Think Orange and Black.

These are neighborhood kids - no one you know, but they looked cute...thus the picture. Had a hard time getting it printed, but glad it finally appeared.

Happy Halloween! The weather has been pretty damp lately, but tonight at the Trick-or-Treat time, it turned nice...at least the kids could come by with their costumes on - without coats! That's quite a "treat" because I can remember a lot of Halloweens up here when it was snowy, blowy, and yucky. Please...Imagine the background of this post to be orange. The print is already black. Not sure how to do make the background orange...but create it in your mind.

I don't know who was more excited about seeing the little ones in their costumes - Paul or I. They sure looked adorable. We have six on our street that came with their parents before dark. Ages: 2 through 7. We got them some extra special treats since we know them.

I bought much too much candy, as usual, which are in a big wooden bowl near the door. That's not good...I'm hoping most of it will be gone, but since we don't have any idea how many kids will be here, we have a plan... Luckily Charles has a family birthday celebration coming up tomorrow - at which we'll distribute our candy to them. This is the first year that Charles and Lee haven't gone Trick or Treating. They feel they're too old. Now, I'm not sure if it's Charles and Lee who think that, or Dave and Sharon. It doesn't matter - I imagine they'll be giving out treats with Dave while Sharon takes Ida out.

And Sharon did - they both stopped by and Paul and they went around to our neighbors. I took a picture of Ida, but somehow I can't seem to print it. If I can, I'll post it another time. She was in a very colorful clown costume and wig that her Grandmother Donna made for Sharon or her siblings long long ago. She must have been a wonderful seamstress. Sharon still has many of their old costumes.

Sharon said Dave wasn't feeling well...so perhaps we won't be having Charles' party after all. She's going to call us tomorrow. This N1H1 virus seems to be inhibiting a lot of plans around here. Dave's father is also sick. One of the Corning clan had it - but a very light case and is fine now.

I gave Sharon a lot of the candy, and Ida snuck a few (?) more pieces into her trick or treat bag along with the special candy I got her.

Incidentally, we're both feeling fine. We were two of the lucky ones that had our flu shots on Columbus Day before they ran out. I'm talking about the regular shot. And we're supposedly immune (let's hope so) to the N1H1 virus. But even so...we've been washing our hands more than usual to be on the safe side. I hope you all are doing the same and staying healthy.

I called Nancy tonight to see how Vincent made out for Halloween and because we got a one-ring call from her shown on our TV as a call waiting. She thinks it was V. playing with her phone. She says he has a knack for calling grandparents...it seems Jane received one also. At least phone calls don't break the bank any more. Even the Philippines is quite inexpensive - our last one was $4.00.

Okay - that's all for now, folks. So...how're things goin in your neck of the woods?

It can't be Thursday...

So....? What happened to this week? I think my life is going by too fast. This week is a case in point. I'm not complaining, mind you.
Thank you, Bob, for the beautiful weather you brought with you from Florida! I don't think we've seen that much sun in a long time. It conveniently lasted til he left early this morning. Actually, it was yesterday that began the rain. Bob's plans to return to Florida yesterday were sabotaged by weather in Philly. The plane that was to leave Elmira was delayed getting here and that meant he couldn't get his connecting flight back to Tampa. So...he had dinner leftovers with us last night and watched a stupid movie with us.
A little aside: I've been looking at companies to invest in (my meager piddly change) and discovered Redbox. Redboxare video rental boxes that are found in grocery stores. They charge a nominal $1.00 a night for videos. Actually $1.08. Pretty cheap. So, last night we rented one - called "Adoration". It seemed like a good flick but when it was done we all looked at each other and said "Huh?" I had to google it to help us understand the whole thing. That made it easier. The other one we rented was "The Caller". This one had kind of a plot. It was another one I googled after we saw it. So...if these are the kind of movies you get, I don't think I'll be buying stock in it. Of course you could argue it was the movies we picked. They had two hundred titles.
Paul and Bob got up at 4 AM to get him to the airport by 4:45, when it opened - for his 5:40 flight to Philly. I got to sleep in. Bless them. I have to thank the Powers that Be that we found this lot and built this close to the airport...15 minutes. We haven't heard from Bob and he's supposed to be landing in Tampa at 10:30, so I guess all went well. (It's 10:15. )
That's all for now, Folks. How're things in your neck of the woods?
Thank you Cousin Carol for writing and telling me all your doings down in Fla. Take care.

