Potato Joke

Dear Readers,

I have been cleaning out my desk and papers. I found this little joke and would like to pass it on to you. It is silly, I haven't heard/read it for years. I hope you get a little chuckle out of it.


Well, Girl Potato and Boy Potato had eyes for each other, and got married. They had a little sweet potato and they called her "Yam."

Of course they wanted the best for Yam. When it was time, they told her about the facts of life. They warned their daughter about going out and getting half-baked, so she wouldn't get accidentally mashed, and get a bad name for herself like "Hot Potato" and end up with a bunch of Tater Tots.

Yam should get plenty of exercise too, so not to be skinny like her Shoestring cousins.

When Yam went off to Europe, Mr. and Mrs. Potato told her to watch out for the hard-boiled guys from Ireland, and the greasy guys from France called French Fries.

When she went out to the Westthey told her to watch out for the Indians so she wouldn't get scalloped! Yam said she would stay on the straight and narrow and wouldn't associate with those high class Yukon Golds.

Mr. and Mrs. Potato sent Yam to Idaho P.U. (that's Potato University) so that when she graduated she would be in the chips! But, in spite of all they did for her, one day Yam came home and announced that she was going to marry Tom Brokaw.

Tom Brokaw!!!!!!!!!!

Mr. and Mrs. Potato were very upset. They told Yam she couldn't possibly marry Tom Brokaw because he is just  .............................................................................................................................

(Are you ready for this?)...................................................................................................................

Are you sure??????............................................................................................................................

OK, Here it is!

Yam couldn't marry Tom Brokaw because he is a     COMMON TATER !!!!!!!

Handy Household Hints

I came across two great household hints and wanted to share them with you.

1....You can press roasted or simmered tomatoes through a potato ricer to easily separate the pulp from the skins.


2....To keep gift wrapping paper from unrolling:  take an empty toilet paper tube, split it down the center, lengthwise, and wrap it around the wrapping paper roll. It will hold the paper in place.

What great ideas!

Song From Grandmother

I remember Grandmother singing this song to me when I was a child.

Six little mice sat down to spin,
Kitty passed by and she peeked in.
"What are you doing my little men?"
Making good coats for gentlemen.

"May I come in and bite off your thread?"
OH NO! Miss Kitty, you will bite off our heads!
"Oh no I won't I'll help you spin."
That may be so....But you CAN'T COME IN! Author unknown

Grandmother Loved Poetry

When my sister, brother and I were children, our Grandmother would recite poetry and sing songs to us, like all good Grandmothers do.

  I have been going through many pages of my Great-Grandmother Kirkpatricks work. She was a song writer and publisher of music. I have her original sheet music and handwritten lyrics and poetry. I will treat you to some of it soon, Dear Readers.

This little poem, may have had music, but I don't remember. It was one of many that my Grandmother wrote down for me years ago. It has no title and I have no idea who wrote it. Maybe someone will remember it.

Baby's boat is the silver moon, shining in the sky,

Sailing over a sea of dreams, while the clouds drift by.

Sail Baby sail, out upon life's sea,

Only don't forget to sail, back again to me.

Author unknown.

Happy New Year!

Dear Readers, The stories that follow come from a trip to New York City a week before Christmas. I am a little late in posting but I am now up to speed and have many more fun things to tell you about in the future. Happy New Year and please come back and take a look when you can. Lynn

Flying is Hell

My flight at 2:45 PM out of Greensboro was delayed. I found this out when I arrived at the airport. I had spent an hour that morning trying to rebook from the cancellation to New York that had kindly arrived in the form of voice mail on my phone as I was pulling my suitcase out the door. The lady on the other end of the phone, earlier, was obviously from India and had a thick accent I could barely understand. She told me the only way to New York City that day was to layover in Atlanta but I would still arrive at Laguardia at 4:30 PM. Far from the non-stop flight I had just lost, I took it. Ok, fine, done, whatever gets me there. Now the ticket agent was telling me that my flight to Atlanta was delayed and when I did get there, I would have only minutes to catch my next flight. Or......I could sit in the Greensboro airport for the next five hours and if all went well, would arrive at Laguardia at 7:30 PM. I had a good book. I chose to wait. The sports bar seemed like a good place to pass the time with a turkey, bacon sandwich and a glass of white Zin. With kettle chips and my book, I was good to go.... er.... wait.

