Of Voodoo Beer and Cemetery Travels~~~~~~

Hello Darklings,

I know, I haven't posted for a while.

Well as usual I got called into work while some of my former colleagues took vacations.   And of course their children's graudations.

I've really retired but I'm on call when needed, but I do have to let the bosses know when I'll be out of town so they can plan accordingly.   I have to say the extra cash helps nicely, but eventually I'll be needing to say that I am officially "gone" .

I've also been having some maintenance work done on the house, an upper bedroom window got accidentally broken when Doyle was installing the screens, at least he didn't get hurt, and we've been putting in stuff to make sure that there are no mosquitos developing in the cisterns.

And adding a few more orchids to the green house,  the indoor Koi pond looks beautiful I find it fascinating how they come up to feed right out of my hand.

My brother and his family took their RV to Pleasanton for the County Fair and they timed it just right when the major part of another heat wave had passed, Coralline can walk a bit she's on a figure 8 elastic cross brace but after 3 hours she has to remove it so my brother arranged for an electric wheelchair to help her get around,  she can walk around the RV carefully without the brace, but she uses a cane to steady herself.   She still is afraid of walking up the stairs inside the house, but can manage the few steps outside, with someone's help holding her hand. 

I did have a chance to visit them at their RV at the Campground near the Fair I stayed overnight and got to see the All Alaskan Pig Races,  those little porkers have their own air-conditioned trailer where they retreat to between races.  And the Funnel Cakes!!  I have to admit even being Goth you do have to indulge in a little old fashion fun.  They also made arrangements to go back this weekend to see the demolition Derby's.   Sort of like seeing the Car "Christine" getting crushed by a Caterpillar Tractor.

They had Brian, Sis's room mate house sit for them and I would check on him from time to time to see how he's doing.   They've made arrangements with him to house sit while they travel up north to the Trees of Mystery and they are hoping that by the end of August they can go to Santa Cruz and do the Boardwalk Amusement Park.  But it not then they will cruise around and camp at Big Bear Lake and just relax and if need be scamper around in their Jeep to see what there is to see.

A lot of it is based on how well Coralline can walk and what her Doctor will allow her to do. 

I have been looking for "Darkish", Gothic things to talk about but for some reason things seem to be barren at least for now,  but I did ask Doyle that since the 4th of July is over can we go ahead and put up the Halloween decorations.   He of course rolled his eyes.

But all is not lost I found an e-mail news letter and blog called "Cemetery Travels"  the author Loren Rhodes goes around or her fans seek out interesting Cemeteries to tour,  and of course what can be more interesting than touring Cemeteries, I would call that the Perfect Goth Vacation.  And her web site accepts submissions for others to read,  if you have not signed up to receive her e-mail news letter or have read her blog here is its link:  https://cemeterytravel.com/    

Another thing during the Summer time is to take the Ghost Walk tours that a number of cities offer, we have one here in the Bay Area called the San Francisco Ghost Walking Tour  this is their link   https://www.sfghosthunt.com/  and there is also the San Francisco Chinatown Ghost Walking Tour  their link is  http://www.sfchinatownghosttours.com/home.html    (if the links don't work just Google in the names and it will come up)  of course the various ones offered in New Orleans.

Doyle's boss gave him a case of Beer called Voodoo Ranger IPA---what a perfect beer to offer on a warm summer night!   I mean it's a skeleton wearing a ranger's outfit on the label.  

Oh yes I know how does it taste?   Well its
flavor has notes of pine, grapefruit, biscuit malt,, pears, lemongrass, cantaloupe melon, spices, toasted malts, resin and lots of tangerine followed by a dry and bitter aftertaste. It feels much lower than the announced 70 IBUs, though the bitterness grows with time.  It's lightly sweet at first with the perfect bitterness at the end.  Doyle says you can't really feel its alcohol but it's not overly sweet.

I suggest that you try out a 6 pack for a taste test and see how you and your friends like it for a Gothic beer.    And now its cool enough to take Belladonna and Wiener Dog for their walks.

Later Darklings

   This is called a Dracula Orchid,  I'm hoping to find one or two to add to my Greenhouse