Monday, Monday

These are pictures of our winery trip described below. Note the Birthday Boy having fun over a wine barrel! I am the shadowy figure in the dark of the picture of four. (Good!) The picture just above the bottom one are of Mark and Bob at the place where we could see the grapes being pressed.

Still celebrating Paul's birthday. I had forgotten to give him a small present that I'd gotten him - a dvd of 100th anniversary of Victor Borge. So he got it at breakfast. We are still enjoying Bob and Mark's company today.

We had a chance to visit three wineries on Seneca Lake's east side. The first one was Wagner's where where Bob took us for lunch. The day was gorgeous - the colors were not as vivid as a week ago; the yellows were brilliant however, but the reds were turning brown. We sat at a table overlooking the beautiful blue lake. Someone helped us out by taking the picture of the four of us. After that we had a tour of the winery. Paul suggested we go further down the lake to a winery that was noted for their special view of the lake. Well - it was spectacular. We stayed there for a while. This is the season for picking the grapes, squeezing the juice, and beginning the winemaking process. We could see all this below us because we were at an open porch area above them. (It was obviously done outside at this winery. During our wine tour at Wagners, it was inside. ) The last place we went to, was Hazlitt's which is our favorite winery. Paul and I got a bottle of Shiraz.

That's all for now folks. How're things goin in your neck of the woods?

We had quite a weekend - and celebration for Paul's birthday. It seems like such a long time since I've written - but its only been since Friday. I've been just too busy!

These are pictures of the Big Day - Glad Bob could come up for the occasion.

Charles had some lovely blue braces on his teeth that matched his shirt. Wish you could have seen them!

Lee is getting to be a charmer. He sat across from us in the private dining room we had for the dinner.

I had fun surprising Paul about his birthday. Saturday around noontime I informed him that we had to go to the airport to pick up my brother, Bob. I guess I really surprised Paul - he wanted to know how long I'd been planning this (since mid September), who else was coming, where were we going, when were we celebrating? I told him he'd learn on a needs-to-know-basis, so I could keep the fun going on...It really was fun surprising him, although it needed a bit of ingenuity at times.

Bob's (and our) good Toronto friend, Mark, who visits every year in Fla. and usually stays at our house there, found out Bob was coming and asked if he could come and help celebrate. Fortunately, we had the futon available in the computer room and gladly opened it up. Paul didn't know for whom it was done, but surmised it. Mark knew we were picking Bob up mid-afternoon, and just as we were coming back to the car from the airport, he drove up! So - we drove back to the house in two cars.

Sunday was a gorgeous day - so Mark and Bob took a ride to look at the hills. Our color is past its peak, but still the hills looked lovely. Bob has a new camcorder and I'm sure he enjoyed getting all sorts of shots, including the hills, during his visit. He used it a lot.

Our dinner was at our favorite italian restaurant and we all had a good dinner in a private room. Originally there were 17 of us going to be there, but at the last minute, three couldn't attend:

Lue called with a horrible cold Saturday and said she wouldn't be spreading germs among us all. I called her Sunday and the cold was in full force. She didn't sound too good, poor thing. She had made some soup for herself and was lying low. Then, Sharon came in - minus Dave and Ida. In church that morning, Ida had developed a earache. She was in such pain, Sharon took her to the emergency room. Ida was diagnosed with a very painful earache (no surprise there) and had some medicine prescribed. Dave stayed home with her. I suggested Sharon get take-out for Dave, which she did.

