Wanna See the Snow at My House Right Now?

October 2011 snow.

It's only 2:11pm and this is the state of my yard so far, here in the southern Hudson Valley in NY.  I think it's gonna be bad, people.

The daughter and I baked a batch of brownies.  I plan on riding this out surviving on brownies and this:

LOL...  Are you experiencing this October snowpocolypse?  What's it like in your neck of the woods?

Stay safe, my friends!

The end.

I Had An Excuse to Visit Millbrook, NY and Pay my Respects to Taconic Newspapers

Looking down Franklin Avenue (the "main drag") in Millbrook, NY

I've blogged about Millbrook before and how I love to walk the sidewalks in the village, eat at my favorite restaurant Les Baux, and walk the paths in the beautiful Tribute Garden...  So I was happy when a secret mission dictated that I go to Millbrook...

A little background:  My first "real" job out of college was in the art production department of a local newspaper group called Taconic Newspapers (later Taconic Media) in Millbrook, NY.  I actually started as a "paste up" artist, but later moved to ad design on the computer.  I worked there for about 3 years until I got married and moved to Binghamton, NY where the (new!) Husband was going to finish his degree.

During my time at Taconic Newspapers was when I fell in love with Millbrook.  It's a place that somehow has managed to retain it's "Mom and Pop" stores.  I *think* Stewarts is the only "chain" type store there.  They even still have their own bank - The Bank of Millbrook (the vault is beautiful - you can even see it in the lobby).  I'm sure there's some inconvenience in having to travel a distance to purchase certain items (although at least now with the internet you don't actually have to get in your car - you can get the best printer ink cartridges online or whatever), but the village has a charm and quaintness that is hard to find these days.

Humor me as I share some lovely pictures of autumn in Millbrook, and wax poetic about my old newspaper job as I stop by to pay my respects.

The entrance to the Tribute Garden

Despite the chilly weather, there were still some flowers in bloom.

Even the water garden was still looking pretty nice.

Looking up the steps toward the playground at the top.

No one playing today.  Look at all the leaves in the sand.  Seems like the grounds crew had about half of the park cleared of leaves.

Oh no!  This is one of my and the daughter's favorite places to sit and chat when we come here together.

Luckily our other favorite spot to sit looks to still be in fine order.

It's been awhile since I've gotten to swish and crunch through the leaves!

Heading back down the steps to the village, to one more destination...

I used to have this little fantasy that one day, when the daughter is grown, I would work at Taconic Newspapers again.  (Surely not in the art department, but maybe I could have sold ads, answered the phone, or is it too crazy to think that maybe I could have even written freelance articles??)  But shockingly, one day, Taconic Media fell victim to the economy.  They had been bought by the Journal Register company, and after a time, as so often happens when a company is bought or taken over, Taconic Media was shut down.  Closed.  Gone.  Weekly newspapers, some of which had been around for 100 years - done.  Dutchess Magazine and the Hudson Valley Guide (remember the little yellow book?) - over.  It was heartbreaking to me, but I can't imagine what it was like for the people working there.  That had to be about 2 years ago now or so.

Anyway, most times when I go to Millbrook, I feel compelled to walk by the old building and reminisce.  Funny, one of the memories I always have when I look over the hedges into the parking lot, is of the time there was a solar eclipse and everyone went into the parking lot to watch.  Currently, the building is still vacant and for sale.  I'm sure I've forgotten some, but I can still remember the names of so many of the people I worked with/for 20 years ago...Stacey, Liz, Gene, Alan, Tom, Marni, Poppy, Barbara, Melissa, Diane, Terry and of course Ham and Helen...  Good times, good times...

Here is the sidewalk bordering the defunct Taconic Media building... Can you blame me for falling in love with Millbrook, with this right outside the door of the place I worked?

I'm always a sucker and enter the Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes, dreaming about what I'd do if I won...  Well just maybe I'd buy that building and start that newspaper business again!  (Except this time *I'd* be boss, ha! :-)

Did you ever have a job you just loved and have great memories of?  What was your favorite job?

