Dance Like No One is Watching

New Dancing Shoes

December 13, 2011

I like to dance not that I'm any good at it and have two left feet without being blessed with rhythm. Obviously my Mom wasted money on those ineffective tap dance lessons I took briefly as a child!  Still I like to dance. Dancing is a great way to get a bit of exercise, loosen up stiff muscles and ease back pain.  I even have a decorative wall art quote on the header of the staircase that says "Dance Like No One is Watching".  We went out a couple of nights ago, just the perfect excuse to buy a new pair of shoes.  Being a shoeaholic, you would think I would know better than to go dancing in a brand new pair of shoes.  I seldom wear high heeled shoes, preferring a lower profile shoe.  This pair is low wedge heel, rounded toe softies by Faded Glory.  They fit nicely and felt comfortable immediately so I wasn't too concerned.  At the end of a wonderful night, I only had one tiny rub spot on the back of my right heel where the top of the shoe hits.  Not bad for an evening of fun spent in cute new shoes :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Gnomeo and Juliet

Gnomeo and Juliet

February 17, 2011

My husband and I seldom go to the theatre.  When we do go to the theatre we make it a night out with stopping for dinner first then onto the show.  A couple of weeks ago we decided to go see Gnomeo and Juliet.  We stopped at A&W for dinner for old times sake.  Then it was off to the show.  This really was a very cute movie.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait for it to come out on DVD to add it to my Gnome Empire of all things gnomes!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

At The Hockey Game

At the Hockey Game

December 20, 2010

Contrary to my husband's beliefs I enjoy going to hockey games.  When I was young I virtually lived at the arena during the winter.  At that time there was public skating Saturdays and Sundays as well as during the week on some evenings but I was into my teens before my Mom would let be go to the evening skates.  I had to walk just a little over a mile to get to the arena unless one of my friends were going then I could get a ride with them.  My Mom never learned to drive so we didn't have a car until I started driving.  I love all the sights, sounds and smells of the arena!  It has a special, fresh smell from the ice that always triggers a lot of memories for me.   Then there was the arena canteen.  Oh my gosh, I loved the canteen!  When I was little it was pretty bare bones compared to what it is now in my home town but still it was there just outside the girls' dressing room that we used to put on our skates.  My favourite part was and still is hitting the ice just after the zamboni cleaning.  Years later I discovered the freedom of skating on rinks cleared from the river's surface.  My Mom would never let us skate on the river which is a pity because it is an amazing experience out on nature's surface.  When my husband's Mom passed away and mine passed away 7 days later on Christmas day the same year, we made Christmas magic for our family by putting building an ice rink in our backyard.  Many a night I was out on the ice, relaxing after a very long day of commuting and education while the kids were tucked safely in bed.  I'd skate and skate enjoying the cold air with stars twinkling overhead.  Now we have grandkids it might be time for Grandma and Papa to introduce them to the wonders of an outdoor ice rink!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Game Anticipation

St. Pete Forum Arena Pre-Game Time

December 20, 2010

Our kids gifted us and one of their sibs with significant other that were visiting us at our vacation home with tickets to see a Tampa Bay Lightening vs Carolina Hurricanes hockey game.  I love the look of the hockey rink when it is freshly coated before game time while the arena is still fairly quiet.  It just evokes anticipation of what is to come!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

The Rose

The Rose

January 4, 2011

I wrote about our amazing evening rubbing shoulders with a lot of famous folks a couple of days ago.  Pictured is the rose Jack Calhoun, one of the Twin Brothers, gave me the night we were so very lucky to see him perform.  I'm thinking I could become a serious groupie to these entertainers!  Isn't it just gorgeous and oh it smelled just heavenly too :)

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

An Amazing Night

Our vacation home neighbours asked if we would be interested in going a Tuesday night buffet they liked going to and we accepted.  The buffet was roast beef and chicken with the extras.  It was nothing fancy and at $10.95 each, definitely not expensive but the food was good.  Aside of the food the only other cost for the night was for drinks.  The buffet was held at a former Holiday Inn in two very small banquet rooms that had the divider open to form one larger room.  There was a bar to one side on the front corner beside a tiny stage.  There was a small dance floor in front of the stage and I do mean small.  The crowd was small numbering about 50.

