Of Happy New Year 2017~~~~

Hello Darklings!!

And a Happy New Year to all of you!

I’m going to celebrate with Doyle with dancing and merriment on the USS Hornet,  nothing like being on a freezing aircraft carrier floating museum on New Years Eve, but we will have a wonderful view of the Fireworks on San Francisco Bay.

I love that city, I love all of the Bay Area, in many ways it is so Film Noir, if you know where to look and in some cases it just jumps right at you. The only problem is that it's getting too expensive to live here for many folks.

Christmas was wonderful!   The rains held off and I had a buffet type dinner, and I had friends and other relatives who couldn’t stay, drop in long enough for refreshments, a bite to eat and then they were off to see other friends and family, but my core group arrived and we enjoyed ourselves.

We went to Church on Christmas Eve, there is something both solemn and joyous with Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, it reminds us how a husband and his expectant wife had to take shelter in a stable with the animals and there she gave birth.   It really gives the true meaning of Christmas.

Of course for the buffet dinner the main feature was not the traditional “Christmas Goose” (which in America is substituted by a Turkey) no we didn’t even have Turkey, to make it easier on myself and Sis we had the “Honey Baked Ham”.   Yes Ham,  all though I did have sliced turkey breast as well, but the beauty about it being a buffet is that if someone unexpected shows up and it did happen, it was no problem to seat them, any spot with a cushion on the floor would do.   And the kids did sit on the floor. Don't have to worry about the fine china, good old "Chinette" paper plates work very well, but I did owe our garbage man an entire Apple pie, the recycling bins were overflowing,  which I had the chance to give to him, all nicely boxed up.

Trust me Darklings, bribery and showing appreciation does work wonders.

Christmas eve I was ready for drop-in’s with coffee, tea, hot cider and other refreshments and my selection of treats on my three tiered plates,  and I did have a number of drop ins from just a few minutes to an hour or so.   

During the holidays, I took Coralline and Chris to the ballet to see the Nutcracker,  to the Dickens Fair (twice), the holiday Zoo lights, and we drove to Christmas Tree lane and walked among the displays,  of course shopping.   We went to the Theater that had a special showing of “It’s a Wonderful Life”  it’s amazing seeing it on the big screen,  not a dry eye was around me, not even my eyes were dry. 

As I said Christmas is a wonderful time but it can be Gothic in its own way, the dark comes sooner, the sun is much later rising, the night air is colder, it is a time for Ghosts, but not so much for Goblins.

And lately for Elves, it seems that elves are  big thing this year,  even on a number of tree lots they were advertising the small table top trees as “Elf Trees”  I thought that made good business sense.  I like that description.

But now we are heading like a speeding train with no breaks into 2017.

 So far we are going into it with a few colds in the family,  Coralline and Chris and their Dad, my brother, are down with colds, although the children will be well enough to go back to school,  the twins so far are healthy as is their Mom,  Sis has the sniffles but no sign of the cold, I’m doing well having taken my vitamins and a few other things which I can’t spell, which is supposed to strengthen the immune system, because I do not want to miss the Film Noir festival.   So I’ve been dosing Sis as well. 

My leg has healed very well, I do use a cane when I go shopping because there is still some muscle weakness but the strength is coming back with the therapy,  Betty has been happy to be my house keeper,  I ask her if it’s too much and she says no because of the help from the cleaning service, and the fact that I have a brand new dishwasher,  the only time things have to be hand washed and dried is with the fine china and table ware, but we do it together.  The only place she won’t go into is the Library, some of my strange and bizarre things bother her, especially my Cabinet of Curiosities.   So I deal with that room with the light dusting and for heavier with the help of my sister in law and Coralline.

I know I have not been posting as frequently as I use to, but I hope to take care of that soon.

I do have to say I’ve been having fun reading murder mysteries,  I’m in the middle of a Janet Dawson one titled “Murder on the Zephyr”  it’s about the California Zephyr in 1952 and it describes the train and it’s trip beautifully and a murder takes place with the usual  suspects, I’m enjoying this one, and I found out that ME TV on Sunday nights at 10 p.m. is showing “The Night Stalker” with Darren McGavin!   I loved that show when it came out the first time, and now it’s back.    I have it and the two movies on DVD, but to see it on T.V. is such a treat, and Blacklist is coming back.   So I’m looking forward to the revived T.V. season. 

Now I need to go and take care of a few things, last minute grocery shopping, it’s going to be a mad house.

To all of you Darklings, have a safe celebration and Happy New Year for 2017.

Later Darklings

Of Thanksgiving and Christmas and a tragic Fire~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well I have been out of the loop but a lot has been happening, so where do I start.

Well we slowly took down the Halloween decorations and carefully packed them away, but then I had a leak in the hot water heater!  A good thing I don't keep anything at floor level, so the water was shut off to it.  

I called my plumber and he quickly came out, for some reason there was a defect in the bottom of the tank, still under warranty,  so had that replaced at no cost. 

Then the Washing Machine broke a belt,  now try and get wet clothing out of a tub full of water and hand wring it out and bail the water out of the tub,  called my appliance repair man,  he replaced the belt, tested the machine,  only just over $100.00.   And we finished wringing the clothing,  Thank Goodness the dryer was working.

Then the original refrigerator that I moved from the kitchen into the large walk in pantry died,  I was a nice large side by side refrigerator freezer, but nothing was going to resurrect it, so moved most of the stuff in the freezer to my sister's and the chilled beer was left out.  