The end.

More Thoughts Too Short For a Whole Blog Post

Happy cats!

I am not planning on voting for Barack Obama in the next election, however, if I could vote Michelle Obama back in as first lady, I would!  I like her.

I read some articles about the biography of Steve Jobs that is going to be coming out.  "The famously private Steve Jobs authorized a biography so his children could get to know him better, his biographer said."  You know, to me that is really sad.  That definitely diminishes my opinion of how "successful" of a person I think Steve Jobs was.

I have used Firefox for-EVAH.  Always really liked it.  In fact, I really liked the latest releases, which had some neat features.  Except, it has been somewhat crash-y.  Which is really, really annoying because I like to use the "pin tabs", and if it crashes it loses all of them and I have to set up all my tabs again.  Well yesterday, Firefox crashed and on restart, not only did it lose all my pinned tabs, but it for some unknown reason, installed toolbars I had long ago previously uninstalled.  Also, it totally lost all the customizations I had made to the toolbar, and for the life of me, I couldn't get it back.  So I decided that Firefox had crashed for the last time on me, and I went to Google Chrome and I'm not looking back.  I like it so far.

Not to keep commenting on Farmville, but, I know some people love all the trees, some people love to breed the pigs or the sheep, some people love mastering the crops and the animals.  Me?  I love the cats!!!  I have one whole pet run full of just cats, plus a bunch more that didn't fit.  I am definitely a "crazy cat lady" on Farmville.  Let's hope it stays there, LOL...

The engine light came on in the Husband's car a week after the whole spark-plug-fell-out-repair.  I am hoping and praying it's something minor.  That's the thing with the engine light - you don't know if your engine is about to fall out, or you simply didn't turn your gas cap closed tight enough.  I HATE THAT!!  If you have a spare 10 seconds to pray that it's nothing major I'd appreciate it.  Financially, right now would not be a good time for a major hit...

I mowed the lawn for the last time last week.  DO YOU HEAR THAT, GRASS?? I AM *SO* DONE WITH YOU FOR 2011!!!

There is some weird and interesting stuff on the free channels you can get through the Roku box.  One particular channel is called Pubdhub, and it has movies and music and shows that are from the public domain.  All kinds of weird stuff like silent films (which are kinda cool to watch), really, really old cartoons like Betty Boop and Felix the Cat, plus some old movies, even commercials!  One category I found particularly interesting was "Educational Films".  One of them was a film from back in the day, educating people on how to use a rotary phone!  It was made back when they were changing over from the first style of phones that used a human switchboard to place your calls, to the phones that had a rotary dial and electronic switching capability.  IT WAS SO INTERESTING!  Some people watch stuff like Glee, CSI, Dancing With the Stars...but me?  I'm watching an instructional film on how to dial a phone.  LOL!

My daughter just came down with her plate from lunch reprimanding me for leaving the "hot dog butts" on her plate.  Well slap me with a wet noodle for being the world's worst mother, sheesh!!  :-P

The end.

Miele Vacuum Cleaners - Send Your Dust Bunnies to Alcatraz!

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know I have a dog and two cats.  I'm sure you can imagine the fur and dander that comes off of three animals.  Especially my double-coated dog, ugh.  I have to vacuum A LOT.  And lately I feel like my vacuum cleaner is just not doing the job.  In fact I know it's not doing the job, because even after I vacuum, I still find dog hairs in the carpet.  Grrrr!!!!!!

I guess I can't complain TOO much...the vacuum I have is a very inexpensive, run-of-the mill upright.  Sadly, it's not up to the task of cleaning up after a dog and two cats.  You get what you pay for I guess... So I have been doing some research to see what might be a better vacuum.  The next vacuum I purchase is going to be of MUCH higher quality, and I'm willing to pay for that.

In my research I have discovered a brand called Miele, which I had never heard of before.  The Miele company was started in Germany by two gentlemen in 1898. They actually started producing canister vacuums in 1931 - so this is a company that has been making vacuums for a loooong time.  I don't think you can stay in business that long without making quality products, so although I hadn't heard of the Miele brand before, I felt they were a name that could be trusted.