Sports bar. Big TV. Denver vs Baltimore. I settled in. The guy at the next table was yelling at the TV - just like my husband does. I called my son, already in New York, to tell him I would be there some time after 8:00 but from Greensboro, not Atlanta. I told him I was drinking wine to pass the time. I think I heard him mutter "Uh oh..." Finally, five long hours later, and on the plane. It was 6 PM. Only an hour to Laguardia. OK and we are off. Short trip after a long wait. But, all is good. Or is it? "Fog in New York and all airports shut down." Now that doesn't sound very good. Detour where? Allentown, PA? I never really had any desire to go THERE! Still don't!!! We land, sit on the tarmac. And sit and sit. Call son, call husband. We sit for an hour. OK.... "Ladies and Gentlemen - there is a break in the weather, please buckle up." We taxi.... about 3 inches. Nope, Fog alert! We aren't going anywhere. The engines shut down. I call my son. After another hour of sitting, we begin to smell something. Out of blue stuff for the toilet and it won't flush anymore and as our ever perky flight attendent passes out the last of the Biscoff cookies (now you know what airline I was flying) peanuts and pretzels, it seems we are also out of water. I think about easing my own personal bottle of water out of my purse and taking a gulp, but feel guilty and decide to suffer along with my fellow captives....er....passengers. As an aromatic mixture of bathroom and body odor waft through the cabin, I say a prayer under my breath and just then a miracle happens! "Buckle up" booms over the intercom. We quickly oblige. Maybe.... NO! Maybe..... NO! We are instead of racing down the runway, being taken to the Allentown, PA airport terminal. A chance to use the ladies room and to find an electrical outlet to charge my cell phone doesn't sound half bad at this point. Cell charged, call son who tells me there is food waiting at the apartment. My stomach growls remembering the last meal, which wasn't a meal at all but 2 red licorice whips, 2 cups of airplane coffee and 12 mini pretzels. I might still have a Biscoff cookie in my pocket. It only takes 16 minutes to fly from Allentown to New York City. We all sit close to the door at the gate in the Allentown airport. We are ready to dash toward the door and jump on the plane at a moments notice. All eyes are on that door as it opens and a man tells us we must hurry. There is a break in the fog. I call my son as I hurry onboard. We clap as the plane takes off. Another prayer seems in order. We fly low. It is rainy and very bumpy but I don't care. I just want to see this guy!

He was my driver, who had been on call all evening and who, I am sure, was very frustrated with the situation. But, he was there, grabbed my bag, held an umbrella over my head and then cheerfully drove me to the door of the apartment building on 150th Street. I peeked in on my sleeping grandson. My son and daughter-in-law chatted with me for a few minutes, gave me a bite to eat, showed me to my room and at 10:30 PM, we all turned in. It was a very long travel day.

Day # 1 in NYC

My son, Travis, walked eight blocks for coffee and Planet Donut donuts. They were so good. The best! Meanwhile my grandson, Macrory and I dressed and Travis' wife, Maureen headed for her office. She works for home in Portland, Oregon, but spends a few days out of every month in her office in Manhattan. We headed out to see the city, took the subway to Rockefeller Square, watched the ice skaters and saw the mammoth decorated Christmas tree.

We walked past lovely stores: Coach, Micheal Kors, Tiffany's and Harry Winston. Here are pictures of a few of the Holiday themed store windows.

Harry Winston

This "Glitzy" snake wraps around BVLGARI.

Bergdorf Goodman

Bergdorf Goodman

And this, was the window of a yarn shop. All the items in this beautiful display were knitted: the ladies dress, the swans, the balls of "snow." It was amazing!

We stopping to tour St. Patricks Cathedral,lit candles and showed Macrory the magnificant stained glass windows. Macrory's favorite store, of course, was F.A.O. Shwartz. It was the highlight of his day in New York.....

Especially The Lego department!!!!!

This lifesize guy was made out of Legos. I know he is some sort of Star Wars Stormtrooper, but I wouldn't even venture a guess WHAT KIND of a stormtrooper.

We lunched at a sweet little place called Pappillion. Vegie quiche and salad for me, steak sandwich for Travis and a hamburger for Macrory. Took the subway on the way back to the apartment but stopped at Coach for some quick shopping. This is the view from our 12th story apartment window.

That evening, Travis and Maureen were off to her company's Christmas party so Macrory and I read, watched "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" and snacked on leftover chicken, pasta and asparagus. What a great day! I especially loved spending time with my grandson.

Day # 2 in NYC

We walked to a little cafe for breakfast, toured Maureen's office and took a cab to the 911 Memorial. I hadn't been to ground zero for nine years and it was very moving to see the two enormous pools with hundreds of names carved in the stone ledges surrounding them. Freedom Tower rises to the sky in the distance and stands as a constant reminder of the tragedy on 9/11/01.

Lunch was the crazy good hamburgers, fries and chocolate shakes at The Shake Shack.

We took the Staten Island Ferry out past the Statue of Liberty

Dinner on our last night in NYC was at Peasants, a cozy, rustic Tuscan restaurant on Elizabeth Street in SoHo. Tucked in a residential area, Peasants offers a tasty menu and great wine list. My grandson had "the usual" fare of pizza! It looked incredible. I chose the pear, beet and Gorgonzola salad, dense Italian bread and a good glass of white wine.

The next morning, I hugged my little family goodbye. Our time in NY had been magical, but it was time to go home. They were flying out of JFK, three travelers off to Florida, Portland, Seattle and then back home.

I was headed for Laguardia, back to Virginia, to my husband, cows and home.