 Nostalgia, DVDs, old movies, television, OTR, fandom, good news and bad, picks, pans, cute budgie stories, cute terrier stories, and anything else I can think of. Contact me at theyoungfamily (at) earthlink (dot) net . . . . . . . . . .
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» Friday, December 31, 2010
As the Clock Counts Down...
 ...we count our blessings, talk to our friends, garner one more treat, and enjoy home in Holiday Harbour.Labels: Christmas, Holiday Harbour, New Year  » Thursday, December 30, 2010
Hail the New Year Lads and Lasses...
...or partying with friends in Holiday Harbour.Did get some disappointing news today: the library called and says they cannot get the other Hildegard Frey Camp Fire book for me. The only place that has it will not lend it out. Bother. » Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Fast Away the Old Year Passes...
...and we're shopping for New Year's and enjoying Christmas in Holiday HarbourLabels: books, Christmas, Holiday Harbour, shopping » Tuesday, December 28, 2010
What Conan O'Brien, Borders Books, and Debit Cards Have In Common...
Aha! So It's the Doorframes! » Monday, December 27, 2010
Creative Uses of Droids and Other Troubles
The Christmasy part of the day appears here: Holiday Harbour.
I did have a funny thing happen to me at Books-a-Million. Well, it's funny now; at that point I wasn't sure how to get out of the predicament. I was perusing the magazines when I had an urgent call of nature. Dashed to the ladies' room and hurriedly accomplished what needed to be done. It was only then I noticed there was no toilet paper. The ladies' room was empty, so I grabbed my stuff and went into the only other stall. No paper in there, either, and there was only a hand dryer, no paper. What to do? Pulled out my trusty Droid, opened the browser, found Books-a-Million and the store locator, found out the phone number of the store I was in, called the front desk. A few minutes later, a very embarrassed woman clerk handed me some toilet paper over the top of the stall. She said the rolls that fit the dispensers in the stalls had not come in. No offense, hon, but you're right across the parking lot from a Target. Send someone over to buy TP! LOL! Anyway, I came home from all my shopping and went to see if the postman had come yet. I was startled to discover that our mailbox wrap, the one with the cardinal, chickadee, and bluebird "stamps," was gone. It's magnetic, so all I can surmise is that someone swiped it, unless a good gust of wind somehow got under it! What really upset me is that I've been so busy I didn't notice it was gone, because when I went back to look at the photos I took of the snow on Christmas Day, it wasn't on the mailbox then, either! This seemed a tiny, stupid thing to fret about, however, when I finally got the mail and opened a friend's card and discovered her mother-in-law was hit by a car and killed earlier this month. Perspective is everything. This evening we went to Stella's Neighborhood Grill, a new place, for Alice's birthday dinner. There were eighteen of us altogether and I don't think the restaurant was used to that. Food was delicious, and the company delightful, but service was slow. Labels: Christmas, events, food, friends, Holiday Harbour, obituary » Saturday, December 25, 2010
Would You Believe Snow for Christmas...
...in Georgia? The tale can be told in Holiday Harbour.
As for my high glee yesterday, since the news is now official, I can pass it on: "our Jen" and our longtime online friend Mike Waters are officially engaged! We wondered when Jen mentioned that she called Mike every week, and then wondered more when Mike attended Jen's boot camp graduation (since Mike is a homebody and doesn't tend to travel), but when Mike flew out to spend Christmas with Jen and her family, we knew something was definitely up. We got a confirming e-mail yesterday afternoon! [Ah, just had to go find the words that so apply to this news: "O wonderful, wonderful, most wonderful wonderful, and yet again wonderful, and after that, out of all whooping!" (from "Twelfth Night").] Labels: Christmas, friends, Holiday Harbour "Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!"
by John Williams, from Home Alone 2
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas! Sing a song for the glorious season. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas! Sing a song for a happy new year. Sing merrily, merrily, loud and strong, Welcome the wintry season. Just follow along with the holiday song. Santa is here again, yes! Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas! Sing a song for the glorious season. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas! Sing a song for a happy new year. The reindeer fly, if you need any proof. It's merely a matter of reason. Just listen, you'll hear when they land on the roof. Santa is here again, yes! Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas! Sing a song for the glorious season. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas! Sing a song for a happy new year. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas! Sing a song for the glorious season. Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas! Its a magical, miracle, annual, lyrical, sing-along now, sing a song for a happy new year! » Friday, December 24, 2010
A Joyful Noise
We've had news, lovely news, news I can't tell because all the proper people haven't heard about it yet, yet I can't keep silent. It makes us no richer in money, but so much richer in our hearts, richer in the way that counts. Will be able to tell the news eventually, but right now am just dancing in my heart. Like Scrooge after the visit of the three spirits, "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!" (And hearing this all in Jim Backus' voice—LOL!)
Just let me say: Best Christmas gift ever! Labels: news » Thursday, December 23, 2010
Oh, Let Time Slow Down and Linger
Now is the time to savor Christmas...the scents of pine and cinnamon and ginger...the bright colors from the lighted homes and the bright baubles and the tinsel or garland...the visiting of friends and family and visits from them in return...special treats eaten only between Thanksgiving and the New Year...games played...music heard—the unique Christmas music whether sacred or spritely, tunes almost always familiar, but always some new ones, whether antique or contemporary, to tempt the ear...even the Christmas shopping, if the need is not too dire or the shop too crowded, places where there are still smiles and greetings...greens or gilt in unexpected places...a welcome gift, but the best gift being someone's company.Certainly there are some today who don't want time to linger: those in need, those flooded out with homes filled with mud, those who are sick. We do our best to help and hope for better times for them. But if the season is doing well, let's not rush it and tear it down Christmas afternoon, but leave it to savor like a fine wine or chocolate on the palate. Let's keep Christmas all through the twelve days (or at least through the new year), enjoying sparkle and spice. We are keeping Christmas here, in Holiday Harbour. Labels: Christmas, Holiday Harbour, New Year, time » Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Moving Chairs, Vacuums, and Clothes...
» Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Nothing Like a Day With My Sweetie...
...doing the last of the Christmas shopping in Holiday Harbour.
Labels: Christmas, Holiday Harbour, shopping » Monday, December 20, 2010
Christmas Wouldn't Be Christmas...
...without wrapping gifts, baking cookies, watching Christmas stories, and other misadventure, all told with kringly feeling in Holiday Harbour.
Labels: Christmas, food, gifts, Holiday Harbour, television » Sunday, December 19, 2010
Weekender...
» Thursday, December 16, 2010
Candle Light...
» Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Slick Without, Chilly Within
Woke and started work to a grey sky. It was quite damp and I actually finally bumped the thermostat up to 70°F for a few hours just to take the chill off the house. I'd woken up with a headache from the arthritis in my neck and was out of sorts during the morning; it let up later in the afternoon and I was able to do some chores during lunch and wash three loads of clothes.About midmorning I noticed snow flurries drifting about outside. Later they turned into sleet. Then I quit paying attention, so when I took Willow outside when I'd finished up, I was quite surprised to find everything wet, the brick front steps slick with ice, and the grass a bit crunchy. Oddly, the lock to the back gate was not frozen! I didn't expect James home quickly, and I was not surprised. He called me at 5:30, saying he was just leaving work and had already taken a fall out in the parking lot. It took him 90 minutes to get seven miles. He's limped about for the rest of the night. The news has been full of car crashes, people skidding off the road, and every ramp on the freeway being closed down (some of them are still backed up since rush hour!). Anyway, I scanned some old Christmas photos while I was waiting for James and they are here. [DAMN! Not only is James hurt, but it looks like the fall killed his netbook!] Labels: weather » Monday, December 13, 2010
From Dark to Dark
Cold this morning. 27°F, and snow flurries still dancing around merrily until I reached I-85. I believe the wind chill dragged it down close to single digits. For those of you in Saskatoon, this is just a fine winter day; in Georgia, this involves appendages dropping from brass monkeys. Plus I had to stop for gasoline, having run out of time to do it yesterday, bundled in winter hat, winter coat—unfortunately there is no way to run the machine with winter gloves on. A singular experience.
I didn't go out at lunch for obvious reasons, and it never struck me how warm the garage keeps the car at night until I got into the car at 4:30—the temperature of the car seat was...startling (it was 28°F at that point, down to 27 by the time I got home). The car creaked and squeaked until its fluids started to get warm. On the other hand, the ride was nice. When I got home I snapped Willow on the leash (I can't take her out leashless any longer; she and the dog next door go right at each other through the fence—it sounds like SFX for Cujo). The combination lock to the back yard was frozen shut (James noted this last night as well) and I had to breathe on it for a couple of minutes to get it to let go. Warm welcome inside, though: as I sat down to type this, Schuyler let out a wolf whistle. Who's been showing this bird movies about sailors? :-) » Sunday, December 12, 2010
The Birthday Whirl--Coda
Birthday Whirl weekend ended with dinner at PF Chang's to celebrate Neil Butler's 21st birthday. We had never eaten there before; always thought it was too expensive. It is actually quite reasonable. We had a big long table with 20 people at it. Charles and Jack sat with the college crowd and we were with the "elders" at the other end, with Bryce and Roman (elementary school age) in the middle. The food was delicious, and we both had a tiny chocolate mousse for dessert served in a square glass. It was a great time.
The snow flurries continued as we drove home, blown in swirls before headlights and streetlights, and pushed in rippled eddies on the street. The cold is quite fierce for this area: 27°F at that point, 11 with the wind chill. Juanita did not come to the dinner and we had brought her the rest of the last batch of turkey soup (since she supplied the carcasses for that batch as well!). So we took the container to her. She has Christmas villages all over the house: on a rotating platform in the den, on the pass-through between the kitchen and the sun room, on the shelves in the dining room, and on the furniture in the living room, plus the big tree in the living room as well. It's all so pretty! Came home just in time to see HGTV's White House Christmas. The Birthday Whirl
We've been birthday-ing quite wildly this weekend...well, wildly for us, anyway. LOL.