I went on to discover that they make a wide selection of canister and upright vacuums, all with HEPA filters in a sealed system, which is excellent for removing allergens.  The vacuum bags themselves are 9 ply and are spring loaded for self sealing.  They claim to have excellent cleaning power - on their webpage they say, "Alcatraz for dust bunnies"!  (And presumably a life sentence for pet hair as well - I am ALL for that!!)

This brand also has a good reputation for longevity, which I really like because I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I'm sick and tired of paying for appliances that break in two years, and are more costly to fix than replace!  These vacuums are not cheap, but they are said to be a quality appliance that you can expect to last for many years.  In fact every single one of their models carries the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval!

Another thing I came across as I read information and reviews, is that the Miele vacuums are said to be extremely, extremely quiet.  Apparently they actually pad the motor compartment with 3/4" of sound insulation.  I'm sure my pets would appreciate this - they all run for the hills when I turn on my current vacuum.  :-)

Miele Callisto

I was browsing through the different models, and if I decide to purchase one, I'd probably strongly consider the Callisto model.  It was just ranked #2 amongst canister vacuums by Consumer Reports.  In fact all six of Miele's uprights ranked in the top 11.  They have a great selection of different models, so that you can find just the one to suit your particular needs.

There's not much negative to find about Miele vacuums, except for probably the price.  But again - you get what you pay for.  You wanna send your dust bunnies to Alcatraz?  You want to vacuum your house and not have your house stink when you're done from pet odors blowing out the vacuum bag?  You want to actually trap and seal the dander and allergens?  A $75 vacuum from Walmart is not going to do the job.  Trust me, I know.  :-(  I really regret not spending the money for a better quality vacuum.

I am currently plotting and scheming a way to make my cheap vacuum come to a sudden and tragic end so my husband won't balk about buying another vacuum so soon...  (Maybe I can "accidentally" knock it down the stairs?  Leave it outside in the rain?  "Accidentally" run run it over with my truck??)  And when the time comes for a new vacuum, the Miele brand will be at the top of my list - HEPA filter, superior dust and allergen particle filtration, quality construction, quiet operation, Alcatraz for dust bunnies, high Consumer Reports ratings and the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.  Whew!  I think this quote from the company's website sums it up nicely: "With Miele's unique Sealed SystemTM you'll clean your home and the air you breathe."

Legal Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post.  All opinions are honest and 100% mine.

Oh Yes I Did!!

Yes, I put up my Christmas village already!

I know.

Well, it was such a rainy, crappy day yesterday, I couldn't help but think the glowing lights of my village would be cheerful, shining through the gloom.  I told the Husband of my crazy idea, and he said oh, why not go ahead and put it up?  So I did!

I was particularly pleased with how it came out this year.  Usually I hem and haw, trying to come up with a configuration that is just right.  And it changes every year, because I usually get a new piece or two each Christmas.  This year I took some little deer figurines that are not Dept. 56, but I just thought they would look cute, and have them standing on a little snowy outcrop, overlooking my tin foil lake.  I actually thought some clear, sparkly bicone beads would look pretty, scattered in the snow as well, except I don't have any.  But that would be a nice finishing touch if I see some.

And guess what?  Now that's one less thing I have to do to get ready for the holidays!  Woot!  Oh, yeah, and by the way...I made my photo Christmas cards yesterday too...

IT'S ALL THIS HORRIBLE, RAINY, DEPRESSING WEATHER!!!  It's making me crazy!!!  Not my fault!

Anyone else willing to admit they've done anything Christmas-y?

The end.

Wordless Wednesday: Angel Kitty in the Doll Bunk Bed

Don't Kill Me But...

...I am already starting to think about Christmas.  Are you?

