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My Maxine Badge of Honor For years I've told friends, family and co-workers that she is my idol. I think everyone thought I was kidding though. Why would anyone want to have an attitude like hers? In the four months since I retired, I've had the time to sit and reflect on... ( added 6 days 9 hours ago.)

Hidey Hole Hollow: A Tourist Hot Spot I'm always trying to come up with a few random ideas to promote Hidey Hole Hollow and to develop the area as a Mecca for tourism. I realize that some of these ideas need a little more work and we may have to completely discard some of them for... ( added 13 days 7 hours ago.)

The Elite Social Class of Hidey Hole Hollow After much research I've uncovered that Hidey Hole Hollow has several glitzy social circles. Oh yes, it's absolutely true. I've decided to give you a peek into the culture of Hidey Hole Hollow social groups, though not necessarily in their... ( added 17 days 12 hours ago.)

Phantoms I Have Known The Frontiersman and I, and our kids, to a lesser extent, have lived in many houses in several states but never have we had the strange experiences that we've had while living in this house. When we were first married, and for about 5 years... ( added 23 days 10 hours ago.)

A Stroll Around Passing Gas My daughter and son-in-law live in Passing Gas, a small town about forty-five minutes west of Hidey Hole Hollow. They have some nice, caring neighbors but as with any small town or big city, the more interesting neighbors are the ones who are a... ( added 27 days 13 hours ago.)

Another Elegant Evening At The Town Meeting You just can't make this stuff up. Every second Monday of every month I attend what I fondly call Possum Lodge. If you've ever seen The Red Green Show, you understand. The only difference is that I'm usually the only non-town official there. Hidey... ( added 34 days 13 hours ago.)

What Security? Somehow security slid off the face of the earth. Just a few years ago there were big gobs of it all over the place. Sometimes you worried about things, but security wasn't one of those things. On Main Street or on Wall Street, do you feel... ( added 35 days 13 hours ago.)

Here We Go Again! My problem is I'm height challenged. I don't carry extra weight well. Anytime I put on a few extra pounds, I look like a walking beach ball. If I were taller, I would carry weight more attractively but at five feet, four inches, all my extra... ( added 41 days 13 hours ago.)

The Perfect Storm If you're a frequent reader of my articles, you already know The Frontiersman and I have recently retired; he retired a year ago and I retired three months ago, so we're already experiencing RHS (Retired Husband Syndrome). The symptoms include... ( added 48 days 7 hours ago.)

The Intricacies of Marriage Why do people continue to get married? Lord knows I have nothing against marriage; The Frontiersman and I just celebrated our forty-fourth wedding anniversary. I'm stating it loosely when I say celebrated , but I digress. The fact is that on... ( added 55 days 6 hours ago.)

The Red Carpet Affair I still read newspaper reports on how the rich entertain. I'm not sure why; maybe it's because after moving to this area three years ago, I still don't know many people, and the ones I do know don't entertain and don't want to be invited out for... ( added 62 days 8 hours ago.)

Baby, Oh Baby! A young friend of mine asked if I'd watch her nine month old baby for a couple hours because she had a doctor's appointment in a nearby town and she didn't have anyone else to leave her with. I used to have a great rapport with babies. I... ( added 68 days 14 hours ago.)

The Trouble With Flowers I really enjoy flower gardening; mostly what I do is trial and error, in fact a lot of error and then I research the problem so that hopefully, I'll do better the next time. I have a friend, Fanny Hunnybun, whose philosophy is slightly different... ( added 76 days 14 hours ago.)

Boogie Till The Cows Come Home Here in the northeast we have passed the dog days of summer. In Western New York the 'dog days' lasted all of five days, in fact our summer lasted five days. I'm not sure which animal days we're into now, but I think I got a clue Thursday... ( added 82 days 13 hours ago.)

The Elegant Luncheon I hate clothes...not clothes in general, just the way clothes look on me. I used to have a cute little figure although I didn't think so at the time, but somehow over the years and with the birth of two kids, thirteen years apart, my body has... ( added 89 days 11 hours ago.)

At Odds With Exercise Along with my hypnosis for weight management program, I thought it would be prudent for me to start an exercise program, so I decided to research various types of exercise to find the best program for me. I've never been the 'athletic type' so I... ( added 94 days 5 hours ago.)

There Are Small Towns and Then There Are Small Towns I usually make a point of beating up on small towns, and the manners, methods and the oral expressions of the folks who live in them. I do it tongue-in-cheek sort of. To tell the truth I actually love progressive, well maintained, beautified small... ( added 98 days 4 hours ago.)

Cleaning Daze; the Final Saga ...so we got up bright and early last Saturday morning so The Frontiersman would have the whole day to finish cleaning his room. After a leisurely breakfast of orange juice, I decided to do some sewing while Dan cleaned. I set up my sewing machine... ( added 104 days 13 hours ago.)

Cleaning Daze Part 1 A couple times a year I reach my breaking point. Well, that happened last week. The Frontiersman has a small room off the living room that is 'his room'. He's not what anyone with even minimal vision would call a neat person. Anything he has in... ( added 110 days 13 hours ago.)

Unexpected Visitors We love having visitors, but please, all that we ask is that you call first and let us know you're coming. Sometimes, in some cases we understand that it's not possible for various and sundry reasons. Sammy stopped in for a visit a few weeks... ( added 117 days 11 hours ago.)

Country Living Aaaahhh, country living! So it sounds like a good idea to you to chuck all your rat race woes and move to the country? Wait hold on just a minute. Country living is a whole different ball game. My family and I have always lived in urban/suburban... ( added 121 days 4 hours ago.)

Who Says Prehistorics Are a Thing of the Past? There's a pterodactyl in our forest. Ok, I admit I haven't actually seen it, but I hear it every day. It flies over the forest that surrounds our cottage, screaming like, well, like a pterodactyl. There you go again, thinking I'm nuts. Well... ( added 125 days 13 hours ago.)

After the Fall (Down the Stairs) I suffered from a fall a couple of months back. I've heard that expression before and always thought it to be a strange statement but, take my word for it, if you fall down nine out of thirteen non-carpeted steps and land upside down on a... ( added 127 days 11 hours ago.)

The Mason-Dixon Line I was born in the north, but have lived for many years, in the south and live back in the north now. I guess that makes me a nor-southerner or something to that effect. When you move from the north to the south or visa versa, the differences... ( added 128 days 8 hours ago.)

Where's the Cheese? The day started out pretty normally. Pinch MacGraw stopped in for his weekly cup of coffee and hour of conversation with The Frontiersman. After Pinch and The Frontiersman solved the world problems (you can all breathe easier now), Pinch said he... ( added 129 days 15 hours ago.)