Buttons Bag w/game bag by Doozybags

This bag is about 12 x 12 and has a zipper closed top-the little one is big enough for the game you see. I'll be making more this week, but you can buy this as a set for 12.95-made in pa. and the game is made in America-you can pay via paypal through doozybags or contact me  through the link.doozybags@aol.com

I am also listed as Viking328 on etsy .com  My shop there is also a Doozybags shop and more up to date. I have all types of bags,  doggie and cat totes, kid bags, baby sets and more-thanks, Nancy

Palumbo's Pizza, Salad's & Subs

             Palumbos' is more than just a pizza place, it's culture in every sense of the word. Palumbos' is family, quality and they care about people who come in to their place of business. Their food is an essence, a memory not so easily forgotten. Palumbos' has an atmosphere of family for everyone.
          I have to speak of their menu which as of tonight I have just seen for  a first time in a couple of months. Due to my time, schedules and snow I have been unable to stop in. However I do stop in often as possible and am not close by. Tonight I only ordered a large pizza, but then decided to also have a chef salad. It was out of this world! With vinegar and oil it was perfecto. Half way through I ordered another salad to go.
        In closing I have to say if I were to compare Palumbos' with any local pizza place in the Spring Grove area, well their is no comparison. One local pizza place makes soggy crust and overflows with oil in Spring Grove, nice people, local but somehow over the years they lost the cultural piece that made their pizza what it once was.
       Palumbos' is located on rt 30 heading west and sits right next to a golf course and across the street from a quarry. Don't miss a better slice of life, which is the same as saying, Don't miss Palumbos' !  A Memory not forgotten.

Forge Hardware Spring Grove, Pa.

       This is a small hardware store with a" big supply of good". What is a big supply of good? Well it has to do with down to earth people, old fashioned values, a sense of humor and always willing to help out. That's always my experience at Forge Hardware.
      Tonight wasn't the first time I've stopped in and it wasn't the first time I've observed the people who own and run this hardware store. A firm believer in personal shopping attention, you definitely get it there. Smaller stores, stores owned by local business people is the best way to shop. Now here is a comparison:

     First I apologize because this is about Walmart and I detest Walmart.  A few weeks ago a boy broke his glasses and due to issues I can't go into here I ended up taking him to Walmart at the vision center which I just found out tonight is not part of Walmart, but they are just as bad.
      Early in the day I called to track an order, a sewing machine I ordered and I am so sorry I did. I was put through seven phone calls before I had to speak with a manager . All I wanted to know was, did the sewing machine arrive ? I also had a gift to return, but didn't have the receipt- I was given a credit for merchandise.  NO, they were not making me come back. I gave it away to an old woman who was so thankful. She is trapped. But with each step I became more and more intolerant of this giant overseas junk store. A paper needed to be filled out by the vision center.. They acted like they never saw any such piece of paper. All I needed was what was the boys prescription was and when his glasses were completed. So what did they do? One woman took it to the back while a guy took the paper and stood reading and reading and reading. Finally I blew.
      Excuse me I stated loudly, can you fill it out or are you just going to pass it around? You see, after being on the phone with a woman named Rose who could only say, not a problem which it sure freakin was to me, I was ready to punch someone in the face. Not Rose, she was trying, but no one, no one would answer the phone in the Photo dept. where I was told my sewing machine was, which had arrived. Oh I did get the manager, Sean on the phone-he too disconnected me as with six previous calls.
     By now you understand why you first-should never go to Walmart
                                                        second never go to Walmart
                                           and third, beat yourself up if you go to Walmart
 Walmart has destroyed the  family stores, the community stores, the experience of personal helping and attention, but mainly the connection between small stores in America and American buyers, the consumers.
We are America but every day you shop at Walmart you are becoming a citizen of another country.
   Remain an American and shop at your local hardware store like Forge Hardware, like local markets with fresh produce, organic produce where people actually speak to you like a person , not as if your just another dollar. Buy from craftspeople,ask questions of those you know and don't know. When you need help, who do you turn to? Local communities help one another-keep buying at Walmart and distance your selves from America with each purchase. I will never, ever step foot inside another Walmart store, ever!!!
    Pay more? Sure, but every cent you spend locally is used locally, by neighbors, by Americans and yes I know, too much is made overseas, then get off your asses and vote and change back to the America we once had. Stop complaining unless you're willing to vote and make that change happen.
    Forge Hardware, thank you for the personal attention, the greeting when I walk in, asking me if you could carry my package to the car although it was small, letting me know you could order something else I needed and  taking time and patience with not just myself but with any kid I happen to have with me.  This is always a lesson for a child too, to know, to understand, to grasp that buying from a small American business person is supporting America and supporting our own communities. 

