Groundhog

I call this one "The Standoff" 

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen shots of Autumns gone by.

Pileated Woodpecker

Books: Shut Up & Write

Shut Up & Write
By Judy Bridges
Copyright 2011
176 pages

I found this to be a good handbook for writers regardless of the stage of career, though experienced writers might find it less informative than beginners.

Bridges had interesting ideas for character creation using a character wheel that I had never seen before. It was a bit like the technique I teach in my journaling class called clustering.

She advocated for one writing technique that I'd not seen elsewhere, either: retype the entire manuscript, don't just cut and paste and move stuff around. A new writer in particular might find this helpful. Having been a journalist for years I learned to edit on the fly and don't know that I could slow my self down long enough to do an entire retyping of a piece, but it might be worth an attempt or two to see if it helps the brain cells think a bit.

Additionally the book introduces newbies to business terms, style manuals, and other writing necessities. She offers a useful critique list, too.

I read the book looking for new ideas to offer my writing classes and found them, so this was an excellent read for me.

Becky over at Peevish Pen reviewed this book in great detail about 18 months ago; she does a fine job of explaining what is good about this book. So click on that link if you want more info.

Late Garden Bounty

To my amazement, my garden is still bearing veggies. I picked these over the weekend - tomatoes, a cucumber, and a zucchini. I have never picked a zucchini in October before. Or a cucumber either, for that matter.

Our little patch has done splendidly this year; I wish I had felt like doing more with it for it seems it would have been most productive. I bought seeds early on thinking I would plant again late in the season, but because I have not felt well I did not do what I had intended. Maybe next year - but who knows what will happen with the weather, then?

Early October

I shot these photos Saturday morning (October 4, 2013) with my Nikon Coolpix P500.

Potato Chips and Root Beer

From Sunday Stealing

1.Name your favorite movie actor:

  Orlando Bloom (especially as Legolas in the Lord of the Rings movies)

2.Name your favorite movie actress:

  Meg Ryan or Sandra Bullock. It's a tie.
  
3.Name your favorite tv actor:

  Jeff Daniels at the moment.

4.Name your favorite tv actress:

  I don't think I have one right now.
 
5.Name your favorite television show right now:

  The Big Bang Theory

6.Name a few really cool movies you’ve recently seen:

  Um. Um. Um. I don't watch many movies or much TV for that matter. I think the last movie I watched was Hitch with Will Smith in it.

7.Your favorite canceled television show:

  Cagney and Lacey
  
8.Name one movie you wish you hadn’t wasted time/money on recently:

  Anything with Adam Sandler in it would be mostly unwatchable for me.

9.You would never watch a movie with:

  Pornography. Yes, I'm a prude.
  
10.Favorite candy/food to watch movies with:

  Potato chips and root beer. Except I never eat either of those any more.
  
11.Three favorite tv channels:

  TLC, Discovery, and HBO

12.Favorite reality or competition show:

  Survivor is the only one I watch that falls into this category.
  
13.Cable or satellite?

  Satellite. Can't get cable here.

14.Do you watch more movies at home or at the theater?

  Since I am lucky if I go to the theater once a year, definitely at home.

15.Is there a time of year that you watch more tv?

  Probably from September until April. But I really don't watch that much TV at any time.

Spider Webs

This Is What They Tell Me

They tell me I am not dying, anyway.

The "they" being a number of doctors I have seen in the last six weeks.

I have been quiet about it, but my gallbladder surgery has had complications. Or at least, the after-effects of the surgery have certainly complicated my life.

The pain is nigh unbearable in my right side at times. Other times it is just an ache, but it's always there.

It hurts to walk. It hurts to move up and down. I have nausea and no energy.

Early in September I spent a day in the emergency room again. Initially they thought I had appendicitis, but finally decided I didn't. They gave me pain killers and sent me home.

One doctor has diagnosed me as having a rare occurrence, something to do with nerves and scar tissue which interfere with the abdominal muscles. His theory is that the muscles clench up like when you have a Charlie horse in your calf muscle, only they kind of stay that way. And it's in your belly, not your calf.

Muscle relaxers have helped, but just a little, and I have to keep taking them. They make me dopey and slow.

To say this has become life-changing is an understatement. It is tough to focus when your belly hurts. I've had to stop exercising, which makes other body parts hurt - I need to move, after all.

The worst part is no one can say that the diagnosis is right, or how long this might last. That's scary, for sure. What if it never stops?

They tell me I am not dying, but I have to say it kind of feels like it sometimes.