The good thing is my much newer refrigerator works beautifully, so I was deciding, do I move the one in the kitchen into the pantry or install a new one in the pantry,  I mean how hard is it to move a refrigerator?

Well Doyle said "Nope ain't moving it, buy a new one for the pantry and have the delivery guys handle it"  so did that.   Nothing fancy, a good dependable Maytag refrigerator, plain white,  and energy efficient.

With all this happening my brother and sister-in-law said "Thanksgiving at our house!"   What a relief!    So Sis and I brought side dishes while the main feast was cooked at my brother's house,  and relatives and children all over the place,  Thank goodness my brother has a "Man Cave" for the children,  that way we could cook and set up without worry.   And everything was delicious.

My brother yelled up from below that Santa Had Arrived so Christmas is now officially here.   A flash of memory went through my mind of all those Thanksgivings when Dad and my Uncles would watch the Macy's parade with my brother and a couple of nephews, and Mom, Grandma, a couple of Aunts, Sis and I would set up the table and then Dad would call out "Santa arrived!!! You ladies can go Christmas shopping!!"   And Mom and Grandma would roll their eyes.   But it never gets old.

The next day, my sister in law, Coraline, Christopher, Sis and myself we went to the Dickens Fair, I had to use a cane and rest a lot because my leg muscle is still weak but still it was so enjoyable, seeing all the Dickens characters, and the entertainments, and all the lovely things to buy,  Coraline and Chris were wearing Dickens finery thanks to an on line shop called "Recollections"  and the children were having fun researching how to behave in a proper Victorian manner.   We are going back for one more weekend to see what we've might have missed.  But the scent of spices and baking and cinnamon buns,  and hot tea,  and watching scenes from some of the Dickens novels.   It does add magic to the season.

Christmas dinner will be at my house,  we bought the trees today,  a large one for the formal parlor and a smaller one in the family parlor,  bit by bit Christmas decorations have been put up,  I've hired Betty full time to help me,  of course the Maid Service will do the house cleaning,  it's far too much for Betty to handle, but with her and I and occasionally her daughter to assist, along with the Cleaning service it's not so bad.  

But last night was very difficult for me and for some of my friends and I was glad that Sis was at my house to help.

We've had a very tragic fire in town,  if you Google "Oakland Ghost Ship Warehouse Fire" that will give you all the news,  it seems in this Artist Collective Warehouse, where people were illegally living in, a party, some people call it a Rave, was held and a fire broke out and people were trapped, the place was a "fire ready to happen".

My artist friends, the ones I call very Ghostly, had been planning to go to this party to meet someone there but for them luck was on their side, they didn't get there til nearly midnight when the fire was at it's height,  their friend was fine but she couldn't find someone that she met there that my artist friends knew,  only today did they find out this person had died in the fire.  They were grief stricken.

My artist friends didn't know for the last few days, where to go or who to talk to to process their grief, the memorials and areas of prayer didn't seem to assuage their feelings,  so they came to my house,  I think the warmth of the house, the candles burning in the fireplace, the Christmas decorations and the hot lemon ginger tea helped them, I let them talk and talk, even if they were going over it again and again it helped them process it.

They told me that a few weeks ago they were looking for cheap space to rent to do some of their larger works and had checked it out,  at first it appeared enchanting but then when they looked closer, well as she told it to me it was like seeing something that's beautiful on the surface but it hides the decay and rot underneath.   They didn't feel comfortable about it.   They weren't even sure about going to this party so they kept putting off going there and it seems their feeling was right.

He kept saying it was a monster of flame, devouring all that was inside, people crying and calling out if someone had seen someone,  I cannot even write down how they described what they saw.   They were so upset that I put them up for the night saying they should not be alone right now.

This morning they thanked me and said they were going home to change clothing and go out among people and have breakfast,  I said they were welcome to come by again if they needed to talk.   I feel they will take me up on that. 

I listened to them, and Belladonna and Wiener Dog cuddled next to them, I watched as they absentmindedly petted the dogs and scratched their heads,  doing that seemed to relax my visitors, making them drowsy, and helped them to unwind their tensions.

Doyle was very up on the events, and would encourage them to talk, while Sis helped them go through and process the emotions they were feeling. 

This morning they told me that they have idea's for their next series of art work, dealing with tragedy and monsters.   I sort of questioned about it with Sis but she said it will be their way of processing their grief, and I could understand that. 

We watch horror movies to be terrified but then when one sees it, in real life and know that they've lost someone in such a horrible tragedy,  it is a totally different.   I am going to check in with them in a few days to see how they are doing,  something like this one does not get over instantly.  

I'm going to have a Christmas Evening tea, I think I'll invite them, during this time of the year one should not be alone.

I have not posted about wonderfully gothic things,  I did see the Dr. Strange movie and I'll talk about it in my next post.

Later Darklings

Of Happy Thanksgiving~~~

Hello My Darklings,

I'm up, I could no longer sleep, it was 39 degrees out in my back yard, and yet birds are flying looking for food, although I'm not suppose to venture out until later, the coffee was still perking and not yet done, so I found a nice flat pan and filled it with bird seed,  raided the pantry for walnuts that we use in baking and put that out as well.

Stepping back into my kitchen and being warm I had the pleasure of seeing the birds and squirrels come out and enjoy the feast. 

