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July 22, 2015 I'm going to start today to record on a daily basis whatever happens to strike my fancy. So, it is a very cool breezy day. I just posted 5 short book reviews to The Monthly Reading Challenge. I'm suppose to put away some winter wood today from the woodpile outside but I'm playing hookey from work to write so starting this blog will get done. I'm having a daily fight with a flock of English Sparrows that are trying to take over my barn. They are making a terrible mess so they have to go. I have destroyed several nests so far they don't leave but they get out of the barn when I am around. I'm just starting the fight so I guess I don't know how far I have to go to discourage them. I'm trying not to spread myself to thin on WDC because I find so many things that are interesting here and I am trying to work on a new story. I really enjoy sitting at my desk with a cup of tea and reading blogs on WDC. |
 Describe your favorite candy: My favorite candy was spiced gumdrops. They had to be made with corn syrup or I could not eat them. Even today, I do better with candy made with corn syrup, than candy made with sugar. I gave up a lot of candy for many years. Except for homemade fudge. Now, we eat various kinds of chocolate. I bought M&Ms for my monthly treat. I actually prefer a lot of different kinds of nuts to candy. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Write an entry inspired by monsters, zombies, and vampires An interview with Count Dracula for FORWARD PRESS by Apondia: As I entered the castle across a lowered drawbridge. It looked like serious rot was showing across the whole of the bridge. I tiptoed around the obvious holes and was careful to tap some parts of the surface before putting weight on it with one of my feet. The castle main was heavy stone so it seemed as safe a place to enter as we would see during today's jaunt into the unknown. As soon as I entered into a hallway with a ceiling high enough to drive a truck into; someone I think is human undead approaches me. She is quite tall, wearing a long filmy white dress spotted with dark blood red spots that seem to drip down from her throat onto the dress. She was holding one hand up against her throat. When she came within 5 feet of me she stopped. With a colorless, glassy stare she beckoned me with one hand, turned and moved soundlessly out a west side doorway. This action seemed brazen to me. I had expected to be told odd facts today since this was the first exclusive the Count had allowed in many years. Nevertheless, I would like to get a closer look at the woman’s neck where she continued to place the palm of one hand. We traveled not to far down a hall into another room. This new area was comfortably furnished. The rug underfoot was modern in plush fabric and coloring. An odd pattern of blood red and black swirls. The same pattern was woven in a smaller way into the chairs and sofa. Aha. Apondia. You have arrived right on time. Can you be seated for a moment it seems Alyssa has a minor problem I need to fix. As I chose a very soft and form fitting comfortable chair and took out my pen and pad, Count Dracula was motioning Alyssa to come closer. However, he was standing next to a very modern electric fireplace. It was one of those that have pretend flames leaping and dancing across a screen. Alyssa shook and trembled and backed away from him. Oh bother Alyssa the fire is not real. I guess you don’t feel the heat though, do you? Just see the flames. “ Come here immediately,” he ordered. Hesitantly, she obeyed . The Count took a roll of gauze out of his pocket and began to roll it round and round her neck. Red oozed into the white of the gauze but did not seem to be flowing freely down her garment any longer. Now run along to the kitchen my dear. Tell cook to bring some good English tea and some of those cookies I bought at the store. No. Um, not the ones we eat at the castle. Something purchased from the town grocery would be better for this visit. Apondia isn’t one of us. I think she would not appreciate castle made fare. As she turned to go, Dracula settled into a chair opposite me. Now, exactly what are we talking about here today. As you know Count Dracula, I started. Just Dracula will be fine Apondia. OK. As you know this time of year the minds of people turn to things other than the living and your name comes up a lot. I had a few questions that would enlighten the public who read our publication. He rubs his chin. Some things maybe people shouldn’t know but ask your questions and we will see what comes up. Pardon me while I turn the lights a little lower. He touched a dial on the arm of his chair and the lighting became very low with just enough to barely see where to put my pen to paper. There, I think better in a darker area. Tell me a little about your name? Well of course you know Brom Stoker, who created me in his story Dracula, took the name from Vlad III. It’s origin is from a word which describes a dragon or mm sometimes Drac is for the devil. Dracula smiled a kind of intimidating smirky smile. Why did you want to move from Transylvania to England? Eligible maidens were coming up missing right and left out there in Transylvania. I guess parents were moving away from the castle and taking their daughters with them. I’m not really to blame, you know. Over the years it’s been proven in many a writing that vampires can be exceptionally desirable. How did you become a vampire Dracula? Let’s see that was a long