Love A Luffa at the Westmont Garden Club

Luffa quilt

The Travelling Toe attended the August monthly meeting of the Westmont Garden Club. The program, “Luv A Luffa” was presented by Deb Terrell.

           

Deb Terrell

Deb began the program by telling a bit about herself.  She is originally from the garden state, which is New Jersey and said she was heavily influenced by the “Little House on the Prairie” book series.  Moving to Texas, she and her husband purchased land in the Aurora area , where it was reported in April ,1897 that outer space aliens had landed – just a fun factoid. 

When she began growing luffas for the “fruit”, she found that bees loved the beautiful yellow flowers.

luffa flower

Luffa is an easy plant to grow either in the ground or in a pot.  It likes the sun so it is a good plant for the Texas climate.  It can grow up to 40 feet so it does need a trellis to help support it.  Normally, Deb plants luffas in April when the soil begins to warm up as it does not like the cold.   The plant has to be kept moist.  It takes 100-120 days to go from seed to plant.  The last time to plant would be around July 4^th.  One plant produces 2 – 5 luffas.  The luffa fruit does not really compost unless it is really immature.  It can be cut up in small "rocks" and placed in the bottom of a planter for water drainage.

luffa plant

The luffa plant is a member of the cucumber family.  When the fruit turns green it is ready to be picked. The fruit can be eaten, supposedly tastes like a zucchini.  It can be chopped up and put in a smoothie – like kale.   The luffa juice is very healthful and is even made into nasal sprays.  The oil made from the luffa seeds is used in cosmetics and diesel fuel.  And one other creative use for the luffa was that they were used to line helmets during WWII.

Deb’s farm is now certified bee friendly and is a way station for the Monarch butterfly migration through Texas.  

Deb sells her luffas at the Crestline Neighborhood Market on the 3rd Saturday of the month.

At the Crestline Market, Deb met some ladies who sold soap made from goat's milk. So Deb now has dairy goats on her property for the "soap ladies".  This is a little hat Deb made for her goats and the little blue items around at the brim are luffas she cut up and painted blue.

goat hat

RJ the Cat, loves his luffa!

A tee shirt that Deb had on display and was awarded to one of the members as a door prize.  

Deb's table display.  She uses luffas as an art medium, cutting and painting them and adding little do-dads to the items.  She said that they make excellent cat toys!

Loretta Luffa

"Jimmy's Hall" (movie critique)

JIMMY'S HALL
movie poster

A Dear Friend and The Travelling Toe journeyed over to the Magnolia Theater at the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth.  On the weekends, the theater shows "indie" type flicks that do not make it to the mainstream multiplex theaters.  

The movie we went to see was "Jimmy's Hall".  The movie is based on a true character and his experiences in his native country of Ireland.  

The story beings 1932, which is 10 years after Jimmy Gralton fled to the United States.  He returns back home to County Leitrim in Ireland to take care of his aging mother and the family farm. He had been head of a workers group which sowed the seeds for the Irish Communist Party.  Before he left Ireland for the States he and his brother had built a hall for folks to use for meetings and dances.   When he left Ireland, the hall was closed as the government at that time was not pleased with his activities.  

But in 1932, which is 10 years after the Civil War, a new government is now in power.  But the question is will it make positive changes needed for the Irish people and for County Leitrim as well?  

Jimmy works the farm and tries to stay out of trouble. But the young people of the county cajole  Jimmy into re-opening the hall for dances and other events.  He finally gives in and helps the young people fix, clean and re-open the hall.   Soon it is filled with activities from Irish step dancing classes, boxing instruction for the young lads, a book club and other fun events.  Jimmy even introduces the group to American jazz.  But the local Priest has a long dislike for Jimmy and see his activities as bordering on communism ideals.  

The Priest begins a campaign to have the hall closed down. With the Priest's outspokenness against Jimmy and the going-ons at the hall, emotions begin to boil over and even making family members turn on each other.  Things escalate and one night the hall is burned to the ground.  The Police go after Jimmy and he tries to hide but is eventually found. Those in charge as well as the Priest decide that Jimmy must go.  There is one young Priest who tries to help Jimmy but must obey the rules laid out by the older Priest.  

Side Note:  The young Priest is played by, Andrew Scott, who you might recognize from various roles on PBS and is the current Professor Moriarty on the popular Sherlock Holmes series.

