Of a Super Bowl free Sunday and Film Noir~~~~

I am sorry my Darklings, but Moi will Not be watching the Super Bowl.  Why?  Well it’s not that “Big” on my “To Do” list.

As a matter of fact both my sister in law and my niece along with Sis, we will be relaxing having a girl’s day in.  Yes we will be pampering our feet, doing our nails, facials, massage all of that fun stuff, I managed to find a ‘serenity type spa’ where we can relax and feel good about ourselves,  Saturday we will all have our hair done (well for me it will be a dye and trim and scalp conditioning) and then Sunday to the Spa.

All the men folk will be congregating in the Man Cave at my brother’s house, my brother, Doyle, the twins, Christopher, and a few friends to watch the game. 

We ladies will in turn have a nice early dinner out after all that pampering and later dessert at my home and watch a few favorite Noir Films such as “Laura” and “D.O.A.” and “The Lineup”. My sister in law remarked the other day how Coralline has a bit of a resemblance to Gene Tierney, and even I can see it, in a way I’m glad she inherited the best features of both her Mother and her father, and in a way looks a bit like my Great-Aunt, yes she is beginning to become quite a beauty.  

I’m afraid Darklings that I have not posted for a while and the reason is I have once again been on a Film Noir “kick” yes, I attended Noir City the San Francisco Noir Film Festival, and besides old favorites like “Rear Window” and “The Two Mrs. Carrolls”, a more recent addition “Public Eye” and one that shows off that Lucille Ball was more than a comedienne in a dramatic turn in “The Dark Corner”,  that is why I “disappeared” for so long,  Sis was with me while Betty helped out by House sitting and watching the Dynamic Duo during the day and Doyle did duty at night.

Sis and I decided to stay in the City, shopping, relaxing, dressing in our vintage finery while attending the showings.   In a way it was a wonderful vacation with the exception of all the insanity of this Super Bowl stuff,  we did miss the fireworks that signaled the re-lighting of the Bay Bridge and the opening of Super Bowl City, but not by much. 

And yes I did take good care of myself and not have a relapse, no colds, no sniffles, no coughs or sore throats.   But I have to say seeing those old wonderful films revitalized me.   

But now we are home again, and once again my Doyle made arrangements to have his friend bring the vintage Rolls Limo (1930’s) to pick us up at the Hotel, both he and his friend dressed in vintage style chauffeur uniforms,  and Sis and I “dressed to the nines” in our vintage Day wear as we left the hotel, I’m sure some folks thought we were eccentric or weird, but really if you can’t have fun what can you do.

Although for a Monday getting through San Francisco was slower than usual I couldn’t help but notice that even the most anxious drivers gave the vintage Rolls a clear berth, no one wanted to scratch it’s paint or dent it’s chrome.   And the smiles on people’s faces especially as Sis and I waved as if we were royalty.    Such fun!!

And when we got home today Doyle surprise me with an early Valentine’s gift, the complete set of all 14 of the Chester Morris Boston Blackie films.  Where he got them I haven’t a clue, but I love him for it.

And now it’s back into the mundaneness of bills (which I will tackle tomorrow) and other things,  my handyman and I need to go around the house to see what needs to be done when things dry out,  there has been a bit of wood rot here and there, easy to take care of and the house will need to be seriously painted, which means scaffolding which means getting estimates, thank goodness the house trust is designed for such things.

And my Gardener has been removing those plants that did not survive the extreme cold or over-abundance of water, and trimming the trees and bushes when it’s not raining.  And he managed to squeeze in mowing the lawn during the storm breaks.  We’ll have to talk about what we want to do with the bare spots.

Belladonna and Weiner Dog were very happy to see their “Mommy” again and Betty has dinner crock pot ready all we have to do is serve ourselves.   But she told me even though it was daylight during the days it rained the house was “spooky” to her, she didn’t want to go into the Library where sits my Cabinet of Curiosities.  Too much for her, she’d check from the door how the cleaning ladies were doing but she just would not go in.   Well it isn’t for everyone.

But now with our plans in the works for our personal Super Bowl weekend, we have something lovely to look forward to. 

