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 A Journal to impart knowledge and facts |
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July 22, 2015 I'm going to start today to record on a daily basis whatever happens to strike my fancy. So, it is a very cool breezy day. I just posted 5 short book reviews to The Monthly Reading Challenge. I'm suppose to put away some winter wood today from the woodpile outside but I'm playing hookey from work to write so starting this blog will get done. I'm having a daily fight with a flock of English Sparrows that are trying to take over my barn. They are making a terrible mess so they have to go. I have destroyed several nests so far they don't leave but they get out of the barn when I am around. I'm just starting the fight so I guess I don't know how far I have to go to discourage them. I'm trying not to spread myself to thin on WDC because I find so many things that are interesting here and I am trying to work on a new story. I really enjoy sitting at my desk with a cup of tea and reading blogs on WDC. |
How did you enjoy this month's challenges? Would you like to see this format repeated in future "Unofficial" months? Do you have any suggestions for themes? What else did you do during October? What are your plans for November?  This month's challenges were a challenge. The format worked for me for me because the 5 day themes were related and I could research and work on things some, in my mind before I wrote anything. During October I was participating in Nano Prep and continued to meet my goals for The Monthly Reading Challenge as well. These events plus figuring out how many words a day I am capable of writing and keeping up with pet care and household duties gave me more more more than enough activities per day. Because of all the time involved in writing I did not sign up for Nanowrimo. However, I am going to be writing a story during November that I have wanted to work on for some years and Nano Prep helped me figure out how to organize the work so it will actually flow along. I also intend to continue with goals in The Monthly Reading Challenge and The 30-Day Blogging Challenge and I intend to survive the month of November. OK somebody better volunteer to cook the turkey cause I might not be able to do it.  |
| Day 5 - Haunted Halloween - Almost everyone loves a haunted tale. Write about a haunted place, could be fact or fiction. A strange quickly written fiction story for the 30-Day Blogging challenge (You asked; I Wrote ) It was a sad time when Grammy died. She was a real fixture Then, the family did not want to clean out the place. They all had homes of their own. It did not seem feasible to move any of her old stuff into their neat modern living spaces. No one wanted to move into the old place. It was a nice enough house. The house had 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, a living area, as well as, a bathroom with a nice shower. So, it was an adequate roomy place to live. Grammy lived there alone. The property was situated on a country blacktop. It rested on a little knoll set back from the road behind some pine trees. The green pine limbs grew close to the ground and the trees were older so they had grown up high. They shielded the house from the road quite well. The driveway ran along side the trees and ended in a parking area. The whole family was called over to the house to discuss what they should do. We cooked burgers and hot-dogs on the old grill outside and gossiped about Grammy and her odd ways. In the end no one wanted to sell or clean up the place. So, they cleaned up the picnic and went home with out any decisions made. After all, everyone had jobs and school, and things to do. Mom and I drove over to Grammy’s house one day a couple of weeks after the funeral. Mom wanted to pick up a bowl to use as a container for the church picnic. She was going to make her special salad that everyone raved about. While Mom rummaged through the cupboard looking for the special bowl she wanted. I wandered around outside. There was bird feeder outside that was still filled with what looked like fresh bird seed and the birds were happily flying in and out taking away seed. I thought that was kind of odd, since no one had been to the place in at least a couple of weeks. Another thing I noticed was the shed door was partly open with the padlock hanging open on the hasp. Someone had surely been here, because the back yard lawn was mowed. As I prowled around there were other small items that were lining up in my mind. For instance, the garden looked like the weeds were being kept under control. And, the rose bushes were freshly watered. When I went back into the house I checked with Mom. She went out the back door, to the shed and looked inside. After a few minutes of poking around in the shed, she walked out and re-locked the padlock. She rolled up the watering hose on it’s hanger and pulled a couple of onions out of the garden to take home with us. “Maybe Uncle Jim was here today, I’ll call Mary and ask,” she said. So, we went home. At dinner Mom told Dad, “I called Mary to see if Jim was out to Grammy’s place watering plants and mowing? But, she said No. She was out there a few days ago to pick up a quilt and the kids went to play in the pines out front of the house. Joe, her youngest, came running in and said Grammy was out in the pines taking a walk. Grammy asked him to walk with her but, Joe said he had to ask his mom and when Mary went out, there was no one in sight.” “Tomorrow is Saturday,” said Dad, “I’ll get Jim and we will go out to do some target shooting in the back field. We will look around while we are out there and I’ll take