One of THOSE Days

On your LEFT, your RIGHT, your LEFT!

I have never had to get my "ducks in a row" as I never did own ducks.  I imagine it is a challenging task.  I also never understood why a meticulous duck farmer would want ducks in a row.  I also know how hard it is to herd cats although I have never attempted it.  This week has been a week where I would rather be herding cats or getting ducks to march in a line than what I have been doing.

I have been trying to find a plan to wean myself off of our cable company which has not increased my service in any way, shape or form, but has increased the price of my service by 144 % in the last 9 years.  If you follow news you will know that cable companies are some of the most hated service companies in America.  I was told by my children and read on the Internet about a Chromecast dongle being used to access cheaper television shows via the Internet.  I bought the $25 Chromecast dongle as a test before cutting the cord.  I did not realize it would be as hard as getting ducks in a row, although I was suspicious, because this is technology, and when has that ever been a cakewalk?

I spent the first 20 minutes realizing my amplifier did not have an HDMI port like my son's did.  My amp weighs a ton and has a gazillion cords in the back!  I spent another 40 minutes finding the HDMI port at the back of my large screen TV which is high and tight against the living room wall.  One ladder, one flashlight and one extension cord later and the thing was successfully plugged in!  I returned to my laptop and Google Chrome walked me through the App and soon I was able to see any screen that was on my laptop on my TV.  While this meant I had some small success it was not the success I needed.  The Utube videos were not a great resolution but the worst part was I never figured out how to get sound!  Good thing I have not yet subscribed to Hulu or Netflix.  (If you have no idea what I am writing about and your eyes are glazing over right now, please go on with your life and come back for another post another day, because you will not get this time back in your life and I am determined to ramble on.)

I pulled the dongle from the back of the screen, and much to my surprise (hardly) I could no longer get my cable box and my amp to talk to my TV.  I fiddled for an hour.  There are about 10 options each on the various remote controls.  Multiply 10X10X10 and you get the idea.  I am exhausted and now have to call someone to come help and it will probably cost as much as my monthly cable bill anyway.

I felt really defeated because this has been one of those days.

I will not even go into the well water issue that has raised its furry head!

Nor will I dwell on the bill coming due from the outboard motor shop due to the diagnosis of the "cough" in that engine this fall.

These are three items, so I am thinking that if trouble really does come in threes I am done for a while.  Right???

Why Don't You Understand Me?

This "Global Refuge Mural" by Joel Bergner 2009 stimulated the words below.

It's the words

Amorphous gems to grapple the mind's ear

It's the words

Building blocks of ideas to stand upon

It's the words

Tripping us in our stilted pondering

It's the words

Piles of them spilling onto the floor

It's the words

Bringing us to our knees in pain

Searching for that perfect one in the haystack

It's the words

Written, not shouted, across the emptiness

Can you understand me?

Admission of Guilt and How the First World Deals with the Holiday

We  I have put up very few decorations this year.  We just got lazy.  We ARE talking about buying some lights for the dock since our neighbors dock looks so lovely all lit up.  But I do love when the house is decorated with boxes from my online shopping and bags of gifts from regular shopping.  I love gift giving...perhaps a little too much.

The only thing in the middle box above was this much smaller box below with lots of brown filler paper.

And, of course, with all the wrapping, who has time to decorate the house?  There will be no one here to see this year anyway.  I still feel a little guilty.  Although I read somewhere that Americans spend 6 billion on Christmas decorations alone?  Maybe to buy their way into heaven?  Nope.  I think it is to show off to their friends and neighbors---some of the time.  More guilt.  What MUST the world think of us when this holiday season is about the birth of a prophet whom many think is God?  Unless you celebrate Hanukkah or Kwanzaa...which also have little to do with spending.  Boy, 6 billion can buy a lot of food!

Our first exchange with loved ones is this Saturday since we will not see them on Christmas.  So shopping and wrapping had to be done efficiently.  That little blue plane on the left was an old decoration that I found that was my son's when he was much younger.  I thought I had given him all his old ornaments now that he has his own family, but missed that one.

Now I am finishing up the other stuff...sending greetings.

