Of Thoughts and Plans for this weekend~~~~

Hello Darklings,

I am so happy with my new work schedule, I have today off and already my sister is making plans for us to play "Hookey" today.  

We have an appointment for a mani-pedi to pamper ourselves and I've made my selection of nail polish, I think "Toxic Apple" by Wet and Wild will be perfect for the season of darkness and terror.  But I have also been leaning towards "Devil's Lure" by Revlon, I guess I'm going to have to flip a coin on that.

Speaking of nail poilish I have not seen anything Halloween-wise that has come out recently, of course it could be early, but it seems that Wet and Wild is offering what they offered last year, however I did pick up a bottle of "Poison Ivy" by Wet and Wild, I used a lot of it during Christmas and St. Patricks day.

The last few mornings have dawned chilly and nippy, yes fall is in the air with a vengence, athought the weather man says we will have some very warm days, and possible rain next week, it's already having a dusting of snow in the Sierra's.   But now people are worried about fires in the Oakland Hill's, I tremble at that, the Oakland Hills Fire storm of the 80's, my apartment went up in flames, 25 people lost their lives.

Sis says I still need to process that, and she's right.

And now Sis is saying that after our mani-pedi's we'll have lunch out perhaps at one of the places near Union Square, since we are going to S.F. for our treat.

Mmmmm and shopping---yes Darklings  I love to shop, at least window shop.

It also seems that the family intervention is going to have to be put on hold for at least a week, my sister-in-law called and said that the oldest Stooge, Coralline's older brother, has to have 3 wisdom teeth removed his other teeth are being pushed in crooked alinement, and he'll have to have braces to make sure they aline right. 

I asked her over the phone if that may happen to the other boys and it's possible it will with them, but Coralline's teeth are coming in fine but as soon as a wisdom tooth erupts it will be removed to avoid problems.  They are hoping to do the same with the boys

Now I must go, Sis is driving and we don't want to be late.

Later Darklings

Of exhaustion and planning for the week~~~~

Well Darklings,

I didn't get home til 8:30 p.m. it was a long, long day.   But with discussion and taking into account upcoming vacations etc.  we were able to come up with a month long plan for getting to work during the strike, should that happen.

For sure the plan will start on Monday with a review to see if there are any updates.

Those who live in or near S.F. on the S.F. side of the Bay will come in using either Muni or their cars and they will car pool where possible, and will start the morning session,  everyone else will car pool or take transbay Buses and using Muni to get to work between 12 and 1 p.m. and work till 8 p.m. that way an overlap of 3 hours morning and evening will be covered.  No midnight oil at all thank goodness.

And we also planned to cover any holes that would happen with those taking vacations.   

Moi is on the afternoon/evening shift but I will have every Friday off since I'm only to be working part time.  3 day weekends will spoil me.   I was so tired last night that Sis made me a grilled Cheese sandwich and I crashed into Bed.

Now I'm up and bright-eyed and somewhat 'bushey-tailed'.   I'm leaving in a few minutes to go to my brother's house, and spend the day there, helping Coralline and her Mom go through Coralline's closet then Sunday its up early and we go shopping.  We'll go the Saturday vigil mass, then I'll have dinner at Coralline's house, they are asking me to spend the night there as well so Coralline and I can have an early start Sunday.  So that's the plan.

Sis will be busy with her contractor on her house, Belladonna will stay with my elderly neighbor,  Doyle is out of town for the weekend.  So it seems that all plans are in place.   Coralline called me a few minutes ago and said "Guess What?"   What said I,  well her favorite craft place "Beverly's" is already getting their Halloween things out.  Including Black Flowers!!  she said excitedly.  Well I do need to freshen up my fabric bouquets, so I think we will also be doing a side trip as well. 

Hmmm I think when I have a chance I'll need to check out the Spirit Halloween web site.

Later Darklings

Of frustrations of medicine, wine, legal fees and The Addams Family~~~~~

Hello My Darklings,

Well I'm a little frustrated right now, I've been a very good "little girl" but because of the pain medications I'm on I can't go to a wine tasting, so I'm pouting a little.

Not that I have to take them all the time,  I did in the early part of my recovery and any wine, etc.,  was off limits, but now I only have to take it as needed.

