That means middle of the month.
That means it has been a lonnnng time since I applied fingers to keyboard. My beloved webmaster, Chris, is TRULY getting impatient with me, so I am resolved to be a much better person and write much more often, whether or not there is anything of great import to contribute to the web. (He is so STRICT!)

Chris the demanding webmaster

And SO MUCH has been going on!

Not only on the planet, but in my small corner of it.

So…a quick catch-up.

April brought CARNEGIE HALL!!!

I was invited to be one of the singers at a fabulous tribute to Margaret Whiting, hosted by the divine Michael Feinstein, singing along with Billy Stritch, my personal guru-ess Marilyn Maye, and Michele Brourman. It was a total sob of joy of an evening.

One of the MANY things I love about Carnegie Hall is that all the tech people wear at least suits, if not tuxes. Elegance on stage and off.
And it was New York in April. You can’t beat that for beauty. All the parks and trees were dressed in pale green smoke.

AND I got to see WAR HORSE at Lincoln Center, which is one of the most astounding theatrical events of my long, long life. I cannot recommend it highly enough! Just when you think theater has finally fallen to the revival and the flying car, along comes something so magical, simple, moving.

Run, do not walk, if you can get a ticket!

Then along comes May.

And New Zealand. Two beautiful weeks in NZ in the late Autumn. So strange to see the Easter bunny hopping between the falling leaves. Somehow, that is so much more bizarre than Christmas in the height of summer. I spent my time fishing… (I LOVE deep sea fishing .Catch and release, of course.) I would spend my entire life on a boat if I could.

I watched the infinite clouds roll by in their perfect sky. Inspired a poem.
Here ‘tis.

THE LONG WHITE CLOUD
HE IS CRUISING TODAY…GOD…
NOT EVEN FLAPPING THOSE BOUNDLESS WINGS
ALL CLOUD WHITE AND FEATHERED
WITH THE BREATH OF SUPPLICATION
FROM HIS MINUTE, LAST MINUTE THOUGHT
HIS CHILDREN

SHE IS DRIFTING
ACROSS THE PALE, DAWN SILVERED,
BLUE PROMISED SKY, BACKLIT
BY ONE TINY SUN
IN ITS FEROCIOUS BURN
RIDING THE UPDRAFT,

IT SAILS ON,
TODAY TRANQUIL,
TOMORROW TERRIBLE
ACCEPTING ALL,
PROMISING NOTHING

SOME GODS DANCE
ON THE HEADS OF PINS
MINE HAS A WING SPAN
WIDE AS THE BRIGHT
NEW ZEALAND
SKY

I visited with my dear NZ pal, Intan Meyer, the great bead maker. She hand blows the most astounding glass beads from old vodka bottles, broken windows, champagne glasses….you name it. If it is made of glass, she will turn it into some beautiful piece of jewelry!
(If you want to know more, let me know and I will post her info for you. In case there is a fine bottle of Chardonnay you MUST have turned into a necklace. I did.)

At the moment she is in the middle of a ferocious battle with lung cancer…holding her own in a magnificent way. I am astounded by the bravery of my warrior friends battling these diseases that call themselves Cancer. Strangely, almost all of them at the moment are women. And all of them look even MORE beautiful stripped of hair and eyebrows and trivia. The true heart shines through so clearly.

Here is a bit of humor she sent me.

A woman was sipping on a glass of wine, while sitting on the patio with her husband, and she says,
“I love you so much, I don’t know how I could ever live without you” …
Her husband asks, “Is that you, or the wine talking?” …

She replies, “It’s me…talking to the wine.”

Rock on, Intan!!! Rock on!

I LOVE a good hat and own several,

but mayhap they take it to an extreme.

You think?

While I was in NZ, the royals got married. It was a very big deal in New Zealand. There was much toasting and celebrating and talking about the DRESS and the HAT. I LOVE THE HAT!!!

Speaking of poems, I am seriously considering self- publishing some of my own. They have been sitting in this ring binder for quite a while now…the ones that would NOT turn themselves into a lyric or set themselves to music. That is my mystery project for this upcoming year. Any advice in this arena would be GREATLY appreciated!