I give to charities and causes on a year round basis....but I am thinking after reading this post that I need to give some more this month!  Not looking forward to the budget busting bills in January.

No Explanation That I Can Find

My mornings have recently been perfection, no place I have to be, no appointments to keep, no illness forcing me out of bed to suffer elsewhere.  Yes, there is Christmas shopping to do, but I am 80% done and did it online!  No, I did not take advantage of any sales or use the comparison shopping sites recommended by Consumer Reports.  This year I am being lazy and, yes, the December bills will be hard to pay because of my laziness.  But I digress.

As the day unfolds it goes smoothly with housework, mail, hobbies, interests such as blogging, rest activities and sometimes even exercise.

I go to bed at a normal and routine time with no guilt or unresolved issues, at least none that can easily be identified.

So....why does my mind kick into high gear with endless lists of  "things to be done" and "resolutions to be made" as soon as my head hits that sweet pillow.  Why can I not fall into a snorefest as my hubby so easily does each night?  What Puritan streak do I need to kill?   What sins do I need to repent?  Why is my mind not cooperating when my body is so exhausted?

The Nasty Captcha!

According to some readers you can ignore the Captcha word verification window that appears before you comment.  I (and many other bloggers) have word verification off and yet it still appears!  Ignore it and lets see if you can comment!!

Walking in Someone Else's Shoes

Bryan quietly slipped on his right boot.  They were laces, so they would not make the noise that his Velcro running shoes made.  He was trying to be whisper quiet as he wanted to avoid waking his wife and the baby.  Because of the holidays his work schedule now started before the sun got up.  The shoes were new and still pinched on the sides a little.  Bryan forced himself to ignore that pinch because policing the Brinker neighborhood was going to take all his focus today.  As the holidays got closer the crime rate went up on those narrow streets and there seemed to be more crazies.  His partner, Colin, had already started to get angry even before he hit the breaks of the car.  Colin pushed the situation just to get it over with and to get on to the next crazy thug.  The cops at the station thought that Bryan was just too naive in these situations.  They told him he would be sorry one day when he always wanted to give the other side the benefit of the doubt.

Jimar laced his favorite new tennis shoes carefully tightening the turquoise neon-blue laces.  He was going to get to the park early, before his dad came to pick him up this morning.  He knew it was wishful thinking because his dad was always late.  Jimar was excited because he only saw his dad once a month and for just a few hours.  He grabbed his black plastic gun which he took everywhere.  It made him feel safer for some reason and it looked like the ones the big guys in his neighborhood sometimes pulled quickly from their pockets just like a magic trick.

Morty rubbed the sand from his eyes.  One of them was itching more and he knew it was probably infected again, but the free clinic didn't open until Monday.  He moved his stiff joints knowing he had to walk to another corner before that cop came by and banged him on the legs telling him to get moving.  He liked to sit just on the back corner near the grocery store because the housewives sometimes gave him food or change this time of year.  Maybe that fat guy was going to be selling cigarettes today.

(all photos taken from the Internet and Photoshopped to protect the honest)

Be Kind

I try not to watch much news as the holiday season means even more "crazies," normal people for whom the season is an overwhelming sensory overload to be abated only by some violent or criminal act, feed the headline beast each day.  Ignorance would be bliss sometimes.  Do you remember the time before the Internet allowed you access to any and all the sewage of mankind?  Do you remember the time when you could be shocked by a headline? 

Google "protests 2014" and Wikipedia actually lists them all by year back to 1990.  An interesting demographic picture of our unhappy world.  Do not get me wrong, I believe in peaceful protests to wake up a sleeping population.  I guess it just reminds me that, like war, protesting will exist until all protestors are dead because there will always be something to protest.

Google "2014 wars in the world" and once again Wikpedia comes to the rescue with an article and even a colored map breaking the colors into groups:  Major wars, 10,000+ deaths per year; Wars and conflicts, 1,000–9,999 deaths per year; and finally, Minor skirmishes and conflicts, fewer than 1000 deaths per year.

I tried to Google "miracles 2014" and did not get nearly such interesting links.   Most of the miracles are listed in nature and I do know what a miracle nature can be.

