Of a meaning of a word~~~~

 Dear Darklings,

Even with all the heat I managed to find something that describes my inner Gothic  feelings.   It's not so strange to walk among the tombstones, to read the epitaths of lives long and short lived, to view the various carvings and markings to understand how the death of one is expressed in the grief of those who remain.   So to find a word that describes what one desires, is so helpful.

And now I wish for the heat to go, the Fog to return to drip its heaviness off of leaves and outline spider webs like diamonds from nature, to muffle one's tread and remind us of the coolness of the grave.  

No I'm not ready to drop dead, but I am so tired of this Barbie Bikini Heat!

Later Darklings

Of Halloween Planning and a return of the heat and other gloulish things~~~~

Hello Darklings,

I have not be posting much of late, well I have to admit I've been working on the menu for the halloween party and sending out invitations.   I do not expect any RSVP, I just said "show up when you can it will go till 1 a.m.  1 a.m."  because at 2 a.m. we set the clocks back one hour  so one more hour to party.

I've also invited everyone on my block to attend, it does help, that way we keep our neighbors happy, especially when they are invited.

I've been able to get more Vampire Wine and Aplotic Dark,  now for the children I have a Halloween punch that will be just right for them, but I know that some of them will prefer cola or 7-up, so that will be available as well.   Coffee and tea for those driving.

It's a combination of Pot Luck as well as what I'll be serving as "finger food" and a few main meals.  But there is so much wonderful recipes being offered.

The decoration on the inside of the house is done and Doyle and Brian have been working on the outside, we have skeletons all over the place in different poses, doing different things, Brian was able to get a really great deal on pose-able  skeletons and Thank Goodness I have the space in the basement and Garage to store them.

But for the last few days we've been having a heat wave up to the 90's inland,  a few days ago though I woke up to Fog, wonderful glorious Fog!  And then Bam!!! The Heat!   Oh well as long as the weather is mild for Halloween is all I ask.

We've just recently had a ghoulish thing happen a day or two ago a human skull with some bones attached were found on Bailey Road by some hikers, it appears it had been in the ground for some time, I.D. will take some time.   In the last few years skulls have turned up in a waste disposal plant, under a freeway, up on Skyline Blvd with Mardi grah beads, all  in the last 2 to 3 years.  Is is possible with the lack of rain that these skulls are finally coming to the surface?   Who knows.

Now before I forget I have here the type of Black Halloween punch that I will serve to the children the receipe is very easy, and if you want you can add a kick to it for you adult trick or treaters.

• 1 (.13 ounce) envelope unsweetened grape soft drink mix
• 1 (.13 ounce) envelope unsweetened orange soft drink mix
• 2 cups white sugar

• 3 quarts cold water
• 1 liter ginger ale

Directions  

• Prep  10 minutes Ready In 1 hour

1. To make a frozen hand, wash a disposable glove, fill with water, seal with a rubber band and freeze until hard.
2. Stir together grape soft drink mix, orange soft drink mix, sugar and water until solids are dissolved. Combine with chilled ginger ale just before serving. Dip the frozen hand briefly in warm water, then peel off the glove. Float the prepared hand in the punch bowl for a ghastly effect.
3. In making the frozen hand you can add a bit of red food coloring to make it look ghastly. Do not add any dry ice as that will take the fizz out of the ginger ale,   For an adult version add Vodka, but make sure it's properly labled.    Enjoy

Of More Spooky Movie Viewing~~~~

Dear Darklings,

I had to run errands out to Berkely well up into the hills, this is where a long time friend now lives and I have to admit although beautiful (and her house is georgeous built in the 1930's)   I think I'm happy being a "flatlander".

The streets are very narrow so narrow that the cars have to partly park on the sidewalks to be sure Fire Trucks can get by.   And twisty, and steep.   I'm glad my modern car is an automatic if I drove my vintage car I would have burned out the clutch!

But looking at all of that I was reminded of the horrifying and tragic Oakland Hills Fire that killed 29 people and I don't even want to get into the the loss of homes.  

I asked her about her choice and she said "It's perfect!"  all I could do was inwardly shudder.

But the reason why I was visiting her is I found among things my sister and I were going through in the old attic were news clippings of things my friend had done, as well as some trophies and photographs.   I called her and she said bring them by.

We chatted and had coffee and mini-cakes (got the recipe for them) and generally got caught up.  

