Melody Helps Decorate

Well, not really, but she gave my Fall Decor the pawprint of approval.

Jamie and Katherine birthdays

Jamie turned 29 years old on November 1st. Alas, he had to work (but then again, time and a half for Sunday) but we had his special 'scungilli' dinner on Saturday night. It's his favorite! I also made a delicious shrimp dish. I gave Jamie a personalized blender to make his protein shakes. He seems to be enjoying it.

Jamie is another one who is hard to 'catch' with a camera. Here he is on his first plane ride, back in 2003:

Today is actually Katherine's birthday. We've had a nice time shopping and she is coming by for "Western Hospitality Casserole" tonight. It's her favorite! Earlier today, though, we stopped at our favorite Japanese restaurant, Aki, for lunch:

Aki serves a beautiful Bento box lunch. I actually brought half mine home for Jamie!

So this is the last birthday in this house until we start again in January with mine!

My oldest is 33

We took Michael to Catfish Annie's for his 33rd birthday on Sunday. Katherine was there, too, along with Megan, John, Noreen and John Joseph. Michael really enjoyed his twin lobster dinner!

Michael showed me pictures of the costumes he and Megan wore at a recent Renaissance Fair. They looked amazing! I wish I had a copy to print here. Oh, well, here's a picture of Michael at age 2:

Beautiful Fall

Fall is my favorite season, as I've said and posted a million times. Here is one reason why:

This is the view from behind my house around twilight yesterday. I wish the photo caught the sunlight on the
tree better. The leaves are an amazing orangey-red.

No Hurricane, Happily

Hurricane Joaquin turned out to sea, happily for us in the Northeast. We did get some bad rain, and in the Carolinas they had terrible flooding due to what someone called a "thousand year storm." My sister Susan and her husband Neal drove up from Georgia to visit their daughter and grandson in Pennsylvania. Susan said they took a very roundabout way to avoid the flooding. Happily, they made it North with no real problems. Susan is taking our  mother to a wedding in Ohio next weekend.

As you can see, I did get my Halloween decorations out. My couch is full of Fall and Halloween pillows. This picture is of my hutch. The very top shelf just has some containers for which I crocheted Autumn colored covers. Next shelf is squirrels and acorns and apples. Owls are in the middle and kitty cats are on the bottom. I like themed groupings!

Hurricane Prep

We're getting ready for the possibility that Hurricane Joaquin might hit over the weekend. There's gas for the generator and plenty of food. Mike is going to get some propane for the barbecue, although we do have some fuel already.

I have lots of Halloween decor to put out, which will give me plenty to do if we lose power. One good thing is that this is happening a month earlier than Sandy, which means we might not freeze at night.

If we're lucky, Joaquin will take a turn out to the ocean!

Visiting Mom, continued

One of the fun things we did after Martha got back was to go to a little place called Pumpkinville. It is the oldest working pumpkin farm in New York (and might be in the USA). Of course there were pumpkins, but there were also sheds decorated to be little shops, each with its own theme. There was one for apples, one for maple products, a gift shop, etc. There were also places to buy food, fun rides for kids (Martha let Tommy play for a while on a big, bouncy pillow thing.) and best of all (to me, at least!) a petting zoo. Tommy wasn't too keen on the pony, but he loved the goats! He kept hugging them and saying "Hello, my goat friend!" Tommy, who is my grand nephew, is only 2 1/2 and a total kick.

Visiting Mom

Mike and I just got back from a 5-day visit with my mother, who is living with my sister and her husband, upstate. We had a nice visit and it was good to see her. She's still pretty 'with-it,' although very slow in her movements and somewhat forgetful. Example: trying to heat something up in the microwave for 11 minutes, because she pressed an extra 0. I'm glad she is not on her own and has my sister and bil to care for her. Mom's main complaint is boredom. The house is very far from the next neighbor, and both my sister and bil work all day. As I understand, though, she'll be heading down to Georgia with my other sister in a few weeks. There are more neighbors there, which should make her happy.

Here we are having lunch (we both got turkey and stuffing) at Perkin's. Not the best picture, but I doubt selfies ever are!

T-Bone

Here is a picture of T-Bone with a Fruit Loop on his head, just because.

From My Garden

I'm so glad Mike had a big garden dug for me in our backyard! We've been enjoying tomatoes all summer
long!