But to leave this post on a more optimistic note and to continue an ongoing movement which occurs always but mostly during this time of year I will send you to this link "Random Acts of Kindness."  There is even a Random Acts of Kindness Week coming up and in the fall the Random Acts of Kindness Day.   Good resources to keep you from going crazy during this busy season and to keep you from making others crazy.  To get started go here for ideas.

I Do Focus...Now and Again

I have just finished ordering some Christmas gifts online while watching the news on our Public Television station.  I immediately segue into my email which links me to an Australian marketing talk video about digital art works and passive income.  I can watch surreptitiously along with the audience of 20-somethings drinking wine and laughing at the Aussie's jokes.  Almost at the same time a poet comes on TV to discuss her art and because she is black, she says she is pained by this time in our country more public with its racism, finding it hard to write and I hit the pause on the laptop to watch her for a while.  I love poets.  Then I can watch for 15 minutes another lecture in one of the digital courses I am taking.  I am taking two alternatively...one on writing sentences and one on cooking, both things which I have vast areas in which to improve before I die. 

I count birds at the feeders briefly each Wednesday and Thursday intermittently throughout the day for Cornell University and note that today I saw two Towhees and then grab my telephoto to catch the way the sun hits a leaf and take that photo to manipulate soon.

I just finished reading "The Goldfinch" novel...not at all what I expected.  What did you think of it?  Do you know Fabritius?   Do you like his work?  Hold that thought, I have to go load some Christmas CDs.  It is the 4th and I have not even started listening to Christmas music!  Oh, I see the folder where I need to create a file of photos for my Christmas card...not sure at all which ones reflect our 2014 the best...there are so many....

Yes, I am compulsive and rapacious about what is left of my life.  I love so many things and jump from one to the other, rarely giving them the time they need to congeal as complete thoughts before some other idea crosses my mind.

The Tree!

Still thinking about posting the kids holiday photos because I am not sure who reads this blog and while I think family and friends do not...I will never know.  Also not wanting to spoil their card if someone does see this early I will hold off posting.  I also think that creepy people steal photos from the net and I do not want to be a tool for that!  So below are some photos from the tree decorating process that we undertook the next day after Thanksgiving with faces hidden just enough to get you in the mood for the Christmas Season and remind you of the little ones that shared the season with you at one time.  My son-in-law made it clear I was NOT to post these photos on FB with his bed head...LOL.  This guy is model handsome and needs to get a grip!

The youngest is going to be a rock star...!  Do you remember those times (if you celebrated Christmas) when you would study those ornaments as if never having seen them before or as if we had found touchstones to a life long ago?

This little pumpkin above had her hair done for the Christmas card photos the day before this was taken, so her "bed head" is somewhat tamed in this photo!

And the eldest who is so close to my heart.

Wake-Up Call!

I did have a lovely Thanksgiving with both kids and their families.  I DID eat only 2 tablespoons of everything (heaping tablespoons) but this included turkey, gravy, dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, half a roll, roasted Brussel sprouts, broccoli cheese casserole, green bean casserole, and blue cheese pecan app spread on two crackers!  This is a lot of calories.  I also had a piece of pumpkin pie at the end of the meal!

While up at daughter's house my son-in-law mentioned he wondered if I could come back up on Saturday to take some family photos.  They did not have time this year to drive the four hours up to their friend's (the professional photographer) house and he wanted to get his annual family photo shoot done so that they could order Christmas cards.  (da-da-da-da-da)  That was my heart jumping a bit.  Son-in-law is Mr G-Q.  He is also very particular about the appearance of his family to the point where he gels his boys hair before they head out to school and makes them change if he does not like the outfit combination.  Talk about setting a high bar.

The professional photographer they use is great!  She really knows her stuff!  So, this hobbyist is going to have to up her game.  Taking photos of flowers and mountains and streams is not like taking photos of your loved ones that they want to send out to all their friends.

I tried to be calm going back up on Saturday afternoon with my best lens...not a portrait lens and my batteries charged and a tripod (which we never used).  I was so nervous I did not bring my back up camera. 

