Of a Spooky hunt weekend~~~~

Yes My Darklings,

I did not post the entire weekend!  Shame on me, but I had a very good reason.

We had Coralline for the entire weekend,  her Dad (my brother) dropped her off at my work, and since I went in early that Day (Friday the 13th) I left early.

But Friday was not all fun and games, I had to do some grocery shopping, and we went to our nearest Safeway, I know Darklings, Safeway how mundane, well they do offer things that one can't get at Trader Joe's which was right next door, so we shopped there too.

But Coralline spotted them at Safeway, yes, in purple and black and black and orange, salad plates and serving platters and dip trays all done in skulls, bats and cats with a few spiders thrown in for good measure, so we bought a set for 6 (just in case a guest or two), and the serving platters were a good idea as well.

And we spotted doggie sweaters with skulls just in Belladonna's size, so we bought 2 because they do wear out, Coralline was so happy to have the weekend with us, just to get away from her 3 stooge brothers, but I told her she had homework that needed to be done.

I did promise her we'd do shopping on Saturday if she did her homework right, so as quickly as we could we went home and while I prepared dinner she started her assignments, math, a review of a chapter in her history book, and she needed to read a poem and analize it for her english assignment, I asked her which poem and she said Robert Frost the one about the snowy woods, I knew immediately which one she referred to.  I suggested she do her math first, then history, then we'll talk about the poem.

Since we were home early, I did an oven pot roast, using the timer to remind me when to check it, and then prepared the salad, chilling it, and put the veggies to one side to cook the last 15 minutes along with the rice to serve with it.  Doyle pleaded with me to have rice, so easy anyway.

Then we went over her homework, espeically about the Robert Frost poem, she knew that the person in the poem was sad but what was it about, I told her that the person in the poem was thinking of taking his own life, things seems so bad to him,   it was a question of which road should he take, but the presence of the horse brought him back to reality and practicallity and that he had to endure tough times, just as his horse had to plow through the snow, the horse shaking its head was saying "come on snap out of it".  So we went over it line by line with her realizing what each line meant.  Especially the last line "the woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have miles to go before I sleep"  I told Coralline that when life seems bad or difficult to not give up that is what the last line means.

Coralline liked that and wrote that down in her paper, which she had to re-write checking her spelling, which she did at her little desk. 

Dinner then with Doyle, Sis, Coralline and Brian who needed a home cooked meal, and we relaxed watching "Perry Mason and the Case of the Avenging Ace"  So retro and so much fun.

Doyle surprised Sis and I with some new wines,  The Diving Rod Cabernet Sauvignon and their Chardonnay and a bit of a surprise Once Upon a Vine's Big Bad Red Blend, and the Charming Pinot Noir, well he bought 3 of the latter, I was surprised by these new additions, but Doyle said the Pinot Noir is good relaxing wine and the others were recommended to him by a friend who knows wine.  So they have been added.

I chased Coralline to bed because we were going to have a busy day Saturday,  she had an assignment to go to this place called "Playland Not At the Beach"  and do a writting assignment of her immpression of the place, as a matter of fact everyone had an assignment in which either Saturday or Sunday they were to go to a place that they drew out of the box----the parents knew of this and agreed to take their child to whatever place they drew, my brother warned me about this and told me that no where was he going to have the 3 monsters near a place that had antique displays. 

I found it to be fasinating with displays of antique games and devices, moving train type displays, opitcal illusions, hints of an old fashion 10 in 1 Bally show, and they had a magician performing as well, it seems that it can be booked for birthday parties for children or adults,  I believe they have a web site, it was all too much to take in but Coralline was enchanted by it, so I made a note for us to go back perhaps with her friend Marissa.

When we got home she started her paper right away, but afterwards I suggested that she nap since she wanted to watch Svengoolie present "The Phatom of the Opera" the 1940's color verison with Nelson Eddy
and Susanna  Foster (and yes Darklings gowns by Vera West).

Coralline snuggled with me and Belladonna on the couch on one end Sis on the other and Doyle in his recliner snoozing,  never have I seen the color in the costumes used to such advantage by West, one of her few color productions, and even the Opera house set that was used in the original Lon Chaney Sr.'s Phantom was beautiful almost an actor in its self, Foster's and Eddy's voices sounded beautiful even if the so called opera's were never really written, in the end Coralline felt sorry for the Phantom, it was not really a horror story but a tragic love tale.  But she laughed when both the Inspector and the Baritone were left behind as the heroine was swept away by her admirerers,   she looked at me and said "I guess she preferred her career, I think I would too."   I could only smile, I too perferred my career as well, and even with Doyle I have not given it up.

Sunday I was to take her home so we made sure all her homework was packed and in the trunk of the car, and then after a relaxing breakfast at home, we went to THE SPIRIT STORE near the house.   There she helped me choose things for the outside displays and some fun things for indoors for the Halloween party, such as books that have spiders jumping out,  flowers that wilted,  but she wanted for her room at my house this wonderful candlelabra we also stopped at Beverly's to see what they had and she found a blackbird or raven sitting on top of a white pumpkin with the words "beware" on it and another with an owl and the words spooky, they were small enough to be paperweights so we bought them for her desk at the house.

And there were these craft things with ghosts and skulls and other spooky items to use to make a shadow box, but she wanted them for her Draculina Doll house to decorate with, so why not thought I.  I told her if she needed more she could call me and I would get them.

Am I spoiling her, in a way yes, but her Mother said that it was fine because her time is taken up so much with the boys, but she is trying very hard to make time for her daughter as well.

And slowly we drove back to her home, stopping at the BIG Spirit Store in Hayward, and found some more things that were not in the local one.  But eventually it was time to go home,  I hated to part from her it was fun for the both of us.  But one must be practical as well. 

I did ask her parents if it would be alright for Coralline to come with me to see "Rear Window" on the Big Screen at a local theatre that was doing a retro movie night, it was middle of the week, once I gave the dates, it turned out that they would be in the area for an event the boys were in, so we made arrangements to have them drop her off at house and we'd go straight to the theatre and then we'd all meet back at the house later.   "A Grown Up Movie!!" Coralline exclaimed, I told her that I would explain the movie if she had questions later, but it seems that she's been curious about Hitchcock films, so this would be dipping her toe into it.  I always felt his films from the 40's and 50's were his best, so I'll be on the watch for those and see if she's interested.

Coming home the house seemed empty without her presence, even Sis felt it and Doyle, he said Belladonna had been mopping about all day not having Coralline to play with. 

And now tonight, well it will be time to watch the premire of Bones and Sleepy Hollow, I think I'll record them in case Coralline doesn't get a chance to watch them at her house.

Later Darklings

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