It's a rainy, gloomy, blecchy day here in New York, I'm sitting here with my coffee, browsing around looking for Christmas ideas.  It always takes me forever to choose gifts for people because I just really want to try to find something they like.  I find that personalized or personal items are often a good idea...  One thing I've always been jealous of is people with "good" birthstones.  My birthday is in April and that makes my birthstone...a diamond.  Which in my opinion STINKS.  It's really expensive and it's not even a pretty color.  :-/  For example, November's birthstone is a citrine.  Isn't it pretty?

People born in this month are said to have a heart of gold, and a wise nature.

Even my daughter and husband have nice birthstones - May and December, green and blue.  Well, at least I can shop for pretty things like citrine birthstone jewelry for OTHER people, LOL!

Well, if you have a good birthstone, I am jealous of you!  :-)

The end.

Our Last Good Breakfast at the Cabin

Often the Husband will make us breakfast when we're at the cabin.  He had seen the recipe for gingerbread pancakes on the side of the pancake mix box, and we had sort of been "saving" that for our last weekend at the cabin.  So, Sunday morning of Columbus Day weekend, the Husband made a big batch of gingerbread pancakes.  They were SUPER yummy!  There were plenty leftover to reheat the next morning for breakfast, which was good because we had quite a bit to do to "shut down" the cabin.

This was a teeny weeny pancake that was really just a drip of batter that cooked in the pan.  The Husband asked if anyone wanted it, and the daughter and I both said yes!  So he gave it to our daughter, and we *split* it.  LOL...

So, we spent Monday closing down the place, which mainly entailed packing up all the food, packing up anything else that might freeze, bringing in everything from outside except the patio furniture, AND letting all the water out of the house.  The builder thoughtfully left a set of instructions, and had even tagged various spigots with numbers that correlated to the steps, to make it easy.  The Husband had scaffed some hoses off Freecycle, so draining the house went pretty quickly.  The whole process went pretty smoothly for the first time.  I was so happy we didn't end up having to run to the hardware store for anything!

As I've mentioned, we'll probably go back up once or twice more, but of course it isn't going to be nearly as nice without water, and a lot of stuff taken home.  I would like the chance to walk around town to do some Christmas shopping (there will still be a few stores open).  It's kind of funny, in the off season they still have some events to attract some visitors, but some of them seem a bit of a stretch.  Like they had their own "garage sale weekend" which had about 3 garage sales.  Who knows, maybe they'll latch onto a local business' Employee Purchase Program Event, or the local grocery store's Buy One Get One Free "Event"... You gotta work with what you got, LOL!

Also, I left my bundt pan up there, and we have started a new tradition of making "monkey bread" Christmas morning, and I need that pan!

The end.

Hike the Adirondacks Without Getting Off Your Butt

Photo courtesy of Windswept Adventure

All the dogs are really cute, especially the papillons, but I think Seamus is my favorite. :-)

Ok, well not exactly.  But you can hike the Adirondacks vicariously through this really wonderful blog, Windswept Adventure.  Bill posts tons of photos of the beautiful hikes he takes, and he is always sure to get in lots of shots of cool stuff he finds along the way, AND his small herd of super cute and funny dogs!

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to comment or send an email that I can find, which is a bummer because lots of times I have just wanted to thank Bill for letting me virtually hike alongside him.  In fact, when I was reading his post this morning, I decided I just had to at least give him a big shout out and thanks here today, perhaps somehow he'll see it. 

Anyway, put your feet up, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and go hiking through the Adirondacks without breaking a sweat (my kind of hiking, LOL!).

Do you have any blogs you like to visit that are a real gem to share?

The end.

For Pete's Sake, Don't Review Recipes You Altered! ARGH!

Funny, because just a few days ago my bloggy friend Sparrow April mentioned to another Tweep that this is a pet peeve of mine. 

So many women just can't resist putting their own "take" on a recipe.  Which is fine, but YOU CAN'T RIGHTLY REVIEW A RECIPE YOU CHANGED!  YOU DID NOT MAKE THE RECIPE YOU ARE REVIEWING IF YOU CHANGED IT!  This drives me ever-lovin' crazy.