I’ve also been looking around for fun things that we Goth/Noir ladies can enjoy,  and I think I’ve found a few things but that will be for another time.

In the meantime, it's dinner and later we're are going to watch a new show "Lucifer"  Doyle recorded the first episode for me along with X-Files, Blacklist and a few other fun things, Doyle says I'm going to LOVE the vintage Corvette that Lucifer drives.  Well a Vintage Corvette, hmmmm he can't be all bad, can he?

Later Darklings 

Of "Valentine's Day and a Full Moon"~~~

Yes Darklings,

A beautiful Full Moon for Valentine's Day, depending upon if its raining, snowing or just miserable weather.

But Last night Sis and I looked out her bedroom window and saw the most magnificent full moon, framed with clouds, the moonlight doing a dance among the clouds, streets damp with the left over rain, the air washed and feeling fresh, the sky not black nor blue but a combination of both creating a velvety color.

Sis and I sat up last night, she is feeling a bit better, but she didn't want to come down stairs, just huddle in her bed, so I certainly wasn't going to force her, except to chase her into the shower and into a fresh nightgown,  while she was doing that I changed the sheets and pillow cases and re-made her bed, for which she was profoundly grateful.

So as a surprise I went into the upstairs linen closet and got out the card table that we use to sort and fold the linens,  and carried it into her bedroom, I lined it up with the window so we both could look outside from our chairs.  Covered it with a table cloth and sent up via the dumbwaiter (yes the house has a dumbwaiter but it has to be pulled up manully) the plateware, glasses and food and drink to the 2nd level.

From there using an old tea cart I wheeled dinner into her room, more won ton soup, but with a touch of sweet french bread, and to keep a settled stomach Ginger ale to drink.

We didn't have to worry about Doyle last night as he wasn't going to be home until very late.  Sis and I listened to music on the Sirus radio and talked, she was still feeling a bit weak but felt that by her first appointment next Tuesday she'd be up to par.  As we Elder Goths get older things like colds and flu's can really wreak havoc on our bodies, we don't bounce back as fast, so coddling and taking extra time to get well is important.

How she got the cold I'm not sure, I'm still well (I hope) but with all she and I have been doing it is possible her immune system got weakened.

Belladonna and Weiner Dog were having fun with this change of venue for dinner,  and to keep them busy I had their toys scattered about for them to play with.

It was fun looking out the window from our high vantage point and watching the neighborhood at night, watching people arrive home, and observing the various night time rituals,  the husband and wife across the street watch T.V. in their bedroom already in the P.J's  sometimes he watches and she reads, and vis-versa,  another family attempting to bar-b-que at night their dinner, someone wanted ribs, the scent wafted across the street and was making my mouth water,  as well as the dogs,  and someone having an arguement with their teenage daughter (not Marissa) and the daugther screaming that age old line "You're ruining My LIFE!!"  

When Sis heard that she shook her head and remarked to me "Do you think our parents ruined our lives?" and I turned to her and thought about it for a second or two rummaging through my mind.  Finally I said "No, they didn't, I mean as I remember if they said 'No' they explained why it was 'no' but we were also brought up to listen, and we have to remember how Matt taught us things as well."  I paused and then said "It was a different life style, a different time, we were brought up with different mores, we didn't have our lives interrupted with internet, cell phones, bullying tatics, and the types of Peer pressure that young people have today.  I think the parents of today have it much harder than the parents 50-60 years ago when we were growing up.  I think too the television programs that we had at the time also taught moral lessons, something that I really don't see much now a days, granted back then the moral lessons were simplified but how many young boys were influenced by, for example, "The Lone Ranger" code.  Children are forced to become adults before they can have fun being children."

Sis agreed with me and then said "I'm thinking of retiring from my line of work and putting more effort into my writting"  that surprised me I asked "Why?"  and she said "Oh maybe this cold really took it out of me, maybe its time to leave this business to younger people who understand better the pressures that people face in this 21st century world."  "You could become a consultant" I suggested, "You don't have to give it up right away, look you're still recovering, wait until you're feeling completely well and then do a reassesment."

Sis nodded and agreed to put it off until another time, our dinner was finished and I was putting things back on the cart when Sis said "Turn off the light and just look at the moon with me"  I angled the card table away and brought my chair closer and turned off the light, we had the moon light streaming in.

