Of going from cold to heat back to very cool, Book Sales!!! and Hitler~~~~~

Hello Darklings,

There are times when I wish our Bay Area weather would make up it's mind!

Good thing is we had Friday off from Jury Duty, and considering the sudden heat wave we had it was a blessing.

I have never been so prostrated with heat before but this time I was, and I know why, and its a reminder to all Elder Goths you have got to avoid being dehydrated, drink plenty of water, for some reason many older people seem to not take in as much water, and I must confess Darklings I am beginning to become one of them,  well after this last Friday not any more.

The good thing is that I had fans on in the house, but still I became flushed, sweating, dizzy, weak, nearly fainting.   If it wasn't for Brian coming over via the back gate to ask me about something I think I would have passed out.

He recognized what it was and put his first aid training to good use. Granted it was only 1 p.m. in the afternoon but I was almost down for the count and not like that so called championship boxing match, (personally I think a fix was in).

I was sitting up and conscious but he laid me down on the couch, got a towel, put an ice pack on the back of my neck, took off the dark long sleeve blouse I had on (trust me Darklings I'm not shy nor timid being naked) put a fan on me and wiped me down with a wet face cloth, while the Dynamic Duo watched helplessly.

He he encouraged me to sip water, not overly cold, but cool until I felt much better and the fainting dizziness went away, my sister had come home to her house (he saw the car) from visiting a client and he went to tell her about my condition, she came over and checked me out, she asked me questions to make sure about my thinking process, and said I should nap, naked on the couch with only a sheet to cover me for modesty.   I drank more water and she saw that the flushness had left me.

I thanked Brian for his timeliness and aid and promptly fell asleep.  I slept for hours, waking up at 5 p.m. feeling totally refreshed Sis had been going back and forth between her house and mine checking on me and was there when I woke, as well as Doyle, I felt perfectly well but tired and just a little achy.

Sis was wondering if it would be a good thing to go to the Friends of the Library book sale, but Doyle said a breeze had come up and things were cooling down, so the four of us (Sis, Doyle, Brian and Moi) went to the book sale later, and found some wonderful things, fortunately they had a comfortable couch that I sat on from time to time to rest, but I felt much better and it was much cooler with a good breeze coming off the Bay onto the old Naval Air Base.

Doyle found some mysteries he wanted to read, I found some classic Raymond Chandler and a few Preston and Child books, Sis found some biographies, Brian was happy with a few finds on world history.   But the one or two  oddities were a couple of  books about the Occult history and knowledge of Adolph Hitler and the work of the British Witches to prevent the invasion of England these works were about 50 years old, most definitely out of print, and just right for the book shelf of an Elder Goth.  

The more amusing thing was this man, he must have been in his 70ties was about to reach for them but I struck more quickly like a serpent and snatched them first, the look on his face was as if he were shooting daggers at me, to which I just looked at him and shrugged him off as if he were so much yesterday's news.

He kept following me around the entire book sale, the good thing is I had this cloth wheeled carry bag so it was not a strain on my arm, so I decided to be a bit spiteful and buy the books, it was fun seeing his face get flushed.

But as I walked out with Doyle to join my sister and Brian at the van he followed us out and offered to buy the books from me for a goodly amount, and I said no, I wanted to read them and they were perfect for my own personal collection.    He repeated his offer, even increasing the amount and I repeated to him that I was adding them to my own personal collection and turned him down.

He finally conceded that I was refusing him ---Maybe Doyle saying "You heard the Lady, she's not interested."  in Doyle's best Bogie manner, so he gave me his personal business card saying if I was eventually interested in selling the books he would be interested in purchasing them, so I said that when the time comes I would give him first refusal.    The man gave me a small smile, a curt nod of the head and went back into the melee of the  Book Sale.

I really was glad that I had Doyle by my side, the energy of that man was not comfortable and the whole thing was strange, or maybe it was an after effect of my heat prostration.

But after a dinner of Wor Won Ton soup, Hibiscus Tea, and lime sherbert I put all thoughts aside of my Noir encounter and was also happy that I found some lovely books that I think Coralline, Chris and the twins would enjoy---although I'm not sure the twins are big readers, but I think books on their favorite football stars they would enjoy.

Yesterday all I did was rest and recover, and enjoy the news of the new Princess and the winner of the Kentucky Derby,  today, I'm not going to do much except go with my sister to do grocery shopping and a bit of laundry and lay out what I'm going to wear for the next week of court duty.   The gentleman's card I placed in my cabinet of curiosities along with those two books,  I think I'm going to have to read them to see what was so important.

