Christmas Cake

One of the things that I enjoy about the holidays is spending time with people that I care about.  I am not the sort of person that enjoys sitting around, but rather having a project or purpose. This year my mother in law and I took on a challenge of making a special cake for Christmas. 

The cake covered all the family favorites, and stretched the comfort zone of my baking skills. (Anytime I have to use a spring form pan, I get a little nervous.)The delectable delight that was on the menu was a moist carrot cake with a rich and creamy cheesecake center covered in sweet buttercream icing and sprinkled with chopped nuts.  The cake could have turned out terrible, and it wouldn't have mattered.  I had fun hanging out with my mother in law while we caught up on family events. It also didn't hurt that we had to lick the beaters for the butter cream icing. 

Many cups of tea and several ounces of cream cheese later, we had a beautiful and delicious cake. I have come to the conclusion that baking is alway more enjoyable when you have good company.  Everything is sweeter with family.
                                           
If you are interested in making your own carrot cake with cheesecake filling,  check out this recipe  by wickedgoodkitchen,  it is similar to the one that we made. 

Celebrate the Small Victories!

I am celebrating a victory.   It is a small victory, but even a small victory is a victory.

Short story:

My car head light was out. It has been out for a couple of days, and with the sort of luck that I have I would get pulled over for being a menace to society and a safety violation, before I was going to be able to get to my mechanic to have the bulb changed.  I really don't have the time or  desire to be pulled over for something rather trivial.  I needed to bulb changed.   Today was the day.

I had some spare time in the afternoon, since the cake adventure took less time than anticipated. (I'll tell you about the cake later.)  With a quick stop to the local auto parts shop, I procured my light bulb.  It is probably the most expensive single bulb I have ever purchased. ($15 for one bulb)

With the car parked safely in the drive way, I embarked on this adventure. No adventure is complete with out a companion, so my brother dialed in for moral support and advice, since he is the mechanical one in the family.   Twenty minutes of muttering about rubber,  trying to pinch things that wanted pulled and discovering that my hand can fit in weirds spots in my car, I had successfully removed the rubber cap that protected the plug for the light. Ten minutes after that I actually got the rubber cap back on, since I wasn't supposed to take that off. The move I was supposed to do was more of a squeeze two little indents that you can't feel through the rubber and then pull to release the light plug. I did get the light bulb out, and then it was two minutes to the finish line from there.

 

 

Once I had the lid down and turned the car on to test the light, I was feeling pretty awesome.  My brother was highly amused  and extremely patient during the whole process.  I think he hung in there to find out which inventive and unique combo of words were going to spew from my mouth as I questioned if was humanly possible to change the light bulb and if my hand were abnormally large.  The whole process took about a half an hour, one phone call, eight pictures, two YouTube videos, one stubborn person and one really really patient person, oh and one light bulb.

Changing the light bulb was a victory.  I am going to celebrate it. I am proud of myself.


Thank you Mike for your moral support and YouTube narration of instructions!

Dreams of Work

Last night I had a dream that I was at work.  Dreams like that normally leave me feeling unrested and normally running my tongue across my teeth to make sure they are still in my mouth.(I once read if you dream about teeth, you are anxious) The dream I had last night left me feeling happy when I woke up. 

The dream started out sad.  It started out with being notified that my favorite customer from when I worked at the bookstore had passed away.  I haven’t worked at the bookstore for little over half a decade, but I can still remember my favorite customers. 

This particular customer liked to come at the end of the night. He had long dark hair, a small smile and walked with a limp and a cane.  He like to come at the end of the night, because it was less crowded and he was less self conscious of his limp and sometimes it would take him all day to get his limbs to work.  I remember him telling me once that he was once in service and things didn’t go well.  He loved music, and when he was in pain and couldn’t go anywhere, he was able to escape into music. If it was slow , we would chat for a bit about music as I applied every coupon he had to the latest additions to his already extensive music collection. 

In my dream, my favorite customer had died.  It was sad and I was shocked. I was even more shocked to find out that he had left me an inheritance to the amount of double the value of my home, so that I could pay my house off and still be comfortable. I had no idea.  The solicitor handed me a note and a check.  I opened the note (and listened to it being narrated by the recently deceased,) that stated they had included me in their will, because I had always been nice to them and treated them with respect and kindness and those were rare qualities to find in a person.

