Dodgeball Fun?

After reading last night's edition of the Jay Community News, I paused after seeing the announcement inviting teams or players to join the fun in the upcoming Dodgeball Tournament this February.

I immediately had flashbacks to high school gym class and thought of the anxiety that would fill me as soon as the teacher announced we would be playing dodgeball. Balls scared me, I was a runner. For a 90 pound weakling, I was always an easy target and could rarely avoid being hit.

I can tell you right now that when I was thinking about my new year's resolutions, getting over my fear of dodgeball was not on the list. A quiet, peaceful activity such as learning the art of Origami in 2012 was on the list. So, if I do attend the tournament this year, I will be the one in the bleachers making Origami cranes and I promise you that if I throw one at you, it probably won't hurt.

M & M Diner

The other night my friend and I went to the M & M Diner for a bite to eat. I was looking forward to eating at the diner because at this time of year it is decked out for the holidays and it feels like you've stepped back in time with all the vintage decorations.

They always run a special of the day, I personally love Chicken and Biscuit night, but we veered away from the meal du jour. Even before we arrived Susanna knew what she wanted to eat, a turkey club sandwich on rye sans tomato. She would have liked french fries, but they only had homemade available and she prefers the frozen ones, so she went with the onion rings.

She thought her sandwich was, "Delicious, really good... their turkey clubs are my favorite and I've eaten a lot of turkey clubs in my day."

I ordered an egg salad sandwich and thought it was good with a faint taste of mustard. We also shared a piece of marble cake with chocolate frosting.

The only problem with sharing a piece of cake at the M&M Diner is that the frosting is so good, you'll want your partner to want more cake than frosting and you might secretly angle the slice in your favor. However, 'tis the season to give so I let her have the side with the frosting. We shall see how well we share next time.

Beware: Flying Cows

First there was the pegasus of Upper Jay to watch out for and now drivers need to be on the look out for flying cows in Ausable Forks.

Pegamoo?

20 Main, We're not Scared!

The night started with a simple plan to go to Ladies Night at the Hollywood Theatre in Ausable Forks, but since Lori's coworker dared us to go into 20 Main, the night didn't just end with Eat, Pray, Love. 20 Main has over the years gotten a bad reputation. Some natives have told me they wouldn't dare step into the bar.

I'm not really sure why or how 20 Main got their reputation, perhaps it had something to do with this sign.

Needless to say, I'm a curious person and the ladies didn't put up a fight about checking it out. No "dive bar" was going to scare us. We are a tough group of ladies that are not to be messed with. Look how unapproachable we are.

Here's your proof Chuck!

Honestly, I'm a bit sad that I hadn't been into 20 Main sooner. Hello? Why did no one tell me they had table shuffleboard? I love shuffleboard and hadn't played it in years.

As a kid, my parents would take my sister and I to the Chase Mills Inn in the middle of nowhere St. Lawrence County for dinner. While waiting, I'd annoy my big sis by sprinkling sand all over the place and knock her discs off while she tried to play a "serious" game of shuffleboard.

So, the discovery of the shuffleboard's existence at 20 Main thrilled me and we started a serious game of our own!

Oh, dirty sand and germ ridden shuffleboard discs

how I've missed you!

The ladies divided themselves into two teams - red vs. blue or A&E vs. J&L. The game was tied up until the last match when I placed a red disc onto the 3 and no one came close to knocking it off. Emilie and I won 10 to 6!

Now that we know the music didn't stop when we walked in and didn't get our teeth knocked out, we'll be back to perfect our game of shuffleboard at 20 Main!

Indoor Yard Sale

This morning I was looking through one of my favorite sites for home inspiration and said to Drew, "I wish we had real Saturdays off so we could go yard sale hunting." Looking at the home tour online, I desperately wanted to find something as wonderful as a phone booth for our house.

