A Little Something Extra Today

I woke up this morning with this story forming in my head and I posted it over on Thrill or Shiver.

Just a Little Note  -  Death can come in all sized packages.

Let me know if you liked it.

Small Story

I posted another short story over on my Thrill or Shiver blog.

Florist Shop Raven, a story about a Goth girl working after school in a Florist Shop.

Have a Happy, Wonderful, Glorious, Spooky, and Safe Halloween tomorrow!

In the Mood to Howl

I’ve been watching all the old Addams Family TV Show on DVD.
Thrown in some Charlie Brown, Corpse Bride, and Hocus Pocus…
And I’m in the mood to send my Gothy self out into the world and howl.

I dream of a Gothy Fantasy life.

I want Morticia for a neighbor.  Wouldn’t that be great.  The fun we would have.  And all that Gothy knitting for sure.

And a Cemetery.  I miss living close to a cemetery.  I grew up with one across the street.

Rooms of Gothy fashion.  Way too much for just one closet.  And besides that, I need the closets for my Skeletons.

A Victorian Mansion on a hill, filled with all the Gothic décor my dark little heart could desire.

Secret passage ways.  Dungeons and a moat.  Caverns under ground.  Bats and tower rooms.

I want it all…

Yes, Howl I feel I must!

Get ready for making your own fun Friends and Fiends…

Halloween is but a few days away.

The Meme Conundrum

Oh No! Another “Meme” is going around.  “100 Things”

I have a love/hate relationship with Memes.

They fill the gap when you are running out of babble in your head that others might find interesting.
They help me get back into a blogging groove when other things try to pull my attention away.  And I like to find out about the things others have done or liked.

But I find myself thinking in a chant type of repetition, “This is not a test.  No failure grading will follow.”

Did I tell you my fear of tests and my public humiliation from my failure of them?  Very bad childhood memories of nuns with rulers.  (Now I’m not knocking nuns here.  This was a select few.)  I could tell you stories.  (I do know the right answer.  I just don’t do tests well.)  They never understood.  The memories burn me still.

Yes, I am an adult.  I do know the difference between a Meme for enjoyment and a test.  But the mind is a tricky thing.  It was more than a week of nail biting torture for me to put out the ones I have done lately.

I can stand on my own.  I don’t need anyone else’s approval for my choices.  And I know in my soul that there are no right or wrong answers to these silly things.

Still it may be a while before I do another (If ever).  I need time to recover.  (Back of hand to forehead.)

I’m a bit Meme shy right now.  (Hands held out in front of turned away face to ward off danger.)

I’ll have to think about this Meme business another day.  (Now where did my fainting couch go?  I need to swoon here from the drama.)

10 Things I Hate Having to Deal With

Washing dishes
Sleeping alone
Being sick in bed
Arguing with loved ones
Having to wait for something
Breaking a Ukulele string while playing
Being without my computer
Having someone walk away while you are still talking to them.
Having others make demands of me.
Doing memes

Hang the 10 things for 10 days, in the 10th month thing.
I quit them as of now.
I've told you I’m not good at playing with others or rules.
No more memes from me.

Hoot, hoot, hoot, hoo, HOOOOO!

I woke up this morning to a Hooty Owl making his or her presents known.  I so love that lonely sound.  Calling a lover?  Warning a mate?  I know not why.  Only that it thrills my soul.

Later when I was letting out the dog, I heard the Geese calling high in the air on their way southward, as the dog shuffled his way through the cracking leaves on the ground.

Sound is so wonderful in the crisp Autumn air.  Sharper, more distinct.  It also goes farther without the leaves on the trees and bushes muffling them.  Whispers sound nearer.  Creeping things can’t hide their presents as well as they once did.

Autumn will always be my favorite time of year.  And not for Halloween either.

For me it is the light… the sounds… the opening up of things.

I can see farther into the woods, or down the street, as the trees loose their leaves.  Darkness comes early and lights come on in peoples houses, giving me peeks into their homes before the curtains are drawn.  Daylight turns dapple then pure as the trees open up loosing their canopy of cover.  Nighttime comes early.

There is also a closing in the Autumn.  A moving indoors, nesting and snuggling in.  Filling the larder.  Pulling out the warmer comfort clothing and bedding.  Getting ready for the dead of winter to come.

Soups.  I can and do live on soups.  Comfort foods.  A cup of tea and a good book by the woodstove.

For the Contest

I wrote a short story over at my Thrill or Shiver story blog for the contest Gothic Gardener is having.

It is called 'The Shovel' because that was the contest theme.

