Fire and Ice, Ice baby... downtown Putnam heats up with some fire and ice!

Looking for something to do ~ and more importantly something to brighten up this time of year that starts to drag on for some us...

As always, you can count on Putnamania to help you out by providing some fun festivities and a little distraction from the winter blues.

Friday and Saturday, February 14 & 15, 2014 offers a little Fire & Ice on the streets of downtown Putnam.

 Here is one of the ice sculptures I fell in love with at last year's Fire & Ice

There are ice sculptures, luminaries (candles lit in chunks of ice!), horse drawn carriage rides, hot chocolate at the church, music, and all of the local restaurants will have a Fire & Ice theme.

It was just beautiful last year, and this year promises to be even better. I can't wait and am planning to be there for a dusk into evening visit, so the sparkle of the fire & ice makes a heavenly impact.

Come on down! Bring the family, friends, and meet new ones!
Here are more details on the Discover Putnam website.

You can also "like" Discover Putnam on facebook so you will be up to date on all the fun events! Fun never ends in Putnamania!

I am a Putnamaniac that loves winter fun, like Fire & Ice!

Putnamaniac Activity Calendar

The magical balancing act of soap containers!

Do you think this is a strange sight?

The other night I had a soap container that was way low... I mean way low, but not empty ~ there were still a few good hand washings left there in the bottom of that container.

So, being a good and frugal New Englander, I tipped the almost empty soap container onto another much fuller container. It was a great balancing act ~ one the Wallendas would have been proud of. It leaned against the wall, teetering on a fall at any moment as those last few hand washings dripped into the much younger container.

As the drip, drip, drip ensued, I went about my business, as I can keep myself quite busy.

Suddenly I heard a cackling from the bathroom. Outrageous laughter ~ perhaps even a mocking sound!

My husband was entirely entertained by this display of soap saving.

Could it be he had never seen such a thing in his almost 50 years?  Apparently not! He thought this was the funniest thing he'd seen in days!

Are you a frugal New England soap saver?

Please let me know where you stand!

I am a Putnamaniac and a frugal New Englander!

Putnamaniac Activity Calendar

More letters that mean a lot in NECT ~ and they are KK!

NECT.

I take for granted that everyone knows NECT stands for Northeast Connecticut.

If you didn't know, now you do!

We in NECT have all sorts of letters that when put together mean a lot to us all.

Take for instance KK.

If you listen to another bunch of great letters, WINY Radio, then you must know about KK.

KK, unlike the K's in my sports collection, which are used to indicate strike outs by awesome Red Sox pitchers, in NECT stands for a great hard working, musical, sweet, articulate, thoughtful, funny, lady with a great sense of humor and community.

She is at work long before 6am, which means that she rises long before most of us average daytime workers. And she is sincerely pleasant about it.

I consider myself a morning person. However, I am a solitary early morning person. I enjoy those early morning moments by myself. She shares them with multitudes of listeners and coworkers.

If you have not figured out what the special letters KK stand for, listen to WINY Radio each morning from 6am-9am. She is on air then with the morning show, and later is out and about reporting local news and arranging the rest of the news team's efforts as the news director.

Think you know who it is???? If you guessed Mary Tyler Moore, you are close! KK can also turn the world on with her smile, and suddenly take a nothing day and make it all seem worthwhile...

KK in NECT is none other than Kerensa Konesni.

KK, we salute and appreciate your hard work and pleasantly positive attitude while you do it! You sure do make my days start out on a pleasant note!

Check out a little glimpse of what goes on at WINY Radio and what KK and the whole WINY team does! 

I am a Putnamaniac that loves the letters of NECT and what they stand for!

Putnamaniac Activity Calendar 

Balentimes Day is coming soon!

Lots of kids call Valentines Day "Balentimes Day".

Come to think of it, I hear some grown ups say that, too!

Whatever you call it, it is almost here!

It is a day of love ~ a day to share love, to express love, to give gifts of love like chocolates, flowers, cards ~ any sort of thing that means something to both the giver and receiver.

It is a day for decorating, too!

Our sun room has a couple of artificial trees in it, and they stay up year round, decorated for each season or holiday as they near.

Here is one of our Balentimes Trees, with a special card under it, and the red ribbon on top is from the MD&GC heart shaped cookie delivered a couple of  years ago by my unspoken hero of yesterday's blog (written on 2/3/14)

Speaking of cards  and expressing love, today we received a lovely card from our friend Kat. After reading it, choking up, and being amazed at her thoughtfulness, I placed it under the heart tree.