Earlier this week Doyle took 3 turkeys to a local soup kitchen to help feed the hungry,  we give year around but during the holidays we give more.  When ever I go to the grocery store I make sure to have some paper money to put into the Salvation Army bucket,  in a strange way I consider that good luck.  Mom and Dad always did that, even when Dad was for a time out of work, we gave~~~

Matthew 25: 35-40  For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
  

During this Holiday Season and all year round  help those who need help.   And in a more fun way to think of  Thanksgiving I give you these very Happy but Gothic images.

Happy Thanksgiving Darklings!

Of comming down with a nasty cold~~~~

Hello Darklings,

I know I have not posted of late, but I came down with a horrible cold and in went into my chest, given my age and everything (and I refused to be called "Old")  I had to rest, and take medication, stay warm, hardly do anything.   It was so frustrating.

But Sis called my previous care giver to see if she could take care of me, with Doyle being busy with several cases and Sis's work load being heavy.   She couldn't but her daughter Betsy could, the easiest thing was to move me to the downstairs spare bedroom by doing that it avoided a lot of stair climbing and made it easier on Betsy to keep an eye on me, and the dogs and anything that was being done.

I was flattened, as one gets older it is harder to bounce back from something as simple as a cold and I had my pneumonia shot as well, but Betsy who has nurses training said the shot is a good thing in that it prevents things from getting worse.

Worse??!!  I felt like I had been hit with all 18 wheels of a 18 wheel Peterbuilt.   But Betsy and my Doctor said it could have been worse, like hospitalization.   Oh no, not over the holidays.

This is the first time I've been up in days.

But my brother and sister in law are going to have Thanksgiving at their house, and for Sis and I to relax,  they will have it all under control. 

So yes, I think the preparations for Halloween, the court restraining order, taking down the decorations and putting them away may have lowered my immune system.

But we are having Christmas Dinner at my home, but everyone is going to chip in, a sort of pot luck but we'll all know what to bring and I can plan around that.    Betsy being the cautious type told me that I'll have to wait a bit before I get too frisky.  So I'll be good.

So all of you have a Happy and Wonderful Thanksgiving.

Later Darklings

Of Easter Bunnies and Jelly Beans~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well the title says it all,  we had a lovely Easter that included rain, wonderful, much needed rain with at least a foot of snow in the mountains and hopefully more for the next few days.

It will not repair much from the drought but it will help a bit.

We went to church and it was packed in spite of the rain, but I think I was a bit disappointed with the very casual dress by some of the people mostly the younger ones, I mean torn, dirty jeans??  Well if the young men and women I saw were going straight to a construction job I could understand that, but somehow I didn't think so.

But there were a number of people dressed in their best, but at least church was packed, Doyle suggested we might consider grabbing breakfast out, but we knew most places would be packed, but we did find a Denney's and got a decent breakfast.

Then back to my place to pick up a few things and then over to my brother's house to help out with the family dinner,  we were going to be eating late so it was just a matter of prepping the food and laying out the table.  And baking the pies in advance, the ham was going to be an easy matter, we do not do the honey bake ham, but a regular ham, I showed Monica how to rinse it of the excess salty gelatin, then to heavily cross thatch it, put whole pineapple rings on the top pack with brown sugar, and a coating of honey, and then the pineapple juice from the rings can, and more crushed pineapple.

We put it in after the pies were done and cooling, cooking at 325 for a few hours, the ham is cooked anyway it's just to get the other flavors into it and get it hot.

Crushed pineapple into a sauce as well as heated applesauce.   Everything else came together easily.

The Twins were disappointed because the entire back yard was wet and muddy so they couldn't play, so they just moped about while Coralline helped and Chris and his Dad and Doyle got the table pulled out to hold everyone and put the chairs around it.  The Twins were asked by their Dad to go down into the man-cave and play games,  which included finding small bundles of jelly beans,

Then it was just waiting for the ham to bake so we relaxed a bit before the last dash to ready the food.

We were so happy to have the rain, my brother found out from the former owner's son that there is a well on the property and showed him were it is, my brother thought that the "wishing well" was just a decoration but no next to it was a pump devise to bring up water to water the garden, but it had been shut down except to water the front lawn, the pump wasn't working so that is another project for my brother.

After dinner we relaxed and talked Coralline is so happy to get a card from you Patricia she hopes you got hers.  Both she and Chris were so happy to spend an entire week at their new home, and really get comfortable in it.

Of course we had to watch a religious movie so the choice was "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" just perfect.  We could have watched "The Ten Commandments" but it does run for 4 hours too late for the children, my brother suggest that he'd buy a copy so that next time it could be watched uncut in any way by commercials.  To see that many actor's and actresses playing in it and Yul Brenner making the final intonement of the inevitable fact, is at the same time hammy and dramatic.  And seeing Ann Baxter chewing up the scenery as if she were a silent movie vamp just delightful.

A hammy yet dramatic, extravagant spectacle, and Cecil B. DeMille's last film.  A legacy really.

I think I'll get a copy of it as well and also "Ben Hur",  I understand there is a DVD release that includes DeMille's silent version from 1923 that would be interesting to see.

I checked the water cisterns this morning and the rain helped to fill them up a great deal, I do hope we get more.

Later Darklings

Of Christmas coming and "it's dangerous to browse while shopping"

Hello Darklings,

I have not been posting of late, recovering from Thanksgiving and I've started my shopping for Christmas.

Doyle wanted to bring out Grimm and put a Santa hat on him, I told him "No"  Jack Skeleton was one thing, Grimm with a Santa hat is another.