The entertainment started after dinner so we settled in to enjoy what we thought was only going to be karaoke.  After a few singers things started to liven up well beyond our expectations.   McKinley & Beggs, a well known Florida country duo came on to play a set.  They have been the opening act at Silver Springs for George Jones, Charlie Daniels and Merle Haggard as well as others.  Jack and Jerry Calhoun (Twin Brothers) who frequently appear at the Grand Ole Opry played a set then Jack performed a few songs himself.  When he came out to perform, we went around the room handing long stem roses to all the ladies.    Ken Brady of The Original Casinos and now lead singer of The Casinos performed several number and gave me a signed CD!  Eddie Snyder sat at the table next to ours with Dawn, station manager to 4 radio stations.  Richie Merritt performed a couple of songs as well.  There were other famous singers in the room as well. 

I'll tell you, I was in seventh heaven and then some!  I could not believe we actually were able to enjoy all this amazing talent and not only that chit chat with the entertainers as if we had known them forever.  They were so down to earth and friendly!  The entertainers get together to just do bit of performing and networking so don't charge for the entertainment on Tuesdays.  No one knows who will show up to perform so it varies from Tuesday to Tuesday.  In addition to the free Tuesday night performances special events are scheduled on select Friday and/or Saturday evenings with a seating cost of $10 per person and additional $10.95 for the optional dinner.

Talk about an amazing night!



Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Blog Your Blessings Sunday - Rain, Family & Friends

This past week started out to be so very hot and humid but full of blessings.  Lack of rainfall this summer has been a real issue for local farmers and home gardeners.  Wednesday, the day we were hosting a large dinner party, the forecaste was hot, humid and thunderstorms.  It rained during the wee hours of Wednesday morning and a bit during the day but cleared enough to enjoy eating outdoors for the dinner party then it rained overnight.  Thursday and Friday we woke to more rain with clearing in the afternoon.  The rain was very much welcomed!

The dinner party was a huge success!   The event was not without a bit of sadness though as we found out one of our friends who did not attend had recently been very,very sick resulting in the partial amputation of her leg.  Our support, thoughts and prayers are with her and her family as she goes through the healing process! 

On Friday a couple of our kids arrived with our second grandbaby, now a very energetic toddler, to spend a couple of days.  This little one is just a real hoot!  Those great big, brown winkers remind me so much of one of parents at that age and you know Grandmas and Papas are very prone to falling under the spell of the huge puppy dog looks grandbabies can give.  The following morning a couple more of our kids arrived for brunch with oldest and youngest grandbabies.  We try to get together this way as often as possible.  Not only do we get to enjoy our kids and grandbabies, the grandbabies get to enjoy a strong family support system.  I think it is wonderful that our grandbabies do play dates together and get lots of interaction so not only are the cousins they are friends, just as their parents are friends with their sibs.  All in all there were many blessings all around!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Wee Flea Market at Weber, Florida

Wee Flea Market at Weber, Fl

May 17, 2010

If you recall from a recent post we enjoy visiting flea markets.  The Wee Flea Market is located in Webster, Florida.  There are actually two flea markets in Webster but the Wee Flea Market is the largest.  The Wee Flea Market is open to the public from 6 AM to 3 PM on Mondays.  As with any outdoor activity in Florida it is better to plan visiting as early in the day as possible.  We got there about noon on a drizzly type day so many of the booths were closed.  Unlike many flea markets a lot of the walking paths were paved making it a bit easier for walking.  Despite the weather the vendors that were opened were extremely friendly thanking us for shopping on a rainy day.  It will be a lovely flea market to visit again the next time we are at the vacation house.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Chair at the Fleamarket

The Chair

May 23, 2010

I love finding oddities at fleamarkets especially items that I don't know the actual function but can speculate a bit.  Take this great chair I found.  I didn't buy it but rather only took a picture.  It looks like a motorcycle seat attached to office chair legs.  So what could the function be?  Perhaps the original owner liked his motorcycle so much he converted his office chair to give the same feel.  Perhaps it is an earlier version of an ergodynamic chair meant to improve posture.  Then I got to thinking.  It wouldn't be a fancy milking or horse shoeing stool because of the wheels that would make it impractical.  Notice the nice leather with complimentary brass trim.  I think this stool may have belonged to an affluent dentist.  He would easily be able to roll the chair around as needed, sit for certain dental proceedures without being encumbered by the back of a chair.  What do you think?

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Penned Chickens at the Lakeland Fleamarket, Lakeland, Florida

Penned Chickens

May 23, 2010

A common sight at the Lakeland Fleamarket was penned chickens at several of the booths.  Some looked like they might be selling the chickens but others were like this one just sitting out beside the booth.  Well in this case the chicken pen was sitting by the food truck and did not appear to be for sale.  I had to wonder why they were there.  Were they there for the purpose of selling or to be killed for some of the food being served?  I can't see them being killed on site in such a small unit so perhaps they were there because the family spent so many hours away from home and this was one way to still have chickens.  Could they be a bit of a status symbol?  See these are the kinds of thoughts inquiring minds can come up with.  In hind sight I should have simply inquired about why the chickens were there but what a lot of people don't know about me is talking to strangers does not come easy so the questions went unanswered, slipping into my memories of the trip.

