Super Bowl Cooler

Whether supporting the Green Bay Packers or the Pittsburgh Steelers or enjoying the thought of a gathering of friends, the soda needs a place to chill.  Sure, one could dig out the coolers from the summer storage- by all means!  Let us, however, not forget what many of us already have in our homes: the top-loading washing machine.  Decorate, fill with ice and drinks, and have a ball.  When the party is over, the drinks all gone, let the ice melt and put it on the spin cycle.  If one's team wins, this is just one more victory; otherwise, at least it is one less chore to heap on one's upset.

What are some of your tricks for entertaining?

Homemade Rice Heating Pack

With a age and congenital defects come aches and pains and wounds.  Mr. Yeater has had to take it easy the last couple of weeks because of these- meaning a lot of couch time.  This, for anyone who has not spent a  good deal of forced time doing so, can become a little painful for the back and neck.  Poor, Mr. Yeater!  A few days ago, he was in particular discomfort and our heating pad was nowhere to be found.  It would not have done much if we had.

In a flash of brilliance, I recalled our inventory of rice.  I keep a relatively large store of grains in my pantry.  I ran to our linen cupboard and grabbed

Cutey Pants

Last Thursday evening, I received a note from Miss N.K. announcing a shopping trip to our local Goodwill store for the following day.  And I finally

Ode to Popcorn

O crunchy, yellow-white mouthful
Of kerneled puffs bountiful,
With your Graciousness my taste buds dance,
Your mildness is so wonderful.

Ten Excuses

Ten Excuses for Not Updating... or anything else

1)  I was "trapped in an oil painting"
2)  A giant pile of laundry grew legs and trapped me in a week long battle for

Living Internationally

This is a little off of the beaten path, but I love to look at real estate listings.  I cannot afford anything, anywhere, ever, but I can dream... and laugh.  I was doing just that today, and I found the perfect place.

A Few of My Favorite Books

Our days are busy, hither and thither, and filled with problems that require solution.  We have our studies and general reading of nutritional facts and material for the edification of self and mind.  Sometimes, I need a little fluff.  A little escapism.  I do not mean to entirely shut off one's brain and watch the Television, but to pick up a favorite book by a favorite author and drift into another world.  Is there anything more exquisite than the feel of soft, paper pages that whisper thp, thp, thp?  The sweet aroma of each leaf?

My favorite Escapist Reads are written by an English woman born at the turn of the last century.  She wrote in abundance and is credited with being the Mother of the Regency-England Romance.  Whereas Jane Austen wrote contemporaneously, this author wrote with the knowledge of extensive research.  Her novels are clean, witty, intriguing and humorous.  I have often found myself giggling with delight and girlish glee.  She is Georgette Heyer.  Georgette Heyer wrote Historical (romantic and otherwise), Mystery, and Contemporary novels.  These are all wonderfully written, but, again and again, I reach for the historical romance.

Yes, I love romance.  For all of my pragmatism and objectivity, I am a whimsical romantic at heart.  Of her many, many novels, these are my most favored:

(A Civil Contract)  My all time favorite.  I could read this over and over- and I have.  It is not a tale of passionate infatuation, but that of a more quiet, peaceful, enduring love.  The hero must marry a wealthy heiress of a merchant to save his family's land though he loves another.  The heroine is the daughter of a wealthy tradesman and is not beautiful, but wants to make his life as comfortable as possible, if not happy.

(Friday's Child)  Definitely the sweetest.  I am thrown into fits of hilarity and giddiness by the dialogue and situations.  Our young hero gets married in a fit of pique to a young woman barely out of the schoolroom, believing that his life will not be altered and he may continue as usual.  Our young heroine is innocent of the ways of society and how to go on.  She falls into many social scrapes, a constant source of  discomfiture to her husband.

          

     (Beauvallet)         (These Old Shades)       (Devil's Cub)

Beauvallet is filled with adventure, passion, and intrigue.  Set in the 1500's, an English Privateer (legalized pirate) and a young Spanish lady fall in love.  He promises to come for her, but the way in and out is fraught with peril.

