Of This and That and quiet things~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well we had a deluge of rain this past few days, and now we are sort of drying out but more to come.

Mud slides, flooding, power outages, auto accidents all because of the rain.  But if it rains and then we have a period to dry out --- then repeat, etc.--- it might be manageable.    Although what has happened in Montecito is horribly tragic. 

Mr. Rodgers was a bit frustrated because of the rain, he likes his walks with the dogs but instead contented himself with helping Doyle check the attic for any possible leaks, although the roof is only 5 years old, but it pays to be on the safe side.

While up in the attic they came across some old portraits in their frames,  I think they are family members at least their names are written on the back with dates,  one is of an adorable baby girl, and the other of a dapper young man wearing a snap brim hat in an old style racing car called a “cut down”.

I’m pretty sure they are related, I have a book that my Great Aunt kept tracing family members so I may have some distant cousins I’m not aware of or they of me.  

Another thing they found was a hair wreath, with the names and dates of people when they were born and died, also contained in a glass enclosed frame,  so with the rains pouring down during the day, Mrs. Rodgers and I carefully cleaned the glass and dusted the frames and wrote down the names and dates.

The next thing is to figure out where to hang them,  I have wall space going up the stairs as well as the upstairs hall,  or some place in the formal parlor,  I do need to make careful decisions on that since we’ll be nailing into wall paper and once punched there’s no repair.

Poor Coralline and Christopher have come down with the flu even though they had the shots it is only 10% effective, they are completely miserable.  The twins however seem to be remarkably healthy, maybe all that outdoor soccer playing.  The best thing is to rest, drink fluids, and take Tynoldo.   I’ve been going to the school to get their assignments to help out their mother, but I don’t think they have the energy to do anything about it.   It’s frustrating to see them so helpless. But rest is the best medicine.

The one advantage  about rainy nights is that it’s  a perfect time to read good gothic novels,  I finish the Lady of Ashes book and am going to get the rest in that series, how it describes the fashion and work of being an Undertaker is a good addition to a good story.   But for now with my next rain storm I’m going to re-read “The Hound of the Baskervilles”  I think it would be perfect.

I really do like Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers, they love the style of the house and Doyle’s and my lifestyle, quiet, genteel, and a little quirky.   But they insist on doing what they can to help out, just a couple of days ago, Mr. Rodgers (with Doyle’s help) was in the attic and came across an old rocking chair, so he and Doyle took it to the garage and he began to restore it, it has a old needle point back and seat, Mrs. Rodgers has duplicated the pattern because the old one was falling apart, almost crumbling.

So besides walking the dogs he is working on restoring stuff, Mrs. Rodgers told me that it’s good therapy for him because he lost his work shop due to the fires up North.   Their Son is trying to get things done on their burnt out property but the rains are making things difficult.  But Mrs. Rodgers confessed that she and her husband would prefer to stay with me and Doyle and pay rent and something towards the utilities and food.

I spoke to Sis about this and she said it’s because the atmosphere of the house gives them much needed comfort and security, something they feel they may lose if they go back North, so it might be a good thing. 

So now more rains are coming just perfect for a Gothic mood,  but Sis and I are going to be going to the Film Noir Festival and I know that everything at home will be well in hand.

Later Darklings 

Of EARTHQUAKE!!! ~~~~

Well Darklings,

It's been nearly 2 years since our last scary quake, and this one felt like a runaway express train.

The dogs suddenly were bouncing on the bed whining when it hit, waking us up from a good nights sleep.

This one hit at 2:39 a.m.  it was 4.4 in strength and the epicenter was at the Berkley/Oakland border with the Clairmont  Hotel as the closest landmark.

Doyle bravely put on his robe and slippers and checked for gas leaks and water leaks and if anything fell.   Our device the "little fireman" had shut down the gas so we were fine except we'd be without hot water for a shower. 

Doyle couldn't find any damage but we knew the daylight would reveal anything,  Sis also had her device shut down her gas, so between Doyle and Brian checking things and us closing off the individual gas lines and then relighting them once the "little fireman" was turned off is pretty much what we had to do during the day.

I was stuck wearing my sweat suit until I could bathe, but I did find a few things that had fallen off, the only damage was the beard of my St. Jude statue, which I managed to glue back.

It didn't rain today so we were able to check on the outside for any damage,  I really love those flashlights with the LED bulbs they really bring out everything, every detail, so we spent the day checking things out just to be sure.

Mr. and Mrs Rodgers had returned from their trip yesterday afternoon so this quake was a bit scary for them I managed to make some tea with my electric tea kettle for them so they could calm down, as a matter of fact I needed it too and was joined by Sis to see if everything was O.K. with us. 

Eventually we returned to our respective beds and awaited the dawn.   Coffee had to be instant, and breakfast was cold cereal,  so the first item to get turned back on was the stove, followed by the hot water heater and then the central heating.   Fortunately we could burn a fire in the family parlor fire place so we had a place to get warm since this was not a "spare the air day".

Dinner tonight will be Chinese Take Out once Doyle returns,  I just didn't feel like cooking tonight after that scare, and we'll be joined by Sis and Brian.

I did have a chance to talk to my brother and he said that his house rode out the quake very well, but it was hard getting the children back to sleep since they all clambered into their parents bed scared out of their wits, not that I blame them.   My brother said it was a good thing that the bed was Queen size otherwise they'd all be falling out of it.

We had rain yesterday and it is predicted that we'll have more tomorrow and a bit more next week, which is good, I'd hate to think we'd be going through another drought again.

And now it is dark, I hear Doyle at the door the dogs are barking a happy welcome, so dinner has arrived.

Tonight I think we'll relax reading and talking and listening to light classical music, something to calm our nerves.

Later Darklings