Cooperstown, the Place to Be!

  We had a special guest visit the shop Saturday during Induction Weekend at the BB H of F.  This gentleman and his wife have visited Cooperstown for the last 26 years for Induction Weekend and our shop for the last 12.  He sure looks like the Babe to us!  This photo was taken by Sharon Gibbons, our Chairperson, and that young man in the Atlanta Braves shirt is her grandson, Dylan.  It pays to come to Cooperstown during Induction Weekend!  The village of less than 2000 residents grows to over 35,000 and you'll never know who'll be at the next table for lunch or dinner.  Goose Gossage, Rollie Fingers and Pete Rose were just a few seen around town on Friday. There is one more big bb weekend planned for this summer for Aug 26 & 27 when the World Champion Chicago Cubs will allow  their World Series Trophy to be exhibited at the Hall of Fame.  Photos will be allowed.  Contact the HF for more details.

Life With Zoey Goes On

   Finally made the trip to Cooperstown this morning to restock the shop before Induction Weekend.  I had a very good day yesterday when Theresa sold 2 of my fair isle sweaters and 2 baseball hats.  Luckily I had finally got a baseball sweater finished.  It started out as a Mets' sweater but I've been informed that I used the wrong colors and it's closer to an Atlantic Braves sweater.  At any rate, it came out cute and it's in the shop!  A size 1 raglan-sleeved V-neck cardigan, it's hand knit in Red Heart acrylic yarn on US 5 & 7's with 4 baseball buttons.  I also managed to get 2 baseball hats finished last night, too.  They're done in Red Heart white acrylic on US7's and decorated with Red Heart Red yarn. I had to stop at Walmart on the way thru town to get a new memory card before I could take a photo of it.  You can see my Pin-stripe Special in the window display to the right of this sweater.
   I stopped at Hannaford's when I got back to Herkimer to pick up a few things (like lunch) and when I finally got home, Jeff was exhausted.  After eating his salad he had to go lay down. 

Zoey is asleep on the pillow under my computer table and Fanny on the floor next to her.  I'm the only one awake...and I wish I was napping, too!  Zoey isn't sleeping thru the night yet.  She sleeps about 3 hours and then is awake, hungry and ready to play for about an hour before winding down and crashing again.  But since this little performance usually happens around 2am and again at 6am we're all exhausted...except Zoey!  She naps several times during the day and I think we should take those opportunities to nap at the same time.  I've said from the beginning, I'm too old to have a baby or a puppy.
   I left the garbage bag on the stoop yesterday for Jeff to put in the garbage pail but he never got to it.  This morning something had torn into the bag and garbage is spread over the stoop and next to it.  Now he says when he get up he'll go clean up the mess.  I'm tired, too, and in a bitchy mood so I'm not going to let this pass.  He will clean it up.
   I've got to clean up the TV room...there is a pile of shredded paper thanks to Zoey...next to my chair, in front of the woodstove. If I can get away from the computer quietly maybe I can get it cleaned up without any help from her.  I doubt it but it's worth a try.
  I have never had a dog who was so interested in ferretting out my yarn stash.  Zoey's main activities these days seem to be 1) drive Fanny crazy 2) shred any and all paper she can find and 3) chew on any and all balls of yarn I may have put in plastic bags behind the chairs in the TV room.  She's surfaced from behind a chair or under the sofa with some yarn I had completely forgotten about, pulling it out of zippered plastic bags thru holes she chewed in them. She's even chewed into bags of yarn that were sealed before shipping and I hadn't opened yet!   And when all else fails, Zoey just drags the entire bag out and through the house!!  She might be small but she is mighty!!  Fanny had a liking for the handles of Jeff's screwdrivers but Zoey's after yarn.
  