Aunt Mary

Wrote this Monday and forgot to hit "publish"!

My cousin Kathy has been to visit our Aunt Mary and says she looks good. She has a new haircut and perm and is looking forward to visiting her 'good looking doctor.'
Today is Labor Day. Michael is coming for dinner. I have ribs, burgers and a shrimp dish I want to make--although the ribs in the oven might make a difference on the shrimp. We'll see.

Update--the ribs and shrimp were delicious! I would definitely make the shrimp again, it was so easy.
Michael enjoyed dinner with us and went home with tomatoes and peppers from my garden.

More AC

Atlantic City is the only place we go without family, unless John, Nor and John Joseph go, too. Most vacations are spent visiting Mom. So we really enjoy the relaxing time with no obligations.

I'm pretty close to being a slots addict and it's pretty good we don't go that often. I was actually up on the first day:

Ended up with nearly $200, but over the next day and a half I put it all back in and lost all but $5. But we have a strategy that we are trying to get comp points, which will mean a free room next time. So I don't mind. But next time I'm going to try a slightly different strategy. Mike said every time he won big he got off that machine and went to another, so he was able to make his money last longer. I'll do the same in the future.

Mike took me to a place up high where you can get a really good view from the windows:

I love the colorful umbrellas!

We also saw a Coast Guard ship, and some fighter jets in the sky. Got the ship but the jets were too fast.

I hope we get to go in November, maybe for our anniversary. I also hope traffic coming home isn't as bad as this time--jams added an hour to our return trip!

Atlantic City Again

Spent a few days in AC after a nice overnight visit with our friend Virginia. We've known Virginia since high school. She made schnitzel for dinner with mashed potatoes and it was really good. She lives alone in a really nice little house so we had a nice room to sleep in Sunday night.

Monday we took off for AC but first we stopped at a cute place Virginia told us about. It's called Smithville and it is a collection of cute little shops and places to eat made to look like an old-fashioned village. Mike and I had lunch there and I bought a few things, including a carved wooden squirrel and some Thanksgiving decorations. It's pretty close to AC, so if we get to go again in November (as I hope to do) I want to stop there and do some Christmas shopping. Some of the shops were a little pricey, but for the most part I thought everything was very reasonable. 

AC was lots of fun, but I only hit the Boardwalk in the evening because it was so hot. I enjoyed the slots and at one point had doubled my money. But I just kept putting it back in to help build up comp points. Our room was free this time because of the points we earned on our last visit. Well, sort of free, because there are always fees, but even then it only worked out to about $30 a night.We didn't have any food comps, so we avoided the hotel restaurants. A buffet is $27, and I sure can't eat that much food!

There were a few surprises, too. Miss America was there with the 52 contestants. They were all on bleachers on the Boardwalk and the current Miss America made a little speech. She was very pretty, of course.

We got to see a Boardwalk Parade that seemed to be about military, but I'm not sure what the theme was. It was fun to watch and even had some Civil War reenactors. There were also a few vets from WWII--not many of those guys left, I think!

The other cool thing is that the Blue Devils were practicing maneuvers so we got to see some jets doing fancy loop-de-loops and flybys. The coolest was when a jet got really close to the water and then shot up into the air, They leave and exhaust trail that looks amazing.

Speaking of Aunts

I found out yesterday that my mother's sister-in-law, my Aunt Barbara, passed away. She had been in and out of ill health for a long time. She was a very sweet lady, married to my mother's only brother, Bob.

So now it's just my mother, Aunt Mary, Aunt Mubby (Marilyn), and Uncle Bob of that generation of my family. My father's only brother, Uncle Larry, died a few years ago and Dad has been gone for nearly 30 years now.

In a number of years, Mike and I (and our sibs and in-laws) will be the oldest generation in our families. Mike only has his Uncle Jimmy.

It's a weird thought. I want my Mom to live to 100 but she doesn't want to live that long.

On a happier note, we are off to visit my good friend Virginia, and then we're spending 2 days in Atlantic City. Should be fun!

Aunt Mary

My Aunt Mary is my  mother's older sister. She never married and cared for their mother until Grandma Hoffer died at age 96, in 1996. Aunt Mary moved into her own apartment, but after a number of years she wasn't able to stay there.