So - anyway - we all had a wonderful dinner. Jeff's family, The Corning Relatives, and Charles, Lee and Sharon all came. Sharon, in midst of all the fiasco at home, was able to bake a delicious carrot cake with cream cheese icing - note the picture. My contribution was the 7 and 5 that was added. Paul wanted it to be 5 AND 7. How we wish.

The Falling Leaves

Ah. Yes. The leaves are coming down fast and quietly. There is a gentle rain outside which means Paul can't pick up the leaves. They need to dry off. Our deck is covered, our hottub is covered (the cover is keeping them out - thank goodness...can you imagine how the water would look? That's one of the advantages of a hottub over a swimming pool up North.) We've been keeping the temp at around 100 degrees which seems to be comfortable.

Paul spent Wednesday gathering leaves, bringing them into the woods. The driveway was pretty clear. Well, now he has a holiday from them, and I can hear him happily hammering upstairs. Things are coming along at his own pace...when he needs some more materials, he puts the car on autopilot and it drives him to Lowe's. There isn't the urgency of last year's work on the Kids' Camp upstairs. There's time to dwell on what's been done, what being done, and what needs to be done.

Paul and I had lunch yesterday, Thursday, with Lue, her sister Sharon and their good friend, Ruth. I left my glasses at the restaurant there. Now... don't you think I'd realize I didn't have them on, when I left? Nope. Paul drove all the way home, I had a nap, woke up, looked for my glasses. Couldn't find them. Looked all over. I called the restaurant this morning, and they were there. The reason for this tale: it's amazing to me that my eyesight was such that I could travel back to Woodsedge and not realize I didn't have them on. Plus travel back to the restaurant to get them without my contact in. Has there been that much improvement? That remains to be seen. Haha.

Last night we finally got to go to Charles' football game. Unfortunately, the score was pretty bad in favor of the other team. Charles got to play quite a bit, however. And he did quite well at what he was supposed to do. This is his first year in Junior High. It seems like just yesterday we were watching Lee doing the same thing...I mean as a youngster in Junior High. Or is it called Middle School now? Not sure. Because it was a night game, it seemed like a Friday night. I was all miscombobulated.

We tried to get tickets to the East-West Game tonight with the Corning Relatives. They were sold out. That means that we've been to three out of four grandkids ball games this year. Not a perfect score for us, but we'll try for 100% next year. We don't particularly like to sit in the rain anyway. Sometimes we can use our age to advantage. Which reminds me...

My Dear One is reaching the 75 year mark on Sunday. At this stage of the game, we need to celebrate these milestones. Not sure what we'll be doing yet, but he's been directed to tell me where he'd like to go for dinner. That's the only thing he has to do. I'm in charge of all the rest, driving the car, paying the bill.

That's all the news from this end, Folks. How're things in your neck of the woods?

The Chicago Trip

Here's the big boy bed that Vincent asked if he could keep because he liked it. He also liked the counting book I got him. I had to read it to him several times each time we looked at it.

I liked this picture so much I printed it twice for you. Right. This is at the Pumpkin Farm that we visited on Sunday. I had no idea that Pumpkin Farms were so exciting! I don't remember taking Nancy and Jil to one when they were little. All I know is that they missed out! There were numerous rides, a petting zoo, a jumping tent, all kinds of food, farm animals, a hay ride. We had to walk a lot, and I was so pleased that my legs didn't give me a bit of trouble. To me - that was a milestone. We walked and walked.

Poor Vincent tried to feed some piglets and one mistook his finger for some food. He cried and cried, but got over it, as you can see.

I have finished unpacking, done our wash, gone food shopping. It's getting close to suppertime, but I have a few moments to write about our trip to Chicago.

This is the first time Paul and I have driven there - each time we've flown. I can see the advantages of both. Flying, of course, is much quicker. Driving - you can take more things with you. (like Nancy's dollhouse, some silverpieces, and some antique china that I'd rather not trust to UPS.) Driving lets you see the country. I have to admit, I didn't know too much about the midwest because I never had a reason to think too much about it. Other than looking at Chicago on a map, and St. Louis also, I didn't give it much thought. I didn't know how big Ohio was, or how long it took to get through it. Indiana was small, and Chicago was so very close to the Indiana border. It certainly was easy directions - Get on I90 and go to Chicago. Even our Garmin Lady didn't need to say - "re-calculating..." as we never veered off the path. But...it WAS a long trip. We took two days both ways. We could have gone in one day, but 11 hours is too long for us. We enjoyed staying at motels and just taking our time.

