Of Autumn~~~~~~

Dear Darklings,

It's Here!!!!    Now where is that Spirit Store so I can do some shopping!!!!


Later Darklings

Of the Heat Returning~~~~

Hello Darklings,

They say (whomever "they" are) that we really don't have Summer here in the Bay Area until September, well this year "they" were wrong given our series of heat waves.

But after the cool weather and the lovely one day splash of rain, the heat has returned, not as unbearable as before but enough to make one not want to do anything, and that is exactly what Sis, Doyle, Brian and the Dymanic Duo are doing, nothing!

We're reading, snoozing, chatting, snoozing, laughing, snoozing, and generally relaxing and snoozing today and frankly we deserve it.

Sis and I have been painting our nails with this lovely color called "Meet me at the Mirage"  put out by China Glaze, for a bronze frosted I like the way it looks,  on fingers and toes, of course with the nail lacquer drying we cannot do anything.   So Doyle and Brian have offered to get our favorite go-to take out  Chinese, nothing to cook, and with paper plates but regular forks etc. wash up is a minimum.

My brother and his family are being serious travelers with their R.V.  They went to Columbia State Park and it was open but the festivities were canceled because of air quality due to the Butte Fire, but for them all was not lost.

This weekend they went back to Placerville,  and to that antique shop my sister in law fell in love with.  And next weekend back to Columbia again.  The children are loving this travel.  It's going to be hard when the rains start up for them.

The other day Sis came across this receipe and it is so lovely for Indian Summer that I'm going to share it with all of you.

Whipped Pineapple Pops Recipe

If you have ever been to Disneyland, they have this amazing thing called a Dole Whip.  It’s like a fluffy, creamy tangy pineapple treat that people actually wait in line for 30 minutes for. 

There are a couple of ways you can do this.  You can either used crushed pineapple or fresh pineapple.  We chose to use crushed since that is what I had on hand.  This recipe makes quite a bit of ‘whip’, so you can cut it in half if you aren’t making it for very many people.  We used 2 – 20oz cans of crushed pineapple.  Drain one can and include the juice of the other can.  Whenever I buy canned fruit, I always buy ‘Naturally Sweetened’.  The fruit that is canned in syrup contains a lot of extra sugar and so make sure you buy naturally sweetened.  If you are using fresh pineapple, you will probably need an entire pineapple, cut up into chunks. Whatever pineapple you decide to use, place it in a high powered blender.  If you like a little more tart flavor you can add the juice of a fresh squeezed lime. 

If your pineapple isn’t very sweet, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of your favorite sweetener, but it isn’t necessary.  Blend until it is a smooth, frothy consistency. The next step is to combine with your creamy ingredient.  We used cream that we whipped because we were going for an extra fluffy rich texture.  But you can also use almond milk, coconut milk (full fat works best) (think Pina colada) half and half, or whatever you prefer. If you use whipped cream, you can put the mixture in the freezer for a bit and just serve it as a ‘Dole Whip’.

Otherwise, pour your mixture into Popsicle molds and you have Whipped Pineapple Pops!

Ingredients:

2 - 20 oz cans naturally sweetened crushed pineapple OR 1 large fresh pineapple, cut into chunks

Juice of 1 lime

1 1/2 cups cream, almond milk, or coconut milk (full fat works best for the most creamy consistency)

Directions:

Place pineapple and lime juice in a high power blender. Blend until smooth and frothy.

Combine with creamy liquid.

Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze until hardened.

Enjoy!

Well we made this on Thursday evening a small batch and by using the coconut milk we found that to be best, so we made it last night for today, for dessert.   And it's heaven.  But if you Darklings decide to use something else that's just fine. 

 But it is perfect on a hot day.

Enjoy Darklings

Of a Quote about being Goth or Gothic~~~~

Hello Darklings

I came across this quote and of course it also includes Morticia, and I realized that in all my experiences I had to be in tune with and  explore my dark side, even researching morbid subjects and understanding the evil convolutions of the human mind.

And having gone through horrendous tragedy, I know I've come out stronger.

I even celebrate my dark side, revel in it, but also to maintain some sort of balance I will also splash the light side into my soul as well, with a touch of kitties, puppies and butterflies. 

But by knowing and understanding the dark side we then are never fooled by statements that are made to sound truthful but are lies, we are never fooled or are foolish.  

THAT is what makes a person a true Elder Goth.

We don't have to wear black all the time or do our hair or makeup in bizarre styles, we don't have to do horrendous bizarre piercings to indicate we're Goth.  That is simply outer trappings to appear outrageous, we don't even have to be into what ever music style the Goth community is into.

