Day of the Dead Update

  So much for Frankie versus Mothra. I'm working on it, but I give up for now. I cannot upload any of the Halloween videos from my tablet to my new laptop. I hooked the old one back up, but that's not working either. That might have something to do with Frankie eating through my tablet cord. It's all taped up. I tried emailing the videos and the pictures to myself and others. I've done that all along. Suddenly those emails are void. Sorry. Anyway, Happy Day of the Dead! The doll show is tomorrow. I'll TTYL... 💮☠💮

 

Ephrata Cloister Cemetery: 9/17

B&B in Ephrata, PA - 1777 Americana Inn Bed & Breakfast (Lancaster Count...

Dreams 9/1 The Doll Making Machine

 9/1

  It’s hard to imagine a better dream than this. Mummy and I were at a Christmas doll show where I got an antique doll maker. It was a gray machine about the size of an industrial microwave oven, in the shape of a hat box. I made three antique reproductions with it. They were about eighteen inches tall, made of celluloid like the Ideal and Toni dolls from the late forties. They all had different colored glass eyes, old fashioned upswept wigs, and fabulous gowns, coats, shrugs, stockings, and shoes. There was an older lady there with a doll maker too. She made two dolls. One had a burgundy Christmas skirt with embroidered sugar plums. I took my doll maker home, and Theresa was in awe of the dolls. I made another with an ivory satin bridal gown. She had steely blue almond shaped eyes and a honey blonde wig. Theresa nor I thought that she was as impressive as the first three. 

Dana's Dreams

Dana's Dreams Two

Dana's Dreams Three Revenge of the Dream Hog

  Ron is taking me to what he says is the oldest Ukranian cemetery in America today. The Headless Horseman was a Hassian soldier. Woody, my wooden soldier, who I got from Georgia, is a Prussian soldier. They were here before the Revolution. I was reading about the Huguenot cemetery that my brother and I passed when we road the Strasburg train through Lancaster in the free newspaper that I picked up at Doll Outlet where I got Mamie Eisenhower. I used that in Fanging with Claude. TTYL... ✨

Catch Up with the Chaos

It Just Keeps Getting Better

  Ron's birthday weekend has been a blast from the start. Yesterday we started V is for Vendetta before heading to the horse track. I lost twenty dollars on the horses and a dollar on the slots but came home with a hat, t-shirt, and stuffed horse. It was loads of fun. DOC also arrived in time for Doc Holliday's birthday, and we read it on the way to the casino and in the car today. So far I've only found three typos to fix, a missed space, a comma instead of a period that asshole intelligence missed, and a missed quote. I'll fix it. We are up to page 164 already, it's a riot. After returning home I finished V is for Vendetta which was awesome and not what I expected. Then I sold another of Mummy's Treasures on Ebay. The boys had me up until four. The Madame Alexander Mamie Eisenhower doll was in my Ebay cart, and I considered buying her. I knew I was going to get her for Ike. I had sweet dreams for Dana's Dreams Three Revenge of the Dream Hog. I'm up to page 133 in that. We got up today, and I sold an old painting, The Black Dahlia. I have heard about the doll shops in Lancaster since I moved out here nineteen years ago. Ron takes me to the auctions and shows. The Doll Outlet had Mamie. She's from 1973. I think Ike is from 1987, Enesco. I'm taking a break but IKE, another musical satire, will be sooner than later. Then we went to a fabulous fifties diner. It was better than Happy Days. It was right by where my brother and I had played pirate miniature golf. What's more, the steamboat motel, where I always wanted to stay with Purple Witch, is also there all within walking distance of a theater. There was a doo-wop concert there tonight. I wonder if that is where Purple Witch might be going to see Slayer in September. I'll have to look into it because I could get a room at the steamboat motel. Then, Ron stopped at yet another doll shop, The Doll Boutique, where I got this sweet dress for Frannie who had been wearing Marcella's dress since The Letitia Penn Doll Club's Christmas at The William Penn. That was a Schoenhut theme, but Red Witch and Little Ron will be at this year's with an early dollhouse theme. Good times! If I'm back in September I'll pick up a slicker for Frannie. TTYL...

Amazon (Books)

Ebay (Mummy's Treasures & Dolls)

B&B in Ephrata, PA - 1777 Americana Inn Bed & Breakfast (Lancaster Count...

My next overnight stay, it's only twenty minutes away. I'm working on it... 

Frankie's New Fang Out

   Sir Frankie Crisp loves his new fang out. He hits the pom poms like punching bags and plays the scratching post like a washboard. He basks in the hammock. He says thanks, Dad! Ron took me back to That Pet Place. I got a moss ball for Lennox too who has made a bubble nest. I had to move Uncle Otto, the Otocinclus, to his tank because it has developed some algae. Things are nearly back to normal after my Gettysburg trip. You'd think that I was gone for two weeks.  

