Adventures at Fort Courage

I slept in a bit this morning. Just as well. It was gray, cold, and damp, and it was for a lot of yesterday, too. I spent the morning having a late breakfast, reading, and watching That's Entertainment III. I went downstairs around noon to pick up my mail. I got there just in time to retrieve a small but heavy square package from the mailman. Since I was down there, I grabbed those two plants Andrew said I could have, too.

Organized the plants first when I got up there. They were far larger than I thought they'd be! I was going to put one on my kitchen table, but it was too big. The taller one wound up on one of the record crates. The smaller one stayed on the kitchen table, though it may be moved to somewhere else if I can actually find the room.

After I figured out what to do with the plants, I opened the package. It was from my friends Linda and James Young in Atlanta. They've been very supportive of me over the past week and a half, and it looks like they sent me some things to cheer me up while I'm at home. There were four DVDs with episodes of the PBS travelogue series Rick Steves' Europe based around France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, Austria, Switzerland, and the most most recently released shows. There was a collection of six episodes of the 60s western spoof sitcom F-Troop.  There were three books, a biography of Dewey, a beloved cat who was found in an Iowa library, a second Dear America Revolutionary War story (this one from the Patriots' side), and the classic kids' sci-fi story A Wrinkle In Time. There were three other DVDs - while I don't have the live-action A Dog of Flanders, alas, I do already own The Rocketeer and Lady and the Tramp. (My best friend Lauren offered to take the last two for her birthday.) There was a very sweet card from Linda and James.

I watched the F Troop episodes during lunch, and later while making Fudgy Chocolate Mint Brownies and leftovers for dinner. I have very fond memories of watching this hilarious take on military life in the post-Civil-War west on Nick at Night with my stepfather in the late 80s and early 90s. Captain Parameter (Ken Berry) is the head of the most cowardly troop of officers ever in the cavalry. Corporal Agorn (Larry Storch) and Sergeant O'Rourke (Forrest Tucker) were more interested in their side schemes than actually fighting anyone.

One of the most interesting thing about this show is that the Indians, while not exactly politically correct (they're all played by Catskills comedians in bad redface makeup), are just as shifty and dumb as the officers. This show pulls no punches - everyone is after a quick buck and is fairly inept, no matter what the color of their skin is. The exception is Wrangler Jane (Melody Anderson), the pretty cowgirl who is the only character who can shoot a gun at all, much less straight.

My favorite of the black and white episodes was "Indian Fever." Agorn keeps thinking he sees an Indian skulking around the fort. The other officers think otherwise, until Chief White Eagle (Frank DeKova) reveals that the Apaches are looking for war. Parameter then becomes determined to make a peace treaty with them. Paul Lynde, of all people, figured into the best of the second season color shows, "The Singing Mountie." He's the title character, who has come to F Troop in search of a French fur trapper who stole some valuable pelts (Larry Storch in a dual role).

While I spent most of the afternoon working on the Young Adult Fiction inventory, I did get around to calling Komfort Kare to order the "boot" cast for my foot. They said they'd call the insurance company about it. That was around 2PM, and I haven't heard from them since. I'll call them first thing tomorrow morning to find out what's going on.

Indoor Garden Party

I awoke to that freezing rain I mentioned last night. It went on for most of the morning, then changed to rain for an hour or so before ending all together. I decided just to avoid the weather and spend the day inside, doing chores I put off during the holidays and running the many DVDs I either got for Christmas or bought for myself.

Started with the Chia Herb Garden my sister Rose gave me Christmas Eve after breakfast. On one hand, they turned out to be pretty easy. You just wet the dirt "sponge," put it in the earthenware pot, sprinkle seeds on, make sure it has lots of water, stick a plastic sign in that tells you what herb it is, and cover it with plastic.

My problem is, my apartment doesn't get a lot of sunlight. That's why I only have one plant in the whole place, and that's been getting skimpy lately. I put them (and the other plant) on top of the refrigerator. I just hope it isn't too cold there. My refrigerator is directly across from my front door.

I went online, then had a peanut-butter and apple butter sandwich for lunch while finishing up the Woody Woodpecker and Friends cartoon set. Even as Woody was at his height of popularity in the late 40s and early 50s, his boss Walter Lantz was adding co-stars. The most famous Lantz star to appear in this time period was the adorable Chilly Willy, the mischievous little penguin. The girls and I loved his Arctic-bound adventures.

After lunch, I started some bread. The Sally Lunn bread hadn't really worked out very well. All it did was fall apart, and the extra bread I stashed on top of the refrigerator just conducted penicillin. I gave the rest to the birds and started Molasses-Oat-Whole Wheat Bread instead.

As the bread rose, I ran The Five Pennies. This is one of Danny Kaye's occasional dramatic roles. Here, he's Red Nichols, a famous bandleader and coronet player from the 20s and 30s whose orchestra once included such big-band-era luminaries as Glenn Miller and the Dorsey Brothers.

While it was nice to see Kaye perform with Louie Armstrong again (their "When the Saints Go Marchin' In" is a delight) and he's a lot of fun with the little girl who plays his daughter early in the movie, it ends up swimming in melodrama. A pity, since the emphasis on family gives it a more cozy and real feeling than many Hollywood biographies of this type, a far cry from Hans Christian Anderson.

After The Five Pennies ended, I finally cleaned up the pile of boxes in the back room. I really don't need every single one and all of the packing peanuts and tissue paper and bubble wrap that came in them! In fact, I just kept two sturdy blue boxes that my WebKinz Lauren sent from Amazon.com came in. Trash will be going out tomorrow; recyclable boxes will go out Monday.

I went downstairs to check the mailbox - and the weather - around quarter after 3. Yes, the last part of Sailor Moon Season 2 had arrived. The porch was a bit slushy, but not nearly as icy as I'd feared. The path going to my apartment was pure slush, but the roads were very dry. I was able to pick up the DVD set without incident.

I finished up Sailor Moon and worked on crocheting for a bit, then made Turkey Burgers with the last of the Farm Market cheese with an escarole salad, baked sweet potato, and steamed broccoli for dinner. Ran two Bowery Boys movies, Private Eyes and Paris Playboys, while I was doing the dishes.

Oh, and the Molasses-Oat-Whole Wheat Bread came out nice and dark and chewy...and looking more like bread should.

I am going to try to at least get to the Oaklyn Library tomorrow, before the next round of bad weather hits.