Yes, I have ranted about this before but what spurs this post on, is that today, as I am looking through Allrecipes.com for a gingerbread recipe, this is what I find as I am looking at the FIRST FIVE reviews for "Favorite Old Fashioned Gingerbread":

"This is a very dense gingerbread, just what I was looking for. The only thing I changed was I increased the spices a bit..."

"I made 3 slight changes. I added about 3 T home made applesauce, 1/4 C sour cream and added a bit more of each spice..."

"I changed the cinnamon and ginger to 2 tsp. and the cloves to 1 tsp..."

"I used Splenda, added 1/2 cup applesauce and doubled the spices..."

"Followed it to a tee except went heavy on ginger...1 tablespoon. Added a little extra of the other spices too..."

I had to get to the eighth review before I found someone who made the recipe as written, although they did take the gingerbread out of the oven 20 min early because they said theirs was done.

Here's a real gem I found a little further down:  "Very adaptable recipe! Instead of flour I used Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Gluten Free flour and 1 1/4 teaspoons of xantham gum. I also doubled the spices using a coffee grinder to grind my whole cloves into powder. My friends were amazed."

XANTHAM GUM?!?!  I'm amazed too!

It doesn't help me to see what wonderful changes *you* made - I JUST WANT TO KNOW IF THE RECIPE AS WRITTEN IS GOOD!!!  ARGH!!

It would be one thing if someone made the recipe as written first, and THEN offered suggestions or changes.  But when you start off by altering the recipe, you have no idea what it tastes like as written!  THIS IS UNHELPFUL!

If I could, I would search through the reviews and give out diamond necklaces to any reviewer who ACTUALLY MADE THE RECIPE AS WRITTEN!

Is that too much to ask??????????

They seriously need some Allrecipes Review Police!

Does this bug the crap out of anyone else???

The end.

P.S.  By the way, I MADE THE GINGERBREAD RECIPE AS IT WAS WRITTEN!!!!  And it was VERY good, although I too took it out of the oven early (like reviewer #8) as it was just starting to burn at 53 minutes.

P.P.S.  I'm sorry.  I think I need a glass of wine.  This is too stupid to be getting myself all worked up over, LOL!

More Thoughts Too Short for a Whole Blog Post

One of the last shots of the season of our cabin.

We were up at the cabin over Columbus Day weekend to enjoy the last "hurrah" of the season, and then we had to close it up.  We still will probably go there once or twice more before snow accumulation makes it impassable, but it won't be the same.  It was very sad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We got the Roku box and I set it up.  THE THING IS AMAZING!!!  This is the future of tv, people!  I'll write more about it soon, after we've had more time to use it.

The Husband had some car trouble on the way home from work on Thursday, so instead of coming straight home, he went right to our mechanic's shop.  Turns out one of his spark plugs FELL OUT.  Or blew out. Or something like that because it was gone and the threads that it's supposed to screw into were gone or messed up (can you tell I am a car expert?).  Anyway, they were able to fix the threads so instead of costing thousands to fix, it "only" cost $600...  Blah.

I am still very, very happy I dropped my Verizon contract plan and switched to a Tracfone.  It's working out GREAT.

Hold onto your hats people, but I am currently researching ARTIFICIAL CHRISTMAS TREES.  If you've read my blog for a while, you know in the past I've always blogged about our cutting-down-the-Christmas-tree "adventures".  In fact, we've been cutting down our own tree for about 16 years.  But, for one thing, the price just keeps going up and up. (Part of the culprit is the influx of downstaters who come up for the experience of cutting down a tree in the "country".  And even though the price keeps going up, they think it's cheap, because compared to buying a fresh Christmas tree in Manhattan, it is.  Sucks for us locals tho.)  Plus we can just never seem to find a reliable place to get a "good" tree from year to year.  There have been years we have gone to three different tree farms, just to find a decent tree.  So we're goin' fake!  If anyone has any advice or tips to share, I am all ears.

