Fun at the LIbrary

 

Poco the Movie Star

                                                                             

This was Poco, the Jersey cow that wanted to be a star.

Our Movie Star Cow-  a re-post from 2010. The friend to whom we eventually sold Poco recently posted a picture of her and a bit of her story. Another friend responded, 'You know you're not in DC anymore when people post pictures of their cows, and you know two of her three owners.' But there's such a good story behind it all...

 

The movie SONGCATCHER (2000) was being filmed in our neck of the woods and they were looking for a milk cow to decorate the set and be part of a scene with Aidan Quinn. One day we got a call from the person in charge of such things, saying that they'd heard we had an attractive milk cow, and they'd like to rent her for two or three weeks.

We weren't milking her at the time -- she was just lounging about the pasture -- so we were quick to agree. The money they offered made it well worth our while to put her on a trailer and haul her to where they were shooting. 

But they didn't want her yet,

'We'll give you a call when we need her,' said the people who came out to look her over. (They readily agreed that she was the best looking of the several milk cows they'd auditioned.

A few days, maybe a week, went by. Then, quite early one morning, the call came. They wanted her on set in about an hour. 

'On set' was about an hour away and we hadn't even eaten breakfast.  Plus, Poco was in the pasture and would have to be rounded up and loaded on the trailer.

But in record time, we were on our way to the base camp of the secluded location where they were shooting that day. As we pulled in, several harried-looking people greeted us, helped unload the cow, and quickly switched her nylon halter for a leather one.
 
The animal wrangler took hold of her halter, and they started up the road. The odd thing was that Poco was pulling him along as if she knew just where she was going.

We were told that we'd get a call in a couple of weeks when they were done shooting and we could come get pick her up then.  (We were not invited to meet Mr. Quinn.)

Imagine our surprise when a day later we got a call. 'Come get your cow -- this isn't working out.'

Back we went, imagining the worst. But there was Poco, serenely chewing her cud in the ramshackle little stall they had for her at base camp. What happened to the two to three weeks? we wanted to know.

Well, they said, they had trouble keeping her down at base camp when she wasn't needed up on the set. Seems like she kept breaking loose and running back up the road to where they were shooting.

And even worse, our cow was a scene stealer. Her big moment was a scene where she was being milked while Aidan Quinn and his leading lady were having an argument of sorts. Evidently, rather than standing there cow-like and inconspicuous as the argument went on, Poco kept swiveling her head back and forth between the two stars as they spoke -- ludicrously like a fan at a tennis match..

As I imagine it, Aidan Quinn, in a fit of temperament, stamped his foot and said, 'Either the cow goes or I'm outta here!'

Poco's still in the movie though -- for about thirty seconds in the milking scene. Don't blink or you'll miss her.

(Apart from the cow, the movie is well worth watching for the beautiful scenery and the music! If you're wondering what the Appalachian dialect sounds like, it's done pretty well here -- most especially with the young girl who sings the old ballads. 

She was coached by my friend Sheila Kay Adams, seventh generation ballad singer. Shelia's also in the movie, playing the banjo and kicking a drunk off the stage in the dance scene.)

Another Josie Afternoon

It was too cold for an ice cream cone when Meema picked me up from school today, so we went home and made chocolate chip pancakes.

The Castle People all wanted some so I shared.

Jenny REALLY wanted some too but chocolate is bad for dogs so I told her NO!

I love pancakes, especially with chocolate chips!

Now that the Christmas tree is gone, I can get in the closet where a lot of my stuff is. 

I made a HUGE building with my blocks and decorated it with letters. They do not say anything because they are just decorations.                                                                           

I decided it needed more decorations.

So I put in some beads.

PS--I put EVERYTHING away before Daddy came to get me. I did the same back in The Room where Dolly and Margot had made a HUGE MESS. Meema said she was proud of me.

 

Back At It

Justin and Claui gave me a new watercolor how-to book for Christmas and I'm really enjoying it!

I'm using notecards to do the exercises on--now I have to start writing more notes.

 

Terry Pratchett's HOGFATHER

Oh, my goodness, where to begin. I’ve just finished Hogfather, by the marvelous and lamentedly late Sir Terry Pratchett-- is a wonderful book for those of a certain turn of mind. I appear to be of that ilk.