Spring Grove Gardens Pa.

    We are so close to Spring time and planting new and fresh gardens so why are our schools not being utilized to benefit all of the communities which pay taxes ? Spring Grove schools has let their buildings be used for Church services, which mean it benefits the community, yet when it comes to prayer in school, separation of church and state, their are issues so why not really benefit a whole community ?
   Plant and pray if you want at the same time. I am not at all against a church using the school, as a matter of fact it's great so why not spread the word nutritionally too ? We live in a world whee we have so many people in need, people who take all the time, kids, so many in trouble. River Rock is a building in the Spring Grove school district in Spring Grove PA.
   There are also many kids in school who are on probation. Why not take those kids and really put them to work and learn at the same time ? Give credit where it is earned ! We have meals on wheels so take some of the fresh area gardens growth and spread it to the elderly and sickly.
   Again I love the church and people who do use the school but, yes, always a but  as I have been told who will mind the store in summer when school isn't in session? Oh and there's insurance too. Well if insurance is a problem, then there should be gates up so no one can walk through the school grounds, and they have tennis classes on the grounds too. I also see people walking through the grounds during the day when I go to pick a child up.
   Come on Spring Grove. You are educators ! Why is it you haven't figured out a way to have Spring Grove Gardens with all of that tax payer property? There are many retirees who would love to meet in the" Gardens of Spring Grove High". Now doesn't that sound nice ?
  What about the" Intermediate Garden" ? That could be for beginners with hands on helpers, small children with mom mentors, or dad mentors. Remember the phrase, put on your thinking caps. COME ON PLANNERS, EDUCATORS, PEOPLE IN CHARGE... look past the hours that school is in traditionally. Life is a learning experience, so let other learn and go out into the world as they grow and are able to say, when I was a kid, my school had a garden almost all year long and we learned how to plant, to nurture, cultivate, weed out, and we ate, played, delivered and were as one real community.
   Look ahead now so children can look back later and say...I really loved that school !
         In closing remember, Gardening is for every age, every level, everyone's brain. It doesn't limit or discriminate, but it does leave people happy. Church Gardens anyone ?

Judge J. Howe Brown & Baby Killer

          I just read about this horrible judge. He gave a five year sentence to a young woman who claims to have snapped and that's the reason she killed 23 month old ELIJAH NEALEY. Her lawyer claimed mental defect and said it was an accident.
    NO! It wasn't ! WHY? Because after she initially kicked him from his chair, she picked him up and covered his mouth, then slammed his head into the table and then smothered him.
                        How is that an accident ???
    This judge agreed with her lawyers and has given these light sentences before to killers. He needs to be kicked off the bench. A baby's life was taken and Elijah's life is only worth five years ? 23YEAR old Jessica Fraraccio already served nine months so when Judge J Howe Brown gave her five years, she really has less than that to serve, oh and she has to donate one dollar to some Charity on Elijah's Birthday. The judge stated  Jessica Fraraccio will have the memory of what she did as a punishment also-BIG Frigging Deal ! Let Her remember while doing a life sentence in prison !
        If this was the judges son or daughter who was killed would he "judge" and I say that loosely, differently ?  Judge J Howe Brown needs to be thrown off the bench.

Peak to Peak Branding Children-Bullies!

