Feel Like Complaining

Facebook can be a good thing sometimes. If you subscribe to local news stations you get breaking news a lot quicker than waiting for the next newscast. Last Sunday evening I saw reports that two local landmarks were on fire, not too far from our house. Of course in the beginning, updates are conflicting. First it was a car that hit a pole, and then a house and finally the real scoop.

Both the Milk Bottle restaurant and Ferguson's Cafe were engulfed in flames. This picture was lifted from the newspaper Monday morning.
The Milk Bottle was built in 1933 and literally shaped like a giant milk bottle. They made burgers, shakes and had the best homemade ice cream. We were only there once, years ago and had bubble gum ice cream. Expecting a bubble gum flavored ice cream but instead it had real bubble gum in it. Interesting. The damage to the Milk Bottle wasn't as heavy as Ferguson's and both say they plan to reopen.
I drove by Monday morning, stopped and walked down the block to…

This year we had to plan our vacation around 'retake' days in case our daughter had to retake her state mandated tests. Those days fell right at the same time we usually take our vacation and she would have to be around 'just in case'.

Since she took the Reading and Writing part this Spring, we knew by June whether she had passed or not. She achieved Level 4-Advanced. She also took the Science exam this Spring and didn't fare as well, only a Level 2-Basic. But.....the cool part is that Science is not required to be passing to graduate. In two years it will be, but not now.

Toward the end of this past year's school she had to take a End-Of-Course Exam in Geometry. We got her a tutor because she struggled all year and we could most certainly see a 'retake' in her future.

But yesterday we got a letter announcing all the scores as well as Math, and she passed that too with a Level 4-Advanced. Whoo Hoo, the kid made it! We did cheat a little and found her…

I pulled this little fella from my garden last week. He's my peg-legged man with a crooked weenie. And look, he's even got a butt crack. And then I cooked and ate him!

My hubby had some extra vacation days coming because I guess they like him and rolled over days from last year; but they would only last until the end of summer.

I convinced him to take a few days and go visit a favorite uncle on the other side of the state. We usually try to see him on our own vacation but those haven't worked out lately. Hubby thought it was a great idea and called the uncle to see if this would work for him. Paul is 78 but still very active. He's a widower of many years and also had a very nice girlfriend we never got to meet, but has since passed also.

A few days before hubby left he was having second thoughts (he is psychic remember). He couldn't really attribute the feelings to anything concrete; just a feeling like he shouldn't go. Again, I convinced him to go. Besides daughter and I wanted to spend our own quality time. We did and had a good time with a movie one night and lunch the next day.

To do a little back story this Uncle dumped the who…

The other day when I took my lady to her standing appointment at the hairdresser, one of the other stylists called me a name.

I was shocked and couldn't believe someone would say that to me. It has been probably been 43 years since I've been called that. I said "who me" and looked around thinking she had got me confused with someone else. I didn't even really know this woman and have only said 'hi' to her over the past year. Did she know me that well to call me that?

What could she have said to get me so flummoxed? She called me skinny. Yes, the lady who with intermittent bouts of thin-ness, has been overweight most of her life. The last time any one referred to me as skinny is when maybe at the age of 10 or so, my older brother was quite the photographer. He took this shot of me on my bike and aptly titled it.

No one has ever referred to me as that since (especially in my family). Now, I'm far from skinny and I'm far from being done with my wei…

Corn Dogs, Ice Cream, Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Gourmet Grilled Cheese, Elk Burgers, Funnel Cakes, Pizza and much more. No, not the county fair but the once a year Labor Day celebration of Pig Out in the Park. Going on its 32nd year, the foodie festival has fed an estimated 2.5 million people.
Last Saturday night we headed downtown to Riverfront Park to partake in the Pig Out. The kid didn't want to go but once I mentioned grilled cheese sandwiches, she was more willing. I like the ethnic diversity of the booths so you're able to try something a little different than you normally would. We usually just get a few things and share it. Of course daughter got the French Onion grilled cheese sandwich with Greyer cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms, she loved it. Hubby and I shared a pulled pork sammie and some grit fries. They're not really fries at all, just sticks of deep fried corn bread or something like that. I wasn't too crazy about them. I wanted to try an elk burger …

From our archives, 100 years ago

I wish we could still handle spousal abuse this way.
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An angry mob of at least 15 men forced their way into the jail at Grangeville, Idaho, and pumped nearly a dozen bullets into Peter Mallick, a prisoner accused of brutally beating his wife.

Mallick was in jail because of an incident that had occurred on his homestead about two months earlier. He was accused of coming home drunk, dragging his wife from her bed, and brutally beating her with a revolver and kicking her until he was exhausted. Her shoulder was dislocated, three ribs were broken and her eye was “almost beaten out of its socket.” The wife, a graduate of the Lewiston Normal School, still had not recovered fully from the beating.

People were outraged by the incident and many threats had been made against Mallick’s life.

The night of Aug. 31, 1911, a mob of 15 masked men rode up to the jail, overpowered the guards, pushed their way to his cell and said, “Get ready to take your med…