Mrs. Teabody Greets the Day

Good Morning, Gentle Reader.  'twas quite a snuggly night last night, and the Teabodys are ever so appreciative of their restored electrical power, having been denied its comfort and joy for sixteen hours  because of Sandy . As usual, Mrs. Teabody has risen a bit before the rosy-fingered dawn, and this brisk Hallowe'en  requires that one don both socks and a robe.  Do bundle up! According to Mr. Wikipedia, the word Hallowe'en was first used in the 16th century and represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All Hallows' Even ('evening'), that is, the night before All Hallows' Day. Hallowe'en is also thought to have been influenced by the Christian holy days of All Saints' Day (also known as All Hallows, Hallowmas or Hallowtide) on November 1 and All Souls' Day on November 2. By the end of the 12th century they had become holy days of obligation across Europe and involved such traditions as ringing bells for the souls in purgatory. "Souling...

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.  ~Albert Camus Bbbbbuuuuurrrrrr, Gentle Reader. Today promises to be a proper fall day, do you not agree? A crescent moon hangs silver in an ebony sky just outside Mrs. Teabody's window, and everywhere inside Mrs. Teabody can see "tender" green plants large and small which the  pajama-clad Teabodys bore indoors some time after nine last night after seeing a crawler on the television predicting morning temperatures in the 20's. Mon Dieu! Lose the Volkswagen-sized ferns? Noooooooo! Sacrifice the ancient rhododendron or dracena to Jack Frost's withering touch? No. No. No. Mrs. Teabody strongly suspects small life forms will begin to emerge from each and every one of these rescued plants at daybreak. Spiders mostly. Shudder. The plants, however, have been saved. Mrs. Teabody is enjoying a nice cuppa Bombay chai which is a perfect compliment to a crisp and promise-crammed fall morning. Mrs. Teabody loves thi...

Tuesday, September 18 Good Morning, Gentle Reader. Did the cooler temperatures and whirling weather give you a pleasant slumber last night? There is something delicious about being snugly abed while the elements cavort outside. Much preferable to being inside a motor car with two sisters  making their way home from a two-night stay at Caesar's on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City on a high speed highway in torrential rain sandwiched by eighteen-wheeled behemoths . Much. But to the heart of the matter. Arriving in Atlantic City at Caesar's at 2:00 P.M., Mrs. Teabody, the Duchess Tilly and Lady Anne were pleased when "Johana" called them to her line and delivered the delightful news that the three had been given a mini-suite on the twentieth floor in the Ocean Tower. The numbering system for the Ocean Tower baffles most folks going from 1-2-3 to 7800-8200, etc. No matter as the room card directed the party to the 8200 floor and just a few steps along the brilliantl...

Good Morning, Gentle Reader! Are you basking in the fall-like temperatures that greet the day? Fall has its share of naysayers, of course, but many folks of Mrs. Teabody's acquaintance profess a fondness for wearing sweaters, for reading under the warmth of an afghan or comforter, and for lighting that first fire in the fireplace. Perhaps cooler climes will end the tyranny of this new wave of hostile insects bent on baffling physicians from Bangor to San Clemente. One surely hopes. Are you an on-line shopper, Gentle Reader? If you are, perhaps you are familiar with amazon.com? Mrs. Teabody is overly fond of books, and with a profound dearth of bookstores in these woods, she has been most delighted at the effortlessness of purchasing various and sundry things from amazon.com. Perhaps you have noticed that more and more companies are connecting their online ordering through this efficient service. Why, just this very week Mrs. Teabody purchased wallpaper border and merchandi...

If you are reading this Gentle Reader, you have, doubtless, survived the "wild and whirling" weather of yesterday and are looking forward to this last little week of August. Only five days remain. Had Mrs. Teabody's niece not spoken of the upcoming Labor Day weekend, Mrs. Teabody may have allowed the traditional farewell to summer to come and go without so much as a passing mention of a wienie roast or corn boil. Information is power. Plan accordingly. The Teabodys made their semi-annual buying trip to NYC last week and chose to accommodate themselves for two nights in the moderately rarified air of Lexington Avenue at the InterContinental Barclay  on the block adjacent to the Waldorf-Astoria. Within the general area one can also find The Benjamin and an enigmatic Marriott so the location is not altogether as remote as it may initially seem when one is out scavenging for a decent cuppa before seven ayem. An extremely professional young man named Norman was happy to answ...

Time flies when you're having a good time. ~ English proverb Good Morning, Gentle Reader. The clock but new struck five and in just a very little while, the Teabodys will climb inside their ancient motor car and hurtle toward the train station where they will board a trusty Amtrak tube which will deliver them to New York City's Penn Station to begin their three-day sojourn inspecting the wares of the world's cleverest artisans! In spite of a nagging discomfort from an "itis" from which Mrs. Teabody hopes to recover, the Teabodys will do their best to bring home a host of treasures to line the walls of Tickle Your Fancy. Just for you. On Thursday, Mrs. Teabody wished to commemorate the first day of SECOND year she would not be attending "inservice" day prior to the first day of school. What could be more fitting than to spend time with another teacher who was just as delighted not to be  sitting inside some dreary central meeting room listening...

"If you're blue and you don't know where to go to, Why don't you go where fashion sits?  Puttin' on the Ritz." ~ Irving Berlin Good Morning from Meadow Grounds Mountain where the cool ambient air reminds everyone that August is the month during which Summer scampers into acceleration  mode. Best catch it before it's gone, Gentle Reader! Mrs. Teabody  returned yesterday from a week's odyssey with two of her siblings, the Duchess Tilly and Lady Anne, and she is prepared to regale you with stories from the road, as it were, and the odyssey begins in Cleveland. Whilst the dauntless, imperious voice of the Global Positioning Device droned along, Lady Anne chanted contradictory advice from MapQuest, and yours truly silently gazed upon an actual Atlas map - -do any of you remember maps? - -  the driver, Duchess Tilly, simply aimed the motor car in the direction of the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Cleveland, and in less time than it takes to butter a...