Category: Uncategorized

Organon – a market at Chester

   Today while out running errands I came across a new market in Chester, CT.  For those of you who are local and like to buy fresh local produce, organic groceries and cleaning products, delicious foods and desserts made right there on the premises… I recommend you make the trip to check it out.  Opened just 10 weeks ago, they  carry an array of good foods and organic cleaning products I usually travel a longer distance to buy.

Visit their website HERE  for more information.
I was greeted by the store owner and given a tour of their new shop. I found the atmosphere to be very clean and friendly.  Local artists display paintings on the walls.. and there’s a chalk board for store patrons to write suggestions on things they’d like the store to carry.  Aloe Juice was my contribution to the list.
Pastry Chef Danielle Hoff with market owner Peter Kehayias

Debate THIS

Him:  What time is the debate on tonight?….

Me:   Nine.

Him:   Get ready to rock and roll, baby….

Me:   Oooooh nooo you don’t. You’re starting all ready.  Are you capable of keeping your opinions and your wise cracks and the attitude to yourself?

Him:  Nope!

Me:   I’m going to my mothers house to watch it then.

Him:  Good idea.

 The secret to staying married to a polar opposite?  Sometimes it’s one simple word.  Distance.

Have a good night, all.   🙂  

October and the Noble Pig

 I just found an awesome blog through another Blogger, thanks Diane!   Today’s post  – these awesome treats…

See recipe and Noble Pig blog HERE

 October is one of my favorite months, and Halloween one of my favorite holidays. The  girlchild has a birthday and I get to make a fun cake.  We brought our first newborn home from the hospital  on Mischief Night and all I could think about was… OH NO… what if the car gets egged?   What if we get TP’d??  The birthdays over the years have been so much fun to put together and just because she’s now a grown up I don’t have to stop the festivities,  right?   I shan’t.    That is too a word.

 October is also Adopt a Shelter Dog month… you all know by now I’m a big advocate.  If you’re new to my blog, just click on the Shelter Dog or Dog Days Adoption Events labels on the left to read more…

and last but not least….

 October is also Breast Cancer awareness month.   I just got my yearly mammogram after delaying it some because of the fear of it all.  I definitely suffer from medical anxiety… but I sucked it up and went… and you should too if you are due for your annual mammo. 

Early detection saves lives, it’s as simple as that… so just do it.

Rainbow

Last night we took a walk up on the hill behind This Old House.
 There was a light rain and some gusty wind,
with the most unusal golden light sky – just beautiful.
Shortly after the rainfall, up over the house…
was this..   a double rainbow
I could see most of the rainbow’s arch, but it was very hard to capture all of it in one frame…
Can you see the double rainbow ring below?

* Author Donald Ahrens in his text Meteorology Today describes a rainbow as “one of the most spectacular light shows observed on earth”. Indeed the traditional rainbow is sunlight spread out into its spectrum of colors and diverted to the eye of the observer by water droplets.
* The traditional description of the rainbow is that it is made up of seven colors – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Actually, the rainbow is a whole continuum of colors from red to violet and even beyond the colors that the eye can see.
The colors of the rainbow arise from two basic facts:
Sunlight is made up of the whole range of colors that the eye can detect. The range of sunlight colors, when combined, looks white to the eye. This property of sunlight was first demonstrated by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666.
Light of different colors is refracted by different amounts when it passes from one medium (air, for example) into another (water or glass, for example).
*Sometimes we see two rainbows at once, what causes this? We have followed the path of a ray of sunlight as it enters and is reflected inside the raindrop. But not all of the energy of the ray escapes the raindrop after it is reflected once. A part of the ray is reflected again and travels along inside the drop to emerge from the drop. The rainbow we normally see is called the primary rainbow and is produced by one internal reflection; the secondary rainbow arises from two internal reflections and the rays exit the drop at an angle of 50 degrees° rather than the 42°degrees for the red primary bow.
*Notice the contrast between the sky inside the arc and outside it. When one studies the refraction of sunlight on a raindrop one finds that there are many rays emerging at angles smaller than the rainbow ray, but essentially no light from single internal reflections at angles greater than this ray. Thus there is a lot of light within the bow, and very little beyond it. Because this light is a mix of all the rainbow colors, it is white. In the case of the secondary rainbow, the rainbow ray is the smallest angle and there are many rays emerging at angles greater than this one. Therefore the two bows combine to define a dark region between them – called Alexander’s Dark Band, in honor of Alexander of Aphrodisias who discussed it some 1800 years ago!