But the fake black Christmas tree is out, with red ornaments on it, I've even been able to find a Krampas ornament of all things, and he will be the featured one on the tree, the tree is sitting right now in the entrance Foyer.  And Tomorrow I'll be having my brother's family over to help decorate it and we'll have a pot luck dinner, something Monica makes, I make, and Sis makes and a few other things.

In a way I'm glad I do not have a cat or even a kitten around the house---when ever I hear of a friend or two who has cats and the disaster with a Christmas tree I think of this line that I read some time ago:

"Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree.

Your ornaments are history!"

That gives you an idea.

In another week, I'll be buying the big tree for the Formal Parlor and a smaller one for the family parlor,  and we'll have family over again to help decorate including Louise and her friend and again pot luck.

Sunday Sis and I along with Monica and Coralline will be going to the Dickens' Fair and try and squeeze in the Nutcracker and Dunsmuir house as well during this season.  I'm afraid this year will be missing "A Christmas Carol" but the Dickens' Fair will cover that in a way.  And I found out that this weekend will be the lighting of the Christmas Tree lane in our neighboring town, so we'll take that in.

While there has been a break in the weather Doyle and our neighbor Mellissa's Dad has been helping Doyle put up the Christmas lights outside, Lot's of lights.  Although Doyle was able to put up some before Thanksgiving, he's doing more on some of the fencing and such, and he bought a "live fir" wreath for the front door, very Victorian with a bright Red bow with gold trim. 

Sis didn't have any clients today so we went to TJMax to shop for new luggage for her, she's planning to visit her family but in January since there will be several birthdays to celebrate so it will be squeezed into one weekend.

I love TJMax they seem to have improved their selections of last seasons things, so with shopping carts and credit cards in hand we went there this morning, and we were lucky, Sis found a luggage set by Tumi that is absolute classic,  it was white with black trim, the white made to look like a basket weave, hard sided and there was a set of three in different sizes.  So we grabbed them and had them hold it for us at the check out counter which gave us a chance to browse the store.

And it is Dangerous to browse Darklings, very dangerous, I found a Michael Kors hand bag in black suede, with gold leather trim and a gold chain for a strap that could be adjusted to over the shoulder, cross body or hand held, PERFECT for evening wear for a special night out but not overly formal but classic and rich in its styling almost reminiscent of a Chanel in a way, and the suede so perfect it was like velvet, and not overly large either.  

Of course I had to pick up a bottle of Elizabeth Taylors "Passion"  and then in the shoes (Yes Ladies you can never have enough shoes)  Sis found a pair of beige Coach shoes and I found a pair of black suede heels with gold leather trim to match my Kors bag, and there was another pair for Sis as well.

Yes browsing while shopping can be dangerous, but when it came to jewelry, well I nearly "flipped" there was a necklace, just slightly longer than a choker that have large fake pearls overlaid with gold tone leaves as if the pearls were like pears and the leaves covering the top part of the "pear", laid end to end, I looked at it and drew my sister's attention to it and she agreed it looked in the style of some jewelry that we saw from the early 1950's but this was a modern rendition of it.  I tried it on and it looked wonderful.

Yes Darklings browsing while shopping can be dangerous.

Sis insisted that I also get a bottle of "Red" cologne as well and she bought a bottle.

She found a lovely red pull over sweater that had crystals around the neck line perfect for the holidays or any winter evening out, red looks lovely on her. 

Sis and I never exchange gifts between ourselves for Christmas anymore, as we seem to always know what we want, but I do have a gift certificate for dinner for two at her favorite restaurant, so I'll surprise her with it.

Doyle has found that getting a gift for me can be impossible so he prefers to surprise me with either taking me out somewhere or bringing something home of something I said we could use for the House.  But we've found that enjoying experiences together is the best sort of gift.

Now we have a policy with family, only the children get gifts, otherwise it would be a financial burden on everyone, Adults get together to enjoy good food, good drinks, good conversation and good times.  Children get the toys.

Since the time was early and the parents have not picked up their children from school, we decided to go to Tomatina's for lunch and then browse (that dangerous word) the main street, to see what it offered, it was a good walk, and good exercise to work our lunch down, the food is good there and so filling.

Since the bulk of the stores are in a 3 block area, we walked down one side of the street then up the other 6 blocks in all, and I had the pleasure of going through an antique co-op, and nearly swooned at the vintage evening purses (Never enough purses Darklings), there was one in lovely brown bronze beadwork, which I knew would go perfectly with a vintage evening gown I have.  And Yes I bought it.

Yes Darklings browsing ---very dangerous.   Which means I have to sew up a couple of bags to protect my bags.

What I do is I take a photo of my purchases, give them a number, then if it is to go with something in particular, the item goes into my special bag to protect it and is put with the item, dress usually in question, but then the assigned number and photo goes into a master book so I'll know exactly what I have and where it is, and what it goes with. 

The Kors bag and the shoes will be kept together since they will match a number of my outfits, but the vintage beaded purse will go with that vintage gown I have. 

It helps to have a huge closet or with the advantage of my house, a room for all of that. 

Yes Darklings looking fantastic, well dressed at any age takes work, but it's worth it.

Shopping for the children is always fun, and thanks to Coralline's mother, Sis and I know what she wants and what the boys want, and thanks to Sis's daughters-in-laws we know what their children want.  We don't shop the weekend of Thanksgiving, we don't need that insanity, but we've managed and sticking with paying in cash at Target and Wal-Mart (no we don't trust using their machines) it has been pretty good for us.

We have the bulk of what was on the children's Christmas lists, so now its just a few things, but I think for my brother I might slip him a bottle of Duke Bourbon (the one with John Wayne's image) to help him get through the holidays.

