Hello, my friends! Went to the doctor today and when I was asked what was the problem, I said I either had the flu or it was a very good impression of one. "No fever" the nurse said to me in an accusatory tone. My reply, "I can be very sick without running a fever". I smiled and asked after the health of the nurse and the doctor (after all, I AM still breathing!) So...my advice to you is do NOT be your normal cheerful self when you at the doctor's office, instead moan and carry on so they will know you are sick! On enough medication to knock out a horse, so this post might be a bit unevenly written. (What else is new, right?) HA! The doctor got a flu swab from me but I think she thought it was a waste of time. I felt like saying, "I told you I was sick!" Note: in England if you say you are sick, folks kind of step away from you, they think you are going to throw up! Instead, they use the word "ill". We know the word, of course, but still, don't you think most Americans say "sick"? A good impression- I found this for you! I have read that Elvis Presley thought this was THE best impression of him that anyone had ever done- Andy Kaufman on "The Tonight Show" in 1977, I think. Elvis died in August of the year...when I heard of his death on the radio, I pulled over on the side of the road. I was that shocked.
Pax is "Peace" in Latin. Wishing you all good health and peace.
See the cardinal pictured below? You know what he is saying?
You can package that suet any way you want...but I like Kay's homemade suet the BEST!
There are all kinds of suet recipes for birds on the internet! I melted some peanut butter with some Crisco and then, mixed it with some oatmeal and bird seed and froze it in one of the same plastic containers that I had saved from the store- bought suet. The birds really did like it. (Oh, also...I saved a wee bit of bacon fat and poured that over the very top of the suet before I froze it.) A wren flew into our house yesterday. We worked for over 30 minutes to capture it and release it! Birds can fly, you know! We would get close to it and ...up it would go! I know that others have had to resort to throwing a towel over the little winged creatures but we were afraid that we would hurt it. I got the window open, Richard cradled it gently in his hands, walked to the window and the bird flew away...FREEDOM! Remember my post about the film "I'll See You In My Dreams"? It was about the amazing lyricist Gus Khan! He wrote so many songs and another one that was just as DREAMY was this one: "Dream A Little Dream of Me". It was a huge hit for the Mamas and Papas with Mama Cass singing the lead in 1968. The song was written in 1931 with the music by Fabrian Andre and Wilbur Schwant. (The lyrics by Gus Khan, as I just told you!) Now, why would the Mamas and Papas in the swinging hippy days of the 1960's record this song from the 1930's? Turns out that the group used to sing it for fun! One of the members of the Mamas and Papas, Michelle Phillips, had lived in Mexico City as a child and her family were friends with Fabrian Andre, one of the writers who wrote the music for this song. Interesting to me, Mama Cass had this to say about it... "I tried to sing it like it was 1943 and somebody had just come in and said 'Here's a new song', I tried to sing it like it as if it were the first time".
I found a video of Doris Day's recording of it. Hope you like it too.
By the way, Doris Day will be 96 in March. Look out for a future post about her. You know I think she is the bee's knees!
Okay, found another video of Mama Cass singing this song!
Dunkirk! Remember me telling you all how much I loved this film? It is nominated for 8 Academy Awards! I especially hope that Christopher Nolan will win for Best Director. (Best Picture would be nice too.) Pay no attention to the empty box below, I can't get rid of it!
Richard and I also saw "Paddington 2"! We liked it, of course! Hugh Grant was amazing in this! (Stay through the credits, you must not miss the ending in the prison!) And also, Mrs. Brown who was portrayed by Sally Hawkins, is nominated for Best Actress for her role in "The Shape of Water"! (Do you remember me telling you that her parents are Jacqui and Colin Hawkins and they are well known authors of children's books? Well, I am telling you again!) Do you like orange marmalade? You know it always figures a lot in the Paddington movies!
Almost a month since Christmas I know but I read a wonderful piece on the BBC website about Charles Dickens and "A Christmas Carol". You may read it just here. I never saw the movie "The Man Who Invented Christmas"...but I will be sure to see it when it comes out on DVD! So, how are you all doing? Seen any of the films nominated for Oscars? What do you think? Do tell me!