I was reminded how as children and young teens Sis and I would look out the window when there was beautiful full moon, our bedroom light turned off and how we'd quietly talk about things, different things and here we were doing it again.  Talking quietly, different things that would pop into our heads,  then Sis went to the window and completely opened it up and stuck her head out and howled at the Moom.

Well I wasn't going to let her do it alone, so I joined her sticking my head out and howling just as loud,  the dogs from up and down the block started in, I had no idea what started them off, I could hear Belladonna and Weiner Dog behind us howling as well, and we were doing it beautifully-------

Until Doyle pulled up in his car, he got out heard the whole thing up and down the block and Sis and I leading the pack, when we saw Doyle we did it even louder,  he looked up at us as we leaned out the window and yelled "Not Again!!!"   so with his hands on his hips he yelled "Children of the Night!!  SHUT THE HECK UP!!!"

And we did, the dogs did and giggling like school girls, Sis and I ducked back into the room and closed the window, collapsing into our chairs and laughing.  When Doyle climbed up the stairs we managed to get our giggles under control, he stepped into the room turned on the lights clucked a sound of disproval and said "A Full Moon, I should know better."  and he left the room as we started laughing again.

And now it's Valentine's Day,  I managed to get a red velvet cake for desert,  Sis said she felt up to coming down stairs,  and Coralline is going to be staying with us for the weekend, her Mom and Dad are going to drop her off in an hour as they and the boys go to one of the ski resorts,  the weather goes from cloudy to sunny, to cloudy and now sunny, now cloudy.  Coralline is hoping for my beef stew over rice which I have slowly cooking in the crock pot, Sis's appitite is coming back and looking forward to that as well.  It will be a quiet Valentine's weekend but Doyle has surprised us with a huge box of See's Candies and Roses,
His card to me reads thusly----Boy meets Girl.
                                               They like.
                                               They listen.
                                               They laugh.
                                               They love.
A simply perfect love story --- and it's ours.

I will never argue about that......Happy Valentine's Day Darklings.

Later

Of creating a Halloween Name~~~~

Alright Darklings, now is the time to create your Halloween name and we've been having fun with this at work.

This is what you do --- Take the 1st letter of your first name , then take the Last letter of your middle name, then take the 1st letter of your last name and compare them to the list below.

For example if your first name starts with the letter A, look at the green column and you will find  it equals "Creepy"

If the last letter of your middle names end with the letter E, look at the orange column and you will find "Ghost"

If the the 1st letter of your last name starts with the letter A, look at the blue column and you will find it equals  "Caster"

So your Halloween name will be  Creepy Ghost Caster.

Mine came out Haunted Skull Giver,  oh well.

Have Fun Darklings!

Of the Further adventures of an exhausting Halloween weekend~~~~

Dear Darklings,

Oh I so did not want to get up this morning, every bone in my body is aching with exhaustion and the cold, BUT it was a fun weekend!!

I certainly cannot deny that.  Haunted Houses (fund raisers), Halloween displays, spooky music, Harvest Festival goodies, a Day of the Dead Exhibit at the museum, face painting, ice cream, spooky movies, popcorn.

I think the quiet time was really when we were at the musical concert "Pipe Screams"  I wasn't sure the girls would enjoy it but they did, now they want to create their own compulation of scary music both classical, pop and rock,  I hope it goes beyond Screaming Jay Hawkins "I put a spell on you".

Afterwards we had Pizza at one of the girls favorite pizza places, and it had the works,  I had to take Tums to calm my stomach and later Alza Seltzer for the headache,  but even with a headache and a tumbling tummy, it was fun and none of us were going to stop them from having fun because we were enjoying it too.

I had a list of things to go and see for the girls to select and both girls wanted to go to the museum to see the day of the dead exhibit and the Harvest Fair as well, and we manage to cram both of it in.  We let them scamper along as we took our time to buy some homemade goodies for the pantry.  And somehow we managed to grab a bite to eat as well.