Yes Darklings browsing while shopping during the holidays is dangerous.  And tiring, but so much fun!

Later Darklings

Of a long weekend and plans~~~~

Well Darklings,

Doyle and I are packed and we're going to take a chance on finding a place to stay in the wine country, we have the dish and glass wear packed for that consignment shop as well to donate.

Although Doyle is still on his 2nd round of antibiotics he's feeling pretty chipper, so if we just take it slow and easy we'll be fine.

We won't stay near Napa, because I feel that many places might be booked because there are tourists that want to see disaster sights and then say "There but for the grace of God go I"   as a matter of fact we don't know where the road will take us.

Doyle doesn't have to be back until Wednesday and the same for myself, so I made sure we packed enough for a week. 

So even though we are leaving a bit late, we'll have a late lunch in the wine country and see where the road takes us.

Have a safe, happy enjoyable Labor Day Weekend My Darklings

And remember the Spirit Store will be opening soon!!!

I can hardly wait, my inner spookiness is trying to come out!

Later Darklings.

Of Holiday weekends and Emergency Rooms~~~~~

I know My Darklings,

How do those two equate.

Give me a minute and I'll explain.

Right now I'm bleary eyed, and going to seek my bed for much needed and wanted rest.

First the 4th of July was good old-fashion fun, Sis and I had set up everything in our back yard for Bar-Be-Que and Doyle was getting the propane grill ready to make burnt offerings to the Holiday Gods.

My Brother and sister in-law took the children very early in the morning to find perfect spots to watch the parade that is just over the Estuary, but as usual some people seem to camp out spots the night before but they did manage to find a location.

I was told it takes  3 or more hours depending upon the length of the parade for it to complete its route.
I know when sis and I were driving to the Store the day before to get some more goodies already we saw along one section of the parade route, chairs and tables set up and even sections quadrate off saying "The So and So Family" and one or two very small tents set up I think some folks were going to sleep over night.

I could understand it for the Rose Parade but for this one???  Well it must be popular.

Afterwards they came to the house and the boys in the back were playing some sort of games, and we oldster's sat around talking and then putting the meat on the Barbie.

It was a nice fun and relaxing day.  Except for the evening when I had to turn on the sprinkler system in the front and Doyle turned on our roof sprinkler system to wet the roof, we moved everything in doors by 9 p.m. and the explosions started going off, at least on our block people were sane and didn't do anything.

Of course we were awake until 2 a.m. to make sure nothing caught fire, we heard of various injuries.  2 different young men were serious injured in San Jose, one lost both his hands and the other lost some fingers, both of them from holding the firecrackers too long.  I wish people would realize they ARE explosives and not toys.

And in another neighborhood some fool as Doyle calls them,  shoot off his gun taking pot shots at a power pole, it caused a power line to break and fell on that person and made him into a "sparkling personality"  needless to say he did not live long to enjoy his celebrity status and his brother was injured trying to get the power line off of him.  I don't think the survivors enjoyed their 4th of July.

I asked my brother about his house and he said his neighbors set up a neighborhood watch and he notified them he would not be home, even tho he set up his lights and such to give that appearance.

So to avoid the traffic my brother and family spent the night a my house which was fine, the house is made to be lived in and enjoyed.  But it was so quiet when they left.

Doyle looked a little peaked and I asked if he was O.K. and he said he was just more tired than usual.  Well I knew he had been putting in a long hard week and told him to rest.

Sunday was very quiet, I just got things prep for dinner after Sis and I came home from church, but Doyle just slept through the day.  Then he woke up feeling drastically feverish and severe chills, and he was tender around the "Crown Jewels" I said "That's it we're going to the ER!"

We got there around 7 in the evening.  And the ER was packed, a full house with weekend warriors, parents with children who had done stupid things and their parents both worried and glaring at their foolish child at the same time, elderly folks with worried family members, and police officers with their drunk or doped suspects needing treatment.

No, my Darklings,  Sunday evening coming off of a Holiday Weekend is never quiet.   And poor Doyle whose pain level went from 2 to 10 in the matter of less than an hour,  and it all seems so horribly slow even if it is triage.

They put him on a gurney, covered him with a blanket, took vitals, took samples, asked questions, all the while Doyle is shivering and in pain at the same time.  Finally they started giving him morphine which helped a bit but only lowered the pain level, then they started antibiotics, because his temperature was 103, after a half hour he started to sweat  and his temp remained around 100.6.

Then x-rays and sonograms, more blood samples, finally around 2 this morning they admitted him into the hospital, what it is we don't know, but I finally got to bed around 4 this morning.

Getting awaken at 7 a.m. because they were not sure of one of  the medications he takes so I have to shower, drink coffee,  drive over to the hospital without getting into an accident, give them the medication, checked on Doyle, he was sleepy but he had eaten breakfast, but mostly drinking a lot of water, he said he was not much good for conversation and was "off his feed" , a Doctor had seen him but Doyle had not heard what it is he has, they keep him on pain meds and antibiotics and he still was sweating.  The temp had fluctuated between 99 and 100.3.

I suspect he will be in the hospital for a few days maybe the whole week, so I made arrangements to take the week off and I called his office so another agent can cover Doyle's cases.

I slept on and off this afternoon, and I'm going back to bed for a few more hours sleep to get through this day.  And I'll check on Doyle this evening and see what it is that affected him.

So please my Darklings, keep good thoughts for Doyle for a quick recovery.   I have to say what a horrible way to end the 4th of July weekend.  I hope yours was much better.