Friday night, as I recounted in Holiday Harbour, James got a few friends together to celebrate my birthday one day early. We went to Old Ephraim's, a barbecue/general restaurant on Marietta Square. (It's one of the more reasonably priced restaurants on the Square, too; we considered having lunch at Shilling's one day until we gasped at the menu.) It was a nice, warm, happy night—the Butler boys were both home from college, so we had the pleasure of their company as well. Plus before we left the mail came and we had a nice photo of Jen in her uniform! James took me out for ice cream at Bruster's afterwards and we had a nice drive home hunting down Christmas lights. Were up a little after eight on Saturday morning to get dressed, wrap a very late Hanukkah gift, and head over to the Butlers for Hair Day. Juanita was roasting a turkey for the lunch centerpiece, so we just picked out something that would go with a turkey dinner: corn and cranberry sauce. We also brought breakfast nibbles: apple and raspberry mini-pastries and mini-cinnamon rolls. There was a small, lively crowd. We chatted, ate one delicious meal (other sides were mashed potatoes and artichoke dip, with apple and pumpkin pie), and the piece de resistance, a birthday cake for Neil Butler, who turned 21 five days ago. Yes, of course there was a trick candle on the cake. :-) We left about 1:30 so James could go to his club meeting. I went to Lowes to get more birdseed, since we're about to have a deep freeze starting on Sunday. While I was there I got more clear blue C7 bulbs for the window candles and an LED timer candle. I stopped at Borders for a few moments and noticed that the latest Monk book is out in paperback. The promo for the next novel says it is going to take place after the series end; that should be different! I found three magazines: the new "Shop Smart," the December British "Country Living," and the winter "Vermont Life" ( if nothing else for the beautiful picture on page 30-31). I went through the Connector to the Best Buy on Cobb Parkway, blanched, and went to Office Depot instead to recycle the two laser printer cartridges I had. But I didn't want to keep the television that was still in my trunk, so I did go to Best Buy and recycle it. Wow, what a zoo! Now I know why I don't shop there, especially at Christmas. I was looking for a DVD, but didn't see it there, so I whipped out my handy-dandy Droid and checked to see if it was at Borders. It was, and I got it with a coupon (using my phone, by the way, which I approve of, since it cuts down on waste paper). I was out so long that James was home when I got there. I tried to lie down a little, but a piece of mail had bothered me, so I couldn't settle. So we went out about six, stopped at Fresh2Order, where I had a birthday coupon for buy one, get one, and had supper. From there we drove out to Avondale to the Academy Theatre to watch this year's ARTC Christmas show. The performance seemed a bit uneven, but they did all the favorites, and the Academy people also did two Christmas sketches, and a very funny lady named Jennifer Teeter sang and strummed along on the ukelele, with songs like "Present Face" (when you get a gift you don't like, you put on your "present face"), a funny song about what she wants for Christmas (peace, harmony...and a pony), and others. James bought her CD at the end of the show, and we stood talking to the Kiernans for a few minutes before driving home. A nice night on chat, although Jen didn't show up. She had liberty and went to the symphony with some crewmates. This morning we slept in. It had rained last night, but when we got up it was very cold and brown. I looked out the window after we had finished getting dressed and it looked like it was a fine mist outside. No! It was very fine snow which turned into fine sleet by the time we were halfway to Publix. We did all our shopping there today and only stopped at Kroger for gasoline. The wind was quite sharp and blew the sleet (later snow again) and leaves in swirls, and sent the flags and banners snapping. When we got home James began putting together the turkey soup ingredients; we had received three turkey carcasses from Juanita. He took them out so they would not be so cold to peel the meat off them, and we had some of last year's soup with elbow noodles for lunch while watching This Old House. Then I did some tidying up while he peeled most of the meat off the bones, and put it in the big stock pot with carrots, onions, celery, a little salt, a bay leaf, parsley flakes, even some mint. This completely filled the stock pot, and it is BIG. After an hour or two James had to "bleed" some soup off the top because the pot was threatening to overflow. We had listened to some of last week's "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on the way to the ARTC performance, and after the soup was going we listened to the rest, and then this week's episode. Now we are listening to an episode of "Travel With Rick Steves" about Christmas in Europe: Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Portugal, western Ireland so far. [Note: If my dad was still alive he would have been 97 today...] » Thursday, December 09, 2010
Sound and Fury, Accomplishing Nothing
So James took my car off to work, and I slept as late as I could, since the first thing I had to do this morning was have blood taken after my checkup. I got dressed, drove to Kaiser, visited the vampires, ate the fiber bar I had in my pocket, and headed for the mechanic. They gave me a ride back to the house and I finally got to have breakfast.
I thought I would finish cleaning downstairs—everything had to be moved out of the way for James to bring the tree upstairs and there were "needles" everywhere—before I started any work on the Christmas tree, so that's what I did. After fighting a ten minute battle against static electricity—nothing I was sweeping would go in the dustpan properly; instead it arranged itself in magnetic patterns along the floor—I just pushed everything away from the baseboard and vacuumed the hall instead. Then everything went back where it belonged, I vacuumed the runner, and then the laundry room. Vacuumed the foyer, too, and the stupid vacuum cleaner made streaks on the Pergo. And I vacuumed Those Damn Stairs. By the time I got to the tree it was way after one o'clock. Okay, can't tell the tree lights without a scorecard. There were four strings: the two miniature light strings that I fell in love with because they have all six colors, even if the orange is a bit cantaloupe colored. Then there was a string we got when we bought the tree, white bulbs with rounded color covers. We had two of them, but one burnt out last year, so I replaced it with a string of GE crystal lights. Now, all these lights were working when we put the tree away last January. But when I plugged it in, the one with the round covers was completely off, and half of one of the miniatures string was off. I took off some of the covers on the first string, and the light bulbs were all blackened. Dang it, same thing that happened to the other string. I took the miniatures string off the tree. James said there was another crystal light set in the garage. So I strung those two together on the bottom of the tree, and was going to put the other miniatures string on the top. But first I would replace the few burned out bulbs in the string. I replaced two bulbs and then half of that string died. I could not revive it. Damn, damn, damn, damn. Having no way to get to the store to buy another string of lights, I was stuck. So I dubbed off a couple of episodes of Castle and cooked turkey for dinner. We ate this quickly, then went out, intending to go to Lowes, but stopped at Home Depot first—and they had another set of the GE crystal lights! And then it took us over an hour just to get them even and fasten them to the tree. Despite all our efforts there are more lights at the bottom than at the top. Sigh. I love Christmas trees. I hate putting lights on Christmas trees. Surely one of the nine rings of hell includes putting lights on the Christmas tree. Labels: chores, Christmas, decorating, shopping » Wednesday, December 08, 2010
More Decking, Fewer Halls Left...
Doctor Who Christmas Special Article
Via Kim Holec on the Brittrack Yahoo Group (thanks, Kim)!!!
Cover of the BBC "Radio Times" Scan of the article from Life, Doctor Who, and Combom blog (thank you!): Page 1 Page 2 Labels: Christmas, Doctor Who, television » Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Shopping for Memories
Reading Dave Aldrich’s blog (check blogroll) about old retail stores always makes me think about “going downtown” with Mom. We’d do it at least once during Christmas, winter, and Easter vacation, and at least twice during the summer, and it was always something to look forward to, despite declining fortunes (as a cynical teenager I used to refer to taking “the bus UP Cranston Street to watch the neighborhood run DOWN”). In the early sixties there was a chirpy radio jingle about Providence being “Southern New England’s largest shopping center”; by the late seventies “downcity” looked like a once proud dowager gone to seed.