On this Tuesday morning in the middle of January, I settled for an indoor yard sale. The Treasure Hunt Shop is having a going out of business sale and is no longer Russuz, just an indoor yard sale.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted the same old advertisement for Calumet Baking Powder that I wanted back in March.

This was a sign! Calumet Baking Powder finally made it's way into our kitchen along with a few vintage postcards from the 30s. The first person to leave a comment below will receive one, I promise!

Now I just need to figure out where the advertisement will go, because I don't think Mr. Clock wants to hang onto it forever. Maybe it will go in the stairwell once it's finished and painted?

Oh, and if you win a postcard, I'll be putting your name in the drawing "Win a trip Along the Au Sable to Help Paint."

New Year, New Pizza

Nearing the end of 2009, Travy G's shut down and Mad River Pizza opened in the same location in Ausable Forks.

I started off the new year by phoning in a cheese pizza for pick up. When I arrived, Mad River was packed with people dining inside and it took quite awhile for the worker behind the counter to ask me what I needed. I hope they didn't name their pizza joint after the "Mad House" I experienced. I realize they haven't been open for more than a week and it was New Year's day, but every worker in there seemed totally overwhelmed, so I probably shouldn't be judging them based on this one experience. But, I guess it all really boils down to the pizza.

I think a cheese pizza is the best way to determine if it's a good pizza. It looked promising, since there were actual herbs sprinkled on top of the cheese. The pizza was okay, but the dough and crust had absolutely no flavor.

I feel like I'm being a little mean, but I'm finding it hard to find a good pizza along the Ausable? There are a few restaurants in Lake Placid that make great pizzas, but they're more of a brick oven, gourmet style.

The search continues for a good, New York style, take out pizza in 2010...

Travy G's

Travy G's Pizzeria in Ausable Forks is the closest pizza joint to where we live in Jay and I had heard good things about their food from friends. If I had one last meal, it would be pizza and I will admit that I have high expectations when trying out a new pizza place.  Just the name, Travy G's, made me think that it would be good pizza.  If it had been Travis Pizza, that would have made me skeptical.  At any rate, I called Travy G's and ordered us a cheese pizza and some garlic knots.  When we walked in to pick up our pizza, I could smell the garlic knots and that got me really excited to tear open the box and eat one.  Of course I waited until we got home and was a little disappointed because they were cold.  We both agreed that it wasn't just the drive home that made them cold, they must have been cold to begin with.  They were still edible and we liked them, but I probably should have put them in the oven to warm them up so we could have experienced the warm garlic knots that so many people had told me I needed to try.  Maybe if we ate there, they would have served them fresh out of the oven.

The pizza looked promising and it was still hot.  

The crust wasn't too dry or doughy and they didn't skimp on the cheese or sauce.  We both thought the pizza was good, but not great.  There was just something about the sauce that our taste buds weren't used to and we couldn't figure it out.  We ate about half of it that night and put the rest in the refrigerator.  

We each took a slice to work the next day for lunch.  I had warmed mine up in the toaster oven in my office and was really surprised that I liked it more than the night before.  Drew had called and told me that he had his pizza cold and enjoyed it more too.  Perhaps the sauce just had to settle in with the seasonings.  I'm not sure if there were miniature chefs working in our refrigerator for the night, but whatever happened in the night made Travy G's leftover pizza most excellent!

Ausable Acres Adventure

Last week my friend Emilie and I were out exploring and came across this old water tower down in Ausable Acres.  We had noticed a couple pull-offs where we could park and a well worn trail that took us down to the river.  Here we discovered an old water dam.  This was off the beaten path and it felt very creepy being down there.  I just couldn't figure out what it was that was giving us the heebie jeebies.  

I had gone home that night and told my husband all about this strange place and he showed some interest in seeing it.  Today, I took Drew there to show him this quiet, hidden spot. 

 I hadn't told him about the eeriness I felt just one week prior, but when I caught up to him, his first words were, "This is pretty spooky down here, very weird."  