And speaking of poems, I JUST returned from brisk, refreshing Tucson (111 degrees in the shade), where I did some concerts with my beloved honey George and the divine Michele Brourman at the FABULOUS Arizona Inn. (Which, if you have any reason to visit Tucson, and you SHOULD, but not in July!) you must experience. The last vestige of old elegance. Built in 1930 mainly to house the cowboy movie stars while they were filming. The huge pool where they bring you constant ice water and free ice cream sundaes at all hours! The fabulous staff (they wipe your car seats down with a cold cloth before you get in!)…the gorgeous rooms. Seriously, you MUST treat yourselves and go!
But I digress. While there I re-met an astounding poetess by the name of Jane Candia Coleman. She is a friend of Michele’s and now mine, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, TWICE, and a glorious writer and gal. Check out a book of her poetry called NO ROOF BUT SKY if you want to taste the elegance of the True West.

Over margueritas , she and Michele and I were talking about the internet…the blessing and the curse of it. (We ARE over 40 and still remember typewriters with fondness.) So she sent me this.

Dear Friends and Family,

As we progress in the year 2011, I want to thank all of you for your educational e-mails over the past year. I am totally screwed up now, and have little chance of recovery.

I no longer open a bathroom door without using a paper towel, or have the waitress put lemon slices in my ice water without worrying about the bacteria on the lemon peel. 

I can’t use the remote in a hotel room because I don’t know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels. 
I can’t sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed. 
 
I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking one’s nose. 
 
Eating a little snack sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years.  
I can’t touch any woman’s purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom.

I MUST SEND MY SPECIAL THANKS to whoever sent me the one about rat poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing. 
 
ALSO, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason. 
 
I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die for the 1,387,258th time. 
 
I no longer have any money, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program. 
 
I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa’s Novena has granted my every wish. 
 
I can’t have a drink in a bar because I’ll wake up in a bathtub full of ice with my kidneys gone. 
 
I can’t eat at KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes, feet or feathers. 
 
I can’t use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

THANKS TO YOU I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes. 
 
BECAUSE OF YOUR CONCERN, I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains. 
 
I no longer buy gas without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer doesn’t crawl in my back seat when I’m filling up. 
 
I no longer use Cling Wrap in the microwave because it causes seven different types of cancer.

AND THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW I can’t boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face. Disfiguring me for life. 
 
I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me. 
 
I no longer receive packages from UPS or Fed Ex since they are actually Al Qaeda agents in disguise. 
 
And I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan. 
 
I no longer buy cookies from Neiman-Marcus since I now have their recipe.

THANKS TO YOU I can’t use anyone’s toilet but mine because a big black snake (or poisonous spider) could be lurking under the seat and cause me instant death when it bites my butt. 
 
AND THANKS TO YOUR GREAT ADVICE I can’t even pick up a coin dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting to grab me as I bend over. 
 
I no longer drive my car because buying gas from some companies supports Al Qaeda, and buying gas from all the others supports South American dictators. 
 
I can’t do any gardening because I’m afraid I’ll get bitten by the Violin Spider and my hand will fall off.

If you don’t send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon, and the fleas from 120 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor’s ex-mother-in-law’s second husband’s cousin’s best friend’s beautician . . .

My favorite irony photo of the moment…

My favorite real billboard…

My favorite music…

- FLEET FOXES!!! My Beatles for the millennium!

- 
WENDY LANE BAILEY – “Breathing”…so beautiful!
Her version of Joni Mitchell’s NITE RIDE HOME is the perfect song for July. 
The CD or download is available through CD Baby
(www.cdbaby.com/cd/wendylanebailey ) and also Amazon and I-tunes.

- 
LEE LESSACK’s new CD “Chanteur” is luscious! Perfect for a romantic evening of wine with someone who’s eyes you like to stare into.
-  lmlmusic.com/lee-lessack-chanteur.

My favorite reading material:

- THE SOCIAL ANIMAL by David Brooks

My favorite film:

- MIDNIGHT IN PARIS of course!

And now I am trading the dry heat of Tucson for the moist heat of New Haven as I head to Yale for a week of sharing music with some students and some brilliant teachers at the Cabaret Conference.

I realize that Cabaret will never be a money maker for anyone (except maybe the divine Andrea M), but it fills hearts with joy and healing, for both singer and listener, and I am delighted to share what I know and learn what everyone else knows. It’s a blast! I’ll tell all!

Happy Summer. Stay hydrated! Stay joyful!

Dance under the moon!