Saturday night after pizza fest, I had a selection of Horror movies for the girls to select and watch and they wanted to see "Night of the Demon"   I was surprised they wanted to see such an old (1950's) film, I thought they'd chose "Nightmare on Elm Street" or "Halloween"  but they said they want to be scared but not too much, so with popcorn in the new bowls we all watched it and I approved their choice.

Sunday was overcast and very cold so it was a good thing that indoor events were selected,  when we got home for dinner we fired up the fireplace to add a certain amount of added warmth, and while Sis and I finished up the crock pot stew, Doyle and the girls were playing Mexican train dominos, and were joined by Sis's tennant Brian whom we invited over for dinner.  He had been putting in long, long hours at his job and was greatful for a home cooked meal. 

After dinner in the family parlor the girls told Brian about their adventures and Doyle, Sis and I filled in some of the details.  We were waiting for the girls parents but both sets were delayed, the weather had taken a cold and extremely windy turn and there were some accidents on the roads that delayed their getting to us, but our concern was their safe arrival.

Brian turned out to be a very good story teller, it seems his hobby is collecting true ghostly tales and he told us (mostly the girls) about the local hauntings of Alcatraz, a book store in Oakland, poltergeist activity, and other haunted locations and he did a very good job, his memory of such things was surprizing, we even had a lively discussion about the Amytiville Hauntings and he had recorded the interview from Coast to Coast with Christopher Lutz the youngest son involved at that house and how much of the so called haunting was over exagerated and Brian talked about the Warren's and how they saw Demons in every thing.

Which of course took us into the realm of ghost hunting and such,  and while we talked the wind became wilder and wilder with bumps and thumps and a crash or two, which the men folk checked out, to add to the exciting spookyness of it all----it wasn't until midnight that their girls were gathered up and we bid a relucatant goodbye.

Now this morning it dawned extremely cold, and chilly,  I had a hard time having Belladonna go to the bath room even with her sweater on,  I put her sleeping cushion on the couch in the family parlor and covered her with a fleece throw and she is not complaining.  

Doyle and I assessed the damage that the wind did to the graveyard display, one of the skeletons was blown apart and scattered here and there, some tombstones were knocked down but old Grim Reaper was still standing, so when the sun is higher and a little warmer we will repair the displays.  The wind storm was bad, knocking out power to some area's, a tree crashed into a house, but there is snow on the mountains. 

But it will be clear and very cold come Halloween night, I'm only going to be working the mornings so I'll have the afternoons and evenings to prepare for my party Sis and Doyle will help when they get home and Louise is helping me as well, she was gone for the weekend to stay with a friend of hers who may have an apartment for Louise to rent, since her friend owns a 4 plex unit so things appear to be working out for her.

But it was a fun and spooky weekend, much better than I hoped, even if tiring.

Now I'm going to get some more coffee and get a bit warmer.

Later Darklings


We are such a Happy and Fun Family



Of Cleaning Gutters and Halloween Goodies~~~~

Dear Darklings,

I'm home today, all day, a good thing too.  I had planned for the gutter man to come and clean out the gutters and by happy circumstance Doyle had arranged for the Fireplace man to come back today to clean and check the fireplace in the formal parlor.  So a lot of work being done today, and I'm to have the contractor who is working on Sis's house check in with me about the progress and phone Sis at certain times to inform her. 

I'm almost as busy as if I were at work, and I  must turn off "Kitty Kat" I don't want the poor fireplace man to be frightened.

Dear Rebecca, I'm not too worried about "Crazy", and we may not have to go that far with him, but we are documenting him, I have a special notebook for that, even when it is events that do not involve us directly.
I'm also sorry that you are suffering from 90 degree weather where you are, our mornings here are chilly, but they do warm up coast and bay side to the mid-to upper 70's and inland it does get hotter, although it is predicted that it could warm up this weekend even more.

My concern is the Rim fire down near Yosemite, it is HUGE, almost the size of the city of Chicago.  At this time only 20 percent contained and threatening the water and power supply at Hetch-Hetchy (what use to be known in the 1920's as little Yosemite)  They are saying that this fire may not be completely out until Winter, unless cooler weather and rains without lighting appear.  Nearly 4,000 firefighters are at this one.  Many people do not realize what a disaster this wildfire can be even though it was nature made.

