Archive for the ‘Just Saying’ Category
In this installment we’ll continue our journey through the huge crowds of people and make our way to visit the huge crowds of animals. I couldn’t possibly post all of the animal photos I took. The number and variety was amazing and the better-half made sure we saw each and every one of them. Here’s a montage:
‘Shave and a haircut.’
‘Llamas, I’m not a big fan.’
‘Clean as a whistle.’
‘Huge !!!’
If the Fair were held a little closer to our home I suspect we’d spend multiple days just roaming around the animal barns. Attending the many events where animals are displayed for judging would easily take an entire day. We were a little pickier this year in what we attended but as always because of my better-half’s love of pigs we took these pictures.
‘One happy pig.’
‘Many happy piglets.’
It’s now approaching the noon hour and we made our way to a small grandstand to watch the skillet throwing contest. I’m a big fan because the contest is a tongue-in-cheek throwback to the good old days of farm shows. I’ve captured a number of entrants as they tossed their skillets into the air but the last one was the big winner of the day. She was also the returning champion from last year’s Fair and to be as kind as possible she was more than a little scary.
‘Going . . . .’
‘Going . . . .’
‘ Gone !!!!, The winner and still champion.’
I took a quick picture of this guy who was either bored to death or just plain exhausted. He was sitting on his four wheeler with hundreds of people walking by and was dead asleep.
I knew exactly how he felt because it was the same malady that struck me as I sat listening to this Country and Western group while my better-half wandered around on her own shopping for more Fair junk.
My final installment from the Fair will be posted in two days and will include a variety of random shots taken throughout the day. Lots of food stops shopping kiosks, and hours of people watching. Come back to visit.
My body is talking to me this morning and it isn’t all that happy. Fryeburg Fair Day has come and gone for another year leaving us walking wounded behind. I’m going to post our Fair Day over the next few days because I have a lot of photos I’d like to share which should help give you a real feel for the place. The ride to Fryeburg was uneventful but the closer we got to the fairgrounds the more the traffic increased as you can see.
Being the simple person that I am I thought I’d start our day at the main entrance to the fairgrounds. This is one of the few events where I don’t mind paying a $10.00 entry fee. It’s worth every penny of that $.80 an hour it’s costing me. That’s a good deal anytime.
Yesterday was a day of smells. Twelve hours of smelly crowds, really smelly animals, and the aroma of deep fried everything. If you ever wanted to deep-fry a particular item, you could find a booth selling it here at the Fair. There’s nothing like the smell of old and hot cooking grease at 8:30 in the morning.
‘You don’t see signs like this too much anymore.’
If you like crowds this is the place to be. I’ve been coming to this event for seven years and my better-half for almost fifteen. In our opinion the crowd today is the largest either of us have ever seen. The fact that it’s Woodsmen Day is probably part of the explanation. It’s the day for axe throwing, log rolling, tree climbing, and an assortment of other events for the wannabe lumberjack. If you like beards and flannel shirts this is where you need to be.
I’m not sure exactly sure just how large the fairground is but with all of the campgrounds surrounding the place it must cover at least 100 acres or so. That’s an uneducated guess so those of you from Fryeburg who may be reading this shouldn’t get your panties in a knot if it’s a little inaccurate. To put it simply, the place is huge !!!!!
We normally start our visit with the area set aside for the little kids. Pony rides and small merry-go-rounds right next door to Old McDonald’s petting zoo. The little ones seem to love getting in there for a little "hands on" with the baby animals.
‘They love milking the plastic cow.’
Before doing anything else we stopped for our traditional Fair Day breakfast meal. A large order of greasy French Fries, vinegar, and ketchup will certainly get the old heart started on these cool Fall mornings. Another hour or so of wandering around is next on our agenda before we head for the animal barns. My better-half waits all year to return here to visit all of her animal friends. I swear she must have been born a farmer in a previous life. My next posting will offer up an assortment of animal pictures and a few other interesting events like the skillet toss.