These excursions always started the same way; we’d be up to have breakfast with Dad, who rose at six and left the house by twenty past, after gulping a homemade eggnog and hot coffee. I drag myself out of bed at six these days, but on those downtown days was dressed, washed, and into the kitchen in a flash. I had an eggnog, too, for breakfast (it was the only way I would eat eggs willingly) on other mornings, but not on these. We would hustle to get dressed, make the bed (heaven forbid we left the house without making the bed!), and walked the three blocks past Berkeley, Doane, and Clarendon Streets, crossed the WPA-era concrete railroad bridge past the junkyard, walked past Harold Crook’s garage, the Hideaway Inn, and Cleary’s Dry Goods to wait for the bus on Cranston Street. On winter mornings the bus was invariably late and you’d stand there stamping your feet and sticking gloved hands deep in the pockets of your winter coat, the wind always finding a way down your coat collar despite a scarf. Later we had a bus stop across the street, and if we didn’t hustle we had to make the walk. This is how I learned to make a bed, complete with tucked sheets and rolled pillows, with no wrinkles under the spread, in 2 minutes and 14 seconds! The bus chugged its way into Providence with many starts and stops, past the looming dirty brick walls of the old trolley barn on one side and the Narragansett Brewery on the other (trolley barns seem to have proliferated in Cranston; the Taco company was also located in an old trolley barn and my dad remembered another on Webster Avenue), through the old neighborhood of peeling triple-deckers and taps with their round brick windows and the only A&P nearby, past the castellenated, fantasy-inspiring structure of the Cranston Armory, and finally taking a sharp left at the Saints Peter and Paul Auditorium (I still recall a heart-stopping hard left there when they were building the auditorium, riding on a school bus going to the annual Rhode Island Philharmonic concert for the schoolchildren, where we were all certain we were going to be tossed into the maw of the building excavation), before trundling into downtown and getting off at Weybosset Street. We hadn’t eaten breakfast because we were going to confession at St. Francis Chapel, then in an old brick building owned by Johnson & Wales business school. I preferred confession at St. Francis because they still let you do it the old way, where you said “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned,” rather than the new way we had learned in Catechism class where the priests asked you questions. We didn’t usually stay for the 7 a.m. Mass, but it was comfortable when we did, only a half-hour service in the small chapel downstairs, the air pleasant with the scents of incense and candles (in the winter wet wool coats and mothballs tended to be added to the mixture), older people who attended Mass daily around you, murmuring silently to themselves as they fingered beads while saying their Rosary. Now that the solemn part of the day was over, we were free to have a rare treat: breakfast out. Today when I eat out each weekend it is hard to remember how very special this really was. Dad worked in a factory; later Mom went back to work, also in a factory—there wasn’t much money for dinners out. Big formal dinners where you dressed up in Sunday clothes were confined to holidays: Thanksgiving, Mother’s Day, Mom’s birthday. Occasionally on a Sunday we might grab a hot dog from a truck at the beach, get a burger at Burger Chef or go to Aunt Carrie’s or Rocky Point for clam cakes, or Gus’s at Oakland Beach for doughboys, but this was chiefly confined to summer. (Later Mom tired of lingering fish scent and she and my dad started getting fish sandwiches at McDonald’s on Friday. I despised fish, especially battered and fried, and would either have “rice and gravy”—white rice with Mom’s tomato sauce on it—or pork fried rice.) We would have breakfast at the Crown Coffee Shop, in the lobby of the Crown Hotel. The waitresses wore little white caps and starched white aprons, and I had toast with real butter instead of the margarine at home. The seats were revolving stools which Mom would have to make me stop spinning on. We’d be among mostly businessmen having a coffee and some eggs and toast before going to work, and professional women with their alligator purses and high heels, all who would be hunched in woven overcoats, the ladies with fur collars, in the wintertime. Breakfast was almost too leisurely, since we had to wait for the Outlet Company to open; they were the first store available, at 8:45 on the button, not a minute earlier, to my chagrin. If it wasn’t cold, we would go stand at the brass-and-glass doors with the other early shoppers, and I would press my nose on the glass like a kid in a candy store. Once in the store I’d make a beeline to the book department while Mom did her shopping. Mom did something that would horrify parents today: she left me alone, first in the toy department, then in the book department, of stores. I was not to move out of that department, nor talk to strangers, nor go anyplace with anyone unless it was a policeman. I didn’t move and didn’t talk, and it suited me just fine. I hated tagging after Mom as she shopped for clothes; I despised shopping for clothes and shoes for myself, even as a teenager, and did it only under duress. Better in the book department at the Outlet, which was on the first floor next to the café, running caressing hands over hardback books we couldn’t afford, or spending three weeks squirreled allowance on a Get Smart book. We had a regular route worked out. From the Outlet we would go to the Paperback Book store across the street. I can close my eyes and see the store exactly as it was—like Ebenezer Scrooge I could “walk it blindfolded”—dark brown shelves tall enough to be over my reach, posters of everything from the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to psychedelic Peter Max rainbows and glowing unicorns on the ceiling, books being sunned in the display window, the clerk in an elevated booth on the left, the mystery books in the far back right corner and the media-based books to the left under the clerk’s nose, the scent of bookprint everywhere. It was there I saw my first fanzine, out for sale with the regular books; it was pretty obvious the clerk was fannish. We might stop at Read-All, a narrow bookstore/card shop , or later at Strawberries, the record store, on Union Street on the way to Westminster Street, which, during most of my teenage years, was a no-traffic mall area, and here there were riches indeed. Until it closed in 1968, my favorite venue there was J.J. Newberry. The main level had a coffee shop, sundries, and stationery, and there was an upper level with clothes, but I made a beeline for the basement: toyland, children’s books, and hardware. Newberry’s main appeal was the Whitman books, cheap (29 cents in the 1960s) hardbacks with glossy covers that were either classic children’s books like Heidi, Call of the Wild, Little Women, etc. , serial books like Donna Parker, Ginny Gordon, the Timber Trail Riders, Trixie Belden, and more, or media-based tie-ins. All my Lassie books came from Newberry’s. (It was not the eldest of the “dime stores” downtown: a very vague recollection of the downtown Kresges, which closed when I was small, remains: a dim interior, with the old-fashioned wood-and-glass display cases and the shelves upon shelves behind the counters. If you wanted to see something, you asked the salesperson to get it down for you. The “toy department” was a collection of windup tin painted toys and rigid dolls and teddy bears.) Two other “five and tens” were on Westminster Street, Woolworth and W.T. Grant. Woolworth I can remember as if it were yesterday, as it was the first thing I saw after walking down the stairs of the Alice Building wearing my new glasses at age nine. I looked at the classic red sign and exclaimed to my mother “Mommy, I didn’t know the world was so bright!” (I had been living in a dull, nearsighted haze for some years and didn’t realize it, until my best friend spilled the beans: “Linda can’t read the blackboard at school!”) Woolworth’s was a sensory experience at any time of year—the scent of coffee and tuna sandwiches from the lunch counter at left, the wonderful odor of fresh popcorn, the bright candy in bins right up front, the shrill chirping of the parakeets from the rear of the store, bright seasonal geegaws from sand pails and plastic sunglasses to Easter baskets and stuffed rabbits to Hallowe’en pumpkins and noisemakers—but came into glory at Christmas with tinsel swags, ornament boxes, candy canes and multicolor “Christmas candy,” peppermint scent and sample perfumes, inexpensive toys, tissue-paper honeycomb bells, and Christmas carols playing in the background. Each of the five and tens at Christmas, especially Grant’s, had bins in the seasonal area where you could pick out individual figures for your nativity set: start with a base of the Holy Family, add the ox and the ass, some shepherds, the Three Kings, and then more figures: sheep, others offering gifts, the shepherd boy, the camels, the camel driver, a sheepdog…the possibilities and arrangements were endless. At Grant’s, another lunch counter—all the stores had them at this time—and cosmetics, cream rinses, hair dye, toiletries, first aid. They had the best price on Crayola crayons, and each year I bought myself a fresh box with the distinctive Crayola odor paired with a Woolworth’s blank calendar pad to make and illustrate my own calendar for the year. Westminster Street held more boring stores that I was obliged to tag into occasionally (clothing stores, of course)—Gladdings, Peerless, Cherry and Webb, Kennedys when dad needed a shirt—but there was one place I was never reluctant to go: Shepards. The big Shepard’s clock on Westminster Street was a meeting place to many, and Mom went to Shepards when she couldn’t find it anywhere else, a “dressy dress” for a wedding, pretty lingerie, stockings, a new purse, whatnot. Their book department was a nook on the first floor where I could peruse all the Marguerite Henry hardbacks to my heart’s content, wishing we could afford them, while I waited for Mom. Invariably we would need to make a “pit stop,” and we did that in Shepard’s, for they had, not a tiny rest room perpetually out of toilet paper and dripped with water, but a big ladies’ room that must have been something when the store was built, and was still impressive, especially to a kid from a tiny house in the suburbs. It even had an attendant. The dividing walls were made of glass bricks, and there were long counters with mirrors behind them where you could put your shopping bags down and fix your hair instead of at the sinks where you would get everything wet. People still “dressed up” to go downtown back then and you might even find older ladies adjusting fur stoles and replacing hatpins in big picture hats that you only saw in old magazines, checking their stocking seams. We might go into Richleys, the little card shop that also sold gift items and small stuffed animals, or Pier Linen, where Mom coveted the cut crystal but never bought any, or Garr’s Fabrics. Garr’s was another place that had not changed in years; the walls were hung with satin drapery and formally dressed women helped you select thread and cut cloth for you. At Christmas I would go to Garr’s to buy ribbons as gifts for my stuffed animals. One of my too-brief discoveries was a bookstore called Dana’s, which was very close to one of my other favorite stores, E.L. Freeman’s, the stationery shop. I used to wander Freeman’s in a happy daze, imagining all the stories that could be written on their different composition books. Dana’s was a basement shop in the 1920s (or earlier) Wilcox Building with the lovely cornices and façade of that era. Once inside, the store smelled delightfully of old books. These were not simply old paperbacks as you would find in a used bookstore now, but vintage books, many of them dating back to the 19th century. These books were always fascinating, with their small size, colorful leather covers, and inlaid, curving fonts in gold. There was one corner where all of Lucy Fitch Perkins’ “Twins” books were lined up in a row; also glimpsed were bound issues of St. Nicholas and other children’s magazines. Alas, not a year after I discovered it, a fire in the top story of the Wilcox Building ruined Paradise. The books were untouched by fire, but the water and smoke ruined them. Soon after I stood at the iron railing at the sidewalk level, looking down into the bleak, locked, dark bookstore where the books lay smeared across the floor of the shop. I could never walk by there for years afterwards without wanting to cry. One occasional treat, at least until 1970, would be a movie. There were still four movie theatres downtown during my elementary years, the big Lowes State which got the blockbuster films like Lawrence of Arabia and Cleopatra, the Strand which showed more controversial flicks like Butterfield 8 and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, the RKO Albee which had things like Jerry Lewis movies, Westerns, comedies, and my favorite of all, the Majestic, which showed all the Disney films. The Majestic was a big white stone building that had started life as a vaudeville theatre; it still had the bathrooms downstairs as in a stage theatre, with a small box office and vending machines replacing most of the once-large lobby, but popcorn and candy was still available at a small stand, and you went through curtained arches to get to velvet-plush seats. A big red curtain opened just as the movie started, giving the old blue Disney “Buena Vista” logo a rippling, purplish cast. I saw Mary Poppins there, and Old Yeller, and Three Lives of Thomasina, and other wonderful Disney classics. Eventually the Loews became the Providence Performing Arts Center, the Strand turned into a “dirty movie” house and then died, the Albee became a parking lot; only the Majestic survives as the Trinity Repertory Theatre playhouse. The final stop involved going past the Planters Peanut shop. I have forgotten in what small corner of what side street it was in, but all you had to do to find it was take a big sniff, as the roasting peanuts—yes, they did it right in the store!—could be smelled for blocks. Mom always bought peanut clusters for Dad and herself; I preferred my peanuts directly from the shell. We would wait for the bus on the corner of Washington and Mathewson Streets, where my godfather Armand Azzoli had his shoe shop. We’d go in to say hi, and sometimes to have Armand put taps on the heels of my shoes, since I tended to turn my ankle and wear them down on the sides. It was a tiny, narrow shop, smelling of fresh leather and shoe polish, a cozy place especially on a winter day. I remember one thing we did was wait for a certain bus. Before they instituted the Arlington #31 bus that went past our house, there were three buses, 31-A, -B, and –C, Oaklawn/Old Spring, one I’ve forgotten, and the Meshanicut bus. We would try to catch the 31-C Meshanicut bus because occasionally, instead of turning down Cranston Street toward Dyer Avenue, it would go straight up Gansett Avenue and we could ask the driver to stop at Appleton Street. I think it had to do with the time of day, but we never figured it out. If it turned the corner, we just got out at the bus stop near DiPrete’s hardware and trudged back the way we came. We were hungry and footsore—but it had been a glorious day nonetheless. Labels: memories, nostalgia, Rhode Island, shopping Farewell » Monday, December 06, 2010
Trimmings
Decorating for Christmas on St. Nicholas Day (and a book review, too).Labels: Christmas, Holiday Harbour » Sunday, December 05, 2010
Wickedly Wizard
Hit three stores for grocery shopping one after the other: BJs for bulk stuff like toilet paper, Publix for twofers, and Kroger for the rest. It was cloudy during the entire trip, quite cold for December in Georgia (about 35°F and windy), and every so often an errant snowflake would swirl about in front of your eyes. Came home, stuffed it all away, made a sandwich each, and went to Regal Cinema to catch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1).
