ever wonder what 41 looks like from ground level?

I just can't wait..........

for Spring!!


it's cold still.
there was snow and sleet falling coming down the hill.
you don't go out without hat and gloves.
Come on Spring. We're ready!

Big 2-0!

~daughter Catherine came home from college on this past Friday night and as a proud parent, I was very happy to see her. She'd only been gone since mid-January but it seemed longer. Her college classes are going well she tells her mom and I, and her extra study is going well also. She has followed dear-old Dad and is pursuing to be an EMT, taking a class off-campus three nights a week. Unlike Dad though, she is taking it to see the health field from that level, as a possible career in health does interest her somewhat. She also just passed her CPR course last week. I had not thought about it till just this second but I am really proud of her for all of her efforts. Four major classes this semester in college plus the EMT. Not an easy load for anyone. I'm very proud of you Catherine. Keep up the good work.

Oh, I almost forgot. It is her BIRTHDAY today! She just jumped out of the teens at 9:27 this morning! She just called and said she got back to college just fine, making the normal four hour trip in about four and three-quarters. Not bad what with all this snow that's around here today and up through Albany and out towards Syracuse. No more birthdays for the Hotaling's for a bit, so you're all spared the cake pictures after today for a while. :)

It's his big day!

its a SHOUT OUT to my brother Bob in Florida......HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! (couldn't find a cake with the right age, so you're 30 again!)

Don't follow the leader!

~so I did this small delivery from the store last evening up to a customers home in the Lakeville-Salisbury area (yes, I do deliver, contrary to what some may think). It was right in the 5:45-6:30 time-frame when the snow was really "squalling". I drove right along going up as the roads were just wet, but by the time I was heading back to Sharon, they were covering with snow rather quickly. If you know anything about my driving, you know I tend to probably drive a wee bit faster than I should most of the time, be they dry roads or wet, but the brain does still work and it told me this was a night and this trip was one to slow down on, of which I did. Well, the point of my whole little story is to tell about the guy who went whizzing by me, heading towards Sharon. As he went zipping past and quickly out of sight in the thick snow that was falling, it made me think of this great Snoopy™ line. How it came to me at that moment, I am not sure, but it did and I am glad I didn't follow. I watched his tracks on the road go from this side to that side and back. I hope he got where he was heading to in one piece, without taking anyone else out in doing so. Last night was a night for me to lead....myself! And I did. I got home quite safely and glad that I did. Just might be a little message for all of us...... don't be afraid to Lead from time to time. You might just be glad you did.

"bye-bye, so long, farewell....."

or, "another ones gone, another ones gone, another one bites the dust...."

 Sharon doesn't have a newspaper, but if it did these could be the headlines for today, Monday the 16th of February. Two more retail establishments in Sharon closed there doors in the last few days.  I learned on Friday from the owner that Cafe Tazza that she was going to close and I just heard Sunday was indeed her last day. I saw the sign in Bizzance, (or whatever its name was) on the corner of Main & West Main, that they were doing their out-of-business sale. They too have closed I am told . Throw in Clothes & Collectables and Trotta's Market, who both closed in recent months, and the retail business in Sharon is pretty sparse! On the Up side, Lee Kennedy recently open her long-awaited JAM retail food store, (in the former Stove Doctor Shop)  and seems to be off to a good start, open just Wednesday thru Saturday, 10-6. Pricey for the working man, but delicious is all I can say about what I have had from there in my two visits. A nice option indeed when you need to take something home for supper, and don't have time to run to another town for staples or choices.....

it rhymes with torpedos.......

no one, let alone me, knows for sure-----

but

the old empty market has been shown multiple times in the last week, with all kinds of people being seen around........ and folks I know have spoken with a few, and they said they were from that name that rhymes with torpedos.........

(you didn't hear it from me)

"never on Sunday"

 A  house has apparently burned to the ground in Ellsworth today, just past Doc Hayden's on the left, heading East on 4. I sure hope no one was hurt. My cousin from Lakeville, who's in Florida on vacation ( he's mooching off his mother-in-law), told me about it on facebook. He apparently reads the local news or perhaps sees it while away from off of the internet. My, times have changed. When I used to be able to afford to go to Florida (before my kids educations, alas we don't go now) the only thing I listened to or saw was good FM stations on my transistor radio (no ipods then) and would watch a little TV late in the evening, because the daytime was all filled up with sun and tourist stuff! You know, with all the Coppertone (with no SPF) we used to apply and before that baby oil, it's a miracle I have any skin left at all. I'd lay out there on Ft. Lauderdale beach from 9am till 6pm, for a week straight, with only a break for lunch or facilities. Could never do that now. Well, let me re-phrase. You could, but it might not be too good of a thing health-wise.......The Guts--> The front page of the Republican today's has an article on a proposal to have liquor stores open on Sunday's too, to help Hartford obtain more tax dollars. No concern over the owners health, or their families survival as a unit, or maybe a church life for some, if not many. Just have them open to get more revenues. My pledge to you I make today. I WILL NOT be open on Sundays, regardless of what my competitors may do. If you want to do business with me, which I will always welcome, please come Monday-Saturday. I will always do my best that I can for you, but Sunday's, I nor my help, will be there.

Thank You Sharon Vol. Fire Dept.

Sunday. Off to church. Home from church. A little lunch. Outside to shovel for the oil man. Heard the smoke detectors going off. And off. And off. Ran in to find Clare had started a fire, which started a chimney fire because we obviously had needed our chimney cleaned. The roar in the chimney gave me all I needed to hear. 9-1-1. please send the fire dept! And they did. And very effectively they went to work and insured our safety. Minimal damage, only a few bricks that held the stone on the very top that cover over the flues will need to be replaced. Grateful and thankful we are. Scott and all his men did a great job. We are thankful to all. Grabbed this photo before they headed home.

clementines

anybody besides me wonder about clementines? you know, those little, sweet (most of the time) orange fruit that come on little wooden crates that we all try to buy for under $5.00 but they are all running like $6.99 or more...... then of course there is that store in my hometown, which recently closed for good, where they used to have the hoots to charge $8.99 and MORE! HELLO? Anybody HOME? My question is simple. Where did they come from? I know Spain is on lots of boxes, but WHERE did they come from? They weren't here ten years ago. They weren't here in my childhood. Did they suddenly invent a clementine tree? What's with that, anyways? Can someone please answer......? 

"too much time on my hands......."

The furnace motor just shut off but the fan is still pushing the last of the hot air out of the furnace into the store. Its been a frequent sound this day as the temperature never got much above sixteen degrees outside. All the bottles of liquids help to hold the heat so the store will stay pretty warm once the heat is on. We never turn it very low at night for that reason. To help keep the "mass" warm. Its an old furnace with a relatively new motor and gun, and it actually works quite efficiently. I maintain it with an annual service and cleaning. Its like a car off one of the collector car shows. Old body. New Motor. Runs well. Good thing as funds to replace it are non-existent this year. The small space heater by my feet keep my legs warm out here on this concrete floor in the back room. Its adds to the electric bill about a dollar a day, but so far its still in my budget. The door chime just rang and my relief help is here. Its time to go home and do some painting or something. I've got to get that room finished. Its so close. Got to stop dragging my feet.........