Happy Haunting!

Been pretty busy the last few days.  Among other things we have decided to give up our permanent campsite down in the pines and sell our trailer.  So yesterday, we went down there to begin bringing all our stuff home, winterize the water pipes, and clean out the inside of the trailer so it can be shown to prospective buyers.  You can just imagine how much stuff we have accumulated over the past four years.  I managed to get most of the inside stuff out of the trailer -- our tv, toaster, crock pot and coffee maker, all the pillows, sleeping bags, towels and so on, books, fishing stuff, kayaking stuff, clothes, cleaning supplies, toiletries and medicine cabinet stuff, cookware, utensils, dishes, the contents of the fridge and pantry, and on and on... plus 2 adirondack chairs from outside.  Everything but the perishable food is still packed inthe truck -- unloading it and beginning to find places for it at home are today's job. 

If the weather is okay, next weekend we will be making the trip again for the kayaks, grill, and other outdoor stuff, and to put the "for sale" sign in the window.  Its sort of sad, but, to be quite honest, going to camp was beginning to be more of a chore than a vacation.  And because of Bernie's work schedule and our home projects and stuff we just haven't been able to get there enough to merit the rental fees.   Maybe in a few years after Bernie retires and the home repair/improvement projects are completed,  we will get a nice new trailer, with more space, and rent a site closer to the ocean somewhere.  Our trailer is okay, but it is a 1975 model, and they have made so many improvements in the comfort and efficiency of recreational vehicles since then.  We go to the RV show almost ever year, and love looking at the new models with almost all the conveniences of home. 

Longer, more interesting "Real blog" to come eventually.  I have been thinking of some stuff and want to put it down in written words... 

I wish you all a Happy Halloween, Dear Readers, and a Blessed Samhain to those who are celebrating.  If you or your little ones are Trick-or-treating this evening, please be careful and stay safe!

It's raining again.

But before the sky opened up again yesterday, I managed to get a few more things cleaned up outside, and do the stucco patching that I had planned for the garage.   About time -- I have been putting it off for no less than two years.  I guess it came out okay, the small holes filled in nicely, the one large patch not so good, another coat would help, but I am just going to paint over it as it is now, because I ran out of mortar mix and don't want to buy another big bag right now.  I don't know if it is going to stay there, or crumble and fall out when it dries, but hopefully painting over it will help keep it from falling back out.   It's only the garage, after all.  Can't paint in this kind of weather, I have to wait till it is clear out so I can open the windows and so it doesn't take forever to dry.

I made a fabulous London Broil with carrots and potatoes last night, with plenty for leftovers.  Yum.   Good thing, because I am back in hibernation mode.  The rain got heavy last night, and the basement flooded -- again.   I got a lot of it cleaned up, but the water just came back in overnite.  Our automatic pump broke a couple of weeks ago, so unless I sit down there and keep turning the pump on every time the water comes in, then back off when the level drops, this is going to keep happening.  Luckily it is clean water coming in and not the muddy kind.  I will worry about getting it dried out down there after the sun comes out again, till then, I just go turn the pump on now and then to keep it from getting too deep.  Maybe we will get a new automatic pump tomorrow, if Home Depot has gotten them back in stock again.

Not much else to say, but I will leave you with a chuckle --

I found this picture while searching for pumpkin images online:

I wish I had thought of this lawn decoration!

The sun came out for a while today.

All the nasty rainy weather we have had lately just makes you appreciate a sunny fall day even more.  I celebrated by putterring around on the breezeway and in the garage, working on the ongoing chores of cleaning up and organizing.  I am getting ready to stucco-in some holes in the masonry of the inside garage walls -- I will probably tackle that tomorrow.  

I also did a little decorating for Halloween today. 

I went up in the garage attic and brought down a box of stuff -- the fall wreaths for the bathroom wall (I put the halloween curtains and towels in there at the beginning of the month)  and the front door  (which needed a new bow, so I made one out of ribbon I bought on sale after Halloween last year and put away)  a couple of lighted jack-o-lantern thingies, a witchy candle holder, a couple of halloweeny beanie plushies, a black cardboard witch that flies in my front window,  some autumn colored silk flowers for here and there, a spooky candy tin for the kitchen counter (now I need to get some candy to go in it -- I am thinking mini 3-Musketeers bars) -- nothing major, but enough to make me smile, and isn't that the point??

Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere.

Outdoors, I put the pumpkins that I grew in my backyard around the lamp post, in the flowerbed on the side of the house, and in the wheelbarrow planter next to the breezeway door.  Most of them are not really very big so I stood the ones in the flowerbed up on big inverted flowerpots so they are more visible over the last flowers and greenery of the season. 

