New York Trip- Yankees Game And A Flat

As part of the celebrations of Brooklyn and Ruth's birthdays we took in a Yankee game. Now, let's pause for a second and just admire my wide circle of friends, the diversity and charm. Yes, it's true, I'm friends with Yankee fans. More than one!

Ruth has a job with connections (of the non-mob variety) and as a perk she can go to Yankees games a few times a year. It is always a crap-shoot as to what kind of seats you will get. Last time we were along the 3rd base line and about 25 rows up. Pretty good. But that was nothing compared to this time! This time we were spoiled rotten. A fitting final visit to the hallowed halls of Yankee Stadium before they tear it down this winter. This time we were ushered behind the barricades to a private entrance. We didn't have wait in line, get stepped on, wind through long security lines and up the endless concourse ramps. Nope, no riff-raff mingling for us- we got a private entrance with friendly staff greeting us, a brief wait in a plush lobby before a ride up a private elevator- with an operator. Seriously, we had an operator for our elevator. Ha!Our seats were just over from where the press sits, directly beside home plate on the 3rd base line. This photo was taken using no zoom. That's our view. Also, our seats were cushioned and we had a waitress who brought us our orders of bad-for-us food and treats. A waitress- we were fancy-pants indeed.

The Yankees won- no good for me, but a nice birthday present for Ruth. And then we headed back towards Queens. This is where our night took a little detour.

While driving at speed along the Cross Bronx a little before midnight Ruth's tire blew. We were right by an exit and opted to ride on the flat to the top of the ramp rather than risk death on the Cross Bronx. There are worse places to break down, but you'd be hard pressed to name one. I am very glad that there were three of us together and that Ruth wasn't on her own.

We called for roadside assistance, but it was going to be an hour. Great. We were at a good spot, off the ramp, beside the road, protected from traffic. Morrigan, a champion tire changer, decided to try changing the tire rather than wait. We agreed and set to work. As Morrigan began to work her tire-changing mojo we were approached by a man who did not have a reassuring appearance. He politely asked if we needed a hand and proceeded to wrench the last lug nut loose for us. He wished us good luck and wandered away. Several cars, a mini van and a motorcycle stopped to ask if we were OK and offer advice about 24-hour tire places, gas stations and delis in the area. The rest of the cars just rolled by not bothering us in any way. The only surprise about who didn't stop? The Episcopal Church van- thanks, guys. At least they weren't from the Good Samaritan church... geez. As usual, the good and best of the human nature and New York in particular was on display rather than the worst.

Morrigan got the flat changed out in about 30 minutes. It would have probably taken her about 10 but we had the world's worst jack. Ever.

Wanna see where we broke down?Irony, thy name is Bronx.

New York Trip- The Met

Lordy, Lordy, people, it was a crazy awesome week this past seven days. First, Morrigan and I went down to New York to visit Ruth and Brooklyn for their birthdays. Keeping my nearly unemployed budget in mind we went to The Met. I had never been - I know, shocking!- and we had a blast. The art was amazing- of course. The place is huuuuge, and the architecture of the actual Met is pretty cool.

We saw the Greek and Roman sculptures and then went across to the Temple of Dendur. It was very, very, very cool. I love Egyptology and it was very amazing to see all of the artifacts and the temple and tombs. The mummies were fascinating, and the blue hippo was so darn cute I wanted to take him home. The temple has all sorts of carved grafitti from where people visited the temple over the last 300 years. Napoleon's troops and wealthy Brits and other Europeans on holiday carved their names and dates into the temple.

It is sort of weirdly cool to see someone took the time to carve- quite nicely I might add- their name and date into a piece of stone in Egypt so far from home. On the other hand, they defaced this gorgeous temple. Caring not at all that to scratch their own name into stone they obliterated a history deeper and more important than theirs could ever be.

I even found a poem about it by Shane George. He, too came to The Met and saw the Temple and was both fascinated and annoyed by these graffiti artists of another era.

Next we took a spin through the Superhero Fashion exhibit which was nothing of what I expected. Cool, but I wasn't dying to linger there.