Dan was at a conference in Maine til Sunday when he arrived home just before we got back from the Pumpkin Farm. We took them out to dinner on Sunday evening. We went to a really nice italian restaurant which requires BYOB - Dan went out and brought back some wine. The food was delicious and more than enough - Paul and I both brought some back to their place for them to have.

Dan's brother, Robbie, is staying with them while he's working at The Shed Aquarium. After Robbie graduated from college, he went to California to a two-year school to learn how to take care of zoo animals. He got a temporary position at Shed til Thanksgiving. I'm not sure I remember his "title", but he's working with the Beluga whales. Two of the whales are expecting and his job is to take care of them. He's so interesting to listen to and makes it seem so exciting. He really loves his work. Even Ivan is benefitting from him being at the house - Robbie trains Ivan to listen and behave. Not that Ivan doesn't.

Vincent is growing up. Since he began going to pre-school, it's amazing how he's matured! He IS a little imp - as most three and a half year olds are, and ALL boy. We took many photos of him, and as we were driving home, I was thinking - I didn't get a picture of their condo, of the three of them, or Robbie, or Ivan, their siberian husky. That will have to be next time.

Comparing Old Cats

We're back! Got in this afternoon at 3:00. The trip to Chicago was 1,350 miles round trip. We had such a good time visiting with The Chicago Crew, and I will detail all of it on another posting. Today we left Concord, Ohio - and stopped at the Salamanca Casino for a couple of hours playing the slots and having a great time losing our small alloted amounts which lasted quite a while.



We found out that Ella likes Lue more than she does us because Lue said she ate and ate and ate. Really we were very happy. We found a cat to compare Ella to. We saw a cat that was 20 years old, and made 17-year old Ella look like she was the Queen of Sheba. (In other words: grand, perfectly grand.) This cat lived upstairs over Nancy's condo - and Nancy was feeding it and taking care of it while its owners were away for the weekend. Oh, my goodness. Elmo (the cat) has discontinued grooming himself. And he has trouble getting around. Picture that beautiful long-haired white cat on the cat food commercial that eats out of a crystal dish? Picture that looking like its matted fur had been in a light socket. I should have taken a picture of the poor thing, or perhaps not. Anyway - Ella looks good. Lue, you did a good job! Thanks a lot. Oops. I forgot. Lue said 50 thanks were enuf. We did appreciate it though.



Will write again soon, if not tomorrow.

Newest pictures of Upstairs

Paul has done so much to the upstairs that I wanted to show you all that he has accomplished so far. He's quite amazing, I think - all that he can do. The pictures still show the "attic" pieces that have to be moved to our attic over the garage. This will come in time.
This first picture is looking toward the bathroom wall, and the little hall to the left, going to the new bedroom.

This is the middle room, or game room, or media room with the double window shown. Probably the yellow insulation area wall will be the tv place.

This is from the game room to the "kids camp" and the stairway door, hidden to the right by the pink insulation. Same view as below only closer.

This is a view from the new bedroom to the "kids' camp". Notice that the door is not hidden behind tarp any more. The wall to the left is where the bathroom will be.

This is a view from the game room to the new bedroom being done. Paul says most of the insulation is now in. There is a notable difference in the temperature upstairs.
So - enjoy the pictures. You can see how busy Paul's been.

Of Flu Shots and Elephants

Did you know that flu shots keep the elephants away? They do. Have you ever seen elephants roam upstate NY? Oh... well...you had to be there.
Paul and I went to a flu clinic at St. Joe's hospital at noontime yesterday. We were surprised that there weren't any lines. We were in and out very quickly.