A very somber movie. "The kids" did a bravura turn, but I was particularly impressed with Rupert Grint. In at least one of the movies, he just seemed to run around with his mouth gaping, and Ron's been used too often as comic relief. This time the writers gave him some good, solid scenes. The special effects were excellent, the location filming spectacular (I particularly liked the snowy Forest of Dean), and there are several very frightening scenes, especially the one with Nagini at the beginning. Did note the "propaganda book" scene: very Nazi Germany/Soviet Union. If there was one edited scene I missed, it was when Dudley said goodbye to Harry; we did see Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, but only briefly. And I know it was a clichè, but I like the change they made in what happened to Hedwig. In the book she was only a bystander, but in the movie she had a chance to be heroic. The worst part of this movie is having to wait until wretched summer to see the rest. We had turkey soup for supper and then I worked downstairs for a little over an hour. I have the library, airplane, and woodland tree out, and the decorations ready to go, but I want to iron the cloths that go on each of the surfaces before I do the work. And then I'll have to vacuum again; those wretched inserts in the rocking chair box left flakes of styrofoam everywhere. Then watched the rest of Extreme Home Makeover and a Holmes on Homes for the Holiday, where Mike and his team helped a family of six who were living in their basement after a dishonest contractor stripped out the inside of their home, started to rebuild, and then just abandoned them. The whole structure was unstable and the house could have collapsed on them at any time! Labels: decorating, movies, shopping » Saturday, December 04, 2010
Farewell, Old Chair
When I moved up to Atlanta from Warner Robins in 1988, I needed another chair for "the Cubbyhole," as I called my studio apartment. Our friend Ann was getting rid of a big papasan chair (James has always jokingly called it "the satellite dish," it was so big) so I took that.
It's been with us through thick and thin. At the apartment Leia used to sleep on it (we flipped it over for company). When we moved to the old house we bought a new cushion for it, and when James was working horrendous hours at Wang, sometimes I used to sleep in it, next to Bandit's cage. In the new house it went down into the library, and has cuddled innumerable kids escaping the partying adults upstairs at Twelfth Night and on game nights. But the passage of years has taken its toll: the wood is scratched and won't take much of a polish anymore. At 34 and even 44 we were still comfortable in it; in our 50s it is getting difficult to get in and out of and doesn't support our backs any longer. Plus it's really too big for the space in front of the window. So we have made the tough decision to get rid of the old chair. Tomorrow we'll dust it off and take it to Goodwill. Someone may be able to put some spit and polish into the old girl and use her in a den or comfy room where they don't care much about the scratches. We've replaced it with this. I'd have loved a library-like wing-back armchair, but the budget couldn't swing it. As for the rest of the day, well, it included assemblies and lights, but that's all told in Holiday Harbour. Labels: furniture » Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Working and Wreathing...
» Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Raining On Our Parade
It's a good thing it was a short parade. :-)
James was off today due to working Saturday. He went out early to get blood taken at Kaiser and to get his car inspected. In the meantime I cleared out the foyer and washed the floor. (I considered not washing it today because the weather report was extremely liquid—but then, if you didn't wash the floor because it would just get dirty again, you'd never wash it at all...LOL.) Also wielded some Pledge at various bits of furniture, and presto, by the time I was finished, so was James. Off to Walmart! When we met, James was always warm and I was always chilled; now that we've hit middle age I've got my own heating system and he's the one complaining he's cold. And he has only one "hang around" sweater, so we got him a few sweatshirts and a couple of T's, too—and found a lovely gift for James' sister. We went to the hobby shop for a few minutes, then went to Target. I was looking for a piece of furniture and wanted James to see it. We found it and would have bought it, but this Target didn't have one except for the display. Never mind. Now that I know it works for James, I can get it at any other Target. It has been cloudy with just a bit of drizzle at WallyWorld and the hobby shop; cloudy and infernally warm when we left Target. While we were in Lowes trying to get a new battery for James' drill (no dice; we had to buy a whole new drill as they don't make those batteries anymore), it began to rain in earnest and it was still pounding away when we went to Publix. Hindsight is always wonderful, and today's was a doozy—I am so glad it was today I had chosen to be off. The rain came down in gallons and buckets and bathtubs and container ships and all and sundry huge liquid containers. The freeway flooded and they had to shut down a ramp from I-85 to I-285 because the water had collected so deep. Worse, a storm ripped through a little neighborhood in Buford and took off roofs, sides of houses, aluminum siding, and garage doors, and tore apart trees. Wow. Apparently no one has been hurt, thank God. We had a less perilous evening, eating peanut pork, watching the chaos on the news, and later The Real Story of Christmas. Now have a DVD in: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, of course. Labels: Christmas, shopping, television, weather » Monday, November 29, 2010
Creating a Blank Slate
I can't really say I've been getting ready for Christmas; it's more like I was getting ready to get ready for Christmas.
That means I basically spent the day taking Thanksgiving and then the daily fall decorations down and put away. First I took all the fall decorations from the porch, swept it clean, and put up minimal Christmas: the big wreath, the St. Nicholas banner, and the greens basket, and the three stakes in the beds out front (Rudolph, the candy cane, and the "welcome" jingle bell), and put on the mailbox cover (this is a design of three winter birds each on a postage stamp). Next I filled the Thanksgiving decoration box, and put some extra fall decorations on top. Then I did some minor repairs to the temporary storage boxes (four 11x14 copy paper boxes) and packed those: the mantel decorations and other items that will be replaced during Christmas. Those were labeled and put into the laundry room. I did put up one other decoration: the "shadow box" that goes in the kitchen to replace the apple/cooking one during the holiday. Otherwise everything looks very bare. I want to dust and/or polish things, and wash the floor in the foyer, before I put anything else up. Burned a gingerbread candle and listened to some Christmas CDs during the day, along with a Travel With Rick Steves podcast that was half about a polar bear photographer and half about talking to locals about Christmas in Rome and in London. Goodness, that's when I'd love to go to Europe, before Christmas! And go to a Christkindlmarket! Also listened to a "Tech Guy" podcast. Labels: chores, Christmas, decorating, Thanksgiving » Sunday, November 28, 2010
Split Personality
It's been a quiet Sunday. We slept in because we were up late on chat. When Willow started to bark, we knew it was time to get up.
We had some good coupons at BJs, and I didn't have any bills on this paycheck, so we stocked up on various things, including new containers for bulk foods. James also found a weather station on deep clearance. It has a anemometer, a rain gauge, a wind vane, and a hygrometer. He set it up on the porch tonight, but in temporary fashion since he wants to get a pole to mount the vane and anemometer on. We're both off on Tuesday, so we put off getting milk until then. Spent the afternoon transferring contents to the new containers, reading the paper, watching the Cool Tools special on HGTV, and, finally, putting up a few Christmas decorations. This is the time of year when the house looks a bit split personality. It takes a while to go from fall/Thanksgiving to Christmas. Today I put up the window candles and inside door decorations (except for the wreath that goes on the door to the deck, which says "Every birdie welcome"). Tomorrow's the day to get out the big guns and put all the Thanksgiving things away so they can be replaced with Christmasy goodness. And just to muddy the waters further, I'm still talking about Thanksgiving books in Holiday Harbour. :-) Labels: decorating, food, shopping, television » Saturday, November 27, 2010
Return From Thanksgiving-Land
Compared to The Holiday Whirl (as narrated in Holiday Harbor), today was almost relaxing! James had to go into work, but I made up for the sleep I lost on Friday, then did a load of laundry, cleaned the master bathroom, and spent the morning doing backups on my computer (photos on the new 16GB thumb drive and backups of all files on my old hard drive). Tidied up other things, put some away, and watched more Ellery Queen.Wednesday when we went to the Town Center Borders I picked up a series I'd never heard of, the animated The Legend of White Fang. This was a series done by Cinar in the early 1990s. Surprisingly, although one villain is a base stereotype (he even has a Snidely Whiplash moustache) and the other is as dumb as a post, with a supposedly deadly but comic-relief bulldog that looks like it came out of a Warner Brothers cartoon, and that this is definitely for kids, it's not all that bad. In this outing, White Fang the half-wolf, half-husky is the pal of little Wendy Scott, daughter of widowed newspaperman Weedon Scott (Weedon Scott is the man who rescues White Fang in the original novel). He "speaks" to his fellow wolves and other animals, and to his "spiritual advisor," a Native tribesman named Raven Wolf, but not to any of the other human characters. The animation is limited (and badly monitored—the villain de Lazlo has a coat that changes color from red to purple and back in the first episode), but the "lesson" of the episode isn't bludgeoned into the kids and there is adventure with limited violence. I'm impressed.Had dinner at Ken's Grill tonight (pork chops!) and went to Hobby Lobby. Ended up watching Twister when we got home, and then a documentary about Industrial Light and Magic. Now watching HGTVs 25 Great Holiday Ideas. One woman is evidently not a Southerner: they showed her having packages under the tree wrapped in recycled grocery brown bags. Hello! Those have roach eggs in them down here! Labels: Christmas, computers, decorating, dogs, television, Thanksgiving » Monday, November 22, 2010
Where Were You...