And now Sis is asking if I'm ready, so must go.

Later Darklings

Of a fun yet exhausting Weekend~~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well I am taking a short sit down after a very hectic weekend.

Sis and I have our menu all planned out for the Halloween party and we decided to purchase some of the items we would need yesterday, and it is now on the pantry shelves, much of what we will need will be made Thursday, the Brain molds, the Heart Mold and the Zombie Hand mold, a lot of the appetizers will be made and refrigerated to be baked on Friday, cookies and such.

But a lot will be part of our frozen wares as well.  Sis and I have "cleared the decks" for Thursday and Friday, no work, nothing, Sis has a colleague who will handle emergencies if need be.

Doyle has put Grim out today with the help of the children well mostly my oldest Nephew who is now becoming quite the young man.  Coralline made sure Grim's "gown" fitted just right and with the testing today of the fog machine it looks wonderful.

Friday night Sis, Doyle and I had a wonderful time at the Friends Book sale, I found some wonderful mysteries including a completely updated Jack the Ripper Reference work,  Doyle nosed around the biographies and Sis with any reference works she could use, she did find a 1950's text book on the Sociology of Death that she found interesting, so we went home with our treasures to read and decide if to keep or re-donate. 

Saturday we did shopping and we were later happily invaded by my Brother and his family, Sis and I had not really expected them so we took the easy way out pulled out the menu for Papa Murphy's take and bake Pizza, and called in our selections, good thing my O'Keefe and Merritt stove has two ovens, Doyle and my brother were able to distract the two younger boys by having them go with them to walk the dog's and Coralline and her brother told us about what they had seen the other weekend, Coralline was completely fascinated by the Skulls exhibit and her older brother said he wished he could have gone but he didn't want to miss the Blue Angles since it was Fleet week,  but then I became terrified I knew the World Series was on did they want to watch it at my home?

Well Doyle came to the rescue on that with his spare T.V. set up in the spare Maid's room, and although I know my sister in law was not interested I was surprised to see that my oldest nephew was not so interested either and chose to stay with us asking about questions in regards to monsters and such since Halloween was getting to be so close, on further questioning it was more how did the idea of Monsters came about, oh that did lead into a long and convoluted talk on the development of Horror Literature, from storytellers to Fairytales to the Twilight series which my nephew pronounced as "dumb".  But then my sister suggested that maybe I should write that as one of my link pages, a simplified version of where we get our ghosts and goulies, since I was an English major in college.

Well nothing is ever simple, but I think I'll give it a go, in time.

Doyle came quickly into the family parlor to set the recording to record (are you ready for this Darklings?)  "Wonder Woman"   I think he has a crush on Linda Carter.  He didn't want to miss it.

So with my sister in law and I and Coralline and her brother in tow we went to get the pizza's and then pop them into the oven,  when we got back I happened to mention that Svengoolie was showing "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein"  the twins pleaded to stay and watch it,  so with the children spread out on blankets on the rugs in the family parlor and the adults sitting comfortably and Belladonna and Weiner Dog begging for pizza bones and popcorn (no popcorn I warned the children)
we settled in to watch one of my favorite and yet funny films.

This movie did signal the end of the Golden Age of Universal monsters by the 1950's it turned to Science Fiction with monsters from outer space and such.  The children enjoyed it but it became very late and both Doyle and my brother had been drinking beer and my sister in law wine so, I said they could not drive home.  With the boys and their Dad camped in the maid's room and my sister in law and Coralline in the bedroom we always set aside for Coralline they stayed over night.

Today they helped Doyle put up the jumping spider and Grim and a few more lights, fed them breakfast and lunch, (thank goodness for dishwashers although my sister in law insisted on taking care of the pots and pans)  we bade them a happy good bye and to see them on Halloween.

Now for dinner, well there is still plenty of left over pizza,  so we'll heat that up and Sis is making wilted spinach salad, Doyle is watching Wonder Woman, and tonight we'll relax and watch Good Wife, CSI and record "the man from UNCLE". 

I will post those articles I found and I think later on I will attempt to write a short concept about Horror Literature---at least my take on it.

Later Darklings

Of Dental Surgery, book sales and wild fires~~~~~

Hello My Darklings,

Well the dental treatment went much better than expected, my dentist feels that two more treatments will finish the root canal part of it and then to proceed onto crowning the tooth, its a back molar and he'd prefer a gold crown but I want something more natural looking, considering that all the new materials hold up just as good.

