Of being exhausted and Clint Eastwood~~~~

Hello Darklings,

I know ---- what have I been doing and what does it have to do with Clint Eastwood?

Well nothing really, it two totally separate things.

Alright I'll get Clint out of the way and "make my day"  and speaking of making it someone's day, today happens to be Clint Eastwood's birthday born May 31, 1930. 

A local boy, attending both Piedmont and then Oakland Technical High School.  Doyle wants to watch either a couple of Dirty Harry movies or "The Good, the Bad and The Ugly" tonight in celebration.   Feeling so tired and knowing that this is going to be one of those rare times when it's Pizza and a good red wine I said "Dealer's Choice" and left it at that.

And why am I exhausted???  Well you'd be exhausted too if you tore apart several beds, washed linens and towels, folded same and re-made the beds, I know, why didn't Doyle or Sis help me, well Sis had to see several clients and Doyle had an assignment that had him out of the house until an hour ago.

But all was not lost, Brian came by feeling a bit lonely for company and I put him to work, he's going to join us for the movie fest tonight. 

So I'm going to lie down and take a nap with the dog's sharing bed space and wake up in time for pizza and a movie.

And really isn't that the best way to spend a Saturday night? 

Later Darklings a nice soft bed calls to me.

Happy Birthday Clint

Of being amazed, "Maleficent", Lady Undertakers and Coralline~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well this is going to be a very interesting weekend.

First I am amazed, Christopher Lee for his 92nd birthday has put out a heavy metal album!!  Yes Darklings, heavy metal---at least he is experimenting with different music styles, I've heard him sing "O solo mio", and in a space movie he sang a rock song, as well as his version of "My Way", so I'm not surprised.   Alright maybe his voice is not as if he were 40 but give the Man credit I say.

And we are hoping Doyle, Coralline and I, to be able to see "Maleficent" its opened today and theaters but we are hoping for an early Sunday showing before the late afternoon crowds.   I am very eager to see it, I've heard there is talk of a "Maleficent II" but we'll see.

I've also spotted a Disney approved doll that I think I'll get for Coralline, but I've got to warn her mother to not give in.  I'll surprise her with it for Halloween.

And Trisha, Coralline called me this afternoon at work she is so happy to get a card from you, and yes she is happy to be getting out of school in a few days for the Summer, her folks are planning a road trip in their new RV, just after the 4th of July, they are going to do a couple of weekend ones to get use to it. 

Thank you for thinking of her, she gets so excited when she receives a card from you.

I am unwinding from work, Doyle is going to treat Sis and I to dinner, I have to confess with the wind blowing I have been sneezing from allergies but I do have medication for it.

Coralline has asked me to take her to a shop she's heard of,  minus her brothers of course, called "The Bone Room", I've heard of it, it seems they sell legal anatomical skeletons or casts of same and she is very curious about the place, I know where its location in Berkeley and there are other very interesting shops in the same area, so I think we'll make a day of it.

Who knows I maybe able to find some interesting things for my Cabinet of Curiosities.

And in a few weekends there will be a Vintage fashion show at the old naval air station,  Michaans auctions will be sponsoring it, I am soooo looking forward to it.

And now my Darklings, I have an author and book I can recommend to you for some delightful reading, that is if you are into Victorian lives, suspense, and Undertaking and funeral practices.

When I was at the Friends book sale I picked up a paperback that had an intriguing title "Lady of Ashes"  by Christine Trent, now she is no newcomer to historical novels and she researches very carefully, and I was from the very first page completely swept up into this novel of romance, suspense, Victorian history and a very Gothic practice of funeral practices.  I had a hard time putting it down.

So much so that I look forward to her next two books in this series.  I mean what can be more Gothic than a Victorian Lady Undertaker.  It is so perfectly Gothic, that I can't help but be amused by the subject matter.

And now Doyle has informed me that we will be leaving in 15 minutes, so I will refresh my makeup, and gather my cloak.

Later Darklings

Of Maya Angelou

Hello Darklings,

I just heard and am sadden by the loss of Maya Angelou.

I do not have words to express this loss of someone who could put words together to create pictures and feelings. So I will leave it as simply as I can with this comment from her.

It still holds true today. 

Later Darklings

Of Happy Birthday AGAIN Christopher Lee!!! and a mini-vacation~~~~

Hello My Darklings,

Well Doyle said to me "Enough is enough it's Memorial Weekend Sunday and we're ottah here!!!"

Which sort of caught me off guard,  well this man went and talked to Brian and Brian happily baby-sat Belladonna and Weiner Dog for us,

Doyle told me to pack for two nights at least, chased me upstairs and not knowing where we were going but considering that if it was inland cool blouses, 1 slacks, my jeans (that I was wearing) 1 skirt, a simple sweater, warm jacket in case we went to the beach, 2 scarves, 3 sets of underwear, my work shoes, dress shoes, walking shoes AND a bathing suit.

Plus my parasol and a wide brim straw hat,  and the most necessary cosmetics.  I kissed the doggies good by and Doyle tossed me ( sort of ) into his van and we were off. 

