Welcome to our monthly Fly on the Wall, a blog post written in snippets. Marcia, Diane, and I invite you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes, at our writing desks, and in our worlds. Come on in, buzz around, see what we've been up to. Bet you laugh!
I guess it's fitting that it's October, because these past few weeks saw me freaking out about a ghost.
I walked into our home office one afternoon and found the printer turned on. It hadn't been on that morning, and no one had used it all day. I couldn't turn it off, which was also strange, so I unplugged it.
And didn't really think about it until a few days ago. I walked into the office and the monitor was turned on. We haven't used that monitor in at least 5 years, but there it was, the light at the bottom blinking off and on.
I called Hubs, he unplugged it, but now I know. We have a ghost.
Are we talking Casper? Or The Shining? Stay tuned . . .
Everything was quiet on the ghost front. Which is good because, really, how many things can we unplug?
And then a few days later I was doing the laundry:
Me: Have you been sitting in the clothes dryer sneaking snacks at night?
Me: Have you been sitting in the clothes dryer sneaking snacks at night?
Hubs: Huh?
Me: You can snack on anything you want, any time you want, but I'd appreciate it if you clean up after yourself.
Me: You can snack on anything you want, any time you want, but I'd appreciate it if you clean up after yourself.
Hubs: I wasn't snacking on anything last night. What are you talking about?
Me: I just opened the dryer to put the clothes in and there are 2 peanuts in there.
Hubs: How is that possible? Maybe the ghosts got hungry?
Me: And didn't clean up after themselves? How rude.
OK, this is getting really strange.
I guess you'd call this a Halloween story. It is, after all, about a crow. Or crowing, anyway.
First, my husband is a very conservative, traditional, conventional, color in the lines kind of guy. He doesn't put himself out there. In fact, there are times when I do and he's mortified (meh, get over it).
So, have you heard of this Aldi aisle of shame "caw caw" thing that's been going on? It's actually pretty funny. There's a whole tribe of Aldi lovers who shop there often and post about their favorite products to social media. But there's also an in-store thing this community does. When they're in the aisle of shame (the markdown aisle), if they see a great deal, they call out "caw, caw" like a crow. Those in the know will "caw, caw" back and come to see what deal they've found.
I told Hubs that we needed to go to Aldi to check out some of the shoppers' recommendations and to see what might happen to be in the aisle of shame. I explained that if we found a great deal, he had to call out "caw, caw."
There is no way he would ever do that. We talked about it a number of times, and I started taking it as a challenge, I kept telling him he was going to do it, and he kept telling me he wouldn't.
Last night, I tried again. And again he was adamant.
Quoth my husband: Nevermore.
I thought the ghost had branched out and gotten into our cell phones, but . . .
Hubs called me from work asking if I'd tried to text him. I hadn't. He told me that he got a text from me that said "Nn9." The text had my name, and my phone number, and just that message.
This made no sense to me. Maybe I butt texted? Is that even possible? So, I grabbed my phone and, of course, there was no such text sent. How could his phone have gotten a text from me that my phone never sent?
The ghost?
He came home and I asked to see the text. There in his text messages was my name and my phone number. Next to it was, in red, the word "draft." I opened it up, backspaced on the message and it went away. I hadn't inadvertently texted him. Apparently, it was Hubs who had unintentionally started a text to me.
The ghost is off the hook for this one. But Hubs? Sometimes I really worry about that guy.
Hubs comes in the house late on a Saturday afternoon. I'm reading.
Hubs: What's smells delicious?
Me: Oh, a Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cake.
Hubs: Wow, did you make it?
Me: Well, it was either me or the ghost.
Hubs: If it was the ghost, hope he sticks around.
Did he just call me spectrally replaceable?
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cake
I talked in my August post Pop Ups and Basal Twins about my Frankenstein makeover. I'd had an invasive Basal Cell Carcinoma removed and had a suture line up my left cheek. A week later I had a second one removed from the right side of my nose. That one required a skin graft and ended up infected.
So yeah, Frankenstein.
Both are starting to heal but they aren't there yet. But I also have a few precancerous spots on my face. These will be frozen off with Cryotherapy. They'll blister, but that's the easiest way to deal with them.
And, trying to be a silver lining kinda person, I'm thinking if I do the Cryotherapy right before Halloween, my monster face will be at its scariest.
Completing my evil plan to scare the trick or treaters off and keep all the candy for myself.