But we will discuss that as we get closer to that portion of it.  I really don't like dentists visits but at my age, frankly at any age, good dental care both at home and with your dentist is important, that I why I've been able to keep all my teeth for such a long time.  Mother told me a long time ago, that prenatal care is important for bones and teeth for the expected baby.   By eating healthy and taking vitamins and doing what your doctor says almost guarantees that the baby's health, teeth and bones will be in excellent shape.

The one thing that does bother me is people going to extremes of teeth whitening, I have seen on people teeth so white that they are un-natural in color, as a matter of fact my dentist has said that teeth should not be white/white but an off-white or pale cream color.  So instead of whitening it should be lightening.

Now I love coffee so every so often I do have my teeth lightened but to a more natural light color to take any coffee staining out, and its less harsh on the dental enamel.  That is something that always worries me.

For me after the root canal treatment I'm a wreck, and my jaw and palate hurt from the shots, so I take Vicodin for the pain and almost always fall asleep that is why its important for me to have someone drive me to my dentist appointment when its something this extreme, dental cleaning is not a problem, but this.

So I came home and napped, for a while.   Then it was time to go to the book sale.

Considering how Hot it has been I knew it would be warm at the book sale, so I dressed comfortably, black cotton shirt and skirt and comfortable walking shoes, one is on one's feet a lot.

On the opening night I encountered nice people and rude people, the ones that I know are buying for re-sale can be the most rude, I was looking at one book and this man was going to take it out of my hand, I slapped his wrist and told him to back off or I would bite him, that he had no right to remove a book from my hand that I was going to purchase, and if he wanted to make a Federal offence of it I would call over one of the book sale attendants to have them call the police.  And I gave him a hard stare, he backed off.

I did alert one of the book sale chair persons and they dealt with the man.  It was interesting because some of the other buyers that I know re-sell stayed away from me. 

And the book that I was buying was "Roy Rodgers and the Rimrock Riders" 1952, Whitman Publications,  I am going to give that to my brother for his birthday, he loves Roy Rodgers, the Lone Ranger, Hopalong Cassidy, Gene Autry, etc. and I knew he'd love this book, along with a couple of others that I found at other places.

I did find a very old book printed in 1910 titles "Apparitions"  it was a bound monograph about the reasons for the appearance of ghosts or spirits.  I thought it would make a nice addition to my Cabinet of Curiosities, and I found at the bottom of a pile, an old small Catholic Missal from the 1890's.  Sis came over to look at it and gave me an idea when she said "Hmmm you could put it together with a vampire killing kit, it's the right age."  My sister can be as wicked as me.

Sis had been looking over the reference and history/biography section of materials for her own personal library, sometimes she gets lucky in finding out of print works in her field.  Then we edged over to the Mystery section, and I found a number of good reads for those rainy winter nights or long summer evenings, including 5 re-printed hardcover James Bond books with their covers---those are keepers.

We filled 5 boxes of our selections and a nice man with a dolly transported them to our car.  Over this weekend we'll pull them out and put them into the Library waiting for us to transport our minds to other places, adventures and the deepest darkest minds of evil. 

I was reluctant last night to eat anything tough so Sis heated up some Butternut Squash soup, and the soft centers of Sourdough french bread, she dipped the outer crust into her soup, ordinarily I would have but I still felt tender.

We watched the news last night and they talked about the fires down in Riverside, heading to Malibu and with 50 mile an hour winds, over 18,000 acres destroyed, homes burned, people given orders to leave, and fires up North as well near Calistoga threatening vineyards.  And just across the bay grass fires in Brisbane, and another large grass fire down in San Jose near a shopping mall.  The whole State of California is so tinder dry that fire season has started early, our good rain fall stopped in January, and although our reservoirs are at 97% full for us here, the winds, the heat, the lack of rain has made conditions very dangerous, both in the country and in Urban and Suburban areas. 

Sis is concerned about pyromaniacs, or foolish children or teenagers, but some could have started very simply by a carelessly tossed cigarette.  This morning I got up and made sure that the water was on the plants both front and back and I'm going to have it run again tonight using any cistern water,  Sis also got up early and watered the front area of the house she's going to buy.  A neighbor of ours told us that his elderly neighbors that live next to him, have their son living with them in a room built into their garage, and the son is, as he puts it a 51/50, so he is very concerned.  For some reason I feel that this Summer is going to become very interesting.

And now Sis is ready and wants to go hunting Yard sales, no re-conceived ideas, just driving around and having fun.  I like the idea already and Belladonna is ready to hang her head out the window and sniff interesting scents.

