Happy and Sad

I am happy because I have been on vacation since the Thursday before Thanksgiving and sad because today is the last day and I have I go back to work tomorrow. I work for local governamnet and have for the past 13 years. It has been nice until recently. The office politics is getting to an unbearable level. I am not political at all and will never be. To me it is like selling your soul to the devil. The whispering and back stabbing is just some of the everday norms now in the office. Why do I stay? you may ask. Well here are some of the reasons - I live alone, I need the money, health benefits and pension. Here is Cape May County, jobs that offer the above are hard to come by. Well enough about that. I am sure I will have some rants in the future on this topic.


My friend called yesterday and asked if I wanted to go the the Cape May Mall (Washington Street Mall). Of course I said yes. This is what the Mall looked like before renovations.

I had seen a picture in the newspaper of the renovation, but it didn't prepare me for what I saw.

The following link is history on the mall and there is also a place to click that shows more pictures of the renovations. http://www.washingtonstreetmall.com/


This was a beautiful, quaint outdoor mall. The center had lovely shade trees and benches. At Christmas, all the trees were lit. It was so sad to see 30 year old trees taken out. They say that after it is done, it will be beautiful. I hope they are right.

As per the norm when I go on vacation it is guaranteed to rain. Which it did several days, it also was cloudy, damp, windy, sunny and warm. So basically I covered all the elments except the nasty white stuff, which I am so-so happy.


I did manage to get a couple fairly good pictures of the fall colors.

These are the trees outside of Township Hall.

This is Belleplain.

Anyone who knows me or read my profile knows my first love is animals.


Here is Tiger basking in the sun with not a care in the world.



There is a road in Middle Township that I always take. One because it is beautiful and two because there are horses. I took carrots and camera and here are some of the pictures.

I've named this one "Give the carrot and I won't hurt you"

This is "Damn Camera"

This is "Pretty".

Well, it is time to go, enjoy my last day of freedom, so to speak. OH and by the way, I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Funny

I received this in an e-mail. I got a chuckle out of it so I thought I would share.


A game warden was driving down the road when he came upon a young boy carrying a wild turkey under his arm.

He stopped and asked the boy, "Where did you get that turkey?"

The boy replied, "What turkey?"

The game warden said, "That turkey you're carrying under your arm."

The boy looks down and said, "Well, lookee here, a turkey done roosted under my arm!"

The game warden said, "Now look, you know turkey season is closed, so whatever you do to that turkey, I'm going to do to you. If you break his leg, I'm gonna break your leg. If you break his wind, I'll break your arm. Whatever you do to him, I'll do to you. So, what are you gonna do with him?"

The little boy said, "I guess I'll just kiss his ass and let him go!"

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off of your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving

Pumpkin Cake

With Thanksgiving several days away I thought that maybe there would be some who don't eat pie. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good slice of pumpkin pie, but I love a good cake. I wanted to share this recipe with you. My mom came across this recipe in the newspaper some thirty years ago and I have been making it ever since. As soon as the weather gets cooler, out comes the recipe and soon the spicy aroma is mouthwatering. This cake can be made ahead and frozen.

PUMPKIN CAKE

4 eggs

2-2 1/2 cups sugar

Cream. When creamed add

1 cup oil

1 cup pumpkin (pumpkin pie mix by Libby's)

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup water

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon (I love cinnamon, so I always add a little extra)

Mix well

Bake in a greased tube pan for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes in a 350-375 degree oven (depends on your oven. I baked mine 350 degrees for 1 hour 5 minutes)
Test by inserting toothpick until there is a little cake on the toothpick (don't overbake). Let cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan and completely cool.

I generally make two cakes because I don't want to waste the pumpkin pie mix. I will cut the cakes in half, freeze all but one and put the other one in the refrigerator. I think it tastes better cold with a cold glass of mix.

I hope that you enjoy this cake as much as I do.

Simple Pleasures

Yesterday I decided I wanted to go out and enjoy some of the simple pleasures of Cape May County. On my way to the supermarket I came across this -

This is along Fulling Mill Road going toward Rio Grande. I just love all the colors of fall. And it felt like a fall day. The wind was blowing and it was very chilly.

After I got home and put everything away. I decided it was time to venture down to Cape May Point. As I was driving down Sunset Blvd. I decided to go to the end and see what was happening in the Bay and the Sunken Ship. When I got out of the car I was nearly blown away by the wind. However, it was worth it.

This is also known as the concrete ship by the locals. Sadly, there isn't much left. With numb hands, I went to Cape May Point Park and took a walk along the path.

