On The Table

table setting
A Special Meal

My daughter and her family were coming for dinner one weekend and I snapped this photo after I began setting the table. My neighbor had given me those little lavender flowers and I wanted a photo of them.

My daughter has a hyper-active dog. She is mid-size and looks a lot like a black lab and she is very naughty- at times.

On this particular day I had made cornbread to go with our meal. It was on the kitchen counter and the dog helped herself to it while we sat on the porch talking.

Back in April she did the same thing at my daughter’s house with her birthday cheesecake that I had spent good time making!

We ate our meal without any cornbread.

A Nasty Election, And I’m Not Talking About The Candidates

voting day in a small town
voting day in a small town (Photo credit: Muffet)

I will be voting in a small town this Tuesday. We don’t have fancy machines, just a pen or pencil and paper. No matter what time of day I go, it will probably be busy. I doubt that we’ll know who won for many days or even weeks afterward. With voting problems becoming worse each election cycle, and now the storm that has created such havoc, too much is in the way of a fast count and immediate outcome.  I hope I’m wrong.  I want this to be done.

Today this happened.

I am not a big fan of Face Book, but I use it to advertise.  These days social media is important at least for that.  I suppose it’s easy to see which side of the political race I support even though I don’t have my page filled with my favorite candidates name.  Although I can’t find any sane reason why anyone would vote for “the other guy”, I respect their right to do so.

But, tell me this, why would anyone – especially someone I don’t know very well – come to my FB page and leave an endorsement for the other candidate?  Posted right on my wall, just like I put it there myself.  All I can think of is just to be nasty.  I will just delete it, don’t you know, and I have.  But what was the point?  Did she score some points for her candidate, or did she just point out how divided we are this time around?   I am respectful of the fact that we all see things differently.  Her post, on my wall, will not change what I think, except that my opinion of those on “the other side” just keeps getting lower.  The ones who shout the loudest about being tolerant, are the least tolerant of all.

This election is really showing the great divide in this country, but we are all Americans, all people, and we will all have to live together with whoever wins, running this place – however he sees fit.

Hopefully you know what you believe and you won’t vote for a candidate just because all of your friends will.  Hopefully you are informed – by various media sources – and not just by watching the “fluff” nightly news, or Jon Stewart.

We are bombarded enough with commercials and phone calls.  I don’t need acquaintances causing me grief.

Let’s end this thing.  VOTE on Tuesday – that is when you’ll have your biggest say.

Halloween is a Few Days Late, But That’s Okay

Fall leaves and pumpkin
Celebrating Fall – Halloween is Today where I am – November 3rd

When your town puts off Halloween until a few days after the 31st, it’s just not the same. I’ve been reading blogs and Facebook pages all about an event that has gone by for most. Stores have moved on to putting out Christmas candy and the Halloween goodies are all half price. But here, in my area, we have not yet seen the Trick-or-Treaters.
I know that here in New Hampshire we are so very fortunate to have missed most of Sandy’s wrath. My heart goes out to those poor souls south of here who have lost their homes, livelihoods and even family members. I pray that they will find the strength to get through their difficulties.

I have lived through hurricanes – when I was in Florida. I have been without electricity and waited in gas lines for my ration of gas to keep the generator going so my well would supply us water. I sweltered in Florida’s unforgiving August heat for over a week. I have frozen inside my home in the north when the ice storm left us without electricity for eight days. But I have never had my home destroyed. I can’t imagine how desperate those people in NJ and NY and other places feel, and we all need to support the organizations who are there helping out.

Anyway, up here we did have power outages and downed trees. The kids missed 2 days of school. Also the water levels are high in the streams and lakes. So Halloween was postponed for the second year in a row. (Last year we had an ice storm in southern New England, and 2 feet of snow in my area at this very same time!)
But we are back to normal already, and we should all be thankful for that.
Happy Halloween a few days late. Bring on the candy munchers.

Bring the Kids to New Hampshire

Newfound Lake
Newfound Lake (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While writing my page for the Wizzley contest:  Things to Do With Kids in New Hampshire I discovered some places right here in my state that I had never heard of, like Stand Up Paddleboarding on the Saco River.  Never heard of it, and I’m sure I am not coordinated enough to try it, but what fun!

I no longer have little kids (kinda happy about that) but I remember coming up to New Hampshire from Massachusetts for vacations.  We had a little travel trailer and stayed at Newfound Lake camping with friends.  We also hit Six Gun City, Storyland, and Polar Caves at some point.  I did not include those places in my article.   I was more interested in finding great outdoor places to visit since this state is very nature oriented and beautiful.  But I included a few science centers as well.

I also didn’t want to forget about the older kids and teens who are harder to please when it comes to vacationing.