Where Ya Going?

I'm not sure if Nicki thought she was facing the right way or if she wanted to see where she was coming from but she was facing the wrong way for quite a while. Silly dog!

Back in the days of allowance

When we were young we got an allowance every week. Most of us got $1.00 a week. My two older brothers may have gotten more but I know my sister Bunny and I got a dollar.

Toward the top of Mill St. there used to be an old laundromat. It was turned into a home many years ago but back then we would take our precious dollar and spend it on candy in the candy machine that was in that laundromat. Each thing in that machine was 10 cents so that meant 10 different kinds of candy I could buy! And this was the good candy too...full sized bags of M&M's (and yes things were bigger and better for less money back then...it's true); Mounds bars; Milky Way bars; Zero bars (can't even find these anymore); Necco Wafers (we must have been desperate to eat those!); Good and Plenty; Good and Fruity and of course Hershey bars. I was in heaven every time I went there and we shared our booty with the neighborhood kids.

I don't recall anyone ever washing clothes there which is probably why it eventually closed. Luckily for us there was a small restaurant on Main St (called The Barn Restaurant) that used to sell penny candy. Bunny and I would stop and spend our money there after Sunday school as we walked home. I'm also ashamed to say we were given 50 cents each to put into the collection plate for church and more often than not we held back half of that for candy.

When we were older we used to skip church and Sunday school completely and hang out on Crane's Hill instead. We never got caught but it was rather cold up there so early in the morning sometimes so we didn't do it often. Rotten kids, eh? I don't think Mom and Dad ever knew we did any of that stuff. I'm sure I would have remembered the fireworks if Dad had found out.

80 Jarvis Street

We tried yet another new restaurant for our girls night out. This time it was 80 Jarvis Street in Holyoke, Ma. Ann had the duck; I had the scallops and Anne had the pasta carbonara. The desserts were chocolate bread pudding with a bit of vanilla ice cream and Boston cream zeppoles....which turned out to be like eclairs only fancier.



I often post pictures on Face Book for other people to see if they are interested. A short while before I posted these pictures I got a friend request from a woman who is a vegan and staunch animal activist. We viewed each others posts a bit; exchanged a few words and I friended her....mainly because she appears to be involved with a lot of protesting that I have always wanted to do. I was curious and I admired her.

Well shortly after my food pictures went up she went silent. I haven't heard from her since. I suppose it's possible that she was offended by the pictures...or the fact that she now knows I'm not a vegetarian...I don't know. Or maybe I'm making something out of nothing. I figure time will tell.

However way it works out I have no guilt. I have never misrepresented myself to anyone. And I'm not one of those people that claim to be vegetarian yet eat fish and chicken....which I think is just ignorance at work anyway. And although many animal rights people are vegetarian, and I admire them for their convictions, I have never been informed that being a vegetarian is a requirement for being concerned about the welfare and treatment of animals.
I eat meat and yet I still love animals and am concerned about their treatment at the hands of humans.

I don't think there is anything wrong with eating meat. I am however concerned with the way the animal is raised; fed; and killed for food. I support family farms and have joined a farm co-op to promote healthier foods; sustainable farming practices and clean animal products. I may not be a vegetarian but I still think animals have rights.