But Doyle and the Doctor in their concern informed me "No wine before its time"  playing upon an old joke, but considering my current condition so true.

Doyle said there will be other times and he's right, I guess I'm just going through a frustrating period.

But on another note I've been in touch with my lawyer and he thinks there is going to be a breakthrough and we may not have to go to court.

When he sent copies of the bills of expenses accrued so far including the cost of a nearly new car to the other driver's lawyer, it seems he almost had an apoplectic fit or stroke or whatever and has been having serious talks with the man, even brought in a retired judge to tell him what the most likely outcome will be, given the mounds of evidence supporting our side and damming for his.

And it seems that this person is in line for a promotion and this could seriously harm his chances.   So my lawyer said to not be surprised if we get a very serious out of court settlement, but he'll know better in the next few weeks.   So I'll be going in to see him with my sister and Louise next week so he can project what my future expenses will be plus legal fees and such and make  a  very serious presentation.

In a way it's nice to have something hanging over someone else's head.  

My co-workers have been calling me to discuss some situations to be squared away with.   So the Doctor said that I can go in 1 day just to do a conference with staff, I must have my caregiver and the wheelchair even though my walking and strength has made great improvements.   He is concerned that once I get into the work environment I'll be like an old fire horse, I hear the bell and run to the fire.   And he's right.

I do have to confess though being at home for this long a period has given me some consideration to the idea of retirement, but I don't think I'm ready for it yet.  I think I'll know better once I'm back to working full-time.   Even my boss is wondering if there is a way I could retire and yet work on an hourly basis and it is possible.  So I'll keep that idea percolating on the back burner so to speak.

Doyle gave me a treat last night, he surprised me with the complete set of  "The Addams Family" episodes, I think the one with the spacemen was so funny and absurd but the 6 we saw last night were all funny, and it has given me more ideas for some fun things around the house.

But now Louise is here and we are going to the Spa so I can partake of that nice heated jacuzzi and a facial massage, she is going to have one too, my treat.  With Ella I've suggested something like this for her but she says she is not the Spa type,  so I'm going to have to put my "thinking cap" on.

Later Darklings

Holiday Plannings~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well we’ve worked out a Holiday schedule with Corallines parents, they will drop her off at my work on Friday’s when she’s let out of school and then we’ll travel home by public transportation, depending on how quickly we need to get home, so it may vary, we have Bart and Bus or Bus and Bus or Ferry and Bus, or maybe Doyle will pick us up depending upon his schedule.

Already I’ve made reservations to see “A Christmas Carol” at A.C.T., the S.F. Ballet’s “the Nutcracker”, and a Children’s Tea at Dunsmuir House where we’ll also take in a tour of the huge Mansion.

Other things on our agenda will be the Oakland Zoo’s Christmas lights, and taking in a local Christmas Tree Lane and maybe one or two other things, but we’ll see.

We will buy a live tree for the Family Parlor, but I’m purchasing an artificial one for the Formal Parlor (aka the Asylum).  We’ll buy the fake one this Friday, I’ll get off work as soon as they drop Coralline off and we’ll spend the weekend trying to assemble it and decorate it, but we’ll buy a real one  a week or two after, I am concerned about it being a fire hazard, but we’ll see.  My sister when putting some things in the Storage Room, came across boxes of old Christmas ornaments, so we’ll use those and if we don’t have enough I’ll buy more.  Some of them appear to be very old.

One thing we will do this Saturday evening is there is a tree lighting ceremony in a local community so we’ll attend that and get a bite to eat out at one of their local eateries.

I’ve not told Coralline what we are going to do, sometimes it will be all three of us and sometimes, depending up both my sisters’ and Doyle’s schedule either all of us or just Coralline and me.

It has been ages since I was a child doing child like things, my sister had that advantage when her two daughters were growing up.  And she hopes to have some fun with her grandchildren, right now it looks like the due date for Grandchild number 2 will be the beginning of January of 2013, and the older one has just turned two.  Marie is going to see her daughter and son-in-law the week after Christmas, her other daughter will be coming by as well; last night I heard my sister complain about how available jobs forces families to be miles apart, at least she’ll be able to take the train to Reno instead of driving all the way there, they live just outside of Reno so her son in law will come and pick her up at the station.