Training Zoey...Day 2

   Day 2 with Zoey and the training goes on.  Jeff has put her doggie bed under his computer table and she gets leashed in at night (the leash is tied to a leg of the table and clipped to her collar) giving her the length of leashed to move around with.  Two rooms of the house are blocked off to her during the day but she still manages to go over the screens or knock them down  plowing thru!  Fanny is running along behind her trying to keep up until Zoey ducks under some piece of furniture and since Fanny's not a 'scent hunter' she can lose her for a few seconds.
   Zoey is a great climber!  She can get on the couch easily...and has no fear of jumping off...using the covered yarn stash basket for assistance.  She also enjoys napping in the yarn basket!  Fanny's chair here next to my computer is proving more of a challenge to her.  She  can just reach the seat by stretching but still needs a boost to get up into it.  This morning she discovered there is a pillow under my computer table, visiting it several times.  Her favorite daytime nap spot remains a cardboard box with a nice thick bath towel in it.  This one...about 10x15"...probably came with yarn in it.  Anyway, she likes to chew on the sides before dozing off.  It's a very portable crib.  Right now it's on the floor next to the pillow under the computer table with Zoey asleep in it.  Fanny is asleep on the other side of the box on the floor.  Last night when Zoey went to bed in Jeff's room Fanny stayed with her for a couple of hours then came to my room.  I guess she needed time away from Zoey, too.
  It's been hit or miss with house training.  We have 'pee pads'  in several rooms and Zoey hits or misses them...I think by accident.  I don't think she gets that part of life yet.  After all, she's only 8 weeks and 3 days old!
   I had asked Jeff to build a play pen out of PVC pipes...we have a lot of various lengths in the garage and greenhouse not being used this year...but he won't listen.  It would be a great way to contain Zoey instead of having Fanny and me follow her around all day.  Maybe I could even get some knitting done!  (If the idea doesn't come from him he doesn't act on it.)
We both don't like 'crate training' a dog but I'm not a fan of leashing her at night either.  I seem to be giving the larger share of care for Zoey right now but we'll see how it goes later this week.  I have to go to the shop to restock for Induction Weekend...if I ever get anything finished, that is...and Jeff will have to care for Zoey during the day. That might be a real eye opener for him!  In the meantime, my floors have never been cleaner!

Zoey

  Say hello to Zoey!  I worked in the shop in Cooperstown yesterday from 10-5 and about 4:30 I called Jeff to see if he'd like to go to Denny's for supper.  He told me that Linda, Doug's daughter and the dog breeder, had called and we needed to go to her place in Hinckley and pick up our puppy.   All the

pups but 2 had been picked up and she was
going to be out of town for a couple of days this week so we should come up asap.  I got home by 6pm and the 3 of us headed to Hinckley.  Since it's like driving to Speculator for the first 14 miles I was on auto-pilot and we made good time.
  Jeff and I discussed who would name the puppy but he couldn't come up with a name so I insisted on Zoey.  When we got to Linda's, the puppy's father, a nice beagle,  met us in the yard and we became friends.  After a couple of good head scratches that he deserved, we became good friends.  Fanny still wasn't sure exactly what Zoey was...still isn't...but she didn't have any major objections so we got back into the car and headed for home. 
  With Jeff driving and me cuddling the puppy, Fanny sat in the back seat like Queen Victoria occasionally coming forward to see what was making all that noise!  I ended up grabbing a cardboard box from the backseat and putting the towel I had on my lap into it.  The box was about 10x5x5" and the puppy fit into perfectly!  Once she felt secure she decided to take a nap and slept most of the way home.  And that was a good thing because Jeff took some backroads that were suppose to be short cuts but missed a turn somewhere and we got lost between Poland and Middleville, up in the hills, for about 45 minutes.  We finally found our way back to the road we were looking for and made it to Herkimer.  After a quick stop at Arby's where Zoey woke up and made a hit with all the staff at the drive thru window, we got home around 9pm.  I managed to drop one of our sodas and the bag of sandwiches when we got out of the car.  I saved the ice to Jeff's drink but lost his diet Dr. Pepper (we had more inside) and lost most of my curly fries.  Jeff, Fanny and I ate our supper while Zoey checked out the house.  Then Jeff went to Walmart and bought Zoey a dog bed, collar and leash.  She spent the night under his computer table...with Fanny sleeping on the floor next to her.

   This morning Fanny helped Zoey discovered the comfort of Jeff's bed...with a little help for me.  Fanny follows the puppy around the house like a nanny!  We know where the pup is at all times because Fanny is usually standing in front of that piece of furniture!  Fanny stayed with Zoey until about 6am when she

finally went out to pee and came to bed with me. 
   That little dog can sure climb!  I just found her standing on my
footstool on top of my knitting patterns.  And Fanny found her on top of the yarn stash (covered by the afghan)

chewing on one of Fanny's toys. It won't be long before she can get on the beds alone!  I think it's about nap time but I'm not sure for who
Zoey, Fanny or me!