That’s it for today, installment two will post in 2 days and if you have an interest in farm animals, stop back to visit.
I’m not entirely sure how to handle all this beautiful weather. I suppose this is what used to be called an “Indian Summer”. I don’t know why it’s so damn nice but I certainly intend to enjoy it.
The better-half and I decided to make a day of it after her early morning doctors appointment. She received loads of good news about her health which put us both in a great mood. As we were leaving the doctors office I had a brainstorm that was totally not something I would ever do. I spontaneously headed north from Portland to take her shopping in Freeport, Maine, known for it’s endless supply of outlet stores and L.L.Bean.
Freeport is a place I’ve always tried to avoid but I figured what the hell. I gave her control of our day and followed along like the good little boy that I am. We visited a thrift shop and a number of ridiculous tourist traps looking at all things Moose. Not only are the gifts a little lame the prices are ridiculous. I remember a time when visiting outlets meant cheaper than normal prices and it’s too bad that tradition has slowly faded away.
‘One of My Favorites’
We made the obligatory stop at L.L. Bean’s to look around a bit. It’s quite the place to visit but if you intend to shop there bring lots of credit cards. It’ll be a cold day in hell when I spend $90.00 for a pair of jeans or $350.00 for a plain brown leather bomber jacket. Insanity from the front door all the way through the huge building. I decided not to spend any money there and just cruised around the buildings and grounds snapping a few pictures.
As lunch time rolled around I was starving. We stopped at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that specializes in seafood and chowder. The better-half settled for clam chowder while I dug into a plate of fish & chips. It was incredibly good and that lunch stop became the best part of our day. We left feeling good and ready for a quick walk through town and then a long and leisurely ride home.
The remainder of the day was kind of blah. The weather was sunny but the day was what could be called "in between". The trees have started to change color but aren’t quite there yet for those vivid colors everyone loves. While it’s sunny it’s also very chilly verging on uncomfortable. We’ll have to try this trip again in a few weeks when the foliage is worth photographing. Her are a few blah photos from that ride home.
Just another day here in paradise. Hanging around waiting for the leaves to change and the snow to fly.
I’ve spent most of this Summer documenting my activities in the garden and elsewhere. It was fun for me and I always had plenty of things to do which supplied me with lots of material for posting. With Winter fast approaching material concerning my outside activities will become a little more difficult to find. That’s okay I guess if all you want to read is a continuous steam of snow stories and photographs of more snow. Believe me when I tell you I’m no snow bunny and while I like Winter and snow that doesn’t mean I want to be outside playing in it. That’s for other people to do and for me to talk about, photograph, and make fun of.
Useless Quote #1
“The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people.” Karl Marx
As most of you know I have a huge collection of material that contains nothing but thousands of facts about everything and nothing. This blog was initially created to share some of that totally useless information and I think it’s time to lay some silly, stupid, yet true facts on all of you once again.
Useless Quote #2
“High School is like a spork it’s a crappy spoon and a crappy fork, so in the end it’s just plain useless.” John Mayer
Here are ten items which might be considered a teaser for things to come. You can judge that for yourself.
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People magazine began it’s Sexiest Man Alive covers in 1985. The first man to be so named was none other than that calm and rational Mel Gibson.
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The first federal census in this country was conducted in 1790. A population of 3,929,625 which included 697,624 slaves was recorded in the seventeen existing states.
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There are roughly 47 billion chickens in the world (this fact is supplied primarily as a jab at my better-half). She’s been strong arming me for months to buy a few chickens. Not happening lovey.
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American Gothic, the famous Grant Wood painting was completed in 1930. The couple posing for the piece were his dentist and sister. I hope Mr. Wood was better looking than his sister.
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More than half a million gallons of water pour over Niagara Falls every second. An interesting factoid but who really cares?
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Peter Merholtz is credited for coming up with the term "blog". Never heard of him before and I suspect I’ll never hear about him again.
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The first US intercollegiate athletic competition took place in August of 1852. Yale competed against Harvard in a rowing contest. Yawn. . . . .!