Before we got there I called and told them that they had to pick out the site near their neighborhood, mentioned we REALLY had to get going before I lost the late afternoon light, and checked over my camera for the millionth time to make sure I knew the settings.

We did get a great place with a bright red train cab and an old wood building for background.  I had less than an hour to shoot, five faces to get in focus and with the best expression on all and light changing every second or so as heavy clouds moved in across the sun.  Yes, you can shoot on cloudy days, but late afternoon sunshine on a winter afternoon is much better. 

100 shots (photo) later and I head home to work on my images on the computer.  This is a wake up call for me.  I see my strengths and weaknesses right from the start.  Composition is pretty good, I usually can see the problems with setting.  I still have trouble with DOF when using this lens.  Couple this with a moving three-year-old and no light deflectors or light discs or assistant and I had no idea how this was going to turn out.  Since I do not charge professional fees, they at least would be saving some money!

How did it go you might ask?  Well I am sending 31 images that I have photo-shopped just a bit to their dropbox site and we will see what they think.  If they like them, I might show you one or two.

Post Thanksgiving-Burp

Actually I did not eat too much.  Just about 2 tablespoons of EVERYTING...except I did have a normal serving of dessert and about three and half  glasses of wine (over the fours hours of prep-cooking at daughter's house.)  But I feel good this morning.  Here is part of my post TG breakfast.

Picked a week ago (early) from this overloaded tree in the photo directly below and this larger not so overloaded tree in the next photo.

These persimmons cannot be eaten until they are perfectly ripe and so we put them in brown paper bags in the refrigerator and then bring them out one bag at a time to ripen on the kitchen counter and it works about 80% of the time.

Below the second of two harvests.  Fortunately for us the raccoons and squirrels have not yet found the tree and if we can continue picking them before they are ripe, we may get most of this harvest each year!

Regarding taste question below:  The texture is custardy or a gelatin texture, sweet not tart, and ours have no seeds.

If Wishes Were Raindrops the Planet Would Be Nurtured So Much More

My greatest wish is that everyone on the planet has a full and satisfied stomach today...my greatest wish...and for everyday hereafter. 

It is Elegans

My prior post was a sad song about Central America, a link to a sad land.  Today, with the thankfulness season approaching, I promise more uplifting posts.  I will write instead about an interesting plant native to Guatemala.

I saw this plant in a fall herb garden at the National Arboretum one year and was intrigued since it was so hearty in late fall and still full of blooms.  I bought this plant last year for my herb garden as its common name is pineapple sage (Salvia elegans).  As a Master Gardener I did my research before planting...NOT.  I buy stuff and stick it where I need to put a plant and then hope it makes it without a lot of mollycoddling.  Fortunately it was in a place where it gets morning sun and afternoon shade, which is the perfect niche.  All of my soils are relatively rich and thus it grew like a house on fire.  I did my research later, and discovered this baby can get to be FIVE FEET high.  There goes a third of my small herb garden.

Does it smell or taste of pineapple you may ask?   I will copy text from one garden that sells it "Did I mention that it really does smell like pineapple? You may be skeptical about the fragrance. After all, the orange and chocolate mints may smell like their namesakes, but only if you concentrate really hard and use your imagination. Pineapple sage, on the other hand, really smells pineapple-y, and it's also an attractive plant in its own right."  No, I did not find a strong pineapple smell, but my old olfactory glands are not what they used to be.  The leaves are edible, but not striking in pungency like mint or sage.  The flowers can be used in fall salads and are a nice colorful addition.  The flowers are also a favorite of hummingbirds as the days grow short.  I think they look a little like hands giving directions ;-).

This plant, like a chrysanthemum, uses a photoreceptor protein and blooms as the day gets shorter.  So it is a nice accent to late fall gardens when other bloomers are going to sleep or forming seeds.  Pineapple sage forms blossoms as the day grows shorter and the nights longer which starts on June 21.  Cotton and rice are also short day plants.  Next year I am going to try more carefully to see if I can get the hummingbird at this plant.  I do not get many hummingbirds to my yard.  The plant freezes back to the ground after the first freeze, but may survive a harder winter if I mulch it carefully.  (It is not expensive to replant each year.)