I woke up feeling really good about myself. If I could be remembered for anything, I think I would want to be remembered like that. I would want to be remembered as a person that treats other people with respect and kindness.   It doesn’t matter what you do or where you work, it matters how you treat people. 

Today when I went to work, I tried to be a little nicer and chat with my coworkers a little more. I want my dream self to be just as nice as my awake self. 

Postive Alphabet - A- Z

It is not uncommon knowledge in my family that we suffer from depression.  Not everyone wants to admit it, or even acknowledge it, but it is true.  Sometimes it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel and to know that everything is going to be okay eventually. I mean Okay, and not great, no one can promise great.  

A year ago, I started a project for a positive alphabet.  An alphabet to remind myself that it is okay and to try and be positive. I know that just telling someone to think positive, is not actually an proven method to come out of depression. However, I think that this helped me a little bit get out of the suffocating hole of endless crippling self doubt and helped flip a switch in my brain to focus on the words instead of the shadows deepen in the recesses.  These words work for me, and when I have that pitch black moment where my skin feels like it everything seems futile, I try remember what each letter of the alphabet stands for.  You wouldn't think that 26 letters would be difficult, but it can be.  

I know that not every one will agree with these words, and I hope they don't.I hope that they come up with their own alphabet that makes them step back from the edge.  They might not make sense for everyone, but they make sense for me.   What would be on your positive alphabet?

• A -Altruistic
• B- Bibliophile
• C- Candid
• D- Dependable
• E-Empowering
• F- Forgiving
• G- Gemutlichkeit
• H- Human
• I-  Imperfect
• J- Judicious
• K- Keen
• L- Loyal
• M- Morphing
• N-  Natural
• O- Original
• P-  Plucky
• Q- Quality
• R- Resilient
• S- Sincere
• T-  Tenacious
• U- Unique
• V-  Vibrant
• W- Worthy
• X-  XO
• Y-  Youthful
• Z-  Zesty

For those that are frequent flyers on this blog. Yes, I had posted part of this alphabet previously.  I was not happy with the post, and felt it was more appropriate to update and repost. 

Resurrection

Do you believe in resurrection? 

Resurrection: 
(Noun)

1.  a supposed act or instance of a dead person coming back to life
2. belief in the possibility of this as part of a religious or mystical system
3. the condition of those who have risen from the dead: we shall all live in the resurrection
4. the revival of something: a resurrection of an old story

When I was a little girl living in California, my mother used to have this plant called a Resurrection Plant.  To me it looked like a baby tumble weed and I was very confused as to why she kept it in her closet.  One day, she pulled the plant out and put it in a small dish of water.  Slowly as it absorbed water it uncurled and laid completely flat. A little while longer it went from a dull brown to a dull green.  More time passed and you would never have recognized it from the dead looking thing it had been hours before. 

My mother explained that she kept the plant in her closet as a reminder. A reminder that sometimes things  in life can look bleak, dry and terrible and it can be that way for a long time. And just when all hope seems lost, it can rain. When the sweet relief of rain comes, it might take a while to uncurl from that dry and terrible mess, but when you do it is hard to believe you were ever in that situation. 

I am a long way away from that little girl I used to be.  It is almost full blown winter and my husband brought in my aloe plant. It looks terrible. He asked me if I was going to revive it once again, because every year I seem to forget it, until it is too cold and wet for cactus and it looks like it is going to turn into slime. Then every year I seem to bring it back to life bigger and healthier than it was the year before.  It is almost my own personal resurrection plant.  Except possibly slimier than a Rose of Jericho. That leave me to one question.

Do you believe in resurrection?

Dad- Read Something New!

My dad has this habit of reading the same book series over and over again.  I have no idea what is so facinating about the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.  I got through about a third of the first book and felt no inclination to finish reading it. However my father has read the series 8 times and when he can’t find anything else to read, he starts it over again.

