§ I Haven't A Clue for a Title...

...'cause it's all eclectic today!

For New Year's I made homemade Chewy Pecan Cookies. I didn't have time for making them for Christmas, so I opted to start  2023 with a sugar high!!! When I took the first batch of two cookie sheets out of the oven to cool before removing them with a spatula, I found this one! Of course, me being the searcher of hearts anywhere I can find them, I called DIBS!! In other words, Bud must keep his mits off of it. He said "You should save it". Ummmm, and not taste the yumminess of the pecans? "I'm eatin' it!" In fact, while still warm, both of us had two cookies each. And me? I had a large cup of ice-cold milk to wash 'em down. The recipe made 4 1/2 dozen; I froze most of 'em. The secret to keeping cookies soft and chewy is to undercook by about 3 minutes....otherwise they get crunchy. I like soft, chewy-centered, cookies best of all. No store-bought cookies for me.

Now that I bored you with that I'll move on to something else that may bore the heck out of ya'. Ever see the movie "The Lone Ranger" starring Johnny Depp? When I was standing at the work bench in the garage the other day, I turned the over-head light on and I have a tortise shell windchime hanging near by to clean off the dust to get it back indoors to put back up near one of the AC/Heat outlets on the ceiling. Well, the windchime cast a shadow! Instantly I saw Johnny Depp [Tonto] with his crow on the top of his head and all of the reshaped Native American profile of his make-up. Yes? Well, maybe you have never seen the movie, that's your loss. It was considered a 'flop', but I really enjoyed it.  So many parts made me laugh.  One of my favorite lines in the movie is when the Lone Ranger asks Tonto why he keeps calling him Kemosabe and then "what does it mean"?  Tonto's answer is "wrong brother".  LOL  And of course the music!!!!

Then last but not least...Isaiah

He's probably just as bored with the whole thing as you all are!

§ Sketch, Baking, Witch and Naming Her....

I have been really appreciating all the name suggestions for my witches. Y'all have come thru for me! Thanks. One in particular, which actually got me to reading the short story, was of a character named Ligeia, with the same title name. Thanks for "Nance" for the suggestion. I will probably use several from my blogging buddies. Ann, who suggested Raven and Ebony...great minds think alike. I have used those in the past years.

Nance10/11/2021
Poe had a short story titled "Ligeia" (pronounced Lie-JEE-a) about a raven-haired lover who sickened and died. The man married later, and his wife took ill and died, but she suddenly began to exhibit signs of life. As he unwrapped her burial shroud, he was shocked to see that she had turned into Ligeia, alive again. Ligeia would be a great name for a dark-haired witch.

This is one of my dark haired witches...now, named Ligeia:

As much as I enjoy reading Poe, I too like to re-read Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Even long ago, I had on my bucket list to travel to Terry Town in New York and venture up a ways north to what used to be called North Terry Town, now changed to Sleepy Hollow. Anyway, I was thinking of getting out the Disney DVD [narrated by Bing Crosby] Sleepy Hollow and watch it soon. Instead I got my pencil and eraser out and sketched a simplified version of Icabod Crane...

If you have been online for as long as I have, you no doubt have seen, heard about, or even made these cookies. Lore has it that some woman actually paid $250 for a cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus and then shared it by property right to those who visited her website. Of course I did. Long ago. And made them many times. Long ago...yep, long ago I lived off chocolate and caffeine. Not any more!! In fact I don't do caffeine at all. But, I thought of those cookies this past weekend, and came up with a brilliant idea to make them but with NO CAFFEINE white chocolate. They are just as addictive as the ones with the Hershey's chocolate. Well, almost. 
I copied and had the recipe from years back, but I'm sure if you search online for Neiman Marcus Oatmeal Chocolate cookie recipe you'd find it.

§ Do They Deliver What's Expected? Nope!

It's been a bit too quiet around here since last I posted. I got the house cleaned thoroughly from ceiling to carpet and tiles! Even scrubbed bathroom fixtures and such. Oh, and this is an exclamation point according to Bud....I replaced toilet paper rolls in both bathrooms and tissue boxes. Hey...I figure he can do that himself so why should I? LOL But, it 'made his day' and he marked the day with red on the calender. [it's just a nuisance of a job]

I've been reading SERVANTS by Lucy Lethbridge. About the historical facts of the use of servants both with royalty and middle class up through the ages, in the U K. Maybe a bit like Backstairs at the white house mini series from yesteryear [United States]. Except this book is NOT first person. [which I'd prefer]. We have the DVD set of the mini series, I think we'll be watching it again...it's been ages!!
I've also been on my annual witch hunt. Y'know me by now, each August, the stores start bringing out those lovely hags for me to add to my collection!!! I've purchased some since they began showing up on August 1st. Tuesday morning is always a sure bet. Bought two there. At AT HOME I have purchased two others, and a few more at Home Goods. Bud wants to go back today [Wednesday] and see what others they put out. I was there yesterday and they had their carts loaded with them, but not put on shelves yet. I even bought a pumpkin head witch there...or was it at AT HOME? dunno for certain.

