AROUND AND ABOUT - SUNDAY 10-11-26 AND MONDAY 10-16-26

Sunday, October 11th, 2026 at 4.44 p.m: it has rained for a good part of the night and all day. Wanting to make good use of my inside time, I made a Denver Omelet Pie which you should have seen yesterday. It turned out great and we ate it for brunch and supper. Still two pieces left for tomorrow. I put it together while Gregg fixed a new windscreen wiper blade on the car. He cleaned and vacuumed the inside of the car too. We were both productive.

While he was out there, I took the opportunity to add the recipe on here, and made date changes on a couple of the others, so you might have seen one already today as I accidentally published for a minute or two and I see someone popped in. Apologies to you! Tsk! I try not to do that but one gets through every now and again.  

I always enjoy finding out the history of these dishes, how they came to be, and historians and local folklore buffs point to several possible inventors:

A leading theory suggests Chinese immigrant laborers adapted the Cantonese egg dish 'egg foo young' by putting it between slices of bread for workers on the Transcontinental Railroad and in western mines (that last part reminds me of the Cornish coal miners with their pasties). The bread was dropped later to make this pie.

Another theory is from a plaque in downtown Denver that claims the recipe was invented by early pioneers and wagon freighters to hide the taste of aging, unrefrigerated eggs, using strong aromatics like onions and green peppers.

In 1907, local Denver business owners and restaurateurs - including Albert A. McVittie and M. D. Looney - separately claimed to have invented or popularized the dish. 

Those are three of the stories anyway.

When we were out yesterday, we drove by my favorite house that decorates for Halloween. It was fun seeing this family on a walk stopping to take a look. I noticed the man on the right taking pictures. The kiddos looked riveted and so did the dog for that matter. It was a cute scene. I will have a post in a day or two, showing the decorations we have seen so far.

Our kiddos - yes not kiddos but still our kiddos - sorry guys but you'll still be our kiddos when I'm in my rocking chair - are in New York City for a long weekend. They love it up there and got to see many of their friends. We are going to be getting the whole story and a slide show soon. Looking forward to it.

Monday, October 12th, 2026 at 3.44 p.m: We have just finished a nice long conversation with those 'kiddos' I talked about yesterday. They are driving as I type this and should be home in another couple of hours. They had a fabulous time and told us so many stories, it was fun listening to them. I will probably share more of their photos as I think of them.

Their friends told them about this place. It is a diner where scenes from "Friday the 13th" were filmed. 

It was quiet when they arrived but the lady who took care of them said it gets regularly packed with tourists here. 

That movie did a lot of good for this community. Truthfully, I haven't seen any of these films and that's not putting it down. It's just that horror movies scare me. I remember one I saw with mum back in the day at the local movie theater with Barbara Stanwick and Robert Taylor. It was called The Night Walker. She was a big Robert Taylor fan and we really had no idea what the movie was about beforehand. It was pretty tame compared to today's standards, but it scared the dickens out of us. Neither of us watched another horror movie after that. We always read the synopsis beforehand from then on. We used to go to the movies a lot when I lived at home. We had fun doing that together.

Here are a few other photos I received from son and daughter-in-law. Blairstown (New Jersey) looks like a pretty little town, and you can read all about it here. 

Its population is 5,757.

Famous filming site for Friday the 13th. It served as the primary filming location for the original 1980 horror film, with local spots like the Blairstown Diner embracing the legacy with themed menu items and fan events. I wonder how they chose this town?

The Blair Waterfall, located right in the heart of downtown Blairstown in Footbridge Park along Main Street, is the visual centerpiece of the town's historic core. Powered by the Paulinskill River, this scenic spillway directly connects the town's early industrial roots to its modern-day pop culture fame. You might guess I am getting all this from Google.

The township is named after John Insley Blair (1802-1899), a prominent 19th-century businessman and railroad builder.

I added the circle around the town. Inside the circle you can just about make out the red dotted outline where it is located. It was enjoyable finding out about this place. My old love of those geography lessons kicked in. If you click on the picture, you can enlarge it to see more details.

Earlier Gregg and I drove over to our favorite bakery, Chantilly de Chateau Cafe, and it is located in the town of Chantilly. (I am going to have to look up what the connection is to the one in France.) I think I mentioned before but it is shabby chic, not at all what you might expect from the name but we both thoroughly enjoy this place and it is our favorite. Above is the table we sat at for the first time. I hadn't noticed its design before. I was trying to figure out what it was originally used for. Got any ideas? The tabletop is a narrow oblong slab of pretty varnished wood. 