But she told me that with Coralline we both will have a measure of fun, Doyle is in the same position as Marie, his children will be visiting other family members, so he’s going to see them for a few days before Christmas and be back by Christmas Eve, so he’s hoping to join us for some of the Holiday doings.

He feels bad that he’ll be leaving me alone for a little while but I told him I’ll be so busy getting the house ready for the holiday dinner I won’t have a chance to miss him, except late at night.  At least both he and my sister will be here for the Christmas Dinner.

And I’m certainly looking forward to that.

Later Darklings

Ahhhhh.....***sigh****...Recap~~~~

Ahhhhh****sigh**** Darklings,

We survived the Thanksgiving Holidays, despite disaster, with laughter and dark thoughts, and now to re-cap and bring you up to date my Darklings.

On our Mundane Friday, Coralline found the Pet Cemetery in the farthest back portion of the property; a very adventuress and momentous discovery for the both of us as I was not aware of its existence, having just listed that area to simply be cleaned up, now with this discovery I have another project to enjoy doing.

Our brother and his friend with his truck moved the few pieces of furniture from our Sisters’ storage unit to the house and put them either into place in her rooms or in the upper storage room.  Sis could finally sign off on the rented storage unit and be grateful she no longer has to pay out that money any more, she also claimed her car that was in storage at a garage and has it parked in our driveway off the street. 

Since there is a two car garage in the back of the property that I keep my vintage Buick in, she can put her car in the other bay, and I can put up a canopy to cover my car, although Doyle has suggested that since there is un-used space behind the garage that is not being used for anything we could extend the back of the garage and move his vintage police car from his storage unit into the garage and still have space for another car if need be.   It sounds promising, something I’ll have to look into.

Sis finished updating her work schedule and started putting her things into place and getting her rooms organized while Coralline and I ran errands.

That Friday evening Doyle came home happy, the assignment that he was on came to a happy successful conclusion so there was a little celebration, while Coralline told Doyle about her wonderfully macabre discovery, so much so that both of them went back out in the dark to look at the hidden graves by flashlight.  Doyle’s reaction when he came back in later was to remark “Steven King Lives”.

When Coralline and I were running our errands we discovered that the Kardashian sisters have come out with a holiday line of nail polish, and we saw “nail polish by the yard” being sold, little bottles of different colors in a plastic tube a yard long going for $9.99 at our CVS drug store.  I thought what a wonderful fun gift, which I will cover further in another post.

Saturday of course was the Dickens Faire, which I’ve already told you Darklings about, the upside is now Coralline wants to read Dickens and the Sherlock Holmes stories and Edgar Allen Poe works as well a Jules Vern, I told her that since we had those books in the Library aka “Librarium” she was welcomed to read them here at the house, but Sis and I are thinking about buying Corallines’ own copies for Christmas along with other wonderful things.

Sunday, what fun we had on Sunday, instead of going to Target or Wal-mart we went to JC Pennys to buy Coralline clothes for her wardrobe, my sister and I had a chance to go through what she already had and her Mother admitted that Coralline had outgrown much of what was in her closet, but they didn’t have a chance to go shopping because of the boys sporting events taking up a lot of their time.

So my sister and I solved the problem, and shop we did, we found several dresses for her that had black backgrounds but were softened with a bit of color or ruffles and not baby like at all, jeans and pants in black, tops and blouses and a couple of cardigans for the chilly days, shoes, socks, undergarments, slippers and sleep wear, two coats to keep her warm, and a black beret which she fell in love with, clips for her hair and a cute purse to keep whatever she thought important inside of.

But she wanted another long skirt which no store had in her size, Sis said it would not be a problem to have made (she is clever with sewing).  And she was hoping to find a ruffle Victorian type blouse, no such look but since we know her size we can look for something like that in second hand shops.  And with many of them coming up with Christmas things we may get lucky.

Coralline said she’d like to have a separate wardrobe left at my house of things she’d like to wear around the house, so we did double up on some things that we hung up in her closet at my home.  Sis had fun finding a few things for her grandchild and grandchild to be while we were shopping, but she said she will send gift certificates to her adult children, much easier she said.