(Here’s my favorite photo…my friend Martin Fletcher took this of a Condor last week.)

HAPPY EASTER!!!

JOYOUS PASSOVER!!

FESTIVE CHRISTIE

HIMMELFAHRT DAY!!!!

(I THINK this is the official international holiday for ex-cheerleaders.)

I was going to apologize for taking so long to write this chapter. I gather the last chapter happened before CHRISTMAS!!!

But I am NOT apologizing. No, sirreee. It has been an outrageous Spring, the roller coaster ride of a lifetime…of several lifetimes.

I am grateful to have survived and be able to still have fingers that type and eyes that can somehow focus.

Where to start? Where to start???

How’s about with DANGEROUS BEAUTY, our  big old honking musical, which started rehearsals two days after Christmas and ran us ragged 24-7 until she opened February 13th. What an adventure.

Who knew Art could be so complicated? Or exciting? Or sleep depriving?

(That’s me and Jeannine Dominy, the author, in the theater at some point during final tech rehearsals. Running on fumes and wayyyy too much caffeine.)

The end result was a creature of pride and beauty for me.

The reviews were as varied as a million dollar bag of dyslexic trail mix…everything from withering scorn to high operatic praise. Loved or hated…which is much more exciting than “I liked it where shall we eat?”

And a fantasy of my LIFE was fulfilled, Rufus Sewell, who starred in the film, came to the opening, (as did the glorious Jacqelyn Bisset), and Michele and I got to have our pic taken with him on someone’s shaky I-phone. I have proof I have been  touched by the handsomest man on the planet!!!!

Does she have a future? Don’t know at this point.  All I know is it was an astounding effort filled with love and drama. All shall be revealed in the fullness of time.

Since then, the world has been a place of SUCH astounding contradictions…

the horrendous continuing tragedy of Japan,

( I  can hear my pal Helen Caldicott, the avid anti-nuclear activist shaking her  fiery head and yelling “I TOLD YOU SO!!!”),

the  astounding events in the Middle East, the foolishness on so many congressional floors, the tornados in Oklahoma, Charley Sheen on tour,  and the MOST glorious Spring that has crept on moist little feet into my garden. Moist, because we have had more rain this Spring then in years! Our drought is officially over!  My roses are screaming with delight, the iris starting to leap towards the heavens, the Orioles have returned to the bird bath, the hawks dating in the eucalyptus trees out front. Heaven!

The Universe has a very strange, Kafkaesque sense of humor.

This cartoon says it all.

In between all this sturm and drang have been patches of joy.

Michele Brourman and I had a GREAT three days at the glamorous RRAzz room in San Francisco, while the hurricane hit Los Angeles.

We went to Tucson to help celebrate the 40th Anniversary  of the wonderful Invisible Theater, where I met and instantly fell in love with the divine Kathleen Chalfont. What a class act in a gorgeous, fuzzy package.

And now, as I type from the sky, I am winging to  New York City where the Universe, in the guise of Michael Feinstein, has asked me to share the stage at Zankell Hall with him and Billy Stritch and my musical goddess, Marilyn Maye, in a tribute to our beloved musical pal, Margaret Whiting. What could be more wonderful?

Margaret was a true friend to me. It was she who encouraged me to keep writing during periods of despair, and always encouraged me to  keep  coming back to New York to sing. She was an angel to so many song writers. What joy to be able to sing her praises in such a classy joint.

(THIS sign will NOT be found back stage at Carnegie Hall!)

In honor of Margaret, the Queen of Jazz, I offer you the following.

She would have LOVED this dissertation!

AGENT: A character who resents performers getting 90% of his salary.

ARRANGER: A guy who writes to support a drinking habit.

BALLET: An art form for people with eating disorders.

BANDSTAND: The area furthest away from an electrical outlet.

BIG BAND: Nowadays, an aggregation consisting of two musicians.

BROADWAY PIT JOB: A prison sentence disguised as a gig.

CABARET: A venue where singers do songs from shows that closed out of 
town.

CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME: God’s way of telling you that you’ve practiced 
too much.

CATERER: A man whose hatred for musicians is unrivaled

CHANTEUSE: A singer with an accent and no time.

CLASSICAL COMPOSER: A man ahead of his time and behind in the rent.

CLUBDATER: God’s way of telling you that you didn’t practice enough.