Got a nice long e-mail from my good friend Marcia. She and hubby, Hal, had been away from their home in North Carolina - in their sailboat. They've been traveling a lot lately...using both boat and car. Good for them. They just celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary which to me is impossible to believe - I know, I know - but it just hasn't been that long ago. This is a second marriage for both and seems to be the charm. (I know it is for me!) Speaking of special anniversaries - with Sandy and Dave's behind us - at least the celebration...I understand their real anniversary is a couple of months down the road...made me think. How old would I be for Paul and my silver anniversary? whoa. Let's not go down that road. But perhaps we will. One never knows what the future has in store...



Florence Henderson was an old-time sitcom tv star back in the 60's. She was on the Today show this morning and talked about the wide-spread use of computers by Seniors. I can certainly attest to that - even though I resist the label of Senior Citizen, except when it's getting me things for less money. My son, Jil, in the Philippines has a new camera and has been posting pictures of his town of Jasaan, his family, events he and Epril have gone to. It even has a video attachment with sound that he's used to show a parade outside his door, a 360 degree view from his top floor - not sure if that's the third or fourth floor. He takes his dog, Tyson - a 6 month old doberman - on walks around town early in the morning and prints out pictures of their wanderings.



I'm mentioning all this because of what Florence Henderson said - I am getting, and my children are getting, to know each other better even though we're half a world away or as close as Chicago. This wouldn't have been possible even 10 years ago. I feel very lucky to have such an instrument that keeps me in touch with them and my/our dear friends and relatives who are away. We stay in each others' lives.



Paul took Charles to a dental appointment in Corning this morning. Early. Poor Charles has braces, and some wires in the back were bent and causing his gums to bleed. Sharon called last night and asked if Paul could take him because she and Dave weren't able to. She dropped Charles off before 8 on her way to Notre Dame with Lee. I am getting to be dimwitted even tho I write things on the calendar. We are forgetting about football games. I should say I am. I even forgot that Charles was coming this morning. Luckily, it didn't matter because Paul had things he had to do, and I had things I had to do - and they weren't near, so I couldn't go with him anyway. That was a beautiful example of a run-on sentence.

That's all for now, folks. What's new in your neck of the woods?

We had a busy weekend! After posting yesterday, I find that I can also write today without any trouble...

And I wanted to post the pictures - especially the wonderful cake I won at the Moose Club Friday night. Lee's party was Saturday night - and it was particularly festive because his other grandparents were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary today, and Lee's aunts, and uncles and cousins were all in the area to celebrate. The ones that had arrived came to Lee's party. Probably close to 20 with the little ones and such. So - the cake was put to good use. We didn't take any home - not much left, and anyway - Paul decided he didn't want any more.

The photo on the bottom was of our back yard - the sun, shining through late afternoon, was so lovely.

Yesterday, we took several boxes to the FUM church for their rummage sale. I took my good china, which wasn't worth very much, but had sentimental value only. I didn't have any "takers" for it, and didn't expect any. So - someone will have a service for 12. I have to admit, I kept some pieces that I really use - some platters, and some small dessert dishes. BUT there was A LOT still left - all intact, all in good condition. A bargain for someone. We also took the wooden crib from upstairs. And another box of dishes.
I still have some more to take. We have till 4:00 Tuesday. It feels so good to get rid of stuff!

That money machine is wonderful! We took a lot of dimes, nickels and quarters there today and got back almost $70 in bills. I don't care if it costs (a small amount) to do this, it's great to just get rid of all those coins.

We went to Sandy and Dave's 50th wedding anniversary party at The Moose Club this afternoon. Yes. It was the same place we went to Friday night. It included a buffet which really filled us up. No dinner tonight. Dave said last night that 170 people RSVP'd. I believe it. The Corning relatives were there also. Sharon's Dave, their son, gave a nice talk, and then other people came up - to kind of "roast" them. It was humorous. I didn't know that Dave senior is friends with Randy Kuhl. He was a congressional representative, which some of you may know. He was there. I worked on one of his campaign eons ago when he first started in politics. There were a lot of pictures put on discs that they showed of the family. I enjoyed it. It was fun to see Lee, Charlie and Ida - little. Everyone had name tags which was a great help. I did not take any pictures, however. I probably should have. Oh, well.