I have been wanting to get laying hens here so I've been doing a bit of research.  My husband isn't too fond of the idea of me getting chickens so we are into the great chicken debate.  To me the pen pictured is much to small for the number of chickens in it even for a brief time.  They were in full, blazing hot sun too which didn't impress me.  Despite that the chickens looked quite healthy but I don't have a lot of experience with chickens so maybe they aren't as healthy as they look.  At any rate if I ever do get chickens I will be posting a lot about them here.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Food Fare at the Fleamarket

Mobile Cuban Food Truck

May 23, 2010

Dotted throughout the Lakeland Fleamarket in Lakeland, Florida are several mobile food trucks as well as a few permanent food booths and a beer booth.  There is a large Cuban population in central Florida so it is quite easy finding small eateries specializing in authentic Cuban cuisine.  This mobile food truck was selling a variety of snack type foods including the very popular Cubano sandwich.  What caught my eye here were the penned chickens.  This was a very common sight at this particular fleamarket, one we hadn't seen before. 

If you note the sandy road, most of the walking paths in the open were gritty sand.  I noticed that the footware of choice was sandles and why not given the heat.  We both had sandles on but next time we go I will definitely be wearing running shoes.  That gritty sand is just downright nasty feeling between the foot and bed of the sandle!  It's also important to pay attention to the weather when going to the southern fleamarkets.  Many of them start closing up around 1 PM because of the heat so it is best to go early in the morning for a more enjoyable experience.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

Lakeland Fleamarket, Lakeland, Florida

Produce Stands at Lakeland Fleamarket

May 23, 2010

We have always enjoyed wandering through fleamarkets as a bit of entertainment when on vacation.  We also frequent a couple of fleamarkets in the GTA when we are there along with a few local fleamarkets.  Fleamarkets vary greatly in size with some offering a lot more than others.  Fleamarkets are a great source for just about anything including furniture and antiques.  Some things are new and others are used but there are always great deals.  There are usually refreshment stands complete with simple foods like hotdogs and French fries.

Common to many fleamarkets are produce stands selling fresh local produce.  In most cases the fleamarket produce prices are always a good deal.  I love wandering through the produce stands taking in all the sights, sounds and smells!  The produce stands at the Lakeland Fleamarket renewed my determination to do a bit of canning at our vacation home.  That way I could take advantage of inexpensive local produce that I would not be able to bring back into Canada.


Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

The Box

A couple of nights ago my husband brought home a movie to review. The move was The Box starring James Marsden, Cameron Diaz, Frank Langella, James Rebhorn, Gillian Jacobs, and Basil Hoffman. The underlying theme was a wrapped box was left on Arthur Lewis (James Marsden) and his wife, Norma's doorstep. Inside was a plain box with a button on top covered by a glass dome. A gentleman with a disfigured face then visited the couple to give them the offer. If they pressed the button they would get 1 million dollars but someone they did not know would die. So the couple was left with the dilemna that if they pressed the button they would have all that money at the price of another life. They were given 24 hours to make the decision. I don't want to turn this into a spoiler so I will leave it to you as to whether to watch the movie or not.

In life some buttons are best left not pushed and this applies to many faucets in life. Once the button is pushed there are consequences, sometimes not the ones you want.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010

At the Races

At the Races
September 12, 2009

I grew up around horses spending a couple of weeks each summer on a horse ranch where I learned to ride. When my husband and I first met I tried to teach him to ride as well. He will to this day claim the horse bucked him off. The real story is it was a pony not a horse and the pony sat down on it's rump so my husband slid off. At no time did the pony attempt to buck but certainly got it's point across. So my husband has not learned to ride. I did however manage to teach him the finer art of the race track. Unfortunately we don't get to a race track very often but we always enjoy it when we do like last Saturday.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

CSI

CSI Cast Season I

One of my ultimate favourite television series next to the Law & Order series is CSI: Criminal Scene Investigation so you can imagine my great pleasure when I discovered one of our satellite channels basically shows CSI most of the day. HGTV and Foodtv have taken the back seat for the time being. I'm in seventh heaven! I can catch up on CSI episodes I haven't seen yet and surprisingly judging by this week that is a lot. I have to say I was disappointed to see Warrick Brown leave last season and even more surprised to hear why. I'm glad to see Sarah come back this season. Here's hoping that she will stay. That's where I'm at on the original CSI. On CSI: Miami I really like Horatio Cain much to the dismay of one of my girlfriends who seriously detests the guy. His mannerisms can be irritating but that makes it so much more likeable. CSI:NY has to be one of my favourite spin offs with Stella being one of my favourite characters.

