Scotia, New York and The GardenLady

I have a friend…not someone I have ever met in person, though. I am sure our paths crossed but we didn’t know to look for each other. Her name is the Garden Lady http://www.gardenlady.us/ and she has her roots in the lovely, little village of Scotia, NY.

The Garden Lady is one way I kind of keep up with the area in which we used to live. She covers the changing seasons and all the happenings in Scotia. Last year she even went and took some photos of one of my favorite shops on Union Street in Schenectady called The Experience, http://www.experienceandcreativedesign.com/ . I hope if I ever get back to the Village of Scotia that I get to meet my "friend" face to face over a cup of tea! She also recently took photos of Scotia’s Annual Memorial Day Parade. Check it out, http://www.gardenlady.us/parade.html , if you doubt that true American spirit is gone.

Scotia, http://www.visitscotia.com/ , is the neatest little village. It is the rare kind of little town where they actually put photos of the local high school’s prom and middle school dances on the town website along with tons of other local happenings. Local farmers also set up carts on the side of the road to sell their wonderful fruits and veggies and handmade items...it is idealic. We didn’t live there but my children when to a Christian school in Scotia, http://www.schenectadychristian.org/ .

My daily treks to take children to school and pick them up made me very intimate with Scotia. Not to mention the freezing – LITERALLY - soccer games we endured as DS#1 played with the Scotia Soccer Club whose fields were located on the river and just perfect for catching the frigid breezes in the early morning hours. It was the 1st time I had ever seen kids bundled up like the Pillsbury Dough Boy complete with ski masks playing Soccer!!! In the south we don't play Soccer with ski pants on.
Every 4th of July that we spent in NY, was also spent on the riverfront in Scotia watching the fireworks. Sunday nights during the summer often brought us back to Scotia, as well, because there were always outdoor concerts, plays or storytellers. Scotia also had the BEST theatre, http://www.visitscotia.com/cinema.html …it was truly an old time movie house. It showed reasonably new movies and charged $2.50 (if I remember correctly) for admission. I remember going with a dear friend (from Texas) to see “Sweet Home Alabama” and we laughed and laughed, especially because the people in front of us apparently had a hard time understand some of the accents in the movie – not a problem for us misplaced Belles!

Scotia is also home to the Glen Sanders Mansion, http://www.glensandersmansion.com/ which is where my DD went for Etiquette Classes. On the other end of the “spectrum” Scotia is also home the famous and much loved Jumping Jack’s Drive In, http://www.visitscotia.com/jjguide.html . Jumping Jack’s was a new experience for me because, being a Southerner, I never realized that places like that ever close. Once old man winter makes his presence know Jumping Jack’s shuts down for the season and everyone waits for it to reopen and announce that Spring has arrived! Trust me in the 1st week of spring you WILL stand in line and wait to order – to be sure!!!

Memorial Day....Thank you

As I have grown older I have developed a deep patriotism that I don’t remember having when I was younger. I love our nation and the freedom that God has blessed us with through our citizenship. I am awe struck by the brave men and women and their families that have and continue to sacrifice for my freedom. That is a commitment I can’t even quite wrap my mind around.

A family in my church lost their son in Iraq just about 3 weeks ago and I saw that not only he, but his family, have given so much so that my children can play ball in our yard without a concern. This mother gave her son…so that my sons will be free and safe. That is truly a gift I can never repay.

So, on this day, when we get carried away with sales at the mall or cook-outs and hours on the lake…I hope we can all stop and thank God for the brave men and women who have so willingly given all for our nation. Thank you.

We're still cookin'.....

We may be out but we aren’t down! DS#2 is still recovering from his bought of pneumonia so we had to stay home while the rest of the family was off at our church’s Annual Memorial Day Picnic (complete with a softball game in the afternoon). DS#2 and I decided to get a jump on dinner…or rather, dessert! I used a recipe from the wonderful FREE Kraft Food & Family Summer 2007 magazine that came in the mail last week.

DS #2, who is 5, was able to easily do most of the work. It was his 1st time using the hand mixer and he was pretty excited about that and kept calling it the driller.