Driving home I decided to take the "land routes" home no freeway for me, as I was going past the Paramount Theater my eyes got as round as saucers and I said "Yipppieeeeee!!!!"   The last week of October is going to be fabulous for me, first Dracula at the Alameda Theater and then "Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstine"  at the Paramount!!!   On Oct. 30th!!!!

I talked to my sister and we agreed if we can get everything ready in advance by 5 p.m Friday with only doing food touch ups on Saturday Oct 31 we are going to the Paramount!!!!

Oh Yes Darklings it is a comedy, but SUCH FUN!!! 

And I have never seen this one on the Big Screen, I'm certainly NOT going to pass that Up!   Would You???   Of Course Not!!!

I mean who says Elder Goths can't have fun?!  Not me!

And I have a cartoon clipping to share with you, and at this time of the year Yes it is perfect!

Later Darklings

Update and Rain and a bit tired~~~~

Hello Darklings,

We had rain yesterday!!!  Oh granted not much but it felt so good that I even danced out in it.  Well as well as someone my age can dance.  Doyle is worried I'll come down with a cold, I understand his concern.

But the rain yesterday was not even predicted, it was as much a surprise to the weatherman as to everyone.  But it felt good.   And it was cool nice and cool, so much so that yesterday Sis and I went up into the storage attic, its a nice finished space to go through boxes of records albums, yes old fashioned L.P's.

But I'll tell you about that another time.

The rain did wonders for the garden, even the plants were perked up,  I had planted Autumn Sage and it has attracted the hummingbirds and butterflies (what's left of them) and other insecta but the spicy scent is just wonderful.   We are hoping that the rain is a serious promise of more to come.  But Not on halloween please.

I have been busy, being called in to fill in empty slots at my old work place, late vacations, an accident, getting children settled in school various reasons like Mother-in-Law visiting.  That one was a hoot!  

But I am tired Darklings, things do catch up with me, I'm not as spry as I use to be, thank goodness for aspirin or Tynoldo which ever works best.  But I muster on,  

I'm having fun finding smaller hard resin decorations for display, and Spirit on line has not disappointed me.  I also found at one of the Grocery Stores a pumpkin style lemonade decanter for punch with a spigot,  as well as one's where it has paper chake boards so I can write on it what type of "poison" is in it.  Yes it's time for my Normal Shopping!

I'm holding off on buying candy I'm going to wait until about 2 weeks before Halloween that is when the best buys show up.   But this weekend I'll be decorating the inside of the house, while the Blue Angels fly over head----Yes it's Fleet Week, my brother and Doyle are taking the children to see the ships and the Blue Angels while Sis and I decorate with our cousin helping us.   She said she hardly gets any children where she's at and wants to be at my place for the festivities, she'll have a reliable house sitting at her place to hand out candy for just in case.

But I just wish I didn't feel so tired, Doyle wants me to have a check up just to make sure everything is fine.  Well I'll do it to please him. 

We've been having fun watching "Scream Queens"  with Jamie Lee Curtis, it is hokey, tacky over the top satire,  with every cliche from every bad teen horror film you've ever seen including "Texas Chain Saw Massacre".  Our problem of course is trying to  figure out who is doing the killing??  "Scream" with Chain Saws???   My kind of mixture if you like it bloody, dark and funny.

But whether it survives as a series is another thing, but tonight, Oh tonight!!!!  Another quandary!!!

Sleepy Hallow and Blacklist come on at the same time!!!!!!!!!!!!    Well Thank Goodness for DVR's!

And next week "iZombe"  "Supernatural"   So Much More!!!!  My cup overfloweth!!!   And "How to get away with Murder!"  Yes Darklings even though Big Bang Theory is funny, T..V. is definitely gone to the "Dark Side" in my House and I am LOVING IT!!!  

Now who says we're too old to enjoy a bit of creepy darkness, NOT ME!!!!

Later Darklings

 Which means after Halloween we'll have to wait 365 days to Halloween 2016, oh can I stand the long wait!!!???

Of Autumn~~~~~~

Dear Darklings,

It's Here!!!!    Now where is that Spirit Store so I can do some shopping!!!!


Later Darklings

Of the Heat Returning~~~~

Hello Darklings,

They say (whomever "they" are) that we really don't have Summer here in the Bay Area until September, well this year "they" were wrong given our series of heat waves.

But after the cool weather and the lovely one day splash of rain, the heat has returned, not as unbearable as before but enough to make one not want to do anything, and that is exactly what Sis, Doyle, Brian and the Dymanic Duo are doing, nothing!