Dad, There are other books out there.  In fact you should check some of these books out the next time you think about starting the series one more time.  It is okay to read other books. It won’t hurt their feelings.

1. The Bat  by Jo Nesbo
2. The Hynotist  by Lars Kepler
3. Fatherland by Robert Harris
4. The Big Bounce by Elmore Leonard
5. Forever and Death by Donald Westlake

Dad, I can give you more recommendations.  Just let me know.  It is okay to read something new.

Love Hate Movies

My husband loves to watch movies. I have a hard time sitting down and watching movies, and it is a victory to my husband if I sit down and watch something with him.   It is a double victory if I admit I liked it.  According to him, I hate almost everything. Here is a list of 10 victories that my husband has achieved in getting me to sit through and admit that I loved them.

1. Fright Night (both, they count as one right? But I will admit I am sweet on the newer one.)
2. Miami Connection (If you sing the song, I might kill you and laugh while doing so.)
3. In the Mouth of Madness (which turned into the gateway drug for all other John Carpenter movies.)
4. Night of the Comet (I have no idea why I like this, but I will sit down every single time it is on and watch it to the end.)
5. Terrorvision (There is so much about this that makes me laugh)
6. The Dungeon Master (This might be one of the worst movies I have ever seen.)
7. Godzilla vs The Smog Monster (It might be the weirdest Godzilla movie I have ever seen.)
8. Final Girls (I really hate camp setting hack and slash movie, but this is a cut above.)
9. Captain Kronos (This has to be one of the best vampire movies by Hammer Horror.)
10. Return of the Living Dead (I can’t believe I laughed as much as I did.)

As you can tell, my husband is a big fan of horror movies. It has take almost a dozen years for me to come around to this far on horror movies.  

Lemon Cookies

Today I tried to get a jump start on the holiday baking. Baking is always more enjoyable with friends.  My friends, Laura and Barbie were also keen to turn the oven on and taste test some new recipes. 

The new recipe that I decided to try was something that I found randomly on Pinterest. I was looking for quilt patterns and for some reason this lemon cookie popped up, and it looked delicious. The lemon cookie is from Baked by an Introvert .  The recipe reads like a love letter to Meyer Lemons, however it is easy to follow and better yet, it turns out well. 

This is certainly a keeper of a recipe. The cookie has a refreshing lemon taste, and when you had the lemon flavored icing, it makes you think of lemonade on a hot summer day.  It is the right amount of tang and sweetness all in one, that make you want to have another.  If you are a tea drinker, this would be perfect to dip in the tea. 

The only thing that I would say about the recipe is that you want to watch the length that you bake the cookie. It calls for 12-14 minute bake time, when the best cookies were done with a 10 minute bake time. I think that it all depends on if your oven runs hot. This is one of those recipes that do not make a huge amount of cookies. This recipe made exactly 36 cookies.

If you are looking for something different for a cookie platter, check out Iced Meyer Lemon Cookies by Baked by an Introvert. It will certainly not disappoint.

Seven Photo Challenge

It was a seven day black and white photography challenge.  You were supposed to nominate other people to take pictures with every picture you posted, but I am not too keen on things like that.  However I did want to do the challenge. Seven pictures. One for each day. No people. No explanations. Here are my seven pictures.  

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 7

Day 6

Haikus about Cheese

I was challenged by Faye on Twitter to write poetry on cheese, because there isn’t enough poetry about cheeses in the world.  Here are four haikus about four different cheese.  Please enjoy. 

Haiku’s about Cheese

Flowers of Rajya

Wheels of a yaks blessings

Bamboo basket gift

Crumbled Feta dream

Cranberry pecan chicken

Salad order up

El Queso blanco 

The subtle ingredient

Stealth flavor binder

Colby melting fun

The binding of bread together

Companion to soup

Iggins Understands

I told myself I was going to write a blog post before bed, but it isn’t working. I have a couple of half baked ideas and I am exhausted. Here is a picture of my cat in lieu of a meaningful witty post.

Iggins completely understands and is okay with me using his picture. In fact my lovely fur friend has agreed that I should give him canned cat food, instead of trying to force down some half baked ideas.

I think I can agree to this and now we both win. 