Talked with Marcia - she and Hal are celebrating their 24th wedding anniversary today, so they're due for a BIG one next year. Good for them! Happy Anniversary, you two! Where has the time gone???

So that brings us up to the present. That's all for now folks. What's happenin' in your neck of the woods?

Well, we're having some sun - off and on. Got some pictures of our scarecrows that we got last weekend. Used some corn stalks generously donated by Sharon and Dave. The summer chair just didn't "make" it. Don't you agree? The pumpkin, on the wooden stand in the back, lights up at night.

Got a funny funny e-mail picture from cousin Alice of her goodsport, blind friend, Alicia. It shows Alicia standing beside a sign for blinds. Whatever possessed Alice to take that picture showed she has a good sense of humor. Thanks, Alice, for a good laugh. And Alicia who was also a good sport and made it possible.

Paul and I went out for a fish fry last night at the local Moose Club in Montour Falls. We got there and it was packed! But, this little girl came running up to us - and gave us a big hug. Ida was there with her other grandparents, so we were invited to sit with them. It seems Lee had a game. The weather being what it usually has been for the past two Friday nights...drizzly rain, wasn't conducive to Ida going. She had pneumonia this summer during their camping trip at Watkins Glen. So she stayed with them till the game would be over.

While at the fish fry, we put down a dollar for a ticket for a decorated cake. And we won! I never win anything...so it was a big surprise. BUT what were we to do with a sheetcake, an 18 wheeler truck filled with pumpkin candies...it should be a boy's birthday cake. Even though it said - Happy Pumpkin Time - or something to that effect. Well, guess where we're going tonight? Lee's 14th birthday for cake and ice cream. How about the timing of all this...couldn't be better. I called Sharon this morning and told her about it. She very diplomatically said that was great - there were going to be a lot of people - that she'd make a smaller cake of Lee's favorite that he'd requested. So we'll get rid of all those calories and sugar. Perhaps Paul can take a piece home, however. If we ask nicely.

Won't Weight Watchers be proud of me? You think I'll get a bravo sticker?

I'm not sure if I mentioned about the Montour House. (No... not the one we sold.) This is an old four-story building on the main street of town that is being renovated into luxury apartments.

One Friday night a month, they have an Open House to let the public see what has been accomplished so far. From what I understand, the county bought the building. Anyway - it had some kind of politics involved. They really did a good job. Paul and I went from the Moose Club to the Open House. We'd been to a couple before. Lots and lots of people we knew. They usually have wine and some sort of small hor doerve provided by merchants. We don't usually imbibe - but they did have the most delicious fudge samples. We couldn't pass those up. (That...I won't mention at W. W.) We took the elevator up to the third and fourth floors - where they have duplexes "in the works." They haven't gotten much done... just stubs. And lots and lots of dust from hammering, taking down walls, moving walls. The next floor down they'd done a LOT more work. Kitchens were almost done. We took the stairs down - Huge winding staircases down to the main lobby. From upstairs you can see down to the main floor. My legs ached a lot, unfortunately. (It is what it is. ) We had a good time.

Got an e-mail from Cousin Carol about my last posting. Thanks Carol. I appreciated the thoughts.

Guess that's all for now. Got to get dinner ready so we can go out for cake and ice cream afterwards. Perhaps I'll have a very very small sliver. Just a taste.

Have I really written 70 posts already? I must have a lot to say! I believe that that statement must be true, since I find myself in situations with thoughts of an aha moment, that this (meaning those situations) could be blogged. Well - I don't know if that is correct english or not. I find myself writing things and wincing at run-on sentences, sentence fragments... but noting in articles - the same things being done, which seems to give me the same liberty to do it also.