We're reading, snoozing, chatting, snoozing, laughing, snoozing, and generally relaxing and snoozing today and frankly we deserve it.

Sis and I have been painting our nails with this lovely color called "Meet me at the Mirage"  put out by China Glaze, for a bronze frosted I like the way it looks,  on fingers and toes, of course with the nail lacquer drying we cannot do anything.   So Doyle and Brian have offered to get our favorite go-to take out  Chinese, nothing to cook, and with paper plates but regular forks etc. wash up is a minimum.

My brother and his family are being serious travelers with their R.V.  They went to Columbia State Park and it was open but the festivities were canceled because of air quality due to the Butte Fire, but for them all was not lost.

This weekend they went back to Placerville,  and to that antique shop my sister in law fell in love with.  And next weekend back to Columbia again.  The children are loving this travel.  It's going to be hard when the rains start up for them.

The other day Sis came across this receipe and it is so lovely for Indian Summer that I'm going to share it with all of you.

Whipped Pineapple Pops Recipe

If you have ever been to Disneyland, they have this amazing thing called a Dole Whip.  It’s like a fluffy, creamy tangy pineapple treat that people actually wait in line for 30 minutes for. 

There are a couple of ways you can do this.  You can either used crushed pineapple or fresh pineapple.  We chose to use crushed since that is what I had on hand.  This recipe makes quite a bit of ‘whip’, so you can cut it in half if you aren’t making it for very many people.  We used 2 – 20oz cans of crushed pineapple.  Drain one can and include the juice of the other can.  Whenever I buy canned fruit, I always buy ‘Naturally Sweetened’.  The fruit that is canned in syrup contains a lot of extra sugar and so make sure you buy naturally sweetened.  If you are using fresh pineapple, you will probably need an entire pineapple, cut up into chunks. Whatever pineapple you decide to use, place it in a high powered blender.  If you like a little more tart flavor you can add the juice of a fresh squeezed lime. 

If your pineapple isn’t very sweet, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of your favorite sweetener, but it isn’t necessary.  Blend until it is a smooth, frothy consistency. The next step is to combine with your creamy ingredient.  We used cream that we whipped because we were going for an extra fluffy rich texture.  But you can also use almond milk, coconut milk (full fat works best) (think Pina colada) half and half, or whatever you prefer. If you use whipped cream, you can put the mixture in the freezer for a bit and just serve it as a ‘Dole Whip’.

Otherwise, pour your mixture into Popsicle molds and you have Whipped Pineapple Pops!

Ingredients:

2 - 20 oz cans naturally sweetened crushed pineapple OR 1 large fresh pineapple, cut into chunks

Juice of 1 lime

1 1/2 cups cream, almond milk, or coconut milk (full fat works best for the most creamy consistency)

Directions:

Place pineapple and lime juice in a high power blender. Blend until smooth and frothy.

Combine with creamy liquid.

Pour mixture into popsicle molds and freeze until hardened.

Enjoy!

Well we made this on Thursday evening a small batch and by using the coconut milk we found that to be best, so we made it last night for today, for dessert.   And it's heaven.  But if you Darklings decide to use something else that's just fine. 

 But it is perfect on a hot day.

Enjoy Darklings

Of a Quote about being Goth or Gothic~~~~

Hello Darklings

I came across this quote and of course it also includes Morticia, and I realized that in all my experiences I had to be in tune with and  explore my dark side, even researching morbid subjects and understanding the evil convolutions of the human mind.

And having gone through horrendous tragedy, I know I've come out stronger.

I even celebrate my dark side, revel in it, but also to maintain some sort of balance I will also splash the light side into my soul as well, with a touch of kitties, puppies and butterflies. 

But by knowing and understanding the dark side we then are never fooled by statements that are made to sound truthful but are lies, we are never fooled or are foolish.  

THAT is what makes a person a true Elder Goth.

We don't have to wear black all the time or do our hair or makeup in bizarre styles, we don't have to do horrendous bizarre piercings to indicate we're Goth.  That is simply outer trappings to appear outrageous, we don't even have to be into what ever music style the Goth community is into.

We can truly be independent and not feel that we have to follow the Goth Crowd,  because It is what is in our minds, our hearts,  our lives and our souls that makes us Goth.   And we can let it out to play and privately laugh.

I'm just lucky that I have a lovely "playpen" for it.

So if you can My Darklings, take this quote, make it larger, frame it, put it where you can see it every day and know that this is true Gothicness.

Later Darklings