The Heart of Oaklyn

Began the morning with breakfast and Blockbusters. That young woman from last week played a brother-sister team...and neither seemed to want to give an inch. She won the first round, but the second was so even, they were barely half-way through when the episode ended.

Watched Gumby shorts on one of the Roku public domain cartoon apps as I did the dishes. He creates a "Robot Rumpus" when the robots he created to do his outside chores get out of control and start destroying the yard. "Toy Crazy" has him and Pokey roaming around the toy shop, choosing a gift for his birthday. Gumby is "Too Loo" when he's looking for the instrument where a pair of musical notes came from. Pokey thinks that's a "Haunted Hot Dog" in the spooky old house. Turns out it's really Nopey, Gumby's dog, who stole hot dogs from a vendor. Prickles indulges in "Wistful Thinking" when he's so hoping for his birthday wish to come true, he refuses to leave his house. He finally builds a "Turnip Trap" to make his wish come true, but inadvertently traps his friends in it. Gumby and Pokey have to escape stereotypical hostile Indians in "Indian Country."

Switched to Match Game shows from 1976 while relaxing and working on my crocheted pillow case. The first episode featured jokes about what an absent-minded Marshall Dillon did to Miss Kitty and had Scoey Mitchilll finally match the contestant. In the second, Richard pulled an April Fool's Day joke on Gene.

Had lunch while watching Classic Concentration. The woman champion kicked rear end today. Neither the charming old grandfather with 15 grandkids, nor the intense middle-aged man could touch her. She won a ton of prizes and finally got the car on her third go. Another younger man and woman were working on the rebus in the second episode when I shut it off.

Got caught up reading journals and didn't get out for a walk until past 2:30. At that point, it remained a glorious, windy, sunny summer's afternoon. While it was humid, it also wasn't as hot as it has been recently, probably in the upper 80's. Surprisingly, there were only a few people out and about, mainly a few kids playing or adults working in gardens.

Dollar General wasn't terribly busy. Who wants to go shopping on a lovely summer day? Unfortunately, they didn't have any yogurt besides the kind that comes with candy in a plastic cup on top...or any dairy products at all. The only things I saw in the coolers were drinks, gallons of milk, slices of yellow American food cheese, and frozen pizza. The other food shelves were better-stocked; was able to buy Natural Jiff peanut butter (least salt of any major brand) and honey, along with Powerade and my favorite pecan log.

Clouds built up on the horizon as I strolled home. By the time I put on Tattletales and started crocheting again, it was so dark, I needed the light on in the living room. The big winners on Tattletales today were goofy Gary Burghoff and his sweet and smart then-wife Janet, over the far longer-married Amanda Blake and her animal-taming husband Frank and Gene Rayburn and his sensible wife Helen.

The ladies dominated on Press Your Luck today. While the one young man did get the most spins on the second round, he kept getting hit with whammies. The winner hit no Whammies and picked up a sail board, a nice pots and pans set, and a vacation.

Worked on writing after that. Ira, having been dislodged from the ceiling, gathers Charles, Fannie, and the others and is about to send his trolls after then when the doors burst open. Betty and her frog friend arrive with all the servants in the castle. Armed with pans and kitchen and garden implements, they're ready to defend the Legendary Princesses against their abusive ruler. Among them is Helen Rayburn, who was reduced to kitchen work and has been searching for her missing husband.

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftover chicken cutlets with pasta and Chinese beans and garden-fresh tomatoes sauteed in olive oil while watching a 1977 Match Game episode. Richard caught Charles eating on the set and reported it to Gene. Later, Charles said something so funny, even normally laid-back Scoey laughed hard.

I was sipping a blueberry milkshake and watching Sale of the Century when I finally noticed it had begun to pour cats and dogs and thunder noisily. They continued their Varsity Week with girl swimmers and track stars and a football player. The kids were all neck-and-neck for most of the game, but the boy bought both Instant Bargains and the Instant Cash and just pulled ahead in the speed round. He made up for not finding the Instant Cash by breezing through the bonus round.

The rain slowed down long enough for me to rush the recycling out to the street. I don't think it's been seen since about 7:30, but it's still pretty dark out there. We're really supposed to get hit with the tropical storm tomorrow, when it sounds like it'll rain all day.

Finished the night online after a shower. Charlie's Angels make "The Vegas Connection" during the first season when they discover that a rich executive's wife who is being blackmailed used to work at a casino in Vegas. The manager claimed he had a show girl job for her, but it ended up being prostitution...and he did it to other women, too. Kelly poses as another show girl looking for a job, Jill as a gambler, Bosley as a high roller, and Sabrina as an accountant to get the goods on the sleazy man, before he suckers in any other desperate women.

Was delighted to find Rick Steves' Europe on Hulu. I figured the only place you'd see it would be PBS. Did one of his most recent episodes on "The Heart of England." He mainly explores college towns Cambridge and Oxford and the exclusive and famous universities that have been there for centuries. (If the buildings at Oxford look familiar, some of them were used for interior shots of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films.) Ironbridge Grange is named for the old metal span built during the Industrial Revolution. A living museum there teaches people how workers lived in English industrial towns during the 1890's.