Later Darklings

Of Father's Day thoughts~~~~~

Hello Darklings,

I'm sitting here thinking, typing, feeling a little tired and a little sad.

It's Father's Day. 

I was up early to wish Doyle good by as he took the cab to the airport he said don't bother to come, just to sleep in and rest, I wasn't feeling too well yesterday, upset stomach that had be bending over and worshiping the "Porcelain God".   What caused it to be upset haven't a clue.

I feel better today, so it must have been a 24 hour bug, but I'm staying home tomorrow.   Doyle called me later in the day to say he arrived safely at his children's home, in time for their Father's Day celebration.  San Diego is only a short flight away, at least its not across country.

Sis came over to see how I was doing, and made a poached egg on toast for me, and took care of the dogs.

But it's Father's Day, Sis asked why I was so sad, I said that it could be a combination of stomach upset and feeling out of sorts.  She nodded her head, "Dad?" she said and I said yes.

Even in old age Dad was a tall man, he walked like he was still in the military, his suits for work just so, shirts just so, he'd take them to the dry cleaners and pick them up, Mom would wash and dry the shirts but Dad would press them.  Not that Mom couldn't or wouldn't, Dad said "Your Mother has enough on her hands without me being picky about how I want them ironed, I can at least help her out that way."  Which was true, he even ironed our brother's shirts and our blouses and skirts when we were little, when we got older we did our own, even our brother's did their own.

He always insisted on buying a car he could fix or at least take care of a lot of the simple things, like changing the oil, adding fluid to the radiator, checking the tires, changing the air filter.  But more complicated things like changing spark plugs, replacing the muffler, tuning the car he'd leave it to an expert, but he made sure about things.

Most of the simpler repairs around the house he'd do, he refused to have Mom get on a step ladder to change a light bulb, but if it was something that took more than his expertise, he'd say call the expert in. 

He even figured out how to change the tubes in the old black and white RCA T.V.,  we had that for years and years until the picture tube blew---that was exciting because, it was near some curtains and the curtains caught fire, we were screaming but Dad just grabbed the curtains and pulled them down, while Mom grabbed a pot of water, the rug got wet, Dad's shirt got singed, his hand got burned, the T.V. was dead, Dad and my brother put it outside just in case, and the living room had to be repainted. 

Mom called the Doctor about Dad's hand but it was just red and a couple of blisters, the Doctor did a house call, treated him and told him to come to his office the next day.  It healed but he said everyone a work kept asking him what happened to his hand. 

Our next T.V. was color, and what a shock that was.  But Dad kept the cabinet from the old T.V. "The wood is good" he said and made it into a sewing cabinet for Mom to keep her sewing stuff and patterns in.  I have that now, it holds CD's.

He always wore a hat, a Fedora, he had several of them, Sunday Best, two go to work hats, Saturday casual hat and the work on the car or work in the garden hat.  I have one of his hats hanging on the Hall Tree as if he just came home.  Sis has the other one.

He'd take us fishing  at the pier,  fix our bikes, he and Uncle Manny built a doll house for Sis and I, Sis has it now with all the furniture. 

He'd take us to the park push us on the swings, made sure we were safe on the titter-totter and no bully's would pick on us.  Take the boys to the ball games, we'd go to the zoo, and on Saturday when the ice cream man came give us our dimes and watch us while we made our selection.  He'd always buy a Fudgesicle for himself and a Orange Creamsicle for Mom.

He taught us kids how to dance, waltz, fox trot, swing, we taught him the Twist, but when "Anniversary Waltz" came on the radio or was played on the phonograph he and Mom always waltz to that, real close and us kids we stayed real quiet.  And always Dad would kiss Mom real gentle at the very end and Mom would blush like a kid.

I can hear the song now with Al Jolson's voice signing "...my darling I love you so." 

Happy Father's Day, Dad.

Of "The President's Weekend and a Siren's Song"~~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well I only worked 2/3's of my day today, which was a good thing,  everything has been blooming so much, the mock cherry blossoms, the fruit trees are trying to come out as well as other things that I have allergies that is driving my Sinuses into fits.

All I can do it take my allergy meds, at least it wasn't a cold.  And speaking of colds, Sis is on the mend, she has started seeing her clients and is feeling lots better.

Well with Sis being mostly bed bound but for good reason,  Coralline and I were left to our own devices, but all was not lost, Doyle took us to S.F. to help celebrate Chinese New years,  it was quiet a swirl of things to completely confuse the senses but for us very enjoyable.

Although Coralline was very content to have quiet time at home as well,  but we did manage to run errands and even take in some antique shops.   When the weather is warmer I hope to take her to the huge Antique Faire that is sponsored by Michaans Auctions on the first Sunday of the Month.  But we will have to get there early.  And I am planning on us taking in again the antique shops in Niles (I confess I do have a weakness for that place) followed by pizza and then going to the Silent Movies at the Essay Theatre that holds films every Saturday evening, I'll have to see what will be playing.

I surrendered to Coralline's blandisments to paint my nails lavender and I have to confess the Essie brand of nail polish holds up very well, and the color "Warm and Toasty Turtleneck" is very complementary for an Elder Goth's hand.

Coralline was very happy to receive a special Valentine's card from her "pen-pal" and she say's "Thank You" and to be sure to watch for something in the mail near St. Paddy's day.