We had already talked to my brother and his wife and agreed no gift exchange, but secretly Sis and I will surprise Coralline with a few special things that she is not to tell her brothers.

Are we “corrupting” our niece??  Of course we are, but in our defense, and it was my sister who suggested it, we were really doing a sort of home education for the child.  Instead of being subjected to sports all the time, we were balancing her creative instincts and what we seemed to see is her inclination toward our sort of thinking, but we had to be careful that we didn’t run counter to what our brother and sister in law wanted for her, however so far it seems that harmony reins in their home with this balancing act.

I did tell my sister that we were still in the “honeymoon” phase, it could completely fall apart by the middle of next year, but she, having raised two of her own didn’t think so, since we were only having her for the weekends and the school breaks and as long as she maintained good grades and a positive attitude even if its darkly thinking it could become a very good thing, for all involved.

As I looked at this child who was lying on her stomach on the rug in front of the Victorian fireplace reading my old copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales with Belladonna snoozing next to her, relaxing before we left to take her home, as the cd of Christmas Harp music played on the cd player that looked like it came out of something from the 1930’s, I could see that my sister was right, and perhaps it was expanding our own world as well.

I could see a bit of my sister and myself in this child, mentally I prepared myself for mud on the carpets, perhaps a stray cat or two, tantrums as she gets older and questions, lots of questions, but my concerns were temporarily dispelled when Coralline looked up from the book and petting the sleeping Belladonna asked “When are we going to buy a spooky Christmas Tree?”

Later Darklings

After Halloween and possible changes~~~~

Hello My Darklings,


My little Halloween Party was a nice success, we managed to raised $300 to send to the disaster relief fund for the people who suffered and survived Hurricane Sandy.



A few of my friends brought over more finger food, and yes, Doyle was right with the extra goodies that my friends brought, we have more than enough goodies that I purchased to serve as dinner and lunch for the next few days.



In spite of the threat of rain in our area I did have quiet a number of little trick and treaters, some of them barely 6 or 7 months old dressed as pumpkins or teddy bears, excellent costumes to keep them warm. Most of the children were any where from 2 or 2½ to 10 or 11 years old, not too many of the older ones, although my neighbors daughter is 13 and she still loves to go trick or treating, she came home early did her homework (I just can’t believe that teachers would hand out homework on Halloween), got dressed in her costume as “Queen of the Night” with artificial black roses and all.



She came by about 8 p.m. with her Mom and Dad in tow and I gave her a hefty amount of candy, my house was the last one for them to visit so I invited them in for food and drinks (nothing intoxicating for their daughter I can assure you).



I told them that I was going to show “Poltergeist” in about an hour and she pleaded with them to watch it. So they stayed with a promise by her that even if she was tired the next day she would get up to go to school.



Their daughter Miranda and they had never been inside my Great Aunt’s house, but had been watching all the work being done and curiosity got the better of them, so leaving Doyle to do Host duties I took them on a tour of the place, explaining some of the work to be done and what had been done.



Of course it was then that I realized that Doyle with his own sense of perverse humor, had put up signs in various areas of the house with beautifully Gothic style signs, he labeled the kitchen as the “Crematorium,” my basement laundry room area as the “dungeon,” the area where I keep my wines as “The Cemetery”, the master bed room as the “Morgue,”(trust me Darklings for a Morgue it can get lively) the guest bathroom (and I found out later the Master bedroom bathroom) as the “Laboratory”, at the library he put up “Cabinet of Curiosities” (which I found quite right), the living room was the “Asylum”, and the dinning room as the “Torture Chamber”, the closet where I keep some of our coats and my guests can hang their coats had a sign that said “Witches Broom Parking”, where he found these signs I have no idea but I felt they were just right and decided that I would leave them up after Halloween.



Of course my neighbors were a bit puzzled but thought that it was all in good fun, until I mentioned that I was going to keep the signs up, I had so much fun enjoying the looks they gave, much like the looks that people give when they walk into the Addams Family house, Doyle didn’t label all the rooms but we’ll get around to that.



Miranda thought it would be fun to live in a house like mine and I said she needed to save up her money and get a well paying job because it does require serious up keep. She saw the full length portrait of my Great-Aunt and was in awe, I remember that same feeling when I first met my Great-Aunt in person for the first time.



