Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Go Home Again, Weekend Plans & The Mad Scientist's Lab

Today's blogs...

Blog City – Day 220

Prompt: They say you can't go home again. {After leaving a home you grew up in for years.} Do you agree with this staement?

I would agree in that house has burned to the ground and another two story house stands where the bungalow once did.
Also you see the world in different eyes now. An adult instead of a child. Things change and are altered in ways you have not been privy to and it sets things on edge. The fit is not as snug anymore. Your memories are twisted by the new information and it doesn’t quite work.

If you want to revisit, you need to address the issue of the changes and be prepared for different dynamics. The world has moved forward, advancement has occurred no matter how small it is there. It will always be there. A gap in time that cannot be fixed.... like a permanent speed bump. Tripping you up.

30 Day Blogging Challenge

I looking into weekend plans. Being Canadian, this weekend in Thanksgiving for us. Here in Kitchener (once known as Berlin - but was renamed after the war) it also marks the beginning of Octoberfest. I believe they tap the keg on Friday night and then the next ten days are full of festive Bavarian drinking. I tend to steer clear of that. There is a parade on Monday - a mix of Thanksgiving and Octoberfest. We may go this year, but we will see.

Usually we go to my husband's family for Thanksgiving as it is our nephew's birthday on the following Tuesday. But this year we were told that because our 21 year old niece has developed an allergy to turkey (which, in the past, she barely touches anyway) Thanksgiving dinner is not happening. Instead there will be snacks after the parade on Monday. What gets me about this is tradition. Turkey dinner is tradition. It is the last big meal before Easter where all ten family members are home and can enjoy a little family time. My husband's parents leave before December to head to Florida (so that my husband's step mother does not have to buy us gifts - and yes, that comment was overheard - I don't care about the gifts but the fact that she said that bothers me.) So because one person, who eats like a bird, is allergic to turkey, dinner is cancelled. Thing is, she will probably go to her boyfriend's place and they will have turkey.
My husband and his other sister love turkey (we even had it at our wedding in August), so we are having a late Thanksgiving dinner in two weeks time at her place. If we weren't so deep into renovations we could do it here. The whole thing is crazy.

I suggested going to my family's dinner in Guelph, but my husband turned his nose up at that. My family doesn't cook a fresh turkey and they serve the more traditional turnips and such... but still. My aunt is also doing it at the same time as my husband's sisters nibblies. So what to do?

Usually our turkey dinner is Sunday so we could do both.... but that is not going to happen.

Long gone are the days when we all went out to the farm and sat around a huge table enjoying a meal. When I was done, a child at the time, I would excuse myself and move under the table to enjoy the rumble of conversation in the dimness. I would touch peoples toes and knees. After dinner, when things were cleaned up a little we would congregate in the big room and my grandmother's brothers would play their instruments and we would sing along - like a Ceildh - is a traditional Gaelic social gathering, which usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing. I loved those times.

The Haunted House – Day 7 – The Mad Scientist’s Lab

With the door closed, I was assailed by the smell of sulfur and formaldehyde. Pinching my nose, I turned to squint into the room. It was alive with motion. Bubbling and hissing filled the room. The only thing not moving was a cadaver that lay lifeless on a cold slab table in the center of the room. It's arms strapped down. I swallowed deeply, as I wondered 'why that would be necessary'. A chill crept over my skin sending a fresh wave of prickles over my entire body.

To distract myself I looked about the room locating the exit on the far side of the room. I also noted the vials and bottles of various shapes and sizes scattered about. Each held a different coloured liquid. Reds, greens, blues, oranges. Some simmered, others sat taking their containers shape. On a long counter that ran the length of the room sat a laberanth of Bunsen burners, vials, and bottles of various shapes and sizes. It was in some odd configuration. I watched as liquid of a murky colour rose and filled a tube carrying it to a bright, florescent green coloured liquid. As I watched, the liquid swirled together and in a flash of smoke and a startling 'bang' the whole mixture went crimson red. I trembled in the aftermath.

“Perfect. Just Perfect. Yes, that will do.” I heard a voice hiss with excitement. My eyes located the tiny man wrapped in a long white lab coat. His eyes were luminous behind glasses of thick lens. They seemed to make his eyes bulge with his excitement as he rubbed his hands together in a merry little shuffle.

A quick glance let me know there was no one else around; his words were for his benefit only.

“Now I can add this to my other mixture and see if it is the right formula.... oh, I do hope this is the right one....too many years, too many years...” His voice prattled on as he moved with precise, practiced precision.

I watched him, unsure of what he would do if he noticed me, but he seemed completely absorbed in his work. After a time, I began to wonder if he would even notice me if I danced naked in front of him. His eyes never strayed from his task. All the time he prattled on talking to himself... asking questions, then answering himself. He occasionally let out a hoot of laughter, shaking his head like he should have known better than to ask himself that, but he worked away and I watched mesmerized by his movements and his excitement.
His intense focus allowed me to look about the room and as I did, I moved slowly along the far wall so that I would not draw any attention to myself. I also held my breath, concerned that startling him would cause some type of catastrophe.

When I was almost at the door, he turned towards the cadaver in the center of the room.

"This is it Georgie. This is the formula. Now we just need to see if it will revive you!" His excited jubilation skittered over me and I waited anxious to see if he had met with success.

Very slowly he poured the liquid into Georgie's mouth, then he stepped back and waited. After a prolonged moment, I swear I could see movement in the fingers as they fluttered and wriggled a bit.

"Oh, come now Georgie you can give me more than that, can't you?"

I watched as the toes wiggled. The small scientist smiled with a wicked gleam.

"I am on to something, but it needs some tweaking.... I'll have to ask the witches if they have managed to find fresher blood.... younger would be better, yes, that would probably do the trick."

His words sent a chill up my spine and just as his bulging eyes lifted to notice me, I slipped out the door into a stairwell. As I slammed the door behind me and raced up the stairs, I heard the echo of his words, "Hey, you there! Wait!"

Next is The Sorcerer's Library.