reception.  :-)

The end.

Call Me Crazy, But I'm Not Sure This is Going to Bring in Customers...

Saw this sign on our last trip through Lake George.

Lunch at the Culinary Institute's Apple Pie Bakery

Roth Hall at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY

Last week I met my cousin Dr. Mom for lunch again at the Apple Pie Bakery.  I must admit I was disappointed that by the time I went, I had only got a couple of responses to my plea for help in choosing what to have for lunch in my post last week.  Sometimes I feel like there are like five people in the whole world reading this blog.  It's discouraging. 

Anyway I ended up having a turkey sandwich with cucumbers, gruyere and chipotle mayo.

Dr. Mom had this:

For dessert I had the tiramisu, which was served in somewhat of an odd container - it was like a plastic box:

Dr. Mom had a fancy cake:

It was a nice lunch, getting to visit my cousin and hear all about what's going on in her life.  The food was delicious although I think they need to require you to stop on your way out and put in a mandatory 30 minutes on fitness equipment to try to work off some of the decadence you just consumed!

As I said in my last post about the Apple Pie Bakery, it's worth the trip for the wonderful food, and I spent less than $20 on my entire meal, which is pretty darn good for what you get, I think!

The end.

Came Back From the Adirondacks With Two Souvenirs

Oh to be in Lake George!

So we went up to the Adirondacks last week to take care of some cabin business.  Here's a more recent picture of our foundation:

And here's our daughter, who insisted on going ankle deep, in the frigid water of the lake that is within a short walking distance, that we have rights to:

We took care of our "cabin business" and then went for lunch.  There isn't a huge choice of places to eat this time of year - many places are not open year round, and don't open until Memorial Day.  We ended up heading south toward Glens Falls because we figured there would be a good chance of a choice of places to eat down that a way, and we ended up stopping in by the outlets and ate at the Log Jam.  We like the Log Jam - they have a great salad bar.  (You have to be careful not to get carried away though, or else you'll need to stop in at the outlets afterward and buy a kymaro body shaper just so you can still fit into your clothes.)  There are more "fun" places to eat in the summertime though.  But, the Log Jam was good.

After lunch we had quite a bit of time left before we had to head home, so we found a bunch of geocaches.  Sixteen, to be exact. 

We left the Adirondacks with two souvenirs.  One was a huge black fly bite on my NECK that has been itching me like CRAZY.  The other souvenir was this little fellow I plucked from my husband:

That's one big tick.  This is why I ALWAYS carry tweezers.

I had to hold the thing in the tweezers until my husband could safely pull over.  We were on a busy road when Mr. Tick made himself known.

Anyway, we enjoyed our time up north - we were blessed with very nice weather that day.  I suspect we will be making more trips up over the coming months as more progress on the cabin hopefully begins.  I'm not good at visualizing what something on paper will look like in real life, so I am very curious and excited to see what we have planned will turn out like!

The end.

Just A Quick Note

Swissmar Raclette Party Grill

We are crazy busy this weekend, but I have plenty of blog "fodder" coming up...  I went to the Culinary's Apple Pie Bakery today (as I'd mentioned I was planning to do) with my cousin and I'll tell you what I had (and show you with pictures).  (If only there weren't unpleasant side effects of diet pills, I could eat at the Culinary every day!)  We also made a trip up to the Adirondacks this week and more progress was made on the "cabin project".  I took some interesting photos on that trip that I'll share.  I did end up getting that Swissmar raclette grill I mentioned in an earlier post - haven't used it yet though.  And, I got some scraps of material plus a few unidentified objects from a friend who was cleaning out the house she was moving into.  Maybe one of you will know what the heck these objects are!  There may or may not also be more garden progress this weekend...we shall see!  (I'm sure you are all just on the edge of your seats wanting to hear more about my scintillating life...)  Have a great weekend, and I'll be back to update soon...

The end.

Help! What Should I Try This Time?

Last time I had the sourdough reuben panini - you can read about my first time at the Apple Pie Bakery here and here.

In the next few days I will be lucky enough to have lunch with my cousin (Dr. Mom) at the Apple Pie Bakery at the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park again.  Their menu is online and I've been looking and looking at it, and I just don't know what to choose.  Some things look really yummy, some things look really interesting.  You can see their current menu here. 

