Tom and Jerry, Where Are You?

I would like a Tom and Jerry punch bowl set. I have no reason to say this except that I've been obsessed ever since one of my treks to the U.S. with a friend. We tasted the amazing Tom and Jerry concoction, and enjoyed it along with a wonderful turkey dinner at the Crystal Restaurant in Watertown.         

http://thecrystalrestaurant.com/

Although recipes may vary, the drink is often made with a cake like batter combined with rum, brandy, egg whites, and topped with warm milk. What's not to like? It's a delicious choice for a cold November/December evening.

I currently have a large bucket of Tom and Jerry mix in my freezer which I picked up, along with a recipe, at the Ecklof Bakery and Deli in Jamestown N.Y. last year.

I could have made the punch mix in a bowl...any bowl I suppose, but I feel that to get the true flavour and enjoy the sense of the drink, the official dishes are essential. I'm determined to acquire this set by Christmas, even though I have no idea whether we'll be in the country or if we'll even have company to help us enjoy this treat.

In the meantime, I became curious about the Tom and Jerry history. How could I have lived so many years and not have known about this until 2018?

What I learned came from Wikipedia. Tom and Jerry is a traditional Christmas drink in the U.S. and was created by a British journalist in the 1820's. The mix is sold in supermarkets around Christmas and is manufactured in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the Dakotas. It has been mentioned in many movies, and was President Harding's favourite drink. Fascinating.

I've also learned that these sets are available in many vintage stores, antique barns, and the like. 

Let the exploration begin!

Recipe from Pinterest

Ding Dong Merrily or Not...

I try not to let too many things annoy me. It's difficult because as we age, it's normal to become increasingly impatient. I've decided that's a fact even if it isn't.

We enclosed the front porch of our house about a year after moving here because we often discovered massive snow drifts piled against the entrance. It had something to do with wind direction and of course, winter weather. Opening our door would cause triangles of piled precipitation to plummet into our front entrance turning our foyer into a slip and slide. In fact, the drifts were so frequent, and so high that had our tiny dog not been reddish, and somewhat elongated, she might have been lost out there until the spring.

The new enclosed entryway provided shelter as well as shoe storage. It now protected my completely useless but beautiful, Newfoundland import, jelly bean row souvenir mailbox from the elements.  (blog - You've Got Mail 2014 - link below)

https://rockinrobinsramblings.blogspot.com/2014/01/youve-got-mail.html  

The inner door was finally safe from the rain, sleet, ice, and snow. Wonderful. The doorbell to the left was still readily visible and easily accessible. Or was it? 

Over the years, people have more often than not, pounded on our front door. Yes, they manage to come in to the enclosure, but for some reason, they feel the need to make degrees of noises from light tapping, to fist banging. There's a doorbell. What do people think it's for?

Perhaps our doorbell isn't as obvious to others as it is to me I thought. Or, maybe they think it's some old fashioned, non functional, ornamental gizmo. Out of desperation, mild frustration, and yes, senior annoyance, I tried this. I created a very large and conspicuous sign which even had a directional arrow pointing at the invisible doorbell. I stopped just short of painting the ringer with bright red nail polish lest people think it was an "I've fallen and I can't get up" type of emergency button.

 Alas, there was no difference. People continued to create what can only be described as dents in my eardrums. and on our front door, with their incessant knocking.

My next tact was to answer the door and casually remark, "Oh, sorry. I didn't hear the doorbell."

To this, the guilty party would look around sheepishly for the bell which I had obviously camouflaged in order to make them appear embarassed and foolish.

I was excited to make the following find one day while shopping. We needed a floor mat outside the entrance and this one appealed to my sense of humour. If people were unwilling to ring the bell, at least I'd have some fun wondering about how the mat would be received.       

I had hoped someone would actually do this instead of knocking. I had to realize however, that if any visitors were to actually read things, they would have seen the doorbell sign. Nonetheless, I placed the mat outside and removed my bright red "ring bell for service" sign.

