Halloween

 

Some of y'all may remember this olden bowl.
As in my childhood home, it lives on top of the refrigerator 364 days of the year.  On Halloween, however, it's the dedicated repository for treats ... 70-some years now!

Aw, the spirit's willing, but unlike Field of Dreams I don't think anyone's coming.

Ours isn't a large lot, but just look what lies across the road ...

Or to the left.

Spooky!

Initially the ambient darkness gave me the jitters, but I've grown accustomed to the peace and quiet.

Fortunately (unfortunately?) all this is going away any day now.
Do you see what I spotted while uncovering my car last week?

The thought crossed my mind to drape a huge white sheet across the top and let it billow like a spectre.
Then again, I don't need a heavy-equipment operator having me arrested.

Yep, the couple who bought this parcel stopped by Sunday evening to give us a head's up.

They're having every one of these trees leveled ... "You might want to move your vehicles."

Then, news that the fence Tom built sits one foot onto their land.  Huh?

Thankfully, he said they don't expect us to move it.  He even pointed to several enormous trees on our side of the boundary and asked if we wanted their contractor to take them down as well ... "no charge."

What a blessing!  We were recently talking about weighing the odds:  Spend the $ now or wait and pray one doesn't come crashing into our home during the next storm.

Still, I'm going to miss them.

In other news ....

Tom and I stopped by Olive Garden yesterday.
As per my request, they substituted broccoli, tomatoes and peppers for pasta.

Granted, this isn't so pretty but what an explosion of flavors!  

I didn't lick the plate but was sorely tempted. (lol)

I found their sauce 'copycat' recipe online and will be making this soon.

Has anyone else begun their Christmas shopping?

Perhaps because my recipients' list is dwindling, but I'm having a ridiculously good time gathering the Good Stuff.

Ever since discovering what treasures lay inside the covers of Miles Kimball catalog (1950-something) my "Mrs. Claus" won't be stifled.

 Sure, I can be practical ... but prefer to leave that to parents or spouses.

Whimsy is my middle name!

Because family members might visit here, I won't spill all the beans -- but here's what I found a long-time friend who enjoys gardening.

I love supporting the Etsy shops!

... and from Amborella Organics ...

Seed-bearing lollipops.  Sugar-free botanical gummies.  "Eat your lollipop.  Plant your stick.  Grow an herb or a flower."

With the exception of Troy and Lois, my shopping list's complete.

Now the down side to that is, my social media is increasingly populated with tempting ideas -- I want, but sure don't need.

Dear Santa, "unsubscribe!"

Hugs, Myra

 

Currently in Coosada

 

This afternoon I'm ...

Grateful

Macie and Grace came through their dental 'experience' okay.  Unfortunately, on the way home Macie Ann turned her back and gave us the cold shoulder all evening.   (Yes, I may have groveled.)

The only cause for concern is (both) their liver numbers are a bit elevated; not unusual in older dogs.  He's prescribed daily supplements and will check their labs in a couple months.

Gotta love the way Tom loves our girls.  When I said something mournful about the bill ($1,002), he retorted, "They're our children and we're going to do whatever it takes."  (Smart man!)

Feeling

Amused

I love Mrs. Meyer's seasonal hand soaps, so when I saw 'Gingerbread' it went right in my Amazon cart.  What I wasn't prepared for, somewhere during shipping the screw-top loosened.  When I cut open the package the aroma began to permeate everywhere, not unlike a 70's hookah lounge.  (Not that I'd know!)

Thankfully, the folks at Amazon are sending a complimentary replacement.

Pondering

Thanksgiving dinner.  Troy and Lois will be here ... maybe Chloe and Robert, so no, I'm not stressing.  The only thing we've cemented is "no turkey", "no ham."  I'm thinking brisket, twice-baked potatoes and something(S) keto-friendly for Lois and myself. 

Recommendations welcome!

Loving

This piece from (author) Donna Ashworth's Facebook page.  (Click for better resolution)

Y'all please take care of yourself!

Hugs,  Myra

Shiny Red Hodgepodge

 

G'morning, Joyce!  Hi there, Hodgepodgers!  Shall we?