We carefully looked down the dam at the rapids below.  This scary feeling about the area wasn't just about the possibility of falling 30 feet into freezing cold water with no one around, there was just something about this spot. 

Just before leaving, I had turned around and found my answer.  There it was in a pool of still water in the old stone foundation, an actual human toe!  

APRIL FOOL'S!!!!  

Seriously though, this place is creepy!

Treasure Hunt

Today my friend Emilie and I got together and went to check out Russuz Treasure Hunt and Consignment Shop near Ausable Forks.  We were both hoping we would find, well...a treasure!  Neither of us had been to the Treasure Hunt Shop and couldn't wait to check out what was inside.  

The first gem that I came across was this Sewing Susan needle kit.  The kit advertised 70 golden needles with a threader, but upon opening the kit, there were only like 8.  I mostly liked the vintage box cover, but didn't feel like this was my treasure. 

 

We found other fascinating items, such as a ceramic urinal for our friend Jan, who just broke his pelvis, but decided against it because we would have felt bad buying the urinal without it's bed pan friend.

Emilie came across some nice old cards that we dug through and decided on purchasing a few of those.  

I found this nice hanging wire basket.  I am always on the lookout for new ways of organizing and storing things and for only $5 I thought it was a bargain!  

We saw some great vintage advertisement signs and I would have really liked the Baking Powder sign for our kitchen, but I just didn't have enough money today.  My birthday is in a few weeks though, so you never know!  

We left the Treasure Hunt today spending $21 between the two of us.  We were so happy with our treasures, we brought them back to my house to admire them a little more.  

Emilie ended up with a circa 1970s oil lamp that will be perfect for her electrically challenged home yurt, a beautiful costume jewelry necklace for her sister's birthday and a get well card with little kitties on it.  I ended up with just the three tiered wire baskets, a card to send to a friend in California and an antique postcard of Jay, NY.

We recommend a visit to the Treasure Hunt because as the owner would say, "Look up, look down, look all around, you never know what can be found."

Hollywood Theatre

I had heard last week that the movie theatre in Ausable Forks was going to be having Ladies Night, so my friend Elizabeth and I made a date to go watch "He's Just Not That Into You."Ladies Night is a special offering the owner has from time to time where you can get together with your girlfriends and B.Y.O.B. to the movie!  

When Elizabeth and I went to get our tickets, there were two ladies at the counter, Sierra (the owner) and her friend, Vicki.  Turns out Vicki has been reading my blog and recognized my hat from a previous posting and asked, "Are you the blog lady?"  I replied, "Why Yes, Yes I am." Turns out Vicki just started a blog and so we exchanged information to go on a future adventure together.

 

I hogged the counter while chatting with them and it may have annoyed the people waiting to buy tickets behind us (sorry about that).  Before going into the theatre Elizabeth and I bought some popcorn. How could we not with such great prices! 

We settled down in the theatre and enjoyed watching the movie with other ladies.  Once seated, I realized that I forgot to ask Sierra if men ever try coming to Ladies Night?  I can't imagine many men going to see a movie like "He's Just Not That Into You" so it probably isn't an issue. 

I really liked going to Ladies Night and am looking forward to the next one.  Unfortunately, things are about to get real slow in the area and so the Hollywood Theatre will be on vacation until May 1.  At the next Ladies Night, I hope to see a theatre packed with fellow Along the Ausable ladies!

Car Ride

The other day we took our cat Mango for a ride down Stickney Bridge Road here in Jay to check out some other animals that live near us.

I know what you are all thinking..."Crazy Cat Lady!"  Well... maybe I am, what's it to you?  In my defense, my husband didn't object to bringing Mango on our drive.

Mango likes going for car rides and I thought he would be interested in seeing the other animals in his neighborhood.  Our other cat Monty is not really a fan of being in the car so we left him at home.  We didn't feel bad about not including him in the adventure because he had plenty of action the day before when he caught two mice in the field out back.