Most of my trick or treaters came by between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. and it did do some misty drizzle, on and off, and then by 8:30 the rain came down in earnest. I was glad that I had the werewolf on the porch instead of in the yard; it prevented its electronics from getting damaged.



By 11 p.m. after the movie was over it was time for my guests to go home, yes Thursday was a work day, but I was glad that I had taken that day off, it gave me a chance to go to Spirit to get some 50 percent off on some goodies and then I stopped by another favorite store of mine called Gaslight Emporium, they offer the most delicious treats and seasonal gifts, but I just had to purchase these display apothecary bottles that said “Hemlock”, “Belladonna” and “Arsenic”. There were other bottles that offered “Spider Web Essence”, “Tail of Rat”, “Black Spider Oil”, “Skull Powder”, and a tin that said “Spider eggs”. I understand that these display bottles and such can be found on line, or one can make one’s own with graphics and one’s own computer.



And a lovely sign that said “Welcome to the Haunted House---enter at your own risk” in beautiful elegant lettering. I’m going to put that next to the door bell.



Then I came home to do the final clean up, washing and re-arranging. Friday and Saturday I had to put in long, long days to catch up with my work and at least on Saturday we could set the clocks back one hour so that we are in harmony with the rising and setting of the Sun, which means that darkness will fall sooner, which is fine for me.



But when I came home on Saturday, I had a bit of a surprise from Doyle, it was going on 7 p.m. and I took BART and bus home glad that everything had been caught up and that dinner was going to be either heated in the oven or microwaved, when I saw this delivery truck in front of my house, I thought that it might have been for one of the neighbors, considering that the foreclosed house had recently been bought, but no it was for my home.



I went in and found Doyle in the kitchen with the delivery men setting up a brand new but 1950’s retro looking refrigerator in the kitchen in place were the old one was, I asked Doyle where was the old one and he said in the Pantry Room (aka “The Columbarium”) next to the freezer and not to worry none of the food had spoiled.



I said nothing and just watched as they got it in place and plugged it in; Doyle tipped them for their efforts in moving the old one and moving in the new one.



I asked him what this was about; I said I loved the retro look of it, it reminded me of the old Frigidaire that use to be in my Parents home, but this new one is frost free and an energy saver, just like the old one that had been moved into the pantry room.



Doyle told me that he saw how I was trying to put refrigerated items in the old refrigerator, and yes granted it was the smallest possible one that my Great Aunt had bought since she was only shopping and cooking for herself since she no longer was giving parties and the other one had stopped working. I had been planning on getting a larger model and I loved the retro look it went well with the 1950’s O’Keefe and Merritt stove and I was going to put the old one into the pantry to hold extra items that had a long refrigeration life, like soft drinks, beer, International delight Pumpkin spice creamer and anything for parties. And even though I had the freezer for frozen items it didn’t work very well for those things one had to keep cold but not frozen, like Jello in the shape of a brain.



Doyle wanted to surprise me and he did!!! He said that with my Sister moving in that it would also be good to have extra space for any specialty foods that she liked, which was right because I was not aware of her food preferences.



So Doyle fixed dinner while I got comfortable and we relaxed eating dinner in the kitchen.



That is when Doyle brought up something that I had only been toying with, hiring a cleaning service on a regular basis. He made some very good points about that, I mean personal things like washing our own clothes (Doyle prefers to do his own), and sheets and towels I certainly can do, and washing our own dishes and pots and pans, but he said given the overall size of the house it made sense to have a cleaning service come in once a week to clean and then all I’d have to do is just some touch ups here and there.



I really like the idea but I was concerned about security, he said he could “vet them” out. And my real jewelry I could keep in the safe, he also said that once I have the back garden and front yard designed the way I want I should consider a hiring a gardener to mow the lawn and trim back the bougainvillea, my retired friend Fred who loves to garden but doesn’t have space for one can come out and work in the yard with the plantings and I could pay him for his work.