I let him chose the route,  and just sat back and watched the scenery pass, knowing that Brian would make sure the house was secure and no water was running.

I'll just give a short description. We went north to wine country, stopped at several wineries, Doyle chose what wines he wanted and I was just along for the "ride" so to speak, we did go and see again "The Petrified Forest" and other tourists traps, but we were more like giggling kids, I had no idea where on this weekend we'd find a place to stay, knowing that most places would be booked up, but Doyle found a very nice Motel 6----Now I really prefer something far more upscale but it was Memorial Weekend and beggars cannot be choosers but it was a very nice, clean Motel 6 with friendly staff. 

We didn't return until later this morning to avoid the return holiday traffic and all ready I know that its the Summer (although its not official Summer until June 21) but with the Memorial Weekend  it is a signal for all the RV's to be let loose upon the highways and byways of these United States.

I thought at first Doyle was tense and our first evening away he admitted he was, just fed-up with feeling cooped up with work and such.  But he was relaxed considerably when we got home.

Sis is home from visiting her family and I was joyously met by our four-legged gang of 2.  Sis said no cooking tonight because she said to me "Do you Know whose birthday it is??" 

Of course !!!  It's time for our Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Vincent Price Birthday Celebration!!!

Which means that in the new few minutes we will start our viewing marathon, starting with "House of Long Shadows" (I hope I got the title right) it is the only movie where all three appeared together along with John Carradine,  to be followed by "Mad House" with Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Robert Quarry, then "Horror of Dracula", "Dracula Prince of Darkness", "Curse of Frankenstein", "The Tingler", and whatever is needed to finish by midnight. 

So here we are Sis, Brian, Doyle, the dogs and Moi we are celebrating!!!

The late Peter Cushing's' Birthday is May 26, and both the late Vincent Price and the very much alive Christopher Lee are May 27.

If you look at my last year's post "Happy Birthday Christopher Lee" I have their records all laid out,
oh sigh---the only thing missing is having a Hearse Parked in front of the house with a Happy Birthday sign.

This year Sir Christopher Lee (yes Darklings he has been knighted) is 92 years old and he's done it his way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU WONDERFUL TALL, DARK AND GRUSOME MAN, as we raise our glasses of Apothic Dark wine to your many achievements and may you have many more.

Of Everyone is Fine~~~~

Hello My Darklings,

I've received a number of e-mails and I want to let friends, family, blog friends know that Coralline and her parents and brothers as well as my sister-in-laws family are fine and safe.

I heard about the mass shooting down in Santa Barbara and I know a number of you read that my brother's family was going to be visiting relatives down there.

I want to let you all know they are fine and were no where near where this tragic shooting occurred.

Granted both Doyle and myself were on "pins and needles" until I could get in touch with my brother, but was grateful it was far from them.

At this point in time there is not much known about this shooting except that it was pre-meditated, but who it was and the exact "why" we don't know.

It did put a bit of a damper on their vacation but my brother said that he's not going to let it dictate to what they are going to do for the rest of the time they are there.

I've informed my sister much to her relief.

My prayers go out to the families of those wounded and deceased. 

But I also think we need to look at the mental condition of the person who did this.  If in anyway the police were forewarned about this person was there anything that could have been done to prevent this from happening?

All we can do is listen and read the news to know more.

I want to also thank all of you for your concerns.  I really had no idea how far reaching my blog is.  Thank you all.

Most Grateful to all of you,

Vampire Gothic Rose

Of Silly wedding Ideas and vampire burials~~~~

Dear Darklings,

I am going down a very crazy path, but it just seems to happen that way.

Today I was helping Brian get party favors at Party City.  His ex-wife (he's still good friends with her) needed help, his oldest daughter's birthday is tomorrow and his daughter is doing a sleep over at her friends house.

Which is perfect, his ex asked if he could pick up party favors and gave him a list of things, and colors, he asked me to come with him, and not having anything special planned I thought "why not?" so away we went.

We had no problem getting the items only if he wasn't sure he'd call his ex and use his cell phone to send  pix's to see if that was what she wanted---I'd have to say there are some positive uses for cellphones.   All in all it worked out fine.  He was going over to his ex's house that evening to help decorate for the party and he'd pick up the cake tomorrow while his ex finishes with the food.

I told him that it was nice of him to help out and he said that he and his ex get along better divorced than they did married he said to me "We have to work harder at it because we don't want the kids to be in the middle of any disputes so we try to work things out."

He told me his ex was planning to get re-married to someone else, he's met the fellow and he seems fine.  I asked "Well is your ex freaking out on wedding plans?"  and he said no not really, that it was going to be a simple affair, with a slight twist, his ex-wife's father had passed away and she wanted Brian to walk her down the aisle.   I asked "Isn't that a bit bizarre?"  he didn't think so, he vetted the guy without his ex knowing and the guy is on the up and up so he said "When I hand her over to him I'll tell him ' if you do her wrong you're going to be seeing a lot of me'." 