» Sunday, November 21, 2010
On Weekends We Seldom Sleep
Friday proper was involved in tasks that are covered in Holiday Harbour. I worked until James got home from work, then we went to dinner at Fresh2Order, since we had a twofer coupon for our anniversary. They had not had my favorite, the Creamy Chicken Vegetable Soup, during the summer, so I happily enjoyed a bowl with dinner. This is a thick, delicious soup full of chicken, carrots, and other veggies, very filling, so I ended up taking 3/4 of my dinner home.
We also went into Buckhead to the big Borders, cutting through the "ritzy" homes on Mt. Paran Road and the others north of Chastain Park. "Mr. Inflatable," the guy with the myriad inflatable seasonable decorations, must have gotten read the riot act by his neighborhood association, because while he had his yard and house strung everywhere with Christmas lights and also had an illuminated Santa Claus, there wasn't an inflatable in sight. (I don't like the things anyway; they look cheap.) James had some $10 credits and wanted to go to the largest store where they had the most choice in the history section. Alas, the history section has been denuded; the book James wanted was not there. I fared better: two magazines, a Windham Hill Christmas CD, and two books, one about philosophical discussions about Christmas (such as telling children about Santa) and the other S.J. Rozan's newest Lydia Chin mystery. (I don't usually buy a book without a coupon, but Rozan's books are so hard to find I wouldn't leave that behind, and the Christmas book was nothing I'd ever seen before, so I got both, plus the newest Entertainment Book. We may need the Atlanta History Center coupon for the Candlelight Nights, anyway.) Had dessert at Bruster's—James had peppermint stick ice cream, which tastes like a soft candy cane, but I would like it better if the base was chocolate instead of vanilla!—and came on home. Saturday morning started early because it was not only the last Farmer's Market of the season, but it was Hair Day to boot. We got salad veggies and some green pepper, stocked upon homemade dog biscuits for Willow, bought jalapeno pimento cheese to take to Hair Day along with the sun goat pesto and crackers, got some chocolate chip cookies for dessert and a turkey pot pie for Monday supper, and James stocked up on boiled peanuts. We got stuck waiting for the train, but did get out of downtown eventually. When we go to Ron and Lin's house from the Farmer's Market, we cut cross-country behind Whitlock Road via Polk to Dallas Highway, then go diagonally through Villa Rica Road. Most of Villa Rica is country-like, with horse farms or acreage, and it was like an autumn impressionist painting come to life, all soft edges and lovely colors. You would never think it looking at the Bradford pears in the spring, when they're all fluffy with white blossoms, but they turn extraordinary colors in the fall, from green to saffron to orange to scarlet shading all the way to maroon on one tree. Some of the maples are like molten butter in the sun. We had a great time at Hair Day. Ron had told everyone Juanita was bringing lunch, but actually Andrew was bringing it, with a birthday cake for his wife, Shannon, and she was coming along later. There were birthday banners strung all over the house, and when she walked in the door and we yelled "Surprise!" she clapped hands to her face in a reproduction of Kevin in Home Alone. LOL. A little after one we moseyed along home to put up the spoils of our final trip of the season, then went out to the hobby shop. I suggested to James that perhaps the Borders at Perimeter Mall might have the book he wanted, as they have always had a good history section, so we headed in that direction after our visit. We enjoyed our ride through the "ritzy" part of town, then stopped at the Container Store on the way there to buy a few organizational odds and ends. Alas, when we got to the story there were big yellow banners outside screaming "Store Closing." Son of a bitch! You never see any of those wretched endless shoe stores closing. Looked around, then came home. Glory be! Jen was on chat! She found a spot in her barracks that accessed the wi-fi in the galley and sat talking with us until very late. (The watch passed her twice without reprimanding her, so I guess it was okay.) She thought she would have a late school start, but there was a sudden opening, so her A-School begins on Monday! So needless to say we were up rather late and didn't get up until ten this morning. Had to go to Publix (good twofers this weekend) and Kroger, then came home to put the perishables up and went to Ikea for the afternoon. We hadn't been in...ages. I can't even remember the last time we went. Had lunch in their restaurant, then walked around. I am looking for a comfy chair to replace the old papasan downstairs. It's been a good old chair, but it's too bulky and it creaks and crackles when you sit in it anymore. I'd love a wing-back, but those are terribly expensive. I just want a comfy, sturdy chair, one you could sit in to read. I also would love to replace that totty old microwave cart in the dining room. It's doing china cabinet/cup duty and I've always wanted something prettier. But the only thing small enough would be the buffet, which doesn't have a top half. We'd have to put up some shelves or a small cabinet. Not sure I want to mark up the wall like that. On the way home, checked out the Brookwood Borders. James found a historical book he wanted, and also a collection of short stories, but we had to go out of our way back to the Buckhead store to get the book I wanted, the newest of the Bryant and May books. I'm really loving these, especially the little esoteric details about various London things like the courses of the river or the Underground. And of course we enjoyed the splendid autumn color in all the older neighborhoods like North Druid Hills Road. Listend to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on the way home, and a couple of "Splendid Table" installments, including a Thanksgiving edition where they talked about turducken. Later we had turkey soup for supper with whole-wheat egg noodles and watched this week's This Old House and two R5Sons Alaska episodes. Labels: autumn, books, friends, furniture, gatherings, Holiday Harbour, seasons, shopping, television » Friday, November 19, 2010
In Autumn More Than the Leaves Fly
The days have my permission to slow the hell down! Summer, that fat hot slug of a season, went by with the speed of a sloth having a nap, producing roasted people as collateral damage. You might as well have tossed us on a gas grill.
Now that the temperatures are at least bearable, the days are flying by like a spinning jenny being driven by Niagara. I haven't even the excuse of being busy at work for not having been busy here (although I have spent odd moments getting ahead on my St. Nicholas website; it fell behind last spring since I simply didn't have time for it), because we are having a welcome fall lull until the budgets come in, with just a few orders to occupy us. This is good because (a) we have a sheaf of mandatory training courses we have to do every fall, like annual Ethics training (how come we have to take Ethics training and Congress doesn't?), Green Purchasing training, security training, etc. and (b) now I have use-or-lose annual leave to happily work through. It has to be used before the end of the leave year, which is right at New Year, hence use-or-lose. I always say I am going to take more time off in the winter, but it never seems to work out; and last year was just slammed with work because of the Recovery Act funds. By April I had no time to take time off. And there's no use in taking time off from April onwards anyway; the weather is so warm and miserable—who wants to be out in it? Might as well keep busy with work. Fall and winter are the fun times of the year anyway. So I had today off, and worked on crafts and listened to podcasts, which was nice. The Travels With Rick Steves files go back five years, so I have a nice collection of European/International Christmas broadcasts downloading for my listening pleasure in December. » Sunday, November 14, 2010
A Weekend of Surprises
We loaded the truck Friday night so we didn't have to get up any earlier than necessary Saturday morning. However, James woke before the alarm, so we were early getting to Jim Miller Park and directed into the queue. So we went to Martin's to get James some breakfast, and by the time we got back there was no line at all.