Ever since I had my acrylic nails removed (gosh, a year ago or so now?), my nails and cuticles look so crappy.  I've tried seemingly everything from Avon cuticle whatnot to dead sea nail care, to no avail.  Good thing we're heading into "gloves" season soon.  :-/

The two best things I've eaten lately are "potatoes gratinee" from my favorite restaurant (Les Baux in Millbrook, NY) and my sister-in-law's chicken pot pie.  What are the two best things you've eaten lately?

The end.

Tex Dog and I Review Quick Bath Cleansing Wipes for Dogs

Here's my buddy Tex.  He's a good friend, but I have to be honest - he doesn't always smell so "fresh".

In the past, I have shown you pictures of the ordeal of giving Tex a bath using the hose on the driveway.  (To refresh your memory, let's just sum it up by saying we are *all* drenched and covered with dog hair by the end of it.)  I have often wished for some easy way to keep him "freshened" between baths.  I had the opportunity to try something designed for just this purpose - Quick Bath Cleansing Wipes.  According to the description, you can use them to "wipe dander, pollen, dirt and saliva off your dog. When used between baths they are a quick and easy way to help control dander in your home. Each dog wipe is specially treated with safe and gentle cleansing and antiseptic agents that not only clean but also soften your dog's skin with vitamin A, vitamin E, and aloe vera."  Sounds good to me!

The package allows you to easily remove a wipe and then reseal it. 

I let Tex get in a few sniffs to see what he thought - he liked it.  :-)

The first two things I noticed when I took out a wipe was the very pleasant and mild scent, and the very generous size of them.  Although I read the package which said they are 8" X 10", I guess I just had it in my mind that these were going to be like baby wipes. They are much larger than baby wipes, and the scent is hard to describe, but it didn't scream "baby wipe" - I guess I would say it was a light soap/lotion sort of scent.  MUCH BETTER THAN DOG STINK!

Look how big it is - it totally covers my whole hand!

Now I have to admit I was pretty dubious about this whole pet wipe thing - not only was I somewhat doubtful about how well this was going to clean and freshen my dog, I also figured I was going to have to use at least two or three of these things to do it.  You see, besides the fact that Tex is not exactly a small dog, Tex has a lovely "double coat" - meaning, he has a thick, white fluffy coat under the black hair - when we shampoo him the traditional way, it takes a lot of shampoo and a lot of rinsing because of his very thick coat.  However, these wipes totally exceeded my expectations.  The wipe was very moist, and I really couldn't believe it, but I rubbed Tex all over, down to the skin, and even with all that fur, he was truly damp all over when I was finished!  I definitely did not need another wipe!

Something else that came as a surprise was how cooperative Tex was for this!  He sat very still and I was able to very easily vigorously rub him all over - even his head, legs and underbelly.  (People, let me remind you this is the dog who won't let us cut his toenails, requires three of us to give him a bath, needs to be literally chased all over when it's time for a brushing and has to be tranquilized for vet visits.)  He definitely seemed to find the experience very enjoyable which therefore made the task very easy for me, woot!!

Look, I could even take pictures while I cleaned him - he was enjoying it so much!

Something I thought of as I was using these, is that if you or a loved one have pet allergies (or if there is someone who visits you that has pet allergies), you can also use these wipes on your dog to help cut down on allergens and dander.  I have a friend who has pet allergies and I'm going to try to remember to use this right before their next visit.

Anyway, these Quick Bath Cleansing Wipes for Dogs far, far exceeded my expectations.  They were larger, stronger and much moister than I thought they would be, and I was truly amazed at the ease of actually cleaning my somewhat difficult dog with them.  Oh, and NO MORE DOG STINK!  I can stick my nose in his fur, take a deep breath, and live!  :-D  Seriously, he smells really nice!  And look how handsome he is:

The average price for these is $4.99 for a pack of 5 large wipes, and $6.99 for a pack of 10 large wipes (they come in a smaller size for small dogs too - they average $4.99 for a pack of 10).  If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know I am a frugal gal (I even wear a coat and hat in my house in the winter to save on heat when no one else is home), but I think these are well worth the price.  They work GREAT and are extremely convenient.  I would definitely buy these.  And believe me, I can say with all confidence, that Tex Dog prefers these to the icy hose water baths on the driveway!