The Silver Lining

Lancaster Doll Show

Another good time at the Lancaster Doll Show. No, I didn't win a door prize this time, but they were Rosie O'Donnell dolls that they couldn't give away: no biggie. She might've been fun for O, My Ra! Yes, that has been put on hold due to life until further notice, but I am still writing Fanging with Claude, working on it. Would love to have it done by Christmas, we'll see. Ron got me adorable Little Peach from the forties for my Japanese house and Holly, a party favor from a Christmas party from a hundred years ago for my stocking. Ru Paul Dragon Queen Monster High is not selling. Sad, I've always liked him. Don't think anybody from The Brady Bunch is woke ass. Lots of Trump supporters loving my Bulletproof tee talking about The RIG. See You there! The corn chowder was better than ever, and I still have my brownie that got a bit squashed in my bag. Frankie was a good boy. He's a very good boy. 

Dreams 10/12

   I thought I'd foiled my dream forgetfulness by leaving the closet light on and sleeping with a pad and pen at hand. If only I'd learn to decipher the dream script I'd be set: working on it. 

  First I dreamed of Matt Koett again, he'll be pleased to know. I've been told time and again by roosters to stop naming in my blog. I usually don't include surnames, and to avoid the commies I make 💩 up, (Bitch with the Hammer, Killary, Oogie Booger, Michael, Kid Smeller, Cabala Embarrass), but I don't have to be persnickety when it comes to Matt, never have. So back to the dream, or what I can make out of it. I was at home with my parents getting dressed in my childhood bedroom. Matt came over, and we were all going out to eat. Now, the final clue says "Darcr"... Oh! I just figured it out! Yes, it says Darcy. We met Dame Darcy while we were out, and Matt fell in love. It's nice to go back in time with Matt. I've always been good at deciphering scribbles and pronouncing names, why I was a hit as an English teacher besides being so much fun. 

  Anyway, the next dream was not fun, and what's more, I think I've dreamed it before. I was in the cellar of a corporation where I worked, I came down stairs and saw a blonde woman with a bobbed haircut dressed in blue work coveralls standing against an open stainless steel door. When she saw that I had busted her she became small and clay and tucked herself away in a plastic to go container, only I grabbed it, opened it, and squeezed her into mush. Too bad for me one of her many partners in crime saw me do it and called out for help. Now they were after me. They were all dressed in the blue coveralls. Still holding fast to the container and Play-doh mush girl I scampered away, but they were in pursuit. The place was very industrial: stainless steel, blue plastic, with a concrete floor. I had reached a metal fire escape outside. The first to catch up with me was a girl with a little brown ponytail. Here it says, "koaong"? No idea. Anyway, she was trying to kill me, they were shouting about what I'd done to Play-doh Girl, and didn't want it to get out. I hit Ponytail Girl in the head, hard, with a big rock and she fell from the fire escape. The chase persisted. Each time one would get close to nabbing me I'd disappear. I think I was beginning to do this lucidly as I try to pull myself from nightmares especially when I'm in mortal danger. There is another word I can't make out, "seinal"? Maybe it's signal as they were calling out to each other. I'll work on it. Maybe it's a Dream Word like the Dream People. It's an interesting new twist. Back to the dream, my pursuers were all men at this point, and I'd pop out of sight anytime they became too much of a threat. The final one was Matt Czuchry. He was standing against a set of lockers singing a song. The song went something like this: the girl you didn't get doesn't love me. The chorus sang, "evil grows". And, some people wonder, but no. I had nothing to drink. These dreams are the result of being out of wine. My favorite, Mad Hairy Fella, El Goru, from Spain, is in season. Yes, I’ve strayed a bit, which usually doesn’t happen, but it’s relative. 

Dreams 10/10

 

  I had three dreams, but the third has been lost to the ether. First, I was working in a department store with a tall blonde woman and two dark haired guys. We were wearing blue smocks. I was standing on a strange wooden stand that was something between a church pew and a music stand. The blonde was standing next to me. We were looking for something. I was on the ground and picked up a large polyglot crystal. It might've been rainbow or peacock obsidian. It was midnight blue with iridescent hues and shone like glass. I wanted it, I think, and asked one of the men the price. I think it was around seventy-nine dollars which wasn't bad considering the size and weight of it. 

  Next I was in something like Mummy's kitchen but it was different. Theresa and a boy were with me as well as Johnny ferret. There was a mossy little hole, very soft and green. I had stepped away for a minute and Johnny had vanished down the hole. I was upset with Theresa for allowing it to happen. I was looking for Johnny and calling him. Ron came in and asked what I was looking for. I told him Johnny ferret, and he asked what a ferret was. I explained to him that it was something like a weasel. Then, I noticed it was not a hole at all rather a pipe and that Johnny never could have fit through it. I found Johnny, was very grateful, and was holding and snuggling him. Wish I could remember the third dream, it wasn't bad. 