CLUB DATE LEADER: Someone who changes his name from Kaminsky to Kaye.

CONTINENTAL VIOLINIST: A guy who rushes like he’s trying to catch 
the last train to Budapest.

CRUISE SHIP WORK: A gig that gives a musician two reasons to throw up.

DJ: The guy your son would rather have play for his Bar Mitzvah.

D-MINOR: A rare army classification which states: in the event of war, 
all musicians are to only play klezmer (Yiddish music).

DOUBLEBASS: The instrument the folks footing the bill feel is 
unnecessary.

DOWNBEAT: The magazine that would have you believe that all jazz 
musicians are working.

ELECTRIC PIANO: The instrument that enables its player to pay for the 
hernia he sustained lifting it.

HOTEL PIANIST: A guy who looks good in a tux.

JAZZ: The only true American art form beloved by Europeans.

JAZZ FESTIVAL: An event attended by folks who think Coltrane is a car 
on the B&O railroad.

LYRIC: That part of a tune known only by singers and homosexuals.

MELLOPHONE: An instrument best put to use when converted into a lamp.

METRONOME: The archenemy of chanteuses and cantors.

MOVIE COMPOSER: Someone who can write like anyone except himself.

NEW AGE: A musical substitute for Valium.

NEW year’s EVE: The night of the year when contractors are forced to 
hire musicians they despise.

ORCHESTRATOR: The musician who enhances a composer’s music, only to be 
chastised for it.

PERCUSSIONIST: A drummer who can’t swing.

PERFECT PITCH: The ability to pinpoint any note and still play out of tune.

PIANIST: An archaic term for a keyboard player.

PRODIGY: A kid who has as much chance at a normal childhood as 
the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series.

RAGA: The official music of New York’s Taxi and Limousine Commission.

RARE VIOLIN: A Stradivarius, not to be confused with a rare violinist, 
which is someone over four foot eleven.

SIDEMAN: The appellation that guarantees a musician will never be rich.

STAFF MUSICIAN: Harder to locate than a cavity in the Osmond family.

STEADY ENGAGEMENT: Look up in Webster’s Dictionary under the word 
”obsolete.”

24\7: The time signature of the national anthem of India.

UNION REP: A guy who thinks big bands are coming back.

VERSE: The part of a tune that’s disposable, except to its composer.

VIOLA D’ AMORE: A baroque string instrument and coincidentally the 
hooker Bach lost his virginity to.

WURLITZER: The Ford Pinto of pianos.

YANNI: A man blessed with great hair for music.

As long as we are into definitions, here is my favorite visual definition of the moment…

What useful thing have I learned since last we communicated?

How to make sourdough bread!
My pal Michele forced me to…bless her wicked heart.
Come on over. I’ll bake you some. I’ve done rye, whole wheat, nine grain…haven’t tried chocolate chip yet, but I am pondering….
(If you ask me what my last meal will be…A loaf of hot sourdough bread with a stick of butter, a grilled artichoke, and some berry cobbler…with a fine Zinfandel. How about you?)

How to poach eggs in red wine. Yum!

Now the following may or may not be true….probably a little bit of both, but I liked the read:

Interesting History

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery…….if you had to do this to survive you were “Piss Poor.”

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn’t even afford to buy a pot……they “didn’t have a pot to piss in” & were the lowest of the low.

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn’t just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell . ….. .  Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.  Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting Married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.. Hence the saying, “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water!”

Houses had thatched roofs – thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof… Hence, the saying “It’s raining cats and dogs.”

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.

This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, “dirt poor.” The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren’t you?)

In the old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.  Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence, the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old. Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, “bring home the bacon.” They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus,someone could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.

And that’s the truth….now, whoever said history was boring!!!

Yes, it’s culture corner time…

Books:

HOME by Bill Bryson ( a fascinating look at the history of how we live by the funniest writer alive.)

THE SOCIAL ANIMAL by David Brooks (a wonderful study of the interaction between heart and brain. Also very funny!)

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, VAMPIRE HUNTER by Seth Grahame-Smith (I bought it for the title and LOVED it. He is a terrific writer.

Next for me…SENSE AND SENSIBILTY AND ZOMBIES

THE POETRY OF AMY LOWELL (My mom used to read her poetry to me. I had forgotten how ahead of her time she was, and what a glorious writer.

Viewing:

(I haven’t been TO the movies in a while. Been visiting my home theater, as t’were.)

