October Ends in Pictures

Trail run

Sugar skulls, painfully acquired for my Day of the Dead party

 I have been cleaning out my grandmother's trunk, and the final step is to remove these HUGE nails!  Who did that, and WHY!?!  Someone trying to create a homemade iron maiden?  Well, they were easy to take out.

Window washing

 My new tenant is moving in tomorrow.  Oh, happy day!

 And the electricians have been putting the final touches on the major electrical upgrade I had done.

Upstairs tenants decorated for Halloween.

Replicolor, the photo developing company owned by our friends Scott and Charlene

Sara's entry in the Reflections art contest.  The reflected glare is NOT her creation.

 Some days I am too lazy to brew coffee.  I know this will gross some of you out, but I just poured some of yesterday's stale, cold coffee into my cup and reheated it in the microwave.

Ooooooh!  Paper Halloween witch on my desk!

For my lesson on furniture

 BidSync is the network that I use for applying for grants from Salt Lake County.

Lentil soup prepared by our student Maria Martinez

I will be teaching one of my groups the difference between day and night.  

 We have been very lucky this month to have free yoga classes at the school, thanks to our former volunteer tutor Lisa Stachitus.

 Sara was hanging out with friends, watching "Young Frankenstein".  I picked her up on my way home from work.

Junk in the Trunk

 It was cold today.  So much so that I cooked our supper on wood and was grateful for the warmth.

 UPDATE from my previous post!  One of my students at Guadalupe School, Berenice Cruz, called me from Tenochtitlan Market to tell me that she had found sugar skulls!  YIPPEE!  There were thirteen of them.  I asked her to buy them all.  It is a minor bummer that they are already decorated.  It's kind of minimal, don't you think?  I think further decor is a possibility.

 I'm glad that search is over.  I had tried unsuccessfully at Rancho Market earlier in the day.  No sugar skulls; but I felt compelled to take a picture of these roach-killers.

This evening, I sorted out my old trunk.  There are family things in there; but also assorted books and fans and hankies and hats that are old, and cool, but have nothing to do with my family.  They are just things that people picked up at auction sales.  My grandfather had a weakness for auctions.  I think that is where we acquired the "Encyclopedia of Methodism".  Not an heirloom.  But what do you do with an antique book, published in the 1870s after it has floated around your house for a while?  Here are some things I found, though.

My grandfather Plueddeman's music theory book

Pieces of very, very old, woven bedspread.  There are two of these.  i think I will frame them and hang them up next to my 1876 sampler.

 Did any of you ever read "Devil in the White City"?  If so, you will be interested in the keepsake picture book of the 1898 Columbian Exhibition, or Chicago World's Fair that I found, wrapped carefully in cardboard and tissue.  I would strongly recommend that book.  It is an engrossing work of non-fiction and an astounding read.

Obituary for my great-great grandfather

My great-grandmother's wedding dress, which she sewed herself.  i had to show it to Sara - incredible how tiny women were then.  No one is every going to fit into this dress again!  

"Little Sally Mandy's Christmas Present" was a third birthday present to my dad from his grandmother in 1934.

 My great-grandmother's cook book.  I turned it to the pages all about how to cook rabbit, just to horrify Sara.

 Two of my grandmother's dolls are in the trunk.  The kids call them "the creepy dolls".  In fact, Sara used to have bad dreams about them climbing out of the trunk and coming to get her.  This one really is kind of hideous, because of her zombie eyes.

 This one isn't so bad, though.

 My great-great grandfather's eyeglasses.

And, most interesting was this photo of my grandfather, in an envelope addressed to my grandmother in 1922.   I will tell you what the letter says.
Dear Madam,

I have taken notice during the past few years that you have consistently remained single in spite of the possession of wonderful charms and singular talents, as well as fair features and graceful poise, not to mention a softly modulated voice and a quiet savoir faire.  I have often gazed for hours, unknown perhaps to you, into those angelic eyes and have seen there a love light which I have longed to claim for my own., but until now I have lacked the courage to make my feelings known to you.

All that I ask in this letter is an opportunity to tell you in a personal interview how I think that I could make you, the dream of my life, happy.  I am sure that I am fully qualified by past experience and education to treat you kindly and respectfully, and if you desire I can give you references from a number of other girls whom I have courted.

Enclosed you will find my photograph, which I assure you does not do me justice.  However, you will notice that I am very handsome.  Notice the high forehead denoting intelligence, the heavy lips signifying generosity, and the prominent ears, a sign of willingness to listen to reason.  Notice also the kindly sympathetic expression in the eyes and now, the neatness of apparel and luxuriant growth of hair; and do not fail to observe that no hirsute adornment mars the beauty of my upper lip.

I hope that  you will have read this letter thus far, and in that case I have but one request left.  Will you please grant me an engagement at which I can further press my suit, or take me on trial for several years, and if you do not find me satisfactory, I will grant you alimony for the rest of your life.  

Chats on the Farmhouse Porch

Patrice is feeling better this week and has posted some new questions for "Chats on the Farmhouse Porch".Come join in and kick back for a bit - wrapped in a blanket, because it's getting COLD out there!

