Teaser... oh yeah, and... BOO!

Yes, we're back from vacation. Am currently vacillating between getting over a nasty head cold, watching oodles of horror flicks with Bear, and prepping all my vacation pictures for publication.

Patience is a virtue! As Hamlet says, "Assume a virtue if you have it not."

Ha!

soooooooo excited!!!!

.... heading off to Mystic tomorrow morning! When I get back I'll share photos and tell you all about it!

Bear's a grandpa.... AGAIN!

Little Lily Anne was born to Bear's son and his wife just a few days ago, but I was unable to brag properly as we were not informed of her name until this morning. Apparently, the "Anne" portion is still under some discussion. Bear and I were tossing around "Marie", "Belle", and "Rae" as possible substitutes. Not that anyone asked our opinion.

And until we receive a photo of the little imp, you get to look at a sheep.

It's just the way life is sometimes.

KEEKS!

Just for "keeks"

I watched this movie last night at around 3AM... it's aptly called "That Uncertain Feeling". It stars Merle Oberon and Melvyn Douglas, and I have been giggling all day (and night) about "keeks". I should be in bed right now, only I started thinking about it again and laughed so hard tears were running into my ears and I was afraid I'd wake Bear up.

Don't know what "keeks" is? Then watch this and howl.




If you have a little more time on your hands and at least half a bottle of wine handy, watch the whole flick!

Late October offering

Lady, child, and spider.

I see the moon, and the moon sees me

The moon has long been a source of fascinations and facts... of magic, mystery, and research. It is most interesting when lore and science collide, and even agree.



It was well-storied that the full moon was the catalyst that turned men into werewolves, and current hospital records and police blotters show that on full moon nights, the number of violent occurrences indeed does rise. From "luna" (moon), comes the word "lunacy".



The moon's pull on the tides was also found to have an effect on the water in human bodies, and especially women's bodies. When unencumbered by chemical influences such as birth control pills, most women's bodies will follow the moon's lead, aligning the reproductive cycle with the waxing and waning of that beautiful, luminous orb.



A few months ago, when we were making reservations and planning our upcoming vacation to Mystic, Connecticut, I realized with some annoyance that my own cycle was most likely going to fall right smack dab in the middle of it.

Aside from the obvious romantic obstacle that represents (I had such plans for that king sized bed, dammit!), it also throws a complete monkey wrench into our planned days of visiting aquariums and historic sites - having to run looking for a bathroom every two hours, carrying around a bunch of "supplies".... seriously?

I called my physician's office, hoping to be prescribed something temporary that might put things off a week, and was told that if that was my plan, I should have called three months earlier. Basically, they said they could prescribe pills but there was no guarantee at all that they would work. I said thank you, no... and set about drinking comfrey tea, which, according to Culpeper's Complete Herbal, "stays the courses".



Then, just before the full moon on the 11th of this month, I stopped drinking the comfrey tea. Happily, the full moon was my obliging ally. This is the first time in ages that I am actually thrilled to be walking around with cramps in my lower belly and seeking out the ladies' convenience every two hours. I am happy to be miserable this week, because it means that our vacation will be ever so much more enjoyable two weeks from now!

Thank you, Mystic moon!

If you do nothing else today.....

... watch this short video

More retro dreaming...

Had an odd day at work yesterday. They started me out with four hours of recurrent training videos, and then I basically sat around the rest of the time giving breaks... but it was such a slow night on the radio that no one really wanted breaks. So I spent a lot of time researching retro kitchen hardware and stuff... and lookie what I found!

Come One Come All to the Willow Manor Ball!

My dear friend Tess over at Willow Manor is hosting her yearly ball today. Please feel free to drop in and say hello - her guest list is amazing, to say the least... I mean, darlings - who wouldn't want to rub shoulders with William Powell!

Here's what I'll be wearing:



And here's my date!

He does look scrumptious in a tuxedo, does he not?

Does tend to get a bit silly when he's squiffy,
but don't we all?

Also tends to exaggerate his masculinity a bit,
but a man's a man, for a' that.

I always was a sucker for a man in uniform...

Memories and dreams

Sentimental mush that I am, I have dried and saved petals from every rose that Bear has ever given me. I put them in a huge mason jar with patchouli and sandalwood essential oils, making a personal potpourri that grows larger with each passing year. These three lovelies were in the arrangement he gave me last month for our ninth wedding anniversary. I hung them in the wrought iron of our kitchen lamp to dry, and thought they looked rather poignant in the mid-afternoon sun.