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In Arizona it ‘s against the law to have more than two dildos in a house. Is there anyone out there who wants to move to Arizona anyway? I think I’ll stay right where I’m at.
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The average person in the U.S. eats more than 50 tons of food in his or her lifetime. I’ll bet 30% of this food was purchased from drive-thru’s.
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Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jesse Garon Presley, was stillborn. It could really have been interesting if his brother had survived. Just imagine two Elvis’s, what a duet that would have made.
Useless Quote #3
“You’re useless, I’m bored – yes or no” Simon Cowell
Everything you’ve always wanted to know about nothing in particular, right?. I hope to keep these tidbits coming on a regular basis throughout the winter between the snow storms. snow blowing, snow shoveling, and falling on my ass a few times.
I really do like the Fall of the year. It ends a rather busy season that I also enjoy but at times it’s a relief to see it end. The better-half and I finally decided to call it a day with the garden. We began the process of pulling up the plants and removing the fabric from the frames. Then delivering those plants to the compost pile for use as fertilizer two years from now.
The last cherry tomatoes were collected, the remaining cucumbers were picked and should keep us in salads for another week or so. I’ll miss them as I always do once the snow fly’s and because I’m not all that crazy about veggies shipped into the county from south of the border somewhere. Thanks for nothing Walmart.
The remaining jalapeño peppers have been left whole, cleaned and canned for use in the future. They should still retain some crispness since they were only cooked long enough to kill the bacteria on their skins.
Some of the cayenne peppers made their way to the dehydrator and will be dried and ground into a fine powder. A number were also strung on thin copper wires for displaying in the kitchen. They make for an attractive curiosity once they start turning into that bright beautiful red color.
The only things remaining in the garden are the herbs. In a week or so just before the first frost I intend to further harvest a quantity of oregano, sage, parsley, rosemary, basil, and tarragon. Once dried they’ll be used to replace older herbs we have in storage. I’ve discovered that if they’re stored in air tight containers they remain useable for up to two years. Once they’ve lost their fragrance and flavor they need to be discarded and replaced.
I feel a little guilty wanting to see the garden end after all of the time and effort we’ve put into it but at the same time I can’t wait for it to be over so I can kick back and relax for a while. I see Winter as the time I require to rest, recharge my batteries and begin the process of planning an even better garden next year. I’m already considering building a small greenhouse, a larger cold frame, and even some sort of in-ground irrigation system. For me half the fun of having a garden is the process of improving it each year and experimenting with new plants we’ve never grown before.
Our Winters here in Maine can seem endless if your not occupying yourself sufficiently. Snow shoveling and snow blowing will only get you so far.
Today’s my day to brag a little. We finished the last of the canning yesterday which means that within the next three weeks I’ll begin to close down the garden for this year. I have to say it’s been a great gardening summer with more enough rain to keep the plants happy and a level of production at least 30% better than last year. This first list is the approximate amounts of veggies we harvested over the last three months.
- 10 – pounds of cherry tomatoes
- 6 – pounds of jalapeños
- 2 -pounds of cayenne peppers
- 6 – pounds of snap peas
- 4 – pounds of black beans
- 30 – pounds of zucchini
- 2 – pounds of kohlrabies
- 50 – pounds of cucumbers
- 4 – pounds of Beets
- 5 – pounds of radishes
- Two additional plantings of lettuce.
- Two additional plantings of snap peas.
- One additional planting of radishes
We then took most of them and processed them into the following list of usable foods for the winter months.
- 10 – pints of hot mustard dill pickles
- 15 – pints of pickled zucchini
- 12 – pints of pickled jalapeños
- 8 – pints of pickled veggie mix
- 24 – pints of hot B&B pickles
- 1 – pint of pickled jalapeño/habaneros
- 13 – quarts of roasted corn/black bean salsa
- 9 – half pints of radish relish
- 18 – large loaves of zucchini bread
- 5 – quarts of pickled kimchi
- 12 – quarts of chili for freezing
- 4 – pounds of kale, frozen
This last list are the herbs I harvested during the Summer to help refill our stocks for winter. We use a great deal of them in every meal we make and we also supply to to family and friends when requested. They’re extremely easy to grow and dry and taste great.