Hmmm I thought nothing like a nice little threat to keep a marriage in line.

As we happen to go down the aisle that had wedding decorations I asked "Does your ex have a theme for the reception?"  and he said that she hadn't had a chance to think on that.  

It was then that I spotted them---two cowboy hats, a white one that said "Bride" and a black one that said "Groom" both in rhinestones  and then I spotted a wedding cake topper that had the bride dragging the groom to the altar.

That did it---I was off and running with idea's I said to Brian "Why not suggest a rhinestone cowboy wedding," and I showed him the hats and the wedding topper "the bride could come down the aisle to the tune of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", The best man could have a shot gun just in case anyone disputes the marriage when the minister asks if there is anyone who objects to the marriage.

 They could have an old fashion bar-b-que with paper plates, baby back ribs, bar-b-que chicken, beer, sarsaparilla soda,  chilly  and beans, sourdough bread, and serve not only wedding cake but also hot apple pie, the music could be country western, every one dress up like cowboys and cowgirls, they can all dance to "Achy-breakey Heart", and nobody has to worry about getting their clothes dirty"

Brian's eyes lit up and he told me that the guy his ex is marrying is into Cowboy re-enacting and is also a member of a Civil War re-enactment group---he'd be helping out with the birthday party but he was committed to this memorial weekend event, on Sunday Brian's ex and the kids were going to see it.  So he's going to suggest this idea to her.  "She might go for it, something easy and fun!"

So we loaded up the trunk and back seat of Brian's car with all the party favors, including some Mylar balloons, which made driving a little difficult but we managed and dropped everything off, he then dropped me off and went back to his ex's house to help out and maybe run the idea pass her.

Then after checking the crock pot to see how dinner was coming along I went and checked my e-mail and once again one of my co-workers sent me this interesting vampire tid-bit, which I'll print out in full here.

~~~~~~~~

‘Vampire’ skeleton discovered in Poland

  Archaeologists working in northwestern Poland have unearthed the remains of man who was buried with a rock jammed into his jaw and a stake driven into his leg. They believe that the individual was considered to be a vampire and given a deviant burial by the local population.

The discovery was made in a cemetery outside a church in Kamien Pomorski, a town close to the German border. They believe the skeleton dates back to the 16th century – it was found facing east instead of west (the typical orientation of a burial) and with a wound in the leg. At first the lead archaeologist Slawomir Gorka thought the injury was caused by a gunshot, but later tests revealed it was a puncture wound caused by a wooden stake that was meant to prevent the corpse from getting up.

The archaeologists also found that a rock was placed into the man’s mouth so hard that it knocked out his top-front teeth. It was a common method to have stones placed in the mouth of a person suspected of being a vampire.

The fact that he was buried in a church cemetery initially puzzled the archaeologists, but Gorka told the Polish website kamienskie.info that “We have to realize that the cemetery existed from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century, but not in every buried. It was during a period when it was not in use that he was buried, somewhere along the side of the initial cemetery.”

There have been several reports of so-called ‘vampire burials’ from medieval and early modern Europe. Archaeologists have come across another similar deviant burial last year in Poland, as well as in Bulgaria and near the Italian city of Venice.

~~~~
My co-worker also found attached two titles in regards to strange burials and vampire and thought I'd be interested in adding them in the future to my personal library.

I include these titles for your information, they are:

How to kill a vampire: fangs in folklore, film and fiction by Liisa Ladouceur

Deviant Burial in the Archaeological Record by Eileen M. Murphy

I thought how perfect, because after Brian and I had completed our purchases we went to Rasputin's next door to check out the DVD's and CD's, I found a cd of Gregorian chants that I didn't have as well as seasons 2 and 3 of "Supernatural" and a Bela Lugosi film "Return of the Vampire" (1943)  I had not seen that one in ages and considered it a find.  Then we grabbed coffee at Starbuck's and took the long route home to avoid the freeway traffic.  It may take longer but it's less insane.

Doyle is in the other smaller room finishing his work I can hear the click-snap of his stapler, the thumping of the papers to line them up and put them into their proper file folders and in a minute or two he'll go into the family parlor to put on some mellow big band music CD's, and with that he will then select a bottle of wine for us to relax with and enjoy with our dinner.

I can hear Belladonna's and Weiner dog's nails clacking into the other room to see what exciting thing Doyle will do, they know he's a sucker for giving them some doggie treats if they put on really sad faces.  So now I will sign off, get up stretch a bit and put out the dinner ware, the salad is ready and chilling in the fridge, dinner still has 45 minutes to go, so we will relax and chat and see what to do for the weekend.

Later Darklings

Of Darth Vader, Maleficent, man-caves and Sam Spade~~~~~

Hello Darklings,

I only worked a half day today and am taking a long weekend vacation, I do not have to be at work until Wednesday----Oh wonderful fun! 

I plan on doing at least 1 possibly 2 day trips.  My Sister is going to visit her children in Sacramento but Brian will be house sitting, and he said he'd watch Belladonna and Weiner Dog if I decide to take those day trips.