time ago. Oh yes, I remember now, that was the black magic. I was very wicked to use it, wasn’t I. I did it for eternal love of Mina. I did meet her again, in England, you know? Why are you afraid of crosses? Dracula tipped his head sideways and rested his forehead in his palm. I heard him mumble something. I’m sorry I couldn’t hear what you said? He rose up out of the chair and turned on me with a frightful look. Why do you want to know that? It’s just one of the things that are often mentioned in vampire stories. People do get curious about it you know. If you must know it’s very drafty in this castle and sometimes in any castle. He shook his head back and forth and sat suddenly with a plop into his chair. There are ancient ideas that I ignored when I was mixing up that magic potion. It’s got to do with that old book. Which old book? I asked. Was I seeing what I thought I was seeing? Was Dracula’s colorless pale skin turning an embarrassed pink color? The one the Christians use to learn about, you know... him. You mean God? Yeah. It seems I made a boo boo when I used magic to gain eternal life. Now, I’m stuck forever doing, what I do as a vampire. It’s boring and unusually irritating most of the time. Not only that, I can’t get away with anything really. That cross thing is a constant reminder of the way it actually worked to gain eternal life. Anyway only one person could do that, and do it right. Of course it wasn’t me. People are always picking on me with a cross as though I needed to be reminded. Just then a plumb motherly looking lady arrived with a beautiful tea service and served us tea. She scolded Dracula and he took it with a mollified look. Dracula you have to take a walk with the dog tonight. He has been scratching and whining all morning in the kitchen. Something had followed her into the room. It was large, with the head of a lion, the short feet of a dachshund, and the tail of a pony dragging across the carpet. When the monster puppy sat down he flipped the tail up over his back in a curl and the long hair waved in the air. Dracula one last question? Will you be out on Halloween night? No. Absolutely not. To many monsters, other people’s zombies, the undead, and other vampires out that night. I’m just not as good with competition as I was when I was younger. The population of zombies and undead seems to be rising at an overpowering rate the last few years. You know what that means don't you? The important one will wake up the troops and their will be more crosses than ever to dodge. Why did I ever make that magic potion? I finished my tea and rose to go. I do appreciate this interview Dracula. Alyssa will make sure you make it to the drawbridge. Alyssa came gliding out from a hidden doorway. I reached out to shake Dracula's hand. He startled backwards in a quick move raising the short black cape he was wearing across part of his face. Is that a cross you are wearing on your bracelet? he screamed. Oh. I'm sorry I'll just go now. I moved quickly out of the room and down the hall with Alyssa in the lead. As I started to leave the castle and move onto the drawbridge Alyssa became more animated. Wait, she shouted. She reached out and touched the cross on my bracelet. Can I come with you, I don't like it here. Her face was shining with a new animation. Of Course,I exclaimed. Holding hands we fled across the crumbling moat. As we reached the other side someone else called from the castle. The cook was scurrying toward us. " Wait for me," she called. Behind her the monster had turned into three  animals a pony, a dachshund, and a lion. When they left the moat behind they were frolicking on the grass in the joy of finding the light again. When I stopped in the press room of FORWARD PRESS to write up my article for publication the editor stopped by my desk. How did your interview go? He wanted to know. Pretty well, I said. How is Alyssa today? She is so glad to be home. Once a year it's good to be reminded that monsters, zombies, and vampires become human again the day after Halloween. ![Merit Badge in Ghost
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Thank you for your participation at the [Link To Item #30dbc] in October, an unofficial month! Congratulations of winning the MB for Week 3!! Kindest Regards, Lilli](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Ghost-700.gif)  apondia#1781748 |
  Write a post inspired by the word : Dark Dark implies an absence of light. It can mean more or less of something as in color. “There are different kinds of darkness,” Rhys said. I kept my eyes shut. “There is the darkness that frightens, the darkness that soothes, the darkness that is restful.” I pictured each. “There is the darkness of lovers, and the darkness of assassins. It becomes what the bearer wishes it to be, needs it to be. It is not wholly bad or good.” ― Sarah J. Maas, A Court of Mist and Fury https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/darkness Looking out my Window-  Someone recently wrote this exclamation, “What’s with this weather?” Last week a meteorologist predicted light snow on one of the weekend days. It did not snow. For the last two weeks stratocumulus clouds cover the sky. A systematic dark cloud cover known in the colder months of the great lakes. The air switches between dead stillness and 30 mile per hour winds at any given moment. We are experiencing ninety-five per cent humidity today. Eighty five per cent of the trees are totally bare. The dank pall is difficult to mentally navigate. Yesterday, the