Category Archives: Fantasy

2024, Fantasy, Food, Nature, Seasons, Uncategorized

High as an Elephant’s Eye

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I was glad to see how tall Ben’s corn is last week.  The summer has been good for me – after last summer’s blisteringly dry heat, I’m enjoying the slightly milder temps and the rain.  I haven’t even had to get the sprinklers out of the garage yet. 

And Iowa must be doing OK as well.  My next-door neighbors were gone for about 10 days – visiting the grandparents south of the border.  When they travel in the summer, I always water their outdoor plants; it’s easy as they just pull all the pots over to the fence and I can just apply the hose to them whenever I am watering my bales.

I’m happy to do it and I don’t think of it as an onerous chore (especially when it rains so much) so I was surprised when they came home with a bag full of corn for me as a thank you.  Straight off the farmstand corn and the pretty kind I like best – yellow and white. 

The only problem with 12 ears of fresh corn is when you are the only one home for over a week.  YA was away on a work program.  There was no way I was going to waste all that gorgeous corn so I rolled up my sleeves and dived in.

I saved two for just eating and de-kernelled (is that a word?) the rest.  Froze one bag then made a double batch of corn salsa (froze some), a lovely fresh kernel cornbread and then a fun garden veggie pizza with ricotta as sauce.  All done in three hours! 

So now I’ve processed cherries and corn this summer.  Wonder what else will come my way?

What kind of foodstuff would you like to have too much of?

2024, Fantasy, Kids, Music, Mysteries, Songs, Theatre, Uncategorized

Prince Among Men

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My little friend next door, Minnie, loves to sing and dance.  For the past two summers she had done a summer camp at the Lundstrum Performing Arts Center; this year they presented Annie Jr (just a shorter version of Annie).  Considering that it is all untrained kids and that they get the whole thing together in two weeks, they did a great job.

This was all that Minnie talked about for two weeks.  In addition to previewing the song/dance that she was in, she regaled me with stories of how things were progressing and who was playing what part.  There were several kids who had been in Little Mermaid with her last year and although I did see the show last year, I couldn’t have told you any of the players except Minnie. 

Of course there was also the post-production discussion the day after the last performance.  I commented that the young man who played Rooster Hannigan did a nice job.  He also had a great dance solo dressed as a street Santa in the N.Y.C. song.  Minnie quickly pointed out that he had played Prince Eric in Little Mermaid.  When I said I hadn’t remembered that, she commented that he hadn’t had to do very much to be the prince.  Then she added, almost as an afterthought, that princes don’t usually have much to do. 

In her world, all her princesses and princes are represented by Disney.  As I thought about it the next few days, I realized that Disney has, for the most part, not spent too much energy on princes.  Snow White’s prince doesn’t have a name, Sleeping  Beauty’s prince does have a name (and a bit of backstory) but doesn’t have much personality.  Cinderella’s prince is also pretty non-descript.  Ariel’s prince is a little bland and definitely clueless.  Belle’s prince spends most of the movie as a beast and Tiana’s prince spends most of the movie as a frog.  Merida has three princes, all of whom are a bit… lacking.  A few princes fare a bit better in their Disney representation but clearly it’s all about the princesses. 

I’m not too worried about this unfair portrayal – I doubt that young girls and boys are too damaged by this uneven treatment.  But I also don’t believe that Barbie dolls are inherently evil either. 

If you were to be a Disney princess or prince (or villain if you prefer) for a week, who would you choose?

2024, animals, Fantasy, gardening, History, Kids, Seasons, Uncategorized

Viking Daze

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After all the days of rain, YA and I couldn’t wait to get out into the yard and get dirty.  I decided that it had been too long since I cleaned up the edges of the yard and boulevard along our front sidewalk.  This is a two-part job.  First I run my edger along where I think the sidewalk should be ending.  Second I sit on the sidewalk and pull up the bits that are overgrown. 

So there I was sitting on the sidewalk when a neighbor from up the street, along with her son, stopped to chat.  Since they had their dog, who is on the small size, I stayed on the sidewalk to pet the dog while we talked.  Blake (son) and I talked about llama day, which had happened at the library the week before.  Blake had been to the farm where the llamas come from and knew one of the llamas that was at the library. 

We also talked about school finally being over for the summer and I asked him if he had any plans.  He’s 10 so his short “just camps” answer didn’t surprise me; I followed up with “what kind of camps this year”.   He mentioned a science camp and a viking camp.  I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know all the kinds of camps there are, but a viking camp seemed different.  I asked if it was a football camp or some kind of history camp.  He laughed and said “BIKING”.  If I’d had any liquid, I probably would have snorted it up on the spot.