Before Home Goods opened their doors, I drove to an area in town that I've never been. You see, I've been hitting all the hotspot birding areas from the past where I've seen Wood Storks [no delivery of babies kind tho!] in the hot summer months; to no avail. Another birder alerted me to a shallow lake spotting of them. I used my GPS on my phone [didn't get lost!] and drove right up to the lake! I was jumping for joy! Seriously, the numbers don't lie....the lake was actually overcrowded in some areas...WOOD STORKS!! I estimated 80-125 of them! In the water feeding on fish, along the shoreline surrounding the banks, and flying off into the wild blue yonder! There were two observing benches too. And nice shade trees there, even tho it didn't cool it off much. But, at last, I found 'em, thanks to another birder's heads-up!! I will add closer views of the storks on my bird photo blog over the weekend.

§ Whizzpopper!!

Several nights ago, I scoured the Netflix agenda for movies. We get Netflix free with our phone carrier. And if I find a movie we both would like to watch, I then cast it on to our big screen smartTV. I found one I knew I would like, but really figured Bud would not enjoy it. Surprisingly he loved watching it. Once, then twice! It's based on a popular young reader's book by Roald Dahl, and was directed by Steven Spielberg....produced by Disney. You just cannot go wrong with this combination in my opinion. A good 'family' movie; unlike any that Bud would've picked [he likes the shoot-em-ups most of all]. Anyway, I fell in love with it too. And fell in love with BFG [stands for Big Friendly Giant - a 24 foot giant]. To keep from any spoilers, I'll just say it's about a friendship between a sweet giant that talks in a whole 'nother language than English [which Dahl is famous for if you've read any his books to your kids/grandkids- His language is called Gobblefunk]. Let me give you an example of his language....He drinks a special sweet soda. But the bubbles descend, instead of flowing UP. Hence, it's not a BURP that comes up...it's the OTHER direction!! And he calls it a "Whizzpopper". It's the English word that begins with an "F" and ends in "T" with "ar" in the middle.

The next morning, I got my sketch pad out and started outlining the Giant's features [seen above]...

...and my finished sketch:

Anni's version of BFG

It was released in theaters about 5 years ago [maybe more], and if you get a chance and haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. Great story, Disney animation and spectacular art. And a good, all-over family fare, with a happy ending!

§ Beginning of a Long Hot Summer...

There is not much to say in this blog today...other than the heavy down pouring rains, flooding the city, county and even our yard, has finally stopped and moved out of our area! I'm grateful for that. Even tho, we were in a severe drought. Now that the rains have gone, we are now experiencing high humidity. And with no overcast sky -hot white, blistering sunlight-, the heat index has soared! I don't walk my usual 10K steps to be sure. As I type this up, our heat index is predicted 108-112° F! You just can't beat mother nature. On Saturday, leaving before sunrise to beat the heat, I only walked about half an hour before I had to turn around, retreat to the air conditioned car.  It's officially, by temps anyway, the beginning of a Texas Summer.  That's okay, I had a day's worth of laundry to do. I walked the boardwalk at Hans Suter Park...

Now, this is more directed toward my generation [you youngsters can skip this part if you choose]. My title today: The Long Hot Summer. Each year, I say it. And it reminds me of the dreadful...well, Do any of you remember the movie with Paul Newman and his soon to be 2nd wife, Joanne Woodward, and Orson Welles? OMG, how the critics ranted and raved about the movie! I watched it back in the early 60s, and several times over in later years [thinking it'd get better] and it is STILL one of the worst, driest, movies of all time -IMHO. But, that Paul Newman...sigh!!! I do have to admit the two Joanne and Paul definitely had some chemistry. Maybe the movie hit my sore spot because of the poor direction and writers? Ya, maybe.

I personally thought Mr. Newman was a B rated actor, except for two. The Color of Money [he won an Oscar for that portrayal], and my ALL TIME favorite movie of the Western genre, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid!!

Butch Cassidy: ... all they got in Mexico is sweat and there's too much of that here.
Sundance Kid: [chuckling] You just keep thinkin', Butch. That's what you're good at.
Butch Cassidy: Boy, I got vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals.