There is a reason why these types of shows appeal to me but I'm not quite prepared to share why just yet...

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

hockeytown

Joe Louis Arena
Detroit, Michigan
Oct. 18, 2008

Early Saturday afternoon a friend called asking if we would be interested in going on a casino bus trip, 3 days and 2 nights. We were thinking about that when he called again with tickets to the Detroit Red Wings vs. New York Rangers hockey game. You certainly do not have to twist my husband's rubber arm to get him to go to a hockey game especially when his beloved Wings are playing! We hurried to get on the road for the long ride to Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Part of the fun going to hockey games is getting there in time to watch the pre-game warm-up while eating Little Caesars pizza. The game itself did not disappoint with the first goal about 30 seconds into the game by the Wings and the final goal about 30 seconds into overtime also by the Wings. The Wings won 5 - 4!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

boaters help boaters

Decker's Landing
July 1, 2008

We are do a lot of boating but that isn't surprising considering we our property backs onto the water. Our main boating grounds are Lakes Huron, St. Clair and Erie along with their connecting waterways and waters emptying into those waterways. We know every good marina and restaurant to stop at in that area when docked. If you want to see pictures from Decker's please read my cooking blog. We're boaters so when I saw Decker's was hosting a special fund raiser, I just had to react:

Decker's is hosting a Margaritaville Weekend Memorial on July 18 and 19, 2008 in memory of Susan Bell, Joe Hamilton and Katy O'Neil who We went to Decker's last week. The one thing about boaters aside of being some of the friendliest folk you have ever met is they stick together and help each other. I saw where they are holding a Margaritaville to raise funds for the children of those who tragically lost their lives in a boating accident on Lake St. Clair on May 24, 2008. Brian Lepp and Robert Diegel were seriously wounded with severe facial injuries. Trust funds have been set up for Austin and Lucas Bell as well as Lydia Hamilton. If you would like more information on this event, would like to book a boat slip or donate to the cause please call Deckers at 1-810-794-0581. Please support this cause if you can.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008

Storm Clouds
June 21, 2008

The weather has been very unsettled here so we have been seeing a lot of severe storms. It's either wet and cold or very humid and hot with threatening weather. We aren't getting a lot of work done outside and the work has slowed in the kitchen because of high humidity levels interfering with painting and staining in the garage. This picture shows a bit of the furies we have been under. Yes we had a horrid storm with these clouds.

The recent vacation in Las Vegus was a bit different in that I was under the weather for most of it. After we checked out the final day we went made a final stop at The O'rlean's. I was on sensory overload so decided to check out the cinema on the second level. For $7.50 I treated myself to The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. I seriously enjoyed both the movie and the down time from all the extra sensory stimulation! I won't give any secretes away but this really is a must see movie. There are a lot of overtones and similarities from the Harry Potter movies but if you haven't seen those then it's no problem. If you've seen them then it is more of a "this is familiar but different" type of thing. However, there are many similar aspects that I will go into detail in a later post so as to not spoil it for anyone who has not seen the Harry Potter and Narnia movies. Still this movie is well worth watching and quite enjoyable.

My husband taking an idea from one of our kids who frequents the movie theatres suggested we go to a movie last weekend. We stopped for dinner at A&W which has a special meaning to us as that is where we met although not that one. And the teen burgers don't taste quite the same but that same beautiful smile is on the other side of the table. We saw Get Smart. I won't ruin it for you but if you liked the old version of Get Smart you will love this movie. It really is a must see! The night was absolutely gorgeous with a nostalgic meal followed by a movie. The drive was nice as well. We chatted about nothing in particular just really enjoying each other's company.

We have decided this type of outing is something we would like to do at least once a month. We really aren't into eating a lot of fast food so I suggested we eat at home then go to the movies. It's now become a discussion between whether we eat at our favourite fish and chip place first or eat at home with eating at home coming out ahead. That's fine with me :) Now all I have to do is convince my husband he really doesn't need that bucket of popcorn even if it is in a souvenir bucket.

