Blame It On The Devil

"October proved a riot to the senses and climaxed

 those giddy last weeks before Halloween."

~Keith Donohue

The devil did it! Well, it's as good as explanation as any I suppose. The problem is my AT&T Uverse. You see, since we had it installed in the middle of September, it has gone our six times! We have had 14 different technicians out and they keep scratching their heads over it. Sigh. It's been just one more thing weighing on me. I will plan to relax in front of a wonderful old movie like, Arsenic And Old Lace, and poof... that little red light of doom will appear on the gateway box and out goes the TV and the Internet! 

It's not very helpful, especially when I hear tech after tech say they can't figure out whats causing the problems. The latest techs were out on Sunday and they say it is fixed once and for all, but they have said that before, so right now I just have my fingers crossed. In the grand scheme of things it's not the end of the world, but when you need a quiet little escape like an old movie, and suddenly the Uverse goes out, it can be the proverbial straw that breaks the camels back! I have already decided that if it goes out again I will simply call and exorcist... I mean we have tried everything else! LOL. 

And yes, I am kidding. 

 

Something Pretty...

 

 

Leaf Of The Day

October 25th, 2015

Leaf Of The Day

October 26th, 2015

 

Mood: Happy/Not Happy

~Me :)

 

Delicious Autumn... My Very Soul Is Wedded To It!

"Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love... that makes life and nature harmonise. The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one's very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious autumn! My very sould is wedded to it, and if I were a bor I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns."

~George Eliot

Letter To Miss Eliot

October 1st, 1841

Yesterday was Family Day. A special day Alan and I chose, while we were on our honeymoon, that we thought would be a good day for us to celebrate autumn with the children we might be blessed with one day. We were married on October 13th, and while we vacationing and dreaming about the family we would start, we figured that little ones might like to also have a special day in October that would be set aside to celebrate us as a family. We chose October 23rd. That is also the day that we choose our official pumpkins for the season. Half Moon Bay is our traditional destination for all things gourd, and to relax and just share our love. Well, we were never blessed with children, so we opted to adopt 3 little fuzzy kitties, but since kitties don't really like long car rides to pumpkin patches, we leave them at home, and spend the day together, just he and I. Oh don't worry, we always bring them each cat a pumpkin of their very own, and you'll see their's soon. But Family Day is still about the family we became. Alan and I are happy with how things turned out. We have the love, and the family we were meant to have, and life is really good. We are a mommy, daddy and three fuzzy little boys.

Because of how the past 6 months have gone, I really needed Family Day this year more than most years! My mind and focus has been scattered in 30 different directions. My heart has been broken. My patience tested. But my values have been confirmed in my heart and mind. I am happy about that, and I am ready to move forward, but the sadness taps on my consciousness daily. Still, there are days like Family Day, when the autumn air, and the colors... all the autumn colors... and smells make me smile and lift my spirits so much that all the sadness floats away. Sometimes so fast I don't even know I am in the middle of a giggle until I am doubled over with joy! The sounds, the sights, the sheer romance of autumn heals me. It always has. I hope it always will. And when you add in the love of Alan and my fuzzy little boys, I know it will all be okay. It will all work out. I just have let it.

I just have to remember to trust in love

 and autumn

 and I will be okay.

Sights From Family Day

October 23rd 2015

Different Kinds Of Pumpkins And Delicious Organically Grown Vegetables And Flowers From Half Moon Bay, Ca!

Leaf Of The Day

October 24th 2015

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

If The Broom Fits...

"If The Broom Fits... Fly It!"

~Unknown

Isn't she pretty? Yeah, I thought so too! Ha Ha. Last year I began a new tradition on my blog, I decided it would be fun to create some vintage styled Halloween greetings! I have a love for all things vintage, and often find myself gravitating towards things from around the 1930's, 40's and 50's. And I am never more inspired than around the holidays and Halloween particular! So, while I am out and about photographing holiday themed antiques and fun little gifts, I try to think about how they would look as a cool greeting card. In that Halloween is my favorite holiday, I decided to start here each holiday holiday season. Here is the first greeting card I have designed for this season, I think there will be a couple more between now and Halloween. We'll see!

Stay Tuned!