What was the result you ask? I have no idea how some peoples' synapses connect. The sign clearly says, "Doorbell broken...". Suddenly however, it was as though it occurred to everyone that there might be a doorbell. Yes, the formerly unused doorbell suddenly became a well used commodity. Perhaps they were testing it to see if it actually worked before shouting "ding dong".  

So now I actually wish people wouldn't ring the doorbell. I'd rather they yell, "ding dong" so that I could enjoy a few chuckles. Alas, I've decided to be thankful for small steps. In this case, a doorbell that is finally being used.   

The Wonky Donkey...not just for kids

What can I say? I love kids' books. I always have. There are so many great ones that are clever, colourful, and fun...just like me. 

Sometimes the books carry a message. Other times, they are full of rhyming silliness that appeals to young children and helps to stimulate language development. They often show examples of artwork that is amazing enough to be in a gallery.  

 Sadly, my once vast collection of children's books has been whittled down to a few of my favourites as I try to avoid adding to my now skeletal

story shelf.

This video came to my attention a few months ago. Is there anything better than the joy of a grandma reading a silly story to a child? In fact, yes there is. Add the Scottish accent, the contagious laughter, and you've definitely got a winner. I think this woman should get part of the profits for her contribution to the skyrocketing book sales. Perhaps she does.

Despite temptations,  I avoided purchasing the Wonky Donkey for the longest time. I would walk surreptitiously out of bookstores glancing back over my shoulder at the displays with the bright blue and yellow cover and smirking donkey. I'd approach, then retreat, telling myself it was not an essential possession for a down-sizing senior. I wracked my brain attempting to come up with an excuse to get this book, but alas, I had none other than the joy it would bring me.

Finally, my willpower gave out. On a recent Indigo stop, the book leapt into my hands and refused to let go.

Since I'm now the proud owner of Wonky Donkey. I decided to do a bit of research. I discovered that Craig Smith is a well known New Zealand children's author with a number of books to his credit. Since he's a musician, many of the stories begin as songs. More info can be found on this site.

https://yp.scmp.com/news/features/article/109508/new-zealand-childrens-books-author-craig-smith-what-inspires-his

The illustrator,  Katz Cowley has her own fascinating journey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=421&v=MWW6z566Mx

So what will I do with my new picture book? Well, since I've discovered that  there are two interactive Wonky books, "The House that Wonky Built", and "The Wonky Donkey Sticker Scenes", and a Wonky stuffed doll, perhaps I'll create a gift pack for my next trip to visit relatives who have young children (after I play with them first that is).

On the other hand, perhaps I'll just keep it and add it to my small collection of trove of items that bring me joy. 

Here's the Wonky Donkey song.   

https://kids.scholastic.com/content/dam/scholastic/kids/Audio/wonkydonkey/The%20Wonky%20Donkey.mp3?logActivity=true 

Jello...It Has History !

It's interesting how a trip can evolve into something totally different. After Corning, I decided to surprise my friend with a detour to a place we'd heard about on a previous visit to Lucille Ball's Jamestown N.Y. home. Did I write about Lucille Ball? Oops...I see there's an unfinished/unpublished blog.

Anyhow, we had found a brochure at that time and decided it might be fun to go one day. I had hoped she'd forgotten about it when I planned to drive to the Jello Gallery in LeRoy N.Y. on our route home. 

We arrived at the lovely historic town of LeRoy just in time for the museum to open. We followed the path and climbed the stairs.

The woman inside was eager to teach us more about her town so she took us downstairs to view a small but well appointed transportation museum. Here, we learned a bit about the town's history and some of its former industry, including a salt mine, and of course, a jello factory.












Most interesting was the story of Henry Ford who received a speeding ticket in LeRoy in 1922. It cost him a whopping $30...a fortune in those days. It angered him so much that he posted signs outside town warning potential visitors of the "speed trap". 