These Old Shades and Devil's Cub are part of a trilogy; these are set in Georgian Europe.  In These Old Shades, one of Georgette Heyer's first characters from The Black Moth receives a reprisal as the "hero" who discovers a fiery-tempered young woman cross-dressing as a youth in France who resembles an enemy of his and takes her under his terrifying wing.  Devil's Cub is the story of their son who mistakenly absconds with the wrong woman.  This woman sought to save her sister's reputation by pretending to be her in meeting the intended at a midnight rendezvous.

These books carry me away to warm, fuzzy, exciting places filled with period cant, witty dialogue, hilarious situation, and believable characters.  I have laughed.  I have cried.  I have cheered.  I have jeered.  I hope you will have a look at these, and perhaps you will find others of her books that you love.  Many public libraries will have at least one of her novels if not more.  Otherwise, inexpensive ones can be found on EBay and Amazon.

What are your favorite recreational reads?

Powder Your Face With Sunshine

Ordinarily, I would write about Laundry today, but I felt that today is one of Those Days.  I have been battling this Cold for weeks and some of its forces have finally breeched the walls of my Citadel. Thank you, affectionate, plague carrying individuals!  And I am in much need of some easy, smile-worthiness.  We all need a little Sunshine once in a while.  Therefore, I have found one of my favorite songs to share with all of you.  Remember, "blue never was ever in style."

This makes me smile.  What about?  What makes you feel better?

This is "Powder Your Face With Sunshine", the 1948 hit, sung by Evelyn Knight.

This Common Plague

The days are shorter, growing cold with the arctic wind.  Schools, workplaces, places of worship become emptier of people.  They disappear without warning for days- weeks at a time- and return harried and exhausted.  Families drop from sight like flies into a vinegar bowl.  Others walk about in a daze, emitting strange and frightening sounds.  Rasping, gasping, barking reptilian dogs.  Once resonating voices are muffled and nasal.    What has happened?  Is this some science fiction surreality become reality?  Every year it happens this way.  It sweeps across the populace, attacking young and old, great and small.  Months of misery brought on by the cold and clouds only to retreat from the healing rays of warmth in the late spring.

Our parents, school teachers, newscasters, and health officials have taught us how we can avoid catching and spreading this scourge.  Regular, vigorous hand washing (with liquid antibacterial soap because germs love bar soap), use of a tissue to catch mucous (both dripping and projected), sneeze and/or cough into the elbow or shoulder if a tissue is not available, designate a personal drinking glass (this is one time not to share), open windows for fresh air when weather permits, beware contact with one's own face by one's hands, use paper towels in the kitchen rather than cloth, and avoiding the known infected and/or those most susceptible to catching one's own disease.  Yet, this epidemic continues to return with its insurgency, weakening most and claiming the mortality of others.  Few are left unmolested.

If one is ill, or even suspects oneself of malady or are regularly in contact with one(s) afflicted, I entreat these to act with discretion and restraint.  This year, let us attempt clean practices. 'Fight the fine fight' of health that we might stave off this terrible sickness from ourselves and our loved ones.


Copyright November 2010

Input

Is there anything you would like to see here?  I will not pretend that I am a seasoned expert (I would fast be found out), so I need your input, your ideas.  Please be honest, but kind.  Let me know in a comment or an e-mail.  My apologies for such a brief post.  Tomorrow should bring an inexpensive, non-toxic cleaning method.  Stay tuned!

How to Build a Happy Home

Excerpt from Godey's Lady's Book, July 1855:                                                                                        
               
Six things are requisite.  Integrity must be the architect, tidiness the upholsterer.  It must be warmed by affection, lighted up with cheerfulness; and industry must be the ventilator, renewing the atmosphere, and bringing in fresh salubrity day by day; while over all, as a protecting canopy and glory, nothing will suffice except the blessing of God.