Durham Fair 2012

   As far as fairs go, the Durham fair is a pretty big deal around here.   Last night’s entertainment was Kenny Rogers and tonight Kelly Pickler will perform.  We postponed our Vermont ride due to the rain, so the girlchild and I went to the fair for a few hours this afternoon.    I used a camera app on my phone that I am not familiar with, and I did not save my best shots… apparently…. @#$!# ….  So  you’ll have to  tolerate a little suckitude in the photo department today.  That is totally a word.   

Of course, my focus was Food. 

These are really cool dog treats!

..and an adorable bunny who would look so cute in a rabbit hutch
next to my chicken coop, don’t ya think?
Mike would choke me.

But I could probably get away with this…..

SO.. I’ve been going to the Durham Fair since I first started visiting Family in CT
in my late teens.  It’s definitely an exciting place for the youthful… bands playing, 
 lots of  strutting and flirting and mingling and dressing to impress. 
 The glance that turns into a lingering look,
perhaps a sideways smile… oh, the possibilities…
you know what I’m talking about.  
I used to be ONE OF THOSE.
Then we were married and had a family…
Strollers through the crowds, cotton candy and corndogs..
kiddie rides,  Dad the hero wins a giant panda.
Sticky fingers and rosey cheeks…
I loved  when we were one of those.
Now I’m just one of the space-taker-uppers who complain about the big hill
because my knees are complaining even louder.
Gone are the sandals,  tight shirt and shorts to attempt “sexy” despite the early fall chill…
Heck no, I want COMFORT. 
 Out come the sneakers, jeans and a long sleeve shirt, pullover too. 
The only lingering stares are if the bathroom line is really really long
and you’re  wondering if you’ll MAKE it till a stall comes open
because that big Lime Rickey you just had to drink up might just do you in. 
Yes, I’m one of those.  

Smile!

Are these awesome or what??!! 
Apple slices, mini marshmallows and peanut butter!
These pics were found all over the internet (Pinterest, Google)
I’m always looking for something new to make just for fun.
To keep the  “smile” together, use peanut butter like denture cream!..lol..
It’s a delicious combination. 
 More awesome treats… 
candy apples… 

Caldron cookies

Ghost cookies!
Nutter Butter cookies dipped in melted white chocolate
mini chocolate chips for eyes.

Two of my favorite blogs had inspirational fall posts today…
Great recipes at Bee Haven Acres HERE
Beautiful fall decorations at Chronicles of a Country Girl HERE
 We might or might not take a trip into Vermont tomorrow..
depends on the weather.  You know I”ll bring my Canon and show you the colors if we go.
Happy weekend to you!

A request

I received an e-mail  this morning from a friend who lives down the road. I don’t know a more courageous group of women…”C” has lost her husband and son to muscular dystrophy, and her two daughters, both in their forties, are afflicted as well.  When her children were born she did not know of her husband’s eventual diagnosis, which is hereditary and passed on to offspring.

“Good-morning all….



* Maryellen  started with a sniffle Sunday morning in church. She didn’t want to expose anyone to germs and went to the back of the church during the “passing of the peace”, not to shake hands. You just gotta love this girl.


 Monday afternoon she called  – her husband was taking her to the Yale New Haven Hospital ER. Four hours later she was released. Her xrays looked good and in fact they were better than the ones taken in July when she was admitted. They gave her some pills and sent her on her way.

Tuesday AM, while at my weekly Bible study I got a call from my daughter *Erin.  *Maryellen  was in trouble and needed me. Her husband  was at work in Norwalk…..a good hour and a half away. I’m only 20 minutes away. She had called her doctor and he wanted her to go the the ER in New Haven. He even suggested she call an ambulance. “OH NO”….was *Maryellen’s response. “My Mom will take me”. Well Mom is getting a little too old to handle these situations again……but Mom did. God is so good to me and gives me the strength to do what is needed.


*Maryellen’s  O2 sats were 82 and heart rate 118 when I arrived. I boosted her O2 up to 5 liters from 3 and drove her to the ER reminding her all the way that she needed to call 911 in the future. They could get there quicker than I and had all the necessary equipment on board to treat her quickly and could start an IV. Have you ever noticed when your talking to your kids and you know when what your saying is going in one ear and out the other?????


Well, 7 hours later  *Maryellen was admitted. During those 7 hours we found out she had a collapsed lung, given fluids via IV for dehydration, and allergic reaction to an IV antibiotic, a shot to take care of that, then vomitting for a good 45 minutes, another shot to take care of that, about 10 bottles of blood taken but only after they brought in a machine, ultra-sound, to find her veins. By the time she was put in a bed on the 6th floor she was exhausted and looked like she had been in a battle. Well…..actually she had been.