Leaf Of The Day

October 23rd 2015

Mood: Happy/Creative

~Me :)

Ask Me Next Autumn...

"It was October again... a glorious October, all red and gold, with mellow morning when the valleys were filled with delicate mists as if the spirit of autumn had poured them in for the sun to drain...

 amethyst, pearl. silver, rose, and smoke-blue. 

The dews were so heavy that the fields glistened like cloth of silver and there were such heaps of rustling leaves in the hollows of many-stemmed woods to run through."

~E. L. Montgomery

Anne Of Green Gables

I am feeling better. Little by little I am letting go of the pain, and moving forward. The leaves help. There is something... I don't know... just something about all those colors, gently swaying back and forth, that makes me heart smile! When your heart smiles, it's difficult to dwell on the things that hurt you. The things that break your heart and your spirit. I am still mulling some legal options, but right now I am content to let our vacation be all about the healing from the nonsense of this past summer. Summer has always been a cruel, treacherous season, and this last one did nothing to prove me wrong. But autumn is here now, wrapping me in a soft warm blanket, and so I am content to let it, and in doing so, I am finding the forgiveness for what's been done. Yeah, I guess you could say I am moving on. Moving on, and moving forward. Will I, will we, heal completely? Ask me next autumn.

Leaf Of The Day

October 22nd 2015

Mood:Quiet

~Me :)

A Change Of Direction

"Whether you take the doughnut hole as a blank space or as an entity unto itself is purely metaphysical question and does not affect the taste of the doughnut one bit."

~Haruki Murakami

A Wild Sheep Chase

Okay, so one night of NO sleep leads to a temporary postponement of our trip to Plumas. The leaf peeping is now rescheduled for this coming Sunday, October 24th! But all was not lost yesterday because we drove to Apple Hill instead. And our first stop, of course, was Rainbow Orchards for some fresh, hot, Apple Cider Doughnuts! It's just not really fall without them! Next we took a leasurly drive up the hill into South Lake Tahoe! It was cold, and dark... the perfect autumn day for enjoying the moodiness of autumn! The air was so cold and so clean, but the lake nearly broke my heart! 

There was no snow on the hills, and you could tell the lake had dropped. It wasn't it's usual pristine loveliness, instead it seemed like it was feeling the age of the year, just like I have been. The stress of the long, hot dry summer was showing. This drought is devastating! I hope the experts are right about the prediction of the coming El Nino. We need some rain to brighten our spirit and bring the color back to our trees, and our cheeks. Life has to take an upturn soon... right? I didn't see a single colorful tree along HWY 50! It nearly made me cry.

Let's just hope the coming El Nino won't do too much damage, as it rights the wrongs caused by the drought! God, when it rains... it pours!

 Leaf Of The Day

October 21st 2015

Mood: Okay

~Me :)

Road Trip 2015... Chapter One: Plumas!

"Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you've never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground."

~Judith Thurman

And finally we come to the point in our vacation adventure for 2015 where we travel. Today, Alan and I are off to Plumas County to do some leaf peeping, and barn quilt hopping! It's kind of a funny coincidence but when we moved to Stockton, it put us just about 3 hours or so away from most of the places we love in California! Pacific Grove and Carmel, Marin County Coast, and Plumas in the Sierra! That's a happy little bit of good fortune I think, and to make it all the nicer the leaves are just about at their deepest color for the season! I am hoping to give the cameras a workout, and myself as well! I think I am looking forward to the ride with Alan as much as the leaves themselves! Spending 12 straight hours in a car is a true test of a friendship... and a marriage... and we always have the best time on these road trips! 

 Chapter One: Plumas! 

A Look Back At Previous Visits To Plumas

2010 & 2012

Leaf Of The Day

October 20th 2015

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

New House, New Rose

"I have learned that if you must leave a place that you have lived in and loved and where all your yester-years are buried deep, leave it any way except a slow way, 

leave it the fastest way you can. 

Never turn back and never believe that an hour you remember is a better hour because it is dead. Passed years seem safe ones, vanquished ones, while the future lives in a cloud,

formidable from a distance."