Monday was National Apple Day... did you eat an apple or enjoy something made with apples on Monday?  Do you like apples?  Do you prefer your apples raw, baked, or in cider?  Do you have a favorite variety of apple?

I'm not fond of apples in any form.

Do you think there's any truth to the saying, 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away'?  Of the following healthy habits, which do you find easiest to incorporate into your life and which is the most difficult for you to adopt:  adequate sleep a balanced diet, plenty of water, eat breakfast, don't smoke, exercise, limit alcohol, include fruits and vegetable in your diet, manage stress, limit screen time."

Easiest?  I usually get 5-6 hours of sleep each night, plus a mid-afternoon bonus nap.

Most difficult would be a tie between fruit in my diet or limited screen time.
(Manage stress?  Hahahahaha!)

Who taught you to drive?  Do you enjoy driving?  Would you rather be the driver or the passenger?  Do you have a favorite scenic drive near you?

On his rare Sunday afternoons 'off', my dad used to take me up to the deserted Lab parking lot to practice.  Driver's Ed came later.

Unless it involves driving after dark, I'd rather be behind the wheel.
I'm not familiar with any scenic drives just yet -- but that sounds like a splendid idea!

What small habit has had a big impact on your life?

I've two, actually.  May I have two?

First (ca 1972)
I so wanted a job as a teller at First National Bank, in part because they wore the snazziest matching jackets.  (Remember when?)

Later I learned the reason I wasn't hired was because I couldn't/didn't make eye contact with the interviewer.

Lesson learned!  No matter how shy you are, suck it up and look him/her in the eye!

Second
When I began work in hospitality, part of the organization's culture was something called the 10/5 Rule.

"Whenever you're within 10' of someone (guest) make eye contact and smile.
At 5', acknowledge them with a "Good morning/afternoon" or friendly, "Hello."

Now in civilian life I still smile at strangers.  As my sweet mother used to say, "It doesn't cost a thing."

Tell us about something nice that happened to you recently.

After Tom's doctor appointment Monday, he offered to take me to lunch at LongHorn.  It wasn't long after consuming a 10 oz. salmon (with double broccoli), I fell into a two-hour food coma.

Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of sleep!
Can any other paw-rents relate?

I'm so bad -- 
This afternoon we're to take the girls to the vet's where they'll spend the night before having their teeth cleaned (under anesthesia).

Last time they had trouble getting Macie Ann to wake up.

Already I'm fretting.

Heliocopter parent, party of one!

Hugs, Myra

Jus' for fun

 

... Let's play "This or That."  (Thanks for the steal, Linda!)

Pumpkin patch

A long time ago, Troy and Grand #1

Warm flannel ..... with an oversize hoodie for good measure!

Because I shudder at the thought of touching the innards -- I'll (try to) paint a pumpkin.

Camp in the living room
(closer to the bathroom, lol)

College (SEC) football

War Eagle!

Chili frito pie
(recipe link)

Donate blankets and coats.

I once volunteered at Phoenix's food bank.
One and done!
I don't shy away from hard work but hated (their) supervisors barking orders and acting like drill sergeants, telling us to "hurry up."

Chocolate or gummy?  Neither, thanks.

Dress like an animal -- for olde time's sake, lol.

Not sure if I was supposed to be Porky Pig or the Big Bad Wolf

Enjoy the leaves on a hike.

Are the mosquitos gone?
Okay, I'll read my book outside.

Pumpkin bread -- I've never done that!

Isn't this beautiful?
... not far from my hometown, I've begun following Terrance Haanen's photography.
Here's a link to some of his work.

I hope y'all enjoy a great SONday!

Hugs, Myra

Thankful Thursday, Friday Letters

.... Cindy,

For telling me about your health-care provider, Ginger.
While I've no issues with my current PCP, I've grown accustomed to being treated like a number.  Someone to be seen in 9 minutes-or-less, such seems to be the state of 21st century health care.

Thankfully, when I visited their little office yesterday, I felt I was transported back to 1950-something.  Giggling when the nurse took my blood pressure with the dial and pump.  When I commented on it she smiled, "Yes, we still do things the old fashioned way."

Never have I ever had someone to sit and explain every single line item of my blood panel and what they mean, but that's what Ginger did.   She even recommended, instead of taking expensive Calcium supplements, I take two Tums with my Vitamin D and get the same benefit.