a new padlock for the shed and check the lawn mower.” When Dad came home he told us no one had been around that he could see and the place had the look and feel of being deserted. And, he replaced the old padlock with a new one. A few weeks went by, it was now September. Every time someone in the family visited Grammy’s place they saw the same happenings. A loose padlock on the shed. Sometimes, the lawn tractor was half in and half out. Sometimes, it was put away, wiped down, all shiny. The garden stayed weeded, only the back yard was mowed and the rose bushes thrived on regular watering. One of the neighbors lived across the blacktopped road. Another lived 150 feet to the west. A third lived 500 feet to the East and still others lived further down and up the narrow country road. My parents interviewed all of them, some in person and some on the phone. No one acknowledged knowing anything about the events. Many, vowed to keep an eye out and call if they found any information about the happenings on Grammy’s property. One day John Burkbum called in the late afternoon. He told my mom that his son,Seth was walking their dog down the road during the afternoon. Seth had stopped at Grammy’s mail box to talk to the old woman who was cutting weeds around the mailbox post. Seth’s, dog had put up a terrible fuss. Growling, barking and bucking at the leash so excitedly Seth could hardly hold on to him. The old woman had asked Seth if he would like to go for a walk to see the roses out back of the house but Seth had quickly declined because the dog was all ready pulling him back toward his own home. When John asked Seth what the woman looked like Seth thought really hard. But, he could not seem to remember anything about her; not the color of her hair, not the color of her clothing or even whether she had on a dress or jeans. John apologized to Mom on the phone because he told her Seth was not usually so dang unobservant. Dad drove out to look around and the newest padlock, an expensive 7 pin lock was hanging open on the shed door. The pruning shears were laying on the lawn mower seat. No one was around and the house was still locked. So he came home. Then the absolutely last straw! Dad went to a meeting at the Fire Hall one evening. It was October 31. The light was gone for the day leaving a cold, black evening with possible rain before the night was finished. When the Phone rang it was John Burkbum. Mr. Burkbum was very upset he was talking so loud on the phone that I could hear what he said to Mom when I was standing 10 feet across the room. He said, “There is a radio playing at your mothers house. It is blaring so loudly you can hear it all over the place. And, the lights are on up there. The outside pole light that your mother all ways had to turn on from inside the house and the kitchen lights too. I went up and knocked loud a lot, on the door but know one came to answer it.” “OK, John, I’ll come out and see what is going on.” “Sue, get your coat we are going to ride out to your Grammy’s house. You can put a leash on the dog and bring her with us.” So, our doberman, Mom and I piled into the Jeep and rode out to Grammy’s house. When we got there. Everything was noisy, like the neighbor said, only the kitchen door was standing open and the lawn mower was parked by the driveway. Mom had to drive carefully around it to park near the house. Before we even got out of the car our dog, Zelda was growling and all the hair on her body was standing on end. I could hear thunder from an encroaching storm moving toward us. We left Zelda in the car and walked hurriedly to the kitchen door. Mom went in first and I slunk in behind her. Mom gasped and put her trembling hand to her mouth. I had made it clear into the kitchen behind her. Peering around her to see what she was staring at, I couldn’t help it, I let out a screech. Mom, quickly turned and clamped her hand over my mouth. “Shut up,” she said in a squeaky voice. There was a long blood covered knife laying on the floor and blood was spattered all over the walls and ceiling. But, the table was sitting in the center of the kitchen in a clean spot. Although the blood seemed to cover everything the table was totally clean. Not only was it clean. It was set with 3 clean place settings. Mom pushed me out the door backwards. I almost lost my balance trying to get back to the car in a hurry. Mom was talking on her cellphone to Dad, He told her to get in the car quick, lock the doors and drive down to John Burkbum's house. Dad called the police. Dad and the police arrived together. They went straight to the house. Dad noticed the lawnmower was back in the shed. Dad locked the padlock on the shed. The lock was hanging open. When they walked up to the kitchen door it was locked. Dad had to unlock the door for them and turn on the light switch. There was no blood anywhere. The dishes were put away; the table was bare; the radio was off. Dad and the police walked through the house. Everything was in its place; all neat and tidy. The police and Dad were muttering, shaking their heads, and talking about the situation as they walked toward the Kitchen door. Dad noticed a piece of paper under the leg of a kitchen table. He picked it up and read it, then handed it to the police officers. It said:  Happy Halloween!!!!    apondia#1781748 apondia#1781748 apondia#1781748 |