meteorologist predicted rain. The air was full of a cold mist made darker by the blackness of the bare trees and heavy cloud cover. It wasn’t a real rain just a dark cold wet filling the air. There are no deer grazing in the yard or field, no wild turkeys combing the area for bugs and seeds, no birds at the full feeders. All the wild creatures huddled down in their beds on another dank day. When the wild creatures go to ground the subfusc air holds a nocturnal silence. The dampness invades the house and gives the rooms a chill impossible to fight, even though, there is heat in the house. The electric bulbs light an area. The light can’t reach into the dark parts of the room. Just outside the circle of light, that reaches out from a bulb it is tenebrous. Parts of the room are obnubilated. It does not help the penumbra area, that this is the week ending in the Halloween celebration. An abstruse holiday. Made for inky decorations of ocher, puce, and ebony coloring. It’s dark, It’s dark, It’s dark. Perhaps the earth, or at least the atmosphere is celebrating the darkest holiday of the year.  |
 Do you enjoy scary movies? My first thought was no. However, I’ve watched a some scary movies that did not bother me. I thought the Blob was funny and The Fly was scary. I was at home alone every night when the TV series Criminal Minds started. After the first time I refused to watch it. I think later years in that series toned down somewhat or I became tougher, because after a few seasons, I watched a couple more episodes and they did not bother me. When reruns started here during covid I watched some of the shows in the first season and decided they were worse in fright mode than later episodes. I’ve read some really intense stories in books, that I did not like, and also some that did not bother me. So, now I have to say it depends on the characters, the situation, and some times just the problems going on around me. O,r the way the author presents the possibilities within a situation can give me a sense of too much reality . Although I read a lot of detective and mystery, I do not go out of my way to watch thrillers or read thrillers. |
What was your favorite job? That is a toss up between two jobs. One is as an instructor of horse mastership. The other is as a kennel worker. I had a routine job as a kennel worker. I bathed dogs, cleaned kennel cages, took dogs out for play-times in the play yard, and fed the daily meals. It was a steady work day with an hourly pay. Another plus for this job was, I was able to become familiar with lots of different breeds. Really getting paid to play with dogs has to be a great way to earn a wage. As a dog groomer I enjoyed the finished product. Believe me dogs are happy to be clean. One dog was brought to me totally matted and smelly all over his body. I remember it because the really horrible mess his coat was in. Dried crude even across his ears and muzzle. He was a spaniel mix. The owner had found the dog in a pen filled with slop and mud somewhere and liberated the dog. The mess on its coat had dried solid after he had been rescued from the environment where he was living. After he was clipped, bathed, dried, and with clean ears. The new owner, who had rescued the dog, came to pick him up. When he called the dog to him, the dog turned around to me. jumped up with its paws on my shoulders, then gave me a lick on my cheek. Then he bounced out the door at the side of the new owner. Even dogs can appreciate being cared for. Horse mastership is another great way to enjoy life. Watching a new student become proficient in the care, training, and riding abilities of horses is very rewarding. There is a lot to learn especially if you are going to keep and manage one or two family pleasure horses. Then if you are going to show a horse there is even more to know about grooming and handling and riding horses. I'm often surprised at how little parts of the public know about pet and companion animal care even though most of the public is involved with pets of some type. One more week in October. |
Its national nut day tell us about your favorites:  With nuts its difficult to tell which are my favorites: I eat peanuts, which are a legume, walnuts which are a drupe, pistachios, almonds, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds. Peanuts are the cheapest and easiest to buy in quantities. Coconut to eat is not my favorite but I love the oil from coconut to cook with and use in hair oils and other ways. Oil is a totally other topic. Something I just learned is the definition of the word Drupe: {Linkhttps://www.seriouseats.com/2010/04/what-are-the-differences-between-nuts-and-dr...} Some things we call nuts are actually Drupes.This is something new to me. We have black walnut trees in our yard. Black walnuts have an outer shell. It is green when it drops from the tree. But as the nuts lay on the ground the outer husk turns black and eventually rots off. Apparently, this is true of all walnut trees. I once had a talk about the black walnut trees here with a veterinarian who was afraid the trees were a hazard to my horses. The trees were here during my youth and I never removed them. After we built the new horse barn the animals were never grazed or stabled near the trees. It seems that horses and not other livestock can have an allergic reaction to black walnuts. The veterinarian felt that the trees themselves can make the ground toxic. No one ever used the nuts, therefore the shells were rotting off every year and the nuts were also