On our drive down Stickney Bridge Rd, we were excited to see that the Caribou were close to the road and that they still had their antlers for Mango's viewing.  

Further down the road, Mango meowed at the shaggy cows. 

I think that he wanted to get out of the car and play with them, but I didn't think it would be a good idea since the mom cow started moving closer to Drew when he was taking a picture of the babies.  

At this point, we decided it was time to go home and get Mango inside.  He had seen some interesting animals and we didn't want him to get over stimulated.  I guess we'll leave the pot bellied pigs and alpacas for a different day.

 

Village Bookstore and Gallery

I had always driven by The Village Bookstore and Gallery in Ausable Forks and wondered about it...I suspect that from many of you as well. Anyways, Drew and I finally stopped and I can report that it is definitely worth the visit!

We first went to the Bookstore's door, but it was locked so we tried the Gallery. It was open and it turns out that the couple working in the Gallery, Bill and Karla own both fine establishments. Bill is very friendly and likes to chat so he gave me the scoop for my readers. The gallery has about 35 local artists and artisans displaying their work for you to view and/or buy.

They had everything from artwork, pottery, hand knit scarves, and even Drew's book! We were pleasantly surprised by that find (notice blue book with red figure in foreground).

After I bought a couple small prints, Bill brought us over to the bookstore to look around.

The bookstore is a great comfortable space for browsing and reading the books they have for sale. They carry gently read books and also some antique books as well.

So, next time you're passing through Ausable Forks, make sure to stop by the Village Bookstore and Gallery for a look around. Oh, and they even sell hot beverages. They are open Monday - Saturday from 11 am - 6 pm.

Mountain Valley Shuttle

Last week a free shuttle began operating from the town of Ausable Forks to Lake Placid.  I was pretty excited to learn about this shuttle because less than half a mile from my house I could pick it up at the Village Green in Jay.  I'm a huge fan of a public bus.  In fact, while living in England I preferred the bus over the Tube or train because it usually leads to great people watching.

I had scoped out the schedule and it seemed like the time table catered more towards the Whiteface crowd rather than the nine to fivers going to and from Lake Placid.  However, I figured it would be a good option for me when the roads are bad and it would save me and my little car from sliding around in Wilmington Notch.

Driving back from my parents in Potsdam on Christmas night, my brake lines went and we had semi brake failure for the next 60 miles.  Merry Christmas to us!  While I was getting upset and thinking about spending more money on my car, I remembered that I would be able to use the shuttle service in the morning to get me to work.  How convenient!  

I walked up to the Village Green to wait for the Mountain Valley Shuttle.  It was about -2 that morning and I was all alone.  I wasn't really sure where the shuttle was going to stop so I waited at the corner, but then decided it was a little hooker-like to be standing there.  I'm sure I didn't look like a prostitute with my puffy down jacket and knit hat on at 7 am, but I ended up moving away from the corner.  There are a couple benches in the park, but they were snow covered and I thought I'd get even colder sitting on a stone bench.  

Just like any kid waiting for the school bus, I started kicking the snow and ice on the sidewalk to pass the time.  

As scheduled, the shuttle came at 7:20 am and I got ready to board. 

Pretending to be an urbanite I came armed with a book and ipod.  In trying to look the part, I put my ipod on only to discover the battery was too low for me to listen to my music.  I sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

 After stopping at Whiteface, I became a little annoyed that I had to go to work and everyone else was off with their friends and families preparing for a fun day skiing or snowboarding.  This is one of the reasons why I have a love hate relationship with the holidays.  

At any rate, we arrived in Lake Placid and the driver made his way from hotel to hotel picking up more passengers along the way to take them to Whiteface for all the fun.  I made the mistake of staying on the bus for all the hotel stops when I could have gotten off at the Crowne Plaza and walked down the hill, but I only had to wait 10 more minutes for the Olympic Center stop.  Considering my luck lately, it seemed like a good idea for me to stay on the shuttle because I probably would have fallen on the icy sidewalk and broken my arm on my way down Olympic hill.