She moved into an assisted living place a few years ago. It's a very nice place and probably unbelievably expensive. But while there, she fell and broke her pelvis. So she had to be in another area of the place where she was bedridden for quite a long time. She got through that, but when we went to visit her last year we could see she was a bit out of it. Still sharp-witted and smart when she could hear you, but like with my mother, you have to speak clearly and loudly.

So I got an email from my older sister Susan, who is her power of attorney. Sue is going up there to help with paperwork. She says Aunt Mary's kidneys and other organs are shutting down, and she is in comfort care right now. So it's just a matter of time.

I have too many fond memories of my Aunt to go into now, but if I get a chance I will record them in the future. She is a woman worth remembering.

Pizza Dough

It is incredibly beautiful out today, and there is no need for the A/C so I decided to break out the bread machine and make pizza dough.

I think I cooked the first crust too long, although I did follow directions. I'll have to make a note on the recipe.

I tried a small piece. It's a little crusty but soft inside, so I can use it. I just have to remember not to reheat it for too long.

I took the second crust out 8 minutes earlier than this one, and it looks fine. I made a note to check the crust at 12 minutes even though the recipe says 20.

Mike and Penny

Katherine took this picture of Mike and out guinea pig, Penny. Sometimes I call her Penny Dreadful because she squeals all the time and poops on everyone.

Jess and Than's New York Wedding

Martha makes sure Mom and Nettie (Mar's mom-in-law) are comfy.

Netty made a speech that was very sweet, and happily, very short. Too many bugs outside!

Martha also made a speech:

THE BRIDE AND GROOM:

Before:

During:

Visit

Mike and I drove upstate this past weekend to attend a wedding at my sister's house. It was for my niece Jessica and her husband, Than. They were already married in Colorado but wanted to do something with the family. (Than is pronounced Tahn, rhyming with John.)
Meanwhile, it was also a chance to visit my siblings, some nieces and nephews, and most of all, Mom McNally. Since Mom now lives with my sister, I have 'inherited' a few things from the house she recently sold. "A few" isn't quite correct--the boxes, plus an old sewing machine, took up most of the back of Mike's car:

My sister Susan took this photo of Mom and me, the night before the wedding:

She looks good for 92! Susan and Martha both tell me she is really showing signs of her age. She is virtually blind and deaf, although if she hears you she can carry on a short conversation just fine. I don't think there's anything wrong with most of her brain. I'm still rooting for her to live to be 100.

New Babies

I was so happy when one of the raccoons stopped by last night with her 4 babies!

The crossbar on the chair is about 4 inches off the ground, so you can see how tiny this baby is!

Two of the babies sharing a biscuit.

On the Beach

This is Sunken Meadow, not Atlantic City. Mike and I took a walk along the water on Friday evening.

This is the time of day I love the beach, when most of the people have gone home and it is a little cooler. I hate crowds and heat!

We got a big kick out of this seagull, who came flying by with a crab in his mouth. He played with it for a while, but finally gave up. I guess he realized he couldn't eat it. Mike threw the crab back in the water to live another day.

Dinner in AC

On our last night in Atlantic City, we walked a little ways from the hotel and ate at the Longhorn Steakhouse. I had one of the best burgers ever! We really enjoyed ourselves and will certainly eat there again.

John Joseph has a kiss for his mom, Noreen.

On our way to the restaurant, we spotted a man playing saxophone. He had a sign that said: "all doggie bags appreciated," or something like that. So John Joseph wanted to pack up something for him to eat. Noreen things that's why he only ate half his burger.

Unfortunately, there was a big rainstorm and the man was no longer there. But it shows what a big heart my nephew has.

Mike and John.

Noreen's brother Tommy was also there.

John Joseph's birthday was coming up, and he really wanted a lizard. So his Uncle Tommy got him one from a boardwalk shop. It's an iguana and kind of cute, although who knows how big it will grow.

Here we are on our way to the parking garage. John Joseph is very happy with his lizard!

Atlantic City Again!

It's been a year since we visited Atlantic City, and I enjoyed being back there again. I found one particular slot machine that just seemed to pay out. I doubled my money several times, but we decided to put all the money back in so that we could earn a free room for our next visit. This time around John and Noreen used one of their comps for us.
It was a lot of fun, but so hot outside! I actually took a walk on the Boardwalk by myself, and was glad to go into any store for air-conditioning. The only things I bought, though, were salt water taffy, mints and 2 watches. One is purple, for me, and one is for my friend Patty, in pink. She had mentioned liking my pink watch from AC last year, so this year I got one for her. Both were only $10 each.