We live just minutes away from Old Mexico...I don't go there...Texas, all they got is sweat. Don't need to travel any further.

...and to continue showcasing my Trolls...

↓ My 10th Troll Share ↓

TROLL DOLL COLLECTION LARGE Soft Sculpture Clown circa: late 70s

§ Hear My Voice...

Granted, I did NOT go to the movie theater at all in the last year, year and a half. Sad, 'cause I love movies. For virus reasons, we stayed away. As most movies either stopped production or a longer, covid break, took its toll in direction, etc.   BUT!! I watched the 93rd Annual Oscar Presentation this past Sunday. Of course, I had no idea what was going on with showcasing actors and their roles, nor the content of the movies nominated. I must say, tho, I was impressed with the singing the songs of the year at the pre-oscars. It kinda saved a bit of time during the broadcast. And ONE SONG in particular hit me where my heart is! It didn't win the award, but oh my, the lyrics hit home. The words could be meant to be our own country's  theme song with what our world, as we know it, has turned into the past few months! It's a poignant piece in all retrospect ---2020-2021.... Please, listen to it as you read the lyrics. See if you may agree it's a song of the times. [Movie: which Bud and I will buy the DVD when released -based on a true account]

Hear my voice
Hear my dreams
Let us make a world
In which I believe
Hear my words
Hear my cries
Let me see a change
Through these eyes
You may think
I won't be heard
Still I'll raise this hand
And spread this word
These words of fire
Of hope and desire
And I'll let them free


Hear my voice
Hear my dreams
Let us make a world
In which we believe
In which we believe
Hear my words
Hear my choice
Hear my voice

Celeste and movie poster courtesy of Google Images

§ I LOST an Hour Sleep that I Won't Find!!!

It was a Sunday morning. Typical first day of Daylight Savings Time...it really screws with my sleep habits!! After light of day came about, I could see there would be no yard work, no walking. Rainy, chilly as predicted. Outdoor activity was nixed. After visiting my birding 'friends' who link in over the weekend, I was done for the day. LOL It was gonna be a long day. I called my daughter. We chatted quite a while. Mostly about HER dissertation she is/will be working on for HER PhD. Just think, in a short time, I will be able to state clearly and proudly, that I raised TWO doctors. Doctors of Philosophy [...degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. According to wikipedia]. My son is working on his dissertation on Churchill [for his doctorate degree in Political Science/Government], and daughter is working on her doctorate/dissertation on public policy with social policy cognate, with specializing in a study on raising a child with special needs...a special study on Down Syndrome since that has been her life since our grandson was born. She has written articles on this a few times and one that I know of has been published. In a few minutes I will sit back and read some snippets of what she has so far. Of course, with both kids, this is a several year work in progress. Erik is in his 3rd year, and Irene is in her 2nd year. Once they begin writing their dissertation, the road to a title "Doctor" is a down hill ride, tho a lot of mental work to get a paper published...more challenging than studies the first years. Even tho the expense of it all is extreme, the two are living their dreams. That makes it all worth it!! 

The two of us here in Texas spent most of the day with a movie marathon.  First one watched was Hell or High Water [modern-day bank robbers in West Texas - starring Chris Pine *eye candy photo], Sahara [Archeological search for the Monitor -starring Matthew McConaughey *eye candy photo, which reminds me that recently, in the news, there are rumors of him running for Texas Governor against Abbott....hmmm], and one more movie, the- Phantom of the Opera.  More eye candy and great music compositions!!   I made vegetarian lasagna and all the fixins' for dinner, plus an apple pie for dessert.  The day was done!!

The 2 dozen bouquet of roses was from Bud, a surprise for our 53rd anniversary of first date that I posted about last week.

§ It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Busiest of Times...

Since 5 a.m. [I'm taking a break], I've been busy taking down and packing away everything Halloween and putting up a few Thanksgiving/Fall items around the house. It's a chore! It takes me weeks to put it all up in October, and when Halloween is over I want it all down...in a day. That means back breaking work. Bud helps, that's good. One very chilly morning [44 degrees on the island], I drove there and walked some. The wind was strong and coming off the water, it felt near freezing. Trust me, I grew up in Colorado, and  40 degrees along the coast truly compares to Colorado's winters of 32 degrees and below!!

Anyway, the ship channel was busy...very busy. While I walked the jetty one ship went out to sea and three others came into port...all within a half hour's time. The dolphins greeted 'em coming in and bid adieu to the one leaving. They're fun to wait for them to breach the ships' bow wakes!!