Almost at the end of the path, I saw this

I went up on a pathway to the ocean and was surprised how calm the ocean was. I looked up and captured this

All in all it was a very good day. It did my heart good to go out and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

My Baby and two kittens

I would like to talk about my baby. I know this may sound stupid to some, but my baby is my cat. I have had her now for close to twelve years. In those past twelve years she has always been there for me and with me. She almost always greets me at the door when I come home with sweet meows and cuddles. You see, I live alone. All of my immediate family has passed away and it is nice to feel important and needed to someone, even if they are covered in fur and walk on four legs. The picture above is when she could really jump and get on top of things, but with age, she has started to slow down. Every now and then she acts like a playful kitten and we run around the house or I am down on the floor tussling with her. Now that it is getting colder she usually is laying on my lap or under the covers at night. In the warmer weather, we usually go outside and enjoy the day. She doesn't have claws and can't fight worth a darn so she is on a leash with about 30 feet of line to roam. She is not a birder at all, but she goes through the motions like "I'm gonna get you this time", but she never does. I just sit there and watch her and laugh.

Now the two kittens. Let me go back in time to last year. I was going to mow the lawn and when I went into the shed to get the mower out, to my fright, there was a snake under the mower. Now I am not afraid of much in this world, but snakes are my number ONE fear. I screamed and ran for my life. I called a friend and told him to come save me. Well after ten minutes, I called again. He was pouring himself a cup of coffee. The nerve. I bascially said screw the coffee I need to mow. He came over and got rid of the snake. Now fast forward to this year. I always have a certain fear now when opening the shed doors. This year when I opened the doors there was a lot of movement. Now I know snakes can't fly and they are basically on the ground most of the time, but I let out another scream. But this time I kind of saw an orange swirl. Now I am racking my brain trying to think if there are any orange snakes. Ever so carefully I inched my way into the shed and what do I see but two tiny orange kittens. The cutest little things. The big orange swirl was their mama. Well of course I had to try to befriend them and they didn't want anything to do with me. As a matter of fact, one clawed my finger. Now I am mowing the lawn and wondering if I should call animal control or not. I decided that if they keep the snakes out of the shed they could stay and I would try to find homes for them. It took awhile before they trusted me, but now they do. Try as I might, I cannot find homes for them. My back porch looks like kitty cat city.

This cute little one is Tiger Lily. She is rough, tough and stealthy like a tiger, but sometimes as tranquil as a Lily. She has now grown into those ears and quite a pretty little thing.

Now for the big guy. This is Ralph Mouth. Yes Ralph Mouth from Happy Days. He is always talking, sometimes acting funny and a red head. He is the most affectionate of the two. I had made a comment to my friend Barb that I think he's gay. The only really manly thing about him is his stomach.

I would like to bring them inside now, but my baby doesn't want anything to do with them and because my baby is old and not feeling her best, I will abide by her wishes.

Well blogger friends, this is another ramble coming to an end, until next time, if you have a four legged furry family member baby, give them a hug, tell them you love them and give them a kiss for being the special things they are.

How dumb am I?

In my previous post I tried to add an image of Coxe Hall Cottage from my night at Cold Spring Village and was unsuccessful. My friend Barb e-mailed her daughter to ask how to add pictures. Basically all the directions she gave, I had done, except one. What was that you my ask? Well guess what, you have to check the little box that says you accept the terms to upload pictures. Well now that I know what to do, I will add more pictures in the future. Again, I asked HOW DUMB AM I?

Cold Spring Village - November 3, 2007

First let me tell you a little bit about myself. I was born and raised in Villas, New Jersey. Not to many people who live here can say that. Most people that live here now are from Philly, New York or North Jersey. I am a Lower Cape May Regional High School graduate. In simple terms we don't talk right and can't spell worth a darn(there is a dictionary in front of me). So if proper English is your thing, my blog isn't for you.

Speaking of blogs, obviously this is my first. I have no idea how to add pictures, add my favorite blogs or have it so that half of my profile is not on my main page. I guess when I start playing around with all the different features, I will figure it out or if someone could help me out, it would be greatly appreciated.

For those of you who are born and raised in a certain location, you tend not to appreciate and take advantage of all the happening in your area. This is the case with me, but last night I went to Cold Spring Village for their annual Candlelight Tour. This is the first time I went. Quite honestly, I didn't know that they had this. I really enjoyed myself. Cold Spring Village is properly known as Historic Cold Spring Village. It is a quaint little village with historic buildings. Most of the buildings have been moved there and restored to their original state. The featured building last night was Coxe Hall Cottage (c. 1691), (let me see if I can add a picture of it. Well that didn't work. Oh well, I guess I will figure out how to do that later.) There was a gentleman there who restored that building and gave the history of the it. Very interesting. There is a building called Dennisville Inn (c. 1836). This building was a depot for people traveling from Philly to Cape May. Half of the building is an area for the woman and the other half was for the men. Of course this area is where the saloon is. There were several other buildings that were opened for tour. I think my favorites were Coxe Hall Cottage and Marshallville School House (c. 1850). What made last night so enjoyable was that along all the paths there were luminaries to light the way. I will look forward to doing that again next year.

Well I think I rambled enough for one post. Until next time, enjoy yourself and get out and do something in your area that you never did before.