Kat is a working mother ~ and she works both hard at work and as a mother, always doing the right thing, even if it takes the most effort. She is also in school. She also manages to take time to take care of herself and her health, cooking well and working out.

How on earth does she find the time to send a card to us for every occasion? Whether it is a thank you card, a halloween card, or simply a card to send a friendly hello, she not only finds the time, she takes the time.

Everyone should have such a friend as Kat. Everyone should try to be as good a friend as Kat.

I am a Putnamaniac that knows Balentimes Day is coming soon because we got a touching card from our friend Kat today!

Putnamaniac Activity Calendar

Unspoken Heroes ~ so many of my friends! (Yes ~ I am bragging of my good taste)!

Do you know someone who just kind of does awesome stuff all the time, really quietly, but the impact is always huge?

Someone who would sneak over to your condo and leave you a Valentine's Day surprise, from one of your "imaginary boyfriends" with her partner in covert and secret undercover missions. (This is her husband of course).

This past year's surprise was from my "imaginary boyfriend", George Clooney!

This is someone who connects friends with friends. Her words are soft, thoughtful, fun, and powerful. 

She is an organizer and one who carries on lifelong fun and traditions, with one of the most popular events being a bus full of Christmas carolers, who hit the road, travel from home to home, and delight recipients with surprise choruses they shall never forget. 

Joining into community service and community events is a big priority for this unspoken hero ~ time spent volunteering at the local food banks, teaching a Real Estate course at QVCC, and participating in heart healthy events thanks to her sisterhood with Follow the Fifty are a few things that keep her occupied in her spare time ~ amazingly she finds spare time!

After the O'Putnam 5k, March 2013

On top of all this, she runs a successful real estate practice in Thompson, CT. You may have heard of them in this blog before, as I recently sold my condo and bought my house with the help of Johnston and Associates. 

So, although I do not want to drop any names and embarrass this humble and unspoken hero, her name rhymes with Hachael Pohnston, or Bachael Bohnston, or Machael Rohnston.... or Rachael Johnston.

Not only do I have this one great friend, an unspoken hero, but I have many others of the exact same caliber!

I am a Putnamaniac that is lucky to have friends that are unspoken heroes every day of the week!

Putnamanic Activity Calendar

The reputation of NECT people ~ it is all good!

This morning I attended a lovely breakfast put on by a local civic group.

Other than one member of the group, who I'm familiar with since we are both involved in another local organization, I'd met these other folks one other time so far.

Yet... and this is a big YET... they all welcomed us with open arms (literally handshakes and hugs).

Another acquaintance was at the event, traveling in from another part of the state.

As we left, she said something to the tune of  "It never fails to surprise me at what a close knit community the people of Northeast CT are, and how friendly they all are. It is so refreshing".

I like that tune!

It is why I love to live in Northeast CT, and it is also why I love the people here.

Generous, kind, friendly, outgoing, willing to chip in to help someone else describes the people I know to a tee.

A shot of some of the great people of NECT at the Putnam Memorial Day Parade of the past

I am a Putnamaniac that loves the reputations of the people I live with in NECT!

Putnamaniac Activity Calendar

Purpose of public speaking...have a purpose, some passion, and like to talk (boy, do I like to talk)!

I am not fond of speaking about my feelings.... my poor hubby tries to get me to talk about that sort of thing all the time.

Of course, I do confide in him, and a few other very close, life long friends, but otherwise I prefer to refrain from that sort of conversation.

On the other hand, I love to work, and also love to talk about work when the time is right ~ and not actually interrupting the work itself!

I've found passion in all of my work and volunteering efforts, too.

Recently I have spoken publicly a few times on behalf of Habitat for Humanity of Eastern CT for some civic groups. It is wonderful that these groups allow me some of their precious time. Time is valuable. People are busy.

Have no fear that I will be asking for monetary donations. I will not, although they wouldn't be refused!

On the contrary, Habitat for Humanity of Eastern CT is happy to raise our own funds. We ask only to speak on the need for volunteers in our ReStores and on our builds. We also mention the need for gently used items to be donated to our ReStores as well as shoppers to frequent our ReStores often.

If these requests are heard by listening ears, and then shared ~ and shared ~ and shared...  the ReStores will thrive and raise their own funds. This certainly helps accomplish the mission, which is to provide decent and affordable homes in our community.

So, if you have a community group, senior group, civic group, church group, or any group with ears,  I'd love to come and speak to you about Habitat for Humanity of Eastern CT! You will become passionate about it, too!

I am a Putnamaniac that loves to speak publicly and passionately about what I love!

Putnamaniac Activity Calendar