I have to say his ideas did have merit and was on the lines of what I was thinking about and I could afford it given my income from my job and the income from the trust my Great Aunt had set up. It was just a question of re-budgeting the finances, considering that most of my credit cards are nearly paid off and I did save up money for the wine trip I took earlier this year. Doyle said he would contribute to it since he also “made his own messes.” So I told him to go ahead and look into it.



Doyle remembered some of my unhappy dealings with previous “boy friends” and suggested that we draw up an agreement, anything that he bought for the house would be given as a gift to me and he would not dispute it, and also what we felt would be fair on other items such as food, utilities and such. I told him that I felt comfortable with our arrangement and knew he’d never be like some of those “men” that appear on “Judge Judy”. But Doyle is a stickler for what is right and proper, so I agreed to the idea.



There was one other thing Doyle brought up, he said he was moving out of his old apartment and moving his files and such into a studio apartment for when he needs time and space when he’s working on a case and needs to be totally focused on it. He told me where and I was delighted because it was in a building less than a block away, he said that by shrinking down his space he could claim most of it for his at home office for tax purposes, and the rent was far cheaper than where he was before and he had a place to park his car instead of on the street or in my driveway. Considering that he spends most of his time at my place it made sense for him to have his “man cave” closer, considering that his old place was several miles away.



All in all very good news.



So with this Sunday with everything shifted to standard time, I have a lot to think about, especially as the nights grow darker and colder sooner. And many changes going to happen.



Later Darklings

How do you pack for a trip

Hello Darklings,

Doyle and I are making our arrangements for our weekend trips that are coming up and I’ve had several of you ask “how does one pack for a trip?”




The reason behind this question is that lots of time it’s a last minute washing of clothes and hurried packing for most people, fully understandable if it’s a last minute un-expected trip.



Whereas some of you have said that I seemed to not have that problem. Darklings trust me I do, but I plan for it.



One thing that helps me is that I am only packing for myself; I do not have to make sure a husband has packed his shaving kit or a toothbrush, extra socks or underwear or that the children have enough changes of clothing and all their medicines that might be needed for scratches, ear aches and other sundry aliments that children develop. For me as a single person that is not my worry, but it is a worry for all you “married” Goths, which I understand and fully sympathize with.



But Darklings, I do not have that burden of responsibility. And Doyle is a “big boy” all grown up so he’s on his own.



Another thing is that I rarely take the airplane; I prefer to drive or take the train, and because of that preference I do not have to worry about my shampoo, toothpaste or nail scissors being confiscated. And train travel is so much more relaxing and glamorous, besides I can get by without washing my hair for 3 days, but I always book a room on the train because I cannot do without washing my body.



Except for the recent accident train travel is relatively safe, not like traveling by car.



Now keeping in mind that I am packing for either train, and auto and not airplane I can tell you how I pack for my trips.



Let us say you are packing for yourself, you are either driving or taking the train or a more mundane type of travel taking the Greyhound bus (how plebian but sometimes necessary). With the Bus you should limit yourself to one large bag and a good size tote.



Since I have plenty of room in my home and I know I’m not going to be having any party plans, I set up my suitcases in my dinning room---the major suit cases are open on the table with a heavy duty bath sheet (oversize bath towel) covering the table to prevent scratches from the suitcase hardware. Smaller cases are opened and set upon the chairs.



With all of the cases open it would be easy to see what is going where. And depending on the type of travel will also limit the number of suitcases as well. Remember Bus travel is fine but you also have bag limitations.



Next take a look at where you are going, what do you plan to do, what might you be doing as well as the weather conditions.



Now I was planning on a couple of glamorous things like the Moonlight Dinner Wine Train and I wanted an evening gown for that, so that went into my vintage Samsonite suitcase which is set up with folding racks to hold it almost crease free, I knew what shoes and under garments to go with it so that went into the same bag, I pack the shoes in a cloth drawstring bag to prevent the soles from soiling anything else, I also pushed my nylons that were in baggies to prevent snagging, into the toes to keep their shape, as a matter of fact if you look at how shoes come packaged at the shoe store packing tissue into the toes are a good way to keep your shoes in shape when you have them on a rack in your closet.



I also packed another evening gown for any other event along with its attendant undergarments, the same shoes worked for both gowns.



