Of the fire and such update~~~~

Well my Darklings,

The King fire is about 35 percent contained if the winds don't pick up, so far it seems to be going in a North East direction but embers do fly up and start hot spots in other locals.

I've been praying for rain and cool weather to give the firefighters a chance, they've come as far away as Alaska and Florida, 5,000 of them, this is a horrendous fire.

Al and Doyle went up yesterday to see if Al could go to his cabin and in the afternoon they were letting some folks up there, and also Al wanted to see if any notices were posted about these lost dogs,  they didn't get back until late last night.

Al said that he lost his work shop and his non-working VW, he was glad he didn't have gas in the tank of that car or it would have been worse,  it seems that the back part of his cabin got badly scorched, and it appears he may have lost the bad deck of his cabin but so far it appears to be in tact,  so he got boards and he and Doyle put boards over the windows, and doors.

Put a big sign on it saying that it is owner occupied, and had salvaged family photo's which he was grateful to find unharmed.

There was no notice of any dogs missing answering to the two dogs he has.  So this morning we took them to the vet to see if they were micro chipped and they were not.  So the Vet gave them a full set of shots, advised what sort of food they should be fed incase they might have food allergies, and said that the taller dog was about 10 years old and the shorter one was about 8, Duke is male and Gabby is Female, and both are neutered, the Vet found the neuter scar on Gabby. 

So with all those shots the dogs are now sleeping the sleep of the just and medicated.   Al is making plans on moving one of his trailers back up to live in while he does repairs to his cabin, but it may be a while until his area gets the all clear.

Duke and Gabby have taken to sleeping on these rugs that I have in the kitchen towards one corner,  I was surprised to see the other day that Duke dragged one of the rugs to one spot and laid down there, and Gabby just crowded on it, so I moved the other rug there with their food and water bowls near them,  and it's a good spot just right where they can see all the doors, and yet be out of the way. 

They won't go outside unless one of us is with them, and has taken to accepting both Doyle and myself as part of their "pack". 

So for now Al will be staying with us but going back and forth until he gets a final all clear,  the question of the dogs are still up in the air, although both Belladonna and Weiner have accepted them.
They are house broken and very calm, Al is not sure if he wants to keep them, but we said to not to worry at this point in time. 

Take care of what needs to be done first.  So now Al and Doyle are working on plans, I'm leaving in a few minutes to put in a few hours at work, Sis said she'll do dinner as her clients are now coming to her home for their appointments.

And then I'll take a little time this evening to collect my thoughts to see what will be happening next.

I do know that I have a graveyard to set up for Halloween, so I need to go through and see what is being offered.

Later Darklings

Of Something completely Different----Belladonna my dog~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well there was breaking news that the F.B.I. has two suspects, and they have pictures on their web site.

For those of you back East in the Boston Area especially, go to the F.B.I. website and see if you recognize these men.

And now for something different.....I was asked about my little dog Belladonna.

Well how I found Belladonna is posted on my April 1, 2012 posting under "An addition to the Family"

She is a black and tan Chaiuaua(a little Mexican dog) about 2 years old now, her tan markings give her eyebrows, a tan muzzle and legs.  At first you think she might be a really tiny Doberman.  But she's not.

She had been abandoned and on that post you'll read how I found her.   She has been a wonderful little companion, one would think she'd be a bit nippy as most can be, but she is not that way.   However she will let me know if she thinks there is an intruder at the door.

She loves my sister and Doyle and loves playing with Coralline.  Most of the time when I go to work I have an elderly neighbor take care of her, which is fine for both of them for the companionship.   But if my neighbor has plans or is ill then I or Doyle will take her to a Doggie Day care that we like.

She is sweet and silly, brave and scared, inquisitive and shy at the same time.  And I spoil her terribly, I look for sweaters and tee shirts that have skulls on them, and at Halloween I have fun looking for cute things for her to wear, nothing silly, but I did find a pair of devilish horns for her to wear and she does with good grace.