At Charlie's Pasture, upon arriving I was shocked...the prairie grasses were burned to a crisp! My first thought, after our home town area burned [Cameron Peak Fire] the largest forest fire in Colorado history, "Not us too?!!" Several acres were charred...then, I took notice that there was a pattern to the burned area...some green pasture was framing the blackened areas..."It must have been a controlled burn!" A parks and rec gal was cleaning the outhouses, and when she came out as I walked by I asked her if this was all a controlled burn...she said yes. Phew, thank goodness, I thought sure enough some careless smoker or a campfire got out of control!

Okay, I must get back to work. I have hours of work yet. Here are some photo shares of my day in the cold----


The first photo in the series of four above, is of a new trail they are cutting through the pasture to two other ponds! Can't wait for it to open. The water is Magee Beach and the last one is a fishing pier...one of very few that was not ruined with hurricane surge this year. Then, below, the four following is of the pasture controlled burning. The only consolation is in about a month, new growth will make it all the more ecologically healthier...



I will continue this day tripping in another post, when I'm done with packing things away. We have a movie plan for tonight during dinner of pizza and beer...in memory of the late Sean Connery [passing away at the age of 90 over the weekend]...Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. My favorite of that series of flicks.

§ More Sketches...

This is the last of the pencil sketches I have saved on the computer from my portfolio I have stuffed in my closet...I'll just post them with a little description below each:

"Red Harrington" [Madame of Whorehouse] in movie The Lone Ranger [Helena Bonham Carter]


Mr. Mouth...Before becoming President of the USA - Donald J Trump Caricature


Canada Goose


Ivory Billed Woodpecker [supposedly extinct...last seen in Louisiana -for sure- was 1944]


Owl


Paul Newman in the movie "The Verdict" [1982]


"Scat" from movie Ice Age


Avatars from movie Avatar

§ I Can Dream of the Old Days...Life Was Beautiful Then...

Do you like ballet? Do you enjoy musicals? Perhaps you enjoy movies that are a bit different than the action figure come-to-life genre that is so popular these days. It was too hot to go out, so I finished my household chores and sat down and watched a movie that I had seen in the theater a few months back, which came out on DVD recently. I love the story CATS which is based on T. S. Eliot's 1939 poetry book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, with the songs in the Broadway musical consisting of Eliot's verse set to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. This version is enjoyable, tho it didn't do well at the box office, at first [when I saw it at the theater] I was kinda disappointed. Then, afterward, when I got home, the more I thought about it, the more I liked it.   Ballet is more of an 'acquired taste' I guess. I like ballet and even opera if I can understand what's going on... The animated costumes for one. How the art-costume direction got worked on is beyond me, but oh my goodness, to see the cats ears twitching as they sing or talk...their tails moving in such an animated fashion is incredible.   Not to mention their hair-like whiskers. The setting, the songs of course, the celebrities with the likes of Taylor Swift, Ian McKellan, Judi Dench, and Jennifer Hudson. I enjoyed it immensely the 2nd time. And, I will keep this in our repertoire of movies to be watched over and over. And naturally, I cried when the song Memory is sang. It happens every time...I get so emotional when I hear that song.  I couldn't help but grab my phone on the table next to me and snap some photos.  Yes, I know the movie is copyrighted, but like I said, I couldn't help myself...

---

I broke down and went shopping. I made a special trip to Hobby Lobby for more yarn. While watching CATS, I crocheted six more pansies for my afghan. You see, I wanted more 'warm colors' in my afghan and most yarns I have are cool colors like blues, purples, and greens.  I had made a special trip and while I was waiting the social distance of 6 feet, I saw this cutie and grabbed him off Hobby Lobby's shelf.  I'm a sucker for stuffed animals. I named him Llary the Llama [yes, why not....two "Ls".]  Bud just shakes his head and asks "Where y'gonna put that one?"

---

Then, I was hungry, and even ventured a bit further against my common sense when I was done with my early Sunday morning walk.  Driving home...I stopped at Denny's and ordered two breakfasts for our brunch. The Ultimate Omelet with hash browns and toast. It was delicious, but would have been better if we coulda dined in. I just can't get myself to do that yet. But, I'm gettin' antsy.  As the lyrics to the song, Memory/Memories...If I could go back to May 2019 when life was beautiful then...I could go out to eat.  As Dorothy, in the Wizard of Oz, says to the Scarecrow:  "I think I'll miss you  most of all".  The "you" in my case is restaurants.

© CATS images, tho from my cellphone, the movie itself is property of Universal Studios.  No infringement intended.