Potato Omen

Are potatoes a bad omen?

Saturday afternoon, a mysterious bag of potatoes was found in the vestibule. There was no note and no other mail.  Just a bag five pound red mesh bag full for fingerling potatoes.  Immediately I checked my phone to see if I had missed messages.  Nothing.

The question remains, what does a bag of potatoes mean?  I don’t think it is quite like horse heads on doorsteps, but somehow I don’t think it is like a cat leaving you dead animals as presents. 

My husband is convinced that when life gives you potatoes, you make soup out of them.  He is also convinced that this sounds like something my family would do.  I have no proof that this potato gifter was from the family, or a random hit.

Then it had me wondering, that if a Vegan were to send a death threat, would they use a potato?  After all potatoes are poisonous if consumed uncooked.  This might be an attempt at poisoning prevented by potato soup. 

A Walk In the Cemetery

My husband says I am spooky. He isn’t referencing XFiles, where Mulder’s nickname is Spooky.  It has more to do with touring cemeteries is part of my idea for an relaxing vacation. If anything, I probably see myself as more of a Marilyn Munster than a Fox Mulder. 

I like cemeteries.  They are quiet, peaceful and most of the time well maintained.  You would be surprised about the interesting sculptures and architecture you could find. 

Jon and I recently took walk in the Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston, and I would love to go back.   Below are several of the highlights from the trip. 

 

 

There are so many beautiful sculptures in the cemetery and it was much more vast and varied than I had anticipated.  If you are ever looking for a peaceful way to spend a day, I would highly suggest taking a walk in this gem. 

Genuine Emotions

As it creeps closer and closer to the gift giving holidays, I am reminded that gifts should be given with thought and care.  I realized that while I could easily find a gift on Etsy or Amazon for my brother, it would mean more if  I took the time to find something truly unique. Gifts with thought behind them make a bigger impact.

I want to find the perfect gift that make my brother’s brain scream.  I think I found the perfect venue to find the perfect bit of nightmare fuel, I mean gift for my brother.  That venue would be my local antique market.  I think that if he opened a box with any of the items below, that he is going to show a genuine emotion and the holidays are all about genuine emotions.

Option 1:  Everyone needs a little bit of seasoning in their life. I think this classic salt and pepper shaker bring about certain feelings.  At the moment the feeling of shaking my head in wonder, but if that is what I feel about them, I can only imagine the WTF feeling my brother would have if he unwrapped them.

Option 2: A doll that may or may not try to suck your soul out in the middle of the night.  Every house needs a creepy doll or two.  Also, I think I can guarantee that my brother would never expect this in a million years. So, that is another win. 

Option 3:  Giving my brother the bird for Christmas.  Okay, I think that I would be able to impress him if I were able to find a box to fit the ostrich in. It isn't the size of the bird that counts, but the thought behind it.  

Option 4: The Salt Water Taffy Barrel.  I am sure that this little bitty clown would be a welcome addition to the home and bring cheer for years to come. Right?  I am sure that my sister in law would surely forgive me for one small clown instead of getting a much larger and imposing clown to bring joy and laughter to her home, right? 

All of a sudden I am feeling much more optimistic about the holidays.  I sometimes wish there were duplicates of these wonderful gifts, because I think the look of shock and possibly awe could apply to more than one special individual in my life. 

Murder She Says

I have tried to write an opening to this section five times now.  Each one is worst than the last. I am have decided to jump in and then clean it up in a year when I relook at this post and edit it to a better place. 

Somedays I have issues concentrating. My brain gets distracted on minor details and I end up following squirrels looking for nuts. One of the things that have really been helping me find my focus is listening to music and podcasts.  This weeks music and podcast choices revolve around murder and crime. 

Criminal Discourse is a podcast that revolves around true crime. Most of the crime is murder but not always.  I find it to be interesting and the episodes are a decent length.  I would recommend you to check it out if you are into true crime and podcasts. My favorite episodes so far are The Watcher and Sheila Keen Warren. 

When I am not listening to podcasts, I am listening to music.  Somehow my music and my podcasts intertwined and now they both talk about murder or could possibly be part of sound track to a murder.  Here are several songs that popped up that work with a theme.