You see, today was Free Electronics Recycling Day. You can always recycle electronics on County Services Parkway, but you have to pay. One day a year they take it for free, unless it's a television, which you have to pay $10 to dispose of. We had at least two years' worth of junk that had died, most of it not replaced, like James' old computer (fifteen years old), a boom box he bought used to play CDs, but the radio didn't work, my old keyfob which they told me I could just throw away, mice, keyboards, etc. We left behind the television (also from the pawn shop and fifteen years old, which just up and died during the summer) because Alice posted something on Facebook from Clark Howard's website, that Best Buy takes TVs for recycling. You have to pay $10, but they give you a $10 gift certificate. Then we came home. Now that all that crap was out of the garage, we could rearrange. The plastic boxes that were formerly on the wire shelf that collapsed are still in a pile near the little "closet" that the water heater is in. They are in the way. By rearranging, partially with James' help and partially after he left, I was able to wheel them against the wall and still have room for the shop vac and the seeder. The wire shelf was lying edgewise on the floor, and we managed to get that up and out of the way, pinning it over the extension ladder with the bent supports that are still fastened to the wall. The bikes are parked in front of the containers and the shop vac, and the old electronics box is now up against the wall, ready to fill again, although I think we've gotten rid of any extraneous junk. James left for work, and since I was out there, I got out the hedge clipper and trimmed the bushes in front of the house. I know this isn't the proper time of year, but when Paulo or Alex trim them, they do them nice and straight, but never clip the bits overhanging the sidewalk or crowding the stairs. So I trimmed just that. Sadly, the bushes are all stalky inside, no leaves. When February comes I need to trim them down good, cut back the front, and then the top, so you can see St. Francis better again. I used the pruning tool to get any odd branches and trimmed the larger of the two bushes next to St. Francis. Came in, cleaned myself up, then had a peanut butter sandwich before going out. I stopped at Hobby Lobby for more light bulbs, then stopped at Lowes to look for a figure for my Christmas village. I am looking for a cheap, single figure that would not look out of place in a 1940s town, cheap especially because I intend to cut the feet off the figure. I want to put the abbreviated figure in the subway entrance, back facing outward, so it looks like it is going down the stairs to the subway. So far I have either found too many figures at too high a price, or unsuitable figures, like women in pants or Victorian-era figures. (I know women did wear pants occasionally back then, and they wore overalls to the war plants, but to me it would just not look right.) Unfortunately Lowes had very few figures, and those that were in the right time period—their It's a Wonderful Life figures and buildings—had a ceramic finish and didn't match the resin ones. So I went on to BJs, bought gasoline, then stopped at Food Lion for groceries since I had a coupon. Then I went on home, to the odious task of unblocking "my" sink (the right-hand one) in the master bath. It gets clogged up frequently with soap scum and errant hair. This actually cleared quickly and I didn't even have to use baking soda and vinegar. By this time it was nearly four o'clock, so I started some rice to have with soup, walked Willow and fed her, and ate supper while watching the most recent version of The 39 Steps. I read the book several years back; they've made the female lead spunky and not a shrinking violet, but I don't recall any of the other changes. James got home a little before nine, and we spent the evening watching the latest This Old House and R5Sons Alaska, and finally accumulated Law & Order: UK. And then Jen showed up on chat! She graduated boot camp yesterday and has the rest of the weekend to spend with family and friends (her parents and sister and brother-in-law and our friend Mike) as long as she checks in every morning and evening. So we were up very late "reunioning" and did not get to bed until after two. Of course we read before bed, and my current book of choice was a new book, Thanksgiving: The Biography of An American Holiday. I'm constantly on the lookout for books about Thanksgiving that aren't about recipes or entertaining, as most adult books about the holiday are (kids' books have more variety: they can be about the holiday, about giving, retellings of the Pilgrims-and-Indians story, etc.), and this one came up the last time I searched. It's part of a new series of books called "Revisiting New England" on all types of subjects like regions, ethnic groups, events, etc. I had read a few pages, then decided to stop, but before I did, I thumbed through the rest of the book and the footnotes (yes, I'm one of those people who reads footnotes). I was suddenly arrested by a URL that was familiar—familiar because it was one of my URLs. I turned back to Chapter 9 and found the author had quoted something about televised holiday parades that I said on my Thanksgiving web page! Like...wow! So we were up after ten this morning, and shuffled around for a while before going out. After the great Kmart/Sears merger, Kmart pretty much disappeared around here. The one near the hobby shop became a Sears appliance store. The one at Brookwood had vanished even before Kmart declared bankruptcy. The one at East Cobb is a Sears. Needless to say, neither of us have been to a Kmart in years. However, there is still one left, near where Floyd Road turns into Mableton Parkway, in Mableton, and we went to that one today, on a tip from someone in my Christmas group. While I didn't find what she mentioned, we did find some small goodies, including a heavy-duty timer we can use for the space heater in the master bath, a "tin" airplane from Country Living's line of retro metal Christmas ornaments (they also have an ocean liner, a Zeppelin, a dog on wheels, a trolley car, etc.), and...ta-da!...a figure for the Christmas village. It is a man in nondescript, 20th-century clothing carrying a toolbox. I can dry-brush a little white on his hair, to depict an older man working at a war plant. We stopped at BJs to get gasoline for the truck, and walked about inside. This was both good and bad, because I found The Christmas Vault, a book someone on the Christmas list had mentioned last year. This is one of those volumes that has little inserts in it, like cards, letters, booklets, etc. that enhance what you have read. (There are other books in this series, on World War II, Star Trek, Star Wars, D-Day, etc.) The source material seems to have come almost entirely from the National Christmas Museum we visited last year; there's even a blurb on the final page to visit the museum. Anyway, it is sooooo cool. Then we decided to have a treat and stopped at Borders for a small cocoa trio apiece and a slice of chocolate peppermint loaf. Finally we picked up a newspaper and came home. So James is making breakfast for supper: buckwheat pancakes and the naturally-cured bacon we bought at the farmer's market. Yum... [Later: Schuyler likes buckwheat pancakes!] Labels: books, chores, electronics, food, friends, shopping, television, yard » Friday, November 12, 2010
Friday Night Out
They had a Christmas Open House on the square in Marietta tonight, 5:30 p.m. through 9, so we decided to go. Wondered if we would have trouble finding parking, but we got there at 5:35, and there was plenty of space at the lot we usually use for the Farmer's Market. We had a nice supper at Old Ephraim's, a mostly barbecue place right on the square (they also have sandwiches and a few steak and seafood dishes). James was very impressed with their barbecue beef brisket; he said it was very tender. I had filet mignon tips, also good.
Then we walked around the square for ninety minutes. Most of the little shops downtown were open (except, sadly, for the little British shop we had passed on the way to the restaurant!), and most of those had little treats out, so dessert was provided. These are either little boutiques, or places that sell antiques, and they were all decked out with Christmas decorations as appropriate to what they sold, contemporary in the boutiques and more standard in the antique places. Pleasant, pretty effects were achieved with simple resources: glass ornaments in a clear glass bowl, a Christmas ribbon around the neck of a deer statue, bottle-brush trees dotted on shelving. Many people came out for the event and we were soon dodging folks coming in and out of narrow doorways. We didn't buy a thing, but it was a lot of fun. When we got home, we loaded the truck with all the electronics/electric junk that has accumulated in the garage for the past two (or is it three?) years, preparatory to taking it to electronics recycling day tomorrow. We'll have to get there early so James can make it to work on time. And, hurrah, the mailman had finally come (he hadn't by the time we left the house at 5:20) and we had a letter from Jen. She graduated boot camp today! Labels: Christmas, decorating, excursions, food, friends Nature Girl
I was up at eight promptly intending to go out early, but instead was distracted by the new bird feeder. The birds had emptied the other two squirrel-proof feeders, but the copper one was still full. They only eat from it if there's nothing else there. Plus it's come unglued from its base; it was time to replace it.
The feeders are hung from a central pole on three arms; two straight poles that stick out at 45 degrees with hooks at one end, and a hangar like a shepherd's crook with a hook at the end. The copper feeder was on the crook hanger, the lowest one on the pole. This meant the new feeder would have dangled right across from the deck rail, in reach of the squirrel. So, because I am a shrimp, I pulled the stool outside and rearranged the hooks; the crook is now at the top of the "stack." Now, while I was out there doing this, and filling the feeders, I was whistling like I always do, to let the birds know. I could see them fluttering in the trees, chirping to each other, and one occasionally would fly to the feeder, see me, and do a mad manuever to reverse course. I was still on top of the stool, just having positioned the pole in place, when one of the brown-headed nuthatches flew to the topmost feeder. I froze in place. We were not more than eighteen inches apart, blinking at each other. A second nuthatch flew up, grabbed a seed, stared at both of us, flew away, but the first guy remained, looking at me, finally taking a seed. Well, I couldn't stay there forever. I moved my head, the brave nuthatch flew away. But as I got down off the stool more of the birds came zipping by, so I finally retreated to the door (about ten feet away), and then everyone did come: more brown-headed nuthatches, the white-breasted nuthatch, sparrows, the titmice, a chickadee, even the male downy woodpecker. What fun to watch them run riot over all three feeders. I had to go to Sears to finally get some new nosepieces for my glasses, so I did a couple of other errands, including stopping at Wender & Roberts to get James some compression socks (boy, what a nightmare that parking lot is) and driving down to the Atlanta History Center, where I knew I could get a copy of "Atlanta Now" (a "what's going on around town" publication) for November and December. This meant I had a very pleasant ride down what was the only good thing about working in Buckhead, West Paces Ferry Road. This is an old-money road with old-growth trees, and since the frost last week they had all "bloomed" pleasantly into lovely colors. One big maple tree at the edge of the grounds of the Governor's Mansion was layered dark scarlet and maroon, and there were gold and yellow trees dotted here and there. All this combined with classical music on NPR! Pity it was so warm...another day where it edged back into the 70s. » Thursday, November 11, 2010
A Day of Liberty
I was able to sleep late this morning, had the freedom to travel anywhere I liked in any wardrobe I liked, and to express any opinion I liked, because someone volunteered to get up at ungodly hours, go to unsavory places in a uniform, and defend my right to do so. Thank you to the men and women of this country who serve it by leaving home and family so I can enjoy my own. You can never be repaid.And I did enjoy sleeping late, no alarm (even if it's people talking on NPR) yammering in my ear, and having a leisurely breakfast of milk, oatmeal, and yogurt, after which I headed eastbound. I was in East Cobb today to exchange the "Home for the Holidays" Hallmark ornament for another one as it did not work properly. Schuyler has been fascinated with it since I brought it home! I also went to Bird Watcher Supply to buy a little dish that mounts on the feeder pole. It's supposed to be for mealworms, but I put water in it instead. I had an e-mail this morning that I had $10 in Borders Bucks, so I went to Borders and picked up the November British Country Living with its cheerful fall cover. I didn't intend to buy a book, but I made the mistake of wandering into the history department and saw The Vertigo Years: Europe 1900-1914. Just my period of history! Also noticed that the newest Jade DelCameron book is out in paperback. I had a 20 percent off everything Michaels coupon and raided the 10 for $10 bins: little notecards, gift bags, Thanksgiving cardmaking scraps. Also got some decorative paper for cards as well. From there I went briefly to Trader Joe's. Yay! Christmas food is out. Got some organic turkey broth for James to use in cooking, another pumpkin tart (which we will keep in the refrigerator, since it has so little preservatives in it that it molds after two days), and some almond bark. I hadn't been to Abecedarius (which I think is the only cross-stitch store left in Atlanta) in a while, so stopped there on the way home. A pretty orange and white longhaired cat was wandering the store, miaowing with a little trill in its voice. I love when they do that! Anyway, I bought three wonderful little patterns, a fall, a Thanksgiving, and a Christmas. The Thanksgiving one is from Trilogy, a little sampler with a turkey on it. The other two are JBW "French Country" designs: Pumpkin and Wreath. From a distance they look scrolled within, but if you look more closely, there are little figures within the design: cat, squirrel, basket, owl, dog and more within the pumpkin and hearts, reindeer, stars, trees, etc. within the wreath. All of this line are like this; they are adorable! The dog has different little dogs within him, the rooster has chicken and farm motifs, etc. There are lambs and Christmas trees, other animals, even a Christmas purse. My last stop was Book Nook, but didn't see anything, so headed home. Out and back I listened to the podcasts from BBC Radio 4's A History of the World in 100 Objects. These are 15 minutes each, just perfect for short trips. I had to laugh at the opening of Installment 16, about the "Flood Tablet" from Northern Iraq (700-600 BC): "When you think about rain that falls for forty days and forty nights, you might just be considering the prospect of living through yet another summer in Britain." (Still, I'd take 40 days of rain over 40 days of 90+°F any day...) Labels: books, crafts, cross-stitch, holidays, magazines » Sunday, November 07, 2010
Sunday Excursions
Good thing we had an extra hour. Problems again last night.