I wish I could write a film review! If you want to read a good one, I would advise you to read this one! A few weeks back, I saw that they were showing a film based on the songwriter, Gus Kahn and that the movie starred Danny Thomas and Doris Day. I recorded it and I am so glad that I did! (Songwriters...you know I love them and their stories.) "I'll See You In My Dreams" was a big hit in 1952 and was directed by Michael Curtiz. (Pronounced "Cur-TEEZE"). (You should know his name, many of his most famous films are: Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Kid Creole and...I'll See You In My Dreams!) All of those that I have listed are EXCELLENT and if you have not seen them, go and do so right now! You will thank me. I have always loved Doris Day, both for her acting and singing but also for her work with animals. I only remembered Danny Thomas from the TV show "Make Room For Daddy" and I only vaguely remembered that one. I also knew that he was a co-founder of the famous hospital in Memphis, Tennessee...the St. Jude's Children Hospital. After looking him up, I was amazed at his story...someone should make a movie about HIS life! Honestly, I wish I could! READ THIS If you click on that link I gave you and read about the life of Danny Thomas, you will be glad that you did!
Hey! When snow falls and you can't get out and your birds are out of suet...make it yourself! You know I did! These photos are from Wednesday of this week when the low was 14 degrees. Today is Saturday...and the high was 64! And we thought that we would only be seeing high temps in our dreams!
Hey! Just because I love my non-fiction books and historical documentaries, doesn't mean I don't love to laugh! Do you know that I love to watch comedies? Oh my yes, I adore them! Not just any old thing, I am very particular. Not only does it have to tickle my funny bone but it has to be something that is not offensive to me . I am not THAT fond of vulgar language and such. I know it is very popular for every other word to be the "F" word but I still find it jarring. (I am old, after all!) What is the point of me telling you this? I am going to tell you about a film that I saw on TV this past weekend...
As I told you in my last post, I was not feeling well at all, so it was nice to watch a movie on TV that really made me laugh, one that I can highly recommend. My husband enjoyed it also, he thought it had a great supporting cast with Jude Law and Jason Statham.
SPY!
You might have already seen this film, it is from 2015, after all!
If so, you might wonder why I didn't notice any bad language...the film was edited for TV and I must admit, I really wonder if I would have liked it as much had it not been edited. Melissa McCarthy is a great actress and just so very funny! Anybody remember my post about the English comedian and actress, Miranda Hart? She is in this film also! She and Melissa McCarthy were so good together, I hope they will do a sequel to this film. The director, Paul Feig, was the same one who re-did the Ghostbusters movie with female leads in 2016. If you remember, I think I told you how much it surprised me to love that movie. Melissa McCarthy was in that one too, he must like her as much as I do! So...I love comedies and I must look out for any other films that Paul Feig will direct, since I obviously like his work.
Much of the filming for "Spy" was done in Budapest! If you ever want to know the details of any film, I hope you know to look at the IMDb, the Internet Movie Data Base...I look things up constantly about films and TV shows. For this movie, you can find the info just here.
On my Dad's calendar, there is a quote by Booker T. Washington, "If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else". Oh dear, that might be a paraphrase...but you get the idea, right? I love it and agree whole heartedly! (Wait...I must have a link to Booker T., you may read more about him just here. If you don't know him, you should!)
Cardinal (male) in the snow...it was still snowing and not daylight yet but Richard got this shot for me. This red bird against snow is one of the most UPLIFTING sights to ever see!
We had SNOW today here in the Atlanta area and it is very cold and will not get above freezing all day. Schools and many businesses are closed. By this weekend, it is expected to be 60 degrees! Might as well laugh, the world is crazy!
Hello, my friends! Feeling a bit under the weather so not much time for anything these days. Sorry I have not had much time for blogging and reading all your wonderful posts! You know how much I love Eastbourne in England if you have read my posts for any time and I was pleased to see a music video from 1989 that features Eastbourne! I recognized it immediately, from the very first frame where they show the man sitting on a bench, beside a long row of benches...I know just where that is, it is next to a Bowls patch/field/area near the Redoubt! Made me ridiculously happy to see this and to know where it was! (Funny thing, I cannot think for the life of me what you CALL the gorgeous green area where they play Bowls...I am sure that one of the Brits who reads this can tell me!) Richard just told me...it is a BOWLING GREEN! It SHOULD be called that, it is incredibly green! Of course, I recognized the seafront and the pier very well from the video! So wonderful to see these views! Hope you like the video too! (It says that you can't see it, but just click on the part where it says you have to watch it on YouTube and you should be able to view it.)