Dinner with Old Friends and Other Adventures

   We went out to dinner last night with an old friend of Jeff's and his wife who are visiting from Arizona.  Actually, Jeff and Doug were custodial shift supervisors at a couple of Utica public schools together back in the 'old days'.   Christine (Doug's wife) and I got to hear about what the boys went through with their supervisors and principals, their 'nights out' together and the time Jeff got his crew to move Doug's entire office overnight into a storage closet as a prank.  (Doug's daughter is the dog breeder we're getting the beagle puppy from next week.)  We had dinner at the Knight Spot in Frankfort because it's about halfway between our house and where Doug and Christine are staying with their kids in Utica.  Jeff and Christine enjoyed the fish fry while Doug tried to work his way thru a plate of spaghetti and meatballs.  I settled for a hamburg and French fries and a small plate of greens (even tho my INR yesterday was just below the bottom of my range at 2.4.  My MD said to keep on keeping on and to retest next Friday so I ate my greens and enjoyed them!) Doug's eyes were also bigger than his stomach when he ordered a banana split for dessert and couldn't eat more than half of it!  Christine had a sundae and I had a slice of carrot cake.  Jeff kept to his diet and had another cup of coffee.
   On the way home we stopped for gas since the little gas pump icon had lite up on the dashboard of the Forester.  I knew Ilion was having a parade last night and when we went around the block in Frankfort to turn around we came out on Main St next to Stewart's so we filled up there in Frankfort.  I've been having trouble with the release lever for the gas cap door that's on the floor of the Forester.  It doesn't want to move for me and I'm afraid if I force it, I'll break it.  Jeff got it to release and filled the tank for me.  I went in and paid for the gas and we headed home.  I got on Rte. 5Seast between Frankfort and Ilion after I pointed out there wasn't any westward traffic coming out of Ilion because of the parade.  We had to stop and pick up a Rx for Jeff but they weren't ready yet so we headed home.  When we got out of the car we noticed that the gas cap door was open and the gas cap was missing.  Jeff said he'd to go back to Frankfort and see if he left the gas cap on top of the pump.  About a minute after he left I remembered I hadn't reminded him to stop for the Rx so I started to call him on his cell phone.  I kept getting his message board.  Finally about 10 minutes later he called me to tell me he was stuck in traffic in Ilion!  He had forgotten about the parade!  Anyway, I reminded him to stop for the Rx  and he muttered something about the parade and the general population of Ilion.  When he got home about 20 minutes later he had his Rx's and my gas cap.  It was sitting on top of the gas pump!  Talk about luck!!  If he had been paying attention to me on the way home he would have heard me talk about the parade, wouldn't he? I think I'll get some WD40 and spray that release lever.  Can't hurt!  That's the only thing about Subaru's I don't like...the gas door release lever got moved to the floor in the newer models.  Isn't the best place for it when you have a snowy winter even with those rubber/plastic trays that cover the floor.

   I received a package of goodies from my Yarn Pal, Heather Burton, this week.  It came from Westbury in Wiltshire, England.  The

yarn is so soft and the candy looks 
so good!  You can see the notions box with all the bits and pieces!  The one I'm currently using
started out as a tin mints box.  It's small and tends to open at the wrong time!  There's also a pompon maker in this but it slipped down in front of the yarn in the project bag.  We all know how much I need a pompom maker!  Every time I make a pompom using a cardboard circle it usually explodes before I get it sewed to the hat I needed it for.  And there's candles, tea bags and playing cards and lip balm and, oh, yes, the project bag!  What a great package!! I've seen the Caron Cakes yarn in stores and catalogues but never used any but the Robin Paintbox yarns are new to me. I also got a nice long letter from Heather introducing herself.  I like this kind of swap.  You send to Person A and Person B sends to you.  My package is almost ready to go.  Should get it in the mail this week.

Ah, Water!

   You just never know how much you rely on a water faucet, how many time a day you reach out to wash your hands, how many times a day you want to rinse off a piece of flatware.  We were without running water for a little more than 36 hours but it got to both of us.  Jeff took a shower last night about midnight just because he could!  I had washed all the dishes and countertops and felt like my kitchen was spotless again...it wasn't but who was I to argue with me?  And the things I learned while relying on bottled water...for instance, it takes 3 personal-size bottles of water to make a pot of coffee.  (But you have to remember to put in the coffee grounds...I forgot and we had a pot of hot water!)  Fanny's water bowl holds the contents of a personal-size bottle of water...and she rather likes it cold from the refrig! 
   There wasn't enough bottled water to cook a meal so we went out to lunch yesterday at Mona's (the purple house) in Mohawk.  She serves breakfast all day so Jeff had eggs, hash browns, ham and toast for lunch while I had a cheeseburger and fries.  I shared half of my burger with Fanny...it was too big for me to finish!  And the total was less than $17!  How can you beat that?  I settled for a bowl of oatmeal for supper but Jeff cooked something for himself later.

   On the way home we stopped at the Ilion library to pick up some books I had ordered and then Jeff decided to check our the Frankfort Marina, his new 'favorite fishing hole'.  The water was still high at the marina so Jeff drove down under the overpass along the canal to show me where he really like to fish.  He kept saying 'this road is practically paved' but it didn't seem that way to me!  It was narrow with bushes and trees on both sides and it was only 1 lane wide!  He stopped and showed me a couple of spots where the fishing was good under the overpass/exit from Rte5 to Frankfort.  It was a little wild for my liking...it was too wild for me!  I wish I had had a camera because some of the spots looked like they were miles in the woods not on the outskirts of the village!