Another pretty day, cold at night and sunny and blue and cool all day. Only around four did it start being a bit uncomfortable in long sleeves. Grocery shopping this morning as always, and then an afternoon out: we stopped at JoAnn to get the cross-stitch magazine I've been waiting on, with some cute patterns of Christmas robins. I also found some neat stocking-stuffers. Then we went on to Harbour Freight. James is looking into getting a generator and is scoping out prices. On the way back we stopped at Cracker Barrel to check out the gift shop. Last year they had the lighted turkey that is sitting in our foyer, this year they have a lighted owl. No, I didn't buy it, but I did get a nice decorative Thanksgiving plate painted with a sheaf of autumn flowers and leaves. We also stopped at Garden Ridge. I am looking for one last figure for my Christmas village and haven't seen what I liked in Michael's, so I figured Garden Ridge might have one. To our surprise, no Christmas or fall villages at all. Perhaps Lowes has something, or maybe Home Depot. We listened to a backlogged "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!" on the way out and back, then finished the other two at home. For supper we had a pot roast pot pie and salad, and later we watched the final episode of Sherlock. Um, why did Jim Moriarty remind me of the Master? Even has that crazy look and speech pattern. Looked up the show on the IMDb; noticed that Martin Freeman (Watson) will be playing Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. Labels: shopping, television » Saturday, November 06, 2010
Coolness!
Peeked out the window this morning and there was frost on the grass!
Needless to say it had been a good night for sleeping and it was very hard waking up. But there are only three more weeks of the farmer's market and we wanted to go. We decided to take Willow with us and I think she had a good time, despite the fact that she was "assaulted" by a miniature dachshund who wanted to sniff her. (She got on better with a golden retriever. The rescue greyhounds were so tall she didn't even notice them. They noticed us, though; by that time we had a paper bag with a cinnamon bun and a bearclaw in it and two big noses and four bright eyes looked at us with hope which was dashed in a minute.) How people laughed when she would stand up on her hind legs to sniff at each booth! We gave her little bits of food we were sampling, which she definitely did enjoy. :-) We had a nice afternoon! Went out to East Cobb. Dani had mentioned in her blog that Rose Melikan's new book was out, and the East Cobb Borders was the only one that had it. Also found the Christmas "Victorian Homes" and the fall "Birds and Blooms." We stopped at Bed, Bath & Beyond to get a dish drainer cloth. I am tired of that big bulky dish drainer in our kitchen. We really only use it for draining the plastic that comes out of the dishwasher, since we don't waste energy drying the dishes. I'm hoping we can replace the drainer with the cloth. We'll see. The last stop in East Cobb was at Betsy's Hallmark for the last of the ornament premieres. I had some credits, a Hallmark coupon, and a store coupon. Got three ornaments, a gingerbread man shaped dish, and two cute sparrows that are skating, plus a free gift bag. We came home by the hobby shop, and then really didn't have anything else to do, so we were in for the night. I put on How to Train Your Dragon, which was a lot of fun! When Hiccup first petted the dragon I was reminded of the similar scene in The Black Stallion. One thing we bought at the farmer's market was homemade pasta from Costa's, beef tortellini. James cooked it up for supper and we had it with spaghetti sauce and a cucumber/tomato salad, and watched four more episodes of Ellery Queen. Now I'm watching The Mothers-in-Law again. The later episodes are really lame. I'm With Archie... » Wednesday, November 03, 2010
So You Can Read About Today's Chill in...
...Holiday Harbour or peruse last month's book reviews in A Cozy Nook to Read In.
Labels: books, Cozy Nook, Holiday Harbour » Monday, November 01, 2010
All the Way to Ellijay (And Back)
When James works a weekend day, they give him a day in the following week. His day off was today.
I'm at the time of year when I need to work off my leave. We're only allowed to bank 240 hours at the end of the year and I'll have over 380 when January 1 rolls around, even after taking a week's vacation. I try to take some of James' days off, but if he's going to the doctor on that day, which he usually has to do since he only gets one sick day a year, there aren't many of them. And there's no use in taking any time off after March since the weather is so wretchedly hot by that time. This year there wasn't even time for that, since once the Recovery Act money came in we were "going like sixty" as they say in those old books I find on Munseys.com. By June we already had a fourth quarter workload. I spent one day last week juggling numbers, and had originally intended to take this Friday off when this date came up, so I scheduled it instead. And since we didn't get to go to Ellijay for the apple festival, we went today. It was sunny with a light tracing of cirrus clouds all over the sky, sunny enought that we both got an overexposure to sun. My cheeks look like strawberries. But it was a lovely day. First we stopped by "Mr. Clean" to get the truck washed and oil changed. From there we hit the road, listening to old podcasts of "The Splendid Table." Our big stop was at the Panorama Farm Market. We bought a peck of apples, an apple pie, a little bag of peanut brittle (yes, the peanuts predominate...LOL), some fruit only fruit spread (blackberry and cherry), barbecue-flavor apple butter, and goats' milk lotion and soap for the dry skin I get on my hands during the winter. We also hunted down, despite the bad GPS directions, something called Cowan's, a book and gift shop. I found the cutest bird book, all about chickadees, full of darling photos, and also a Jim Shore Christmas Nativity Angel. I hadn't seen this one before, and no wonder, as it is brand new. It's lovely; she's holding garland with a star in the middle, positioned directly over the Holy Family and a shepherd. Between the farm market and the bookstore we also stopped at Ingles. Both Kroger and Publix have quit carrying Willow's favorite dog food, Lassie Natural Way, and we've tried several other foods, including the one I think made her sick a month or so back. I recently found out that Ingles still carries the Natural Way, but there's none left in the area. Sure enough they did have it, and we bought a large bag and two small. Should last her for a while, hopefully until we find a closer Ingles! We also visited a farmstand at R&A Orchards and had lunch and bought some fresh apple bread. Goodness, if Georgia had the color New Hampshire had, this ride would have been glorious, purple hills in the distance, and a ride along the Cartecay River with trees bowing over the water. It just hasn't been a good year for leaves down here; while there are a few pretty maples here and there, it's mostly like someone took a fall photo and turned down the saturation in a photo-editing software. And there are too many pine trees. Nevertheless, the countryside was pretty, especially the short ride along the river. We were home in time for a simple supper and Jeopardy, before which I pulled down the Hallowe'en decorations on the porch. On to Thanksgiving! » Sunday, October 31, 2010
Undisguised Fun
It was destined to be a busy Saturday.
We were up and out to get the supplies for game night: Swedish meatballs, onions, and whatever else was needed for the week at BJs. We would usually follow this with a trip to Kroger, but we had a coupon to the newly-opened Food Lion on Austell Road. So we went there for the rest of the fixings instead. The moment we walked into the door they shoved two packages of potato buns at us for free! They were also giving out free grilled hot dogs, so we had lunch. We brought the food home and while I vacuumed those ever-annoying stairs, James put the meatballs in both crock pots, the little one with meatballs done in barbecue sauce and the larger with the main dish. James doesn't make actual "Swedish meatballs" because the cream sauce would make Juanita sick; instead he makes a combo of poultry and brown gravy, and he added some mushroom gravy to this batch. With that started, we went out to Borders at "Parkway Pointe." There is a 40 percent off coupon and we just joined their "Plus" club, so each book would be half off! The one book I wanted (The Mental Floss Guide to American History) was already on discount, and I couldn't find the other two I would have liked, so I got the newest Bryant and May book that is in paperback. After that it was the usual weekly visit to the hobby shop, and then we came home by Baskin-Robbins. (We're adults; we can eat dessert before the meal. <g>) Then home to finish the last bits of removing books and magazines from the coffee table and setting up the utensils. We had a small crowd tonight, since poor Jessie was sick—the poor kid is embarrassed since she is already being teased about having "the kissing disease"—and Ann and Clay couldn't make it at the last minute. I wore my "spider cape" and spider hair clip, and a cute little purple spider on my wrist, and James wore his kilt. Juanita had her ski outfit on (since she is still in a cast), and everyone else came as themselves. :-) We spent the first hour or so eating (meatballs, bread, watermelon, mashed potatoes, cookies, and the pumpkin cupcakes) and watching the Georgia-Florida game. Sadly, the Gators won. Later we played one of our new games, Yahtzee Free-for-All, where you either have to make whatever "roll" is on the board, or you can capture another player's card. It was a barrel of fun once we understood how it worked. The Spiveys went off to see Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Strand in Marietta, and Juanita home to tend poor Jessie, and we joined chat "in progress." Lots of discussing when Jen would be "free." She is graduating on the 12th, so we only have another week to send her letters. Then she will be e-mailable again. Slept in as late as we could, since James had to go into work this morning. There was little to clean up after this morning, as James had done most of the rinsing last night, but I put the table back together and vacuumed, and put some things up. I was feeling definitely under the weather this morning, my nose all stuffy and my throat sore. Damned if I know why, but it sure dragged me down as I popped out this morning to go to a couple of Borders and try to hunt down the next issue of a cross-stitch magazine that I wanted. I did get Ideals Christmas and the new Chicken Soup for the Soul: Christmas Magic book, and I found a little "Uncle John's" Christmas book on the bargain table. The December "Victorian Homes" wasn't out yet, but I did find the December "Early American Life" and also "Midwest Living," which I usually get in the fall but haven't seen in months. Picked up the Christmas "Bliss Victoria" and the new "Cooks Country" as well. By the time I got home my throat was hurting quite badly, so I took three ibuprofin and lay down for a half hour. Also had chicken broth and rice for supper, which made my throat feel better, and watched The Good-for-Nothing (the "For Better or For Worse" Hallowe'en special) and It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. I have other "spooky" stuff I can watch, like Return to Oz, Midnight Offerings, Haunted History of Halloween, etc, but I usually don't end up watching them. I do the decorations and put on the costume, but I really find Hallowe'en a bit dull. So here I sit on the steps down to the foyer, waiting as the little goblins come by. Still too many older kids without any costumes at all...come on guys, make a effort, okay? One kid's voice had already changed! Some darling little kids, including one tiny boy who was Dracula, and another as a knight, complete with a makeup moustache! Many demons; don't think they were zombies. As always little girls in princess costumes, a bright-faced little boy as Superman, one tiny child as a convict with a black eye. One little girl was a snow princess among three monster brothers. LOL. Tomorrow I can pull all this down and put up Thanksgiving decorations, which will make me happier. (7:56 p.m.: OMG! A girl just showed up in a sailor suit!) Labels: books, food, friends, gatherings, Hallowe'en » Friday, October 29, 2010
As His Wimsey Takes Him
I ordered Strong Poison, the first in a series of three 1985 Lord Peter Wimsey novel adaptations, from Netflix last week, watched it, and am now on the second, Have His Carcase. (I'd seen these when they were first broadcast, but wanted to see how they held up.)