- 1 – quart jar of dried oregano
- 1 – quart jar of dried parsley
- 1 – pint jar of dried habaneros
- 2 – quarts of dried chives
- 1 – quart of dried garlic chives
- 1 – pint jar of dried jalapeños
- 2 – quarts of dried kale
- 9 – pounds of dried sunflower seeds
- 1 – quart of dried Cilantro
- 1 – quart of dried Basil
All of this was from a 350 square foot garden.
Gardening is not as easy as most people think but the rewards make it well worth the effort. My better-half and I really want to know what we’re putting into our bodies. While it’s almost impossible to do that 100% these days, it gives us a little more peace of mind than the average person. Along with gardening we’ve become two of the biggest pain-in-the-butt label readers anywhere. It’s something everyone should learn to do because it’s enlightening and at times a little scary.
The better-half has a few batches of jam to prepare in the next few weeks but there’s no rush. All the necessary berries are in the freezer and can be used at any time. I always look forward to the blackberry jam made from the berries we picked, there’s nothing better.
Yesterday was predicted to be beautiful and for a change those prescient weather experts were correct. With that in mind and my better-half having a day off we decided to take a one day road trip. One of our favorite areas to visit and take photographs is the White Mountain in New Hampshire. We packed up the car, visited a Dunkin’ Donut for coffee and then hit the road. Our goal was to enjoy the day, have a nice lunch, do a little shopping, and take a few scenic photos that could be used as screen savers.
This is the shot looking back towards Maine from the foothills of the White Mountains. What you can see in these shots is the beginning of our climb into the mountains while working our way west towards Lake Winnipesaukee.
Off course as we travel along my better-half is on the hunt for antiques (junk). She considers it an unsuccessful trip if she can’t fill the trunk with the more interesting New Hampshire junk. Everyone knows their junk is soooo much better than Maine junk. She also has a disturbing thing for signs and what did we stumble on but a sign shop. That’s a half an hour of my life I’ll never get back.
Believe it or not this shop with hundreds of signs both new and old, didn’t have that certain special sign she was looking for. I actually found a couple of things that interested me but since everything is still being priced for the visiting tourists I decided to wait and possibly return when the prices are rolled back to off-season rates.
After a few hours of enjoying the scenery we entered the town of North Conway well known for it’s proximity to Mt. Washington and it’s endless outlet malls. What a shock, a shoppers paradise in the wilderness. The better-half immediately became rejuvenated and was smiling a whole lot more. Here’s their somewhat famous and totally restored railway station. I know it’s boring but it’s the biggest building in town.
It’s hotter than blazes so what do we do? We park the car on Main Street and decide to walk around and visit some shops. I was sweating through my shirt after ten minutes. Fortunately she made a few purchases and her shopping withdrawal was appeased. She mulled over the purchase of a cute little cast iron pig soap dish (she has a huge pig collection) at the Naked Bohemian shop but at the last minute decided against it. The Naked Bohemian is a shop full of hippy paraphernalia and I had a flashback or two just walking around. Head bands, tie-dye everything, and peace signs as far as the eye can see. I lived through the sixties and this reminded me I wouldn’t want to do it again.
You’ll be surprised to hear that she’s been second guessing her pig purchase decision and has been reminding me about it every fifteen minutes all the way home. Off course I had my own issues. I found a cool backpack made from feed sacks that caught my eye. Just what everyone needs, right? Every time she mentioned the soap dish I immediately brought up the damn backpack. We’ll both still whining about it today.
The trip home was a pleasant drive and we stopped along the way to snap a few pictures at a group of smaller lakes and ponds. These two were taken at Purity Lake. A small puddle out in the woods in the middle of almost nowhere. A really beautiful spot. It has greatly improved the look of my desktop already.