Later Darklings

Of the Returning Heat~~~~

Well My Darklings,

Things are beginning to warm up again. Granted it is nice and beautiful but its going to put a strain on our water resources.  I am grateful for the timers and the cistern to collect the run off so save the water for the plants.

Where Coralline lives with her parents and siblings, they ran the sprinkler, waters the garden and the children play at getting wet, although my brother is considering the underground cistern idea or something like it. 

A neighbor of his is having his swimming pool taken out, too much in insurance and too much in the cost of water and maintenance, told his children they will just have to "rough it"; as I understand from my brother those children are not happy but the parents are.

I saw my Doctor this morning and he is very please with my program and has said that I only need just one person to assist me now since I can take a bath or shower without problems and can climb the stairs and do light things, even making my breakfast.

But I hated the idea of letting either one of my caregivers go, so this noon time I talked it over with both Ella and Louise about what the doctor said.  Ella said it would be better if she left, her daughter is getting close to having her baby and the last month is going to have to remain in bed a lot as the baby has tried to arrive too soon and Ella has been worried for her daughter's health.  So tomorrow Ella will finish things up and move to her daughter's house. 

I'll hate having her leave, both she and Louise have been wonderful companion/caregivers.  Louise is going to stay on until the doctor pronounces me able to go back to work,  in about a month's time.  Wednesday I'm going in to work in the afternoon with Louise to see how things are going and get further updates on projects.  I've been in touch via E-mail, conference video and phone but its not the same as being there.

And I am getting a bit restless, my back twinges just a little bit only occasionally and having the massage and the warm baths have helped.  And I did surprise myself with how well I was able to get around at the Art Deco Ball.  The therapist only comes once a week now and says I've improved so much that I'd only have to go to her office just once a month for evaluation and to make sure I'm doing my exercises correctly.

I feel sad in a way, its a change but its a good change and I'll be in touch with Ella and Louise even afterwards.  And with Marie moving forward on her plans to buy the house there will be more changes.

But for now, I'm going to the Library to return some books and donate some paperbacks for their book sale.   As a matter of fact there is a Friends of the Library book sale coming up next week.  Something to look forward to.  Who knows what I will find.

Later Darklings

Chilly weather is coming~~~

Oh Darklings,

There is a serious winter chill in the air today,  I had to get out my heavier sweater and get my heavier coat out for tomorrow.

Doyle and I made it back to the Library Booksale and we still found some wonderful titles, I even found the latest biography of Lizzie Borden---she of the little jingle "Lizzie Borden took an ax, gave her Mother 40 whacks and when she saw what she had done she gave her Father 41".

Well the number of whacks of an ax could be disputed but the fact that a murder did occur in board daylight while people were around is one of those Gothic mysteries that I just had to add to my Library.

Doyle was having fun looking for James Patterson and found several titles he had not read, so well worth going back.

Of course we had to do the mundane things like grocery shopping, and I found several new tombstones to add to my front display.

While at the store I came across a wine called "Chocolat Rouge" or wine with a chocolate flavor, the price wasn't bad, so I bought a bottle.  Doyle is skeptical about it so we decided that it is a dessert wine,  I had a chance this evening to read a couple of reviews and they seem fairly positive, but our tasting it will tell us but most likely not until later.

I have a policy of never drinking wine on Sunday evenings, because I feel I need a clear head, now during the week a small amount early in the evening is fine, because I can plan on when I'm going to drink it but never on Sunday.

With the chilly weather after we returned from the sale and shopping I had to put on my grubbies and vacuumed out the heater vents with Doyles' help, and put on the filters for the central heating system, I was glad I had them tested a few weeks ago and all are working fine, and venting properly.  Now I'm exhausted but Doyle is taking pity on me and has gone for Chinese, so I'm relaxing a bit and then I'll hop into the shower to get the dust off of me.

Well Elder/Elderly Goths can't look glamorous all the time Darklings.

But as I put that Lizzie Borden book on my Library shelf I was thinking about other books that would cover such topics to add to my library,  it would make perfect sense for an Elder/Elderly Goth to have something like that as part of their cabinet of curiosities.  Oh I cannot think straight this evening, I must be tired.

Later Darklings

Book finds, more Nail Polish and keeping Belladonna warm~~~

Hello Darklings

So far I have been having fun this weekend! 

One of our local Library’s is having a book sale and a friend of mine who works there was able to get me two passes for their Preview opening.

Of course anyone who is into reading knows you have to go on Preview Night to grab “The Good Stuff” and I and my friends were no slouches.