We can truly be independent and not feel that we have to follow the Goth Crowd,  because It is what is in our minds, our hearts,  our lives and our souls that makes us Goth.   And we can let it out to play and privately laugh.

I'm just lucky that I have a lovely "playpen" for it.

So if you can My Darklings, take this quote, make it larger, frame it, put it where you can see it every day and know that this is true Gothicness.

Later Darklings

Of the unrelenting continuing HEAT!!!

Hello Darklings,

We are still in the high 90's and in some places at triple digits, a number of schools are having minimum school days, senior centers are having cool down places for folks. 

My sister in law called me this morning to see if I could pick up the children from school as the school was having problems with their air  conditioning system and have called for a minimum day.

So I picked them up went to their house to change out of their uniforms and into comfortable clothing and then on to my house for lunch, I was surprised they all wanted Mac and Cheese with bacon bits,  Easy to do, ice water with a bit of lemon juice in it with lunch, and orange sherbet for dessert.  And surprise!  Even the twins are exhausted from the heat, and didn't complain that I only had sherbet,

Right now the children are in the spare air conditioned room napping, then when they wake up I'll have them doing home work, even though minimum day, homework never stops.   I called their Mom to let her know they are safe, and for her and my brother to come over for dinner, a light vegetable soup,  fresh sour dough bread and butter, and a crisp salad, and more orange sherbet for dessert.

I had shopped late yesterday evening at the store after the sun went down.

When I went to School I never remembered having such hot after Labor Day days that the school would call a minimum day, we all suffered with the open windows, make shift hand fans, paper cups of water that the teachers provided,  and easy assignments like read a chapter or do one page of problems.

But that was then, this is now.  

 I remember when as a child during the summer if we had really hot days, Mom and Dad (if it was his day off) would get up very early even just before the sun would rise, and do what they had to do for the day if it was something out doors.   Then for the rest of day they would rest, relax or do simple things indoors. 

Even my Uncle Henry when he retired to the Gold Rush Country said the best time to do things is in the early morning and then stop at 11 a.m. and just rest, not until 7 or 8 p.m. would he and his wife go into town for Grocery shopping or anything and there were businesses that would stay open until 10 or 11 p.m. during the summer and early Fall because of the heat. 

I know at some places inland like in Lompoc the Target and Wal-mart Stores are open 24 hours a day because of the heat, and heavily air conditioned.   And in Mexico and South America even in Spain and Portugal where they suffer from extreme heat, everyone sleeps in the afternoons and do not open up again until the evening, unless it’s a medical or dental emergency.     

 So during this heat wave we should do the same thing, unless we are lucky and have an air conditioned office, but best to take your lunch to work and not venture outside. 

And now I feel sleepy too, Doyle is at his office in the city having taken BART, my Sister has a number of clients today, I said they could park in my driveway if there is no on street parking, her office is air conditioned as well as her Tiki Room (her private indulgence) Brian had to go to his companies office today for a meeting so he and Doyle went in Doyles car to the BART station.

For me it's just watching the children the two legged ones and the four legged ones, I did check on my elderly neighbor and she is doing fine she has fans on including a heavy duty Habor Bay one, and plenty of water, she has a timer to remind her to drink some every 15 minutes to stay hydrated, but I'll check on her again later this afternoon. 

Now I'm going to nap for a bit until someone or something wakes me up.

Later Darklings   

Of the heat wave continuing and Update on the Hearing~~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well as the wicked witch said in the "Wizard of Oz"  "I'm melting! Melting!!"   right now I consider her a kindred spirit.

It seems that Summer is going to go out with a final blast of Heat, it's up to triple digets in some areas,  our thermometer is saying 91 and I saw on the computer that it's 93 degrees out.   The fans are on, damp towels for the Dynamic Duo, I have the window air conditioner on in the down stairs spare room, and dash into it when its too warm for me or to at least do simple things like folding towels and such.

Doyle and I have been sleeping on the back screened porch at night with a portable T.V. and one of those HD antenna's, amazing what stations one gets.   Of course Doyle has to re-adjust it like the old-fashion rabbit ears, but it's such a time machine we're even getting games shows from the mid-1950's to to late 1970's like Tattle-Tales and To Tell the Truth.

My brother took his family to the historic Ghost Town of Columbia for the Labor Day weekend, it seems that place has a California Admission Day Parade, and does historical re-enactments as well.  From what the children told me it was very exciting and a lot of fun, but also very hot.   But I'm glad they went in their RV and it has air conditioning as well.  Both Coraline and Chris really like, well more excited about  the historical aspects of this latest trip. And their parents were willing to buy books about the area for their personal Library.   I'm glad.