Coralline and her family are going out of town as well to visit my sister-in-laws relatives, in Santa Barbra, it should be fun, the boys are finally learning to behave themselves and Coralline is looking forward to seeing at least one or two historic sights. 

Doyle's work has eased up a bit, right now it's mostly background checks, which he can do from home.  He has his own line and computer to do that.  That way he keeps his business expenses separate from home use.  I think eventually he'll move it to his "man-cave" once the work is completed.  He found the perfect door for it.  It's right out of an old 1930's office building, a pebble glass inset with the bottom half made of  wood, and it appears to be heavy oak,  the pebble privacy glass is smooth on the outside but pebbled on the inside, I told him he doesn't want to expose it to the weather.

So in talking to my contractor he said it would not be a problem to create a recess in the building, so there'd be an outer door and the inner door, the recess would be like a mini-lobby to protect the oak door from the weather and could be used to hang wet coats and such, I could see how Doyle's mind is working, right now the door is stored in my nice, dry basement, but I asked Doyle what was he going to do with it.

He replied "I'm going to have a sign maker do a design on it like from the movie the Maltese Falcon and have it say "Spade, Archer & Doyle Investigations".   Well I did a slight inward groan, but also thought, why not, if you're going to have a man-cave have fun with it.

And we'll have fun looking for the proper furniture and accessories to go with it.

Last night Sis, Brian, Doyle and I were playing dominos'  chicken foot dominos, I like the strategy of the game, but some how the conversation got turned around to improbable pairings---and it got sillier and sillier and we were laughing too hard to focus on the game.

And then an idea came to me when Sis said something about the new movies coming out and the new Star Wars sequel,  and I said "Could you imagine if Darth Vader met Maleficent, and they got engaged, married and had a child?"  

Brain said "That would take things to a whole new world".   And we were off again, about Lukas films and Disney and the franchising and everything. 

And the Doyle said "But think about it, it would be the perfect Goth wedding of the Century, I mean, how could you plan that one???"

I will leave the idea's to your fertile minds, my Darklings

Later Darklings

Of "Hannibal" the finale~~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well as dinner finishes in the crock pot, and the salad is chopped and tossed, I cannot look at my kitchen island (with its chopping board) without envisioning last weeks chapter of "Hannibal", the actor who plays him is so marvelously evil, but even I found myself repulsed by what was portrayed.

But in some ways it does tie in with the movie, the fact that somehow in some way Hannibal persuades people has me thinking of personalities such as Jim Jones, Charles Manson, Adolf Hitler, the leader of that cult that willingly took their lives in Los Angeles because a Comet had passed the earth.

We see it perhaps in a milder sense in "flash mobs" and in mobs in general, such as the "Occupy" groups, especially the one's in San Francisco and Oakland with their senseless destruction.

But we do it too by believing in causes when we are fed mis-information deliberately and yet when the real information is presented it is denied by the masses.   We see it in politics, we see it with performers, we see it in religious fanaticism, we see it in fashion or following the latest techno craze, we see it in advertising to persuade us that this is the way to go or to do or something.

And we find ourselves pushed over the cliff like lemmings, who if they survive the fall swim out to sea to drown.

Only the wise ones survive by turning aside, by investigating the truth, by asking why, by not following the "sheep". 

I think if someone does an in-depth study of this series and the character's motives from a psychological view point I think we'd gain a further insight into the dark souls of people, and what they secretly do not show to the world and how people en masse can easily be led to the proverbial slaughter house.

If it didn't make me so depress I'd re-read  George Orwell's "Animal Farm"   Orwell wrote the book from November 1943 – February 1944, when the wartime alliance with the Soviet Union was at its height and Stalin was regarded highly by the British people and intelligentsia, a circumstance that Orwell hated.   Stalin was a gross man and the intelligentsia was fooled and foolish.

So much for intelligentsia.

Frankly there I times when I am disgusted by the "blind-sheepness" of Society in general.

Perhaps that is why sometimes a disturbing program like "Hannibal" and even "Blacklist" is needed just to make the public a little uncomfortable, just to make them squirm a little in their complacency.

No Darklings I have not been drinking, but I have been thinking----Doyle says I need to watch "Supernatural" and enjoy the good looks of "Sam and Dean Winchester". 

Hmmmm there are times when I love Doyle a lot, he keeps me from becoming too morbid.

Later Darklings

Of Tequila and bizarre stories, a French Sweeny Todd?? ~~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well I am enjoying my nail polish color "Boxer Shorts" by ESSIE, I didn't think I'd like a lighter color but this is just perfect.

And FINALLY cool, breezy weather!  I have the back door open with the mesh screen and the front door open but with a locking screen door, I have one that can be put on and removed with the weather, usually it doesn't go on until June, but I had my handyman put it on early this year, and it will stay up until just before Halloween.