Here is one of the games I played:

As you can see, I won $22, on a $20 bet, doubling my money to almost $44. The funny thing is that I had luck on this machine last year, too!

I tried to space out my time on the slots by not carrying all my money with me. Having to go up to my room to get more was incentive to do other things, too, like the Boardwalk walk.

I also explored the hotel and found a nice sitting room with nobody in it, where I stopped and played games on my phone. I found a window looking down a street towards the Atlantic:

Mike and I hope to go back again soon!

Bird House Rescue

A few years ago I bought a bird house for a yard decoration. Recently I was surprised to see a tiny bird flying into it! What do you know, I look through the little opening and there is a nest!

So yesterday, I went to check the bird house and I was wondering if the top came off. Sometimes they are made like that. The trouble is the dumb birdhouse is old and rotted and the whole roof collapsed on it! 

Yes, there are baby birds inside. Tiny little things with gray feathers. So I put something over the top temporarily and hurry inside to get Mike. The two of us did our best to repair the six-sided roof with duct tape, then we taped it like crazy to the birdhouse. Meanwhile, the parents are freaking out.

I hope the house holds up until the babies fledge. They were sound asleep when I looked into the nest. I think there were 3 or 4 of them. They are barely an inch or two long. The parents are about 4 inches, maybe less. 

As far as I can tell, they are some kind of wren. But I can't find a picture that looks like them! I've never seen them in my backyard before and they aren't listed among Long Island's birds.

All I know is, I'm going to get some better birdhouses for next year; ones made with weather-proof materials. I've even heard that bird will make houses in big gourds!

TODAY: went out to lunch with Mike, John, Noreen and little John. Stopped at the cemetery first and put crocheted blue and red flowers on my Dad's grave, plus Mike Sr.'s and Marta's.

Came home and sat in the backyard watching to see if the birds are still using the bird house. I think they might be, because they are nearby. I'm just hoping we didn't scare them too much.

One of them was perched on the fence behind my house making chipping noises. The funny thing is that I stood there for a while making kissy noises at it and it didn't fly away! 

Mike is 61

Today was Mike's 61st birthday. We met John, Noreen, little John, Uncle Jimmy, Rob (cousin), Tommy (Nor's brother), Michael and Jamie at Texas Roadhouse. Mike got prime rib for his dinner, with a salad to start.

We had to sit at 2 tables because there were 10 of us, or else wait for seating. We were all hungry so we took the separate tables and just passed things across the aisle.

Mike says he is looking forward to next year, when he can start to collect social security!

Father's Day 2015

Mike started his day at John and Noreen's house, where he enjoyed all kinds of seafood, including softshell crab. Then he came home and had lobster with Michael and me.

He said he'd eaten more seafood today than he can ever remember.
My kids could not have asked for a better father!

Recital

Our nephew, John Joseph had a recital with his school orchestra yesterday. He looked really cute playing the violin--so serious! Unfortunately, he was too far away to get a picture. He's only in the fourth grade, so the music wasn't exactly melodious, but you could see how much the kids had practiced this past year!

Afterwards, we went to a restaurant called Mike's Place for dinner. We had to go a roundabout way to get there--a robbery had taken place at the local Home Depot and there was a big chase that ended in an accident. There are only 2 roads into the town where my bil lives with his family, and one was completely blocked off. Fortunately, John knew the back way to the restaurant.

I had a really good hamburger and fries, plus a salad. And I probably ended up eating too many chicken wings!

My sister-in-law, Noreen. She had her hair curled for a wedding she is attending with her whole family in Connecticut this weekend for her niece.

Memorial Day

Michael came over to have Memorial Day barbecue with us. The other kids, unfortunately, had to work. Michael made chicken wings and we also had steak, macaroni salad and cole slaw. Very enjoyable!

A New Garden

Mike, Jamie, Nick and I all worked to put together a new vegetable garden in our backyard. The boys helped last week by setting up railroad ties around an area we had dug out when a new cesspool was put in. The guy with the backhoe turned over a 12 x 20 patch of land. There were a lot of rocks to deal with (still are) and it was really muddy work last Saturday, so I couldn't go inside to get my camera.

