Late Post on a Busy Sunday

Oh, I just knew this would happen. I waited till the last minute to post and now I don’t want to write a good post and I’m not even convinced of my ability to do so.  Then again, is that not appropriate on Wrist to Forehead Sunday?

I had a matinee of Steel Magnolias at Ilion Little Theatre.  Before that my husband Steven and I went to the HALO Chinese Auction at the Herkimer VFW and to Rose Quartz Stand, a gem store located nearby.  HALO, for anybody that does not know, is the Helping Animals Live Organization, based in Little Falls, NY, a no-cage, no-kill cat shelter.  The Chinese Auction, in addition to being their major fundraiser of the year, is one of the hottest tickets in the area.  There were a LOT of people walking around,  putting in their chances to win a wide variety of marvelous prizes (I donated an afghan myself).  We did not win anything, by the way.

Rose Quartz Stand is a business I visited back at Christmas time and intend to go to again.  We bought a frog carved from stone for Steven for his birthday (which was Friday) and a dinosaur to keep the frog company (I am a big anthropomorphizer).  I intend to write more about the store later, perhaps even doing an article for submission to Mohawk Valley Living, my favorite magazine.

After a well-received matinee of Steel Magnolias, Steven joined me and  several other cast and crew members for Applebee’s in Herkimer for drinks and dinner.  It was a great time.

Now I am dying to get back to watching a DVR’d Columbo and crocheting yet another afghan to donate… somewhere.  Happy Sunday, everyone.

 

Pre-Bald Post

Or should I call this Wrist to Hairless Forehead Sunday?  Actually, I am feeling excited about my participation in the St. Baldrick’s Day Event today.  It will be fun.  Some friends are joining us.  We will have some food, maybe a couple of drinks, definitely a lot of laughs, and I’ll get a free haircut.  What’s not to like?

For anyone just tuning in (and if so, Hi, new reader!), I am getting my head shaved to raise money for children’s cancer research. The event will take place at Arthur’s in Dolgeville, NY this afternoon from one to three.  Thanks to generous friends, family and co-workers, I have raised over $1,000.  I’m pretty pleased about that.

I did this once before, three years ago.  That year I was shaved the first Sunday in June.  We had an extremely hot May.  I sweated with my stupid long hair and couldn’t wait for the clip!  Then the weather took a turn for the worse and we had a cold, rainy June.  I wore my toque most of the time rather than show off my bald pate, which was kind of a bummer but what are you going to do?

This year the weather has already taken a turn for the colder.  I think it’s 20 or 30 out as I write this.  I’m debating which hat to bring to the Bald.  I have a lovely crocheted green hat a friend made for me some years ago.  I also have a black fashion hat I purchased last year at a local consignment shop, Linda’s Consignment Shop in Herkimer, NY.  At the time  purchased it I said I could wear it if I ever went bald again.  Seems kind of ordained, doesn’t it?

Oh well, I guess I don’t have much to say about my Bald plans for the day, but I wanted to give St. Baldrick’s Foundation another shout-out, and I wanted to get my blog post written.  Mission accomplished, as they say.  I hope to see you all tomorrow for Monday Mental Meanderings.  Happy Sunday, everyone!

P.S.  If anyone wants to add to my fundraising total, my page for that is https://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/813330/2016.  For more information on St. Baldrick’s Foundation, you can visit www.stbaldricks.org.

 

At Least My Afghan Will Help

Hands up, anybody who thought today was not going to be a Tired Tuesday post. Keep your hands up while I ask for hands up all of you who are disappointed.

In my defense, I’m sad. This is a totally fun blog (see subhead). I can’t write about being sad. For another reason, I have nothing wise and insightful to say. And I don’t want to come across as if I’m saying, “Look how compassionate and thoughtful I am, feeling all sad and stuff. I’m deep.” “Yeah,” my readers will say, “something is getting deep around here.”

But I will share the reason for my sadness. A few days ago at work I noticed a flier about one of those fundraisers for a cancer patient. This was for the wife of a co-worker. I don’t really know the co-worker and have never met his wife, but when I see one of these fliers, if they have contact information, I like to donate an afghan for the Chinese auction (these fundraisers almost always include a Chinese auction).

Regular readers will know I make afghans regularly as I watch TV, which I may or may not watch too much of (don’t judge). Sometimes they pile up, and I like to donate them. The flier I saw mentioned two names of heat treat workers I know (heat treat is a department at my work). I approached the one on day shift, she gracefully accepted my offer, and I brought the afghan in today. Anyone who saw it said it was pretty.

Shortly after lunch, we heard that the co-worker’s wife had died. I don’t think anybody realized how short her time was, perhaps not even the doctors. We were all sad. Four different people told me the poor woman had died. I would rather that than not being told, but I felt more sad each time.

The fundraiser will still be held, because there are still expenses to be defrayed. My contribution will help with those, so I am glad I brought the afghan in. But I am sad and have nothing profound to say about it. But here is my Tired Tuesday blog post.