Doyle dragged out the window screens and we were putting them up on the windows upstairs to get as much ventilation as possible, especially the storage rooms on the top floor, it helps circulate the hot air out and cool down the house, but Sis thinks we should have a window air conditioner in the playroom/sewing room, so that one room can be really cool in case someone becomes over come with the heat, we have one of the old recliners in there for just in case.  But if we have the tribe over and there's not enough room I have those beds that inflate that works well.

So spent yesterday putting the screens up, went grocery shopping and put all the things way, but as I was unpacking Doyle brought in another bag and it "clinked" so I said to him "O.k. Mister, what's in the bag?"

Well while I was still putting things into the cart Doyle went and bought two bottles of tequila, called Kah Tequila, and they come in colorful skull shaped bottles, white, black and orange color and one with crystals on it, but Doyle only bought the white and black bottles.

Now I'm not much of a fan of tequila, except for an occasional margarita but I have to say they are a nice addition to add to the Crystal Vodka bottle.  So I think we'll be having margarita's for the summer.  And Apothtic wines have put out a Rose that we are going to try.

I wish I could do another Wine tour in the Fall but at this point I don't see how I can.

Especially since I've got my contractor started to build the "man cave" for Doyle that will be behind the garage.  But we'll see what we can do for mini-get aways.

My sister was at first thinking of putting in a Jacuzzi that looks like a waterfall but Brian gave her another idea, with all the maintenance of a Jacuzzi but only limited use, he suggested instead a garden with a water element but  have it so that one can walk under the waterfall and sit in a recessed spot while the water flowed over like a curtain, on extremely hot days it would be very cool, but could turn off the waterfall and just use an aeration system for any  common gold fish to be put into the pond.   In years where there's no drought problem could run the water fall, and years where there is a drought problem turn it off, even though the water would be re-circulating there is a certain amount of evaporation.

And to just put in gold fish since its outdoors, not expensive Koi, that would work said my sister as she wants to put out orchids that tolerate the outdoors, cymbidiums to give it a more tropical effect, and night blooming jasmine, and she has gardenia bushes planted as well.  Two Birds of Paradise to anchor the setting down, other exotic looking plants will be added, but she wants to go for scent that carries in the air. 

Her 1950's Tiki Room is coming along very nicely, and she's added an aquarium in it but is again using gold-fish.   Some of her clients find the room very relaxing and fun, which is a good thing for her work.

I was having so much fun the other day with the story of the delivery truck crashing and setting fire to a funeral home that I had hoped to find other bizarre stories, but they are slow in coming---except for this tid-bit.

Now Darklings do you remember the general story of Sweeny Todd the Demon Barber?  They made it into a musical with Angela Landsbury, did quiet well too.

Well everyone thought it was a story from England, and just a figment of an over active Victorian writer's imagination----but it is possible that the writer might have done some research and that the story might have come from France.

I am going to print it out here for you  the author of the article is Quinn Connors, who is a freelance writer who has recently relocated from Paris to Sydney. She is a former Editorial Translator for Vogue Paris and Contributor to the Vogue Paris Huffington Post UK blog.

And here is the story

 

Sweeney Todd de Paris: The Original Demon Barber

By Quinn Connors

 

Could it be that the original Sweeney Todd was not actually from Victorian London, but from Medieval Paris? Legend has it that the City of Lights and Love had its very own demon barber during the 14th century. And in fact, Paris was quite possibly the first home of cannibalistic pastries from a murderous barber-butcher relationship.

 On the Seine’s Ile de la Cité, before the Hotel Dieu hospital was relocated to the island, the rue des Marmousets was renowned for its delectable pâtés and meat pies. People came from far and wide for the succulent French delicacies – especially for those made by a butcher next door to a barber shop on the corner of rue des Marmousets and rue des Deux-Hermites. The pies and pâtés sold there were so tasty, due to a certain je ne sais quoi, that even King Charles VI was said to have been a fan.

From 1384 until 1387, this acclaimed butcher was in cahoots with his neighboring barber, turning a pretty penny on the special pâtés. What made his savories particularly good? The soft, scrumptious, young flesh of the victims of the demon barber of Ile de la Cité of course. The barber whose usual clientele of foreign students – who were less likely to be noticed missing – would give customers a close shave and send them down a chute to the basement he shared with the butcher. Down there, the butcher would prepare the human meat, grinding it up for his infamous spreadable pastes and meat torts. This sinister partnership thrived for three years, and would have continued if it wasn’t for a poor pup whose owner never returned from the diabolical barber.

Abandoned, the dog waited outside the shop, whimpering and barking for the man who had now become a delicious, spreadable meat paste. Eventually the wife of the victim found the family pet, but he refused to abandon his vigil at the barbershop. With her husband nowhere to be found and her dog’s new obsession with the local barber, the woman felt that something seemed fishy, er meaty, so she went to the police who conducted a search of the area. To the disgust of all, the police eventually uncovered a heap of human bones and flesh in the shared underbelly of the two shops.