We did a quick sprint through the American wing, but it was mostly under construction. Then we toured the modern art section. It was a mix of things that were amazing and things that make me say, is that art? Seriously, art? There was a giant, two-storey high painting of Chairman Mao. It was very impressive. This is me as Chairman Mao's tie. Unfortunately taken with Ruth's blackberry, so it's teeny. But funny.





They had an exhibit of Jeff Koons work- on the roof of The Met. So up we went. Did you know they have a little cafe up there and you can enjoy a beer or a glass of wine on the roof of the Met, surrounded by art and with a view of New York skyline and with Central Park laid out below your feet? Yeah, you can.









Jeff Koons work was very funky and cool. Definitely the kind of thing where I'm not totally sold on it, but the balloon dog was incredible. I loved that. And my favorite arty photo of the trip was the skyline of New York reflected in the red heart with the couple posing in front of it caught in reflection.

Then we did a quick turn through the Turner exhibit. I am a fan of Turner, but the other ladies were not lovin' it. We tried to see as much as we could of the European masters, but by far it was the most crowded wing. We couldn't get anywhere near Degas or Monet, but we did see part of the exhibit and it felt surreal. I always feel that way when I see paintings that are so familiar but you've never actually seen them. Van Gogh's sunflowers and self portrait and haystacks, Monet's waterlillies, Matisse's dancing figures, a greatest hits of dorm posters and framed posters from early apartments. Sometimes its downright difficult to comprehend that you are seeing the original, the one that was lovingly create by the artist and not just another print.

It can also be hard to see because I'm 5'3" on a good day and often wind up being stepped on and elbowed in the head in large crowds. Blargh.

At that point we had to pack it in for the day because we had tickets to the Yankees game that night. More on that later!

A Little Vintage

Way back in April I visited one of my favorite indoor flea markets and found two nearly perfect small table cloths. I had been looking for something that would be 'springy' and change the colors in my living room from the more wintry oranges and reds to something bright and fun for summer.

I think both cloths were hand embroidered by the same person. Not only did I find them in the same bin but they just had a look that paired them up. Personally, I am not particularly talented with an embroidery needle and am impressed that someone could put all this work in and have it turn out so great.

They are both smaller squares, perhaps intended to drape an entry table, bedside table or even card table. (They aren't the little bridge table covers you sometimes find, though.) The first one has four embroidered baskets filled with flowers, one in each corner, with a pretty circle embroidered in the middle. The edge has been crocheted with pink and white thread.
The second cloth has yellow and purple flower bunches in each corner. There is also a criss-cross pattern of purple stitches that make a grid and the edges have been crocheted with yellow, purple and white thread.Not the best pictures I've ever taken, but you get the idea. I added these two to my living room, one on the entry table where I throw my keys and the other on a small table in the bay window with a lamp and some tchotchkes. They have been very cheerful and bright all summer long, just what I wanted.

I think Darcel and I might hit this flea market on Sunday- it's indoors and we will probably wimp out on the outdoor flea market this week! We're fragile blossoms. Delicate blooms...

Some Berkshires Summer Fun

On Saturday Darcel and I took a little day trip up into the Berkshires. We got our culture on by paying a visit to the Norman Rockwell Museum. The museum was pretty interesting and a nice size- not huge, but not small. There were a lot of visitors and there was a lot of bumping into people and having them trod on your toes as they checked out various paintings, but since its a Saturday in the summer we couldn't complain too much. It was amazing how many of the Rockwell paintings you know without ever making a study of it. They really are a part of the subconscious, a part of American culture that is familiar to so many.

They had an art installation of garden gates on the grounds. Various artists created fantastical garden gates and you strolled the grounds and saw them along the way. They were very cool and many of them were available for sale. You could have your own awesome garden gate at home!

We then drove into the town of Stockbridge for a little luncheon. A nice lunch at a local pub, some window shopping downtown and a wine tasting followed by a bit more window and book shopping and we were ready to go.