~Beryl Markham

West With The Night

I am still holding onto the past. I always do that when a relationship comes to and end. Love relationships in particular, and I really loved my cottage in Berkeley. I really loved Berkeley, and the whole East Bay really. But my cottage was my safe place, and it meant a lot to me, especially in times when I really didn't feel very safe about things. But lets face it, that relationship is over now, and there is no hope of reviving it. Once you break up with property, there is usually no going back. 

I wish I could change. Not get so attached to things that don't breathe, or think on their own. But the simple truth is, I have been that way my whole life. I am not materialistic, but I tend to believe places and objects take on auras and their own kind of personas. I have formed the strangest attachments to objects over my life. Objects I mourn the loss of, as if they are living breathing people.

And that's how I feel about the cottage. It kept me safe for 14 years. It was my refuge. It was small, and at times crowded, and truth is had I not been pushed out of it, I would have probably died there. LOL. So instead I will die elsewhere, probably where I am now. A perfectly lovely home, with lots of room, and a fun little aura/personality that needs a little fixing here and there, but otherwise is a very nice place to call home. The problem is that it is so far away from all that is dear and familiar to me. All the things that I grew to love in the Bay Area, so I feel myself pushing the house away. Deliberately not wanting to fall in love with it the way I loved the cottage.

I know, I know... get used to it, because the change happened, so accept it and move on. Right. I will get right on that! LOL. There are things that I am sure will help me in that quest. One thing being the lovely roses that came with the property. While they aren't as many as I had planted in the rose garden I created at the cottage, they are lovely all the same. And one of the roses just happens to be a Blushing Apricot rose, which was one of my very favorite to grow. 

It is lovely, and has a beautiful form, not to mention a sweet/spicy scent that is absolutely captivating! I am going to enjoy nurturing this rose along, and planting a few more rose varieties next spring! The existing roses in the new garden are all in magnificent shape, so I will cinnamon the yard, and get things off to a happy start. It will just take some time. And I know time is the great healer. I am just sad right now, but as the house and I get acquainted, the sadness will pass. I know it will.

 The roses will help. So will the autumn.

Leaf Of The Day

October 19th 2015

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Pizzelle Pizzelle

"Don't be satisfied with stories, 

of how things have gone with others.

 Unfold your own myth."

~Rumi

The Essential Rumi

Sometimes I wonder where I would be right now, had it not been for my deep need to be creative, and Alan's unwavering support in my artistic adventures. He brought me back from the brink once, just by being a constant source of love, friendship and support. I suppose that's why October means so much to me, it's my chance to really take care of him. See to what he needs, and plan our little road adventures, so he can rest from all the work he does all year long. Work at his actual place of employment, and work as in listening to the crazy that is me. LOL.

Yesterday we had a fun little culinary adventure. We made Pizzelles. Pizzelles, if you haven't already heard of them, are a cute, delicious little Italian waffle type cookie. They are also said to be the first cookie ever made! They can be made the traditional way, or customized depending on the flavor of extract you choose. Yesterday we made them with several different kinds of extracts. Coffee, Root Beer, and Anise. Some were formed into cannoli shells, which we are going to fill with something yummy, and some were left flat to be made into ice cream sandwiches!

I purchased a fun little pizzelle maker from Cuisinart, through Amazon.com, to make the pizzelles, and I highly recommend it! It makes two cookies at a time, and comes with a dowel for rolling the cookies into cannoli shells. I traded off making one flat cookie and one cannoli shell each bake. At 60 calories per cookie, it's a fun little indulgence that you make at your desk if you want to, because you can make the batter/dough up ahead of time, and bake when you feel like it!

Life is just pretty damn good sometimes!

 Leaf Of The Day

October 18th 2015

Cuisinart Pizzelle Recipe

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

14 Out Of Every 10

"Research tell us that 14 out of every 10 individuals likes chocolate."

~Sandra Boynton

Go ahead. Eat. 

You know you want to!

Red Velvet Cake, With Vanilla Frosting 

And A Chocolate Dipped Strawberry!

Life Affirming Goodness!

Leaf Of The Day

October 17th 2015

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

The Eternal Corrective

"Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of completion; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see

 the span of his world and the substance

 of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon."

