Moonshine and burgers

Want to go out for lunch asks my mother?

Sure, I reply. Where do you want to go?

How about Moonshine? That’s where Marge & Jeannie took me last summer. It’s a biker hangout and I’ve always wanted to go back. They do great burgers.

I look at my mother for a full 30 seconds. Does she want to go BUY Moonshine (the drink)? Does she want to go hang out with the bikers? (Marge & Jeannie are Lady Harley-Riders) Does she want her OWN bike? (cool she can be the only Scottish Ninja Granny hanging out with the cool dudes – they’ll love her) Or does she just want a burger?

I wonder if my mum is having a mid-life crisis. Mind you she’s 68 so she’s kinda on the other-side of midlife crisis time.

Anyway I agree and off we went to Moonshine, Illinois today. It’s a tiny place with the one General Store (Moonshine General Store) and they’re famous for their burgers. You tell them what you want, give them your name, then wait till they call you. The shop is a step back in time with all sorts of antiques alongside the Coke machine. I wonder if I should buy my daughter a washing-board and ban her from using the washing machine any more as she NEVER empties it and leaves her wet clothes there till some other sucker (me!) takes her clothes out before they smell. Here daughter, use this to wash your clothes from now on. Anyway I didn’t take any photograhs inside the store as it was really busy (I think it’s always busy) but I did snap some shots outside.

So if you’re ever in rural Illinois, in the middle of nowhere and you come across a town called Moonshine (population 2) then do yourself a favour and go buy a burger and sit outside at the picnic benches along with the bikers, farm workers and tourists.

Moonshine General Store

The store/burger bar

Moonshine, population 2

See, I wasn’t exaggerating when I said the population was 2!

Been muddin’….

Daughter tells me this is called a ‘gator’…. I want one 😀

The road to nowhere. Actually it’s the road to Moonshine. No I was right the first time. It’s the road to nowhere.

What? A hill in Illinois?

The burger

And finally the burger. Complete with plastic cheese (what I call Kraft singles) and it was sooooooo good!

Anyway, you’re probably all wondering if I bought any Moonshine.

Nope, I didn’t. I like my insides they way they are.

Photography 101: Triumph!

Fireworks and other triumphant shenanigans

Yayy! Woohoo! Wheetwheet! Gaunyersel!

I am triumphant because I’ve finished, albeit the last to cross the finish line, but I’ve now completed the photo a day challenge!

Cue fireworks, champagne and cake. A bit OTT? Nah, there should always be cake. Preferably with butter icing. Ask Lili, she’ll agree with me (http://liliscakes.com/)

Photography 101: Glass – a little bit tipsy

Photo101: Glass. Which of course means wine.

Is the glass half-full?

Is the glass half-empty?

Who cares! The more important question is Who the hell drank half my wine!!

“Photo 101???” “Is she STILL doing that?” you may well ask.

Well, yep. A quitter I am not. The good news is though there’s only one more to do then I’ve (successfully?) completed the course. Only 2 months late.

Life has this annonying habit of interfering with online fun time. But it’s good to have a life so I’m not really complaining.

Anyway CheersMeDears. It’s only 3pm here but it’s a shame to waste perfectly good wine….

Sláinte!

Plonkers and Bunny Ears

Damn Dawg ate the plonker!

The plonker is what the TV remote control is called in our house. For non-British readers a plonker is also what you call someone who is a bit of an idiot (eejit). This gets quite confusing when someone asks “Where’s the plonker?” and I reply “He’s upstairs in his bedroom.” Talking about my son, not the remote control obviously!

The chewed-up plonker. Telly one, not human one.

So explanation finished – back to my original sentence.

Damn Dawg ate the plonker!

If he’d wanted to change the channel to Animal Planet he could just have asked…

Actually it’s probably revenge for making him wear Bunny Ears on Easter. But he was soooooo cute!

Fiendishly plotting major revenge

First Date

Gypsophila

There I was, sitting in a coffee shop in Indianapolis, shamelessly eavesdropping on a first date from a couple in their 70s who had met online. They were having a lovely time getting to know each other and complimenting each other on various things including their hair – him, abundance of – her, colour (she admitted it was dyed if you’re interested). I was feeling all warm and fuzzy and full of happy thoughts as their date was wrapping up and he asked for her phone number so he could call her sometime and she refused to give it to him. I felt so bad for him I was tempted to go up and give him MY number so he could call me when he wanted to chat, but thought if hubby found out I was giving my phone number away to random elderly strangers just because I felt sorry for them then he wouldn’t be very happy with me.

Romance in the twilight years is alive and well and (mostly) better off kept online.

 

Happy Easter?!?

Other people get the Easter Bunny delivering their eggs…. I get the Easter(n) Hognosed Snake

Camera phone pic

Photography 101: Double-take

“Stop following me!!!”

American Oystercatchers in Florida…. or maybe they’re British Oystercatchers on holiday?!?

Today’s assignment (or should I say last week’s coz I’m way behind) didn’t really take much thought. Well, it did, but I’m too busy to think all that much about it so maybe I was being lazy. Whatever, this is a pair so therefore doubles! Done.

Oh all right then, I’ll also throw in a seagull

“Where’s the chips?”

A Snowy Egret

“Dang, I just can’t get that yellow paint off my feet!”

Some Comorants

“What time does this party start then?”

A Black-bellied Whistling Duck

“Wheet whoo!!!”…. no, not that kind whistling you silly duck!

And some Vultures

“What do you wanna do now?”
“I dunno. What do you wanna do now?”
“I dunno. What do you wanna do now?”
Sorry Disney

Photography 101: The Edge

The Edge

Am I cheating?? Hell yeah!!

But technically The Edge is in my photograph. Just that my seats were 50 miles up, but I’m sure if you zoom in enough you’ll see him….

Taken in St. Louis at the Busch Stadium – text added later because I thought about printing this off as a poster at one point.