I also love seed catalogs!
I also love seed catalogs. They’re coming in now and probably will continue until Memorial Day; Hope springs eternal! I used to get lots more. That was before somebody apparently tipped off Burpee’s Seeds and Plants, Stark Bros, Gurney’s, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Park Seeds, et al. that I had a particularly virulent “black thumb”. Yes, sadly, for green things large...
Dog Days
Well, there all sorts of stories about why this part of the year is sometimes referred to as the “Dog Days”, most of them having to do with Sirius, the Dog Star (part of the constellation Canis Major, not to be confused with Procyon, Canis minor, the Little Dog Star), the brightest star which we get to see on...
The Latest…
O.K…, I’m gonna describe my latest trip to the Great Big Home & Garden Show, but first there’s this snippet from ?The Week?, one of my news magazines, (actually, there are often some neat snippets in there on all sorts of topics...but I digress...as usual) that I thought was a hoot. Think that I saw it somewhere else too. Anyway,...
The Vacant Castle
This is the continuing story of the Shakespearean-like little hamlet, Mantua Township, Ohio. A comedy of errors, it is loaded with irony, sometimes silliness, sometimes idiocy. To bring readers up to date, it’s a story that often features people of honesty, compassion and empathy. It also has a distinct Machiavellian side. Are some of these people really bad...
Easy Riders?
Well, they did it again. They came. They saw. They caught a break in the weather and had a very successful Road Apple Roubaix on Saturday (March 4, 2023) in Garrettsville…and surrounding locales, as they took to the roads, out-and-about, returned to Slim & Jumbo’s and generally made a day of it. Numerous bike-friendly businesses–Eddie’s Bike Shop, Mountain Road Cycles,...
Drawbacks To Unseasonable Weather
There ARE drawbacks to having a warm spell this late in the year. Yes, indeed. So…I’m sitting in the living room reading the paper; it’s a breezy, balmy (for November, anyway)fifty-something, sixty-something outside. The room is pleasantly warm enough. It’s evening, getting dark, I’m thinking about getting to bed early after a day that started fairly early for a weekend. Then...
Wacky Weather
The first frost of the fall occurred in the middle of October at my house which was not unusual. However, since then the weather HAS been very unusual…or maybe the new normal? Even though the days are getting longer since December 21, we should be gripped by much colder temperatures and several inches of snow. But I was raking...
NOT One Of My Better Weeks
Not one of my better weeks; suffice it to say that I’m now looking for a new car and not a rehab facility. That’s the good part. Time to move on. The rollercoaster begins again : school is starting! Whooeee! Anyone got an office/coffee klatsch/bowling league/civic group/ neighborhood betting pool going on whether the newly -added-on-to Garfield Elementary School will...
Kool Porch Kitties
Well, it had to happen. The porch kitties now have a fan base. Can a world tour be far behind? As you may have noticed, it’s been pretty d----d cold outside lately. And despite the heated, insulated luxury boxes on the front porch for the cats, there were some temperature-related issues confronting me and the denizens of the aforementioned boxes,...
“Why is Fido a popular name for a dog? Where does it come from?”
Over the years, the Newton Falls Public Library staff has found that patrons are often interested in the origins of words. We began our search with a selection of print materials including the Oxford English Dictionary and Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang by John Green, and Pet Names by Jean E. Taggart. In our shared Clevnet catalog we found the title...
Curiouser and curiouser…
Curiouser and curiouser…as Alice said during her adventures in Wonderland…. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)’s Mars Science Laboratory has just succeeded in landing the spacecraft Curiousity on Mars, the culmination of more than three decades of planning and building, theorizing and research, not to mention scrounging for money. The possibility of finding evidence of life on Mars is a motivator,...
Dad Deserves the Best: Father’s Day Gift Ideas That Will Impress
Many families have their own unique Father’s Day traditions, but it’s not uncommon for those rituals to cross familial lines. For example, gift-giving is one popular Father’s Day tradition many families share. With that in mind, anyone looking for the right gift for Dad this Father’s Day can consider these ideas. Personalized Photo Album: Gather cherished family photos and create...
The End
O.K. So I want to invite everyone to the second annual M-O-M / T-A-T (Machine -O-Mania / Touch-A-Truck) coming up--rain or shine-- on Sunday, May 22 from 10:00 to 2:00 at J. A. Garfield H.S.; admission: adults--$5.00, kids--$3.00. It’s a fund-raiser for the Garfield Academic Challenge team, the QuizMasters, and gives kids of all ages a chance to see...
Time Limps On
Well, there was a weekend. The annual garage sale in the village and environs seemed to be going well. Maybe not as many commercial opportunities as usual but plenty of tents and canopies were out sheltering the displays of treasures--not much rain, thank goodness--available to the public. I even bought a small bench at the big Brookover house (the one...
Yes Virginia, There Really Is A Spring
So.... I’m walking along early in the morning now and there are more and more bird sounds out there to be heard. During the winter there are always a few--cardinals, goldfinches, the ever-present sparrows, miscellaneous die-hards who have memorized the locations of every birdfeeder within several hundred yards. You also get the occasional Wrong Way Corrigan who wandered here...