Doyle and I try to sneak her in with us if we can in her doggie tote bag, at a few of the places we like to dine at and she is very good.   But of course there are places we can't take her, so we make arrangements for her to be baby sat.  Most of the time it is my Sister but my neighbor has always been happy to do it.

She sleeps at the foot of my bed when Doyle is around, but when he's not she loves to snuggle next to me.

I've found that by using these tea tree wipes that I find at Pet Food Express it helps keep her clean between baths and I use the Advantex II for flea treatment.  It seems to work best.

I've never clipped her nails, I have the vet do that.  And how well does she get along with her vet and staff?, well she hasn't bitten him and he and his staff are very gentle with her.

The only time she gets very distressed is 4th of July when fireworks are set off,  we have to give her a pill to calm her down.  

You will find mentions of her here and there in my previous posts.  

For years I never did have a pet, my life and my hours did not make it easy to have one,  when I was a little girl we had a cat from time to time, but my Father always had sneezing fits when one was brought into the house, so having a pet was not a good thing, and my Father loved animals, if he took his medicine he could be around a cat or dog for a short amount of time but day in and day out, well it was not a good thing.

We did have a parakeet named "Pretty Boy" that my sister won at a church bazaar, who was a silly thing and made us laugh with its antics.   One time the bird tried to land on Dad's head and grabbed some hair instead and flipped over hanging upside down, it was a little painful for dad.

My Uncle Mannie was bald and one evening we had him over for dinner with Grandma, because we were all sitting at the kitchen table Pretty Boy started flapping his wings at his cage door demanding to be let out.

Mom didn't want to but Grandma and Uncle Mannie said it was o.k. so Pretty Boy joined us at the dinner table flying to my shoulder then to my sisters and then back to his cage.  Suddenly he took off flew around the room (we had the windows closed) and decided to land on my Uncle's bald head, two feet and his tail, well my Uncle's head was slippery and Pretty Boy slid off and landed with a thump on the floor, we all looked at the bird and he walked over to a corner and started muttering to himself in the corner occasionally looking over his feathered shoulder and wondering why he couldn't land on that spot. 

Grandma said that Pretty Boy was embarrassed and went over and coaxed him onto her finger, brought him to the table and gave him a bit of bread crust, and he seemed to be happy.  We all laughed at what had happened.  We had him for nearly 8 years then one morning Mother woke up and found him dead on the cage bottom, we never knew what happened as he was perky the night before.  But Dad said sometimes that happens like a stroke or heart attack.   He had a nice funeral with a rose bush planted on top of him.

We never did have another pet after that.  We all were busy with schooling and such and now I have Belladonna.   I hope to have her for a long, long time.

Later Darklings

Vacation Diary part 1~~~~

Hello Darklings,

I'm making use of the wifi here. 

Well Darklings, I've visited Sterling Winery yesterday and enjoyed several of their reds.  Hard to say which I liked best and I'm reluctant to suggest anything to anyone as it is always a personal taste, in my opinion.

But I did enjoy the Moonlight Dinner on the Napa Wine train Friday night, the food was good, the company excellent,  the wine delicious and the Moonlight on the vineyards intoxicating, it almost made me want to HOWLLLL---but I didn't.   I was lucky to have booked it so far in advance as this one does sell out quickly.   If you are into trains and wines, be sure to check out the Napa Wine Train and book well in advance.

I was staying at a Best Western In At The Vines, lovely place.  But in the next hour I'm going to going to the Whitehouse Inn and indulge in a bit of hedonistic relaxation and stay there for the next 4 days.   I'm planning on a Napa River Cruise as well and I've added another winery on my list.

I've called my baby sitter and my 4 legged baby, Belladonna is doing fine, misses her Mommy but is being spoiled with walks and treats.

I hope to be able to find wifi service and tell you more of what I've seen and done.  But now time to check out and on to my next locations.

Later Darklings.

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy~~~~

Hello Darklings,

I have a little fishy tale to tell.  