It was time to head home for me. Picked up a delicious cheeseburger at Burger King and sat in the car with visions of sitting by a nice lake, sipping a real good red wine, dining on a good steak, baked potato, green beans and romantic piano music playing in the back ground……..Boy do I know how to dream. All this while listening to Steven Tyler and Aerosmith singing Dream On…. There is nothing like hearing Aerosmith when your down in the dumps. On my bucket list is to see them in concert someday.



Back home I had the glass of wine, watched the results from Dancing with The Stars and so happy to see Pam Anderson go home. Oh What A Night!


Prayers please for my girl *Maryann  and her hubby *Daniel.

 
Blessings all…”

 
So I’m sending a request to all you prayer warriors out there… say a few for my friend “C”,  *Maryann,  her husband *Daniel and  sister  *Erin.     They’re fighting one heck of a fight and I truly believe in the power of people coming together, sending healing thoughts out into the universe. 

Fall rolls in

 
       The light has changed, a golden slant, earlier in the evening now.    Woodburning smoke curls through the air and in through open windows.  Heavenly, the scent.    Leaves crunch under foot as I make my way to the barn  and coop for early morning feeding.   Sleep comes easier on these cool early autumn nights.   The Mr. insists on an open window as I heap on another blanket.     The stew and soup recipes come to the top of the pile and maple cream cookies fill the jar.    We have yet to stack wood outside the kitchen door but I eagerly await the first fire in the fireplace.    Fall has indeed come to This Old House.    How does the season announce itself in your neck o’the woods?

Anniversary flowers!


24 and The Ring

 

Happy 24th Anniversary to my significant other! We’ve certainly had our ups and downs, but the ride is well worth the potholes here and there.  Thank you for being my rock, for being such a great father to our children, and for embracing the many dogs, horses, cats, chickens, fish, rabbits, firebelly toads, rats and wounded critters over the years. (OK you made me get rid of the rat.. And maybe “embracing” is pushing it) May we share many more years together in greater harmony regardless of our political affiliations  🙂   XO

A writer friend I know  through our mother’s long time friendship.. wrote this piece the other day on his blog… I loved it, and so I wanted to share it with you.

Click on the link…  http://thepitchbaseballlife.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-ring.html

Leave him a comment if you are also moved, I think he should be writing a book.

An AA tradition

My cousin is a recovering alcoholic who frequents AA meetings, which have given him a strong support system over the years.  I give him a huge amount of credit for continuing to battle and slay the demons that have plagued him since young adulthood… it takes an enormous amount of effort and I think we can’t really understand that unless we are among the afflicted.   He was given this plant by an AA member years ago, and my aunt has continued to care for it.  She’s moving, so she has brought me the plant to continue it’s care.  There’s quite a history in the AA “creeping Charlie”  or Swedish Ivy plant.

According to Wikipedia – William Griffith Wilson (November 26, 1895 – January 24, 1971), also known as Bill Wilson or Bill W., was the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), an international mutual aid  fellowship with over two million members belonging to 100,800 groups of alcoholics helping other alcoholics achieve and maintain sobriety.

The Swedish Ivy plants, whose cuttings are given to AA members,  are descendants of the plant that was in Bill Wilson’s room when he passed away in 1971 in Miami, Florida.  His wife, Lois, took the plant home to Stepping Stones in New York where she cared for it until the mid 80’s.

She gave the plant to her housekeeper who in turn gave it to Michael Manning of Atlanta, George. Lois asked that she pass it on to members of the A. A. fellowship in memory of Bill. Michael has taken pieces of this plant all over the world, she brought it to Washington in July 1998.

This is a true A. A. plant because every time you pass it on, 2 new shoots replace the one that was given away and your plant grows stronger.

This plant is also sometimes called a “Creeping Charlie” plant, and it’s rumored that Ebby Thatcher brought it originally to Bill W. when he was in the townes hospital where he had his original spiritual conversion. Bill supposedly gave it this name after a friend of his named Charlie that kept creeping up on Bill’s back porch to sleep.

The writer of this explanation states:   ” I have a large plant of this type that was given to Dr. G. in San Diego in 1973 by Lois W., and then passed on to my first Sponsor Shedrick M. sometime around 1980. I was given the plant, as well as a short letter that’s supposed to accompany cuttings of the plant on July 4th, 1995 on my 20th AA birthday. It’s rumored to be the original plant, though it’s probably impossible too know the truth about it after all this time. The idea of the plant, and the sharing of some of the common threads of our history is what’s really important about it.”

I’ve told you about the 100 year old plants I have on my front porch, Cast Iron plants. They were an engagement present to my great-grandparents and have been passed down, eventually to me, for care.  My readers helped me identify what they were.   I love having this new addition at This Old House… a homage to all the hard work that people who suffer from and conquer alcoholism  put in every day.  My hat’s off to those of you who can relate.  If you care to share your story, as this disease touches many in different ways… please do so below.