I think the "elegans" name comes from the shape of the flowers - like ballerinas hands arching.   It is dainty, discriminating, and elegant.

Its a Disease and We Have to Cure the Symptoms

I am angry, dismayed, hopeful and confused. Therefore I will let Bob speak the truth.

Go here to Bob's blog and face the real world and the voices that merge to speak the truth. 

Cancel Those Vacation Plans as the Ship is Sinking--A Thursday 13

My universe is cracking!

This is my Thursday Thirteen, which I have not done in a long time, and which, unfortunately instead of a thankfulness list, is reduced to a reality to do list!  (As a background, before you read ahead, this house was completed in 2006 so she does not yet have that patina of charming old age.)

1. Front door knob not turning easily and slipping on the catch and door can swing open--I am sure that is how that mouse got in!
2. Large burner on range not auto-lighting - using a match
3. Deck steps to back yard are sinking to one side or I am having too much wine
4. West wall on garage is cracked near door - probably sinking
5. A few inches of taping on front room ceiling (two stories up above my head) coming loose due to a nasty storm years ago
6. Taping in guest bedroom ceiling coming loose now
7. Gate not hooked up to electricity, waiting on budget ease to hire electrician as we have given up on the solar panel option
8. Some smoke alarms need to be replaced in basement and top floor but cannot find plug-ins that match
9. Wine cooler not working (Yes, I see the small violin you are playing.)
10. Water pump has low pressure--called for repair yesterday.  Repairman came and fixed it in an hour.  We were told it could have cost $1900, but our repair was only $100.  (Thankfulness #1)
11. Gutters need cleaning badly and I will not let hubby up on the ladder and it is not in the budget for right now
12. Window in right guest bedroom does not close easily--so I no longer open it!
13. Driveway pavement needs cracks filled AGAIN!

Next Thursday Thirteen will be a thankfulness theme...I promise!(Thankfulness #2  ease on the future budget is that most of the spring vacation has been pre-paid.)

Post Script. Regarding Blogger stats:  My  most visited post (2394 visits) was this Thursday Thirteen back in September 2012... in case you are curious.

The Time for Savory

Each weathercast directed our way indicates that a cold freeze is coming.  Each night the temps drop into the low 30sF and each morning things look chilled, but there is no 'frost on the pumpkin' yet.  Of course the only pumpkin that I have is inside on the table.  I purchased the one below because it has such lovely colors and textures.

But we know that Jack is coming and soon behind him his colder friend Hard.   Thus we headed outside with harvest baskets in hand to do some last minute collection in the garden.

The dramatic swings in temperature are causing these zavory peppers to crack.  They are not hot but have just bite of heat.  They also have a bit of fruity essence when dried and smoked and used in soups, on salads, and in marinades.

We have a small smoker that is very old but loyal.   Outside on the back patio is the sweet smell of wood smoke.

I spent a couple of hours yesterday afternoon pealing these cloves of garlic.  I washed them, steamed them in the microwave for a little over a minute to make them easier to peal.  Then they go into jars of olive oil and into the fridge and the rest of the ivory orbs go into ziplocks with a bit of olive oil and into the freezer.  We are sometimes to humid to let them hang dried all winter, but I do have a half dozen left for fresh cooking.

When all  is done I take some time to practice a bit of photography still life.   Yes, this is quick setup and should have had a nicer background and base, but the sun's lighting through the window caught my eye and that sun moves fast.  Those tiny limes were immature kaffir limes I had to harvest before a bit of pruning to bring the tree inside for winter.

Soon it is dinner time and this snapper filet will be baked in a savory garlic, curry, basil, smoked zavory pepper flakes sauce with fresh cloves of garlic and bits of kaffir lime.  Very savory!

Bloggers Are Like Coat Hangers

Maybe now is the time to take a walk to the post office and see if there is any snail mail that is worthy of my time.

I have 147 blogs listed on my blog role.  Many of them have been abandoned by their authors but they have not been removed from Blogger so I can sometimes go back and see what they used to write.  I sometimes wonder if the Library of Congress will archive some of these like they do the letters of pioneers and soldiers.  In other cases the authors have passed on for some of these idle blogs and they are, perhaps, blogging to his/her heart's content in some other part of the vast universe.  Their blog remains as a memorial and an example of how brave we can be when we fight that last great battle.