Hogfather, whose sleigh is pulled by four immense pigs, is Discworld’s equivalent of Santa, and he has disappeared, due to a lack of belief. So Death takes his place with surprising results. Also, this lack of belief has left a void and various entities and swarming to fill it(see below, The Cheerful Fairy.)

I am still poking about the margins of Discworld—the Tiffany Aching books are my favorites—but I am cheered by the fact that there are so many to look forward to—there are 41 in all.

Meanwhile, here are some good bits from the book to entice you.

 

“The Cheerful Fairy was quite short and plump in a tweed skirt and shoes so sensible they could do their own tax returns, and was pretty much like the first teacher you get at school, the one who has special training in dealing with nervous incontinence and little boys whose contribution to the wonderful world of sharing consists largely of hitting a small girl repeatedly over the head with a wooden horse.”

 

On Christmas Hogswatch presents: “’How . . . how full of potential they seem in all that paper, how pregnant with possibilities . . . and then you open them and basically the wrapping paper was more interesting and you have to say, “How thoughtful, that will come in handy.”

 

“. . . they tried too hard, like an adolescent boy going out wearing an after-shave called ‘Rampant.’”

 

“One should always be wary of people who talk unashamedly of ‘fellowship and good cheer’ as if it were something that can be applied to life like a poultice. Turn your back for a moment and they may well organize a maypole dance and, frankly, there’s no option then but to try and make it to the tree line.”

There Must Be a Theme

 

The Ongoing Circus in the House . . .

As the eighth ninth tenth wherever-it-stands-now vote fails to bring Trump's 'my Kevin' any closer to the Speakership, I admit to being caught up in this historic moment. 

While I enjoy seeing Kevin smacked down and the GOP in disarray, I'd much prefer to see some bi-partisan governing going on--stuff that will benefit the American people.

Meanwhile, I wonder why all those new members (like say, Santos, who haven't been sworn in) can even vote. 

Alas, it is our circus and, for better or worse, those are our monkeys.

 

The Big Reveal

As the buds began to swell, I began to suspect that Lady Amaryllis was not the usual red . . .

Surely that's a deep blush . . .

                                                                                

Shyly, she drew aside a single petal . . .

And as the day wore on and Kevin McCarthy still couldn't get the votes he needed to be Speaker of the House, she opened to a gorgeous deep pink.

Not sure which I enjoyed more.

 

Weather Alert (Tuesday Morning)

What a glorious sky! And how lucky I am to wake up to such beauty!

The above was the last shot of the series. Below they are in order from first to next to last. I try not to inflict all our sunrises on you but this one seemed extraordinary.

 

Anticipation . . .

Spent Monday breaking up Christmas--all the ornaments off the tree and stored away, popcorn-cranberry chain deconstructed and ready to feed wildlife, red and green pillow covers in wash, random holiday pictures and tchotchkes rounded up and put away. Out with the red and green, in with yellow and blue. (Except for the amaryllis which continues to tease me by opening v e r y slowly.)

It's not quite done--there are quilts and pictures to switch around and odds and ends to put in the two remaining shelves of the corner cabinet not occupied by the Castle People.

All the fairy lights on the bookcases, stairs, front windows, and mantel will stay up through January. We need all the light there is.

Looking East--Morning and Evening

 

Happy New Year!

 

Breaking Up Christmas?

I find myself faced with something of an existential dilemma. For the fifty-nine years we've been married, I have adhered to my grandmother's tradition of getting the tree out of the house before the new year.  A fairly sensible tradition with a real tree that is daily getting to be more and more a fire hazard. 

But a niece of mine is in town, visiting her daughter, my great niece, and they are coming out for a visit (and some collards and black-eyed peas for luck) on New Year's Day.

'I kinda hate it they won't get to see the tree,' I told John, 'It's so pretty. And I'll have to really push to get all the ornaments put away before-'

'So leave it up. Take it down on Monday.'

I was surprised to find how very much I didn't want to break with this long-standing tradition. Did I really believe that leaving the tree up another day would bring bad luck? Or was this tradition simply a way of remembering my grandmother?

  After wrestling with this problem a bit, I decided to remove one ceremonial ornament . . .

And to cut off a token piece of the tree and take it outside.  Silly, yes, but it made me feel better. And perhaps it's a good thing not to let tradition or superstition stand in the way of common sense and hospitality.

But come Monday, out it goes!