Ah, the things I'll do for a big bowl of chocolate . . . Muah ha ha ha {{evil laugh}}.
Me: I have a great idea of how to get rid of our ghosts.
Hubs: Oh no, you know your great ideas usually scare me.
Me: Well, scare is actually the point.
Hubs: OK . . .
Me: But first I have a question.
Hubs: What?
Me: Do you think ghosts are afraid of Frankenstein?
I wrote a post, back when I first started this blog, about what I'd do if faced with a zombie plague. I called the piece A Sense of Balance, and if you haven't read it, you should, it's funny.
So, in this Halloween month when I've been having my Frankenstein monster make-over, there's been a little balance around here.
My deck had a princess make-over.
I designed it myself, picking out a plank with red overtones, going for a henna look over a dark brown or a grey. There are many options for the railing: metal, wood, glass. Of course, things are never that easy when I'm involved. I worked out a hybrid. Metal posts and top rails, but with mixed centers. I wanted the classic spindles along the sides, but didn't want my woods views hampered, so glass along the front. They were able to work that out for me.
The beauty to my beast.
Balance.
Forget Frankenstein, after this conversation (I SO love spoofing my family), they are thinking I'm more witch.
Usually, for Halloween dinner, I make my Harvest Soup and my Cinnamon Cranraisin Pumpkin Bread. It's our tradition.
But this year I have heard of a new (to me) soup, and in the name of mixing April Fools with Halloween, I thought I'd suggest it.
Me: I'm thinking of switching up soup recipes this Halloween.
Hubs: Instead of your Harvest Soup?
Me: A new recipe I saw, it's a Jamaican soup.
Me: A new recipe I saw, it's a Jamaican soup.
Hubs: Jamaican? Like your Jamaican Shrimp and Crab Chowder?
Me: Jamaican flavor profile, but I'm sure it will be quite different.
Me: Jamaican flavor profile, but I'm sure it will be quite different.
College Boy: Sounds good, I can be here to try that.
Me: Great! It's called Jamaican Chicken Foot and Cow Skin Soup. I hear it's quite popular.
Hubs: Oh wait, Halloween? I think I have a meeting that night.
College Boy: I forgot I'll be working late on Halloween.
Me: Bak, bak, bak, you chickens. I'm getting out my caldron. Careful, I may put your feet in my soup.
Truth is, Chicken Foot and Cow Skin Soup is a real dish. And if I could maybe switch out the chicken foot for wings and the cow skin for chicharrones sprinkled over the top, I bet all those island flavors would be delish.
I have a couple of favorite reading spots in the house. One is a huge overstuffed chair in the bedroom for cold winter days. The other is a recliner in the office right by the window. I like this one at this time of year.
I have bookshelves, a long desk, and little decorative pieces sprinkled around the room. On the desk is a small piece that looks like a trunk.
Lately, when I'm reading in the late morning, I hear a ping sound. It seems to be coming from the trunk. At first I ignored it, but it was happening pretty much every day. Just once, but most days.
So . . . are the ghosts maybe stuck inside? But I thought they could just go right through objects. They aren't like a genie in a bottle, right?
Or are they just trying to make a point. In a Frankenstein vs ghosts competition, I just may be losing the battle.
There may be things I don't know, but there's one thing I'm very sure of. There is no way in hell I'm opening that trunk.
Now click on the links below and see what my friends have to share:
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Cake
©www.BakingInATornado.com
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 packet (1.25 oz) raspberry chocolate cocoa mix
about 3 TBSP baking cocoa
1 box (15.25 oz) dark chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup raspberry yogurt
4 eggs
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 can (16 oz) dark chocolate frosting
Directions:
*Boil the water. Add the raspberry chocolate cocoa mix and stir until dissolved. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease three 9 inch cake pans and "flour" them with the baking cocoa.
*Beat the cake mix, oil, yogurt, and eggs until smooth. Add the cooled raspberry cocoa and beat for 2 minutes. Divide evenly into the prepared baking pans.
*Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until the center springs back to the touch. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing. Trim the tops so they are flat.
*Place the bottom layer on a serving plate.
*Beat together the cream cheese, raspberry jam, and powdered sugar. Reserve 1/2 cup for decorating the top of the cake. Spread a thin layer of the remaining raspberry filling onto the bottom cake layer. Repeat with the second cake layer and remaining filling.
*Add the top layer of the cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
*Frost the top and sides with the dark chocolate frosting. Decorate the top with the reserved cream cheese filling.