Two thumbs and two paws up for Quick Bath Dog Cleansing Wipes!

The end.

Legal Disclosure:  I was given a free sample of this product and received compensation for writing a review.  All opinions are honest and 100% mine.

The Fall Colors on "Our" Adirondack Lake

We went for one last boat ride on "our" lake to enjoy the fall foliage, over the Columbus Day Weekend.

The perfect beverage for our trip.  :-D

The end.

More Thoughts Too Short For a Whole Blog Post

Don't ask why we were lighting fireworks on the BBQ.  And don't worry about those pliers on there.

I think if Herman Cain wins the presidential election everyone should get a free pizza!  Or if I were his campaign manager I would definitely try to find some tie-in for the pizza "angle".  (He was the former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza.)

We ordered the Roku Box with the idea of possibly cancelling satellite tv.  I'll let you know what we think of that whole thing once we try it out.

Mrs. Mecomber asked what kind of camera we got and if I'd review it - we got a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH20 and yes, I will definitely review it once I've had a chance to use it a bit.  My favorite thing I like about it so far is the pleasant musical tone it makes when it starts up.  The Canon Powershot never had that!

I finally mowed the lawn.  It doesn't look so hot, but I did the best I could with the foot high grass (it wasn't really that high).  (If you recall, I had boycotted mowing the lawn until the weather got cooler as I had already reached my "sweating quota" for the year.)  The tractor greeted me with a flat tire, probably in retaliation for ignoring it for so long.  Well ha on the tractor because I know how to use the air compressor to pump the tire up, so there!  However, the mower had the last laugh because it took me an extra long time to mow because of trying to minimize the lines of grass clippings, and I ended up running out of gas.

My daughter, the 12 year old fashionista, always yells at me to change my necklace and earrings more often.  I'm one of those people that leaves the same jewelry on for weeks (months?) at a time.  And then I seem to wear the same few pieces in rotation.  I think because I like to wear "neutral" jewelry that goes with anything.  So half my other jewelry is too "fancy" or too bold to go with multiple outfits, and the other half is either too fragile or expensive and I'm afraid to wear it.  I need like all stainless steel rings, earrings and necklaces - then none of it would break, none of it would be expensive and it would match every outfit!

Speaking of my daughter, she turns 13 in a couple of months and the hormone floodgates are open.  All I can say right now is "oy vey".

One of my favorite "fast food meals" is the veggie sub from Subway.  I always get it with extra pickles - I highly recommend the extra pickles.  It makes it.  And have you had the new macaroni and cheese from Panera Bread?  OMG!!

What's your favorite "fast food" meal or treat?  What am I missing out on?

The end.

Back in the Photography Business!

Finally got the new camera!  Big surprise one of my first pics was one of our cats, eh?  :-D

I am normally one of those people that reads instructions and manuals, however, when the new camera arrived, I charged the battery, put in the SD card from the old camera, turned it on and figured out the basic operations by myself.  I didn't even bother putting in the installation disk with software that it came with - I started Picasa, then plugged the camera in via USB and voila!  Easy peasy.

Actually, I still have to check some of the settings - but at least I'm back to taking pictures again!  It was really disconcerting to be without a camera.  I almost feel like sending out birth announcements now that we finally have a camera again, LOL...

So, I have no pictures, but we went to the cabin last weekend with the purpose of going to the World's Largest Garage Sale in Warrensburg, NY.  Unfortunately it was rainy and cold and pretty much sucked.  Which was really a huge bummer because we look forward to this event every year, and to top it off, we weren't able to go last year, so we really were super disappointed the weather was so bad.  We went, but only for a couple of hours before the rain and cold drove us away.

As a bit of a consolation, the Husband suggested we go out to eat for lunch, which was a real treat because we hardly ever go out to eat these days.  Our daughter asked if we could go to "the place where they have the menu on a stick".  We knew what place she was talking about - does anyone else know what popular Lake George area restaurant she was talking about?  :-)

The end.