Once this heat wave is over I think I'll be able to think more clearly about some articles I've come across that I think you Darklings will enjoy.

But now an update on the Court Hearing

I’m afraid I cannot wax in rhapsody  about the event as we got up at “Oh Lord” it’s “f’ing” early, but up we got, showered we got, dressed we got, the Dynamic Duo had a chance to go potty, Brian watched them and off we went.

 

I think because it’s a holiday weekend traffic was light, we got to the AlCo Parking lot just as it opened, found  parking, so we waited for 45 minutes in the Parking Lot, before we went to the Court House, passed through Security, got a cup of coffee, up to the third floor and waited. 

 

We were joined by other people who also had harassment court cases, a total of 52 cases and we were number 51 on the docket.  As it began to get crowded, Crazy  exited the Elevator and was shocked to see us, I looked straight at him with what I hoped was laser vision and he ducked his head down and tried to find a place to hide, going clear across the lobby and ducking behind a door.

 

So we finally got into the court room,  we sat close to the front while Crazy was in the back and watched and waited, and watched and waited and watched and waited, but during all that watching and waiting I was getting an idea of how this Judge works, he went through the list, found some of them paired, asked if there were any attorneys, I became concerned and got the Bailiffs attention and asked since I didn’t have an attorney to represent me did I have to go to the clerk and he said no just wait until called.

 

O.K. thought I, several cases were dismissed because neither parties showed, some he passed on to go back to later, some he granted a 3 year Restraining order (RO), some he couldn’t and explained why, He granted RO’s to those people who showed up but the opposing party didn’t show up.  But I noticed that a number of them went to see if they could be mediated, most did come to an agreement except two, and I noticed that even though the defendants complained about the TRO’s they wanted it dismissed because they claimed that THEY were the victims, when the plaintiff had a preponderance of evidence.   So the Judge would grant the RO’s to the plaintiff's leaving the defendants royally ticked off.

 

It was nearly 11 a.m. by the time the Judge got to us and he ordered that we talk to his legal team to discuss mediation.   I was not thrilled about that, not at all, I wanted it over and done with NOW!   

 

But as I listened and talk to the legal team I sensed there was a pattern to what the Judge was doing.    

Crazy was saying he had evidence that I was not the legal owner of the house, claiming to have paper work and he wanted to present it now, he was told that would have to wait, so he said he wanted to get evidence that we were calling him on his phone and harassing him and when could he present his evidence and get papers from ATT to show that we were harassing him, claiming that he's a victim.  I realized he was emulating the two previous cases, I guess hoping to have things turn out differently for him and then  he said to the other lawyer “I’m semi-literate, I don’t understand this.” 

 

The mediator was telling us how and what is done in mediation and I said “How can one mediate with a person who makes threats, attempts to assault us, vandalize and trespass on our property, makes false allegations,  calls us foul names (and I gave her examples) threatens to rape me, poison our dogs, and kill my Doyle?   Can you explain that?”  and Doyle said “How can you mediate with someone who is ‘bat-shit crazy’?”    

 

 And she (the mediator) said “Well sometimes we can make sense of why someone is bat-shit crazy.”  (I mentally rolled my eyes).

 

Then I began to see the pattern, when she was distracted by a question by one of the lawyers, I turned to Doyle and said “Let’s mediate, we show we are doing it in good faith, and Crazy shows he’s nuts, which he will,  it will look good with the Judge, because the lawyer said we can have the hearing if the mediation doesn’t work.  We can refute each of Crazy’s claims and he really doesn’t have proof.”   Doyle went along.

 

So when the lawyer turned to us I said immediately “O.K. we’ll go to mediation!”   This threw Crazy off balanced, I sensed that he realized in some deep recesses of his mind, I had suddenly taken charge and was calling the shots---so to speak---I knew we were being guided by the Judges Legal team, but I was the one making the decisions, and Crazy had no say in the matter which made him mad as hell and I didn't care!

Whatever Crazy had in his mind was not going to happen his way, I in essence had foiled him.

 

 So the first really free date is November 6 a Friday, but we were promised that the TRO will stay in place and will be extended to Nov. 6, I felt it was a win for us.  Even though it’s a delay it’s still a win, on certain levels.   I’ll get  my pictures that are now being developed to show clearly what we had to do to add to my evidence and it presents a positive image to the Judge.