Popular Home Remedies & Superstitions

I know it is not hard to believe that I might have impulse bought a book.  To be more precise, it is really a booklet and not really a book, so I don't feel too bad when I add it to the already overflowing bookshelf.  It is hard to call 32 pages a book. However, I am pretty sure that most members of my circle of friends would have done the same thing and snatched this booklet up and brought it home for future reference.  After all, how could you pass up Popular Home Remedies & Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Germans?  Only a crazy person would pass up the $2.95 bounty of wisdom from days gone by.  I certainly am not crazy.

The plethora of wisdom and advice found within the pages, certainly speaks to a time gone by, but in some ways, it is still be applicable today.  When common etiquette has gone out the window, I feel that the hodgepodge of advice from several centuries prior could come in handy.  After all  my survival might end up being dependent upon knowing what is considered a death omen. (Counting the conveyances at a funeral is not only an omen of death, but tacky. Don't do it.)

It is my recommend that if you ever happen upon any of the limit printings by The Aurand Press that you snatch them up a quickly as you can.  The charm and rarity of this folklore is sure to bring at least a small smile to a dour face.  Below are a couple of my favorite words of advice that I have gained from this publication. 

" If you can arrange to kiss a girl while you secrete a heart of a turtle-dove in your mouth, it will act as a love charm- no one can be sure of what may happen as a result." 

"Scratch a dog where he can't scratch himself and he won't run away"

"Take a hold of the big toe of a person talking in his sleep and he will tell you anything he knows- like being hypnotized."

Broccoli Salad

Gardening and Broccoli Salad make up Summer. 

One of my favorite foods is broccoli salad. I know that sounds weird, but there is something about the crunch, the tang and the savory all mixed together that I absolutely love.  Nothing makes me think of summer and good times like eating a bowl of broccoli salad.

Recently I was talking with my niece, Hailey and she was trying to put her preferred preferences at the top of the menu for the next time she came to visit.  I am a planner, but seeing as that I don't have solidified dates for her next visit, this felt a little presumptuous.  It is kind of like calling shotgun for the ten car rides in the future. It is just a little far to plan in advance. However I was curious as to what was on her preferred menu. No surprise, she wanted ham loaf and avocado chocolate mousse. The thing that did surprise me, was the request for broccoli salad.  I thought kids weren't supposed to like broccoli. I feel like this is a further case that she is really my clone. 

Since I do not have a set date for her next visit, but I do not want to deny her the joys of broccoli salad, I decided to share my recipe for my favorite addiction. My friend, Lizzy had originally given me the recipe (which I am forever grateful), and I have made a few small tweaks based off of my preferences.

Broccoli Salad-

1. 1 Head of Broccoli cut into small florets
2. 1 Head of Cauliflower cut into small florets
3. 1/2 Red Onion diced
4. 1 Cup diced cooked bacon- (I have cheated and bought Real Bacon Crumbs and they taste fine.)
5. 1 Cup Shredded Cheese-(I like Cheddar, but mixed cheeses works also.)
6. 1/2 Cup Dried Cherries
7. 1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
8. 1 Cup Mayonnaise (Don't use Miracle Whip- The flavor is off.)
9. 1/2 Cup White Sugar
10. 2 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar

Combine first seven ingredients in a large bowl or a gallon sized bag. I prefer to do a gallon sized bag, because it normally I am taking it with me somewhere.  In a small bowl, mix the last three ingredients until smooth.  Mix the sauce into bowl or bag.  If you are in a bowl, stir well to make sure everything is evenly glazed.  If you put it in a bag, seal the bag (double check that it really did seal) and then pretend it is Shake N Bake and shake it all around.  When you think you are done, shake it some more. Everything should be covered in the glaze.  Put the broccoli salad in the fridge and let it chill for two hours.  Once it is chilled, chow down.

Side note for Hailey- Your does not have the cheese in it for obvious reasons. Double check your mayo and make sure there isn't any dairy in the ingredients. Other then those two items, this is that salad you had last summer.  Enjoy!

One Word

“This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until its done. It's that easy, and that hard.”