Early Rising

Thursday Thirteen

Our Evolving Language

This Post is Not Yet Rated, but I Suggest It Is At Least PG-13: Read At Your Own Risk.


Recently I heard this in a children's commercial: "You suck!" and I thought to myself, my, how things have changed. There was a time when had I said that aloud I'd have had my ears boxed, but how could one fault a child for saying something he sees other young folks say whilst playing with toys?

So I thought I'd look up the history of some of our more, um, casual sayings. (I have used that convention of placing a period on some words in order to keep the search engines from locking onto them, and abbreviated other words. I swear a lot out loud sometimes but I really don't like to see it in writing.)


1. To say "You suck" in today's world means to say something is bad or not good. But the origin is a bit worse - it refers to "fell.a tio" (1928). It did not come into its more modern use until the 1970s, and apparently is now completely acceptable, even for children.

2. While the "F" word is considered a bad word today (yet used with great frequency by nearly everyone), there was a time when it was even more acceptable. Prior to the mid-1800s, the word was used frequently in legal pleadings, as I have personally seen in the annals of my county courthouse. There are numerous divorce proceedings from those long-ago days that use the word to describe exactly what it was the husband was caught doing with the house maid. However, the word was no longer allowed in print in the US by the Comstock Act of 1873. Later, challenges to the law in the 20th century ended that. Up until 1965, the word did not appear in dictionaries at all. 

3. "Damn" is another one of those words for which I would have eaten lye soap, but I am not sure that is the case anymore. This word has been around since the late 13th century, and you haven't been worth a damn since about 1817, but from the 18th century to about 1930, it was not used in print. However, Gone With the Wind broke that taboo.

4. Calling someone a "dick" or a "dickhead" is another nearly acceptable yet once taboo title one can bestow upon friend or foe. The word of course is short for Richard but at some point it came to mean a male sex organ, as far back as 1891, at least. I have often wondered what Richard did what to whom in order to deserve the comparison. The word penis, by the way, dates back to the 1600s.

5. These days we all consider getting a "poke" on Facebook to be an act of love (or something) from an acquaintance we barely know, but not so long ago (1902) a "pokey" was what a guy did to a girl when they were in the throes of whoopee. The first time I ever heard a variation of this use for the word was on Lonesome Dove when the miniseries aired in 1989.

6. Balls to the wall, boys is a familiar phrase, one I've heard on TV and elsewhere. They aren't talking about plastic bouncing things, either, unless some poor fellow has had some work done. To have balls means to have courage or nerves, from about 1928, and the first phrase probably dates back to WWII. A ball-buster, i.e., one of us difficult females, dates back to 1974.

7. How many times have you said that "S" word that means excrement? It's been used to mean an obnoxious person since at least 1508 - how's that for longevity in swearing, eh? To "not give a S" dates to 1922, while to be "S-faced" dates back only to the 1960s. The grand ol' saying of "Same S different day" apparently only dates back to 1997 though I could swear I've heard that all of my life. The word is not common on TV but still sometimes heard uncensored. My favorite etymology of this word? Shitticism is Robert Frost's word for scatological writing (writing that deals with bodily functions).

8. "P.iss" meaning to go pee or urinate, dates all the way back to the 13th century. To p. away something dates back to 1811, while to be p. poor dates back to WWII. My mom used to tell me I was full of p. and vinegar, a saying that goes back to 1942 or so. The word has been commonly used on TV since the 1980s. I once was interviewed by a newspaper writer whilst I was on painkillers (I'd broken my ankle) and I used the word in a sentence; she printed the quote and then she got into trouble for it. I learned never to give interviews while I was high on something, even if it was prescription.

9. The "A" word became slang for backside in the mid-1800s, and prior to that it meant donkey. However, donkeys were known for being stubborn and clumsy, so to make an A of one's self dates as far back as 1580, and it refers to the animal, not the body part. Since the mid-1930s to be an "A-hole" is to be a contemptible person (I know a few of those) and I am presuming that an "A-wipe," an expression I have heard my brother use, (fortunately not directed at me), is somewhere below contemptible.

10. The b.itch word is not one I am at all fond of, as it expresses contempt for women. It actually means a female dog, but using it to imply females are contemptible dates back to the 1400s. There really is nothing new under the sun.

11. Cock is a word with many meanings. The bad association with a male sex organ dates all the way back to 1610. But to go off half-cocked refers to the use of a gun, not the other thing, as of the 1500s. To cock an ear (1600s) refers to chickens, as does cocking a hat. However, it's an insult to call someone a c.sucker, as that refers to #1 in this list (1890s).