All in all it was a pleasant day except for the good food we never had. We were so busy farting around we forgot to stop and eat. We decided to stop on the way home but we passed only one restaurant along the unpopulated route we traveled and it was totally unacceptable. We finally ate late in the afternoon at a place just ten minutes from our home. Oh well, nothings perfect.
Today has suddenly become a day of rest. It wasn’t planned this way but I’m nothing if not flexible when it comes to loafing. My better-half is gone to work, the cat is snoring at the bottom of the bed, and I’m watching an old rerun of Unsolved Mysteries while I type. I had a bit of a scare yesterday so I’m relaxing today and trying to recuperate. And of course it was a case of sheer stupidity on my part.
I awoke yesterday, had a cup of coffee, and then immediately headed for the treadmill for forty minutes of fun and torture. That workout is fairly intense and I’m usually soaked and exhausted after I’ve finished. I then took a short ride to Lowe’s to see my girl and to buy some supplies for what I hoped would be my last project of the summer. I purchased 25 gallon of driveway sealer and returned home intending to store the cans and to do the job another day.
During the ride home I kept thinking about the project and convinced myself I could get it done today. The weather was in the eighties and the sun was beating down. The perfect day for this type of project I thought. I swept the driveway, changed my clothes, and got to it.
In my bicycling days I was always told to avoid dehydration, "drink when your not thirsty". One one occasion I fell from my bike during a 100 mile ride because I hadn’t consumed enough water. I ended up in a clinic being treated after almost passing out. Did I follow that hydration rule today? Of course not! I was in a hurry to get the job completed so I started immediately without drinking anything.
An hour later I’m still at it, my clothes are soaking wet, and all of a sudden my legs gave out forcing me to sit in the yard for a few minutes to catch my breath. I knew what was happening so I slowly made my way into the house for water. I drank two bottles of water and sat for a bit to cool off. I should have stopped at that point but the job was only half done and I wanted to finish. I returned to it after putting on a hat and drinking another bottle of water.
Another half hour goes by and I find myself so weak I can barely stand. I sat down right where I was and couldn’t get up. It took almost five minutes before I had the strength to move and return to the house. More water and rest which didn’t help all that much. I knew I only had about ten more minutes of work to finish the job and decided to just do it, regardless of how I was feeling. That was stupid mistake number three. I finished the job and barely had enough strength to return to the house. I took a cold shower and drank more water but felt no better.
For the rest of the day and well into the night I wasn’t myself. I couldn’t focus on any one thing and had lost my appetite completely. I also slept badly during the night but it seems this morning I’m pretty much back to normal. I still feel a little shaky but better.
I’m only relating this story as a warning to others not to be as stupid as I’ve been. I could just as easily have dropped over and ended up in an ambulance rushing me to a hospital. This is from a person who knew better but said the hell with the circumstances, I can handle it. I couldn’t. It was more than a little scary but I guess it takes absolute terror to get through to me.
Remember to hydrate before your thirsty, while your thirsty, and again after you’re no longer thirsty. This has been my first and hopefully last health related Public Service Announcement.
On many occasions I’ve mentioned having a whole beach day or just walking the beach to relax for an hour or so. I’ve also received a few emails from people asking whether we ever actually go in the water way up here in Maine. Everyone assumes that the water is so cold here that we can’t really do much actual swimming. I admit that during most of the year the last place you’d want to find yourself is in the ocean. But, there are a few weeks of the year when we can and it’s well worth the wait. Today was one of those times.