 For their horrific crimes, the barber and the butcher were burned alive, along with their shops, so as to exorcise the area from their evil aura. A bronze dog statue was erected on the corner to commemorate the dedicated pup who cracked the case. With its gruesome history, the razed area was abandoned for a century until King Francois I allowed construction on the site. The bronze dog remained on guard until the mid-19th century when that area of the island went through its grand transformation into the present day Hotel Dieu.

 Today, even though the shop fronts and dog statue are gone, you can still visit the site of the first known Sweeney Todd at 20 rue Chanoinesse, which is now the Parisian Police Department’s motorcycle garage.

 A piece of the original stone foundation of the old building remained in the depths of the garage.

As I went to investigate, I caught the eye of a young officer. Assuming I was lost and had a question about directions, I caught him off guard when I asked him about the infamous murders and if the story was true. With a surprised look and a glint in his eye, he told me that that was the legend and some of the old building remained in the depths of the garage. So, if you’re lucky and speak with an officer on a good day, you can head down to the basement of the building to see a piece of the original stone foundation and feel the eerie chill left by the barber and butcher.

 Now, I dare you to go enjoy some delicious French pâté. After all, it is only a legend… Bon appétit!

~~~~~~~~~

Well even I would be concerned about who or what was in the pate after reading that, although I do make mine from chicken with sweet French bread, when I have the time.

 

But I just thought that would be of interest and I think I'll keep looking for other unusual and bizarre stories to "tickle your fancy".   Perhaps dear Darklings you can save them up and read them to your guests for Halloween. 

And now I'm going to brew some more Lavender Lemonade.

 

Later Darklings

 

 

 

Of the Heat, "Dancing like an Egyptian", Margaritas, Truck crashing into funeral holmes and Blood Tests~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well where do I start first???

I guess with the Heat, we had an unseasonable (although the weather man says it does happen) Heat wave here, and we are still getting through it.  There were some glitches with BART not much but enough to cause delays,  and the cooling system at work is so old it just could not handle it properly.

But at least we were out of the sun, the heat trapped in the "canyon's" of tall buildings makes it hotter, just blazing and inland it went to triple digits , it still high today.

Down in San Diego there having fires destroying homes, and we've been having problems as well,
I think the heat has affected some of the staff.  Our boss said it was O.K to play music on the radio to get our minds off of the heat, the next thing I Knew several of our staffers, Hank, Chris, David and Josh, went dancing across the room with towels on their heads like Ancient Egyptians and were dancing to "Dance Like an Egyptian", you know with all those crazy stiff arm movements, and then Brenda brought out non-alcohol Margarita's Lots of Ice.  It tasted good,  the boss gave up and said "If you get some work done I'll over look this."  We did, but it was fun.

I wore my long cool black cotton clothing, wore a black straw hat, used Neutrogena's Sun Screen at SPF 100 level and also used my black parasol, this pale skin is not going to get a tan, I do have to look my Elderly Gothicness.

If any of you have seen my earlier posts about Dark color clothing being able to block the sun's rays, do re-read it.   And I bought several bottles of Neutrogena's SPF 100 Sun Screen, Summer is starting early and the heat is making people crazy, even me.

There has been a lot of grief in the news and a few surprising things, but I think one of the more bizarre is a truck delivering supplies to a Starbucks lost control and crashed into a 90 year old Funeral Home, the truck caught fire and burned up the outside stucco of the building but nothing was damaged inside----as least no deceased customers had an unexpected cremation, and the person who lives above the funeral home and is a caretaker (a woman) was not hurt, the driver and passenger survived with minimal injuries.

The owner of the family owned and run funeral home, said that the Stucco facing prevented the fire from spreading and gave the firemen time to get there and prevent it from doing interior damage.

I've always remarked to people who drive pass me at a high rate of speed "Slow down, they'll hold the funeral for you!"  But Starbucks and a funeral home????  I love the bizarreness of it.

Well Coralline and I have chosen the nail polish color for Summer, she insisted I not wear a very dark color for the Summer Months, telling me that after Labor Day it would be perfectly alright.

I, of course, raised my eye-brows at this edict but decided to see where this would lead,  Well for Mother's day we got to my Brother's house for the Bar-b-Que but it looked like the grill was going to be fired a bit later in the evening and frankly with the weather it worked out just fine. 

Where my brother lives there's a CVS less than a block from the house, so making sure Doyle, the dogs and our elderly neighbor were comfortable, Coralline and I took a walk and there we looked at all the newer nail polish colors being offered for the Summer.

Most of them were too bright or glittery for me and I wasn't happy with the grey greens, and Coralline didn't want me to wear reds or corals or bright greens so we were looking at the blue palette and finally with the ESSIE brand we settled on two colors both a sort of Periwinkle Blue but one was slightly lighter than the other, I settled for "Boxer Shorts" and Coralline went with "Teeny Bikini" (the lighter color).