Next I factored the number of days I would be out of town, taking into account the day I would leave and the day I would be returning, so that would tell me how many under garments (bras, panties etc) I would need, I also factored one extra set in case of an emergency. I was not planning on doing any laundry while I was on vacation, and I did not know if the places I would be staying at had laundry facilities, if you are planning to be on the road for a while and want to pack light, then knowing if a place has a laundry is very important. But I’d still pack at least 8 changes of underwear for a one week trip.



Then I looked at the weather conditions, so combining the weather conditions, the types of things I would be doing, I was able to figure out what clothing I would need to pack and types of shoes.



Going with a neutral palate mostly black with gray in the clothing, it was easy to accessorize with gold, silver and red. I had a lovely red scarf that was very versatile and my wide brim straw black hat for day use. The jewelry I wore was costume which looked simple and classic and easy to replace, never take your good expensive jewelry, keep that locked in your safety deposit box at the bank while you’re gone and if you are doing something rugged do not wear any jewelry at all.



Another neutral palate is tan and brown with cream or white in clothing.



So a good pair of walking shoes for street walking, sturdy comfortable tennis shoes for rough adventures (my river cruise was one of them), my bedroom slippers (low heeled mules they’re called), for evening wear but not in an evening gown, a pair of black low heeled shoes, slip on shoes for pool wear (I found a darling pair at Wal-mart) several pairs of socks for tennis shoes, and the walking shoes, several pairs of inexpensive nylons (this is hosiery not panty house, you need a good garter belt for this) for the evening gowns and skirts, knee high socks to wear under the better slacks, bras, underpants, garter belt (I never wear panty hose); nightgown and robe, 3 pairs of slacks, 1 calf length skirt, 1 jeans (in black), 1 red shawl (light wool); 5 blouses in black (wash and wear always helps, two of them long sleeve for dressier evenings), 8 t-shirts in black with long sleeves, one gray sweater casual and one black sweater slightly formal, one bathing suit and cap (so hard to find), and a terry robe to wear over the wet suit to soak up water and a towel if you are at a place that does not offer pool towels. I used the terry robe mostly when I was in the outdoor Jacuzzi. I also had a set of lounge pajamas if I felt just laying around in my bedroom reading or watching television during the early evening.



All my night things for bed and lounging as well as my regular undergarments I put into one bag, my slacks, blouses, t-shirts and jeans and the two sweaters and shawl and scarf I put into another.



The items for my evening gowns I put into the same bag as the gowns plus my skirt.



My swim suit and robe, beach towel and pool shoes I put into another, you can include a simple drawstring bag to hold your glasses, sunscreen, and a book for the pool. If you can find a drawstring bag with a waterproof inner lining that helps for when you have to leave and your swimsuit is not dry, you can pack it in that bag and keep the dampness away, then when you arrive at your next destination or home take the damp things out to air dry or toss the bag with the damp swimsuit and towel into the trunk of the car, this will keep the interior of your suitcase dry.



My other shoes I put into another bag and each pair of shoes had their own draw string cloth bags to prevent them from rubbing against each other. You can roll up socks and stuff them into the shoes to help with their shape; nylons should be put into zip lock baggies to prevent them from snagging.



My cosmetics and such I put into another bag including my hot curlers and medicines for upset stomach, scratches, cuts, eye drops etc. I have a small jewelry bag that I put into the suit case that carried my evening gowns.



I also had three purses, one for my formal evening gown, one for evening but simple in style and one for day when I was shopping, wine tasting, seeing the sights or on the road. The two dressier purses were put into cloth draw string bags to protect them from damage and were placed in the Samsonite bag with the evening gowns.



Now if where I was going was experiencing cold weather and/or rain I would include a raincoat or trench coat, as well as a very warm coat and shoes for rain and an umbrella or rain hat although the rain hat is more versatile.



Now some people would say that is far too much but I was gone for almost two weeks on my first part of the trip and then a week for the second part. On the second part I didn’t need an evening gown and I could pair things down quite a bit.



But it was so nice to use my Granny’s Samsonite and my Diane Von Furstenberg luggage. Granny’s also included a cosmetic case which I put my curling iron into. Of course while in Lodi I did not take the Samsonite, but because I had purchased so many things I did buy a Jennifer Lopez weekender bag to hold all those things in one area, as a matter of fact it is wise to buy a collapsible duffel bag like at Wal-Mart to hold your purchases and souvenirs that way nothing gets lost, or use collapsible crates but I had them filled with larger purchases.