Those pumpkins were one if this year's big surprises.  It wasn't my intention to grow pumpkins, but I had put last fall's pumpkins in the compost, and apparently the seeds survived just fine over the winter.  When I spread the compost on the one flowerbed along the back of the house this spring, just under my bedroom window, a small army of little pumpkin plants volunteered.  I gave my friend Dennis and his kids a whole flat of these plants to take home and plant in his garden, and was going to pull the rest out of the flowerbed to make room for flowers.  But I had been spending a lot of money on plants for the other beds, and decided to let 6 or 8 of the pumpkin vines grow in that bed, eliminating the necessity for at least some annual flower plants for that part of the yard. 

Despite my vigilance, and my best efforts to keep shoving the vines back into the flowerbed, they tried to take over my whole yard. One even climbed the fence!! I found out that pumpkin vines have little spiral tendrils that reach out and twist around everything -- they even grabbed a metal lawn ornament and pulled it over a couple of times.  I also found out there are little spiky hairs all over the leaves and stems of pumpkin plants that made my hands and arms itch like crazy and break out in spots when I handled them.  Whenever the vines grew out to the edge of the flowerbed, I would hack off the end so they wouldn't grow any further, and they just branched out to the side.  The leaves started out huge and got even bigger -- like little green umbrellas, trying to shade out the few other plants that were trying to grow in that bed.  I swear, sometimes the vines grew what appeared to be a foot overnite if it had rained or I watered them especially well.  Even though they were growing in one of the cats' favorite napping spots, and a place the dogs liked to play, by July all but Angel, my feistiest feline, had given up trying to penetrate the pumpkin jungle.  It was great fun, just watching these plants grow, totally unplanned, and bear about two dozen perfect orange fruits, from baseball to basketball sized, each one a little different in shape and texture. 

And  now I have a bunch of free decorations for my yard, destined to be pumpkin bread and other goodies to warm our tummies and lift our spirits as the fall turns to winter.

I still want to get some cornstalks for the lamp post, and maybe tie them with a big fall colored bow.  We have loads of sticks and one big limb to pick up in the yard, because the rains have come complete with wind.  And of course, the well-rain-watered lawns need mowing again.  Bernie is off from work tomorrow, and hopefully we will get some of these things done before the rain returns again in the afternoon.

Since when does New Jersey have a monsoon season, anyway?

Progress report to come tomorrow, and maybe even a picture or three.

Another cold rainy day.

I can't even begin to tell you how difficult it was for me

to finally haul myself out of this cozy nest:

Angel still refuses to leave it.

Oh well, I have to go to the grocery store now or we will be cold wet, and hungry.

Real exciting saturday, huh?

I'm Back!

I took a vacation from Xanga for a few months, while I was trying to take a vacation from my life.  Well, no matter how I tried, I couldn't avoid my life, but, I tried anyway.  Had a case of the blues, I guess, a particularly nasty and long-lived one.  This was further exacerbated by a variety of circumstances.  Nothing major, in the end result, but, you know how sometimes all the little things just add up to more than you feel like dealing with??  I don't know whether I will write about this here later, or if I will just let things go by like they never happened, and start fresh. 

One of the circumstances that has been particularly annoying, and has had the most bearing on my dissapearance from my Internet presence (which was pretty much my only interaction with the world beyond a very small sphere centering on my home and immediate family) was an ongoing problem with my Internet connection. It started with a total outage for a week in early July, and continued on with increasing connectivity difficulties.  I couldn't seem to stay online for more than a few minutes at a time without disconnecting.  This was not only very annoying, but also made it impossible for me to continue with my eBay listings, and even very difficult to just read and respond to email.  I had the cable technicians in the house, checking hardware, software, wires, everything, ever couple of weeks to no avail.   The cable company acted like I was crazy, and I was beginning to think they were right.  And then, last saturday,  I went out and bought a new cable modem.  Bingo!  Problem fixed, and at much faster speed as well. 

I hate technology sometimes.

Anyway, I have been getting around a bit to peoples sites, and hopefully will be able to get caught up over time -- you guys have been busy!  Things are looking different, better even, in my life, and I really miss the mental clarity that putting my thoughts down in this journal helps to create.  I also miss hearing from all my Xanga-buddies.  So I am making a promise to get back to blogging.  As of now.

See you all soon, dear readers.

The critters in this house aren't
the least bit spoiled...

Oh no, not at all.

This is what Ziggy does when there is nothing good on Animal Planet:

Kind of like the Mistress of the House -- who can often be found sleeping
in the rocking chair behind this ottoman when there is nothing good on TV.
Coincidentally both pieces of furniture are directly in front of the air conditioner.

And who said that this time of year
is the Dog Days of Summer???

New World?