12. Vagina is not a bad word, though apparently some folks in various corners of legislation seem to think it is. I kid you not, in 2012 in Michigan a female legislator was reprimanded for using the word on the legislative floor. Our journalistic friends across the waters dubbed it "vaginagate." The word use originally meant sheath, as in a sword, and its etymology dates back to the 1600s. It's medical or scientific use dates back to 1908. Today you hear women calling it the V-jayjay or something like that. Maybe "lady parts" is the new term, I think I heard that on TV not long ago.

13.  Last, but not least, because gosh I had no idea there are so many swear words, I will offer up the word b.astard, which since the 13th century has meant "illegitimate child." It began being used as a vulgar term for a fellow around 1830. I have never liked the word because of its implication towards women, however distant that might be.


I took the etymologies from this website. Great place to look stuff up.


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 312th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Sun Rising Through Fog

Read the Label

Out of step again, I am.

In the old days when I bought clothes - which must have been years ago from the way things have changed - tags had washing instructions on them. Machine wash warm, tumble dry low, that sort of thing.

The last few new items I have purchased don't have those instructions. I hunted everywhere. I peered through my progressive lenses until my eyes crossed, but I couldn't find the washing instructions.

Then tonight - moments ago, really, when I came home with some new clothes and once again couldn't find washing instructions - I realized that the labels had funky little symbols on them. Aha!

But I had no clue what the symbols meant.

Thank heavens for the Internet. I found this site here that offers a guide to common household laundering and dry cleaning symbols. It is three pages long! How am I supposed to know all of this?

Now I know why some of my clothes weren't doing as well as I'd expected. I have been washing them wrong. Because I didn't know what the instructions were! I had no idea that line of triangles and squiggly lines actually meant something.

So how long has this been going on, anyway, and where have I been?

Fog Rising

Apple Butter Cake

So my friend Rebecca over at Shenandoah Gateway Farm had a recipe for an apple butter spice cake on her blog a few weeks ago.

I am always on the lookout for good spice cake recipes. My husband loves things like zucchini bread, which I make with lots of good spices, and I make an Irish spice cake sometimes that is okay but not quite what I want. It crumbles too much.

Apparently I am unable to follow a recipe to the letter. Rebecca's recipe called for plain ol' sour cream, and I used fat free. She did not use self-rising flour and I did (that is what I always use). Also she suggested pecans and I opted instead for golden raisins. I also didn't have any cardamom (I don't even know what that is) so I just left that out.

All in all this was a very good cake. It must have been decent because my husband ate most of it. I took a piece to my physical therapist and she pronounced it "awesome."

It got better as the days progressed, too, which I found unusual. It did not dry out but instead seemed to grow more moist.

I think I will give this another go over the holidays.

Many thanks to Rebecca for posting the recipe.

I Want It All Just Right

My Random Randomness Meme

From Sunday Stealing

1. How did you choose your baby's or pet's names?

A. I haven't had a pet in years. My dog that died in 2001 was named Ginger, and I picked that name just because I liked it.

2. Have you ever been fishing?

A. Yes. When I was about 10 years old I won a bag of chips at the Salem Fishing Rodeo for catching a catfish in the trout pond.

3. Have you ever had your national flag painted on your face?

A. No.

4. What was the last social faux pas you made?

A. I have no idea. I probably talked with my mouth full or wiped my nose on my sleeve or something gross like that.

5. What makes you nostalgic?

A. Smells - wood burning, chocolate chip cookies, old people odors.

6. What's the scariest thing you've ever done?

A. I went up in a hot air balloon once. I rode a motorcycle. I have shot guns. I went into surgery. Okay, that last one is the scariest, hands down.

7. What fairy tale character would you most associate with?

A. The princess in the Princess and the Pea. I am a little OCD and I have to have everything just so. So maybe also Goldilocks in the Three Bears, who wanted it all just right.

8. How much do you tend to swear in public?

A. Not as much as I do in private.

9. If you ruled your own country, who would you get to writer your national anthem?

A. Well, not you, O person who asked this question, since your sentence has a typo in it. I think Melissa Etheridge, though, could write a good national anthem for my country.