Just click on Thrill or Shiver above for the Blog and all my stories are linked on the side or click the links below for the story itself.

Click the picture below for the contest rules.

I hope you like it.

The Shovel - part 1
The Shovel - part 2

10 Foods I Like To Eat

Homemade (and made with mostly home grown ingredients).

Black Bean Soup
Mock Egg Salad
Lentil Soup
Fruit Smoothie
Chowder
Lentil Burger
Pumpkin Soup
Black and White Bean Salad
Vegetable Soup
Tossed Salad

10 Aromas I Like

The smell of burning leaves in the autumn.
Apples baking
Lavender
Baking bread
Infant/Baby smell
Fresh, clean, sun dried laundry.
Crayons
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Spring things starting to grow
Rain

10 Things I Like To Do With Others

Intelligent discussion.
Play with my grandkids.
Dress up in my best Gothy Victorian dresses and go to cemeteries.
Cook and Bake
Dress up in costumes - re-enact the past
Play games
Dance
Shop for clothes
Walk in the woods
And last, but not least.
Volunteer

10 Things I Like To Do When I'm Alone

In no particular order.

Sudoku puzzles
Play my Ukulele
Play video games.  Mostly card, puzzle, or collection.
Write stories
Jigsaw puzzles
Sew
Make Miniatures - Doll house stuff.
Read
Handy Craft - Knit, Crochet, make Lace
Watch TV shows or movies on video

10 Cartoons I Like

Old
Betty Boop

http://youtu.be/sX8puuirg9E

Dover Boys of Old P.U.

http://youtu.be/jR0eBWDVAtw

Rocky and Bullwinkle Show

http://youtu.be/XujPnUNcB74?list=PLgOTIx3lNjISpsQSV6qVyxEz3F2mgXcSJ

To Spring - Classic Cartoon 1936

http://youtu.be/rT3URe3CxTs

New  (I’m a Grandma Too)
Charlie and Lola

http://youtu.be/0Vd-0pFOFs0

Postman Pat

http://youtu.be/7Xv65r8HHJM?list=PL9FA07FD5406C2AE6

Meg and Mog

http://youtu.be/YZPb5B0Xg8k

Movies
The Point

http://youtu.be/xjfKteUBa_s

The Phantom Tollbooth.

http://youtu.be/Llg5VODW6n4

The Grinch  (This is a Halloween Grinch)

http://youtu.be/ygSEkwRCQPM

10 of My Favorite Things in Music

Classical music - Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major.

http://youtu.be/GAkw_Wi4yIo

Classical Dark - Danse Macabre - Camille Saint-Saens

http://youtu.be/9CHqhsMP80E

Fun - Anything by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain

http://youtu.be/pLgJ7pk0X-s?list=PLy-nEelStADPlE9Bl76hHieQzedJv9yOE

Popular/Personal Empowerment - Katy Perry’s - Wide Awake

http://youtu.be/k0BWlvnBmIE

Bluegrass - Nickel Creeks - The Lighthouse’s Tale

http://youtu.be/ARIr6S_0lAQ

Christian pop - Evanescence - Missing

Odd Entertaining Music Videos - OkGo

http://youtu.be/Y8cuuP4Jmio

Bette Midler - I think its Gonna’ Rain Today by Randy Newman

http://youtu.be/HToASBoxkdI

Invoke Memories - Moody Blues

http://youtu.be/cjImFYf2Vzc?list=RDcjImFYf2Vzc

To play on the Ukulele - Dust in the Wind - Kansas

10 of My Favorite Flowers.

Continuing this 10 things for 10 days in the 10th month thing.

In no particular order.  And there are ever so many more for ever so many different reasons.

Flowers
Violets - wild flower
Wisteria Vine
Calla Lily
Lavender
Roses - but never pink
Dragon Flower
Snap Dragon
Honey Suckle vine in winter.
Bleeding Heart
Venus Flytrap

10 things you didn’t know about me.

I. One of my grandfather’s jobs was being on a roller derby team.
2. I was once a backup singer in my mother’s country western band.
3. The 3rd finger on my right hand was almost completely cut off but was successfully reattached.
4. I was a tenor in glee club but pinch hit as a soprano.  Because I was the only one in the group that could reach high ‘C’ and beyond.
5. I have 5 dogs buried in our pet cemetery.
6. I am the oldest of a 6 kid family.
7. I’ve had surgery 7 times in my life.  None cosmetic.
8. I had 8 boyfriends between my first and second marriages.
9. I was in the Girl Scouts for 9 years.
10. Our pet cemetery has 10 pets in all buried there.