Which brings me to...I had a spectacular education as far as grammar goes with Mrs. Riley, and Mrs. Yetter...in 7-8th grades, who must be turning over in their graves. It was an education to die for. (clever pun...yes?) We learned to diagram sentences, learning about parts of speech, etc. very completely. Diagrams with huge long lines, and many sections, going this way and that on the chalkboard. I'm sure my brother and cousins can attest to that, since we all went to the same high school, so many, many eons ago.

Which brings me to a subject, that has shaken me and given me thoughts that I need to have the courage to write down.

False political health care e-mails scare me. There. I did it.

Do you get them too? I don't know about you, but it bothers me greatly that some e-mails are being sent, that are so definitely false and negative. How could anyone write, or believe they were true? At first, I couldn't believe what I was reading, and it upset me because I didn't know what to do about it, nor could I prove they were wrong, nor argue for the truth. Actually, I just didn't know enough about the subject matter. I will admit...I am not politically wise.


Paul told me: People are stupid. Yes, they are, but I like to believe they don't realize they are (a bit of humor) or what harm they're doing by passing on these falsehoods. I was very frustrated and upset by all these negativisms and untruths. Well...I am starting to feel better now, because I have found a way to respond. It's a site, a pulitzer-prize winning, (so I trust it) - non-partisan site, - that will tell readers what is true, partially true, not true at all, and pants-on-fire false. (remember liar, liar, pants on fire?) So...if you read anything in these political e-mails that you are sceptical about, or you hear people saying things, if you feel like doing it, you can check it out on this site. If you find it to be okay, well - okay. If it's not true - This is what I am doing, and you could consider doing... forwarding what they say to all the e-mail recipients of these falsehoods letting them know the truth. Think of all the people you can tell the truth to. How many people would want to know. I know people must want to know. Don't you? The site is Politifact.com. As little Mikey says, Try it... you'll like it.

It IS what it IS.

It was a busy enough weekend to make it pleasant. Friday night it poured. Unfortunately we were unable to get to a Corning Football Game to see our majorette granddaughter, due to the inclement weather, but we did get to go to a fish fry over near the mall. As usual, there was too much food, and we took a good half of it home with us. We stopped at Lowe's and did some windowshopping for the new-to-be-but-not-sure-when bathroom upstairs. That was fun. I love going to a store and not spending money, just windowshopping. We looked at tubs, sinks, johns, mirrors. Now we have a kind of price list and measurements for the tub and the wall surround. Paul said he needed that info before the walls went up. Even I can understand that.

Yesterday, the sun came out and was perfectly gorgeous. We went out for a walk and lunch at Hanover Circle, which is the main shopping area for Horseheads. As the name implies, it's not a square, but five streets that meet there, with stop signs, and one without. It always makes me nervous to drive through that area, as I feel wary of everyone who comes to a stop. It seems like an accident waiting to happen. The Circle was quite disappointing as far as stores go. Several stores were empty/unused, and the few restaurants that were there, didn't appear to be open till noon. We did manage to find a subway-type place and each had a sandwich.
Afterwards we traveled on to the mall and visited Hobby Lobby - isn't that a silly name? It's a hobby store, as the name suggests, that was huge. Any hobby, you name it, could be found there, from astronomy to doll-making. There was a really big area devoted to Halloween - so we found two scarecrow for outside. (I did take some pics of them but I'm not happy with the results yet as to how they were placed, so I'm going to wait till we perfect it.)

Lue called Saturday night and invited us to Brunch at her house Sunday after church. And of course, we accepted! FUM-C is really beginning to feel comfortable. I think the people are starting to become accustomed to seeing us. As I mentioned in an earlier blog about this church, it's a different feeling to be on the opposite end of the spectrum...But I think they're like many other congregations - comfortable with their friends and church family, and shy about greeting new people. After church, they were selling fruit pies in the narthex as a fundraiser for a missionary in Zimbabwe. So we bought one to take with us to Lue's.