Dreams 10/1

   Dreamed I had a little dark haired girlfriend that traveled with her dog. She'd stay in hotel rooms with a middle-aged man who she worked with and the dog who might've been a Pomeranian mix. She was reclining at the pool showing me pictures of the man sleeping in bed. She was very friendly and animated.

Dreams 9/28

   Cannot recall much from most of the dream except for the end. I was teaching, and it was the last day of school. For some reason I did not have a way home, and an old student of mine, Rick, was more than happy to give me a lift. 

Ephrata Cloister Ebook

 

Soon to be available in paperback:

Get the Ebook

Ephrata Cloister

We spent a rainy day at Ephrata Cloister. Picture booklets and ebooks will be available soon on Amazon.

Dana Keyes Author Page

 In 1732 Conrad Beissel founded Ephrata Cloister, now twenty-eight acres right off of West Main Street in Lancaster County, Ephrata, Pennsylvania. Beissel was a hermit seeking religious freedom and believed in the Second Coming which he thought would lead to a spiritual oneness with God. 

  The cloister served as a Revolutionary War hospital tending to two-hundred-and-sixty soldiers some of whom rest in nearby Mount Zion Cemetery, which has just been placed at the top of my to-do list. 

  Conrad Beissel passed away on July 6, 1768 at the age of seventy-eight. The community never quite recovered. The last chaste member died in 1813, they are buried in a peaceful cemetery on the grounds. It became a Baptist church afterwards until 1934. In 1941 the Pennsylvania Historic Museum Commission assumed responsibility and you can tour the grounds and shop at the museum shop which is loaded with charming homemade local crafts and music. I got some paper dolls and an owl finger puppet who I’ve named Conrad. He will become a wise hymnast in my current doll soap O, My Ra!  

 

O, My Ra!

Ron got some homemade lemon chocolate. It’s good. I got a couple of fraktur choral manuscript postcards too. Afterwards we ate at The Lincoln House. I had a vegetable bowl and an apple pear sangria, very nice. They have an Apple Dumpling Festival in the Autumn and a Christmas concert. We’ll be back, and I’ll probably pick up a cd and more. They sell the redware dishes like we got from Cornwall Furnace for the dollhouses, same artist I’m sure. My paper dolls are Pennsyvania German 1765-1800 by Jan Wood Zimmerman, 1988. The cloister is worth a visit for the shop alone. 

Ephrata Cloister

 

The Life After Death Project 1 | Documentary | Full Movie

Free Docudrama this week watched a super film on Zydeco that inspired Fanging with Claude. I've made it to chapter ten, Lancaster. Watched this, it was fascinating. I have that FATE magazine somewhere... Starting the Incas, more inspiration for Fanging with Claude...

Lancaster Cemetery

The ebook is on Kindle. The paperback ought to be out tomorrow. 

Lancaster Cemetery

 

That's Service

Starting the box top of my GETTYSBURG game last night I discovered Major General John Reynolds was not buried in Gettysburg National Cemetery, rather Lancaster Cemetery which is less than a half an hour away. Tonight we visited there. The sun was setting, and the cicadas were singing. It was the birthday of the very first grave I read. Funny but I had the same thing happen to me years ago in Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond. It was Daddy's birthday. Just like Lilydale I was automatically directed right to Reynolds' grave. I had no idea that Lancaster Cemetery is a world class cemetery rivaling Bonaventure, Lafeyette, and The Ancient Burial Ground. I was so impressed that a paperback and ebook of the excursion will soon be released on Amazon. I'll let you know. 🕊

 

Burrows

 It's Owl Day again. Get an 8x10 archival print. 

Burrows Print

Finally caught up. Months ago I dreamed that Daddy and I were playing a Gettysburg game. I've finally started it. I'm working on the box top. It depicts the fall of Major General Reynolds and is called GETTYSBURG. After some thought I chose him for the cover because he was killed instantly leading his troops into battle on the first day, my best witches and I had gotten an old time picture taken in the house where his body was taken, and he was from Lancaster. I know a lot about Gettysburg, but after beginning the sketch I've discovered my choice was better than expected. He's not buried in Gettysburg National Cemetery, although there is a monument in honor of him right at the front of the graveyard. He's buried in Lancaster Cemetery, so I'm going to have to visit there soon and get a picture. He went to school nearby in Lititz. When I first moved here I heard the gunshot across the street of another man shot in the head and killed instantly, he was from Lititz. Reynolds was the most highly decorated soldier killed at Gettysburg. He had been to New Orleans. Forty-two when he was killed, a Virgo, he was secretly engaged. As I was lying in bed thinking about my game, like I'm apt to do, I thought The Black Death game will be next. If I can't sell them I'll figure out how to sell them myself on Ebay. I can do everything myself as usual with pie boxes, prints, and glue. I'll keep you updated. 

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