      This has to be offensive to everyone ! Can you imagine stamping the hands of Jewish children ? You think there isn't a comparison, then wake up. It's just another way to identify a child because they come from a family who cannot afford the prices of school lunches.
       These are children but I wouldn't care if they were adults. Peak to Peak school is in Colarado and is a charter school which is allowed to make their own policies, but with this one, they have overstepped their mighty boundaries by BRANDING CHILDREN. Cafeteria workers are told to stamp the hands of kids who can't pay for lunches. Now isn't that adult like ? Isn't that really being a BULLY?
      What if one of the adults who made this decision was divorced, a cheater, filed bankruptcy, was married four times, an alcoholic, on and on. Why not stamp them and let all of their peers know!!! ??? So they fired the principal, Noelle Roni, who tried to change this humiliating and demeaning practice, just a different way of bullying children.
  

Crafty Gemini-Best Ever Teacher

       Are you someone who has a difficult problem with learning unless you see it face to face, hands on etc. ? I am for sure and if its sewing anything specific, check out the crafty Gemini. I have finally learned after hundreds of searches and videos, how to put a zipper in the right way.
    This young mom, with a small child, lives on a farm in Fla. teaches sewing and better than anyone i know. She doesn't rush and she explains so clearly that I honestly feel anyone can learn from her. Patience is her middle name. I am thankful and now can't wait to start once kids are back in school. I don't want interruptions when I make my new better and improved merchandise.
   Please see her site. She has patterns, pictures, videos and sells and makes quilts personalized.
Look up The Crafty Gemini.

Bouncing Boot Camp & Shark Tank

     Tonight on Shark tank a young guy came on with three kids ready to show his, "boot camp". The sharks weren't interested for a few reasons, but I hope this guy ends up selling to schools, community centers, pre-schools and summer sports camps.
      You who have money to invest, check this guy out and his product. Even the sharks jumped in and had a ball so imagine kids doing the same. Helps with overweight kids, pre diabetes and hey Jack! How about senior centers???

Real Failure of Educations Systems

     How many Alternative schools are there in the United States? I only know too many but what I don't know is why.
    Personally I feel we have to change things. Does anyone know the success of these schools and at the end, are these kids getting a diploma for an alternative school, but won't get them into a well paying job? Here's why. Most of the kids in alternative schools are either special ed students or kids with behavioral problems and I don't know the stats concerned with kids returning to the traditional school system.
   I met a local High school teacher the other day and he too felt schools are wrong to get rid of wood shop, not the kind where a kid gets an hour a week but can make a career out of it and in return built more sports programs and that many parents loved the sports programs-BUT WHY IS THAT? Do they think their child will be a wealthy player in turn making them better off? If not why is it the parents aren't more concerned with a right education to prepare for a future-no wonder kids are moving back home!

    We need to do what's best for the whole, not just one slice of pie. Instead of alternative schools why not within traditional school have vocational education so kids who aren't meant to be A students, academic stars, doctors, business people, writers, movie stars,  and well, you get my drift.
Make these schools a union of academics and vocational careers. Offer Carpentry, Electrician shop,sewing shop, culinary shop/arts, creative design, Plumbing Repair, Auto mechanics and more.
   Now schools will say, whine whine, we can't afford it-oh no way-but they built  anew football stadium, a new High School, added more staff to the Alternative school, added a new program for younger students to an alternative school which previously was only for middle school and high school students.
    Do you see what happening? Younger and younger kids are in trouble but watch then at home when they play with Lego's. They are content, as with art, sewing, make believe cooking and much more=HANDS ON EDUCATION!!!

Moral Monday in North Carolina

       What a joke, to call it Moral Monday. A man named Art Pope who is very wealthy has changed the way people are allowed to vote and to make it worse is a judge, Justice Newby who is in agreement. A justice stands behind a wealthy Art Pope who is trying to keep Blacks, The young, the poor and disabled from voting as well as making sure if a person in college makes a mistake on a home address also doesn't vote and is charged accordingly, in front of Justice Newby.
      A young college student put her home address on her voting card, instead of the college address where she resides during her college career.
   If a wealthy Art Pope and a justice named Newby can change how voting happens in North Carolina, it can happen in any state where the wealthy exist and have a justice in their back pocket. This smells ie back pocket :)
    Please see this story. Look up Art Pope and Justice Newby in North Carolina and if you're wealthy you don't have to worry, but if you're not, according to these two male persons, you just do not matter.
   