The shade is just right for Gothicness with a Summer bent, darkish but not too dark and not to light, Summery without being dull.  Coralline gave her whole hearted approval.  And at the Schools she's at for the last few weeks, they will permit color nail polish, and bright and fun hair clips, with the School Uniform. 

Frankly the color goes with almost everything I wear from blacks, greys, dark blues, dark purples, deep maroons.  So I'm all set as they say.

The bar-b-que was hosted by my brother and Doyle and the Boys, us women folk did not have to lift a hand, they even did the clean up although Coralline did have to help, after all she said "Its Mom's Day".

My Sister had a lovely time visiting her children and Brian had a chance to see his kids as well, but I do have to say on the way there and back we saw a lot of places with long lines of people waiting to eat.   Thank goodness the weather was great for a bar-b-que.

Then the Heat Wave---Oy Vey!!  and the Silliness Oh Boy!! But what can you do??

I took today off from work because I had to go to the lab for fasting blood work, Doyle is having a problem with the car, it was the starter motor, so here I am fasting, fasting, getting a headache, getting light headed and all I can do is drink water when I'm dying for coffee and a aspirin.

And because of my light headedness I don't dare drive, so Doyle calls the repair shop and has the car towed in and fortunately its near the hospital, so the owner loans his car to us and Doyle drives me there and when I get there the lab has moved, so I've got to walk a block and a half in the heat, for some vampire to take blood out of me,  But she made it painless remarking how nice and hydrated my veins are, and loved the color of my nail polish and where did I get it. 

Well that was nice.

 I had taken my coffee that I had made and put into a heat container, with me, as soon as I gave 3 vials (one was large) of blood and the Urine sample, I started gulping that coffee ignoring that it was still hot, it tasted so goooooooooooodddddd and topped it with an aspirin.  

We drove back to the repair shop and miracle of miracles they had a spare starter motor in stock and we were on our way, but Doyle did take me to lunch at our old retro-favorite the Merritt Coffee Shop, and even though it was lunch time I wanted Bacon and Eggs with whole wheat Toast---I know heart-attack city---But there are times when I don't care.   

Now I'm unwinding, Sis called and said she was picking up the fixings for a nice spinach salad with the pre-cooked grilled shrimp from Trader Joe's, We all ready had lavender Lemonade on ice, and Doyle took the insulated bag with some blue ice to buy Lime Sherbet for dessert.  

Tomorrow night we are going to the Friends of the Library Book Sale out at the old Navy Base, I'm so looking forward to that, one never knows what treasure one will find.

And now I'm going to flop on the couch with a fan on me, we have a box fan at floor level for the dogs and we are going to get cool and nap till dinner time.

Remember My Darklings Neutrogena SPF 100 Sun Screen.

Of Mother's Day and memories~~~~

Hello My Darklings,

And Happy Mother's Day to all of you who are mother's , grandmothers, aunties, Godmother's, and if you just help out caring for children.

Doyle and I are going to the cemetery in a few minutes to put flowers on my Mother's grave, Sis would have gone but she left yesterday to be with her children for Mother's day and won't be back until tomorrow but she chipped in for the flowers.

Doyle called his children last night to wish them Happy Mother's Day, he'll be going down in June for a week to visit---by pass the Memorial Day weekend insanity.

Roses, white and red that is I what I'll be putting there.

Our elderly neighbor lady is coming with us along with Belladonna and Weiner dog because afterwards we are going to my brother's house to celebrate with a bar-be-que, just relax and talk and relax and eat and talk and relax.

I didn't want to leave our neighbor lady all by herself, her children live far away and they did call her last night but on a day like today its not good to be alone.  So we invited her.

Just sitting here and thinking about all the things Mom did for us, all the fun we had and the scolding's too, the tragedy she and Dad had to bear, and her courage to be able to pull up from it.

I remember at old St. Elizabeth's Church there was this 2/3's size tableau at one side of the altar on Good Friday of the 3 Mary's at the foot of the cross, Mary the Mother of Jesus, watching her son suffer and not being able to ease his suffering.  Who ever sculpted that statue caught the pain on Mary's face, in pain and resignation, not denial but resignation.

No parent, no Mother wants to outlive their children but things force themselves upon Mother's.

I remember my Grandmother saying "the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world".   And then I think I hear my mother's laughter at odd times in the house, sometimes as I wake up in the middle of the night.  I'm not frightened but at ease. 

I've never had children of my own, life took a different turn with me on that, but I'm happy to be an Auntie and to carry on the memories of my Mother and Grandmother to pass on to other generations.

And now our neighbor has shown up and we're ready to go.

Happy Mother's Day Darklings!

Later.

Of Vampire Blood and Nail polish~~~~

Hello My Darklings,

I have been so bad not posting anything new, bizarre, glamour's or even interesting of late.

But it was seeming like things were just boring, boring, boring.  Except that Sis and I did have a fun Sunday shopping to celebrate Audrey Hepburn's birthday, and we also sent off checks to charities that she supported as well, we are not selfish. 

We are fortunate and blessed, so it behooves us to help out as best as we can.  I think of all of my nieces and nephews and think upon how lucky they are and hope that they realize it.