Of course I’m a serious book buyer at these sales, I take one of those “old ladies” shopping carts that I have with a cloth liner, and right now I’m have so much fun having purchased black material with skull’s imprinted on it and sewed up the liner for my basket, it does prevent small things from slipping out, like one’s pet yorkie, (well that’s what one of my friend’s does.)

Of course such a shopping cart is very handy at flea markets as well.

And talk about luck, fantastic luck, I was able to find the hardcopy bound editions of a number of Anne Rice’s books from “Interview with a Vampire” and the two that followed, “Pandora”, “the Vampire Armand”, “Blood and Gold”, and a number of others, including “Blood Canticle”, as well as a 1940’s edition of the Catholic Douay Bible, still beautifully bound.  The only title missing from my collection is Rice’s “The Mummy”.

I also found several collections of vampire stories (mostly the classic one’s including “Good Lady Ducane”) and Ghost Stories. 

I also hit their audio-visual selection and found a wonderful selection of classic music cd’s in practically brand new condition, and several DVD’s of horror films I have not seen in ages.   My senses were tingling at my treasured finds.

My friends also struck it rich in their hunts, Doyle sadly could not come with us, his job precluded his attending, but he and I are going to the clearance sale, we may find some gleanings to add to our respective libraries.  One just never knows what one will find.

The only problem with going on a preview night is how everyone elbows everyone else, well I’ve learned to “elbow” with the best of them, my Mother didn’t take me to clothing clearance sales when I was little for nothing, I learned how to do body blocking and pretend to be so totally unaware, looking like the sweet little angelic 7 year old I pretended to be at the older women, while Mother swooped in and made a “killing.”  

Wrestling Tag Teams and Roller Derby had nothing on Mother and Me, we checked, blocked and tagged with the best of them;  Mrs. Miller sometimes came along as relief, she could be deadly with a well placed positioning of her cane and smiling sweetly as a helpless little old lady.

As a matter of fact Mrs. Miller was the one who helped me get my first apartment in her Apartment complex and Mother was relieved that there was someone who would “watch over” me.  Although I laugh at the thought of some of the scrapes Mrs. Miller and I would get into.  I miss them, Mother and Mrs. Miller, Dad and Granny and others who helped develop my outlook on life.

The weather is turning cool to cold, clouds and possible rain is coming, I am looking forward to it.  Although it may mean I can’t take Belladonna on her walks as often, but perhaps a little rain coat and hat for her might do, that is if she is inclined to do her walks in the rain.  Considering how I found her I hope that experience has not scared her, but we shall see.

I decided to improve things for Belladonna for the coming winter, I know that her feet get very cold on some of our walks, so I looked for a heating pad that I can put under her doggie bed to warm it up when we return from our evenings walks, and during our searches I just had to go into the cosmetic area at our local drug store and found a bit of a treasure.

Some times Revlon nail polish will surprise a person with something un-expected or not very well advertised, in my case it was a find.   I came across the last bottle of what was their Halloween collection of colors called “Sweetly Sinister”, the remain color was this one was called “Haunted Heart”, a lovely shimmery, sparkly (I know Darklings “sparkly”) orangey coral, in some lights it is intensely orange, in others an intense coral without out much pink, it is a perfect color for Halloween or for the Summer and goes well with my Revlon lipstick “Orange Flip”.  This color is in the “Top Speed” fast drying collection, the other colors were “Spooky Skull” (a sheer shimmer white), “Wicked Star” a green shimmer and “Black Magic” a black Cream. 

Check out the web site “Frazzle and Aniploish” at www.thekarend.blogspot.com/ for a review and Jen of  www.xoxo-jen.blogspot.com/  especially for “Haunted Heart”.

Another way to decorate your nails, is to first put down a clear base coat and then put a layer or two of an orange nail polish over the complete nail, let it dry completely then follow with two coats of black on top, have it cover the bed part of the nails but leave the projected part or nail tips still in orange, simple and uncomplicated for Halloween.

But I have seen using “Black Magic” to put on Pumpkin faces and with a touch of “Wicked Star” as the pumpkin stem, so Darklings you have a lot of choices. 

Myself I’m going to keep it simple and alternate with orange and black, using a clear bottom coat to not have the dark color seep into the pores of my nails (so hard to get out).

Of course Doyle has asked me why do I have so many colors of nail polish and I told him even my nails need a color wardrobe---he looked at me, shrugged his shoulders and said “O.K.”

Now it will take time to do it right Darklings, so I suggest having an entire evening to do this.   Perhaps have a “man slave”  ;-) to feed you  and change the T.V. channels while your nails dry.   Of course I’m joking on the “man slave” part  (or am I?  Hmmmm Doyle where are you???).

Later Darklings