Regarding the recent tragic events in London,  a town which I love dearly, where many friends reside, in one of the most civilized countries of the world, I find myself at a loss for words.  I just pray with all my heart that the human race wakes up soon before we annihilate ourselves and our only home planet.  My heart goes out to the victims and their families, and my hope goes out to the world leaders that peace may some day be achieved.

As usual, a song comes to mind, this one expresses my outrage and sadness much more eloquently than I ever could. I just heard an especially impassioned live verson of it on Saturday and it seemed perfect timing:

 

There's blood in the dust
Where the city's heart beats
The children play games
That they take from the streets
How can you teach when you've so much to learn
May you turn, may you turn, may you turn
May you turn
In your grave
New world.

There is hate in your eyes
I have seen it before
Planning destruction
Behind the locked door
Were you the coward who fired the last shot
May you rot, may you rot, may you rot
May you rot
In your grave
New world.

There is death in the air
With the lights growing dim
As those who survive
Sing a desperate hymn
Pray that God grants you one final request
May you rest, may you rest, may you rest
May you rest
In your grave
New world.

- D. Cousins (Strawbs) New World (Old School Songs)

The following entry is a reprint from 2003. I thought it was worth a second look.
My sentiments remain the same as they were two years ago.

    Fourth of July Greetings    

                  from The Heart                

   of The Garden State

I grew up in NJ in the late 60's and early 70's.

In addition to the celebration of the birth of our country, and all the "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" stuff that I am very aware of as an American and also from living so close to Philadelphia, the epicenter of the day's events, the Fourth of July also holds a very special and unique meaning to residents of this quirky little coastal state. It is considered the official beginning of the summer season "down the shore"...a season of sheer magic, where a short road trip can take you away...

A major part of New Jersey's economy was built around and still relies on tourism at our miles of beaches and shore resorts, which were once a major vacation destination for people of all levels of society from all over the world. The glories of towns like Atlantic City in its heyday are just distant memories in museums and old photos. The victorian splendor of most of the old seaside resorts has long been gone and nearly forgotten. Part of the charm of the shore lies in the tattered and faded glory of shore towns that are long past their prime and fallen on hard times. Some, like Asbury Park, are nearly ghost towns now. But a some of the spirit of the Jersey shore lives on. The honky-tonk carnival atmosphere of our seaside boardwalks is like nothing I have encountered at any other shore area I have visited in all my travels.

When I was growing up, the Jersey Shore was well into its decline, with distance travel being more accesible than ever, ocean pollution on the rise, increasing crime rates, and many other factors contributing to its loss of popularity as a vacation destination. A turnaround is happening now, with revitalization and rebuilding of a lot of the old towns, cleaner beaches as a result of stricter environmental controls, and the continued growth of Atlantic City as the Casino capital of the East.

But for many natives, there is still a special place in the heart for the Jersey Shore as it was in our youth, and still remains in a few places here and there -- a painted gypsy of a place, reeking of the mixed perfumes of suntan oil and creosote, Italian sausages with peppers and onions, pizza and seafood, salt air, mussel shells and sea weed washed up on the shore...illuminated by the gaudy glow of amusement rides and concession stands, with the twinkling of the stars above and the lights of boats way out on the ocean...resounding with the sounds of humanity at play, underscored by carousel calliope, tic-tick-ticking of the wheels of chance, 5 cents on a number of your choice to win a stuffed toy or a box of candy bars...bicycles and baby strollers tack-a-tack-a-tack on the boardwalk, a cacaphony of music spilling from bars and pizza stands, punctuated by the occasional whoosh! or ding! from an arcade, distant screams and shouts from the roller coasters, with the ocean waves and raucous laughter of gulls ever in the background...

If you listen carefully to some of Bruce Springsteen's music, especially the early songs, you can hear it, you can feel it, it will take you there.

I feel this song says it all...

4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK
(SANDY)

Sandy, the fireworks are hailin’ over Little Eden tonight
Forcin’ a light into all those stony faces
left stranded on this warm July
Down in town the circuit’s full
with switchblade lovers - so fast, so shiny, so sharp
And the wizards play down on Pinball Way
on the boardwalk way past dark
And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open
like Latin lovers on the shore
Chasin' all them silly New York virgins by the score

Sandy, the aurora is risin’ behind us, the pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh love me tonight, for I may never see you again, hey Sandy girl
Na na baby

Now the greasers, they tramp the streets or get busted
for sleeping on the beach all night
Them boys in their high heels
ah Sandy their skins are so white
And me I just got tired of hangin’ in them dusty arcades
bangin’ them pleasure machines
Chasin’ the factory girls underneath the boardwalk
where they all promise to unsnap their jeans
And you know that tilt-a-whirl down on the south beach drag
I got on it last night and my shirt got caught
And they kept me spinnin' baby, didn't think I'd ever get off