When I was a kid you just hung around the neighborhood for the summer and bothered your mother.  Maybe if you knew someone who knew someone you might end up at a vacation bible study camp for a few days.  If kids were doing organized anything, I never knew about it.  So even though Blake will be biking for one of his camps this summer, I love the thought of viking camp.  Not even remotely sure what we would do at viking camp, but I’m positive I would love the outfits!

How did you spend your summers as a kid?  Any camp you WISH you could have gone to?

2024, books, Fantasy, History, home, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Hausgeist

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Husband was at the local college library the other day and saw a book that he thought I would like. He checked out Hausgeister! Household Spirits of German Folklore, and it has been quite a fun read. The book details the various spirits that inhabit German folklore, and outlines the origins and changes in attitudes regarding these characters over the years. Most Germans believed that their homes, particularly farm homes, were inhabited by these creatures, and that the world around them was as well. It was easy to believe in them in the times when houses were poorly lit and were heated with fireplaces. All you needed to be mindful of was making sure you fed them what they liked to eat.

Most of the myths were about kobolds, male household gnomes who helped out with the housework and farm chores. Wichtel were spirits who lived in communities below mountains. They were also helpful. Draks were small fire dragons that could be either good or evil. They entered the house through the chimney. Holzfraulein were female spirits of the forest. Geldmannlein brought people money and looked like weeds.

The Brothers Grimm wrote extensively about these creatures in addition to writing their fairy tales. Tomte and Nisse are their Scandinavian counter parts. I think there is a Finnish character called Sit Behind the Stove. I think we have a kobold in our dining room who rolls the dog’s balls out from underneath the buffet. Something manages to do it. The ball rolls under, and a few seconds later rolls back out. A kobold is more fun to imagine than uneven flooring.

What hausgeist would you want to have? Favorite fairy tales?

2024, Fantasy, holidays, Mysteries

David Shepardson Day

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I like to think that I’m a fairly normal person but every now and then something comes up that makes me wonder if I’m just a few steps off the path.

When I was in the sixth grade, our school had a presentation by a troupe of presumably college students; they did some music and read some poetry – fairly classic late 60s kinds of stuff.  After the show, the students hung around so we could meet them.  I was with my two best friends that day – Linda and Kathleen – and we waited patiently for our turn.  The student that we met was named David Shepardson and he was gorgeous-looking to three sixth-graders, longish brown hair, little goatee, tie-dye t-shirt, sandals.  The full package.  I happened to be wearing a beaded necklace that day and David admired it; he held his beaded necklace up so we could compare and…. our fingers touched.  My girlfriends and I were all giddy.  I didn’t wash my hand for a day and a half and both Linda and Kathleen checked in with me about it.  They were both pea-green.

OK, so you’re saying to yourself, how is this unusual?  Lots of pre-teen girls are a little wack-a-doodle.  Here’s the difference.  56 years later I still have “David Shepardson Day” noted on my calendar on April 16.  

And since, by coincidence, I met my BFF on April 16, 41 years ago, I do often celebrate a bit.  This year I found a nice bunch of dark purplish flowers and took them up to her house, had tea and chatted for a bit.  I usually send her a card as well to commemorate.  During the visit on Wednesday, Sara and I realized that we’ve been celebrating David Shepardson Day a year longer than she and he husband have been married.

I often wonder how David Shepardson’s life turned out.  Did he end up pursuing music or literature?  Did he marry?  Have kids?  Travel?  Does he have “Sherri Carter Day” listed on his calendar every April 16?

Do you celebrate any holidays that yours alone?

Family, Fantasy, Food, gardening, Nature, Weather

Dreaming of Summer

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As I’m driving in the snow the other night, this quote came up on the CD I’m listening in the car, compliments of  Susan Albert-Wittig:

“It’ll be like eating summer out of a jar”

Now I’m not complaining AT ALL about the snow and rain.  After the dry dry winter, I’m glad to have the moisture and I’m sure my gardens will be happier for it when spring/summer rolls around.  But hearing the phrase about eating summer out of a jar reminded me of one of our old favorites:

The only canning I do these days is jam: strawberry and raspberry every year and then blueberry every couple of years.  Normally I enjoy my jam all year round but I’ve never spent much time thinking about it.  Hopefully I’ll try to think of it as summer in a jar in the weeks to come!

Do you have any foods that you think of as “summer” foods?

2024, books, Fantasy, Mysteries, Nature, Weather

Bowled Over

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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

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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…..

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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

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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?