― Neil Gaiman

This quote comes to mind when ever I write letters. I don’t always know what I am going to say, or even how to say it. I also lie to myself when I write and tell myself that spelling doesn’t count, is is the thoughts behind the words that count.  After a letter is in the mail, I will then ponder over everything I wrote and drive myself crazy over any spelling errors I may have made.

Recently I have decided to bump my letter writing game.  I decided that I would participate in the Adopt a US Soldier.  The AAUSS is a non-profit organization that has volunteers send letters of encouragement and gratitude to deployed men and women in over 141 countries.  Supporting a soldier to me feels like supporting a human that is trying their best to make the world a better place.  It is not the same as supporting a political party.  The way I look at it is that everyone at one time or another has had a terrible boss, and you either do your best with what you have and try and make the world a better place or you move yourself to a better place and hope the next boss isn’t as terrible. (I know I went off on a tangent.)

To sum it up, I am sending a letter at least once a week to a person I don’t know. That person may or may not write me back.  I think I can handle this. It is just like Neil Gaiman says, “...You put one word in front of the other until it’s done. It is that easy and that hard. “

If you want to look into the AAUSS program, please visit their website.  http://www.adoptaussoldier.org/

If you want to look at awesome stationary, La Papierre is one of my favorite Etsy stores.

Touring Troegs

I love factory tours.  I think they are interesting and fun. And often times they have free samples at the end. (I don’t really care about the free samples, but it is nice.) This year for Gat’s birthday, we took a tour of Troegs Brewery.  The brewery tour was only $5 and was totally worth it.


Here are a few of the highlights from the tour:

• They have an art contest every year for their gallery.  Prize is $500. (I want to do this, somehow)
•  They work with local farmers. (The Dear Peter story has forever made me look at apricots differently.)
•  Their full time employees get a case with their paycheck. (Totally awesome.)
•  Caramel malt can not be mistaken as trail mix. (And the chocolate malt is a lie. There is no chocolate involved, it is describing a color not a flavor.)

Gat and I learned a fair bit about beer.  We tried some samples and took a look at the fancy machinery. It was pretty neat to look at everything, and in the event of the world ending, it is certainly a place to take refuge.  If you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Hershey, PA I would recommend to check out Troegs and grab a bite to eat.  The duck confit and poutine is amazing and the bear will put a smile on your face.

Delilah Dirk and the King’s Shilling

Picture from Turkish Lieutenant, (My computer is being disagreeable) 

I am making my way through my To Be Read graphic novel stack.  I just finished up Delilah Dirk and the Kings Shilling by Tony Cliff. It was everything that I had hoped that it would be.  

There was action, adventure with a flair of drama coupled with the need for a really good cup of tea.  If you read the first book, Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant, you will not be disappointed with where this one continues in the story.  The art and design of the the novel flows well with the story, and some of the panels were an absolute joy to sit and look at the detail. 

I look forward to hopefully more adventures of Delilah Dirk. Until then I think I am going to brew myself a cup of tea. 

Questions for a Dentist

There are many people that dislike an appointment with the dentist. I am ambivalent to it. I don’t have a horrible dental history and my dentist seems to understand that I am a wuss when it comes to any sort of procedure. I was at a check up recently and discovered that my mind wanders to weird paths while I am waiting for the fingers to come out of my mouth. 

I am not on casual enough terms with my dentist or hygienist to ask there weird questions to. To solve this, I need someone to volunteer their plucky child to ask these questions for me. These questions would just be weird from a person in their mid thirties, but would come off as cute and possibly adorable from anyone in the five to ten age range.  

The questions:

1. What are the chances of getting a virtual reality helmet for when you are on the chair?  That way you don’t have to stare into the light and you can swim with sharks. 
2. In the vampire apocalypse, do you think any other doctor practice other than dentist survive? (Because fang rot would be a huge concern.) (Maybe a chiropractor?)
3. Is that your stomach I hear rumbling?

I know it isn’t a huge amount of questions, but they would sound harmless coming from someone much younger and with a little less of a filter than I have. 