I had fun with Ancestry. Com, Sis and I decided we would try and trace our ethnic roots to see where did our family originate,  now we knew where our Grandparents and Great-Grandparents were born, and when they came to the U.S.  but were were curious as to how much of an ethnic mixture we were.

So went sent away for our individual test packets, and followed instructions and we got our results which not surprisingly were exactly the same.

We were 94 percent European extraction with the first breakdown of 31% Italy and Greece, 29% Iberian Peninsula (Portugual and Spain), 25% Great Britian,  well the first two sections I could understand but Great Britian--with a clear indication of Ireland?  That puzzeled us. 

When I read that out loud Coralline said to us "Does that mean you can really say 'Kiss Me, I'm Irish' "?

Doyle whooped at that and said "Shur an begorra!"  and went off seeking an Irish Beer but came back with a shot of Irish wiskey.

Of the remaining 6% that was intriging,  3% was Russia, 1% Sandinavia and 2% was from North Africa the areas incompassing Morroco, Egypt and Algeria.   But in a way it did explain why my sister and I really don't quite resemble each other, I have very fair skin but very dark hair, and she has fair skin, blue eyes to my hazel, and her hair is naturally deep chestnut reddish (no freckles)  Our late oldest brother had fair skin, dark hair hazel eyes, while our youngest brother had a darker complection dark hair and a brown eyes and both brothers would be outdoors a lot and not tan the same way.  Our facial constuction is the same but the coloring always threw people off. 

Dad use to say that would happen, his grandmother was blond with blue eyes, so he always felt that the blue eyes would pop up.   And Mom use to say that her family originated that she knew, from the southern part of Portugual the area known as the Algarve, which would have been invaded by people from North Africa.

As far as we were concerned it only created a greater mystery. 

But our extended President's weekend was on the whole nice and quiet, which was good, sometimes it pays to have quiet moments to enjoy the simple things. 

Then Monday evening we were invaded by my brother's invading hoard, all tired, snow burned and happy from the skiing adventure, my brother complained about the snow driving conditions but was glad to have had chains to put on the tires, and that the tire chain businesses were doing great business,  the boys were happy and my sister-in-law was happy no one broke a leg.  "We can't afford that!"  she said.

Fortunately I had made a good size meatloaf and fed the invading hoard and we told them about our Ancestry DNA,  Monica thought that would be a good idea, since we already knew what my brothers background was, all she had to do was her's and see what turned up as the mix in the children "But we'll only do one child as this is expensive"  At $99 a test I'd say so.

Finally it was time for everyone to go, and with a hug (lots of hugs) and a wave, we saw them off.

That night I reclined on the couch in the family parlor and continued to look over and ponder the DNA results, Italy and Greece what were those Greek and Romans doing?  I thought Dad's family originated in France??  But his family's home town was in France but near the Italian Alps, that could explain it.  But where did Russia and Scandinavia come from and Great Britian??  I thought and thought and then I remembered, Mom did say that although the family originally came from the Algarve, they did settle for several generations in the Azores before immigrating to America, and the Azores was a melting pot there, a place where sailors and traveler's from different lands would stop and rest, and according to Grandma she did hint that they did find the women of the Azores to be very beautiful and very seductive, she hinted that was how she got grandpa to propose.....

Hmmmm I thought, what family sirens enticed some luckless sailors to their "doom" with their soft, warmly scented with tropical flowers arms?   It reminded me of that song from the musical "Leave it to Jane".

"Come to us, We've waited so long for you,


Ev'ry day we'll make a new song for you,

come, come, to us we love you so.

Leave behind the world and it's fretting,

and we will give you rest and forgetting.

So sang the Sirens ages and ages ago."

Hmmmmm come to think of it, I have done that myself.......

Later Darklings

Of The Days after Christmas~~~~

And all through the house, hardly a creature was stirring, except for a weiner dog with his new toy mouse.

Hello Darklings,

After the sunny days of Christmas today has brought in gray overcast, making any lighting in the house seem warm and cheerful.

Doyle, Louise, Brian and I spent Christmas Day at my Brother and Sister-in-law's house and she served a wonderful feast.  Turkey and stuffing, yams with melted marshmallows, brocolliie with cheese sauce, cranberry sauce and chicken gravy, roasted small new potatoes with butter melted on top, green beans served amondine,  fresh baked rolls, butter, olives and sweet pickles for garnishes, baked butternut squash,  followed for a later desserts a choice of Apple, Dutch apple crumb, peach, and pecan pie with or without ice cream (vanilla),  coffee or spiced tea, sparkling apple cider or hot spiced cider, and for the adults wine either white or red.

My Sister in laws stove was put to a heavy duty test and with two microwaves to re-heat anything that got too cool, and there were plenty of guests, besides my little party and my brother's family there was my sister in laws Mother, her aunt and her husband, a neighbor and his wife and their children, which made for a very busy and noisy household,  but my sister-in-law had it all carefully planned and laid out, having taken some lessons from me.

I was happy to hear from my Sister before we left to go to my brother's place, she was enjoying being with her family in Sacramento and enjoying the grandchildren, her latest one now just over a year old was born on Halloween over a year ago, which should make for a fun birthday party time as she gets older.  And her other younger daughter is getting married, this coming June----I pray it will not be a "bridezilla" situation, and her older daughter and son-in-law are in the process of buying a house in the Sacramento area, the one they are in is rental and they've had enough, as I was told the time was right, the price was right, the house although needing work (a 1912 Craftman) has lovely bones, the location is right, and the terms are right.   I couldn't be happier for them, and the deal should be finalized by New Year's Eve.  And her oldest son and his wife and family are transferring back to California, where he will finish out his 20 year hitch in the military.  What a way to start the new Year!