We headed further out into the hills to the Furnace Brook Winery. It is a stone's throw to the New York border, just about as far west as you can go in Massachusetts. We each wound up buying a bottle of the sparkling cider, it's a little different and incredibly delicious. It will come in handy for this weekend's Tour de France celebrations with Roma.

Finally we made a little stop at the Lee Outlets. A total bust, there was nothing, nothing, nothing, except a Coach bag I couldn't afford at all anyway. Heh.

It was a great, relaxing Saturday and we had a lot of fun. It was also kind to my budget which I love. A full day with unlimited fun but that fun not being based on spending a bunch of cash.

Here are some of the garden gates from the Rockwell Museum:

A few weeks ago I started a little project into finding things to clean more 'green'. The number of chemicals that are in most of our daily cleaners is enough to really scare the average human. The thought of them in our water and environment when they don't maybe need to be compelled me to try and find some not-very-expensive and yet effective alternatives. My budget does not have a lot of room to indulge in some fantasy quest to use super fancy imported cleaning products that come in pretty bottles.

This one, is a toilet bowl cleaner made by major manufacturer, Clorox. It is a branch of their company called Green Works. So, that does two things for me; one, the name is one I know even if I don't really know the name 'Green Works' and the other is that I am hoping that Clorox is putting out a product that actually cleans. So, given those two factors- plus the decent price I gave it a try.

The ingredients are all natural and biodegradable. The fact that is not animal tested really pleased me!













I've used the product now for about 2 months and I've been very happy. The liquid is thick and clings to the side of the bowl which makes cleaning easy. I live in an old building and rust stains from the pipes are a battle, and this has really kept them at bay. I haven't noticed any lack of cleaning power.

The ingredients are mostly citrus based. There is coconut and lemon oil and citric acid. There is no bleach and no big long chemicals that I can't say aloud. When I've used it, it's a nice citrus smell and no cloud of chemical fumes- a bonus in bathroom cleaning.

One of my problems with attempting any sort of green cleaning in the past has been that the prices were so premium. You always have to go looking at fancy boutiques or in the fancy section of the grocery store (oxymoron, but you know what I mean) and then you paid more for less, not to mention that you weren't very sure that the product would actually clean. This one was a decent price, just $2.59 at my local large store with the bullseye. If you've been thinking about trying some new clean green product, I would recommend this one. Any that you have found and liked?

A Belated Post On The Fourth

So this is whole post is late, but since I never promised anything approaching a timely chronology you will just have to suffer the indignity of the tardy post.

On the 4th of July I met up with my friend Morrigan, her husband Thor, her dad (McDad) and daughter Pixie, at a local farm. We have a membership and get all sorts of goodies grown fresh and local. In addition, you get a chance to pick flowers, visit the chickens and farm dogs, and shop in the little farm store.

Morrigan spent a few years working in a floral shop in high school and that has really paid off. Check out this knock-out bouquet she put together while wandering the pick-your-own flower section!

It was a chilly, damp day with showers in the morning, but they had cleared up enough that we could wander the farm without getting soaked. It made for a few pretty pictures with the flowers having raindrops on them, even if it made for more mucky ground to walk on. It's only dirt and we all know how to shower. Later that evening the big thunderstorms would roll through and wipe out our fireworks display. But they're rescheduled for next week, so while not as timely or festive it is a great chance to get together with friends and the community anyway. They've taken the rain delay as a chance to plan something special and there is going to be a whole town festival with game booths and food and competitions for the kids- that's taking lemons and making lemonade for sure!




Another fleur. I just love the bright colors!














Pixie is awesome. She is a girly mcsuper girly who likes pink dresses, fancy, sparkly shoes and jewelry who also climbs trees, catches newts, hikes and eats all her veggies. What a delightful combo. Here, she can be seen demonstrating a little of both sides of her personality. She's got on her pink sun dress, along with clear sparkly jellie shoes that I bought her, and she's covered in mud from her enthusiastic strawberry, flower and bean picking efforts. Mussed, but with no fuss.