Best Costume Award

I am a little bit of curmudgeon when it comes to Halloween. I enjoy handing out candy to Trick or Treaters for the most part.I believe that Halloween is good family fun and brings a community together.  I get a kick out of seeing the different costumes on the kids and it might be the only time I actually talk to my neighbors.

There is a small part of me that gets cranky.   I get cranky when I see newborns trick or treating.  Newborn babies are little more than slugs and they have a very limited diet. I can guarantee that the precious bundle of joy is not going to be chomping down on a Babe Ruth or relishing SweetTarts that I am handing out.  I get it if you have other kids you are walking around with, and it makes sense; however when it is just you and a newborn strolling the streets getting free treats I get cranky.

With my predisposition of crankiness towards newborns, it took me buy surprise that one of the best costumes this year for Trick or Treat night was a mother and new born combo. I was blown away by the Log Lady costume.  The newborn was the log.   It was simple, but unique and made sense and made me laugh. (And there were other kids, so it wasn't opportunistic hustling for chocolates.)

 I think it was one of the few times that I had to take a picture, since I wasn't sure if anyone would believe me that there was a Twin Peaks costume out there. Much less the Log Lady.  It is right up there with the year that Old Greg came knocking for Halloween.  It restores faith in the creativity of humanity.  My final thought is, that if you are going to con me out of sweat treats, then at least be creative about it, so it doesn't feel like a con.  Saying "One for Baby and One for Mommy" when it comes to treats makes me want to hand out canned goods or books or tooth brushes instead of doses of cavity starters.  Be creative.

Burrito Pillow Case

Not your typical burrito!

Purple & Green pillow case!

Every now and then I go through my Pinterest list and try something new.  I have recently taken up the hobby of sewing and my Pinterest additions have certainly reflected the new hobby.  My mother in law as an early Christmas present gifted me a lovely sewing machine that has more stitches then I know what to do with. (I am pretty excited to try everything.)  To break in the new machine, I decided I would attempt to make French Cuffed Pillow Case and cross something off of my Pinterest list.

I pulled the pattern for the pillow cases from https://www.makeit-loveit.com and then cross referenced it with a lovely blog on the same thing https://blog.treasurie.com . (I have found it prudent to cross reference before adventures, it prevents obvious missteps.) Both of the sites referenced a burrito method for making the pillowcases. Reading through the steps, I have to admit I was a little intimidated. Most patterns require you to do something inside out and backwards. Making a burrito is something that I do for breakfast or occasionally dinner, but never in sewing. 

Pillow Case folded in half. Success!

Love the new machine!

First, I would like to say that the sewing machine is a champ. Something that I would normally be re threading the needle for possibly a dozen times, was smooth sailing. Second... Who wants pillow cases?  I might be a burrito convert. All my quilts might end up with a matching pillow case, since this was probably one of the easiest patterns I have ever done, and it looked good.  I am excited to make more pillow cases and possibly fancy them up with a couple of awesome stitches the new sewing machine can do. 

Putting Fun in Funeral

Have you ever done something or seen something that makes you wonder if your whole life is just some part of a zany comedy show for space aliens? A couple Saturdays I had one of those moments.

My husband and I were on our annual anniversary trip, and the theater near us was doing a special feature of Night of the Living Dead. (The original, not the remake.) With it being a classic horror movie that is sometimes consdired the beginning of genre, we purchased tickets.  It is always a fun time to see classic movies on the big screen.   One of the perks of seeing a classic movie, is that sometimes they will bring in vendors for the event.

Now, you might be wondering what sort of vendor would be at Night of the Living Dead.  There were two vendors for the small viewing and they certainly were a highlight of the experience. If it wasn’t for Curiosities 212 and Laura Flook, it would have been a long annoying wait for the movie.

 There is nothing like sitting around waiting for the movie to start and texting my brother about purchasing a rib bone for him for Christmas. (Of course he didn’t believe me, but then I sent a picture and for some reason I am considered strange.)   Curiosities 212 had a variety of funeral paraphernalia that could leave some people scratching their head. It amused me to image my brother opening his Christmas Stocking and pulling out a rib. Part of me wants to know where the bones came from and the other part of me doesn’t want to know ever where the bones came from.