What looks good to you?  What do you think I should try?  (I like pretty much everything.)  If you give me your opinions, I'll report back with pictures after I go....pretty please help me decide?  :-)

 The end.

P.S.  If you have nothing better to do, you can also check out the dessert menu here and give me your votes on that too (last time I got something called "Not an Oreo".  :-)

Why Do I Have to Even Put This Sign Up??

Dear UPS,

This sign hangs on my house between my garage doors because if I don't put this sign up, some of your drivers think that leaving my packages on my driveway, protected only by an 8 inch eave, thirty feet up, is an appropriate place to leave things that I have purchased.  My covered front porch, which is visible from the driveway, is apparently too far away for them, and to be honest, I'm tired of wet and soggy packages.

The straw that broke that camel's back was when, in the pouring rain, a UPS driver left my vacuum cleaner, in a giant box, on my driveway, up against the garage.  As if a tiny eave, 30 feet above was going to keep that dry.  My $150+ vacuum cleaner!  I just happened to be home and heard the truck and ran outside to drag my box in - I could not believe how soggy the box was, just from the 60 seconds it was outside, and I could not BELIEVE the driver LEFT IT THERE IN THE RAIN!

You know, I am sorry, I DO empathize that in nasty weather, it must really suck for your drivers to have to get out of their trucks to deliver packages, and sometimes have to walk a bit of a distance, but.....THAT'S THEIR JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I'm annoyed that I have to go to the trouble of posting a sign, because I can't trust your drivers to walk 100ft to leave the package in a protected area (my covered front porch) and I can't trust your drivers to have the common sense to realize that a package is not going to be protected from the rain under an 8 inch eave 30 feet up. 

I should NOT have to leave a sign for your drivers to point out the obvious, and tell them how to do their job.  Sheesh!

The end.

P.S.  I have in the past had excellent UPS drivers; also, I know there are often subs, who probably don't care as much as regular drivers who may be the ones doing stupid stuff.  All I know is that occasionally the sign has fallen down, and if I don't replace it, inevitably packages are left on the driveway in the rain.  The only way to ensure my packages are safe is to have the sign up, apparently.

Things I've Learned

Photo courtesy of Dairy Queen

The small size "Blizzard" from Dairy Queen is plenty.  Even if you're very hungry - it's plenty.  Really!

Always feed your cats the "urinary tract" cat food.  It's not worth risking your cat getting a bladder stone or "crystals".  It's misery for the cat AND you.

Don't get a dog that sheds.  Ever.  Again.

Stick to cookbooks that contains recipes that were actually tested by someone, or a test kitchen.  Do you realize that anyone can make up recipes and publish them?  There is no "recipe police".  To me there is nothing worse than wasting my time and money on a recipe that doesn't "turn out".  Betty Crocker has been around a million years for a reason - she actually tries her recipes to make sure they turn out good and cook properly!  (Yes, I know there is no actual "Betty Crocker".)

The "secret" to weight loss is: eat less, or exercise more, or both.  Calories in, minus calories burned =  your weight.  No matter what "trick", system, or the best weight loss pills you try, that's what it comes down to.  If you burn more calories than you take in, you lose weight.  The end.

When you get to around 40 years old and you notice your memory starting to go, don't ever think to yourself, "Oh, I'll remember that - I don't need to write it down".  Yes you do.  Write it down.  Just write it down.

The end.

Upbeat Updates

Mr. Tex Dog

I thought it was time for a more upbeat post.  I've just been in a dandy mood this week, huh?

So here are some updates about what's been going on around the homestead...

Garden:
We are planning on completing the final stages, maybe this weekend, except for actually planting.  We still need to level the garden a bit, then rototill some more (the same friend who lent us his rototiller the first time is kind enough to lend it again, isn't that nice?), then get the fencing up.  Actually I forgot my husband still has to build a gate.  That doesn't seem like it would take long, does it?  I think the earliest you should plant where I live is May 15th, so we are doing fine as far as timing.

Adirondack Cabin:
We are going up to the Adirondacks soon to talk with the builder we have chosen to go over things.  Choosing a builder isn't easy.  It's not like builders give you regular resumes.  You have to go on references and of course do stuff like check the Better Business Bureau and Google the company and make sure there aren't a bunch of angry customers out there.  So far everything we have researched about the builder is positive, so I hope our experience is as well.  My husband is thinking perhaps the cabin will be finished this summer.  I hope so.  That would be awesome.