1.  Do you have any special plans for this week?

Yes, indeed!  First of all, I have my kids for 10 straight days, because their dad is abroad on business.  this is easier on the kids - they can unpack and stay awhile!  they have outgrown Halloween, which, some of my long-time readers may understand has left me a bit bereft.  So, we'll have a Day of the Dead party instead.  I'm making Chicken mole and Pork Posole (which rhyme, but that is not the reason I chose them) and something for dessert...I don't know yet.  We will play Loteria for cheesy prizes after supper.  I was thinking that it would be funny to put prizes in brown bags and let people pick when they win.  Then, after the first winner, subsequent winners could either choose a paper bag or they could steal the prize of someone else.  The prizes are fabulous!  Groucho Marx nose; Pink flamingo, etc...  Both adults and kids will be there, including Sara's boyfriend, Nick, whom I will be meeting for the first time.  hey have "liked" each other for over a year, but his parents are so strict that they would not allow him to come over and spend time with us.  There are a few folks in Utah who take local religious differences to an extreme - they have been considering whether to allow Nick to accept our invitation for two weeks.

the only thing ruining my fun is that I can't find Sugar Skulls.  I have checked four Mexican bakeries, all the Mexican supermarket chains and a catering company, to no avail.  If I had known they would be so difficult to find, I would have ordered a mold online weeks ago and made them myself.  now it's too late.  one of the volunteers that works here at Adult Education with me left me this voicemail on Friday:

"Kate!  Girlfriend, you are TRYING too hard!  My Mexican friends tell me that, out in this part of town (West Valley), you can get sugar skulls everywhere! Winco, Costco, Walmart..."

I called her back and told her that, if she could find me 15, I would reimburse her and give her a bunch of roasted chiles I have in my freezer.

I got another voicemail today.

"Hey!@  My Mexican neighbors are LOCO!"  Sure, they have sugar skulls at Walmart...in Mexico!"

I haven't given up quite yet, but I"m losing hope.

2.  What's the mos relaxing thing you do?

My hot bath every Friday night.  Candles, adult beverages, contemplative leg-shaving...

3.  Have you every worn a wig?

In high school, when I played Veta in "the Canterville Ghost".

4.  Do you have an office or special place for your computer?

At home, Chuck and I have our desks situated back-to-back in our bedroom.  The bedroom is ridiculously large.  If we had a kitchenette up there, we would never need to come out.  I have a second-hand oak roll-top in there.

5.  What is your favorite kind of socks?

Whatever works with the shoe du jour.  Like my kids, I no longer care if they match or not.  If the show covers my whole foot and no one will see (or sometimes, even when people WILL see), I may have a black one that says "Noel" on the ankle; and another that is turquoise.  It;'s great!  now, when I get a hole in a sock, I don't throw out the pair;  I just throw out the sock.

Back Ache

This was one of those "git 'er done" weekends.  Chuck and I are like bears.  Like muskrats.  We can sense the aging of the season and it makes us feel compelled to prepare and stock up.  The forecast tomorrow is for rain and the following day for snow.  I have an uneasy feeling that our Indian Summer is over.

Cook-stove wood needs to be cut to a length that can be easily and quickly shoved into the burner hole.  I like a lot of different widths, but nothing bigger around than my forearm.  Chuck set up the chop-saw on the driveway for me so I could cut limbs to the length I wanted, then haul them to their storage area under the deck.  This is about a third of what I have put up, but I need a bit more.

Firewood is piling up at a factory-like rate.  Chuck and I took down a friend's dead birch tree last weekend; and this weekend, he hauled away a bunch of dead aspens from another friend's vacant lot.  It all needs to be cut, split and stacked.  Annnnd.... we'll probably need to buy another cord.

 Chuck built me these boxes a few weeks ago, and I spent a lot of time this weekend leveling them.  This was the back-achy work.  The area where I want to put them is steeply sloped.  So, I had to clamber down into the dry creek-bed and haul rocks up here.  Some of them were heavy (what I call "two-hand rocks") and had to be positioned and re-positioned as I placed them and then examined the effect with a spirit-level.  Now, I just have to get some dirt in there and amend the soil and we will be all set for spring:  asparagus and rhubarb.  So worth the effort!

I took my creaky, achy self into the house at the end of the day, where my crock pot had been making a delicious Brazilian stew.  Nate surprised me with "Mom!  I need to make tortillas!  It's a school project!  Due tomorrow!"  Add more exclamation points if you like.  There were plenty.  [Deep sigh].  "OK, Nate.  Look up a recipe and hope that we have the ingredients we need, because I DO NOT want to run out to the store.  I'm pooped".  Luckily, this is an EASY recipe!  No big deal to make tortillas.  You can see by the pictures Nate took that we all joined in and experimented with patting and rolling them flat.

A bit blurry - Nate has a hard time holding the camera steady.  They were very yummy!  Our compliments to the chef.

And then, it was off to the hot-tub to soak my aching back.

Six Word Saturday

Wild party tonight.
Going as chimney-sweeps!