Today one of my friends called me up and asked if I had nothing planned today.  I said "No" not desiring to go to the "Art and Soul" festival which at one time use to be fun, but now no longer holds any interest or pleasure for me.

Well the sweet Darkling came and picked me up and took me to her place to show her aquarium that she is setting up,  to do it right she told me will take several weeks to allow everything to settle in and properly filter before she even puts fish in.

I mentioned before because of all the chemicals that is put into our drinking water one can no longer put one's 10 cent gold fish into a bowl and expect it to survive with the water we have, you have to filter it properly. 

She told me that she wanted to make it bizarre and sort of Goth and I said jokingly "How do you Goth up an aquarium except to put Piranha fish in it and bones"  and she said "Forget the Piranha fish how about the bones?"   I have to admit I was stumped.  But since she offered to treat me to a late lunch we went to one of the better known pet supply stores.

I have to admit I was entranced by the Beta's or as they use to be known as "Fighting Fish", with the various colors and fin tails so sinuous, but we were looking for bizarre,  and I came across the very thing.  They have these various statues and such to put into an aquarium to add interest.  Ages ago it use to be the diver or a mermaid or a sunken ship or something cutesy.   But a small triceratops skull???   Yes Darklings a made for one's fish tank using those materials that are safe for fishes triceratops skull,  looking dead enough with bones enough.

I fell in love with it and so did my friend, so selecting that as well as a sufficient amount of black gravel it became the start for her bizarre Goth aquarium,  but when she showed me the size of the aquarium that she had I said it might not be enough for hidy places for her fish, so we looked around and found a human skull half the normal size but in size balance to the triceratops skull,  the background to the aquarium will be black as well so black background with black gravel those skulls in a stark setting with just enough light at night to be ghostly.

So I asked her what type of fish is she going to get, she said she wanted to be basic and get goldfish, I have to admit I groaned at the thought of something so mundane, but she had found a place that has gold fish that are almost all white the owner breeds them to be that way and they only have the tiniest aura of gold which gives them a ghostly look.  I can imagine them swimming in and out of the eye sockets of the skulls or picking bits of fish food off of the skulls. 

I asked my friend why she decided on an aquarium and she discovered she needed something relaxing, she had gone to the Montery Bay Aquarium and was entranced by the Moon Jellies and felt so mesmerized by them.   She had a spot in her home that was perfect for an aquarium so she went with the investment, she felt that it would be no harder to take care of than a kitty litter box and she'd get a mental benefit from it as well.

Considering her work schedule I knew that having a dog, cat or even a bird would be difficult but an aquarium would be perfect, especially for her bizarre tastes.

So in a few weeks when the Ph levels of her tank is just right I will go with her to purchase her fish and enjoy the total effect.   Already without the fish in it I find it absolutely morbidly beautiful.  And I think I'll plan on a two day trip to the Montery Bay Aquarium for a little relaxation.