My first encounter with Lord Peter Wimsey was in the 1970s, when Masterpiece Theatre showed "Murder Must Advertise" (previous Wimsey stories had been shown, but I hadn't seen them). I found the combination of advertising agency murder, Bright Young Things, and the appealing Lord Peter intoxicating. In short order I had raided my college textbook fund to buy all the paperbacks (they were only $1.25 back then). "Nine Tailors" followed on television and became my second favorite of the series. I eventually saw all five of the original stories, which starred Ian Carmichael as Lord Peter. Carmichael was a bit old to play Wimsey—he was 52 when the first one aired—who ranges from his 20s to his 30s in the five stories that were filmed (Clouds of Witness, Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Murder Must Advertise, The Nine Tailors, and Five Red Herrings, but he fully captured (at least to me) the contradiction that was Peter Wimsey—aristocratic, clever (while acting the silly ass), devoted to his mother and later to Harriet Vane, with a puckish sense of humor and strong sense of justice. Fifteen years later the BBC did three further adaptations of Lord Peter Wimsey stories, those featuring Peter's love Harriet Vane, a stubborn, indepedent "new woman" who is also a writer of mystery stories. For these stories, Edward Petherbridge was cast as Lord Peter Wimsey. While Petherbridge was also in his early 50s when he was cast in the role of a younger Wimsey, he also did look more like Dorothy Sayer's description of her investigative hero, with blond hair and a long face. Since then there have been debates (many quite strident!) over who was the better Wimsey. Some people cite Petherbridge as being "younger" than Carmichael along with looking more like the description, although they were almost the same age when they filmed the stories. I've always leaned toward the Carmichael camp, as you might tell by my description above. While Petherbridge looked the part, he was a very Byronic Wimsey, all troubled looks and hollow eyes. Even when he is trading quips with Harriet, he is so very sober. One cannot imagine Petherbridge's dour Wimsey doing several of the things Wimsey does in the books: diving into a fountain dressed as a Harlequin, bantering with his delightful and unconventional mother, the Dowager Duchess of Denver, taking his young nephew on a treasure hunt in a rowboat, going to the Soviet Club with Marjorie Phelps, playing a mischievous prank with his young son Bredon in the very last Wimsey story ever written. Perhaps in the future the BBC might try to do a new Wimsey series with someone closer to the proper age who blends the best physical attributes of Petherbridge and the mixed intensity and humor of Carmichael. (Incidentally, Harriet Walter, who plays Harriet Vane, comes in for a great deal of criticism in the role. Complaints range from her voice being too high [???] to her haircut being terrible. I always imagined Harriet having darker hair, but I don't mind Walter so much in the role. I do notice she is involved in the new Law and Order: UK series as the police superior.) The Petherbridge Wimsey stories also cast Peter's faithful manservant Mervyn Bunter as a young, handsome fellow. I'm so used to an older Bunter—Glyn Houston is quite charming as Bunter in three of the five Ian Carmichael stories—that the use of a younger man was a bit startling. However, Bunter always was a bit of a ladies' man, and the younger face certainly does work better with that image! Labels: books, mystery, television » Thursday, October 28, 2010
Fall Chill and Father Christmas...
» Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Now, THAT'S Scary!
Today's "Mother Goose and Grimm":
 (Appropriate that Election Day is two days after Hallowe'en this year. First we get treats, then we get tricked.) Labels: comics » Monday, October 25, 2010
Threads...
» Sunday, October 24, 2010
Highs and Lows
We had a busy, fun Saturday!
We were up in time to go to the farmer's market. At that point it was nice and cool and we leisurely strolled the booths, bought vegetables, chicken salad, and cheese, and munched on samples. I had a nice cinnamon roll—no icky white icing on top!—and James had a ham-and-cheese croissant for breakfast. We finished just before ten and I suggested to James that we go to Smyrna's Fall Jonquil Festival while it was still cool. So that's what we did, parking behind Shane's barbecue. We walked all the booths, sampled the dips, talked to some of the vendors, kept bumping into a woman with two cute little dogs on a leash (one who had a cute fuzzy face like Willow), stopped at the library sale and found Burgess Meredith's biography and also a Yankee book, Practical Problem Solver, and bought a Christmas gift. Then we stopped back at Shane's for lunch; neither of us turned out to be very hungry and we brought most of it home. Brought the things home, then went out to the hobby shop for a while. From there we went up to JoAnn. Walked in the door and was gobsmacked...they have remodeled the whole thing so it looks almost exactly like the one near Gwinnett Mall. So we had to find everything again. The craft book department now looks really sloppy, and I don't think they have as many magazines. I did get a Mary Hickmott's with some beautiful blackwork autumn leaf patterns. Then we went home and chilled out for a while, and had a bit of supper (I had the oatmeal and yogurt I didn't have this morning) before heading out to Avondale to see the Atlanta Radio Theatre performance of Island of Dr. Moreau. We got there in time to say hello to Amy and chat with Lin before the performance. Moreau is, as always, intense. By the time it finishes, you are wrung dry. They also did three short pieces, a Rory Rammer piece ("Set Loose the Dogs of Time"), "Inhuman Rights," and a story I wrote for "Bumpers Crossroads" many years ago, "The Stray Dog," and there was an enjoyable musical performer, Julie Gribble, as well. After the performance, we stayed on to chat with Daniel and Clair, then drove home to continue a different chat with Emma, Rodney, Mike, and Meggan. (Incidentally, we took the rental car today and yesterday, and were listening to WABE on Saturday morning. Found a neat show about food and cooking called "The Splendid Table." Saturday afternoon I went fishing around and found the RSS feed so we could listen to the podcasts. The show we listened to, from last year, featured a woman who wrote about food in gangster movies, and another woman who wrote a book about feeding men and boys. There is also a question-and-answer segment, and one where a person gives the hosts five ingredients in their fridge and challenges them to make a dish containing those ingredients.) About halfway during chat I started feeling a bit off. Had two trips to the bathroom during the night, and woke up feeling nauseated as well as hungry. Had something light on my stomach before we went shopping, but just kept feeling worse and worse as we went to BJs and to Kroger. James said he know I was really sick because I completely ignored the books and the DVDs at BJs. I just wanted to get home and be quietly ill. So after the groceries were put away and I had some oatmeal and yogurt, that's what I did. James went to the IPMS club picnic at the new Marietta Aviation Museum (which isn't open yet, but they got to tour the planes and got to see inside the building, which isn't open yet because they haven't yet gotten it from the Army) and I had a nice nap for half the afternoon and, when I was feeling a little better and had eaten some mandarin oranges and peanut butter on bread and had some milk, dubbed off the first five Castle episodes from this season. Also put up the Hallowe'en decorations after supper, which, I'm afraid, is still aggravating my stomach, despite the fact that James drained and rinsed the ground pork thoroughly and made the pasta mixture very mild. I think the barbecue yesterday set everything off, and I haven't been exactly good with taking my Prilosec twice a day. I kept forgetting while we were away and did only mildly better this week. I cannot miss one of the damn things. Anyway, I was done in time to watch the first episode of Sherlock on Masterpiece Mystery tonight. This is a modern-set version of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, with Watson still as a veteran of Afghanistan (but with post-traumatic stress disorder and a psychosomatic limp) and Holmes as his usual observant self, except this time he texts instead of telegraphs. I loved it—the whole thing's absolutely brilliant, and they haven't made Watson a buffoon (nor Lestrade, either, although I was getting Captain Stottelmeyer vibes from him...LOL). Who was that playing the cabbie, though? He looked so familiar... (Oh! they showed a preview for the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows during Extreme Home Makeover tonight. Too cool!) Labels: decorating, events, Hallowe'en, movies, shopping, sickness, television |
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