Happy Indictment Day!!!

Yes folks...it is time to play Indictment Bingo!

This might be the BEST Monday...EVER!

Woke up after a late night (...Indictment Eve Party...) celebrations to this

Gates and Manafort (chalk another one up for Miz Cleo) Indicted and Arrested...immediately prompting

The Happy Happy Joy Joy Song

and then...almost like Christmas in October...it got better.

George "Squeal like a Pig" Papadopoulous immediately took a Guilty Plea  and has been talking....and talking....and talking...ever since!

Three Down and so many left to go.

You have to hand it to them...Republicans are fairly predictable.

First they deny it.

Then they get angry about it.

Then they try to deflect, distract and blame something or someone else.

And when all that fails and the shit is STILL hitting the fan...they begin to eat their own.

Every time.

Anyway,

 and this week is going to be one hell of a show.

With Trump on Twitter this morning with CAPS LOCK firmly on tweeting

...NO COLLUSION...

Sorry, Orange Man.

Real News.  Real Indictments. Real Handcuffs.
(You're) Real Screwed.

Caps Lock won't change that.


And for those who shrieked that Podesta (DEM) was going down too...

"Good"

He deserves to.

See- that is the difference between rational people and Trumpers. We don't cling loyally to those who try to subvert the US Constitution...no matter which party they are in.

Ya'll might want to take notes.

And speaking of Unconstitutional...they ruled today that the transgender ban in the US Military that Trump tried to push through was unequivocally UNCONSTITUTIONAL and therefore null and void.

Yeah...it has been a Great Day for The United States,American Citizens and The American Justice System!

Viva la resistance...

Cinderella Day...Getting Ready for Halloween...New Floor...The Hemingway Bio and More

Decided against the Crazy Cat Lady costume as soon as I spotted the Sugar Skull mask!  Even found sugar skull treat bags! Looking forward to James and Nicole's Annual Halloween Chili Supper with everyone!

Loved a recent picture of Emma (Tina's Niece) and she will be a "Halloweenie" This year.

Chris found one of the blow up Stay Puf Marshmallow Guy costumes (...think Ghostbusters...)

 and Tina is Robin...although this year she will be on an ambulance crew for Halloween proper.

Bagging candy for the kids...and Tina and Kimber...Spring bulbs for Nicole...and a bottle of Guinness (each) for the guys.

So happy. Tomorrow (with Pizza and good beer) James will be over to finish out my kitchen tile. Soon it will match the bathroom.

Tah Dah!

Thanks to Hurst & Hurst  (Hannah and James) I now have

And no more ghastly white tile for me again. EVER. 

Love the Oak grain and it adds so much to the warm feel of home!

Finishing out the living room (a family picture corner..more greenery...dimmer switches) soon...and then going to devote next year to making my bedroom exactly how I have always envisioned...and then it will be done. 

Finished another project (early) for the year...wrote the very last pages of  my fiction novel The Plan...finally. The rough draft is complete. Next year is all about editing and hope to have a bit to circulate with query letters by January 2019.  

Cinderella Day here. Scrub, Dust, Launder, Tidy, Wash...and cleaning the fridge...bleah. Getting a new seal Monday, so it seemed the opportune time. Besides I have all these Spring bulbs...so I am going to wrap quite a few in newspaper to stow in the crisper and force in Spring.  Early color. (...and pollen allergies...lol)

Coffee with Loretta and Judy this week...and discussing our Mall Rat for November. Since I now have the wheelchair...may be trying Greenwood again.

If so...Applebees has one of these with my name on it!

Their Signature Steak and Garlic Shrimp with Parmesan Sauce.

Finally reached the front of the queue and have now read the newest Ernest Hemingway Biography by Mary V. Dearborn.

Technically, a well researched and annotated piece of work. But it read like an expose'. There is a fine line between telling the story of a great (but troubled) man's life and the oooh and ahhh of tabloid crap. Fairly disappointing. As well as writing about his great body of work...she also seem to delight rooting around in his four failed marriages and going into great detail about his physical and mental decline by the end.

There was more than one moment of

 "Why am I STILL reading this???"

