I said that that other was the last post but wait there's more! Another Friday! Tough times require laughing every chance we get. Enjoy every minute!

Alabama Joke (my little dog Coco came from a shelter in Alabama - not sure if she had a banjo on her knee)
When a visitor to a town in Alabama spotted a dog attacking a boy, he grabbed the animal and throttled it with his bare hands. An impressed reporter saw the incident and told him the next day's headline would scream "Valiant Local Man Saves Child by Killing Vicious Animal.""I'm not from this town," said the hero."Then," the reporter said, "it will say 'Alabama Man Saves Child by Killing Dog.'""Actually," said the man, "I'm from New Hampshire.""In that case," the reporter grumbled, "the headline will be 'Yankee Kills Family Pet.'"

Illinois Joke (I'll send this one out for John and Melissa)
This is how Chicago got started. A bunch of people in New York said, "Gee, I'm enjoying the crime and the poverty, but it just isn't cold enough."

Desperately Seeking a Skateboard!!!!

Photo captions: Coco in hot pursuit of her Clementine - resting after her Clementine romp.
Below: After a good Clementine chase Coco enjoys the view of Mt. Pok-o-Moonshine.

Ok one last post for today! I am in need of a skateboard....No I'm not even slightly tempted to add to my brain damage by skateboarding but I want one for Coco.

I saw a dog riding a skateboard on TV and I know Coco could do it too and she would love it. She plays in the garage, sliding on crushed milk jugs on the cement floor so she could easily learn to skateboard. So if you have one you are not using.... Arielle thought she had one for Coco but Mary could not find it.

Until then her favorite toy is a frozen Clementine. I throw one out in the snow about once a week and she plays with it for days before the peel comes off - she eats the orange and time for a new one. She hides them in the snow and plays hockey with them. Good cheap dog toy!
And Mary Thill says we bloggers go on about nothing.....LOL Damn right we do!

Thank You Raquette Lakers!

What a nice surprise to go to the mail on Tuesday and have not one but two packages awaiting me from Raquette Lake. My pal Holly sent me a lovely letter and great book to keep me happy! Thanks Holly! I wrote you a thank you and will send that along to the post office today. Oh by the way Hol, my PO Box is 434. It used to be 435 but they remodeled the post office and I guess they forgot to install 435. I moved.

My other package was from my sister Mary. She sent us a photo card to use in the digital frame my dad got for Christmas from Tara. It works now! She also sent me some fresh and yummy herbs from Frog Park Herbs. Now I can make a fresh batch of Chicken Mary Ruth with the Pesto Pasta & Garlic Bread Mix. She also sent me Cranberry Horseradish Spread : A tangy, sweet cream cheese spread - my favorite all time dip on a Wheat Thin. You can order some too from the nice folks at Frog Park - http://www.frogparkherbs.com/frogparkherbs/

Thanks Holly and Mary! People in Raquette Lake are the nicest. My sister Theresa and her husband Dayt brought us a huge pot of homemade soup, cornbread and carrot cake when they last visited. We look forward to them coming again soon!

A Sunset to Remember

Wednesday evening the sky was bright pink as the sun set. One of the nicest sunsets I've seen in some time. I made everybody go look at it and grabbed my camera. It doesn't really do it true justice but a nice pic nonetheless.

I took this one from our porch. We are blessed.

I almost quit blogging last night. I read the January/February edition of Adirondack Life, it had an article by Mary Thill called "Blog Cabin." She opened the article by disparaging the writing of us casual bloggers, wondering "where they find the time to write it. And why." I found her opinion (which of course she has a right to) to be mean-spirited and discouraging. Yes Mary, we ramble on and on about "nothing." But that "nothing" to you obviously means something to us and I think people should be strongly encouraged to write anything these days.

Luckily, I get some good feedback on my blog writing so I know that some are enjoying my attempts. Where I find the time? I grab it when I can, sometimes at midnight, usually early morning. For those of us who are housebound for various reasons, a blog is great way to connect and stay in touch. I feel for those whose writings were singled out by Mary Thill's article. I hope she hasn't thrown a damper on their writing. It would have mine. I'm thankful she's not aware of me and my "blob." She would have a field day with mine. LOL

Here's a link to that article:
http://www.adirondacklife.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=174&Itemid=119

Thinking Ahead to Spring!!