The recipe that we chose was Lemonade Stand Pie, which will go great with our dinner of Grilled Greek Chicken and Greek Isle Pasta Salad (recipes that also came from F&F):

Lemonade Stand Pie
1/3 cup Country Time Lemonade Flavored drink mix
½ cup cold water
2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
1 tub (8 oz) Cool Whip – thawed
1 graham pie crust

Place drink mix in large bowl. Add water; stir until mix is dissolved. Add ice cream. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping. Freeze if necessary, until mixture is thick enough to mound.

Spoon into crust

Freeze at least 4 hours or overnight until firm. Remove from freezer 15 minutes before serving. Let stand at room temperature until pie can easily be cut. Store leftovers in freezer.

BTW, if you don’t receive Food & Family you can request your own FREE subscription at: www.kraftfoods.com/share . The recipes are simple, require generally few ingredients and time to prepare and are tasty. I have found them perfect recipes for our kids in the kitchen times.

Driving in my car...

Yesterday afternoon, I got out of the house with DD for some driving practice. We put the top down on her car, then she and I headed westward to my old hometown and some of the curvy, mountain roads that I learned to drive on. We visited a few family members along the way and completely enjoyed the afternoon. It was some what of a surreal experience to be heading into my hometown on a Saturday evening with my DAUGHTER driving!!! That was really interesting.

Chasing Fireflies - A Novel of Discovery

Last week, since I was home more than usual with a sick little, one a friend, (actually DS#1’s teacher), loaned me another of Charles Martin’s books: Chasing Fireflies http://www.charlesmartinbooks.com/books/chasing-fireflies/ .

I was a bit apprehensive after falling totally in love with his book When Crickets Cry! I didn’t want to read it and it not be as good!!!! Well, I was not to be disappointed. It was such a good book, a very different book from “Crickets” but a great book. Nicolas Sparks (author of The Notebook, The Wedding, Dear John, Message in a Bottle, etc) has long been my favorite author but I am afraid Mr. Charles Martin is wooing my heart away. The depth of the emotions and characters in his book just leave me awe struck. In this latest, I just didn’t want it to end. I wanted to know these people, to be part of their lives, walk down to the marshes and smell what they smelled. Ah….it was a amazing escape.

Tagged....

Mrs. G over at http://lifeatnumber17.blogspot.com/ tagged me to post 7 random things about myself. Hmmmmm....random? Wha?

Ok, since I have not participated in any tagging activities since begining this little only journal here goes:

#1 I got married really young -- and am still married to the same wonderful man 18 years later.

#2 I am a loner and not very social.

#3 I am comfortable by myself.

#4 I love my children more than I could have ever imagined (as I was not going to have any children!).

#5 I have lived in 4 different states in my adult life.

#6 DH and I have owned 6 different houses in 3 different states over the course of our marriage.

#7 I have enjoyed teaching my DD to drive!

Downtown

One night last week, one of my boys and I took a walk downtown. It reminded me of how much I love our downtown. I love to shop, dine and generally spend time there. Yes, my town has a true downtown square that is still thriving with businesses, cafes, nightlife and beauty. That is rare today but because of the scarcity of such, I love it even more. I know that my children experience something there than most people (especially their ages) will never know.

It is lovely in the early morning when it is still quiet and nothing has opened yet. It is lively and exciting during the day when it is busy with shoppers and business people having lunches and meetings. It is relaxing in the evening when the sun is setting and it is quiet again and you only hear the strains of conversations from benches in the park and out door tables at the local restaurants and cafes. It is wonderful after dark, when strains of music come from the clubs and the lights give it a romantic atmosphere. Just last night my DH and I left an event downtown at almost 11:00 p.m. and it was just so comforting to see the lights and enjoy the peace and safety of our downtown as we walked away.

The merchants downtown work very hard to keep the square a wonderful place. They host many events through out the year to draw in the community and remind people that there is more to a town than the mall and BestBuy! One of our favorites is Brunch with the Bunny which comes the Saturday before Easter and finishes off with an Easter Egg Hunt on the square…then there is the wonderful Thursday nights leading up to Christmas when all the shops stay open late and Santa rides around in a horse drawn carriage. I love downtown.