Aug.28-Sept.1, 2005 #355

WHAT’S COOKIN’?

I received a desperate phone call from Natalie early Tuesday morning. “Corinne, I hope this is an early morning for you. I have a favor to ask of you. . . I am in severe pain. Will you take me to Bassett Emergency????

”Of course, I’ll get myself together and I be right there. I scurried around, but couldn’t find my car keys. I got my spare and took off in a cloud of dust. Natalie was waiting. She slowly got in the car and we left, driving carefully as not to cause her any further pain. She said she didn’t know what the problem was, but she had a history of kidney problems. The hospital was the place to go and we went. . .

I dropped her right off at the front door and parked the car. When I went into emergency-no Natalie! I asked Betsy Preston, if she had seen her and she said they took her right in. I thanked her and went in and there she was, already seeing an intern. He and then the staff doctor said they could find nothing wrong, but gave her a pain medications and a prescription. She said, “We will wait to see what the lab work shows, so wait.”

It took a while for the results, which showed a severe kidney infection. We got prescription so I stopped at Church & Scott Pharmacy and got them and then drove carefully home. She went right to bed. I will fill you in next week. She gave me a scare.

While I waited for Natalie, a young baseball player came into the emergency unit with injures to his face.

I drive over to White House Farm frequently and have noticed that Paul Tedesco working hard to remove the old paint off of their home. They are proud owners of the former Butterfield house, the first white house in Hartwick. I stopped and got out of the car to tell him that the house was looking great.

After short chat he said,”I have something I want to give you”. He went into the house and returned with a matchbook cover that he had found in the bathroom wall. It read: The Wayside Stand, near Jones Crossings, Hartwick , NY ; Tony and Phyllis Bongovi. On the back the phrase: Paw’s dustier than usual this spring! with an illustration of two hillbilly women(MA & daughter) using a corn broom on a bearded hillbilly man(Paw).I thanked him for this bit of history.

The Bongovis were the original owners of my property back in 1963. Tony built a little barber shop near the highway when his rent next to the Hartwick Post Office got too high. They lived where the Mac and Honey MacKenzie live now,just north of me on the right. They moved the shop, when the State of New York told them they could not build where they planned on property they thought they owned. It was owned by the state. You can still see the foundation in the spring right opposite my place. Tony cut hair and Phyllis offered coffee and. In the three years they were there they added onto the building, making living quarters. We bought it in 1966 from Mrs. Vaughan of Oneonta, who managed to have the cash we did not have. The rest is history.

Last night Andy and Laura invited me to dinner. They both had been working so dinner was running late. The battery in my wall clock died and Andy had to come get me. We had delicious corn on the cob, fried and breaded summer squash and thinly sliced steak, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes. It was great.

Thursday the 26 th of August, 2005 most of the employees at Phillips Lumber will be on new jobs! The mill opened in 1947 and will be closing permanently the middle of September. There were many factors involved in the decision and it was not an easy one for Bruce and Jim Phillips to make. Bruce is now married, Jim is recuperating slowly from a broken back and severe leg injury and the death of their Dad, Robert (Bob) was a blow. We wish the family “Smooth Sailing” and employees a happy productive future.

Andy said, “What happened to your car?

“What do you mean’, I said surprisingly.

You have a gouge on your rear, right bumper, see, he stated as he pointed.

“I have no idea. I went shopping at Aldi’s and Walmart before the weekend. I didn’t go anywhere except church on Sunday. I was disappointed that it happened and also that I hadn’t noticed it. I would have later as I was planning on washing it that afternoon. I called Hughson’s and told them my tale of woe and said I would get an estimate and stop in. Tomorrow an insurance adjustor is coming.

Under the circumstances, Natalie is unable to go to Cape Cod with me, so I am going by myself. I will leave after the adjustor is finished and hopefully I will get there in about 6 hours? I will have my cell phone with me and hope it works outside the DEAD AREA on Route 205. I will get the lowdown on the condition of Joe Miles, a dear friend, who has been battling blood disease.

Another birdbath has bit the dust! For the second time, I have replaced a birdbath in my backyard. The culprit appears to have been a raccoon or two! The new bowl, just under $20.00, has only been in place for about a month. I would fill it with water and then place a stone in it so that the birds could perch on it. This morning, I found it like the first, down and broken . . .My son, Andy has told me that raccoon have to have water when they eat! Ah, so that is it. I will not be caught again. Anyone want tow broken birdbath bowls?.

You can reach me at 607-293-7769 (Leave a message) or cory13us@yahoo.com. Love to hear from you.

Thought for the Week: What makes leadership is the ability to get people to do what they don’t want to do, and like it.

Natalie reported that she slept and slept and SLEPT. The meds were working fine and she didn’t need any pain relief. She will be back to her old self again soon.