 

 

.... Dick Wolf,

I'm a huge fan of your binge-worthy franchises.
Law & Order, SVU and One Chicago are all immensely entertaining ..... and you know what else?

This old lady's just going to come out and say it.
I appreciate being able to watch in Primetime without having to see PDA's between same-sex characters.

From what I've read, you've said (you) don't find it necessary to appeal to the 'WOKE' audience nor reach to embrace diversity.

Please keep producing and we'll keep watching!  

.... Fran,

Learning of John's death was a real blow to Tom.
Friends, collaborators (and conspirators, too) they probably made more memories than Carter has pills.

When Tom left Chicago for Phoenix in 1974, he doesn't rightly remember (ha-ha) why he left his bass at your house.

Nevertheless you, Fran, remembered.  "Would you like to have it?"

When the UPS man delivered that big box yesterday, Tom was practically beside himself.

50 years later, together, again!

Thank you all for reading another episode of letters from my heart!

Hugs, Myra

From both sides now

 

In this season of our lives Tom and I are carefully choosing our battles.  

We've already made significant (necessary) improvements to our home, but ... the list is long.
What to leave in, what to leave out?

Our home's previous owners' tastes may not be for everyone -- but I fell in love with the kitchen borders... the family room's tray ceiling and accent wall .... even the living room's bold paint scheme.

Unfortunately, in the time it took for us to make an offer, the owners decided a neutral palette would be more marketable.  They stripped the paper, repainted the rooms.  (Yes, I may have cried like a grown-up baby woman.)

Here are a few before (top) and after images.

For months I searched for the same border -- to no avail.

Sun room - then v.

Now

Still playing with my Photosphere app

The office (my happy place) is long overdue for an egg-basket turnover.  Think, a kitchen junk drawer on steroids.

My plans aren't expensive, but I practically get the vapors wondering how to be rid of some heavy/ugly furniture we inexplicably brought along from Arizona.  Defunkify the lot!

Maybe I should just leave well enough alone and do my wishing in AI?

Straight from my imagination, here are a few of my favorite spaces.

All I want is this room somewhere.

Lose the chandelier and I'd move in tomorrow.

or here!

I can smell this picture!

cue Mary Hopkin, please.

How far we've come from coloring books and 

dollhouses.

Do you AI?

You can find a path right here:
designer.microsoft.com/image-creator

Dear God ...

Hugs, Myra

 

Biased much?

 

A friend recently shared something on FB her cousin authored -- an account of deep-seated bias. 

Humorously told, she remembers her childhood self being seated on a scratchy, dull tan couch, ".... where I was told to sit in my freshly ironed dress" while her mother conducted "very dull" conversations with her friend.   On the wall opposite hung a reproduction of Vincent Van Gogh's 'Sunflowers.'  She writes, "Visit after visit my dislike for that picture deepened."  Decades later, she still has the dislike.

Immediately I was transported to another place and time. 

  

This, before I was old enough to be left home alone, mother would bring me along to visit Louise.   A diminutive older lady, Louise lived in a gloomy 400 sq. foot apartment with her ill-tempered Boston Terrier, Quaddy.   Like my friend's cousin, "I frequently tried to alert mother of our need to return home.  But she ignored me."   

Old Quaddy was all I had, and he wasn't much in the way of conversation.

'Concrete caves'

Stock photo

One time I wandered outside -- and got my head stuck in between the wrought-iron balcony bars.  (Don't ask!)

Perhaps that's the reason I've never been fond of Boston Terriers?  

No, I think the target of my life-long bias are plant nurseries.

Unlike my parents, I was never a big fan of flora.  Nevertheless, I was destined to spend endless minutes trailing after my parents through odd-smelling aisles of greenery and soil.  After a while, they grew tired of my exasperated sighs and let me go sit in the car with my comic books.  

What I'd have given for internet!

To this day, whenever Tom feels the urge to check out Lowes' garden center, I'll find another part of the store that needs checking out.

I love how 'A' concluded her narrative,

"People: Even when you're showing off your ironing ... your children are forming lifelong biases."

Now I'm thinking I should ask my own son!

Have you any inexplicable, irrational biases?