This past Saturday, Mike and I put in the plants: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and more. Mike dug holes and I planted.

I never have any luck growing things, but this area gets plenty of sunlight, so I'm hoping for a good crop this year!

The Day Before Mother's Day

The kids cooked both lunch and dinner for me today, since Nick and Katherine and James have to work tomorrow.

Nicky made me ranch chicken for lunch. It was delicious! The chicken was very, very tender.

(Those aren't the ingredients in the background, LOL!)

Then Michael and Katherine came by later to make a dinner that Michael created himself. It was shrimp in a sauce made with gruyere cheese over homemade noodles. Michael made the noodles himself! He put Katherine and James to work as 'sous' chefs. Jamie peeled the shrimp, but I didn't get a picture.

Michael said if he had been into cooking when he still lived here, he would have made dinner for us every night. I wish I could hire him, LOL!

Michael thought there would be leftovers, but it was so good there was only the tiniest bit of sauce left!

After, Katherine made up some strawberries, whipped cream and pound cake.

I could not have had a more delicious day! Oh, and on top of that, last night Mike took me to the Chinese buffet!

A Day Out

I went to Port Jefferson with Mike today. He was there for a job, and I walked around and did a little shopping. It was a gorgeous blue day with temps in the mid 70s. There was a good number of people there, but not as crowded as it will be after Memorial Day. I bought a few things and all the shop keepers couldn't have been nicer. I found a yarn shoppe and bought 2 skeins to make socks with in the future. They even gave me a free magazine. I looked at it in the car while waiting for Mike to be finished.

This is the view near where you would pick up the ferry to Connecticut.

Quasimodo Squirrel

There is a little squirrel who comes into my back yard and he is the saddest thing. I call him "Quasimodo" because he has a strangely deformed face. He has a malocclusion and one of his teeth is way too long. I don't think his jaw closes correctly.
Anyway, I saw how he struggles with the in-shell peanuts we throw out, so we got some cheap peanuts out of the shell for him. He runs to me when I come out because he knows I have peanuts for him.

He tilts his head so he can chew. Other than his jaw problems, he seems healthy and survived the winter, so I think he's here for the long-haul.

Speaking of animals, something strange happened last night. I woke up hearing something like a bird in distress. Nicky had his window open so he heard it, too. It was like the sound a bird might make if it was caught and trying to get away from something. I went out into my backyard with a flashlight and also heard something like grunting or growling. I couldn't find anything at all. This morning I looked around the area where the sound seemed to have originated, but there was no evidence of a struggle. I thought I'd see feathers or something. This all happened at one in the morning, when birds aren't even out. So I'm not sure the squealing I heard was from a bird. I have no idea what it could have been, but it sure sounded like an animal attack!

A/C

We had a new A/C installed yesterday. I went outside to make a phone call to get Mike back home and saw this little guy across the street:

Puppy Hunt

Katherine and I spent the morning together, which included a visit to two places for puppies. I did not find what I was looking for, but had a lot of fun fussing over the available puppies and feeding koi fish and a turtle

Here is Katherine feeding some crazy fish.

This is me with some smooshy-soft puppies.

I love them all and would like to take them all home, if I could! But I'm in the market for a chihuahua girl, or a chi-mix girl. At my age, I want what I want. No dog will ever replace Shadow, but there is room in my heart now after nearly a year for a new baby in the house. 

There were some awesome aquarium fish, too:

We followed the pet adventure with a trip to a cool thrift store. I didn't find much this time but did get a nice red and white checkered tablecloth and an American scarf. Even better, I got a handmade frog wearing a dress. She was so funny I had to get her, LOL!

Afterwards, we went to a diner for lunch. I got a hot turkey sandwich that had enough food on the plate to feed four people, so I brought most of it home. It was delicious! 

Sunday Barbecue

Michael came by for a Sunday Barbecue today. Katherine had been at Coney Island, so she came a bit later. (She was stuck in traffic for 2 hours!)
They are watching "Breaking Bad" in this picture:

We had London Broil, Cheese-and-Parsley sausage, corn on the cob and portobello mushrooms. Michael showed me how cooking the corn in it's husk on the barbecue makes it really good. Mike had brought the meat from the same place he gets meatballs most Sundays, and it was excellent.

A simple, but delicious, meal!