| Halloween Menu - You have decided to host a Halloween Party. What will your house look like, describe the costume are you wearing, what creepy foods will you serve? Share a recipe or two. I would definitely invite my black  She likes to hiss and spit at things. I live in an A-Frame so I could put black gauze across the walls and witches hats across the ceiling. I would paint faces on pumpkins, and use kerosene lanterns for lighting. I would invite the parrots of course and hang signs on their cages, "Do not feed fingers to these birds."The parrots would be excited to see the activities. I would come as The Last Apprentice. (Tom Ward) Dressed in a cape, clergies collar, staff, and journal. Entertainment: hunting for treats in the front yard, bobbing for apples on the porch, and movies. recipes: 1. apple pie: 8 to 10 cups of peeled sliced apples/ roll out pie crust in 9 inch pie pan/ fork holes around the edges so bottom crust does not shrink/ fill with apples/ put smidgens of butter around the inside of the pie crust on the apples/ cover apples evenly with 1/4 cup of sugar mixed with cinnamon to taste/ place top crust across pie/ pinch edges of top and bottom crust together/ bake at 350 degrees for 30 min. or until apples are cooked and crust is golden. 2.Pumpkin Pancakes: Mix together dry ingredients: 2 cups flour/ 2 TBS packed brown sugar/ 1 tsp each baking powder; salt; cinnamon/ 1/4tsp each nutmeg; ginger/ 1/2cup milk/ 1 and 1/2 cups milk/ 2TBS oil/ cook in a sizzling hot pancake pan/ serve with powdered sugar or syrup. My foods are not creepy just yummy!! Happy Halloween.   *bat*apondia#1781748 |
| Day 3 - Halloween Memories - What is your favorite memory of Halloween when you were young?{/c Maybe fairies appear with the Great Pumpkin and fly around making music! I don't have a lot of halloween memories. Since we did not do a lot of Halloween celebrating. I remember making halloween costumes for my children for school parties. That was a good time for them. Today it is interesting to see some of the decorations in yards. I don't get out much so I don't really see very many of them either. Truly, it is a larger celebration today than it was when I grew up or even when my children grew up. 4-H was more fun.  apondia#1781748 apondia#1781748 |
| Day 2 Halloween Controversy - Many Christian Churches discourage their congregations to boycott Halloween Celebrations. What is your opinion, is Halloween pure evil? Definition of evil by "Funk & Wagnalls " standard international edition dictionary: Morally bad; contrary to divine or righteous law; wrong or wicked; sinful or depraved. Actually the full definition is 2 full inches long and the font is about a 6. But the small amount I gave you gives you an idea of what the dictionary declares. Did you mean encourage or discourage. If they are discouraging the congregation not to boycott, they are probably trying to stop controversy from causing a local disruption. There was another shooting in Erie last night. They are averaging one a day now. And, Halloween is not here yet. If they are encouraging the congregation to boycott, they are probably standing up against the propagation of evil. Halloween as enjoyment depends on the individual. Are you dressing up for fun or evil. Do you give out tricks. Not everyone likes a bad joke or to be meanly tricked. Now, we are into individual human rights. "Do unto others as you want them to do to you." And, think twice, because in the USA, people are starting to do things back to people on purpose. The USA is presently in a state of realizing, this is not a christian country. (Really it does have christian values or we would not educate our people or take in refuges) Real Christians are being discouraged from voicing any opinions that will bring hot controversy anywhere. I once spoke out about a christian camp that was encouraging the use of magic to children. Not because of the entertainment value but because they were introducing slight of hand and lying to children who should have been learning the value of truth. If you get into this to deeply you will find the controversy of who is Jesus really?, That is a huge world wide controversy and yes it does involve Muslims and what they believe as well as Christians. (Real Church History can open the eyes of any one who believes anything.) Hence, the New Testament scriptures about not getting involved in arguments over scripture. Well I'm finished you have been subjected to  Have a happy Halloween, don't eat to many sweets. apondia#1781748 |
| What does Halloween Night look like in your area? Since we are rural and their are not any very young children near we don't get any trick or treat children. When you drive down the roads there are some homes that decorate. We see pumpkin with faces, spiders, webs, sometimes lighted spectacles or witches in yards, Many years ago the local towns went to advertising the time and day for trick or treat. I don't keep track of which days or evenings that happens in any individual town. Our township has a party for the children at the fire hall which is located near the center of the township. There are parties and contests for children within the school system. I never took my children trick or treating. But I bought them bags of candy and let them split it. They were growing up at a time when people were finding evil things in the candy children were given, such as razor blades, moldy food, etc. It seemed prudent at the time to let the school parties be the thing and drop the subject. When I was a child in this area. We dressed up for school parties and that was the end of Halloween. I remember one year a neighbor on another road who had many young children asked my dad and step mom to come over so all the children available could go out trick or treating together. The parents had a get together and the kids walked miles to collect what they could. It was mostly apples but one or two people had gone shopping and threw out a couple bags of candy which we took back to the adult location and it was split between the group of about 10 children. Since merchandising became involved Halloween has grown a bit. Family TV shows make a big deal of it and the stores put out lots of items for dress up and decorating. My favorite has to be Charlie Brown's effort to establish The Great Pumpkin. I have to say I never really understood Halloween until I learned about the South American holiday of The Day of the Dead. I don't like horror books or movies they give me nightmares. So I'm a real spoil sport about this holiday. apondia#1781748 |
