It doesn’t quite fit, but it sure fits in

I at last took the drive 35 miles or so east from A Bitty Better to a very cool shop in Oneida. It was time to claim the piece my dear wife Karen and I had commissioned from an artisan at the Liverpool Craft Extravaganza. Kym’s Art Pallet was all set up for business on…

Get ready to revisit the bombast of Mike and the Mad Dog

Will they or won’t they? That was the question that made Mike and the Mad Dog tick on talk radio (and TV simulcast) for nearly 20 years. Go off on each other? Surely, Christopher Russo, the Mad Dog, would scream and shout about one sports item of the afternoon or another and most likely at…

Now that’s an arrangement

And so I thought walking into Nichols in the pretty Village of Liverpool for my morning coffee before reporting to work at the library: Where’s Jack? Yes, the folks at Ballantyne Gardens who set up the supermarket’s front display went all out with this flower arrangement. It’s quite the stalk. OK, I may have manipulated…

My purpose today is praise this doggone movie

One in-theater viewing of the trailer for A Dog’s Purpose was enough for me to cross it off my first-run list. Devoted dog man that I am, the tears came through the second sit-through of the preview for this adaptation of the novel by W. Bruce Cameron about the spirit of a pooch that keeps…

Long-day sunrise, sunset at A Bitty Better

The angles to catch the long-day sunrises and sunsets from A Bitter Better aren’t that great. I got up early and wandered out late to catch the hello and goodbye. The arrival, before 5:30 a.m., comes at an extreme angle to the left from our back door. The departure, after 8:30 p.m., takes it down…

A perfect gift from my daughter and George

My fantastic daughter Elisabeth knows me so very well. She proved it again after our traditional trip to Polish Fest. My dear wife Karen, Elisabeth, George Three and I were quite surprised by the good weather that greeted us in Clinton Square. Usually it rains down on us hard as we eat our Polish lunch.…

Here’s to another great stay at The Happy Cottage

I managed to get two-weeks-plus worth of posts out of eight days in Cape Cod for my dear wife Karen, Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle and I. The Happy Cottage in Dennis Port is the center of it all. It’s set on a private lane, with parking for two cars out front. That came in…

Even on vacation, the library grabs me

While walking in Cape Cod, I couldn’t help but notice two striking libraries while walking with my dear wife Karen. The Eldredge Library in the heart of Chatham exuded old charm. The Town of Dennis Public Library filled its square with a more contemporary feel. Karen told me I’d fit in at both. Tomorrow: Wrapping…

These folks went all out for their grad

While my dear wife Karen, Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle and I were talking one of our daily walks around Dennis Port during our Cape Cod vacation, we spotted this sign of high school graduation week. The older generation in this place obviously are very proud of their girl. I asked Karen if she thought…

We can’t quite see the fireworks from A Bitty Better, but close

There will be events that bring fireworks over Onondaga Lake. My dear wife Karen and I were wondering how far we’d have to wander from the property around A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville to see them. Not bad, we’ve discovered, this perk in our first summer since moving from the Syracuse…