It was a great way to spend a couple of hours with friends without a lot of hustle and bustle. We got lots of goodies and we had beautiful bouquets of flowers to show for our efforts.

Getting Rid Of Mouse- Easy Style

Last night I went to get a drink of water before heading to bed. I walked into the kitchen, flipped on the light and poured myself the beverage. As I went to close the fridge a sudden movement startled me as a mouse ran across the top of my stove and leaped behind the fridge. I did not scream like a pansy-ass, but I did sort of give a garbled muffled shriek as I levitated backwards about 3 feet.

I am not afraid of mice. But I do not approve of them being in my home. Last fall Darcel had the same problem and I received a frantic late night call on the subject. I walked her through my mother's patented method of mouse capture and disposal and she was thrilled. Since I have to do the same thing tonight I figured I would go ahead and post a little anti-mouse tutorial. With pictures.

I know, you're excited, brace yourself!

Here are the items you need: Any kind of paper bag- a lunch sac is great, a mouse trap of the snap variety, peanut butter and a knife.


1. Get your snap style mouse trap (although I suppose other varieties could be used).2. Put a smudge of peanut butter on the trigger. In this case the trigger is a plastic piece that looks like cheese, but sometimes it's just a little metal tray.
3. Set the trap. Watch your fingers, this is the dangerous moment. I had a piece fly loose on one of these today and do some damage to my thumb. It didn't snap on me, thank God, but it inflicted some hurtin' anyway. They aren't exactly the most high quality product every made.
4. Open lunch sac/brown paper bag.
5. Holding the sides of the mouse trap with all fingers and palms well way from the potentially snapping trap, gently place the mouse trap in the bag. Just half way in is enough.
6. Using a knife, gently push the trap into the middle of the bag.
7. Carefully pick up the bag with two hands, keeping it level and put wherever you want to try and catch the mousey.
8. Check the bag in the morning and if you have caught your mouse, then pick up the bag, fold over the top and take it out to the trash.

The beauty of this method is that you never have to touch, or even really look directly at the dead mouse. At $1.47 for four traps I am more than happy to just chuck the trap out with the mouse still in it. The paper bag does not scare or deter the mouse at all, they walk right in and go for the peanut butter, so don't worry about that. The other advantage to the bag method is that you won't accidentally trigger it with your foot or forget that it is there and it can keep dumb dogs and curious cats out in most cases.

OK, so go on and catch any pesky mice that have wandered into your abode. I hope that I can catch mine tonight!

Sweet Treat

I got a little care package in the mail the other day. Inside was a t-shirt from a very unlikely place, and some candy from a friend. The candy was Skittles. I can't remember the last time I bought myself a package of Skittles. I'm just not that much of a candy person. Ice cream is an entirely different story, but candy, eh. Perhaps it is the irony of growing up where the streetlights are shaped like Kisses- I don't care about candy...


In any case, I smuggled my care package treat into the movies and noshed away while watching Wall-E. Yuuuuum. I loved the green and yellow ones best. The citrus is always my favorite, even if its that funky fake citrus taste unique to candy.

I forgot how delicious these are!

Fields Of Flowers

In a perfect moment of overlapping needs, my friends needed a hand with their little boy and their shop and I had free time and a need for finances! Don't you just love it when that happens?

Anyway, it was a gorgeous, gorgeous day here today. The sky was a blue bowl, the air was cooler and less humid and the sun was bright. My friend, Zeb, came to pick me up and we took a short drive through the countryside to a farm. There we did a little shopping and picked strawberries and flowers.

The strawberries are the very last of the season, but so delicious. We ate more than a few while we picked. The strawberries were hot from the sun and so sweet they tasted like jam rather than just the berries.

The flowers were beautiful with vivid colors and the rows seemed to stretch endlessly towards the horizon . There were several that I did not know the name of as well as; Bachelor's Buttons, Snapdragons, a few early Zinnias - and I could see buds on many plants- more flowers to come!

The bees were busy, buzzing around from flower to flower. Given the horrible colony collapse problems, I'm always glad to see one of these guys doing their job. In this case there were lots of bees around, all intent on their jobs and not in the least interested in the humans wandering the fields.

