Category Archives: Fantasy

2024, books, Fantasy, Mysteries, Nature, Weather

Bowled Over

29 Comments

Around Christmas I decided that I wanted to re-read the Inspector Gamache series of books by Louise Penny.  They were favorites of mine when I first re-read them and I enjoyed the tv shows although I wasn’t happy they cancelled after the first season.  Short sighted.

I’m on the third book right now, listening to it on CD in the car.  Last week there was a huge thunderstorm in the book and Louise wrote one of the characters as saying that their mother had explained thunder as “angels bowling”.  This caught my attention because this is exactly what my mother told me about thunder when I was a kid.

As an adult I know in my brain that thunder is caused by the shockwave of air that expands rapidly around a lightning bolt.  But it’s way too easy to remember bowling angels or the Zeus in Fantasia orchestrating a huge storm. 

What kinds of stories were you told as a child to explain natural phenomenon?

2024, animals, Fantasy, gardening, home, Nature, pets

The Terrarium

24 Comments

I love house plants.  Unfortunately so does Nimue.  In the first few years after she joined the household, she has decimated ALL the plants.  Nothing was safe from her.  I can’t even start seedings.

As I realized she was laying waste to my house plants, I was able to train her to stay off the bookcase in my bedroom.  YA’s fish, Sheldon has come to live in my room and I hoped that maybe a couple of plants could survive there.  I pulled out all the books and them stacked them sideways at all different angles.  When Nimue tried to climb up (as she had done many times before), her weight would shift the books and down they came, cat and all.  it took about a month before she gave up; Sheldon and my two plants had found a safe haven.

Then about six years ago, I found an inexpensive coat rack at a garage sale.  Just plain black metal but the arms stick out from the rack about 10 inches so it’s made a fabulous plant rack.  I found some inexpensive macrame pot holders so they hang very prettily.  Sheldon has since gone to that great fishbowl in the sky and a couple of succulents have taken his place on the bookshelf.  In all these years since her catastrophic attempts to scale the books, Nimue has left the bookcase completely alone.

So when I saw class at Gertens for making a terrarium I thought that might make a nice addition to my small greenery collection.  It was a Saturday morning – one of the only really cold mornings this year – and about 40 hardy souls had ventured out.  They supplied everything: a little fish bowl, rocks, charcoal, soil, piece of screen and itty bitty plants.  The two folks running the class walked us through the various layers and then let us loose to chose which plants we wanted, which rock, etc.  I actually took notes – in case I wanted to make any more on my own.  This turned out to be very helpful and most of the folks at stations around me took a peek at my notes while we were making our layers.  The class was only about an hour but I really enjoyed it.

The gal doing most of the teaching also mentioned that if we wanted any little critters or fairies or gnomes, we should check out the fairy garden section of Gertens.  I hope she got a commission as I think ALL of us stopped by there.  I got little bunnies and a crystal sphere on a tree stump (it just spoke to me). 

I don’t know if I’ll make more… I’ll have to research how to get the very small amounts of some of the layers (rocks, charcoal) without buying whole bags of the stuff.  And, of course, I’ll have to find a spot where it will be safe from the Plant Ravager!

Tell me about your houseplants (if you have any)!

2024, Family, Fantasy, Food

Never Underestimate the Power…..

29 Comments

I don’t remember when I found my donut at Sunstreet Breads… it was before pandemic, I do know that.  All these years it’s my Wednesday default… donut and raspberry cream scone.  Throughout all that time YA has only been moderately interested.  Some weeks she’ll ask for a savory treat (spinach swirl, sweet potato chevre bundle…) and occasionally a fruit turnover of some kind.  Some weeks nothing.

Then last week she asked for a donut.  Doubletake on my part but I got her a donut.  The gal at the bakery was surprised as well when I said two donuts.  When I asked YA how she liked it, her lukewarm response was “it’s OK”. 

So imagine my surprise when yesterday morning she asked “Can you get me two things?”  The blueberry turnover and… wait for it… a donut.  “They’re good” she commented when I looked at her as if hot frogs were on the loose.

Have you ever turned someone to the Dark Side?

2024, Art, Fantasy, Games, Mysteries

Dragon Forge

41 Comments

I just finished the Dragon Forge puzzle.  1000 pieces.  And I promise, this is not a blog about how I succumbed to temptation (repeatedly) to sit for hours at the table working on this thing.

I chose this puzzle from the fantasy section of the Puzzle Warehouse in St. Louis, a fascinating place I discovered on a visit to Nonny right before pandemic.  It’s a huge warehouse with puzzles sorted all kinds of ways – mostly by the company that produced the puzzle but also in theme areas including my favorite.  Fantasy. 