Misc:
Right now I am on picture #185 that is uploading to Walgreens to print so I can actually scrapbook something in the year 2010!!  Somehow I just haven't taken the time to enjoy my hobby the past few months.  Looking forward to getting back to it.

The pets are all fine.  My family is constantly laughing over our two cats playing and chasing each other - Angel has turned out to be a very fun addition to our family.  She also likes to attack my husbands slippers, we have no idea why.  They don't smell bad enough that they need to be destroyed or anything, LOL.  They also like to chase each other around and around and around the dining room table.  When they run around upstairs or come flying down the stairs sometimes it sounds like we have a whole herd of cats. 

My husband went to see if we had any new dead carcasses at the back portion of our yard - no new ones, but someone or something dragged the dead coyote back into the yard.  Guess there was still some snacking to be done on it (gag).

I am thinking of getting a raclette party grill with some birthday money I have left.  Maybe this one? Swissmar Raclette Party Grill  Seems like a fun thing that's a little more heart healthy than fondue.  Apparently it's quite popular in Europe - not well known here in the US (yet?).  Still thinking it over.  Any opinions welcomed!

That's all the news fit to print for now - have a great weekend!
The end.

Sometimes It's So Hard to Get Along With Everyone

 Picture courtesy of Wikimedia

I am not a big Facebook fan - seems like my news feed is full of Farmville and Mafia Wars victories and profound status updates like, "Going out to get a haircut" and "I joined the "Taking Pictures of People at McDonalds" Group".  However, I was just on team for a "Vida Nueva" weekend (Christian ministry that reaches out to teens), and after the weekend everyone was "friending" everyone else on Facebook.  Now I am finally seeing why some people really enjoy Facebook for keeping in touch.  It's provided a way to keep the connections with the teens that were on the weekend, and my friends from the Vida Nueva community as well, who I don't always get to see very often. 

Saw this comment today:  "Why is it so hard to be nice to people who persecute you?"  The best response (to me) was this one:  "It's so hard because we have to trust the Lord to be able to leave the retribution to Him and not ourselves." 

Boy, is that ever a tough one.  The past year or so of my life in particular seems like it's been "THE YEAR OF DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIPS".  There have been people in my life who have dissed me, pooped on me, not been a good friend to me (always taking, taking, taking), been mad at me, been downright rude, and I recently found out a friend lied to me....  I realize I must be to blame also, because, I surely mustn't be too wonderful a person if people are treating me like this.  You don't usually poop on someone that you love and think is great, now do you?  So what I am doing wrong?  And then, how do you get over your hurt feelings and not poop on people back??

Sometimes I just feel like taking off and finding some little spot way out in the middle of nowhere in the Adirondack mountains and just hiding for a while.  Navigating relationships can be so hard.  Do you ever feel like this?  Where would you go hide?

The end.

I'm Too Dumb For Ham Radio

I passed the test to be a ham over two years ago.  The test is not that difficult.  In fact I only got one answer wrong.  However, learning to use the equipment is another story.  Even the simplest of radios has so many functions.  I even searched to see if there is such a thing as a "kid's transceiver" - like a radio that had only a few functions with buttons that each only did ONE thing - but no luck (if there is such a thing please tell me!).  My only saving grace is that I am lucky enough to have the help of a very patient and smart "Elmer" (ham radio expert) without whom I'd never have even succeeded in setting up my radio correctly just to talk on the local repeater.

I would have a better chance of setting up wireless security systems by myself than I would ever have of setting up my own amateur radio station on my own. 

And I could sit here and give you my SAT scores and NYS Regents exam scores, and my class rank from high school and GPA from college to easily prove that I am of at LEAST average intelligence, and yet I have found this hobby to be totally not "user friendly" to me. The materials and equipment are just TOO COMPLICATED.

You know, when you learn to play the piano, they don't give you as your first piece "Flight of the Bumblebee" or "Concerto in E Flat Minor" - they give you "Mary Had a Little Lamb" to start with.  There seems to be no "Mary Had a Little Lamb" in ham radio.

I have been interested in this hobby for a couple of years now, but everything I try to learn about seems to assume you already know X, Y and Z.  My "Elmer" has been a big help, but gosh, I'd like to feel like I could figure some things out on my own.

I am intimidated and discouraged and I am coming to the conclusion that I am just not smart enough for this hobby.

The end.