Play List

1. Dance Upon Your Grave  by The Brothers Comatose

2. The Plank by The Devil Makes Three

3. Bad Things by Jace Everett

4. Bourbon in Your Eyes by Devil Doll

5. Murder He Says by Duke Heitger and His Swing Band

6. The Shadowman by Lee Presson and the Nails

7. If I'm Crazy by Amigo the Devil

Do you have any pods cast that you listen to to help you concentrate or music recommend?  It is always fun to discover new things. 

Overnight Oats

I like to prepare meals for several days at a time. It makes life a little easier knowing what is one the menu. Breakfast is tricky to make in advance, but one of the recipes I make is overnight oats.

Recipe

1 cup Oats

3 tablespoons Chia seeds

3 tablespoons Flax seeds

1 cup Yogurt (any flavor)

1/4 cup slivered almonds or chopped walnuts

1/4 dried fruit (cherries, blueberries etc.)

1/3 cup milk (almond, cow, soy etc.)

1 tablespoon honey

Mix everything together, put in containers and place in the fridge over night.  Pull it out of the fridge and it is ready to eat. Filling and easy to prep ahead breakfast.   

Carving Pumpkins

Happy Anniversary

Every year my husband and I re-enact our official first date of carving pumpkins.  It has been 15 years about carving pumpkins.  This year might be the best pumpkin year yet. 

This is one of those traditions that makes me smile every year. I love picking out pumpkins, and the time Jon and I take to sit down and chat as we scoop out pumpkin guts.  The hardest part of carving pumpkins is trying to figure out what sort of face the pumpkin should sport.  To pick a face for a pumpkin, you have to review the shape of the pumpkin taking note of the natural dents and grooves.  This can make or break a design.  If all else fails, Pinterest is a great place to gather ideas and stencils normally come with any carving kit.   

Do you have any traditions that you forward to all year long?

A Little Bigfoot in My Life

I grew up watching X Files with my dad. I feel like this should explain a lot about my life and things I have done.   Lately I have been listening to a podcast called Strange Familiars. It is amazing.

The host of Strange Familiars is often referred to as "The Big Foot Guy" by those in the field. To me, he is the Bob Ross of the Paranormal world.  The way that he interviews guests is very soothing and sounds very logical.  With this in mind, I was completely inspired to spend part of my anniversary trip driving to Portland, Maine to visit the International Cryptozoology Museum based off recommends from some dear friends.  

The International Cryptozoology Museum is a quaint museum in Portland that has a major appreciation of the hairy hominid.  They touch on several other hidden/unconfirmed legendary animals, but you can tell the love of this museum is the Sasquatch.   I feel like the perfect day is to listen to Strange Familiars discuss the various species of hairy hominids and taking a tour of the museum.  I was not disappointed. 

The Albatwitch is Pennsylvania's little Bigfoot and seems to have a home in York County.  I spent majority of my teenage years and early twenties in York County.  The International Cryptozoology Museum has several foot print casts of the different Bigfoot species and hair samples.  The case of scat raised eyebrows, but not really surprising. The overall love for the subject can be felt with the care that the displays are put together.  I would highly recommend stopping by and taking a tour of the museum and if you are inclined to listen to podcasts, check out  Strange Familiars. You won't be disappointed. 

Goretacular 2019

One of my husbands favorite things to do this time of the year is to host the annual Goretacular horror movie marathon.  While I am not a huge fan on horror movies, it is always a fun time to have people over. The list of movies changes from year to year and as an added bonus there was a theme. There  theme was Double Feature!

Pairing movies together is a subtle art form. You have to figure out what would work well together and playoff of each other.  Below is the double line up.

Double Feature-Athon

• The Stuff   -   The Blob  (Remake)
• Motel Hell  -  Tourist Trap
• Dead Heat   -   Maniac Cop 2
• FinalGirls   -   Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
• Deep Red   -   The Editor
• Rocktober Blood  -  Black Roses
• Return of the Living Dead  -  Night of the Comet
• Night of the Demons    -   Demons

If you were to create a double feature marathon, what would you pick?