I add some new blogs every once in a while to my blog roll.  I do not go trolling for new blogs to read---who has the time?  But something catches my eye on a comment they have made to a blogger I read and thus I go read a few of their entries and then add them to my list because I find I am interested in what they have to say or the way they say it.  (I must admit that I have been thinking of trolling for Irish blogs as no Irish bloggers are on my list.  Smile.)

But what this could mean is I can lose my life (such as an old lady's life is) to reading blogs and living others' lives with too many demanding my attention and then I end up reading each of my well-known bloggers only intermittently.   I started thinking about this because a nice Blogger pinned one of my photos to Pinterest, which I have never used, but I was certainly flattered since he gave credit!  We grow whether we expect it or not.  How many lurkers read your blog but never comment?

Do any of you think about this?  Does Blogging add balance to your time or do you find it sometimes takes up too much of your time?  How many folks on your blog list?  How many do you "follow."  How often?

Soldier's Poem

Lessons 

Do away with medals
Poppies and remembrance parades
Those boys were brave, we know
But look where it got them
Reduced to line after perfect line
Of white stones
Immobile, but glorious, exciting
To kids who haven’t yet learned
That bullets don’t make little red holes
They rip and smash and gouge
And drag the world’s dirt behind them
Remember lads, you won’t get laid
No matter how good your war stories
If you’re dead
So melt down the medals
Fuel the fire with paper poppies, war books and Arnie films
Stop playing the pipes, stop banging the drums
And stop writing fucking poems about it.

Poem written by Danny Martin.

"I am an ex soldier currently in the third year of an English and Creative Writing degree course in Liverpool. I was in the army for just under seven years, leaving in early 2006. I completed two tours of Iraq, totalling one year over there. Most of my poems are based around my experiences during my second tour (TELIC 6 in 2005), when I was serving as team signaller on a Tactical Air Control Party, mainly based around Maysaan province."

Flirting

Yesterday when I was home, with the afternoons becoming shorter and the air turning cooler as soon as the sun's angle begins to drop lower on the horizon, I retreated to my sitting room and went through emails and paid bills, later to read some story that takes place in a warmer climate while trying to not think about winter's gray finger pulling constantly at the sun.  But the river does not let me sit forever.  Soon she winks at me through the windows.  She giggles when the sunshine tickles her back and I have to put down my laptop and head outside with my camera.  This is a good thing, because I would have missed this if I ignored the flirtation.   The dance of river and light is just too seductive.  (Yes, this belongs on my other blog but there is a canoe trip going on there.)

So I put on my outdoor shoes and close off my email and go outside to smile for a while.

The sunlight bounces right off the top of the river into my eyes with fire.  It bathes the pomegranate, now as high at the second story bedroom window and devoid of its red fruit, into the most stunning "lime" light.  In the distance with trees throwing off leaves I can see my neighbors house once again.

Then what should happen but this morning while hubby left early to test his guns at the neighbors field, I was called again to my back yard to see what gifts Mother Earth left me to cheer me up against the shorter days.

These leaves are the exact color they were hanging above my head.  No hue or saturation adjustment as Mother Nature has an excellent palette.  Is is not a wonder that winter comes as such a shock to the soul?

The Party is Over

I think everyone is relieved that the contest is over whether their candidate won or lost, because it means no more negative ads to fast forward on the DVR and no more email boxes and snail mail boxes stuffed with junk and endless requests for money.  Our Congress has an approval rating of 12.7%.  Now the work lies in the hands of those elected and re-elected.  So, if like me, you want a break go here for an outdoor respite.