Oh Sandy, the aurora is risin' behind us
This pier lights our carnival life on the water
Runnin' laughin' 'neath the boardwalk with the boss's daughter
I remember Sandy girl
Na na na na baby

Sandy, that waitress I was seeing lost her desire for me 
I spoke with her last night,
she said she won't set herself on fire for me anymore 
She worked that joint under the boardwalk,
she was always the girl you saw 
boppin' down on the beach with the radio 
The kids say last night she was dressed like a star in one of them cheap little seaside bars,
and I saw her parked with Loverboy out on the Kokomo

Well the cops finally busted Madame Marie, for tellin’ fortunes better than they do
for me this boardwalk life's through
You ought to quit this scene too

Oh Sandy, the aurora's rising behind us
Oh the pier life it drags on and on forever
Oh love me tonight girl I promise I'll love you forever
Hey Sandy girl, na na na na baby
Oh Sandy girl, na na baby

*note: lyrics refer to versions of "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" performed by Bruce Springsteen in the early days...

Sometimes I am reminded why I first began avoiding people.

I have never been entirely comfortable with social situations, and led a virtually reclusive life for several years following the going-out-of-business of my shop, because I was quite burnt out on dealing with the human race in general. It has only been in the last year or so that I have truly begun to go out and about and interact with other people, mostly those I have met through discussions on music newsgroups on the Internet and through our common interests in music. For the most part, it has been a good thing, but...

Sometimes I think a lot of problems could be avoided if certain individuals were required to wear one of these when they went out:

Then people would know to stay out of their way
and maybe they would stay out of my face. 

And who the hell has been spraying me with drunken-asshole-attractant anyway???

still no "real" blog

(meaning, nothing I have written specifically for xanga)

...but I thought I would share something I posted yesterday on the message board of a music-related yahoo group I belong to:

Time, as many of you know, has no relevance in my world...I never can
predict if I will be just waking up at 8:30 am, or just going to sleep.

However, as a drummer (adifrentdrumr, granted, but still a person
called to the drum) time is very relevant. As a matter of fact, it is
paramount, it is the fundamental basis for everything in life. But
time, in this sense, is a natural occurrence. All things in existence
are governed by their relationship to spaces in time -- pulse, rhythm,
cycles, vibrations, they are all kin...from the distinctive rhythmic
vibrations of the sub-atomic particles of the various elements which
combine in infinite variety to make up literally everything in our
world, to the cyclic vibrations of electrical currents, the waveforms
of sound, to the cyclic rhythms of the changing seasons, moon phases,
and tides, to the essential beating of the human heart -- all things
move together in an endles, rhythmic, dance.

Day follows night, we breathe in and out, tides ebb and flow,
and the ceaseless tide of our blood flows from pole to pole
within our temporal selves...birth-growth-decline-death-decay...
the pulse, the beat, the rhythm that is time...
and the real magic that happens in between, in the yearning,
the anticipation, the constant moving toward the next beat.
Tick tick tick tick tick...

But time as mankind has measured it? That artificial construct of
minutes and hours, months and years? That is completely alien to me. I
must conform to some extent, because I do live in the world
of "civilization", but my body and my spirit pull me constantly to the
beat of nature, the purest language of time, which is best translated to
our limited human consciousness through the language of the drum...

-Joannie
(waxing philosophical on a friday afternoon)

Anyway, I miss all my friends here. I have been crazy-busy for the past couple of months, with many things going on at once. It has been a relatively good and very productive time, but when I have found the "down time" for the computer, I mostly have been relaxing by playing mindless computer games, with not enough mental acuity left for posting anything coherent on Xanga.

I will be around to check in with everyone soon, and hopefully back with a photo blog. Things are starting to look really nice around the house, after some major work in the gardens this spring. Most of last year's plantings survived the winter, but I had lots of weeding and stuff to do this spring, plus many more plants to fill in some of the beds. I am on year 3 of the major landscaping project, and probably about half-way to realizing my original vision for what goes where...then I just have to hope it all grows and keep it all maintained. Just not enough woman-hours to get everything done in less than 5-6 years total, doing this mostly by myself, and also not enough solvent cash in the budget (Bernie's share of the project) Ah well, good things come to those with the patience to wait.  It should be done, and filling in beautifully, just in time for Bernie's retirement -- when we plan to sell the house. Oh well, it is not like I didn't know this was the plan. And beside, it may add quite a bit to the resale value. And I am enjoying the process as much as I will enjoy the result. This is probably the last (only?) time in my life where I will attempt such a large landscaping project on my home, since after he retires we will be downsizing.  So at least I will be able to say I did it once.

Take care, everyone, and I will be around to see you soon!