  On the way home, after that, we stopped at Collis Hardware and got a recommendation for a someone to replace the bedroom windows and dry rot.  I called them last night and left a message.  If we don't hear from him by supper, I'll try again.  We really need to have those windows replaced and the dry rot removed.

  Oh, we even drove up Rte 28 to look at some used John Deere home tractors.  Wally told me yesterday he'll be going to Florida for the winter.  (Poor him, he hasn't been able to meet any new women in Herkimer so he thinks he'll have better luck in Florida!)  Anyway, that means we'll be responsible for keeping the driveway open...at least as far as his fence.  Our oil man and the garbage man both have to be able to get in that far and we don't think the walk behind snoblower we have will do the job. 

   I didn't realize how tired and upset the water situation had me until I went to bed.  I cried myself to sleep...from relief.  Living in this little old house has really started to get to me.  Both Jeff and I like it here but it's getting beyond our abilities to maintain.  And getting Jeff to agree to hire some one is...well, like with any man....

  Oh, FedEx delivered my new Kodak Pixpro digital camera this morning that I had bought online from Walmart! I had this model...FZ43...once before and liked it but I think I forgot how small it was. It fits in my hand and in the felt case I had made for it very snuggly. Hopefully, it will last longer than 2 years...probably will since that's the length of the protection/replacement plan I got for it! But I think I'll start saving my change for a larger digital SLR. It may take me 2 years to acquire that many nickels, dimes, quarters and don't forget the pennies! Jeff was surprised I got it so quickly...I ordered it Monday!
   Now I think I'll take a shower and use up all the hot water!  Jeff's gone fishing and Fanny's snoring in the chair next to me.  Friday I have an appointment with the Ophthalmologist in Cooperstown.  I have a cataract in my left eye and it's time to have it taken care of.  I'm not looking forward to that but it's starting to affect my vision.  Hopefully, the procedure can be done in Herkimer or Little Falls.  Jeff's were done in Little Falls but that doctor has since died.  Just have to wait and see. 
  One good thing that happened today, one of the office girls from Harbor Point, our fuel oil distributor, called to ask if I had heard that HEAP had a program this year to clean furnaces for seniors.  I called and since I'm 67, I seem to qualify.  I'll be getting an application in the mail.  When I do, I'll just fill it in and send it back and if I'm approved, Harbor Point will get the call and they will call me to schedule a cleaning.  We never got around to having the furnace cleaned last year so it really should be done this year! 
  Now it's time for that shower and then a trip to town.  I promised Fanny lunch at McD's. She loves chicken Nuggets!  And I just love the look at the girl's face when they ask what kind of sauce I want for the nuggets and I say the dog doesn't care for any! 

Waiting for the Pump Man

   Waiting for the pump repair person.  He was suppose to be here between 8:30 and 9am.  It is now 9:11am.  Jeff has been waiting at the mailbox for him for 20 minutes.  I just wish he'd get here soon...or call!  People find our house so hard to find sometimes.
   The kitchen sink is overflowing with dirty dishes.  I keep pulling flatware out and washing it so at least we have clean knives and forks but the last couple of days I've used paper plates!  But the bathroom....UCK!  I put a stainless mixing bowl in the sink and we've been heating water and putting it in that to wash with.  When the bowl is about half full, it's used to flush.  We also have water in laundry gallon containers that Jeff's old neighbor filled for us that we're flushing with but we don't flush every time we use the facilities.  I can't wait until I can wash the toilet!
   11:45am:  the repairman from Valley View Pumps & Drilling showed up this morning.  They were the 2nd group we had called but couldn't get them, they were so busy.  Valley View...or Gary Gay...was very nice and he and Jeff discussed our situation and we got an estimate.  Then I went to the library to fax a request to my NYSDC plan for a distribution.  When I got home I learned that the pump was alive and well and working!  The problem had been a broken pipe at the head of the well.  The cost for the repairs was only a fraction of the amount I had requested for my distribution and Jeff had been able to pay it in cash.  I'll pay him back when I get the distribution.  In the meantime, we're going to look into getting an estimate for fixing the 4 bedroom windows.  As long as I have the money available and they have to be replaced, we might as well do it now.  I am so thankful we have water and it didn't cost me what the estimate had been.  (A new pump alone would have been about $1200!) I'm going to treat Jeff to lunch at Mona's in Mohawk today as a thank you.  He's gone up and down those damn cellar stairs my father built so many times this weekend he deserves something special!!