| Are you tired of the same old cliches? Me too! Write a whole bunch of new ones for your "Sunday News Blog" Cliche bomb everybody's comments section. Have some fun. I'll be checking in, and Merit Badging the best new cliche and the most new cliches. Don't forget to write. Cliche' was originally a word used by the french to describe a sound produced when printing type! It was a stereotype. Do you know how the sound originated? While I was writing this blog I lost track of  time. Don't get your knickers in a twist, if it doesn't turn out well.If you don't appreciate the way it turns out, can it. I may be as old as the hills, and this blog sometimes lasted an eternity but, I'm having the time of my life. If you think I'm spending all day on this the jokes on you. apondia#1781748 |
You've been given a free trip to a remote resort. It's five star all the way, the only catch is... It's completely technology free. You have turn in all of your devises, there is no internet or satellite signal. Not even a pay phone. You're there for a week - Is a week of bliss or a week of hell? Does my guitar count as a device. It is totally techno free. Just fingers and strings. I would definitely take it and catch up on my playing. I cannot find the time around here. If its remote does it have a ghost. One of the places we stayed in virtual Yellowstone had a ghost.  I've never been to a five Starr resort so I don't know what that would be like. Someone help me out and tell me about 5 Starr resorts. Seems like a resort should have a peaceful place to read and I can still read newspapers, books, magazines and others without my kindles. Maybe there would be a pool to swim in. Oh, I see it is in a remote spot, so should have some places to walk or hike. May I take my dog, he likes long walks and hikes as well. How about bike trails. I have a nice mountain bike that needs some exercise. And, is there any souvenir shops near. Does a credit card to buy souvenirs count as technology cause if it does I need cash right? Technology is just a way to speed up ordinary life.It is raining here today. The weather is up and down. We just followed that snow storm with several days of 60 degree weather. There was a really heavy frost so a lot of the green leaves from early in the week are now turning colors. 1/4 of the trees have all ready shed their leaves and so scuffing through them on walks, gives off the most amusing scrunching sound. Even the dog was making leaves crackle today on our walk. Have a good evening. Be peaceful. |
| Day Five: We're coming to a short end now. Since it's Funny Friday, it must be fish or pasta. Close, but no bananas. It seems someone made off with them. However, there is a sale on banana daiquiris at The Blogging Banana Bar . Let's hear your opinion of one of the funniest things we have to put up with in life: advertising! Is it worth it? Can you believe it? Does it even matter any more because we are flooded with it? Can you even recall the product from an ad that you liked? How do you advertise yourself and your writing? *Smirk* 1. I don't advertise myself or my writing. I did, after I graduated from College, show my writing and photography portfolio in my resume' but I have not done that for a long time. 2. I was in the Panama Canal zone for awhile in 1963. The radio advertising was completely different than anything you would see or hear in the USA. At that time, an announcer would come onto the radio station after a song or program and say, "Buy Heinz Ketchup, it's good" interestingly it was in English not Spanish. All product advertisement was simple and similar. Sometimes I think the advertisement on TV now is a write off, because they advertise cars that are so far from my pocket book I wonder how many people are actually able to buy one. For what a new car costs you good buy a house and ride you bike to the store.  They also advertise a lot of drugs, that you are expected to go ask your Doctor to prescribe. Most of the side effects are so desperate you might be better off fighting the disease off with toothpaste, which is not suppose to be swallowed because it can kill you. So, at tax time they are probably writing off those dollars as a loss.The big thing right now is female Viagra. I'm not even going to go there.  On the other hand I took a class in TV electronics in which we designed and produced our own advertisements. It was interesting to set up the camera shots and arrange the settings. Don't forget the Superbowl commercials some of them are cute and fun to watch. apondia#1781748 apondia#1781748 |
Yesterday's prompt lied. Money isn't evil - politics are evil! Tell us how do you escape the political situations and what you think about political correctness, politicians, government, office/school/church/neighborhood politics and how you can escape them - if you do. I really think a better word than escape is ignore. When it comes onto the evening TV news I use the time to get my evening snack. I will vote. End of story. There is a new grey  in my yard. I wonder where he came from so late in the year? |
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