There Were Two Paths

Well, I am resigned to taking this country in a new direction today.  Yes, my liberal candidates lost...some of them so weak I am not surprised.  I can only hope that moderate conservatives exist to fight against radical tea party guardians who want to pretty much abolish this government and turn it over to the rich to run as their own little tea party.  The winners are now claiming they will go forward and get stuff done.  This has been touted as a 'sweeping' victory but I see us very much as a divided country with no strong majority on either side.  I do not think we are going to get big things done for the next two years.   I am an elder and it will not affect me much one way or the other.  I have economic security and thus will not have to suffer.  It is up to the young to decide if the poor are a lazy drain on society, working poor have no initiative or right to a voice, immigrants cannot make a contribution, we no longer have racial or gender biases, a profit motive is better for prisons and schools, health care is not a right, and science is a fraud.

Washing the Brain and Coming Clean With You

I had promised in my last post to talk about my addictions. First you need to accept that all addictions are by definition compulsions you cannot control based on the rewards that your brain receives from them. But, with the exception of drugs and certain weaknesses in personalities, there are varied degrees of addiction and sometimes the addiction is strong on one day and weak on another.  I will not dwell on to what extent all addictions can be bad.

Years ago, when I was young and surrounded by diapers and baby food and bills and long days at home, I started watching a few soap operas on television during baby nap times. As I look back I realize it was truly escapism because my life was boring and the over-the-top adventures of Audrey and Mike and Dr. Whats-his-name with their perfect hair and breasts and shoulders kept me distracted just long enough to be willing to face dinner.  Eventually soap operas seemed repetitive, and predictable, and boring, and as my life was no longer tied to the house, I said goodbye to Barbie and Ken and their trials and tribulations.

Recently as my life has now slowed and I spend more time in my house once again, my entertainment addiction has become British mysteries. I love trying to solve them alongside the expert and befuddled detective, or in other cases the unofficial detectives Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot. If I watched an episode three years ago I may re-watch it because I have forgotten most of the details and the brain reward is the same. Hubby is most generous in sitting through these with me but usually he cannot understand half of what they say with their chin wags over a half-pint at the local "Swan and Blind Beggar" pub.

About two years ago I began to fold laundry, plan dinners, prepare food or pay bills in front the TV in the late afternoons and I returned to my former addiction.  Low and behold I came across a soap opera, one of those that fed my elder brain nicely. If you research the title of the show a description reads "An English Priest is transferred to a small Irish village." The show is called "Ballykissangel" which is the fictional name of the village in the show, and it is, of course, in Ireland. In the first episodes a very young and naive priest struggles with an overbearing Parish priest and a bunch of quirky parishioners. Eventually sexual tension between the priest and the pub owner surfaces, and while a soap opera trick, it really is done nicely and without lots of prurient plot scenes. (My opinions about Celibacy among the people of the cloth is a whole other post!) This soap opera moves beyond this priest as new priests arrive to replace him and the yearly episodes involved each of the quirky characters in amusing and sad adventures and I loved each and every odd villager, and the Irish culture and scenery was so addictive.

Yes, I will FINALLY get to the reason for this post, and it is not to show that I know how to waste time watching TV AND do work OR write wordy posts about nothing.  The real name of the Irish village where this soap opera was filmed was Avoca in Ireland. One of the reasons, and probably the primary reason, I selected Hunters Hotel for our first night, was because it was about 10 miles from the small town of Avoca! This is what addictions do...enforce you to make arbitrary and illogical decisions for that brain reward.

I dragged everyone traveling with me to that little village as a bypass on our way to a national park. I immediately found the famous pub, and just up the hill the Catholic church and crossed the bridge where many a plot point had been revealed. We pulled into the nearby parking lot and I spent about two minutes taking quick pictures and giggling. No one with me understood a wit about my school girl reaction, except for my DIL who had visited the house in the movie "Goonies" just a few months ago and posted her giggling self in front of that same house.  My intellectual mind knows that this is 'scenery'...a 'location shoot' because I was a drama minor in college.  I understand the smoke and mirrors part very well.  I also know that the little town made money for some time on this series.  I am guessing the actual name of the village in the TV show is copyrighted and that is why the name of this gift shop in the photo below is a little odd.

And, of course there was that magnificent and powerful and important character that had no lines in the series...the church.

But I also understand the magic of a storyline and how it captures you and compels you and makes you reminisce and puts you there in the lives of the characters.  And when it all comes together at the right time, it is magnificent.