We also found series of fun signs advertising the museum. Of course, I had to play, and show off my new reading glasses.

It was finally time to head upstairs and learn about the history of jello. I had no idea that it was so fascinating. Apparently, jello was not an instant hit. The inventor was a carpenter who sold the rights for $450 so that he might build himself a house back in the 1800s. The new owner tried to sell the jello concept but couldn't until he created some recipes, painted the side of a wagon, and drove door to door handing out samples and recipes. Jello is available in most countries under different names.

The famous Jello girl.

Jello molds

The museum contained jello molds, memoribilia, posters, and ads created by famous artists and musicians. What a treasure trove ! I loved it. It described the original four kinds and other flavours eg. coffee (yuck) which had been tried but were unsuccessful. They even had displays of some of the "extras" that were once available for use with this popular dessert. I was surprised to see spoons representing a Canadian olympic hockey team.

After checking out the gift shop...yes I made a purchase, we took a few more photos, and walked toward the river. I had read that they had a miniature Statue of Liberty near the water. They did. Don't ask me why. I forgot to inquire.

As if the day couldn't get any better, we had lunch at an old railway station called the D&R Depot Restaurant. I had found it on tripadvisor and decided it was worth a visit. It was family run and the food was outstanding. ***Note to self - Do a tripadvisor restaurant review.

Oh...and lest anyone be curious about what I bought, here it is...a welcome mat of sorts. I have a checkered history with our front doorway, mats, and doorbells. This too was going to be a blog that didn't get completed but still might. I seem to be on a roll again now.

Tilt head to left to read. Hmmm...could this be considered offensive?

Corning Glass Adventure

I have found that most times, things that are unexpected and unplanned end up being the most enjoyable. This was definitely the case on a recent road trip. Although the planned trip was to Corning, our "off the beaten track" adventure was indeed memorable. More on that next blog.

My friend and I had been looking forward to a trip to Corning N.Y. We researched the Corning Glass Museum and were excited to learn of some of the workshops available. 

We signed up for evening classes. My friend wanted to make a flamework pendant,  https://www.cmog.org/visit/make-your-own-glass/pendant
and I decided on a fusing clock project to use as a gift, since my hubby likes clocks, and our anniversary was near. 
https://www.cmog.org/visit/make-your-own-glass/clock

We arrived in time for our classes and were given appropriate safety equipment and goggles. I got to pick a background for my clock and I selected black. I was disappointed by the lack of instruction and although I had made a template of how I wanted my clock to look, it was not doable. There were small containers filled with coloured glass scraps, some transparent and some solid. I was to glue my design for fusing. There was no choice about where the clock dial was to go.

My friend was somewhat more successful with her pendant. It will be mailed to her because it wasn't ready on the next day.

Some of the glass pieces I attached to my clock disappeared into the black background and left lumps once they were fused. I was forced to use random bits and chips of glass...no two pieces alike and I did the best I could. I picked up the finished product the next day and was most disappointed. Someone said it looked "whimsical". I decided to go with that description. So much for my planned template.

We had read about the "Gaffer District" of Corning. It consisted of a few blocks of historical buildings on Market Street. The day was lovely, the architecture was interesting, there were a few gift shops and some restaurants but mostly we saw the storefronts used for insurance companies, real estate, and the like. What wasn't disappointing was the Corning Outlet Store on Pine St. There were some truly amazing bargains.
                                                      

Another historical building was the Rockwell Museum, complete with charging buffalo. 

We toured the Corning Glass Museum after returning in the afternoon to retrieve my clock. I immediately recognized this pieces near the entrance as Dale Chihuly creations, having seen his works at the Oklahoma Museum of Art, and the Royal Ontario Museum. The various rooms within the museum were well appointed and set up to exhibit artworks through the ages.

 

This one was my personal favourite.

Glass furniture...lovely but not practical.

Glass in space exploration

This one would be my son's favourite.