But we did go to Tiffany's and looked around, and I did splurge, I found a sterling silver chain link bracelet with a heart shaped pendant on it like a charm and I remembered an aunt of mine had something like that so I bought it and asked to have it engraved with my initials and my birthday, I also asked if it's something they usually have and was informed that it does come in from time to time so I'm going to buy one for Coralline have it engraved the same way and give it to her for her next birthday. 

I don't usually buy things at Tiffany's very much but this is something special.

And we went to Saks and Nordstrom and Macy's.  I bought a bottle of Chanel No. 5 perfume as well as Coco.   And had fun looking at lipsticks and nail polish but I just could not find a color that would get me excited.

As a matter of fact I just could not get excited by any of the clothing or styles of things they had at the stores, it all seemed so blah and sameness, I asked Sis if I was getting too old and she remarked that it appears that the styles are not marketed to us but to the 20 something's with knobby knees and boney shoulders,  the style just didn't have any style.

At least I can be on the watch for the Vintage Fashion Faire next month I should be able to find something exciting there, I usually do.

As a matter of fact we had a number of women come up to us asking where did we buy our clothing and were surprised that it was either vintage or retro designs, and the fact that we wore hats,  and these ladies had the same complaint.  

But all was not lost I bought a bottle of J'adore cologne as well.  And found 2 bottles of Revlon's Devine nail polish---I had used up my last bottle. And I love the color, if I can every find a bottle of their limited edition of Devil's Lure I'll buy that as well.

I've discovered that I'm now preferring the Matt lipsticks, and the Besame colors seem to suit me very well.  Anything glossy on my lips just doesn't seem to work well or look well on my, perhaps that's the  curse of being an older woman, who is a bit retro.

Sis managed to find in her size a simple little black dress in linen and it fit her beautifully and no knobby knees. 

Then off we went to dinner at the Claremont Hotel, I just had to indulge in a "Pink Lady", I had not had one of them in ages.  Sis suggested that if Doyle and his Storm Troopers were going to have each year a "May the Forth" party we should have our "Breakfast at Tiffany's" Party as well.  I think its a splendid idea.

Ahhh but how does Vampire Blood come into all of this---Well Darklings, my co-workers know I have an interest in things morbid, gothic etc. etc. well one of them found an on line article from the UK from The Telegraph science news section titled " 'Vampire therapy'  could reverse ageing, scientists find"     It seems that old Countess Elizabeth Bathory had the right idea but went about it the wrong way.

It seems that a transfusion of youthful blood may halt and possibly reverse the ageing process, it seems that the chemical make-up of younger blood has surprise health benefits.

It seems that young blood actually 'recharges' the brain, forms new blood vessels and improves memory and learning.  The article claims that a protein known as  GDF11 is present in the blood stream in large quantities when we are young but peters out as we age.

The article goes on in more depth but you might be able to find it under  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10807478/Vampire-therapy-could-reverse...

I hope I have the right link but if you go to the Telegraph website you should be able to find it.

I found the article fascinating as a few years ago I had problems standing and walking, and I would get exhausted and could not focus.   I became concerned and made an appointment with my Doctor and took a taxi since I felt I could not drive, he had me tested and immediately had me admitted into the hospital, I was severely anemic and needed several units of blood as well as being dehydrated.  I knew I was looking very pale, but I didn't know it was from that. 

It turned out that for some reason my bone marrow was not making enough red blood cells, so I had to start taking Iron pills every day a heavy dose.  I still do but only 3 times a week now.  But with the fresh new blood I felt energized, even plumped up, my cognitive skills were heightened and sharpened, almost supernormal. 

When I talked to my Sister about it I laughed and said "I've become a vampire" but even she said that I looked younger than I had in years.  Now reading this article, and also with taking vitamins and Iron as well as being careful with my skin, it seems that something like this is not so far fetched, but in its own way a bit frightening when you think about it.

There is even a news article about what is called a "vampire facelift"  at this point in time I really don't want to go there.

And now Doyle has shown up with dinner as he pleaded with me for me to rest a bit and not cook.  And it's from our favorite Chinese take out.

Later Darklings

Of Star Wars and Audry Hepburn or "May the Fourth Be With You"~~~~~

Dear Darklings,

This is going to be a short post---I am escaping from my house as I allow my dear darling Doyle to entertain his friends for Star War's Day----They are now doing a bar-b-que in the back yard, with promises of not setting my kitchen on fire like the last time.

I've taken Belladonna and Weiner Dog to our elderly neighbor and Sis and I are going to escape to the City to SHOP!!!

Why???  Because to Day is Audrey Hepburn's birthday and I want to go to Tiffany's, and Nordstrom and Saks and Macy's and then Sis and I will dine at the Claremont Hotel.

So ladies, while the boys play like Storm Troopers or Rebel Fighters etc. You should be like elegant Audrey Hepburn and Shop for wonderful delightful things---.

Must Go!!!  I just heard the opening notes of the Star Wars theme!!!

Later Darklings