If you noticed the "gaming area" in the video, where the lady is surrounded by games and flashing lights in a very large room, that WAS on the pier but burned down a few years ago. They were able to save the pier (thank God!) but that portion is gone now...it is now an open area on the pier and there are picnic tables here and there for visitors.
Please forgive me but I HAVE to make sure and remind you all how much I love the book "Sailing Alone Around The World" by Joshua Slocum! I wonder if the writers of the song "I'll Sail This Ship Alone" know of it? They will if they read my blog!
Take care everyone, hope you are all doing well!
Hey! Just saw on the news that SOMEONE pushed the wrong button and sent word to Hawaii that there was a missile directed towards them. WHAT? It was a mistake and apparently, was corrected within 30 minutes but come on, how easy is it for someone to push a button and cause something like this? Makes you wonder...
One of my co-workers has a calendar with pretty photos and inspiring quotations. For January, it has a picture of a covered bridge in Vermont with this quote by James Garfield, " Equality- the informing soul of Freedom!". When I saw it, it made me think, I wonder if my young co-worker knows that James Garfield was one of our four United States presidents who was assassinated. (The other three are Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy.)
I just mentioned in my last post that Candice Millard had written a book called "River of Doubt" about Teddy Roosevelt's trip down the unchartered river in South America. Now, I see that Candice Millard has also written a book about James Garfield entitled "Destiny of The Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder Of A President". Here is the saddest thing to know about him, if not for the medical care at the time, he might have survived being shot. Apparently, the doctors dug around for the bullet with unwashed hands and the infection is really what killed him. He was only 49 years of age. If you would like to know more about him, I encourage you to read about him just here. Also, Richard and I saw the movie "Darkest Hour" this past weekend. While we both liked it...ahem, there were some liberties taken with the truth, and I do know that Hollywood does so like to change things but...I hope it will make people want to read more about Winston Churchill and his leadership in World War II. I also see that Candace Millard has written THIS book: "Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, A Daring Escape, and The Making of Winston Churchill". My goodness, this is turning into an advert for Ms. Millard! It is just funny to me that all these books just happen to be what has been on my mind this week. Life is funny that way sometimes! By the way, I was so tired yesterday that I couldn't watch much of the Teddy Roosevelt show that was on TV but I hope to do so tonight. I hope you all were able to see it and to learn more about Candido Rondon! In case you can't see the TV show, I have a link about him here. By the way, my history teachers all loved me! I would always say to them after one of our lessons..."You know, I once read a book about that..." SOME of my teachers liked me but ALL of my history teachers did!
Went to a wedding recently, it was in an old building from 1899 and was originally a mill that made twine...apparently THE largest maker of twine in the world! (And who is there to dispute this claim, I wonder.) See, there I go...always questioning, wanting the exact truth of my history! I don't mean to make light of those who worked so hard in the mills, many of them were children. There, that will have to be another history lesson post of mine!
Have you ever read a non fiction book and hoped that a film would be made of it? You know that I have! If not a full length film, at least a good documentary. Happy to tell you this...
If you are reading this in America, I urge you to watch "American Experience" on PBS on Jan. 9th. "Into The Amazon", the story of Teddy Roosevelt's journey to South America in 1914 will be the subject.
This is an extraordinary story and a true one that needs no embellishment from Hollywood. Teddy Roosevelt, after having lost his re election as President, decided to explore a tributary of the Amazon, one that had never been chartered before, called the River of Doubt. (The non fiction book mentioned in my first sentence? That would be "River of Doubt" by Candice Millard". For my readers in other countries, if you can't see this documentary on TV, then read the book!)
You may read more about it just here. There are good photos there also.
Teddy Roosevelt nearly died on this trip, losing nearly a quarter of his body weight. His son, Kermit, was along on the trip and when Teddy was near death, he pleaded with his son to leave him behind. He refused. If you look at the website for "American Experience" there is a short clip about Kermit Roosevelt. (Looking a bit further, I see that Kermit Roosevelt III, who is Kermit's great grandson is a novelist. I find this interesting.)