Small boy Shovels Large Driveway

      This is a pint-sized child who without any qualms when asked, in the cold air simply dressed warm, grabbed a shovel and out he went. I went out too to clear my car and watch to see how he would do with directions. Well snow went in and out like little mole hills. The shovel was easily twice his size. But I let him alone for a while until I noticed him stopping, looking around and seeing me asking how he was doing. It was at that point I joined him.
      With continued direction he continued to work. No complaints. no questions like many would do as in, hey why isn't the other kid helping...none of that. Two different people, two different values. He wouldn't grab that concept so I just said, let's just get this done so we can go out tomorrow, and he will be well rewarded. I never told him I would pay him to do the driveway as I wanted first to see if he has a work ethic at his very young emotional age and indeed he does.
      SO knowing he was going at it as best as he could I gave him a price, then seeing all of the hills knew I had to redo it, so explaining a CUT In PAY, he was okay with that too.
       Little guy, you're a big man ! Thank you

Calling IKEA-worse than CHINA

     I called, or tried calling Ikea today to buy a storage unit for a little guy, but alas, I was put on hold, transferred, no human vice at all, given an 888 number, more of the same. I wanted to speak with a person in a store which is closest to me, or at least where I know the area. So then I did the,"give us your zip, yup, it takes me to another store-voice and transferred again.
    All I wanted to know was where are there products made. I finally gave up, hung up and looked up the simplest way to get info on IKEA. On line asking the question where are Ikea Products made-the answer ? All Over The World. I will not buy from IKEA ! They don't even give a person the courtesy of human to human contact and I do know many companies are like that today, but also many are changing because of competition.
     Because IKEA would not answer with a human and because I couldn't not find an answer to at least where was the product made that I wanted to buy...I will not shop there.
     I could have CALLED CHINA faster !

Those Brooklyn People...

       As we approach another year left behind and try to plan for a new one, I find myself looking way back, so far back I almost trip myself.
       I think about the streets, the kids, baby carriages, cars, hair styles, music, church, police, freedoms, foods and everything life gave us then.
      So let first look at the neighborhood streets, many made of cobblestones, a black topped looking little brick, rounded and smoothed and filled in with more black. Wearing old skates made of metals, a kid could feel their feet make that brr sound, almost like your feet were doing hic cups. Then the lam posts. So tall, fancy designs and odd shaped lighting, but classy. The sidewalks were squares of concrete, nice enough to play box ball. Combined streets and sidewalks kids could play all day and night outside without getting into trouble.
       From marbles, hit the stick, stick ball, punch ball, monkey in the middle, running bases, blinds man bluff, cork cork a levio, pitching cards, flipping cards and so many more, we were never bored.
       Baby Carriages were almost like making a statement, poor or not. Any new mom seemed to find a new carriage and a fancy blanket comforter style would lay across the bottom, winter or summer. My baby brother Jimmy had the fanciest on the block-until a new baby was born and we were considered poor. I never thought of things that way even when told. I just thought we didn't have a lot of money. That was okay too.
      Remember Old Spice, Brute, English Leather, Chantilly, Tabu, and those great hairstyles. Friday night the closest Catholic church held dances and my brothers all went as well as my sister. Me? I ironed shirts, slacks and made sure the hair tonic bottle was ready and with a younger brother shined shoes. Then got my baby brother ready for his crib...think he stayed there until he was about fifteen :)
         We had hot summer days with the ice cream truck coming around, you know the kind a uniformed man reached way in with freezer air coming out, reaching for a toasted almond. Yeah, The Good Humor truck ! Night time brought mister Softee, neighbors sitting and drinking ice tea, windows open with blinds raise up to the top. Well that depends what block you lived on. If you were very poor, your blinds were all the way, but somewhat poor, blinds were half way up.
       Even on those nights when it was sweltering hot, it was never too hot for pizza from the local pizza place, walking around the corner with a best friend and talking about a latest crush.
     What made all of those times work better than other's would be the neighbors, the sounds of accents, laughter, whispers and just spending time on stoops, after all what were we if without a stoop? Those stoops were our hangouts, our homes, almost a safe haven. We knew if we didn't see one another during the day, that sometime later in the afternoon, one of us or a parent would be on the stoop.
      That's Brooklyn and the people in it. If you can make it there...you know the rest, now smile that knowing Brooklyn smile.