 

We were told where to meet for mediation, and we would be the first on the docket.  So we went back to the court room, the Judge when he got through with another case, asked and the lawyer said we are going into mediation, the Judge was happy about that and said he would  have the clerk draw up the orders and I asked “We stay here to receive the paperwork from the Clerk?” and he said yes, but Crazy left immediately with a sort of growl in his throat that made the Bailiff take notice to be prepared.

 

We stayed, and stayed and stayed, finally the Judge ordered a 10 minute break, Doyle stood up and stretched his legs when he did that the Deputy Sheriff who is the Bailiff said to him “Are we having fun yet!” Doyle said to him “I was going to say that to you, I guess you’re a mind reader.”   So I left the two of them alone while I went to the bathroom, there was no sign of Crazy.   When I came back the Deputy aka Bailiff was heading to the main Lobby I said to him “Has my boyfriend been teasing you?”  He smiled and said “Nah!”

 

I was surprised that the Bailiff talked more casually with Doyle,  with everyone else it was more businesslike, I asked Doyle and he said he didn’t know why, but I suspected because Doyle still carries himself as if he were still a police officer because the Bailiff did ask him and Doyle did tell him.

 

So after the break, we waited and waited and waited for the clerk to bring our paperwork but she couldn’t find us on the docket list,  so she came to me and asked which case were we, I gave her the name and she looked and looked but couldn’t find us, so she asked me to look through the list, I scanned the list and found my name and pointed it out to her, she was happy and thanked me and went back to prepare the orders.

 

So we waited a little longer, then finally the assistant clerk came to us and we had to go into the foyer, she asked for Crazy and I said he left  an hour ago, is his paperwork to be mailed to him?  And she said no, if you leave the follow up paperwork is never mailed, if he was here he knows the date, but the way she said it, it seemed to imply that it was not be good for him to have left.   So she explained to me what the paperwork was about.  I asked if I could also bring more evidence and she said yes.  So I thanked her and Doyle and I left.   We had finished by 12:15 p.m. and I was developing a head-ache, Doyle was hungry and we were worried about the Dogs even though I know Brian would take good care of them.

 

The dogs were happy to see us  so we let them out as just as I was opening the back door I saw a squirrel bandito on the ground eating a walnut, the dogs both  went into full stalk mode, head down, body lowered, slowly moving down the steps, eyes intent, it was such a joy to see them in that mode, then the squirrel realized something was up and made a move but the dogs were pretty smart instead of chasing the squirrel they cut to the right to cut off the squirrels escape, a good move but not quite fast enough, the squirrel escaped within a hair’s whiskers.   Doyle and I praised them and were entranced by their hunting methods.

 

We had lunch and talked as we ate about what had happened,  I explained in more detail to Doyle why it was better to delay and go for mediation and reminded  him about the two cases earlier that had mediated but failed and the Judge granted the plaintiffs motion for an RO.   I said “That’s how the Judge plays, and I think that is how it will play with us. 

 

We still have the TRO and still have the upper hand”   Doyle agreed although he would have preferred that it be ended now, but I said “I think this Judge believes in giving things a chance, but he’s the same one who granted everything I asked for the TRO so I think we’re good.”  

 

Also I told him, if we had instead gone ahead, we would have been feeling not well because it would be past the lunch hour, and everyone would be tired, and it's the holiday weekend, this way we gain on several levels, we start fresh, the Judge is happy we'll try mediation, a lot can happen between now and November 6, Crazy could now get arrested if he violates the TRO.  So in the long run it's a win-win. 

 

 I told Doyle further “Crazy did not get the follow up paperwork, he was told the date, but he has no paperwork and they are not going to mail it to him to remind him”   Doyle looked at me and said “He may forget.”  “Maybe”  I said “but if he does show up we can refute any and all his allegations, we’re still ahead and if he refuses to any agreements, or still wants us out, that’s it, he’s done.”  

 

And since the  court date Crazy has been behaving himself, but we both know that may not last long, the voices in his head will start to whisper to him.  Unless he really does start taking his medication, which would be a blessing for his elderly parents.  

 

So now we look forward to Halloween and all the attending Joy around it.   We had gone to Home Depot to get a few things to do a few quick repairs and already there was Halloween things,  I became so excited seeing it.  But Doyle reminded me that we have a lot of things already so we do need to plan how we're going to display things outside and inside.  

 

Yes, I have to start planning now since Halloween is on a SATURDAY!!!   Oh My, I think I'll have to have some things catered, I'll talk to Sis about it tomorrow, in the air conditioned room.  

And now Doyle has returned with our favorite stand by dinner    CHINESE!!!

Later Darklings