If you enjoy Hemingway's writing...this is definitely a book to be avoided.

I did enjoy a nice bit of cinema this week with

A Summer Release that I have kind of actively avoided not knowing that Kevin Spacey was a major character in it.

A pleasant surprise.

If you haven't seen it yet...try it. You'll like it!

And in today's political news...


That's Right...It's Mueller Time!!!!!!

Gives me hope.

The first indictment and arrest could come as early as Monday.

Miz Cleo sez maybe Paul Manafort...but we will see.

All I want for Christmas is The Donald to Resign, Be Impeached or led off in handcuffs...

Is THAT too much to ask?

Donald didn't make this week's facepalm, though. And lord knows he tried.

 No...this week's FACEPALM

goes to Americans Everywhere...that is right...all of us... 

Because less than 3 full weeks after the worst mass shooting EVER on American Soil...

We are back to business as usual. It is out of the news. Congress is backing off any new gun regulations...bump stocks have become a punch line...and

WE DIDN'T CHANGE A DAMNED THING.

And we won't.

Because 'MERICA.

(shaking my head)

So don't act all surprised the next time it happens....again.

Tina watching Stay Puf Muscle Man Poses!

He answered the door to the pizza delivery guy dressed like this...lmao!
I may never get  pizza delivery here again.

More anon...


It is days like today that I realize (again)  how truly blessed I am, and what wonderful kids I have.

Chris' 28th...Peanut Butter Pie...The Orchard with The Grands...Pumpkin Maple Custard...and More

Yes...tis the season!

A busy week...beginning Tuesday with Chris' 28th Birthday!  How can that be right?

We celebrated with Chinese Carry Out and one of his favorites

Marilyn's Peanut Butter Pie

(recipe)

1 cup creamy style peanut butter

1 ( ounce) package cream cheese (softened)

3/4 cup milk

1& 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 container Cool Whip topping (thawed)

Cream together sugar and cream cheese...add peanut butter and mix well...then add container of Cool Whip and beat until smooth...adding milk a bit at a time until filling is smooth and creamy.

Fill deep pre-made graham cracker type crust and chill overnight.

Garnish with Whipped Cream & Chopped Chocolates of your Choice.

Later he and James spent some brother time reliving their childhood with assorted games they used to play (hand held) when they were kids...lol!

Chris recently bought and is refurbishing a Grape-Purple GameBoy like he used to have.


He is nearly finished with the Network Plus Course...and Tina who will be finished with the EMT Course in November...currently doing her (ride along) Ambulance Clinicals and doing well!

Looking forward to she and Kimber bringing Emma over this week to let me see her Halloween Costume.

I saw this (...Crazy Cat Lady...) the other day and I am pretty sure mine this year is going to be some variation on it (when I hand out treats at James and Nicki's).

Looking forward to seeing everyone dressed up and Nicole's Amazing Halloween Chili Supper.

Just love it!

Never get too old to dress up for Halloween!

Finally got a break in the weather and took most of the Grands to The Orchard yesterday!

Everyone played on the haybale stacks...rode the horse-drawn wagon out to the Pumpkin Patch...found humongous orange pumpkins...and ate caramel apples.

I brought home cheese curds and a 1/4 peck of Honeycrisp apples!

The big news this week was Nicki, though...

Less than three weeks post Gastric Sleeve Surgery and she has lost in excess of 23 pounds already!  Huge difference and she has just started. Looks great!

Oh...and the Mermaid Hair is now Purple!

Had a wonderful day with everyone.

Currently in queue for several good books...one being a new Biography of Hemingway I am looking forward to reading...but nothing this week.

Did suffer through

American Made

With Tom Cruise (playing a character with a down home Southern Drawl) which made the entire film just that much more excruciating. Another what happened with Escobar in the Miami Drug Busts True Story.
Think MI meets Alabama.

Do yourself a favor...and like Nancy Reagan reminds us in the film

"JUST SAY NO!"

I did see a 2017 sleeper (with a cast of relatively unknowns) that was action/drama packed and very good on Friday.

Jungle

Radcliffe was riveting in this true story of three hikers who head into a Bolivian jungle with a newly made acquaintance for adventure and get way more than they bargained for...