My first big plunge into science fiction/fantasy was Star Wars, which I saw at the Grand Theater in Northfield.  Four nights in a row.  Then came the reading of The Hobbit when I was 20.  This was followed immediately by all three volumes of Lord of the Rings.  The barn door was open – the horse was not going back in! 

I’m usually more drawn to fantasy than science fiction and it’s almost exclusively due to dragons.  Sure, wizards, witches, fairies are great but dragons are the draw.  I’ve been known to search the library website using “dragon” as the keyword.  There are amazing numbers of books out there with “dragon” in the title.  I prefer sympathetic dragons, dragons who can communicate, smart dragons, dragons with magic but I can handle the dark side as well. 

Nobody that I know is into dragons like I am.  This is where my problem is this week.  I love the artwork on this puzzle and I’d love to know that the next home that it travels to will have someone who appreciates it as much as I do.  I’ve thought about keeping it and maybe putting in in a frame but I don’t really have any wall space and I’m pretty sure that YA would object anyway if it went in any communal space. 

I know that there are occasional puzzles swaps around the Twin Cities but I’ve never gone to one.  A friend said that they are opening a permanent spot in a Hennepin County Library for jigsaw puzzles; I haven’t found any information on it yet.  Hopefully I can find a good swap or location for Dragon Forge, so that it goes to a good home where dragons are appreciated!

Where do you like to get rid of your excess stuff?

2024, Business, Family, Fantasy, Technology

Cyber Highway

33 Comments

Yesterday YA had to leave her car at the dealership for a recall of some sort so I picked her up there and delivered her to the office.  When we pulled up, the front parking area was blocked off on both sides.  This, in and of itself, isn’t too extraordinary.  The building in which the travel division resides is also the “client building” and occasionally the front will be blocked off for a client arrival (which is usually accompanied by the cheering throngs).  But it soon became clear that something else was up as there were just a few parked cars on the side of the building and a couple of people were lounging about their parked vehicles. 

Turns out the company internet was down.  There were a handful of times that the internet was done in the past twenty years, the most notorious being when a squirrel committed suicide on a power line on top to Building 3.   A few times the power went with the internet which always led to flocks of folks at Caribou down the street, colloquially known as Building 7.  Most of the time though we just muddled on, working on documents, jumping into quick meetings or making phone calls until cyberspace was clear.

But these days it’s a different story.  EVERYTHING is tied to “the cloud”.  The phone is through the internet, document storage is on the cloud, the meeting platforms are online.  If the internet is down, there is no point in even going into the building.  So YA and I headed back home, with a quick stop at the Dunkin drive-through, and she quickly got her laptop fired up on the dining room table.  Luckily her using our home wifi for work doesn’t increase the cost.  And it was a shorter drive to take her to the dealership later in the day than to pick her up at the office.  Win-win!

If the internet were a real person, would they be a friend of yours?

2024, Fantasy, Food, holidays, Mysteries

Let Them Eat King Cake

33 Comments

I saw a funny story online yesterday about a thief who stole seven King cakes from a bakery in New Orleans.  Cash and a case of vodka were also taken.  That’s a heck of a party someone is planning.

Growing up, while I had heard of Mardi Gras, I had never heard of a king cake.  Even working in bakeries for four years after I got married, I still never heard of it.  It was the travel industry that finally introduced this pastry to me – every year a king cake was delivered to the travel division from a supplier in New Orleans. 

The Bittersweet Confections king cake must be fabulous.  While the green, purple and yellow colors are bright and it’s fun to see who ends up with the plastic baby that is often baked into the cake, I’ve never thought king cake was the best use of butter, sugar and flour.  A little too sweet and sticky for my taste.  But a staple of the holiday it is and I suppose if I lived in New Orleans, or celebrated Mardi Gras, I would learn to make them.  Maybe I could make a version I like a little better??

Suppose you’re breaking into a bakery?  What would you take?

2023, Fantasy, Gatherings, History, holidays, Media, Theatre, Uncategorized

Little Christmas

16 Comments

Manitoba and southwest North Dakota have quite a few Ukrainian communities. We have several Ukrainian friends on both sides of the border. Some are members of the Ukrainian Orthdox Church, some the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Both denominations have married priests. I don’t quite understand that.

Both denominations also seem to celebrate Christmas on January 6th instead of December 25th. I personally don’t know if I could stand waiting until January 6th for Christmas to be over. I read with interest the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in the Ukraine militantly moved Christmas celebrations to December 25th this year in a punch in the eye to the Russian Orthodox Church.

