theinfamousmissbeth

Time for the goodies! We recently took a winter time trip to celebrate an early Christmas with family and to check an item off of the bucket list. The visit with family was filled with fun, food, and lots of game playing.  Usually card games are the main focus but this time it was Monopoly. We also baked (read that as ate) several dozen cookies and were entertained by the new grand cat, Stanley. Stanley checks out the new waffle maker under the tree. What, you ask, was the bucket list item?  Drum roll, please. It was a trip to upstate New York to visit Woodstock and Cooperstown, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame!! The village of Woodstock, as many of you know, was not the actual site of the famous music festival in 1969 (that was the town of Bethell) but none the less, who doesn't want to visit Woodstock? A philosophical statement. Just had to stop by and purchase a tie-dyed pair of socks. Lots of peace, love, and you name

Well, the tree is up and the fake presents are underneath. You may be asking, "Miss Beth, why would you put fake presents under your tree?" The short answer: all our gifts go out of town, so to keep from looking like a total loser, I simply stuff tissue paper into bags and voila! it's Christmas! So a couple of weeks ago, I was reading a local publication that offers a variety of articles including local restaurant reviews, suggestions of places to visit throughout the state, short stories, book reviews, recipes, holiday specialty drinks, interviews with local "celebrities"  gardening tips and much, much more! In the advertisement section, a box with the heading "Christmas Tip" caught my eye. It started out with "wrap empty boxes for presents" (see someone else had the same idea) but then suddenly it went really off the rails because the rest of the tip read, "and when your child misbehaves or doesn't listen throw one in

You may be wondering what exactly a library card, an electric skillet, and towels have in common or maybe you are just wondering what the heck? Please read on and I will explain. The three items mentioned above are things I found almost essential in my preschool classrooms over the years. Let me tell you why. Most private child care centers ( most often called day cares) don't ever seem to have very complete library corners. Books are often scribbled on, have pages that are torn or missing altogether, and usually consist mostly of princess stories or animals wearing clothes. In public school classrooms, the variety and quality is usually better, but not always. If you have a library card for your public library, a whole new world opens up! For example, in the fall, meaning the real fall of the year in your hometown, you can check out books by Lois Ehlert. These include:  Leaf Man, Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf, and Nuts to You. Or, in the spring when things are growing

A recent trip to Boston and West Hartford was filled with family, food, and fun! I have to admit, the purpose of the trip was to attend a Jimmy Buffett concert at Fenway Park, but so many more interesting and great things also occurred. The first day was spent exploring the campus of Harvard University, Harvard Square, Boston Common, Boston Public Garden,  Beacon Hill, and Cheers (the bar made famous by the television show, if you are old enough to remember that). Where everybody knows your name.           A street in Beacon Hill The main library at Harvard. Harvard Square and the Boston Public Garden were  among my favorite places we visited that day. An entire store devoted to Curious George! The authors H.A. and Margaret Rey spent much of their writing lives living in Harvard Square area and wrote the Curious George series there. Make Way for Ducklings at the Boston Public Garden. Our second day was filled with followin

During a recent summertime visit with the granddaughter, she told me she really liked the "nana life."  I, of course, asked what exactly she considered the "nana life." She had four basic tenets: 1.  It is tidy. I admit I do like everything in its place. Frequent purging helps with the tidiness. She did, however, go on to say, "I don't know how you do it though, considering what you live with."  I did not ask for clarification. I am hoping she was referring to the dogs and not her Bumpy. 2.  It has good foods.  By good foods she obviously means grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, and cookies.  In other words, she usually gets to eat anything she wants while visiting, much to the chagrin of her parents. Ha Ha. 3.  You play games.  She is a card shark so mostly we play card games but she also has starting playing Scrabble with me and at the age of 10, does really well. During a recent lull in a card game, we had a conversation about

Quincy the Coonhound passed away, Thursday, July 12, after a long battle with Cushing's Disease and heart failure. He was 12 years old. Quincy was a good boy. He had an engaging smile that spread from one coonhound ear to the other. He also had a howl that only a mother (and dad) could love. He enjoyed "taking the sun" on the deck and eating. And although he rarely showed excitement on the outside, I know that he was excited on the inside as he ran at the dog park with his sister and spent time with his dad at the coffee shop. Along with his parents, he is survived by his sister, Gracie, and his little brother Joe Cocker. He was buried between two red oak trees planted by his dad on the grounds of St. Scholastica Monastery. He will be missed. Quincy had a wide range of interests. Quincy sharing his space in the car with his sister. Quincy and Gracie waiting for a treat. (I'm pretty sure). P.S. Quincy came to us from the Ah

 In the title of this post, I used the word fascinating. However, I probably should have used a different word. Because the articles I saw weren't as fascinating as they were just plain weird. #1 An article declaring that eating boogers may be good for your health, didn't even merit a read. After all, the many years I spent in the early childhood classroom cured any curiosity I might have had regarding boogers. I do have to admit that I have known many "booger eaters" and apparently they have grown up to be productive citizens. #2 An article on how to find the pet rat that fits you and your family did catch my attention for about 3 seconds.  I often read articles about how to select the right dog breed for your family, although I don't know why since I already have 3 dogs and they seem to be just right for me! I did not, however, read this article since I am not now or will ever be in the market for a "pet rat." #3 Woman glues dead bugs to e

Bell Tower on Saint Lawrence River, Montreal Bumpy and I recently returned from a trip to visit our neighbors to the north. Let  me start out by saying the weather was great and there were no major problems!   Always a good thing. (Smiley face). We visited Montreal, Knowlton (in the eastern townships) and Quebec City. And even though this part of Canada is French speaking, we had absolutely no trouble understanding people and had no trouble being understood. Because.....every single person we had contact with was bi-lingual!  Once they knew we spoke English, they immediately switched from French to English and things went along as usual. I'm thinking that non-English speakers that come to the U.S. are not as lucky in finding someone to speak their native language. (Just a thought). We, of course, being mono-lingual probably appeared lame, although no one made any mention of it. People were sooooo polite and helpful. They would actually stop what they were