This film was as GOOD as the other film was BAD. 

Excellent, edge of your seat movie.

The ART World has had a few interesting developments recently.

First...the exhumation of Surrealist Dali earlier this  year (and DNA testing) came back proving once and for all that the woman who claimed herself to possibly be his child (from an illicit affair with her mother years back) was NOT related to him any any manner. A relief for his estate  and probably some form of closure for the woman. In related news they reported his iconic  moustache was completely intact...lol. 

Dali would  have loved the spotlight and high drama this long after his demise...no doubt.

  
In New Jersey they have come across what they  believe is a long lost Rodin statue. Estimated worth 4 Million.

and in Paris,France they have discovered what they believe to be a Sketch of Leonardo DaVinci's.   The sketch is of Mona Lisa.  Partially NUDE. 

Under "People we do NOT want to SEE Nude EVER"...this brings us to Congress...the Trump Administration and

WHAT Now???

Where so much has happened politically (& in world news) that it is hard to know where to begin.

North Korea?

Possible War?

Four Deaths of Berets in Niger?

The NFL and Taking a Knee? 

Trump Insulting a Gold Star Widow?

John Kelly trying  to Clean Up Trump's GAFFE?

Sarah Sanders saying we shouldn't question a 4 Star General?

Trump actually shown questioning SEVERAL Generals?

The Fact that 2 weeks have passed and we as a Nation have assimilated the Las Vegas shootings...again...just like the Pulse Shootings...and the Newton Shootings...?

Betsy DeVoss rescinding the school testing accommodations for Disabled Children? 

Something new and appalling every damned day.

It is no wonder so many are suffering the effects of 

TRUMP BURNOUT.

Today's Facepalm

Has to go to Donald Trump once again...


And, playing Devil's Advocate for a moment...I don't even think he knows what he did wrong this time.

He is just a very bad Comforter-in-Chief.

Okay, so it took 3 weeks before he contacted the Widow of one of the Berets killed in Niger...(and he also played golf three times during that period)

Telling a Gold Star widow...that

"He knew what he signed up for...but I guess it still hurts" 

Is obtuse and insensitive.

It would be like your dead husband's Oncologist saying

"Well...he did smoke two packs a day...but I guess it still hurts."

Or some fat guy who just died of a Heart Attack and the Cardiologist tells his widow

 "Well...those Big Macs, Supersized Fries, Apple Turnovers and Triple Thick Shakes finally killed him....but I guess it still hurts."

Being a Widow, myself, he is probably very very very lucky that this conversation took place over the phone.

Just saying.

So,  I'm all about Fall Food Recipes this week...and trying a new one tonight thanks to Pintrest.

Pumpkin Maple Custard

6 egg yellows (raw)

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2  cups milk

1 cup pureed cooked Pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup Real Maple Syrup

1 tablespoon Pumpkin Pie Spices

Use blender and combine ingredients. Mixing well.

Fill individual Ramekins and sit in baking dish 1/2 filled with water.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Can serve warm or chilled with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Enjoy!


Tah Dah!

Very creamy and nice. Worked well

warm and chilled.

If I were going to change anything I might reduce the

amount of sugar and Maple Syrup.

The current amount made it a bit too sweet.

I could definitely see making a pie out of this mixture

in the future.

 

Miss Lilly...Blade Runner 2049...A Reschedule of The Orchard...Sleeping Beauties...and More

My newest Grand-puppy...er dog.

Lilly

Great with kids and cats!  She loves cats and wants to "play"...Shelby seemed offended and threw one of those

"Oh...hell no...."

looks before stalking to the bathroom and staying there until both Lilly and Aiden were gone.

After sniffing every spot that Lilly had touched in "her house" (rather disdainfully) she settled for a long nap.

 Thank heavens that's over!

Our trip to The Orchard with the Grands rescheduled as we all woke to a deluge of rain this morning!

Envisioning the Grands struggling though the muddy pumpkin patch like unwary dinosaurs at La Brea.

Remembering last Fall when the trek through the corn maze was a lot like this.