This is the official start of my "New Year" as I whined on and on about January yesterday. I even drank an alcoholic beverage last night to toast the new month. Unusual for me. Sat at the computer drinking some Bailey's Irish Cream - my daughter gave me two sampler bottles for Christmas and it was just right. I only drank one - another awaits for the next toast. I couldn't sleep so I was sitting at the computer (drinking alcohol) looking for Facebook friends at 1:30 am. I gained several I'll have you know. All former colleagues. I liken Facebook to walking by someone in the hall and saying hi! I'm too old to understand its appeal I guess. The hall is big I guess and that's a good thing.

As we begin the month, I heard red wing blackbirds when I took Coco out for her stroll and roll (in the snow). Their call always make me think of spring.

My pal M-A sent me a link to a pdf file that you can print out and order your garden seeds from the students at Keene Central School to help them raise funds for their trip to Spain. Good deal on seeds and great cause. Come together, help the kids and grow yourself a Victory Garden. Given this economic climate, we should all be growing food. I'm looking forward to putting my dad to work on a garden this spring. We will do a couple of raised beds as our soil is clay and I can't bend over with my brain shunt pressure. If you have any advice for me on raised bed gardening, it would be most welcome.

Here's the link for Keene seed order form:

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/forms/keene.pdf Happy Growing!

Good Bye January!!!

Kiss January goodbye!!!! I was not impressed with the month of January, I'm sorry to say. I'm about as happy to see that month end as I was to see our 43rd President fly off into the sunset. It was colder than a witche's thorax (-36.8 F!!!) and filled with news that was just awful. As much as I try to "enjoy every minute," January 2009 is going down in my history book as a month that, to put it plainly, "pretty much sucked." I won't share all the tales of woe (we all have our own), but we will deal with it all, learn to cope and hope February brings some brighter days. It's a little early for my spring haiku but if someone would like to contribute some verse to cheer, I'll share it with the "blob" readers. So Hip Hip Hooray for February!!! Let's hope for a good month. Valentines Day cometh - we can eat chocolate! We did have some good times in January, lots of family visits and good meals chatting with my Dad and David but there was also lots of sad and trying news, more than we should have had in the beginning of this "Happy New Year." It will all be dealt with and we will live long and prosper.

Winter carnival happens in Saranac Lake this month. I've seen some nice pics of the ice castle on the Adirondack Enterprise site. I already bought my Winter Carnival button for 09 - I have the entire collection that Garry Trudeau designed - since 1981.
You can buy a button at many of the convenience stores in Saranac Lake or visit here to view and order from the Chamber of Commerce. Note to chamber: you have Garry (as Gary) misspelled on your website. You can hire me to proof anytime.
http://www.saranaclake.com/carnivalbuttons.shtml

So, my poll is not going so well. I'm the only responder at this point. Rather pathetic. I was reading another lady's blog and she was talking about how only 2400 readers had stopped in the day before. Wow! A high readership day for my "blob" is in the double digits. I get excited. And hey it's not quantity I write for - I have some HIGH quality readers out there and that is why I do it.

My pal M-A was talking about her Facebook and how she feel that it is bit of an egocentric exercise. Blogging is a bit of that too I guess. I do it more or less keep a journal of daily life and I like sharing good pics when I have the time. M-A is supposed to invite me to be her friend or whatever that is they do on Facebook - I'll check that out too.

My dad's health continues to improve with each passing day. Here he is sitting in front of the wood stove chatting with Mary on the phone tonight. We are all looking forward to spring so he can get outside a little more. We talked of hiking on the mountain behind the house. Hopefully he will be strong enough for that in the spring. And that is part of the good January happenings.

I realized tonight that I have not been at Life Flight to volunteer since last year. No wonder woe is me... LOL I do some long distance volunteer work when I can but it's not the same. In February I will hopefully do a road trip with Coco and go up and do some good work.