Husband was doing some idle research and found that in Scotland, Ireland, and in Amish communities in the States, January 6th is called Little Christmas, and there are traditions of the men that day doing all the women’s work. How big of them! I certainly hope in those societies that Christmas isn’t just for women to arrange and orchestrate! It certainly isn’t in our house.

I regret that our basement is all in disarray and our TV and various media players are all packed up waiting for carpenters and carpet layers. One of my favorite recordings is the 1998 production of Twelfth Night from Live From Lincoln Center with Paul Rudd and Helen Hunt in the leads. Watching that is a nice way to end Christmas.

When is Christmas over for you? Any memories or good quotes from Twelfth Night, by The Bard?

2023, Family, Fantasy, Music, Uncategorized

Would You Like To Be A Pip?

44 Comments

For some odd reason, Husband was musing recently about what it was like being a backup singer in one of the various musical groups from the 1960’s and 1970’s. He thought it would be fun to be a Miracle, a Blue Note, or a Pip.

This brought up memories for me of the Ronettes, the Marvelettes, and the Vandellas, although I don’t think it would be much fun to be an Ikette. I would have to put up with Ike.

What backup group would you like to sing with? Got any good ideas for names of new backup groups?

2023, books, Family, Fantasy, home, Kids, pets, Uncategorized

Sit Behind The Stove

30 Comments

A favorite book when our children were growing up was “Louhi, Witch of North Farm” by Toni de Gerez with illustrations by Barbara Cooney. It is a story taken from the Kalevala about Louhi stealing the sun and the moon and hiding them. The hero, Vainamoinen, eventually gets them back with the help of Seppo the smith.

A minor character in the book is Sit Behind the Stove, a character from Russian mythology, who lives in Louhi’s cottage. Husband sketched pictures of Sit Behind the Stove, which our children loved. I imagine Louhi’s kitchen looking like this:

I hadn’t thought about this until recently when Kyrill our Cesky Terrier found a small red ball in the yard and brought it in the house. It is an official Minnesota Twins T-Ball that he loves to chase. At times the ball seems to have a mind of its own, as it is ultrasensitive to even the smallest imperfections and dips in our laminate flooring in the dining room and living room. It gains momentum for movement with every dip in the floor and then rolls. Kyrill has learned that if he tosses it under the furniture it will eventually roll back to him. He watches intently to see where it might emerge, and then pounces on it.

The other day the ball rolled under the buffet in the dining room. When that happens, we usually have to retrieve it for him. After a minute or so, though, it magically rolled back out! It was rather unsettling, I admit, and I imagined that Sit Behind the Stove or perhaps a tomten must have tossed it back out.

Who or what are your favorite mythological characters?

2023, Art, Family, Fantasy, holidays

Festive Display

60 Comments

When I was growing up my family and I used to drive around at the holidays to look at homes all decorated up with festive lights.  But that was the only time of year that folks decorated outside.  At Halloween, most folks put out jack-o-lanterns but usually just on Halloween or a couple of days beforehand.  It just wasn’t a thing that people did.

Well, it’s a thing now!

YA and I spent a little time driving around on Saturday, looking at the fall colors and some of the fascinating displays in yards around South Minneapolis.  Lots of ghosts hanging from trees, lots of skeletons lounging around on porches or adirondack chairs and, of course, pumpkins galore.  We saw one house with their long windowbox filled with little bitty pumpkins and squash of all colors.  We also saw a huge blow up arch that looked like a monster with outstretched arms that you had to walk through to get to the front door.  Wondering if that will too scary for small kids on Halloween night.

There were two stand-outs of the afternoon.  First was the class of skeletons, apparently waiting to have their school photo taken. Very creative and very funny.  Also a LOT of work I bet.  I kinda wish I lived across the street from this house so I could have watched as this scenario was set up.

The second photo YA snapped was such a mish-mash of stuff that we couldn’t resist.  Little ghost lights along the sidewalk, a funny looking ghostbusters car (looks a bit like a VW Beetle), a dog with a pink hat, a minion, pumpkins, and over-sized skeleton and (my favorite) a dragon!  We did see two other yards with this blow up dragon but this one won the prize for being part of such an eclectic collection. 

I’ve never been big on decorations outside, although I will admit to a cornstalk along with my pumpkins this year, but I do enjoy looking at others’ displays.  And I did look up the inflatable dragon online – not horribly expensive, but a bit much for someone who isn’t prone to overdoing décor outside.

Any Halloween/fall decorations (outside or inside) at your place?