Nicole is healing well and doing wonderfully after her surgery.  Breakfast looks like this now

Ham,Scrambled Eggs and Cheese...and Oatmeal with Blueberries...in one ounce portions. After which, she feels completely full.

She is an inspiration!

The rain is wonderful...saving our Fall colours.  September was so dry the lawn had turned that Tuscan High Summer straw shade and the leaves were getting crisp and falling without even changing.  Since the past several rains everything is starting to get splashes of yellow,orange and red. Turning quite beautiful!

Nearly finished decorating now. Mums and Sunflowers...Fat Orange Pumpkins...Spice scented candles and my golden Autumn Leaf candy dish overflowing with chocolates!

Did a mid-week Mall Rat with Sharon,Loretta and Diane to Terre Haute
and found my Fall Bath Scents at B&B  Works.  Spiced Pumpkin and Vanilla Whipped Topping Scent...Pumpkin Marshmallow...and a purse sized hand bac simply called

 "S'mores"  

We plundered the Macy Sales, where Diane and I found hats- and Loretta found boots and another purse, and adjourned to the nearby Red Lobster for Brunch.

Stuffed Seafood Mushroom Caps, Whipped Sweet Potato Casserole with Spiced Pecans (...omg..which I must recreate at home...) Wood-Grilled Asparagus and Cheddar Garlic Biscuits.

Came home to fall into a hot bubble bath that smelled a lot like warm pumpkin pie!

A completely "Spoil Me" day!

Chris and I watched and discussed  Blade Runner 2049...after doing a refresher of the Original before-hand.

This was the Sequel.

I think I understand why it did not  do well in the opening box-office, and it certainly wasn't anything to do with the quality of the movie (...which was outstanding...) or the length.

They just waited too long to make the Sequel.

Unlike Star Wars, which spanned generations, and stayed relevant from old to young...Blade Runner (1982) was released in several different versions and then disappeared for 35 years.  That is a lifetime in Sequel Years. 

Although there were many of us (...I preferred The Director's Cut Version...) who anticipated this film...there were so many who were being exposed to it for the very first time and lacked the context for it.

The film fills in gaps and stands alone pretty well.

Ryan Gosling was over-the-top as "Joe" a Blade Runner in 2049 after the black-out.

Harrison Ford was back as the time worn...frazzled...looking scruffier than the dog 

"Is it REAL?"

"I have no idea."

crotchety ex-Blade Runner, Rick Deckard  who has set up  a home in the former casino/hot zone and just wants to be left alone with his scotch and his holographic Elvis and Frank Sinatra. 

Get off my lawn.

Yeah... feel ya, guy...lol!

Well done sequel. Nice to see Jared Leto in the role as Nieander again.

Worth a night at The Movies!

Want to enjoy it more...watch the Original before going!

And since we still don't have mass produced flying cars (...the Terrafugata being prohibitively expensive and more like a small plane,anyway) the Renault people are working on a Pod-Type Hovercraft Prototype.

An individual pod hover car that can be added to with additional pods for more people, as above. A motorcycle company is also exploring the idea of Hover-Cycles.

The FUTURE is coming!

This week's novel...a joint new release by Stephen King and youngest son, Owen King.

Sleeping Beauties

 

 Mostly set in a women's prison, and the small fictitious town of Dooling, a story about a mysterious sleeping sickness that affects only females. Falling asleep and then quickly becoming covered in cocoon-like material.

Remove at your own risk!

Hell Hath No Fury like one of these women waken from her NAP.

Requires the usual sci-fi suspension of disbelief...but a very engaging read. A page turner.

Explores the "male dominance" and violence inherent in our society.

Brilliant endeavour of a Father and Son.

Well worth the read!

And NOW WHAT

 The facepalm of the WEEK once again going to President Donald Trump for announcing that he had indeed

 "...Spoken to The President of the Virgin Islands..."

about the damage from the hurricane.

Not quite understanding that

HE...IS...THE DAMNED PRESIDENT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS

smh

And maybe a boot to the head (as well) for trying to whip his base into a froth already (OCTOBER)  over the imaginary

WAR ON CHRISTMAS

More Anon...