My better-half, her daughter, the grandson, and I decided we needed some beach time. The weathers been sunny and hot for a few days which we hoped had warmed the water up a little. You’d have thought there was ten of us from the amount of gear we had to wrestle into the car. It was like watching the Beverly Hillbillies loading their truck before their trip to California. Beach chairs, extra towels, cameras, sun tan lotion, diapers, a huge umbrella, and two plastic buckets and a couple of shovels. Unbelievable…
I for one was exhausted before we even got there. We made our way to a small beach in Scarborough, Maine which is just up the coast from the always over-crowded Old Orchard Beach. The town was on top of things as usual and immediately extorted $10.00 out of us to park the damn car. After unloading all of the essentials we made our way the waters edge. When we arrived the place was busy but not too overcrowded. We found a spot and proceeded to set up camp. I’m guessing there were a few hundred people there with only four I could see in the water swimming. They were young kids and seemed to be having a ball and even if the water was freezing cold they wouldn’t have noticed. I walked to the water, stuck in my toe, and immediately discovered why no adults had taken the plunge. It was a bit nippy to say the least.
People watching is always fun and beach people watching is even better. I saw a few attractive beach bunnies romping around in their bikini’s and that was great as always. There were many more folks in skimpy outfits that really caught my attention. Have you ever seen a big beautiful woman in a two piece swim suit that had been lost in all of her immense beautifulness. I did and it was more than a little scary.
In a short period of time the number of people easily doubled. It was an endless line of families dragging their kids and tons of beach gear to stake out their little plot of sand. The temperature of the water rose a few degrees and all of a sudden everyone was in the water. It was cold at first but once your body adjusted it was fine. I was in and out a number of times throughout the day and it was heaven.
The one thing you can rely on is that if more than a few people congregate anywhere the merchants and their endless advertisements will follow. The nice quiet beach was strafed by a continuous line of small planes dragging their messages behind them. They were just loud enough to be annoying and it continued all day. Where’s an anti-aircraft gun or a Stinger missile when you need one?
The grandson had a ball and easily exhausted all of us adults rather quickly. He was covered in sand and yogurt pops, smiling and flirting with everyone in the vicinity. He eventually tired himself out completely which was our clue to head home. He was asleep in the car seat before we were even able to get the car packed up.
We had a great day
Socrates is famous for this quote, "The unexamined life is not worth living." With that thought in mind I’d like to ask you ten questions. These questions will concern your values, your beliefs and your life in general. To answer them truthfully will require that you examine your belief system when faced with difficult situations and ethical dilemmas. You may be surprised just how much personal reflection it requires and how many interesting discussions it may initiate to answer them.
I’m putting forward these ten questions to start our discussion and more will follow if there’s an interest. I’ll answer each question myself as truthfully as I possibly can and I hope you’ll do the same. If you wish, please send me an anonymous email or comment with your answers. I’m sure they’d be of interest to us all.
Q1. Do you believe in God? If not, do you think you might pray if you were in a life-threatening situation?
A. I’m not a believer and one of the reasons is that I’ve been in life threatening situations a few times and there was no praying going on.
Q2. If you found yourself attracted to a person of a different race, how would your behavior differ from what it would be with someone of your own race?
A. Not one bit.
Q3. Would you be willing to give up television for five years if a benefactor would provide for 1,000 starving children in some poor country?
A. No.
Q4. Would you add one year to your life if it meant taking a year from someone else? Would it make a difference if you personally knew the person whose life you’d shortened?
A. No, I wouldn’t do it regardless of who it was.
Q5. Would you be willing to murder an innocent person to end world hunger?
A. No.
Q6. If you could prevent either an earthquake in Costa Rica that would kill 10,000 people, a crash at a local airport that would kill 100 people, or an auto accident that would kill a friend or family member, which would you choose?
A. The earthquake, of course.
Q7. You are given a $1,000,000 to donate anonymously to charity. How would you do it?
A. $500,000.00 to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and another $500,000.00 to the Wounded Warrior Fund.
Q8. If 100 people your age were questioned, how many do you think you’d find leading a more satisfying life than your own?
A. 20
Q9. If you could wake up tomorrow in the body of someone else, would you do it? And next, who would you pick?
A. No-one, I’m comfortable in my own skin.
Q10. Does the fact that you’ve never done something increase or decrease it’s appeal to you?
A. A definite increase, I’d love the challenge.
Did they make you think a little? I hate to admit it but they did for me.
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