Garden Gnome
©2006 - 2008

Skies on Fire
June 15, 2008

Anyone who has followed this blog will know I am a die hard Coronation Street fan. I'm sorry but life does stop when Corrie is on. Thanks to satellite television I can watch it a few times through the evening or all of the weeks episodes Sunday morning. The current story line involves David Platt a seriously "love to hate" teenager. What he did (and I did miss the episode just before) was to put street drugs into the head of a doll of Bethany's. Bethany is the very young child of Sarah, David's sister born when Sarah was a young teenager. Gail, Sarah and David's mother but I think they have different fathers because David's father is Martin (a male nurse) got mixed up with Richard Hillman who tried to kill all of them by drowning but only ended up killing himself. Ok, so Richard was a little messed up but in the aftermath he left a lot of damage. However, David had a lot of hangups before this tragic event. He had found a diary by his grandmother indicating that she had stopped his abortion well really the writing was on the wall. Anyway back to the plot, Bethany is now in the hospital in intensive care although yesterday she came out of her seizures. This really is a kid in trouble. Audrey, Gail's mom and David's grandmother is against Gail kicking David out, the only real set of balls Gail has displayed since I've been watching Corrie and has now said David can move in with her. Bad news, Audrey!

Garden Gnome
©2007

we're off to see the Wizard

Wizard of Oz Slot Machine
Four Queens
May 19, 2008

Las Vegas is definitely the place to go to play the newest slot machines. When I first discovered multi-line video slots it was there. They were 9 lines at 5¢ or 1¢ per line so a $20 bill went a long way towards entertaining me. Over the years the number of lines has increased from 9 to 30 or more with multiple amounts bet per line of 10 coins or more. Don't be fooled though as a penny machine can pay of big especially the progressives but at the same time you can still lose a lot of money in a slot machine. The thing about penny slot machines is psychologically you think it's only a penny a line but consider a 30 line machine bet at 10 pennies per line is $3 per spin and more if you play the optional bonus feature on some machines. To put that in perspective your $20 bill now gets you 6.67 spins or less than 5 minutes if you don't get any winning lines.

The multi-line video slots are set up so that certain spins trigger a bonus. Let's face it the only reason to play these machines is to get the bonus feature.

Each year we go to Las Vegas I discover a slot machine I really enjoy playing and by all means there is no point playing a slot machine unless you enjoy it. It started with Reel 'Em In then moved onto the Adam's Family, Monsters and I Dream of Genie. I never really got into Wheel of Fortune. A couple of year's ago my ultimate favourite was the Beverly Hillbilly slot machines followed by Goldfish (WMS Gaming). The Adam's Family slot machines are few and far between now as are the I Dream of Genie and Beverly Hillbilly machines. The Las Vegas Club still has a bank of Beverly Hillbilly slots but I'll bet by next year's trip they will be gone.

My favourite this year was the Wizard of Oz slot machines (WMS Gaming) that have sensory technology in the gaming chair seat (not pictured) and Bose speakers in the head rest and machine for surround sound! The gaming chair vibrates as well. To get a brief overview of this amazing slot machine click the link then watch the video. It is a 30 line penny machine with upto 10 times per line bet. There are a three main bonuses if you get the Emerald City symbol on reels 1, 3 and 5. Choose a symbol to get the Flying Monkey bonus, Emerald City bonus or a set amount of win. In the Flying Monkey bonus the monkeys fly in and turn various symbols to wild so the win can be substantial. In the Emerald City bonus you collect emeralds looking for the tin man, scarecrow, lion or Dorothy. If you click an emerald that uncovers one of these characters you then have to choose between 2 symbols. If you click the right one, once you get to the Emerald City an extra bonus will play in the top screen. However, if you are unlucky you will end up clicking an emerald that says Emerald City and go directly there . On that screen there will be five choices, one of which will be character granted. At worse you end up with a low bonus reward but if you find one or more characters along the way you can end up with a fairly nice reward. At the same time Glenda the good witch appears from time to time. The reels will giggle then a large sphere will float in from either side with Glenda inside. She turns some of the reels wild anywhere from 1 to 3 reels so you can get really nice payoffs this way.

Now what is really funny about this is I already posted how I was terrified of the Wizard of Oz movie as a child and I don't even think I've seen it as an adult in its entirety. Seriously those monkeys really did me in not to mention the wicked witch! Despite those this machine triggering some of those feelings especially the monkeys, I still really enjoyed this slot machine and played it daily during our trip. It was a good paying machine as well with my payouts being an average $60 profit per day. Not bad for a penny machine :)

I might just have to watch the Wizard of Oz now...

Garden Gnome
©2007