For used laundry I had a large mesh laundry bag which held everything except the nylons, the used ones I put into a labeled baggie then into the mesh laundry bag, the evening gowns of course were put back into their suitcase for careful dry cleaning.



A number of places offer irons and ironing boards, but some places don’t. I would call or check on line to see if they offer that and laundry services as well. But if you are driving and going some place that does not have that amenity, I recommend buying a small portable ironing board that can be set on a table and a light weight iron, not those travel irons, they are next to useless.



I have to say that it is nice to be able to stay in one place and from there go forth and look at all the sights there are to see, which, if I could have done that I would have, but I had to decide on the length of time of things and my finances.



But next time I will plan to stay at one place and settle in nicely there.



Since Doyle and I are going on several weekend trips, leaving Friday and coming back Sunday I will use only one bag and that will be the Jennifer Lopez weekender.



Packing for a weekend is different, again a bag for laundry, and again looking at what will you be doing and what is being offered at where you’re staying. Since the weather will be cool I’ll be packing one pair of jeans for day and one pair of black slacks for any fancy dinning, if we do that. However Doyle has suggested that I pack a 2nd pair of Jeans for just in case.



Simple fold up slippers and flannel pajama’s and a flannel robe, after all we are staying in a rough and tumble location, my walking shoes will double for dinning out when I wear my slacks, nothing overly fancy, warm long sleeve sweater tops, and a couple of tee shirt tops, a warm jacket for the ghost walk, and a heavy sweater for day. And 4 changes of underwear, and 4 pairs of socks. A warm scarf and a “boonie hat” for day to keep the sun out of my eyes. The boonie hat folds up and packs nicely, and sunglasses for daylight, always a plus to save one’s eyesight.



This selection may change if the weather remains very warm during the day although I do know in the hills it tends to get very cool.



But for any weekend you need to plan again on the events that you will be doing and the weather, your choices maybe different or similar.



If you are packing to get as much as possible into a small bag for a plane trip then rolling your clothing neatly is the best way to conserve space, stuffing socks and/or ties, or scarves into shoes help, but putting cosmetics into baggies help prevent spillage, some people suggest packing things such as underwear and shoes into large clear baggies, that way if you have to take things out of your bag at an airport things can be clearly seen, and things are not messy and minimum delay at the security check points. Some people have also suggested that if possible buy your hair shampoo, deodorant, nail clippers and toothpaste at your destination.



No matter what you do, you have to decide what you cannot live without when you travel, for some people it is a sleep mask or neck pillow. Because my skin is sensitive I have to have a fresh bar of Dove Soap for Sensitive skin and hypoallergenic hair shampoo, the same with deodorant, and a bottle of Aveno cream for my hands and feet. And gloves for day and night, for warmth and to protect my hands, I wear cheap cotton gloves, such as those used by photographers or archivists, at night after I put on my hand cream in the evening.



Gloves my Darklings are so important, to protect one’s delicate hands, I use them for gardening, cleaning, washing dishes, that way they never become dry and chapped.



For packing for a business trip will be completely different and I’ll cover that in another post.



The website Travellerspoint at www.travellerspoint.com/packing-tips.cfm offers an excellent series of ideas on packing for any length of trip.



Doyle would love for us to stay at either the Yosemite Lodge, the Wawona or the Ahwanee when we plan to go to Yosemite, but that won’t be for a couple of years, I think the Ahwanee would be very lovely to stay in while we take in the sights of the Valley. Dinner at the Ahwanee I would have to have either my better dresses or evening gowns, it depends on how I feel and what events we’ll be seeing.



But we’ll have to see how the Hanta virus is going to unfold. And unfortunately they do not allow dogs in the rooms but they do have kennels near the stables, but I would prefer to have Belladonna stay with my sitter or a very good boarding kennel.



For the Avenue of the Giants and Trees of Mystery, I’d have to find a nice place to stay while we tour all of that, as well. Plans to be thought of, places to consider, research to do.



Later Darklings.