Helping Herkimer Now

I’ve given a shout-out to Herkimer Now before. They are a group dedicated to revitalizing Herkimer, NY, beginning with Main Street. They recently held a fundraiser which worked out very well for me, at least.

The event was a Chinese Auction they held at the Polish Home on South Washington Street. Now, when I hear about a fundraiser for a worthy cause, I like to donate an afghan if I have one, which I usually do. I was not sure if they would want one, because I heard they were getting a lot of fabulous donations from area businesses. Of course it couldn’t hurt to ask.

Being me, I neglected to contact them till the event was less than a week away. However, the nice lady I emailed said they would love to have an afghan, could I drop it by the Polish Home Friday night when they would be setting up? I could.

It was just after seven when Steven and I dropped the afghan off. They were just getting started, but we could see that they had a lot of good stuff. They were pleased with my afghan, which was red, white and blue. They paired it with a patriotic pillow somebody else had donated, to make a kind of a theme.

Steven had to work the next day, but I found room in my busy schedule to go down and put in some chances. Gift certificates, baskets with various tantalizing contents, a gorgeous guitar, decor… I can’t even name all the stuff that was there. I put in for several of the baskets and a few of the gift certificates. I looked at the guitar, but since I don’t play I thought it better to leave it for those who do.

Anyone who bought tickets for the Chinese Auction was also entered to win the door prize, a beautiful floral arrangement. I also purchased tickets for the 50/50. Refreshments were available, but I was more interested in the prizes.

My awesome results? Two gift certificates and a Basket of Fun. The certificates were for Crazy Otto’s — a favorite of ours — and milk shakes from Stewarts’s — yum! The basket of fun included cards, dominoes, a jigsaw puzzle and a little stuffed bear.

I’m also pleased to support Herkimer Now, and I wish them success in their efforts to improve our village. For more information on Herkimer Now, you can visit their website at www.herkimernow.org and you can Like them on Facebook.

A Toast to the Police

I’m sure some of my regular readers are interested to hear about the HPD/MPD Wine Tasting which Steven and I attended last Saturday. It was a wonderful event and we had a lovely time.

The fundraiser was sponsored by the police departments of Mohawk and Herkimer, NY. Money raised was to be split between the departments’ Special Response Teams and the memorial for K9 officer Ape. Ape, you may remember, lost his life during the tragic events of last March in Mohawk and Herkimer.

The evening, at Francesca’s Banquet facility in Ilion, was to feature wine, beer and liquor tastings, hors d’oeuvres, a Chinese auction and a 50/50. It ran from 6 to 10 p.m. Steven worked till 6:30, so the event was in full swing when we arrived.

The first table we stopped at was staffed by a local winemaker representing the Crusaders Winemakers of the Mohawk Valley Tasting Event (I foolishly did not make a note of his name). The Crusaders’ tasting is an annual event we have attended in the past (perhaps you read my blog post about last year’s). This year’s will be held April 27 at the VFW in Herkimer (preview of coming attractions). The gentleman at the table poured us a taste of a very good burgundy.

Next we went to the Bully Hill table. The St. Croix I tried there earned my ultimate accolade of “yummy.” Bully Hill is a prominent winery of the Finger Lakes. I’ve never been there, but I hope to make it one day soon. Vintage Wine and Spirits of Herkimer, one of my favorite liquor stores, also had a table. I tried some Cabernet Sauvignon there (always a favorite of mine). I hope they do another wine tasting in the store soon. That’s always good for a post.

We skipped ahead to Finger Lakes Distilling, where I felt very racy sampling some gin. I don’t drink much hard liquor, because i like it straight. That can get you into trouble. Next to Finger Lakes Distilling was Lakeland Winery, from Syracuse. I had some Pinotage, a wine I am not familiar with. I liked it. Lakeland offers Wine Parties, tasting and making. How much fun would that be!

Then we enjoyed a sample from Hummingbird Hills Winery out of Fultonville. The fellow there was a little surprised we knew where Fultonville was.

“Why, we go right by the Fultonville exit when we go to Vermont,” I said. “We may have to make a detour one time.”

“We’re open every weekend,” the guy said.

I was happy to see Ommengang Brewery there. I have been wanting to make a road trip to Cooperstown to visit them. I hear it’s a great place for lunch as well as beer tasting.

I think the Thousand Islands Winery table was the most popular spot. Every time we went over there (yes, we visited the tasting tables more than once), we had to wait for our tastes. It was worth the wait. The wines were good, and the guy pouring was fun.

Really, everybody at the tasting tables was friendly and helpful. Everything we sampled was tasty. We had to tear ourselves away to purchase tickets for the 50/50 and Chinese auction. Somewhere amidst all this tasting and ticket buying, we visited the buffet table for some very elegant hors d’oeurves. There was some good stuff there.

Everybody we talked to seemed to be having as wonderful a time as we were. Here’s hoping the Mohawk and Herkimer police departments make this an annual event.