We'll have to leave it in the Higher power's hands as my Mother would say.

With the gutter and fireplace work, and the stores Sis and I have put into the pantry, the house is almost ready for the Holiday Season and all ready I am thrilled, yes, thrilled Darklings.   I have recevied in the mail the Grandin Road Halloween Haven cataloge and my latest Victorian Trading Company Catalogue, now I must check both the Spirit and Fright Web sites and Pyramid Collections web site.   And I saw on Amazon two most marvelous pins that I can wear any time,  Octopusses, yes Darklings, Octopusses, almost looking like the God Chutulu,  this is a must purchase item and very affordable.

I am seriously looking forward to Halloween this year, although Doyle did remind me last night about the Gun Show at the Cow Palace next month and I check my calendar for the Vintage Fashion Expo in Sept. and the Vintage Fashion Fair in October as well as our Friends of the Library Book Sale,  then Halloween, and all its events,  we are seriously considering going to the Pirates of Emmerson Haunted house event, a month long thing, and then Thanksgiving  and the trip to Old Town Sacramento and the Delta King,  and then the Dickens Fair and all the Christmas fun---we'll put out our skeleton Christmas tree again, seeing Coralline during the holidays.

Darklings I am almost delirious with Joy at the thought of it.  And a friend or fiend of mine has invited me to a "seance" in October which should be very interesting and the classic movie series that will be starting up at several theaters.  Oh I must catch my breath.

Last Saturday, Sis and I could not make up our mind what to have for dinner and really neither of us felt like cooking, so we presented the problem to Doyle who said "Dress up ladies we are going out!" and we did in my vintage car, looking like something out of the 1940's, we went to one of our favorite places where they knew us as being a bit eccentric in dress but nice to wait on, we were seated at our favorite table.  I know other people dressed in their t shirts and jeans and flip-flops were looking at us, some of them even sat up straighter,  we had several come over to our table and ask if we were part of a theatre group and we said no we always dress this way, its more elegant.   Sis and I even handed our personal cards something that some people were amazed about, and we had our pictures taken with some of the folks, some even wanted pictures taken with my car.  

One young lady asked if it was o.k. to dress nice like this all the time, and I said "When one is going out in public, unless you are going to the dumps or to a lumbermill or doing home remodling or heavy gardening or camping, it really pays to dress nice."

The look in the young lady's eyes was very interesting, and the little "o" shape of her mouth at understanding.

Unfortunately we missed seeing "North by Northwest" that was playing at the Parmount Theatre last Friday night, but there will be other times.

Sunday we went to the folks house that are clearing out their Grandfather's estate, they had taken our suggestions about how to clear out more things, and it appears to be working.  The Grandson was enjoying his excursions in Flea Market selling and is thinking of doing it on a sort of full time basis, "I don't have to go every weekend" he said, "I do need time for more stock" to wit his wife sort of rolled her eyes but admitted that it was fun "We just have to get rid of the stuff that is, although sort of collectable is in a way, junk"  They were lined up for a number of Gun shows to get rid of some of the fishing rods and reels and other odd items, "We're pricing it to go" she said.

We had fun looking for smaller items, but there were several old style clocks that had me very interested, one was an oversize coo-coo clock with a large door for the bird to come out, there was no inards, only the clock frame, but then it came to me, could we have installed a birds head and with an electronic device tell the hour with wierd sayings like in "The Munsters"?  It could be done, it would cost some funds but I knew of a college lad who loves that sort of wierd stuff.  But the other clock was more traditional and it had the face and hands (not a coo-coo clock) but a battery operated works could be installed.  So we bought them, and a few other delightfull things to add to the house,  but what really had everyone puzzled was several marble tombstones,  very old, where they came from no one knew.

The folks wanted to get them out of the house as they felt uncomfortable with them, so we took them off their hands for a small fee,  I told Sis we could put them in the garden until we found out where they came from, Doyle said to me that he loves a mystery and would look into it, although it could take time but we'll have them properly displayed with respect.

Now I must go, the fireplace person is calling me, something about the firebox---I guess it will need some repair.

Later Darklings

Sis and I all dressed up and ready to go