It was bound to happen

We had a relief mail person yesterday. Ilena. I know this because we had a long conversation. This was because she was afraid of the Sammy dog. He has this habit of running and chasing as if he is the kin of junkyard dogs. I think he pretends his former owner was bad, bad Leroy Brown. He barks as if his life depends on taking over the block.

This is only when he is outside and someone approaches the property or the black dog and old lady are wandering about. When the cop banged on the door and woke me up he never raised his head or moved. When he asks out it is the softest bark ever.

I told her he was fine, he only has 4 or 5 teeth. He wants you to rub his belly. She was not buying this and stayed far away from the beast. Then the little asshole growled at her. For all that is holy this dog is no threat. Why he would growl at her I don't know he and Oscar get along great. Oscar is the regular mail man, I know this because Ilena told me his name.

She also told me I should be very careful letting Sammy out because of the huge hawk population in the Pointes. I mean really if someone is going to see hawks eating and grabbing up small animals and flying off with them, who better than the mail person who walks the routes everyday? Was she being kind or getting back at The Terror?

I remember watching that eagle tear up that squirrel in the front yard, it was not pretty. And that bird was huge in comparison to the hawks I see around here. I wonder what the ratio of bird to prey weight factor is. I am not a math person but there has to be a general spec on this.

Cleaning up my thoughts

This is Big Daddy's favorite clock in the world, it is at his mom's house. It is very old and has a lot of wooden gears and mechanisms. It has been in the family forever. It was in the original farmhouse and he thinks his great grandfather acquired it but he does not know the story. BD remembers as a boy there were about 15 clocks and that every day he would help his grandpa wind them up.

Goodness I just looked at that title and cracked up. I meant to say finishing up with any stray thoughts, but I will leave the title because it made me laugh.

These are just a few of the antique books, I think this might explain Punkin Head's interest in Library Science. I still have a few books here he borrowed and they are still in my little book case.

Watched Liz&Dick on a repeat showing Monday night. I went to bed halfway through the movie. I feel sorry for "Lilo" as they call her. Who the hell thinks they can portray Elizabeth Taylor so soon after her death. Especially if you have no bosom.

So I have run out of things to say today. Except Pearl left a comment yesterday about DVD's at pawn shops. I asked Big Daddy if he thought that was true and he said it could be, they are worth a lot more here than in China. I may have to check out our local pawn shop which I believe is on the TV as a smarmy show. I went into the local pawn shop in China, it was not far from my apartment. They had very small items  very carefully displayed, kinda like a tacky Saks if you can picture it. The prices were quite high but I thought that could reflect not seeing gold and diamonds in China very often. I never asked to see anything as I had no interest in purchasing so I don't know what they would have taken versus the asking price. Thanks Pearl, a new adventure The Pawn Shop.

Entertainment Reviews

Some recent movies, books and television shows demand my reviews. That is sad as I am not known as a great reviewer. More of a voracious consumer of these items. The tackier the better it seems.

The Girl, HBO movie with a bunch of nobody actors. Sienna Miller is the star and I have barely heard of her. She is playing Tippi Hedren in 2 Alfred Hitchcock movies,  The Birds and Marnie. The whole movie was creepy and she was no Tippi Hedren. And then there is the ick factor that once again someone waited for the other person to die to tell their story. And she always looked like her hair was fake and the big thing in the movie was natural blonds for Hitchcocks's obsession. Bad Hair was the star.

Treme season finale, it is getting better and worse. The next season is the last so we will see how it rises to the occasion or ends up in the trash bins of hell. LaDonna who owns Gigi's deserves her own damn show. But sometimes Gigi seems to have nasty nails like she forgot her manicure appointment. I was there after the storm and manicures were important.

Survivor Philippines is the best reality show I have seen in years. Lisa Welchel from the Facts of Life is on and so far very few people recognize her. This season there are actually some players and it is fun watching. This show improved about 1000 percent. It does make me wonder though why some people have dirty fingernails and some don't. I mean you can go down to the sand and surf and scrub your hands and feet so what is the problem with the grubby people?

The Price Of Politics by Bob Woodward, God knows I tried to slog through this book. I have liked Bob in the past and this one just killed me. It was like reading the paper and reading the book and reading the paper and reading the book. Someone stop this merry-go-round. Quit halfway.

Mad River by John Sandford, a Virgil Flowers novel that was phoned in. I hate that. And I usually love John and Virgil.

Boardwalk Empire, the last show is the best ever. On the edge of my seat. Why in the world would I root for a gangster and sniper? Because they are the nicest of the whole cast. And I loved it when Nucky's hair looked greasy when he was on the run.

Netflix, Country Strong with Gywneth, this was the worst movie in recent times.