Later Darklings

~~~Catching Up

Hello Darklings,

Work has been making demands of me, but I have to do it, it’s the money that pays the bills that get repairs done, and gives me the “filthy lucre” to buy beautiful goodies of which I have been having fun finding.

Shoes and purses, those accessories that a woman even an elder Goth woman can never have enough of and Nordstrom has been happy to oblige me.

I had fun buying a Pour La Victorie satchel, in Palermo style in white, black, beige with red handles. Fun and just right for summer to do business with, I also purchased Vince Camuto sandals styled in what they call Minter in black with a two inch heel and brass studs going down the front tongue, they’ll look so edgy with my chiffon black palazzo evening slacks, topped with a pale gold blouse. And to keep me warm when the evenings take a little chill a cashmere shawl in black with gold edging, you can never go wrong with black and gold or silver and black.

And considering the number of parties that I have been invited to that are now crowding my calendar, it’s a good thing I have several combinations of this style to make things look interesting. Fortunately I have lightweight tops in jewel colors that will help change my look.

If you, as an elder Goth are looking for more upscale clothing for the summer, scan through Nordstrom’s on line catalogue, with careful selecting you will find something that will suit your summer needs without looking like “Miami Vice”.

The weather has turned mild although windy but has improved enough that the foundation work has been completed, the new plumbing and wiring has moved forward with so much completed that we are ahead of schedule. The new laundry room is done, the basement storage area completely finished, lightened up and well lighted.

The only thing is waiting for the re-wiring to be done to the two original chandeliers and then they will be installed in their original locations.

Once the heavy work is done then on forward to re-plastering, fixing the areas that had to be damaged and carefully patching the original wall paper, and if this weather holds up we’ll have it done before winter sets, two of the windows on the weather side of the house had to be replaced which I was able to have perfectly reproduced.

Outside I’m replaced the gutters, but I’m going to have to wait on painting the house until next year, as well as fixing the driveway and restoring the garden, but my girl friend, who loves to garden, has at least cleaned up the jungle-like tangled mess so we can see the original bones of the garden’s layout and relying on old photos she may be able to determine what kind of plantings were done although I may make some changes.

On decorating the interior, that I will take very slowly, one room at a time if possible and live with the rest until it’s their time to be done, it’s really my intention to preserve as much of my Aunt’s house as possible including the interior, but some things such as curtains, drapes I’ll have no choice but to replace with something as close to the originals, I do have the photo’s which help. The first areas will be the Kitchen followed by the master bath room.

I can see that “spring fever” is hitting a number of our staffers here at work, it’s sort of a “Hey Mambo, Mambo Italiano” feeling, where you sort of dance a mambo dance because one just feels good.

For me it’s the new Johnny Depp movie “Dark Shadows” that opened, I’ve got to see it soon, bit by bit I’ve been buying the T.V. series on DVD, with everything going into re-runs I’m going to have fun during the warm summer evenings.

And I had fun at the Vintage Fashion Show that was a couple of weeks ago, as well opening Friday night at the Friends of the Library used book sale, so much so that I bought several boxes of books including the Horror short stories of Arthur Conan Doyle. But it’s so good to know that my money is going to a good cause.

Belladonna has been a good little doggie with all the repair work that’s being done, one of my more elderly neighbors have been kind enough to baby sit her while I’m at work, she says that Bella is easy to care for while she watches her favorite programs on ME T.V. and RETRO T.V. My neighbor has said to me that with these programs now showing, television has become more bearable for her, and with programming her Tivo she can record the ones that run late at night or two programs that come on at the same time.

The only time it’s a problem is when my neighbor has a doctor’s appointment, when that happens I make arrangements to place her in Doggie Daycare and she seems to enjoy the change of pace.

This last Mother’s Day, was another happy yet sad day for me and I’m sure of others, my beloved Grandmother died on Mother’s Day many years ago, and sadly some years later my Mother also died on Mother’s Day, the dates were slightly different but it was the 2nd Sunday in May each time. So I went to the cemetery to leave flowers on their graves in Memory of what wonderful ladies they were for raising such a ‘changeling child’ as me. I could not have asked for better or more patient women than they were. Dinning was difficult as every place was booked full, so I drove my vintage car along the roads that use to be the by-ways of long ago, to see where it will take me for a quiet celebration. I have never been disappointed and I wasn’t, I found an out of the way place that had excellent food and wonderful ambience. I was surprised that it wasn’t crowded but the waiter told me that for Mother’s Day it seems that they need places that can handle large groups and this little location was not geared for that. All in all a very relaxing day. Then back to work the next day…***sigh***such is life. Later Darklings.