~Hal Borland

Just leaves today! I spent all day yesterday doing some local leaf peeping, and prepping the cameras for a hefty autumn workout this coming weekend! You'll see, but first Alan and I are going to do a lot of swimming in the new pool, and making some homemade cannoli. You'll see that too!

Stay Tuned!

Leaf Of The Day

October 16th 2015

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Trick Or Treat... Let's Talk Halloween Candy

"You can't recapture your past anymore than you can speed up your future.

 Stop lamenting summer and stop trying to hurry winter. Just enjoy the fall."

~Debbie Viguie

The Fall Of Candy Corn

Halloween Candy. There are a million choices to hand out on the big night. Personally, I love candy corn, but because it's rarely available individually wrapped, you can't really hand it out to the kids. That's a shame I think. It's festive. It's yummy. But what can you do? So, in that candy corn isn't good for handing out, what makes for good treats on Halloween? Some form of chocolate is always good, but I have found that one must be careful about which chocolate candy one chooses. When I was a little girl I hated getting Reece's Peanut Butter cups. Not because I was allergic, or didn't like the flavor, but rather because they always seemed to melt on the outside chocolate part before I got home! Do you know how ugly a melted peanut butter cup can look to a 5 year old girl? LOL. Not appetizing. Not appetizing at all! So, no on the peanut butter cups!

Another thing to keep in mind... diets. Not the diets of the youngsters, the diets of the one handing out the yumminess! If you are dieting, do you deliberately purchase candy you would never eat personally in a million years so you won't be tempted? For me, the candy I would be least likely to hand out would be something completely covered in almonds. I am not a fan of the almond. But in truth, I don't hate it either. Just not my favorite. I am just not a fan. Nuts can be problematic. Either you like the taste of them, or you don't. It's that simple. But you might actually like the taste of peanuts or almonds, but you have an unfortunate allergy. That's bad news! So, do you stay away from putting candy that could pose a health risk in the plastic pumpkin?

I suppose Jolly Rancher candies are a good alternative. Or maybe beef jerky. That would be kinda cool! Right? It's not really candy, but it's unique! No other house on the street would pass that out to the wee goblins and ghosties, now would they? Hey, maybe I am on to something. Little gift bags of individually wrapped beef jerky. Maybe held together with an orange ribbon!? Nah, that might be too easy to tamper with also. Sigh. It would never work. Nope. So what would work? What's the top candy for passing out to trick or treaters? What candy is in truly high demand for it's yummy deliciousness?

Well, according to USA Today, chocolate still wins! Hershey's and Reese's lead the pack!

I still love my candy corn, but I will probably hand out Hershey's minis. 

They are a tasty classic. And besides, if for some reason we don't get any trick or treaters, they can be used to make S'Mores on Christmas Eve! 

Your turn!

Tell me, what is your favorite candy to hand out on the best holiday of the year? Halloween!

Leaf Of The Day

October 15th 2015

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

The Night Stalker

"I have a stalker, a beautiful one... the sunset.

 Every day she is there, watching me, 

whether I am watch her or not."

~Jarod Kintz

This Book Has No Title

It's a strange sky... isn't it? Spooky, yet too beautiful to be afraid of. 

I love October!

Leaf Of The Day

October 14th 2015

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Happy 25th Anniversary!

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep, 

because finally reality is better than your dreams."

~Dr. Suess

35 Years As Best Friends.

25 Years As Best Friends Who Got Married.

You ARE The Love Of My Life.

You Are My Everything.

You Are My Alan.

Happy Anniversary Darling... I adore you!

Love,

 That Woman You Married!

Leaf Of The Day

October 13th 2015

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Love From The Kitchen

"Cooking is at once child's play and adult joy. 

And cooking done with love is an act of love."

-Craig Claiborne

I made some homemade pizzas for Alan yesterday, a small snack after work. He does a brutal turnaround shift on Sundays, so I try to make the long commute as easy as possible, by having something tasty and nutritious waiting for him before he gets some sleep! 

Heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, sweet bell peppers, and a dash of sun-dried tomato Parmesan cheese! It was really good if I do say so myself. LOL. There is just nothing like cooking up something special for someone you really love!

Leaf Of The Day

October 12th, 2015

Mood: Happy

Me :)