I'm in the midst of dreaming about furthering the beautification of our cottage, mainly in the kitchen. These two shots express my dreams for the future... this is the fun part, before any commitment is made, before any money is spent, and before the actual WORK commences!

In praise of my mother, and thrift stores

Above, our living room, circa Yultetide 2006 (see the tree stand?). Same rug I'd had since the 1990's when I lived in Nashville, and it was still in use until yesterday. A quite servicable rug, but the green always had a bit too much blue in it for my taste. The perfect shade of red bits in it were the saving grace.



Thanks to my mother's keen eye while browsing at the Salvation Army (and her $50.... yes, $50 peeps!) this is what my living room looks like now! The lighter places on the carpet are from sun coming in the windows... the carpet is in perfect condition. And soft? There was never a better reason not to wear shoes.

Kudos also goes to Bear, who helped me remove the old carpet and install the new one yesterday in a record-breaking ten minutes! As you can see, I am loath to put back the coffee table and huge green foof chair, because I just want to sit and stare at my new rug.

Love!

My flutterby garden

A friend gave me this lovely 18-bottle bud vase,
and I filled it with my zinnias and mums!

Click on the picture above and see
how many flutters there may be!

Click this picture... major WOW factor!

At sixes and sevens

To be "at sixes and sevens" is an English phrase and idiom, common in the United Kingdom. It is used to describe a state of confusion or disarray. The similar phrase "to set the world on six and seven", used by Geoffrey Chaucer in his Troilus and Criseyde, dated about the mid 1380's, seems, from its context, to mean "to hazard the world" or "to risk one's life".^[1] In Act 2, scene 1 of Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of Julius Caesar", Portia, in confronting Brutus about his state of anxiety says: "Why you are heavy, and what men tonight / Have had resort to you; for here have been / Some six or seven who did hide their faces / Even from darkness."
- (Excerpt from Wikipedia.)


*******

Here it is, my "Sunday". A gorgeous, brisk, sunny autumn day. I have a wonderful book I'm smack dab in the middle of, but I don't want to read. I would mow the lawns, but it rained like the dickens last night. I should color my hair and get some shopping done, but I don't feel like it. It's nearly noon and all I've done is watch an old movie and play with my cell phone. The more I feel I shouldn't waste this day, the faster it slips by.

Perhaps it's the fact that my grandmother went back into the hospital with a heart attack day before yesterday. She's better, may be going home today, but all the harouche going on so far away where I can't help anyone has me jittery. Perhaps it's the fact that I've just come off of a more than ten day spree of intestinal illness, and I have grown used to lethargy. Perhaps I'm just a kook.

Drum roll, please....

Campylobacter

Yeah, well... got a call from my doctor today. Turns out all those sick days from work were not just a good excuse to watch a lot of Turner Classic Movies. I had a real life, honest to goodness bacterial infection! I don't care if they are cute and squiggly and someone has painted them glow in the dark pink... I am horrified! I'm not going to go into the details of how you get it, what it can do to you, and the rest... you can google it if you're curious.

Suffice it to say that I will most likely not be eating chicken again any time soon. Just until I forget everything I read about this bacteria today. Maybe a bit longer.

Pork. It's the other white meat. Perhaps the only white meat for me for a while...

And now, a much-needed diversion from reality

It was everything we hoped it would be... MAGICAL!
(Do click on the pix - the larger versions are best.)

I wish this photo was a video - so you
could see the eyeballs bobbing,
floating, swiveling around
and watching everything happening
on the stage.

I confess to actually screaming and pulling my feet off the floor during the Wheel of Death act. It was that good.

This lady created incredible works of art with just sand and light.
Truly amazing!

What this girl did with balls!
Heh heh heh...

No net, no wire.

The best thing about this show, oddly, was the "realness" of it, even though the surreality is the initial attraction. It was real, actual people, doing real, actual feats that most people can't do - it was like going back in time. Yes, they used technology to spice up the backgrounds, but the meat of the show was so touchable, so up-close. It's hard to explain, but easy to feel. Each character had a very distinct personality, and they brought the energy and the effort and the excitement right up to you and put it in your lap.

It was a day that goes in the books under "best dates ever".