An addition to the family~~~

Hello My Darklings,

After a period of gray, gloomy, rainy days, we are now having some sun-shine and relative warmth, which isn’t bad for an elder Goth, but still one has to use the sun screen and the wide brim hats because even now one can get a sun burn. I know Darklings, a sun burn?? In early Spring??? Well, yes. After all those months of winter and being in doors and covering up the skin has not had a chance to build up protection.

But if one wants to preserve ones’ skin it is not wise to try and get a tan, it prematurely ages you, you can develop skin cancer, and without UV ray sun glasses you can develop cataracts. But if you go out for just 15 minutes a day, even at 10 a.m. you will get enough vitamin D to help you. Although if you shun the Sun completely then it’s best to take vitamin D tablets.

And because of the rain I have not been able to do much on the foundation, however my construction major domo is seeing about upgrading the wiring and fuse box to handle the needs for the 21st century.

I have decided to go with a gas dryer, since the connections for one are already in place and we’ll include a smoke alarm as well as a carbon monoxide detector.

But that is why I’m not posting today. It’s for another reason.

I’m down sick with the flu and it’s a “beauty”. I was fine until Wednesday evening, but I had taken the day off to see about installing the new dryer, and I heard this whining coming from my neighbors’ yard. Now here is the sad thing Darklings, my neighbors’ house was into foreclosure, frankly I was glad to lose him, he and his family were hideous people. The kind that you Don’t want to be neighbors. And the rest of the neighborhood were also glad to see them go, but there was this whining from the back yard.

I looked over the fence but couldn’t see anything and it was seriously sprinkling but the whining was so pitiful, my friend was with me and he said it sounded like a small dog, so I called out “Here Baby, come here!” and out from under the neighbors’ back porch stairs was a little Chihuahua dog all black with tan markings, I knew immediately it was my neighbors dog “Bella”----they had abandon her! I was furious!

My friend brought out his double sided ladder and in the rain we climbed over the fence and rescued Bella, I knew her owners had been gone for nearly 5 days, they should have come back in that time to get her. I knew she had been drinking water with all the rain, but she was shivering.

So we took her into my house, dried her off, and I carefully fed her, I didn’t want her to throw up, and my friend and I tested the dryer to dry our jackets. It worked fine.

“Bella” fell asleep in the box I fixed up with a blanket. I tried my neighbors’ cell phone number but it was disconnected. What do I do? I took her the next day to this vet that had been recommended to me by my friend. After having a complete check out and with booster shots, she was given a clean bill of health she didn’t have a micro chip so I chipped her at this vet with my information and became her “Mommy” and for my efforts I came down with the flu. Oh well, one has to on occasion make sacrifices.

She’ll be going back for a follow up check up and the best we can determine is she is just over a year old.

“Bella” is now “Belladonna”, an appropriate name for a dog for an elder Goth, and I have to admit I went overboard on things for her, but I felt that she needed to know in some way she is loved, yes my Darklings, I’ve fallen in love with “Belladonna” and although I’m recovering from the flu, she cuddles up to me, lets me know when she needs to go to the bath room, she stays close to me, she let me bathe her (she needed it) and she has no objection to wearing doggie sweaters and t-shirts, even if they have skulls on them. She has also learned that going potty on special doggie pads is fine provided she knows where they are, she is a quick learner.

So is it appropriate for an elder Goth to have a pet? Yes, My Darklings, provided that you have the time and the inclination to care for and commit yourself to being its caregiver/provider, it is a long time commitment. If your life is very busy and highly social then a pet is not for you unless you can incorporate your pet into both your work and social life, fortunately “Belladonna” is so small that I can. I just have to be careful while work is being done on the house so that she doesn’t get hurt.

Right now as I type this she is sitting on her own little chair with a cushion and I hear her contently sighing. There will be times when I cannot take her with me as I know most places ban pets, and what I do recommend Darklings is to find out what places can and cannot take or deal with pets, Bella’s vet has also recommended several places that give excellent doggie day care for those times where it’s best for her to be cared for and if you are a pet owner look into that it’s worth the expense. So plan your trips and excursions carefully, the good thing with Bella is she can fit into a small carry bag or purse and seems to not have an issue with it.

It know it sounds so non-Goth, but who says you have to be pet less, you don’t and those times when you are home alone and watching a really frightening movie or the news, cuddling up to a warm, little thing that loves you unconditionally can be very good therapy.

Now I’m going to lie down and take a nap and try to get well, and Belladonna I know will snuggle right next to me.

Later Darklings.