I also spotted a few ladybugs climbing around the flowers. They were mostly quite shy and not excited to get their pictures taken. Figures, you know girls.

After we gathered up all our goodies Zeb and I headed back to his house. His wife, Zippy, was entirely happy to hand over her munchkin, Zo. He is just a year and a total handful. He has the temper of a Irish redhead! He can be quite the temperamental handful, but today he was an angel. We played and laughed all afternoon (no more ticklish baby ever existed). When he fought his nap and was cranky-pants I popped him in the stroller and went for a nice long, shady walk.

I finished the day off with a totally local dinner! I had an omlette (sort of- I'm not so swift with the omlette) made of local eggs, local asparagus, local dill, local goat cheese and local hothouse tomatoes! So delicious!

A Quick Visit

My mother made a quick visit this weekend. She came to pick up her new Akita from the breeders. This is going to be her final Akita since she's getting a smidge older now and in another 10 years or so a big, strong dog will not be a good match for her. So she hunted and hunted to find just the right dog to be her last Akita and she found her! She is a beautiful, smart and sweet little pup and I am sure she will be a good dog.
Isn't she sweet?

We picked her up on Sunday morning and drove to my cousin's soccer match. He's just four so it was very cute. He did a great job as goalie and stopped several balls. He was not so strong on defense because, just like all the other kids, he leaves his post and runs up to where the action is. His mom, my cousin, is the coach and she ran up and down the field tirelessly yelling and pointing and encouraging all the kids. Very fun!

Then it was off to another cousin's house for a Father's Day BBQ. There were approximately 4.7 million children there. They had even rented a jumpy house to keep them all busy. Thankfully the weather was gorgeous and the kids loved running around, playing with the new puppy and stuffing their faces. So did the adults.

A great day!

Also, my mother says that the mystery tree in the front yard is, "...some kind of Chestnut..." So maybe we have our answer! She's smart about plants.

Mystery Tree

In my front yard there lives a mystery tree.

I know a little about plants, but not a lot and this one is a total mystery to me!

It looks like a shrub that thinks its a tree. It doesn't have one solid trunk but rather several smaller ones that are kinda welded together. It does not have big branches, just loads and loads of smaller branches.

In the winter the leaves fall off and there is nothing but trunk and branches, but come spring this thing busts out like there is no tomorrow.

The mystery tree blossoms with a profusion of white flowers. Four long, skinny petals cluster around a little yellow center and the sweet aroma is overpowering. There are many, many flowers in clusters. The whole tree actually looks shaggy!

I thought it was some kind of honeysuckle, given the look of the flowers and the sweet, sweet smell, but I haven't seen anything on the interwebs that looks like this. Most say that it is a smaller shrub, but this thing is massive.

Mystery tree stands about 20 feet high and 30 feet across, far larger than the listings of 8-10 feet.

As I took photos I spotted a robin. He was very pretty among the white flowers but he was most suspicious of my camera and me. He eyed me carefully and fluttered from branch to branch trying to avoid me. No such luck, bird, no such luck.

So if anyone has any bright ideas as to what this mystery tree is, let me know. I search the interwebs for knowledge until then.

Summer Morning

Oy, so Wednesday has found me making the early morning trek to the Home of Fiddle and Faddle (HOFF). As mentioned before, it is almost an hour drive. This week the sun was a little higher in the sky since we're still heading into the heart of summer. There were virtually no clouds in the sky so the brilliant morning colors did not last long before turning to bright blue and pure sun. Summer really has come to the Valley and it is gorgeous, even at my crankiest morning hour.

The yellow rays of the sun slanted over the tops of the trees and across the fields. Freshly furrowed, the rich soil looked perfect.






Parts of the forest areas was still quite dark, but as I topped the hills the sun would burst through.







My drive-by photography does no justice to how beautiful the apple orchards are. Row after row of trees, the branches twisted and gnarled, green leaves still in the morning. The tall, unmown grass is wet with dew and glittering in orange and yellow light.