10. Who is the most intelligent person you know?

A. My friend in England is probably the most intelligent person I know. But I know a lot of very smart people.

11. What's the craziest thing you've ever done for someone?

A. Chasing cows for my husband is pretty crazy, especially at my age.

12. What's the worst piece of advice anyone has ever given you?

A. To do anything for money.

13. If you had to describe yourself as a flavor, what would it be?

A. Blue Raspberry.

14. If you had to describe yourself as a car, what would it be?

A. Toyota Prius.

15. If you had to describe yourself as an animal, what would it be?

A. Deer.

16. Do you think laughing at someone else's misfortune is wrong?

A. Yes. Of course it is wrong.

17. If a loved one was to serenade you, what song would you most like them to sing?

A. Anything with "I love you" in it. Or maybe "Annie's Song" by John Denver.

18. Would you ever let your parents pick out a partner for you?

A. No.

19. Have you ever tried spam? (the meat product)

A. Yes, and I actually like it. It is also good to have on the shelf in the event of an apocalypse.

Deer, Deer, What Can the Matter Be?

Dang, my leg itches! 

Whew, I gotta take a nap!

You know I ain't givin' you a minute's peace, woman! Here I come!

Whatdaya mean, get away from me! You know I'm the king of the forest! Mom said so!

Down Sugar Tree Hollow Road

Earlier in the week I helped my husband move his digging equipment for a septic tank job on Sugar Tree Hollow Road.

That's him in front of me, pulling his backhoe with the dump truck, as we headed down Blacksburg Road near Fincastle.

A view of the Blue Ridge Mountains through my car window as I drove along (at 8:00 a.m. or thereabouts). It was quite foggy.

I spied this old structure, which looks to me like an old church now used as a barn, as we drove down Sugar Tree Hollow Road.

My husband unloading his equipment. He had to drive the backhoe up a very long, crooked and vertical dirt road, and he didn't think the dump truck could pull the backhoe. My job was to follow along and ferry him back and forth for a bit, until he had everything at his job site.

The woods were beautiful and still. I couldn't help but admire the flicker of light as the fog began to lift and the sun began to dazzle the changing leaves.

This little church was on our route. I didn't catch the name of it but I thought it was a lovely structure. (According to the county's GIS map it's Forest Grove Baptist Church on Mt. Moriah Road.) I wondered if this was the congregation that had once met in the other old church that is now a barn.

Thursday Thirteen

I figure I must be getting desperate when I resort to 13 things inside my fridge, but here goes:

1. Cucumbers from my garden, some of which are shriveling. Earlier this week I picked what I presume will be the last ones for the year.

2. Zucchini, also from the garden, and again I just picked what I presume will be the last ones. I have never picked zucchini from my little patch so late in the season.

3. Fudge that I made yesterday to take today to the Fincastle Library for their book and bake sale. I like to support their endeavors as much as I can.

4. Apples from Ikenberry Orchards. This local orchard has been in business for five generations, and I buy my apples from them instead of the supermarket. The locally grown taste a whole lot better, I must say. I love their ginger gold.

5. Baked roasted chicken from the supermarket. Very tender and tasty. I am dieting so I peel the skin off. I've had a rough week and some days you just don't want to cook.

6. McCutcheon's Apple Butter. This is a family owned venture, too, but in Maryland. They make my husband's favorite kind of apple butter; we usually travel up into the Shenandoah Valley for it a few times a year. That's his last quart (I just noticed he has two of them in there, one needs to be thrown out, I think) so it is time for another trip. I don't know why we can't find it in the Roanoke area, but The Cheese Shop in Stuarts Draft carries it.

7. Cranberry Juice. Just Cranberry, it's called. No sweetener. I have to cut it with a little grape juice to down it, I'm afraid. It's supposed to be good for me. I drink it 4 ozs at a time.

8. Probiotics. Somewhere in there is a bottle of Ultimate Flora, which I take daily. This is supposed to help keep yeast infections away and keep my gut working properly and things like that.

9. Water. I keep a big picture of water filtered with a Brita filter in the refrigerator at all times. I usually fill it at least once, if not twice, a day. It is important to stay hydrated.

10. Fat-free pudding. This is one of my few treats these days. Fat free pudding is 3 points in Weight Watchers. I don't eat it often but sometimes you need a little something different.

11. Fage 0% fat yogurt. I like the cherry kind the best. It is also 3 points in Weight Watchers.

12. The diet Dr. Pepper and the regular mayo belong to my husband, along with the regular salad dressings. The "light" Miracle Whip and the fat free salad dressings are mine. He won't eat "fat free" at all, hence we have two of everything. I won't drink diet sodas; I think that artificial sweeteners are bad for you.

13. Flax seed oil. This is supposed to be one of those "good" fats that people with poor lipid numbers take. I have taken the capsules for a long time and frankly don't see that it helps, so I thought I'd try the liquid form for a while.


Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 312th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Early Autumn Delight