I was happy to convey that news to my brother and family.   Celebrations will become very interesting in the future.

It was good to spend time with my brother and his family, my sister in law banished video games and loud music,  no televison,  just conversation and board games with an occasion nibbling on the left overs,  no gift exchanges were done then, what we did was give our gifts to my brother just after the  party I had so the children could open them either Christmas Eve or Christmass morning,  except the children wanted to give Belladonna and Weiner Dog gifts who came with us,  new sweaters and chew toys, the squeeky mouse Weiner just pounced upon and squeek and squeek,  some times he'll come up silently behind someone and then squeek his mouse when we least expect it, making us jump.  Who says dogs don't know how to pull a trick on their humans?

 Then it was late and time to go home, Coralline came with us as she is spending the week between Christmas and New Years with Doyle and I, I told her that it might be a bit dull for her but she said she didn't mind, her homework was done she just needed to do a reading assignment, and as soon as we got home the first thing she said as we walked into my house was "Hello you wonderful Old House!"  and did a little pioret in the entrace foyer, Doyle and I looked at each other and sort of nodded about her greeting.

Doyle is going to visit his family in San Diego after the New Years holiday, his assignments kept him in our local area, which he is happy to finish up. 

Coralline and her friend Marissa go back and forth between our homes, they take the dogs for a walk as long as either Doyle, myself or Marissa's older brother is with them.  Although our street is realitivly safe, one never knows. 

They've made a friend of a young boy on the block Christian, but he prefers to be called Chris, he's the same age as Coralline I would have thought he'd be into video games like most boys his age or like Coralline's siblings but his parents are very strict on such things, they don't mind using the computer for e-mail and researching things but things like X-box and video games are not allowed, he's home schooled by his Mother but having interaction with Coralline and Marissa is good, and his parents plan on school type outings with other home schooled children, there are a few home schooled children but not many and to make friends with children on our block is important. 

Marissa's parents introduced me to Chris's parents and I invited them over for coffee,  so we'd get to know each other, I was afraid they'd be ultra Christian or fundamentalists but no, they wanted their son to have a certain educational advantage, he will be going into a private school after next summer so he can aquire what credits he needs to go into college.   He is a bright young boy and very gentle with the dogs.

As a matter of fact Chris's parents were a little afraid of me, I mean who else would rent a hearse with an antimated coffin with a vampire rising out of it to put in front of one's house for Halloween, and of course the Grim Reaper in front with fog rising and to be greeted at the front door by a female vampire with fangs could for some be a little heart stopping.  I took them on a tour of my home, and I think they expected a live lion to come walking down the stairs or the stair treads rising and them meeting "Spot".  

Once I explained myself as best as I could to Chris' folks they relaxed a little,  although I was glad that Coralline and Marissa didn't get dressed in black dresses, part their hair in the center and have long braids and carry headless dollies,  that might have put them off.  Of course it was hard explaining why I had a guilotine in the basement storage area, just off the laundry room, I told them I was storing it for a friend of mine until it could be moved.  Yes Darklings---I have a guilotine in my basement----temporarily. 

I've got plans for us for New Years, there is this place that will be open which will be perfect for fun family entertainment and Coralline has not been there, I ran it by both Marissa's and Chris's parents and they liked the idea although we'd go in our own individual cars incase any of the children became too sleepy and anyone needs to leave early.    Marissa's folks will have dinner at their house and we'll all meet and eat there and then we'd re-group at the location.

But New Year's Day will be a lazy day, sleep in, then go out to have breakfast, I'm not sure what else,  its sort of a feeling of having left an enchanted land of fun and wonder when the Christmas Holidays are over,  and the internal fear that if you leave it you can never capture it again. 

Unfortunately time marches on, the weather conditions change things get warmer, green leaves pop out, snow melts, for adults it's facing the bills to be paid, going to work, dealing with transportation and all the problems that develop.  The child-like wonder slips away like a dream that one can just barely remember.

Come the Day closest to 3 Kings Day will be time to take down the Christmas decorations, the live root ball trees will be donated to be planted in some forest or park,  the live no-longer cut trees will be put out onto the curb to be collected by the Boy Scouts or other group to be made into mulch for plantings.  The decorations will be carefully boxed up and stored away in their various areas the attic, basement, shed or garage, photo's from the holidays developed and hopefully labeled and put into albums, the Christmas card list gone over to check for updated addresses,  and resolutions to lose weight because our clothing is a little tighter.

There is a child's amusment park here in the East Bay called "Children's Fairyland"  it was built in 1950 as a family amusement park geared towards little children and was the inspiration for Walt Disney's Disneyland.  But this is a gentler amusment park with all the storybook characters like the old woman in the shoe, Mother Goose, the three little pigs, Alice in Wonderland, the reluctant dragon, Hickory Dickory Dock, and other Mother Goose tales.

But they have a policy no adult can enter without a child to accompany them, just adults without children are banished from this fairyland,  when I've taken walks around there with Doyle I've often looked at the entrance with longing, remembering the times when I and my younger siblings visited there with our parents.

And now slowly the magic of the Holiday season is slipping by, leaving us behind, the fairytale memories becoming dreams.  

It's like that last line in the song "Toyland"  'once you've crossed its borders you can never go back again'.

***sigh***

And now Weiner Dog has startled me with his squeeky mouse,  Hmmm nothing like a dog to bring one down to earth.

Later Darklings