666 Park Avenue, I am sorry this has not been renewed because I love a little paranormal but this chick needs a toner on that hair now. Yellow hair is not good even if you are scared out of your skin. But I did love at the end when she got out of the hospital and went home and tried to open something she had really nasty nails. You just can't get a decent manicure in the hospital if you are nobody.

Next up reading is Low Pressure by Sandra Brown, still have not seen Liz&Dick on Lifetime and I have a list for Amazon.

Once upon a time

The bitter end. The remains of the stump.

There once was a tree in front of the farm house, the tree was 75 feet tall, more than 20 years before it fell down. The measurement was calculated by the angle of the sun versus the length of the shadow, Big Daddy says it was trig thing that he used. This was confirmed by the cousin who climbed as high as he could with a rope in hand.  BD says the circumference of the trunk was 9 feet. Actually there were 2 trees but the first one died by a lightening strike. The second had the same fate, lightening struck again. Anyhoo there was a huge stump left and my MIL always talked about getting rid of it but she never did anything about it.

Then one day this summer there was a terrible storm and lightening struck again, this time at the old farmhouse barns.

The barns were used for cows, originally a dairy farm and then pigs were added. The barns were quite sturdy with the floors laid like bowling alleys-maple floors laid 2inches up for strenght. All of the beams were held together with wooden pegs. The foundation was boulders and the silo was probably limestone slabs.

The two big barns were ignited by the lightening and burned down. It is amazing nothing else burned. An ember from this fire flew to the stump in front of BD's  family home, 300 yards away approx. and burned out the old pine stump. The fire department said the smoke was so thick they could hardly check the property. Thank goodness MIL was at the lake and did not have to evacuate and witness this.

The original family home, above, and the small tutor's house next door were unscathed. There is a large structure behind the old house that was the wood shed, it is original wood and in my mind scary old and dry wood and it survived. Amazing. The family no longer owns the original house above, nor the tutor's house or the barns so I was kind of trespassing to get the pictures.

BD saved all the pictures he could from the video fiasco and I hope he enjoyed seeing the pics. None of the family members wanted to see the devastation so I went with my wacko BIL. My MIL suggested we take the shortcut thru the bush but I told her I was a pavement kind of gal. And of course I had open toe heels and on the way back I got sand in my shoes. WTF. That is me though, I also moved households in heels-I am not a hiking shoe kinda gal. Dress for looking good and then wade through the scrub. Punkin Head used to get mad at me for wearing "prancers" and then complaining my feet hurt on vacation.

Snowdust

The last leaves in the backyard from the Maple tree. This tree is always the last one in the neighborhood to drop the leaves. I am so glad Big Daddy mulched them all up yesterday afternoon because . . . .

Last night we got our first dusting of snow. And wet leaves are no fun.

Sammy had to decide which he hated worse, the cold crispy grass or the snow. The grass is his new favorite. We got the shovels out, the broom and pooper scooper, the snowblower and the big lighted wreath on the front porch. Guess we are ready on the outside now we have to work on the inside. Sanding blocks are needed.

Spatchcocking

Camper for a family of 6

This camper has sat in the back of the in-laws yard for years. It is used for storage. I have told my MIL for years to sell it, people pay good money for these and renovate them. She said every once in a while someone stops and wants to take it off her hands for free. Hah, I say, there was a show on TV about clubs for people with these campers.

Every year we have our own Thanksgiving dinner, Big Daddy has to cook his own turkey to be happy and that is happening today. He is cooking a butterflied turkey which he tells me is spatchcocked turkey. I think he is planning on grilling outdoors; I am not sure if he will do that as it is supposed to snow today. There were flurries yesterday afternoon.  I think we missed our opportunity for a fire in the chiminea with all the leaves it is too dangerous.

Today is garbage day and then the last cleaning of the eaves troughs as all the leaves are off the maple tree. Then we can finish the sanding of the plaster and prepare to paint. Hooray.

I had some great pictures for a tale of woe but instead of taking pictures I took video. If I can't fix it I will be sad.

The old homestead

Big Daddy grew up on a farm and his mom still lives there. It is a Centennial Farm, the same family has owned and lived there for over 100 years. BD thinks that his family home was originally the caretakers house.

This is the land across the street my MIL rents out, it is planted with corn and this time of year at dusk she watches the deer from her living room.

There are many antiques and signs of the past on the property. I have more pictures to share with their stories at a later time.

My tomato pie was a big hit as was BD's sausage nut stuffing. Punkin Head made herbed biscuits and The Fiancee did a fantastic job with roasted vegetables. And of course pecan pie. I need to learn how to make pretty pie crust.

There was a huge sale at Brooks Brothers this morning but only for 2 hours. BD bounded out of the house at 9:30 only to be stymied when he reached Fisher Road. There was also a Christmas Parade at about the same time. When he called to bitch I said "get pictures".

This is it, he said he wasn't waiting for Santa, he had shirts to purchase.