laying on the ground year after year in one small part of the yard. With further research, I learned that horses have to come into contact with the wood shavings of black walnut tree , like you would find in sawdust or bedding of some sort sold for livestock. The allergic reactions horses have to the shavings were never experienced here because we never used Black Walnut shavings for bedding. More knowledge is known now because of investigations into Black Walnuts over the years. Black Walnuts have a large amount of tannin in them which is also found in tea. We also have Butternut trees in our extensive yard. Butternut trees do not have the tannin content that is found in Black Walnut trees and nuts. Butternut is also called White Walnut. Like Black Walnut the trees seed themselves and can be quite prolific. They are gradually dying out in the yard and there are only a few left because we mow under them. The Butternut tree grows very tall and needs to be the tallest tree in a tree canopy in order to continue to grow because it needs the light. At one time maybe 100 years or more ago, this property was owned by someone who was a prolific gardener. There were many varieties of fruit trees in a small orchard, grape vines of a northern variety and nut trees. I am sorry to say many of those have vanished with time. I like to garden but, I have never been the most knowledgeable about growing trees. I also never put the most of time and energy into plant production. Even though my grandparents and parent owned the property before me I never observed them doing the spraying and pruning that trees require. Nor, was that a topic of conversation I ever heard. Because of keeping a family garden of fresh food for the table over the years, I came into possession of books that would help me keep a garden of lettuce, beans, squash, and other vegetables for the table. I came into more knowledge about fruit trees as well, but still have not extensively applied that knowledge. One year I purchased spray for the trees another year fertilizer stakes. Just that small of an effort proved a fruitful one as the apples were larger and free of the creatures that like to attack apples when they start to ripen. This is a small property, even so, it would take more than one persons effort and some ready cash to properly maintain and rejuvenate the orchard. I buy nuts for eating, cooking in breads and cookies, and using in salads from the stores. One year K and the children harvested the black walnuts. It was not an easy harvest as the husk needs to be removed then the meat of the nut needs to be removed from the shell. They had a rich flavor. Since then, I have never eaten the nuts produced on the trees here. Nuts are good for your health. They provide plant protein and needed nutrients. |
| What is your most important project now? We are installing a corn stove to help with winter heat. The flue is clean. The stove is ordered. It is a matter of getting the stove in here so it can be installed. We have never burned corn before. It will be something new to get acquainted with how and how much? How much corn will it use and how to keep the stove properly burning. We also have been using infrared heaters for the last couple years. They are economical heat when using electricity. Still the electric bills double for a couple of the months in a year. I also am buying some of the things I need to set up the solar panels I already purchased. So, I guess my important project is heating the house this winter at a price I can afford. Corn is renewable energy. It does not take away from feed grown for livestock. It does add a needful money crop for farmers. It burns hotter BTUs than wood pellets. In an article by Judith W. Monroe. from the link, there is a lot of comparisons to wood heat. {link: https://www.backwoodshome.com/i-heat-my-house-by-burning-corn/} In her article she says, “ 2.2 bushels of corn produce one million BTUs of heat at an average cost of 8.79 dollars. The same amount of heat produced by wood cost is 22 dollars.” It takes years to grow a tree. Corn pellets are dense. The corn packaged for corn stoves as fuel is 15% moisture. That is important. The corn must be cleaned and dried properly in order to burn efficiently without a problem. The fact that the multifuel stove we ordered is able to be loaded and burn efficiently all night without watching or refilling will be a step up for us. The stove we ordered is multifuel so it will burn other kinds of fuel pellets, with some adjustments, such as wood pellets and cherry pits. But, we are primarily expecting to burn corn. Our wood furnace used to go out about 2 hours after we stopped filling it. That meant the house cooled down during the hours we were sleeping. I learned to burn wood pellets in our wood stove a few years ago. However, it is not as heat efficient using wood pellets and you still have to load it by hand on a regular basis. Multifuel stoves are more efficient and have a hopper that feeds the stove automatically, I will need to find out how to fill it and when to fill it. There will be a period of adjustment making sure to clean the stove efficiently and pour the bags of corn into the hopper at regular intervals. I”m looking for ward to the change.  |
