Focused at Fifty

While driving through Wernersville, PA this afternoon, I was admiring the lovely fronts of all of these perfectly kept Victorian homes, even in the dead of winter.  I do have a favorite thing I do though, that I am able to do only in certain towns with back alleyways. I will let you in on a little secret. I drive down the back alleys and view the yards and back porches of these beautiful homes. I love seeing the backyards, the sanctuaries, the private oases of various families. Some have decks, some have pools, and others have beautiful gardens. If I am lucky, they have no fences and I am privy to see the private gardens where they relax. In the front, the Victorian homes have beautifully public yards and porches. In the summer, large ferns, geraniums, or marigolds plantings dominate the front. Either wicker or rattan sets are spread out on wide verandas where cools breezes waft through. In the back, there may be bricked garden paths lines with lanterns. Or you might see various bi

Apparently AARP benefits are right around the corner. John just signed me up as a "household" member. But I am only 40 1/2!!! LOL. I guess I can still reap the benefits! :)

 (Picture courtesy of pexels.com) So John and I were at the Lodge in our community this evening and I was talking to a woman I will call Rebecca who was standing between John and I.  I have know her for a about a half year and run into her every couple weeks. She is very sweet, a little pretentious, and dresses way too sophisticated for Schuylkill County, PA. We were talking for about 10 minutes and within 5 minutes I realized she was really drunk. While throwing back a vodka tonic, she started talking about how she is working on some knitting project and goes on and on and on about it. I don't have a problem with knitting per se, but wanted to talk about other things. She kept going back to her knitting and then started talking about some knitting club she is starting. I stifled a yawn, glanced down at my watch, and seeing it was 10:00 PM, decided I needed to act to either alert John it was time to go, or try and get away from her. I attempted to get away from her first.

Driving to work today in my trusty red Saturn, I glanced over at a woman traveling about 70 mph. She was passing me on the major highway I travel every morning. She was driving and putting on mascara in her visor mirror at the same time! She seemed to be doing it well and was very adept at it, just spending enough time to put on one brush stroke and then looking down at the highway in front of her. She would swerve just a little about every half mile. I was mesmerized at how determined she was to get on that mascara! As I spend a lot of time on this highway, you can imagine that I end up seeing some pretty wild stuff. The only time I ever saw a barn owl was when it swooped down in front of my car, coming to within about 2 feet of hitting my windshield. I screamed like a 5 year old girl. Thankfully I didn’t swerve into the other lane. I once saw a huge 35 plus foot sports cruiser boat on the back of a flatbed truck. It towered over everything but of course was just able to fit under

This is the recipe for pumpkin vodka which I made during the Fall and the holidays. I would love to take credit, but alas, I cannot. It was created by the Chef Jerry Labooty and General  Manager Mark Rosenberger of the Greystone Restaurant in Pottsville, PA. I can say that it was easy to make and sooo good! One thing I would recommend is that if you aren't going to finish it quickly, I would strain the pumpkin vodka through a coffee filter and then chill in the fridge to encourage longevity with flavor! I halved the recipe and it came out perfectly. Enjoy! Pumpkin Vodka Recipe 1 gallon jar with lid 3 small pumpkins 2 1.75 L vodka (Skyy was used, I used Absolut) 1 lb brown sugar 1 1/2 teaspoon each of nutmeg, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice Remove stems from pumpkins, cut in half, and clean out seeds and fibers. Steam halves for 10-15 minutes until a little soft. Place halves, while still hot into 1 gallon jar. Add all the other ingredients, seal jar. Let sit for at le