My car is fixed now and I drove to work this morning in half the time it takes me to ride the shuttle.  Even though it takes considerably longer and the times aren't the best for my work schedule, I will take the shuttle again because 1) I'm cheap and it's free, 2) I'm a greenie, and 3) I'm a big wimpy winter driver!

I hope to see some of you on my next ride and I might even save you a seat!

Christmas Lights Driving Tour

Tonight I picked my friend Lisa up for a Christmas lights driving tour of Jay and Ausable Forks. There were many houses with impressive lights, but two stuck out over all the others.  

The first was a house on John Fountain Road here in Jay.  I can see this house from my house through the trees and over the covered bridge. Lisa thought that it looked like it's own little Christmas village from this distance.  We decided that we had to do a drive by to get a closer look.   

When talking to Jay about his Christmas lights on Thanksgiving Day, I think he mentioned that this was his brother's house.  I might be wrong, but if so the ability to put on a Christmas light show must be genetic!  This house had a nativity scene, snowmen with candy canes, and Santa with his reindeer.  

Hands down, my favorite thing on their lawn was the cute little gingerbread house.

This house does a good job, but a house in Ausable Forks tops it.  

The house in Ausable not only concentrates on the lawn ornaments, but does quite the job on the porch too.  

I couldn't possibly just do a drive by of this house, I had to get out of the car!  Lisa informed me that there was a Santa on the porch with a motion sensor that when activated, starts to sing and dance!  I paced up and down the sidewalk to try to get him to sing, but he must have been tired because it took him a couple minutes.  It was well worth the wait though. Santa was shaking his hips back and forth and indeed sang some Christmas songs to me.

A man walking his dog passed by and the dog was either scared of Santa or he just wanted him to stop singing because the little dog just wouldn't stop barking.  

Their lawn appeared to be a blow up decoration park.  There must be about 10 different blow ups, some that I have labeled as "Santa with hot air balloon", "Santa running into Christmas tree"and also "Reindeer pulling Santa out of Chimney."

I'm sorry these pictures came out so blurry, but in my defense many of them moved!  Here is a close up of "Reindeer pulling Santa out of Chimney."  On second thought maybe it should be called "Reindeer shoving Santa back down the Chimney."

Secretly I wish that someday I would have a house where people would drive by slowly to admire my lights or decorations. But, I know that my husband would probably be mortified if I came home from Sam's Club with a blow up Christmas decoration of any kind and he would probably think that I was off my rocker.  So, I'll just have to admire everyone else's decorations.

Don't get me wrong I do love my Christmas tree that sits in the window with it's pretty white lights, but when I drove Lisa by my house...she didn't even ooooh or aaaaah.

Elfenwood Alpacas

This Saturday, the Alpaca Farms in Jay will be part of National Alpaca Farm Day. There are four alpaca farms in the Jay area.  Unfortunately I will not be able to attend since I have to work.  I really wanted to visit one of the alpaca farms in the area, so I called Trudy at Elfenwood Alpacas to make an appointment to come for a visit.  

Yesterday morning I went to visit the new cria (baby alpaca) at Elfenwood Alpacas.  I got to meet "Terrawee" it means "Little Earth Gift"and she was only 10 days old.  She is so cute and so soft. 

Trudy and Seth, the owners, had a very busy morning.  They had nail trimming to do, medicine to give, and behavior watching to do.  They wanted to see if Terrawee's mom was ready to breed yet. She must have had a headache because she spit at Lucian.  Maybe this weekend. 

Elfenwood Alpaca Farm has 11 alpacas.  I was only able to see 10 of them, one is away on a romantic vacation.  I got to see 6 girls and 4 boys.  They are all so beautiful.  Thank you Trudy and Seth for letting me visit!