Laura Flook was a perfect counterbalance to Curiousites 212. She was promoting her semi- autobiographical comic book that talked about her time as an undertaker. It was clear to me that she was uncomfortable with the living, or perhaps it was all the drunk people stumbling around, since Oktoberfest was finishing up nearby.  Either way she did her best, and her table was full of a variety of merchandise and at the end of the movie she handed out toe tags as her business card and let us know they make good book marks.  (Which is true, since I currently am using it as a book mark. Also, check out her stuff at www.lauraflook.com  because drunk people shouldn’t be allowed in theaters and also she supports a wonderful cause.)

The whole experience was bizarre, but in a wonderful weird way.

Lost River Caverns

It is well known that I love to do cave tours.  I have been to Luray Caverns, Skyline Caverns, Penn's Cavern, Indian Echo Caverns and Crystal Caves. I am please to announce that I can now add another cavern to the list.  Lost River Caverns just outside of Allentown, Pa  is a unique cave experience. They not only offer a cave tours, but they have so much more to offer in their premise, such as a Nature Trail, Lapidary Supplies along with a Mineral & Jewelry shop mixed in with the gift shop. The opportunity for photography is great inside and outside of the main attraction.

I love cave tours.  The one thing that seems to be a theme with any cave tour that I have had the pleasure of attending, is the number of weddings that seem to happen in a cave.  Personally, I think it is a great idea.  It limits the number of people that can attend and is a testament to how things can evolve over time, which is one of the facets of being marriage. On the other hand, I am sure that some people would be appalled at being married in a hole in the ground.

Lost River Caverns tour is a little over a  half an hour long, and the tour guide we had, Andrew was the right amount of knowledgable and sarcastic to make the tour interesting.  The number of screaming kids, I could have done without, but when you take a tour on a rainy holiday, screaming children are probably unavoidable.

I found the history of the cave unique. The Lost River was interesting to hear about, and in my mind I imagine a cavern filled full of ping pong balls.  It would be interesting if they were able to do a new exploration to find out where the river goes. There was a slight mention with a rivalry with another local cavern, which I would have loved to hear more about. (Crystal Caves in case you were wondering.) Having been on both tours and knowing they are relatively close to each other, I can see how they could be rivals.  It is still a fun experience and something that I would recommend those that love cave tours to check out.

Favorite Holiday?

As the last week of September drew to a close, and the writing challenge  dwindled down to that last few hours, I had to admit that I was stumped. The last prompt of the week was to talk about "Your favorite holiday and why." That sounds like it should be easy cheesy breezy, but that is not the case.  There are 55 holidays recognized by Hallmark, and 11 of them are federal holidays.  That is not counting such esteemed national holidays, such as National Taco Day (October 4th) or National Coffee Day (September 29th) and Love Your Pet Day ( February 20th).  With so many holidays out there it is hard to pick just one and name it my favorite and a long explanation why.  

Here are my top twenty little known holidays that make me smile:

1. National Step in a Puddle & Splash Your Friends Day (January 11th)
2. National Kazoo Day (January 28th)
3. National Tell a Fairy Tale Day (February 26th)
4. National Open an Umbrella Indoors Day ( March 13th)
5. National Quilting Day (3rd Saturday in March) 
6. National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day (April 12th)
7. National Free Comic Book Day (1st Saturday in May)
8. National Dinosaur Day (May 15)
9. National Wine Day ( May 25th)
10. National Best Friends Day (June 8th)
11. National Cheer Up the Lonely Day (July 11th)
12. National Eat Your Jello Day (July 12th)
13. National Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbors Porch Day (August 8th)
14. National Video Games Day (September 12th)
15. National Ghost Hunting Day (Last Saturday in September)
16. National Moldy Cheese Day (October 9th)
17. National Cat Day (October 20th)
18. National Nachos Day (November 6th)
19. International Ninja Day (December 5th)
20. National Cat Herders Day (December 15th)

For more wonderful holidays, check out https://nationaldaycalendar.com/ for more holidays than Hallmark has cards for.  Good luck trying to pick a favorite holiday.  As for which is my actual true favorite holiday, I don't have one. I enjoy any day that makes me smile.