I worried that the place would be packed but Gregg, always the optimist, assured me that wouldn't be a problem. We couldn't find a parking space in front. Gregg wanted to drop me off but I wanted the exercise. I used my favorite explanation which usually means I can't be persuaded - motion is lotion - so we drove around to the back and easily found a space. It's actually quite a walk as the building is a big block of several restaurants. When we got inside, there were a lot of people, but we managed to slip into a table right away - the one above - with a nice comfy sofa right near the entrance. Worries abated! Who's a worrier? That would be me. "I think the roads are going to be real, real busy. Maybe we should wait." "I think it is going to be so packed out, maybe we should wait and come back another day." Good job I am married to Gregg, my adventurous one who makes every day an adventure. With all that rain I have to admit it was good getting out.

This is one of the roads we took. I love driving along it.

And this is how the clouds looked today. The traffic wasn't actually that bad. Today is Columbus Day and also known as Indigenous Peoples' Day. For a lot of people it is a holiday.

I will finish with the following and it looks like I have set a theme for this post. Beetlejuice has been around for a few years now but thankfully only this time of the year. There are a couple of additions to the group photo. Though I am not a Halloween decorator, I admire the 'spirit' of my neighbors who are. You can groan now, I know that pun was a groaner.

Thanks for visiting everyone and I hope your day is a great one.

AN OLD PHOTO OF ME WITH MY OLD TEDDY BEAR

I was about or 8 or 9 years old in 1958-59, and when Dad had a day off on a Sunday, we would all go for a ride in the countryside and have a picnic. I was standing on a small stone bridge over a stream. This was/is my much treasured teddy bear that was given to me by my parents on my first birthday. 

I have mentioned Teddy before during the lifetime of blogging, and may have shared these photos already. Even back then he had been well loved with one missing eye, and an ear that had been sewn back on at some point. He is wearing a red corduroy dress and jacket my sister gave me, which had come from one of her dolls, on loan for the day. We were going out after all, and “Your teddy needs to be dressed” my much older and wiser sister told me (older by three years). I can’t remember much about my dress and cardy, but I can definitely remember Teddy’s outfit for the day.

Sheri mentioned in one of her comments yesterday that she would love to see Teddy sometime. She also mentioned that her mother collected teddybears, as do I, though I haven’t added any for many years. I didn’t want to forget, so here you go Sheri, my much beloved Teddy.

Below is a more updated photo, taken in a December. I always put the teddy family out for the 25th.

Thanks for reading my latest ramblings. 

Wishing you all a very happy day.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - TODAY AM SHARING A MARGUERITE DAISY

 As you can see. it has a tiny visitor, a hoverfly I'm thinking. I remember how much I enjoyed taking photos of these flowers, such a pretty bloom.

It is the Marguerite Daisy

This pretty yellow flower (scientific name Argyranthemum frutescens), belongs to the Asteraceae (daisy/sunflower) family. White is the most common native color, but because of selective propagation, you can now find them in vibrant yellow, pink and burgundy.

It originally came from the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago which is roughly 60 miles (100 kilometers) off the northwest coast of Africa. They belong to Spain despite the fact that they are over 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) away from the Spanish Mainland. They sit directly opposite the border between Morocco and Western Sahara and are just north of the Tropic of Cancer. 

In my youth, long before I met my dear other half, my first job out of school was working at a travel agents and I often dealt with the paperwork of people who had booked their holidays there. I wanted to go myself one day. But I'm getting off track, back to this delightful Marguerite Daisy.

Because of its Mediterranean heritage, it thrives in coastal locations and can tolerate sea winds very well. It is described as an evergreen shrub or tender perennial. In cooler climes that experience hard winter freezes, it is widely grown as a seasonal annual.

The Marguerite Daisy is a pollinator magnet and its center is packed with hundreds of tiny individual disc florets that do an amazing job of attracting butterflies, bees and other helpful pollinators, like our hoverfly.

That's all about the Marguerite Daisy today, with my little detour to the Canary Islands. My curiosity always gets me off track and yes, here I go again because my memories have started flowing. 

I have always loved geography, which is why I thought it would be a great idea to get a job with a travel agency. I had grand ideas of taking a holiday or two. Except that they didn't pay diddly-squat and I eventually left to find a higher-paying job, so that I could save up and go on a couple of vacations with my friends.

 A conundrum to be sure, but at least I was able to save up more easily, go out with those friends to the local disco occasionally, buy myself a dress or two, and pay room and board. 

Anyhow, from a glamorous sounding travel agency job (it wasn't), to one in a legal office with the local government. Kind of boring to someone my age - even though I was grateful I hasten to add, and I was able to join my friends on a couple of those winter skiing holidays. We all had to save up the whole year to do that even then, but we got there. I also had a couple of other jobs later, being given good advice by my friends to look for a rise in pay when something became available, but I'll leave those 'exciting adventures' for another day (that was a bit of tongue in cheek, they weren't exciting).

I'll end this before I take you on yet another memory bender.