Now aren't you glad you followed me all the way to the end? ( It is too bad for those others that stopped reading and went to get the mail.)  Do I not seem more human?  No? OK.  Go ahead and see if the re-runs of this show are in your TV schedule on PBS or BBC .  I won't tell anyone.  Try to start from the beginning or you will not get the full soap opera effect or addiction.

The Silliness of Life and Getting to Know the Locals

As I wrote earlier, about our recent trip to Ireland, our fellow travelers made most of the reservations and selected most of the places we would visit.  We had no problem with this, even though we had never visited the Emerald Isle, because we have been blessed with tons of travel and lots of adventures in our life, and this was a rare trip for them.

You may remember that hubby had a fall from a ladder a few weeks prior to this trip, and with his compromised neck issues, I was a bit concerned about how he would feel after such a long flight.  Therefore, we went a day earlier than everyone else and checked into a country retreat just outside Dublin to get used to driving on the "wrong" side of the roads and the difference in an earlier time zone.  I must admit that I did not spend hours searching for a perfect and inexpensive place to stay.  It was for only one night, and our friends had already reserved all reasonable places for the rest of the trip, etc.  I found a place with an afternoon tea garden and a kitchen garden and a long history for 130 Euro for the one night breakfast included which translates to about 162.00 dollars in the US.  Some would say it was too much, but I found it acceptable. It was in Wicklow County which is a beautiful area and I wish we had had more time to explore more than just a few hours in this area where a number of well-known movies have been made because of its beauty.

I came across a website for this Hunter's Hotel in Wicklow County  which is about 20 minutes outside of Dublin.  The photos were very inviting, of course.  Built originally in 1650 as a forge, it was then converted to an Inn that had been owned by a wealthy family in the 18th Century and had a long and colorful history of owners following that.  Now Europeans might read through this and think cold, damp, dark and old.  I thought 'romantic escape.'  I thought 'nostalgic dream.'  Mel Gibson and Daniel Day Lewis have stayed at this hotel!  It sits out in the middle of nowhere and we almost could not find it on our tracker.  Signs in rural areas can be hidden in Ireland.

The hotel was mostly what I had expected in a creaky old way and the furniture definitely showed a history.   It was a bit of a hodge podge in decor, and when I showed my travel photos, my daughter said it looked like staying a Great Old Aunt Somebody's place.  She has no sense of history or atmosphere.  I felt right at home!  We had a glass of wine in the beautiful garden out back while waiting for our room to be ready.

At dinner that evening I observed at the nearby table two rather healthy-looking women in their mid-fifties that could have been Lesbian hikers in a Hercule Poirot story discuss plant species and birds that they had seen in a sharp and efficient conversation over their meal.  They did not mention that they had come across a body in the woods, though.  Later I sat in the lounge just across from an elderly British couple after our evening white tablecloth gourmet dinner and closed my eyes and entered an Agatha Christie mystery as I eves dropped on their gentle conversation about people they knew and gossip they shared as only elderly Brits can carry off.

After a wonderful breakfast the next day I walked in the kitchen garden and met a lovely bubbly Irish lady about 55 who was an artist and explained that she was known for her paintings of naked men.  She was a plump lady wearing a lovely silky flowered dress with a small fancy hat perched on her blonde head.  As the small talk progressed she was very willing to share her recent divorce issues after a long time marriage, her husband's awfulness in the process, and the new art studio and business which she had expanded with her two sons.  She also indicated how she could certainly be willing to paint my husband as he was a good body shape!  Her grandchild had been Baptized that very morning and that is why the family was all there to all have a late breakfast together.

When our other group of travelers arrived in Dublin and joined us later to head further south they asked if the hotel could fix a late breakfast for the four of them.  The hotel kitchen which is only open very specific hours was most generous in accommodating them with both a hot and cold breakfast.  Later they toured the gardens while we checked out and they met a landscape expert whose house was being fumigated while he stayed at the hotel.  They were able to get lots of information on all the exotic plants we might see and also some good places to visit on the island and how to avoid a few tourist traps.  All in all the casual elegance of this place was a perfect place to start our Ireland adventure.

My next post ... a soap opera addiction.