CAMELOT ( the new, sexy version)

GAME OF THRONES ( you can tell I am into knights and naked ladies at the moment)

MILDRED PIERCE ( slow and gorgeous. That Kate WInslett knocks me OUT!)

And so as we approach the flight path into JFK, and April saunters down the flowery path, I ponder … what does it all portend?

My practicing Christian friends all say Easter is the most important time of year…the time of darkness turning to light, sorrow becoming joy…death turning to rebirth.

And I hope that somehow, the world will celebrate its own version of the Passion Play… the sorrows and confusions and darknesses we all bear ( and I guess, MUST bear as that seems to be a huge part of the pattern for existence in this unexplainable wonderful terrible dimension) will be warmed by the sunlight of each other’s growing patience, understanding, and compassion.

Peace to us all!

Love, Amanda

And Kia Ora, which is Mauri for “howdy” from the lounge at the Auckland, New Zealand airport, where I sit waiting to board and return from this glorious land in the DEEPEST of SOUTH, where I just spent two glorious weeks doing as little as possible.
Unless it had something to do with WINE.
Or SUGAR!

The Kiwis understand sugar in all its forms

and are not afraid to use it!

I spent Thanksgiving here watching summer come rolling in. The flowers are blooming, the birds are dating furiously. No turkeys. (Kiwis look askance at turkey.) So sea food had to do. Oh, okay!

I walked the morning beach Thanksgiving Day, under blue perfect skies and long white clouds and was grateful for every moment of my life , every note of music, and every friend who has crossed my path. Like you.

I hope your Thanksgiving was joyful with a few moments for contemplation before the stuffing and pie.

And speaking of PIE, this was forwarded to me. The newest OMG food invention! Perfect for any holiday festivity. It out-turduckens the Turducken!
It is called The Cherpumple!
The culinary symbol of American enthusiasm.

And if you decide to make one, let me know how it is!!!!!!

Lot’s of good things happening since last I blogged. (Which sounds like an arctic sport to me.)
I produced a wonderful concert in Ojai for the divine Miss Laurel Masse. Here’s a pic of the two of us dueting on n encore of“Sentimental Journey”. A fantasy fulfilled…to finally get to sing with her.

After that I traveled with my pal Michele Brourman to experience another autumn in New York where we had an outstanding week singing at the Metropolitan Room. Nothing like Halloween in the Big Sooty. I do believe that is New Yorkers’ favorite holiday. All those spider webs and pumpkins in the windows.

And if you haven’t been to the Museum of Art and Design at Columbus Circle, run, do not walk!!!Absolutely astounding creativity, AND a really good restaurant (ROBERT)at the top with a view of the Park that is to die for!

We created a whole new show out of songs I have never done or barely knew, or had just written…lyrics still dripping…memory a-quiver. We had no idea whether it was going to be any good at all, but the audiences seemed to love it, much to my delight and surprise.

(I think I will be putting the pieces of the evening up on YouTube, as shot by the wonderful Maryanne Lopinto. So if you are interested…)
And look at some of the wonderful friends who came! The delicious and elegant Steve Ross and her magnificent self, Tovah Feldshuh.

My major theatre crush, Robert Cuccioli.

And two of the great goddesses of music…the alpha and omega of the singing world…
Marilyn Maye and Marilyn Horne!!!!

Also…my fabulous creative team for DANGEROUS BEAUTY…Sheryl Kaller, our director, Jeannine Dominy, our playwright, Michele B, and Me.

Being in the presence of all these creative forces is such a thrill…vitamins for the soul. I recently read this quote which seems entirely appropriate to the whole experience.
“We work in the dark. We do what we can. We give what we have. Our doubt is our passion. And our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art….”
–Henry James

So now back to home and the Christmas rush, in EVERY sense of the word. I LOVE this holiday! I usually have all my cards done by now but…so if yours comes a little late, like next April, I hope you will understand.

I DID discover a fabulous recipe for baked pumpkin. Who knew one COULD bake a pumpkin and not turn it into pie??? I just thought you carved eyes and teeth and set a candle in it and let it rot on the front porch.

So…get a small one…bake it at 350 for 20 minutes so it softens. Then cut it in small wedges, drizzle with olive oil, sea salt , and pepper, and bake for another 40 minutes or so, until it is soft. Then serve with toasted walnuts and small dabs of goat cheese. YUMMMMM!