| Lilli sent me a new badge above. It's a ghostly award.  10/19/2020: List 5 items from my bucket list: I don't have much of a bucket list.  1. Short term: Adopt another dog and get into an online training class with it. 2. Long Term: Live to be 100 years old. 3. Short Term: Make it through this winter. Keep up my yoga and exercises, keep getting up early. 4. Long Term: Keep riding my bicycle. So, far only been on it once all summer. Some one rides passed the house several times a week on a path around our country block. Keep thinking I should try it. 5. Long Term: Keep writing and reviewing. What is your definition of an adventure? It depends on the day. Some days it is just getting out with the dog and walking around the barn, house and yard. Lately, since October started adventures are getting some of the outside things caught up before snow starts flying. The dog pen needed some fix up and that is close to done now. The barn floor is raked after haying. (which I was told I did not have to do, but what else am I doing?) K and I cleaned and fixed up the flu for the corn stove when it arrives. I use to go walking on one or another local trail once in awhile but, did not do it because of Covid 19 this summer. I read 4 books in 11 days. Two were audio books so I put together puzzles while I read those. Yesterday, I walked my companion dog whose name is Char. Being inside was driving the two of us into energy bundles about to burst. It's not really all that adventurous or bucket listy {I made this word up} but, just the way life is on a day to day basis. Bye For Now. |
 I just read the first Jane Hawk series book by Koontz, Scary enough!Tell us about a scary moment in your life? I’m having one now. I bought a corn stove. It won’t be delivered yet. The company says maybe 4 weeks. We cannot get wood for our wood furnace. Because of Covid 19. There are other alternatives and it is up to me to decide which one we use. I hate to be put on the spot to make the sole decisions. K has been pushing me all summer because he thinks he is going to die . He has done 3 different Dr. recommended tests and seen a heart specialist. All say there is nothing wrong with his heart. The specialist showed him some proof that he is experiencing some side effects from a medication he was taking. He does not take it any more. K has high blood pressure and sugar diabetes. According to the recent blood work it says the diabetes is under control. This is the first time he has been without a job of some sort in 40 plus years. Maybe it is partly a culture shock. The good part is with K’s help the outside jobs are getting finished. Faster than I expected. Rain shows my ditch is working. I did not fill bird feeders during July and August. Last week a young blue Jay was jumping up and down on the empty backyard feeder screeching. I put feed in it. Now, with colder days they, different species, are starting to hit the feeder early mornings. So, life moves forward. By thanksgiving things will be slower, maybe? Keep On Keepin On. |
| National Grouch Day--Share what makes you grouchy. What Makes me grouchy. I retyped this phrase on purpose because left to myself I would not be grouchy often. If something needs fixed and I can fix it I do. If I need advice I hunt for a solution in a how to book or on line or from someone I know. However, things are often out of place or just gone from my home. For instance. I made an angel food cake yesterday. When I went to find the angel food cake pan to bake the cake it was no where. I looked all through the kitchen, then in parts of the house where it should not be and guess what? It’s gone. This is and has been a problem in my home for many years. Things come up missing. Once a set of Corning Ware bake dishes came up missing. It spoiled my day once again wondering where it went? After a lot of years I still wonder where the Corning Ware dishes went. Especially now when the factory is gone. I do have a list of thefts that happen here. These are the little slights that don't get forgotten because they are everyday useful things that are needed. And, I don't have the financial resources to replace the many items that are gone over the years. Mostly, I try to get along without them and move on. I baked the cake in two bread loaf pans and a large mixing bowl. The mixing bowl worked out OK but the loaf pans fell a little. Parts Of Life. |
Write about a piece of jewelry that has special significance to you. I have several pieces of jewelry that remind me of special times in life. Three of them were bought for me by my daughter. My daughter and I were at a college type flea market. There was a ring there I really liked. It had a ridiculously low price tag on it. The price was so low I actually quizzed the dealer to make sure I was reading it right. Assured of the price I started counting all my change and came up a couple dollars short. My daughter chipped in and we came up with the proper amount. I think the ring was actually made for a man. I cut the band and sized it down to fit my finger. It fits my finger well. On the ring there is a figure of an eagles nest. There are eggs in the nest. An Eagle in flight is landing on the edge of the nest. It is a striking scene. Since I never had a graduation ring from the college I consider this my signature graduation ring. The ring is made of pewter. My oldest son gave me a pewter book mark. I really liked it and used it constantly but, it was stolen. My youngest son brought me a metal designer book mark from a vacation he took. Although they aren’t exactly jewelry they are special and something I use often. I have many pieces of jewelry that were given me by family members at different times in life that remind me of different life events. |
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