American Experience Maybe if you click on that link, even those in other countries will be able to read and to see the videos on there.
If someone asks you, "Who was the youngest American president?" The answer is Teddy Roosevelt, he became president upon the assassination of President McKinley in 1901 at the age of 42. (John F. Kennedy was 43 and was the youngest elected president.)
Who was the oldest? Can you guess? That would be the current President of the United States, he was 70 when he was elected.
Please watch American Experience on Tuesday! And if you miss it, try to catch it when they re-run it.
River of Doubt was later renamed Rio Roosevelt.
Just learned that Ray Thomas of the Moody Blues has died. How much I loved to hear him sing the song that he wrote "For My Lady"! That beautiful flute! The Moody Blues will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April. Sorry that Ray Thomas won't be there but his music will live forever.
There, isn't it nice to hear some GOOD news for a change? Remember I told you about the beautiful statues that were stolen from the local park here in Rockdale County? One suspect has now been arrested and the statues, plaques and globe are in the process of being restored and hopefully will be reinstalled soon. I will let you know when this happens! You may read the newspaper report in our local newspaper, The Rockdale Citizen...the link is here. They also have leads on others involved in this theft and hopefully, they too will be brought to justice! I am thankful to US Enterprises and the Rehorn Foundation for the $5000.00 reward they offered for information about this crime and also to the law enforcement in this county for their dogged determination. Looks like I wasn't the only one who was outraged about this! If you go to that link that I gave you, you will see that the suspect also had stolen the copper frog statue from our local library! (It is a pretty statue of a frog sitting on a bench, reading from a book.) Hopefully, the next time I go to the library, I will see him sitting right back where he should be! Rodger Rehorn of the Rehorn Foundation said at the end of the newspaper article that it just goes to show what we can do if we all come together as a community. Let it be a lesson for us all!
If any of you get an email from me, please ignore it. I got a message from Nan from Letters From A Hill Farm that she thinks that someone hacked my email!(And I remember that YAYA from Whispering Pines told me the same before Christmas.) So, this is just to let you all know, okay? I am the WORST emailer anyway, so if you ever get an email from me, you should be a bit suspect about it! Okay now, my question is: What should I do about this? Should I just take my email off my account info? What do you think?
I know that Christmas is past but I just had to show you my little Christmas tree! When the sun would shine on this, it was so pretty and sparkly. Everything on it was either handmade by me or given to me! The star on the top and the skirt at the bottom was crocheted by me and the tiny ornaments were a gift from a co-worker. AND the garland with the hearts is from my friend in Germany, Meike who writes from her blog at From My Mental Library. Thanks, Meike! I know this might not be intended for a Christmas tree but look how perfect it looks resting gently on the branches! I also think it would look nice on my mantel with fresh flowers in the Spring!
Cadbury's...if you want to send me a case of ROSES for my advertisement here, I wouldn't refuse! (Look how pretty it looks sitting on my little crochet circle, the wrapper was the exact color of the tree!)
New movie coming out that I must tell you about! It is "The 15:17 to Paris" and it is about the heroes on the train from Amsterdam to Paris in 2015, remember that story, where three young Americans confronted a terrorist? (I mentioned them in a post in 2015, just here.)
Anyway, the most amazing thing, Clint Eastwood is the director and he did not use actors to portray the men. Instead, they will be played by the men themselves...Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Scarlatos! You all know this is my kind of film and that is just the kind of special touch that I like.
It looks as though the movie will be released in February. Look out for it!
Anybody seen the new Star Wars movie yet? I haven't, so tell me if you like it! Sometimes, hair stylists will cut my hair in such a way that I look like Darth Vader! (Anybody remember him, or is that too long ago and far away?) I saw the trailer for the film "The 15:17 To Paris" while I was watching the Rose Bowl on TV, Georgia vs Oklahoma. Guess who I was cheering for? (My readers from other parts of the world have no idea how important college football games are to so many people!) Who will win? The score is 38-45 with Oklahoma in the lead but there is six minutes left...will Georgia come back to win it? Time will tell! (The game is now tied 45-45 with 55 seconds left! What will happen...I will let you know!) Okay...GEORGIA WON! Final score: 54-48 in double overtime! Lots of happy folks in Georgia tonight!