What a pretty daisy that was! 

My attention span seems to be that of a gnat these days.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

LUCAS MUSEUM OF NARRATIVE ART, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Our son came over this morning (Sunday, 9-13-26). He and our dear daughter-in-law were in California last week, so we had a nice catch up today. 

They went to the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art located in Exposition Park in South Los Angeles, California. Their website can be found here. This museum was entirely self-funded by filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, businesswoman Mellody Hobson. 

George Lucas went to the University of Southern California (he attended the School of Cinematic Arts), which is immediately adjacent to the museum. 

Below is a photo of son looking outside at the park below. You can actually see some Star Wars characters...

like Princess Leia confronting Jabba the Hut...

and Yoda who is overlooking a waterfall, not seen in frame.

I asked him if I could share a few photos they took and he happily agreed, so thank you son. It truly is hard to believe that this building took the place of an asphalt parking lot.

He gave us a show transferring photos from his phone to our TV, and it was fun looking at those and hearing about their experiences of not only sights but the people they met. We enjoy listening to them very much and will look forward to getting together with our daughter-in-law next and hearing hers also. Below is a view of the Los Angeles skyline from the museum.

It is a 5-story, 300,000 square foot structure and not entirely all about Star Wars. It is, in fact, "the world's first major institution dedicated exclusively to the history of story and evolution of visual storytelling."

The building looks like a spaceship, as I thought and so many, many others apparently. But son explained that the renowned Chinese architect, Ma Yansong's inspiration, came from cloud formations, light and the local tree canopy. 

I read later, when the general public and the media compared this futuristic structure to a Star Wars spaceship, Ma Yansong clarified that his design philosophy focuses on organic nature. He envisioned the building as a formless, shapeless cloud that floats or hovers over the city, to evoke a sense of mystery and journey (those words, as you might have guessed, are what I read online and found them interesting enough to share here.) This building, as you can see from the outside, contains no straight lines, echoing Ma Yansong's vision of a natural cloud-like aesthetic. I have always been interested in an architect's vision of his work, and it is enlightening to know this one.

 I don't know if I will ever get to see it myself, but I have loved traveling virtually, and our son gave us a great guided tour through his story-telling and photos.

There are many artists works on display, and the Star Wars in Motion exhibit only occupies about 7 percent of the total gallery space. This room is dedicated to the first six films, including Luke Skywalker's land speeder, pod racers, speeder bikes and Darth Vader replicas. 

As for the other artists featured here? 20-century American illustrators included who have their own galleries are Norman Rockwell, Frank Frazetta, Jessie Willcox Smith, Maxfield Parish, Thomas Hart Benton and N. C. Wyeth.

Then we have fine art, modern and contemporary artists such as Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Vincent van Gogh, Jacob Lawrence, Charles White, Robert Cosescott, Banksy, Judith F. Baca, JR, Ernie Barnes, Beatrix Potter and Takashi Murakami. 

Then there are Comic, Manga and Graphic Story Artists, Jack Kirby, George Herriman, R. Crumb (Robert Crumb), Winsor McCay, Alison Bechdel, Jim Lee, Frank Miller, Charles Schulz and Moebius.

Next comes documentary photographers and filmmakers, Gordon Parks, Dorothea Lange, Robert Capa and George Méliès.

Our son and daughter-in-law had two days but frankly, I would need two weeks to see everything I'm sure!

At the time of writing (9-14-26), admission is $25 for adults but entry is free for children and teenagers under 18. It is highly recommended you get advanced ticket reservations which you can find at their official website for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art website, link in my second paragraph.

Above is the original Cowardly Lion costume (not the face because it was a reproduction) from the Wizard of Oz.

It rained on one of the days they were at the museum. Fortunately, they purchased a couple of umbrellas when they looked at the weather. Also, when they were inside, an emergency fire drill took place where everyone had to get out of the museum. They didn't mind standing out in the rain and it sounded like everyone took it in good part. No one was getting upset at getting wet, so I heard. In the above photo our dear daughter-in-law was looking very happy. Son was happy too because they were in the first line to get back inside and he was able to take photos without too many people around for some of his photos. They had a real good time in this place.

Thank you both for letting me share your photos today. You are the best!

And for a bit of fun I am sharing this photo when son was little. We were visiting my family in the UK and were in my sister's back yard having a party. It had been his birthday a few days earlier. When we arrived my sister invited a few people over, which included neighbors kids. He was too young to see the movie, but everyone gave him Star Wars figures. He loved them and was quite taken with the storm trooper, so for a bit of fun I made a very rudimentary mask out of white cardboard my sister had tucked away. I tied some string on it and he wore it all day. To him it was a work of art, lol! 

(above photo from pixabay.com)

Take good care of yourselves, thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is a great one.