Bean Counters: A multipart saga of dealing with the Medicare Part D Rx insurance industry
This is the ongoing story of how the greedy medical/ prescription insurance companies prey on us older retired people, who, they presume, won’t fight back but will just lie down and get steam rolled by them. This is my story, my experience, so I am here to tell you that it is true and I tell it to...
Boaty McBoatface
Always be careful of what you wish for; you may get it. A warning nicely illustrated by a recent item on various news media. It seems that some British outfit called the National Environmental Research Council, preparing to launch a brand-new $287 million—aw, let’s call it $300 even, like all of those government project go—polar(south) research vessel, thought it would...
Whoa! Missed it Again!
Mardi Gras, that is. Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, beginning of the Lenten season. Carnavale, Carnival, Carnaval, Karneval, Faschtnact/Fasching…whatever your ethnic background, if there’s a shot of Catholic in there anywhere (or even if there’s no Catholicism but a lot of fun-lovers), you may be acquainted with Mardi Gras, one way or another. Some folk—like the ones in...
Ask The Librarian: Someone I know was purchasing a fish at Wal-Mart and the cashier told her that the security gates would cause the fish to die?
“I had never heard this before, but someone I know was purchasing a fish at Wal-Mart and the cashier told her that the security gates would cause the fish to die. It was suggested that she lift it over her head while walking through.” While the fish in the patron’s story survived she and the Newton Falls Public Library...
Season’s Greetings!
Looks like it’s well and truly winter, even though, astronomically speaking, we’ve got to wait until December 21 to be legit. Weather adventures already! Power went out Friday morning somewhere around 3:00 a.m.--the increasing chill in the house woke me up--and stayed out until about 9:30 a.m. Coulda been worse : Ohio Edison told me when I...
A Few Good Men!
It’s not just for the Marines, ya know. The Masons have been seeking good men, here in Garrettsville and around the world, for quite some time now, and doing pretty well at it, as a matter of fact. The Masonic Lodge–the Free and Arch Masons, along with affiliated groups such as the Shriners and the Knights Templar, have been derived from...
Horticulture Hotspot!
Well, if it ever rains again….. What’s up with this weather? Every day, just about, the weather guru’s keep saying that there “may be scattered showers, with a chance of thunderstorms”...” isolated rain showers and T-storms”...”possible T-storms with hail or heavy rainfall”. And what have we been getting? Zip. Zero. Nada. Which is about what I am getting on the...
Turnpike Proud!
Well, that was interesting...and informative...and fun too. The Ohio Turnpike had an Open House on Saturday, October 24, celebrating its 60th Anniversary; it officially opened on October 1, 1955, all 241 miles of it. The construction took 38 months, in sections, employed some 10,000 workers—and 2300 bulldozers—at a cost of some $326 million, give or take. It connected to the...
Skin In The Game
Ever since that piece about plastic surgery and the aestheticians who keep having the gall to send me email about how they can get me a “Facelift Miracle”(as if I needed such a thing), I’ve been noticing a number of items in the news about occasions where the focus is on skin and the display thereof. The first one to...
Cats and Bats
One more mystery solved...sort of. The questions here are :”Where have the bats come from?” and “Where do the bats go when they’re not swooping around inside the house?” I mean, they’re not hanging from the drapery rods waiting for the sun to go down or anything, at least I haven’t spotted them, though given the state of my expertise...
How to Prepare For The Upcoming Buying Season
Competition is rising for the record low number of houses available. Interest rates are going to rise. Steps to take to be ready to buy: Connect with a realtor, who can get insider info of the market. When house inventory is low, who do you think knows about houses coming available first? Your realtor will introduce you to some lenders...
And Another Thing…
I keep discovering (Not through Spring Cleaning–perish the thought) more stuff to put out on the Big Community Yard/Garage Sale coming up in May (as advertised on the electronic bulletin board downtown at the light). Tons-o-stuff stashed around here; some of it I vaguely remember acquiring, some of it, might as well have come from King Tut’s tomb or...
Hot enough for you?
Holy Schmoley! It’s-a some kinda hot out there! How much more of this is there going to be? We get a sort of “teaser” when the temperature is just hot--not an inferno--and then the whole thing turns on us and you can start looking for the hinges of H-E-DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS again right across the road. Wheww! Leaving aside the fact...
A.P.B. — All Points Bulletin
This is one happenin’ place, by gummy. The amazing rehabilitation/renovation/reconstruction/ remodeling of the eyesore on Maple Avenue is heading for the home stretch. It got stripped down to the studs, re-wired, re-plumbed, re-configured (moved purposes of some spaces), re-imagined altogether, to make it–once again–into a livable space. Insulation in the walls, drywall on the walls, addition of a side deck,...
Gone…. GONE…. GONE!
The first department store in Portage County (Chic & Shabby/the Root Store)transformed into a source for home decorating with a distinctive touch…a craftsman fascinated by and devoted to clocks… a fledgling lawyer, an experienced attorney…the Barber of G-Ville…lawn and garden equipment gurus…a quilt shop drawing craft persons from all over the state and beyond…a podiatrist…an audiologist…a community food cupboard...