Lue had such a great brunch. We sat and enjoyed each others' company for around two hours, just eating (oh, my goodness...weight watchers - look out. No, actually it was fine. ) and talking and laughing. Her Bernese (sp?) mountaindog Maggie, like Ella our cat, has gotten on in years. She was asleep in the upstairs hall, but came down to greet us just before we left. Those dogs have a continuous smile on their faces, and with their tail wagging, are quite endearing. Both Paul and I love dogs. My dear brother Bob who of course knows us and (me especially) well, sent me an e-mail saying they had a 6-month old female papillion puppy that needed a good home and that since Paul's birthday was coming up, wouldn't it be a wonderful birthday present for him. Knowing the answer to that already, and not being surprised at the answer, tongue in cheek, I gave Paul the choice of the puppy or some tools - he said he'd like the tools. Puppies are great if they belong to someone else. Too much work. Incidentally, Bob -I'm sure - knew the answer to that before he wrote me.
I'm sure Paul would attack puppy-ownership, as he does everything...full force with much thought involved. Since being married to Paul, I've heard a wonderful philisophical statement that gives me comfort. And thus the title of this post: It IS what it IS. Some things cannot be changed. But...Perhaps it can, in the future...a long, long time in the future, but that would be another post! Tee hee.

Buttons, Buttons, Who's Got the Buttons?

We do. Okay, I'll explain.

We have collection upon collection of things here at the Woodsedge. When we were moving from Montour, I'd hold up something, hoping to toss it, or give it away, and the usual response was "Oh, no. We can't get rid of that...that's a collectors' item. That could be valuable."

We have had a collection of lunchboxes, tin cookie tins (and even one Aunt Jemima Glass Syrup Bottle) on display around the tops of the kitchen cabinets. I didn't count them, but I would think there were probably, possibly - 16 of them - all for people to look at and admire. It was time. We took them down today and replaced them with a collection of just about as many teapots that were in an attic box.

As we were putting the lunchboxes and cookie tins in a big cardboard box destined for the attic, Paul kept shaking them (rattle, rattle). So we knew there was something in them. And as we opened one after the other, it made us laugh. - We found many interesting trinkets: at least (and this is not an exaggeration) 1,000 buttons in one tin, others had matchboxes, and other small generic items that could be easily replaced. Some sewing items, plastic toddler toy pieces, foreign coins, key rings. Subjects were easily identifiable. Last year we had pennies stored in three cookie tins. We had a contest for the grandkids last Christmas with one of the tins. The one who guessed the closest amount, got the pennies. I'm not sharing how we figured out the correct amount. But we did. It was heavy!

I have to get back on track... I asked Paul - did he know there were these things in these tins? He said - yes, I did. (Okay. So - Who's to say what's valuable?) As they say - some man's trash is another man's treasure. Plus I heard that those Aunt Jemima glass bottles may be worth something...And incidentally, the teapots look lovely.

More old things: I needed to polish some old silver dishes. I thought there must be a better way than just using the silver polish. So - I googled it. Found a GREAT way to polish ornate silver, the kind that have the little designs and little areas that are hard to get to. This is unbelievable to me... this method really worked! After using the creamy stuff that comes in a jar that you rub and rub and wash, rinse and then do it over and over again till it looks presentable, there is an easier way.
Here's the recipe. You need some aluminum foil, baking soda, salt, very hot water, and the silver piece. Line your sink with the aluminum foil, add the hot water, baking soda and salt - and soak the silver piece in this for up to five minutes. It comes out sparkling. I wouldn't have believed it, but I checked several sites on Google - each had a variation of it. Be aware though, they all said to be careful of silverplate, as that can cause problems. It needs to be sterling silver. Maybe some of you were aware of this process, but I wasn't. Thus, my excitement.

It's another dismal day. I wish we'd have a nice pretty Fall, but... It is what it is. If you don't live here, you're not missing much. Let's hope that changes.

As you can see - not much news around here. Paul is still hammering upstairs, and sometimes needs my expert opinion on things...Ex. should a wall be moved this way or that. Only kidding. I am always amazed by his ability to see, be aware of, and just able to do so many things, solve so many problems. Plus he does share his thoughts with me, which I appreciate so much.