CLOROX VS PEROXIDE Interesting Info!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is my favorite handy hint of the moment. Ah, the miracles of hydrogen peroxide!

I always knew ( my good friend Lynn told me) if you put a few drops in each ear when you feel a cold coming on, you can stop that cold dead in its tracks. She was so right! Now that sniffles season is officially here, get that little brown bottle out of the back of the cabinet and put it in FRONT of the Nyquil. And here’s more handy info

Written by Becky Ransey of Indiana (a doctor’s wife), and I want to share it with you. She was over recently for coffee and smelled the bleach I was using to clean my toilet and counter tops. This is what she told me:

I would like to tell you of the benefits of that Plain little ole bottle of 3% peroxide you can get for under $1.00 at any drug store. What does bleach cost? 


My Husband has been in the medical field for over 36 years, And most doctors don’t tell you about peroxide. Have you Ever smelled bleach in a doctor’s office? NO!!!

Why? Because it smells, and it is not healthy! Ask the nurses who work in the doctor’s offices, and ask them if they use bleach at home. They are wiser and know better!

Did you also know bleach was invented in the late 40′s? It’s chlorine, folks! And it was used to kill our Troops. Peroxide was invented during WWI in the 20′s. It was used to save and help cleanse the needs of our troops and hospitals.

Please think about this:

1. Take one capful (the little white cap that comes with the bottle) and hold in your mouth for 10 minutes daily, then spit it out. (I do it when I bathe.) No more canker sores, and your teeth will be whiter without expensive pastes. Use it instead of mouthwash.

2. Let your toothbrushes soak in a cup of peroxide to keep them free of germs.

3. Clean your counters and table tops with peroxide to kill germs and leave a fresh smell. Simply put a little on your dishcloth when you wipe, or spray it on the counters.

4. After rinsing off your wooden cutting board, pour peroxide on it to kill salmonella and other bacteria.

5. I had fungus on my feet for years until I sprayed a 

50/50 mixture of peroxide and water on them 

(especially the toes) every night and let dry.

6. Soak any infections or cuts in 3% peroxide for five to ten minutes several times a day. My husband has seen gangrene that would not heal with any medicine but was healed by soaking in peroxide.

7. Fill a spray bottle with a 50/50 mixture of peroxide and Water and keep it in every bathroom to disinfect without Harming your septic system like bleach or most other Disinfectants will.

8. Tilt your head back and spray into nostrils with your 

50/50 mixture whenever you have a cold, plugged sinus It will bubble and help to kill the bacteria. Hold for a few minutes, and then blow your nose into a tissue.

9. If you have a terrible toothache and cannot get to a dentist right away, put a capful of 3% peroxide into your mouth and hold it for ten minutes several times a day. The pain will lessen greatly.

10. And of course, if you like a natural look to your hair, spray the 50/50 solution on your wet hair after a shower and comb it through. You will not have the peroxide-burnt blonde hair like the hair dye packages but more natural highlights if your hair is a light brown, reddish or dirty blonde. It also lightens gradually, so it’s not a drastic change.

11. Put half a bottle of peroxide in your bath to help get rid of boils, fungus or other skin infections.

12. You can also add a cup of peroxide instead of bleach to a load of whites in your laundry to whiten them. If there is blood on clothing, pour it directly on the soiled spot. Let it sit for a minute, then rub it and rinse with cold water. Repeat if necessary.

13. I use peroxide to clean my mirrors. There is no smearing, which is why I love it so much for this.

14. Another place it’s great is in the bathroom, if someone has been careless & has peed on the floor around the toilet & it’s begun to smell of urine. Just put some peroxide in a spray bottle & spray. In the blink of any eye all the smell will be gone & the bacteria eliminated!

I could go on and on. It is a little brown bottle no home should be without! With prices of most necessities rising, I’m glad there’s a way to save tons of money in such a simple, healthy manner! This information really woke me up. I hope you gain something from it, too.

Amen!

Oops. They have delayed the flight. Well, that means I can get even more creative as I sit on the floor with all the people carrying pillows and laptops. This could be me right now.

This is DEFINITELY me all of the time!

And here are some further words of wisdom I think are invaluable:

Pay attention! (If you are over 40 and still CAN pay attention. )

I think there is a song in here.