I did have a plan…

Mountain Man, (Otherwise known as my husband.) went away for a week and a half with some of his friends to a conference.  This was a good thing for me.

I had lots of plans for crafts, and autumn cleaning, tea parties, day trips to places he doesn’t like to go like costume and oddity shops and such things.  And blogging, blogging, blogging.

This of course did not happen.  Because I had a plan.

What you need to know is that if I make plans, the universe laughs and spits in my face.

1. So my beloved, best pal of mine, dog got all mental and suddenly was scared of me.  He wouldn’t listen and ran from my presents.  Trembled and collapsed when I spoke to him.  Wouldn’t even eat if I was in the room.  Very strange as I did nothing to or around him for this to happen.

I had to take much time reprogram him to trust me again.

2. My heart started to act up due to a stomach thing that messed my electrolytes.

No driving for a few days.

3. I opened my mail to find a letter from one of my health care services telling me that they were hacked and my info was stolen.

No end of time in finding out if this was in fact true and getting ID protection.

4. The radiator in the car died.

Still further no driving, or shopping, or getting out in the real world.


Mountain Man is home now happy and relaxed from his get away.

I have a cold in my head.  The dog is fat and happy from being over fed treats.  And I still need my vacation.

But I'm back to my regular real life.  I’m canning vegetables from the garden, getting to the autumn cleaning around Mountain Mans activities, exercising the dog, and blowing my red sore nose.  Cough! Wheeze!

Next time he goes away I’m not making any plans.  And who knows I just might enjoy the heck out of it.  Its happened before.

Happy Anniversary

Well we made it.  Woot!  Woot!  

I have been married to Mountain Man for 25 years.

This was not always a given.  My breast cancer and a few heart attacks could have gotten in the way and we are both getting older.

This was a second marriage for both of us.  It fits us.  We would not have been a fit for a first together.  We needed to live, learn, grow and change to make this fit.

And who else would put up with us but each other?  Ha, ha!

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.  But I do know that this was a landmark in my life hard won and much appreciated.

Here’s to Us!

Ignore the Sparkly and Make Some Progress

So, I have discovered that I am ADD. (Attention Deficit Disorder)

Not news to others in my life apparently, but news to me.

This does explain a lot.

My extreme need for new input.  Why I get bored to distraction so easily.  And why I can’t get my act together unless challenged by time constraints.  Just to name a few.

Knowing that my personal compass is broken made me feel a bit adrift.  Until I realized that its always been that way and I just wasn’t aware of it before.  And that I’ve made it this far the hard way.

Now that I have direction again the work begins.  I’m working on new ways to organize, cope, and manage my life.

I’ve also found that I did pretty good at managing this ADD already.

My card system for getting things done around here is one of the biggest.  (Sorry long time readers but here it goes again.)

I have a 3x5 card with every conceivable job that I do around here.  And I do mean every.  Light bulbs to closet corners.  Cobwebs to toilets.  Windows to refilling the condiments containers.

Some job descriptions are general, others much more specific.

All marked with day of the week and time.  (Not time as in 2:37 PM but how long before I need to do it again.)

They live in a large file box.  Full of tab cards to keep them in order with days of the week, weeks of the month, months of the seasons, seasons of the year.

The cards are color coded to help me even further.
White - Daily.  Yellow - Weekly/Biweekly.  Green - Monthly/Bimonthly.  Pink - Seasonally/Yearly.

Daily I pull out my cards for the day.  A rainbow of jobs to accomplish.  Once done the cards are recycled back into the file box year at their needed intervals.

This works great on a lot of levels.  It shows me that when big jobs are broken down they are easier to cope with.  I can go with the flow of the day and still get things done when an outing, phone call, or unexpected company interrupts my chores.  When I’m easily distracted I can come back to jobs and not forget and leave them half done forever.  On sick or busy days I can distribute jobs back into the next week easing the overload I once felt when I was knocked off my routine.

I’m still not a great house cleaner and never will be.  Mostly because its just not that important to me to live in a dust free environment.  (I still think cobwebs are cool.)  But I don’t lose things (Mostly time) nearly as often in the mess and I‘m less likely to trip on the latest half done project.

Do you have any more tips I could use?

Look a Contest...

So Goth Gardening is having a Halloween contest and I've desided to enter with a new story on my Thrill or Shiver story blog come Halloween day.  Rules and all that.

I hope the links work.  The picture should get you to her blog.  I haven't done this kind of thing for some time and a lot has changed here.  If not click here.

She has a great blog with lots of pictures and fun stuff going on.  Go check it out.  

I'll be posting more often now that summer is over.