Hugs, Myra

an Autumnal Hodgepodge

 

Good morning, y'all!

I need to 'scratch the record' this morning ...  do something to interrupt my obsession with Hurricane Hell.  Images of both Helene and Milton have taken residence in my head.  Not to mention Fear for my Florida friends' safety.

Thank you, Joyce, for providing another pleasant Q-and-A!  Play along if you'd like!

Thursday is National Walk to a Park Day.  I know these celebratory days are mostly made up, but some are fun to think about.  Do you live close enough to a park to walk to one on Thursday?  Will you?  The most famous park in the world is Central Park located in NYC.  Have you ever been to Central Park?  What did you think?  If you haven't been, is this a place you'd like to see?

Village Green sits exactly 2 miles from my front door.  Could I walk?  Probably, but com'on ... by now most of you know I'm not so fond of the great outdoors.

I've never been to Central Park -- but wouldn't say 'no' to a horse-and-buggy ride while fat snowflakes fall all around.  Perhaps brunch at Tavern on the Green.

  

Something you've done recently that turned out to be a 'walk in the park'?

The only thing I can think of is throwing together one-pot meals -- either in the slow cooker or InstantPot without regard to a recipe.  Sure, some results have been less than stellar -- but it's amusing.

Can you parallel park?  Do you have to do this often where you live?

Ha!  I've never parallel parked in my life -- and that includes Drivers Ed.
Given a choice, I'll park elsewhere and walk to my destination.

The colors of Fall ... red, brown, russet, golden bronze, golden yellow, purplish red, light tan, crimson, orange red and scarlet.  Are these colors you like to wear?  Is this your season in term of color?  What about your home?  Would we see these tones in your home decorating?

All my favorites!  I never had my colors 'done' (as was once the rage), but I think I look best in bold reds and rich browns.  (Forest green, too, but that wasn't an option.)

Not so much decorating as fun -- peppering our home with touches of color. 

What part of history do you find most interesting?  Elaborate.

While in school I regarded History as a giant snooze.
Now, however, I'm drawn to accounts of the Civil War.

There's a former Confederate settlement nearby, with a natural spring that gave Robinson Springs its name.  Now that our weather's turning, we might grab a hamper and 'sit a spell'. (ha)

"These lent our cause its holy consecration"

Insert your own random thought here. 

Hugs, Myra

Friday Fotos ... etc.

 

Hey there ... happy Friday!

Aren't those Spider lilies gorgeous?  Every year about this time they spring up overnight ... not unlike the mythical village of Brigadoon.  Tom suggested I walk across the drive and bring some inside -- not realizing legend has it they're a representation of an evil world.  Other names include "dead confederates" or "the flower of death."

I'm not really superstitious but draw the line at bringing a death flower inside. 

💫

Okay!  After I mused about bringing life to my white hair, some of y'all asked for evidence.

Having zero training didn't deter me from playing with temporary color.

Don't these names sound like a Disney princess?  LOL!

When 'bashful blonde' failed to make an impression, I decided a bolder, 2-tone look was in order.

Pebbles anyone?

Days after the fact, I'm thinking this is darker than what I'd like ..,

but that's the beauty of rinse.  I can stick my head under the kitchen sink and wash that stuff right out-a my hair.

Improv!

..... not unlike my approach to cooking. 

💫

Speaking of which .....

Surveying the state of our crisper drawer (aka, vegetable hospice), I grabbed a new box of chicken broth and got to hacking and whacking.  Admittedly, frozen Tyson fajita strips aren't as tasty as a rotisserie chicken, but the extra ginger, cumin and tumeric I poured sprinkled on top made a nice difference.  That, and a couple spoonsful flash-frozen Hatch.

Oh, by the way!  I just finished my breakfast/lunch and this time made time to add a heaping tablespoon full of Duke's mayo to the (raw) eggs.  Talk about rich and fluffy!  Have you tried that yet?

💫

What else?

I was pretty impressed by something a lady friend said while at study last Monday.

Given the horror stories coming out of North Carolina and neighboring states, I thought this was pretty good.

"God may not remove our mountain, but he provides us with climbing gear."

Wishing y'all a wonderful weekend!

Hugs, Myra