Because Jimmy has an American passport the Irish government rules that he is an illegal alien and is to be deported back to the US since he was now a US citizen.  Jimmy is the only person that Ireland has ever deported.  

This movie was at times sweet and loving full of fun and good music and other times narrow minded and brutal.  Life was hard in Ireland in 1932 but it was hard everywhere due to the Great Depression.

The cast credits:

Barry Ward
as
Jimmy Gralton

Simone Kirby
as Oonagh

Andrew Scott
as
Father Seamus

James Norton
as
Father Sheridan

Jimmy Gralton , born in 1887, died in NYC in 1945 of stomach cancer.

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 big toe up with a shamrock painted on it and a pint of Guinness on the side.


                                                                                  


                                                                                                             Guinness

Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

"Fantastic Four" (movie critique)

FANTASTIC FOUR
movie poster

The Travelling Toe and 2 other friends went to the local Movie Tavern to see the latest incarnation of a superhero movie derived from Marvel Comics. This time it was the "Fantastic Four" - for yet a third time.

The story starts with a young boy named Reed, who is a "geek" and is building a teleporter machine.   The other kids and even his teacher ridicule him and his ideas.  He does find one friend Ben, who helps him find parts for the machine and believes Reed can make the teleporter work. 

Miles Teller

Jami Bell

As teenagers Reed and Ben (Miles Teller and Jamie Bell) present their finished teleporter at the school's science fair.  They are able to make a model airplane disappear and then re-appear (a little worse for wear).  But their exhibit is ruled inadmissible and the project is rejected from the competition. But then 
Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E Cathey) and his daughter Sue (Kate Mara) arrive at the exhibit and talk to Reed about his invention. Storm then recruits Reed to come study and work for him at a secret science lab.  There Reed is teamed with Sue and Johnny (Michael B Jordan), who is Storm's son and also Victor (Toby Kebbell), a reclusive scientist.  Victor takes an immediate dislike to Reed. (dum dum de dum)

Red E Cathey

Michael B Jordan

Toby Kebbell
(boo hiss)

When the time comes, as it must, to test the teleporter machine, Reed, Victor and Johnny decide that they should be the first humans to test it.  But Reed goes and finds Ben and asks him to come and join in this new adventure - and he does.

So the four guys strap themselves into the teleporter machine and all systems are go - and they do.  They arrive in another dimension and see all the possibilities this dimension could do to help Earth.  But then it goes horribly wrong.  The energy source erupts and Victor falls and is thought to be lost. Sue tries to help retrieve the others back to Earth. But all 5 are drastically changed forever - 4 for good and 1 for evil.

Well of course it had to happen!  How else would these superheroes get their super powers?

Dear Readers, would like you like to know what these super powers are?  OK, here you go!

Sue - can become invisible and can generate a force field (Storn)

Johnny - can engulf his entire body in flames and fly  (The Human Torch)

Ben - is covered in a a rock-like hide and is BIG and strong  (The Thing)

Reed - can shape his body any way necessary, stretching out his limbs and even contorting his face  (Mr Fantastic)

Victor  - can control the elements and has telekinetic abilities (Victor Von Doom)

This movie tells the story of how the Fantastic Four and Victor Von Doom met, how they were changed and then it set up the possibilities of more adventures to come - well maybe depending on the box office receipts!

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 big toe up with a heat shield, mostly based on the special effects.



Disclaimer:   The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

"The Man From U.N.C.L.E." (movie critique)

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
movie poster

The Friday Movie Mavens and The Travelling Toe decided to take a trip back to the past and go see the new reincarnation of "The Man From U.N. C.L.E.".  The movie is base on the 60's television show of the same name starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum - yes
Dear Readers the same actor who plays Ducky in the popular TV series NCIS!

TV Series

Robert Vaughn and David McCallum

The story takes place in 1963 during the height of the Cold War between the Eastern Block and the Western powers.  Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) is a former art thief turned CIA operative whose travels incognito to East Berlin.  His mission is to help a female auto mechanic, Gaby Teller (Alicia Vikander), escape to the West. The reason she is such a valuable asset is that her father, a nuclear scientist and  former Nazi, had escaped to America during the chaos of the ending of WW II. He had been helping the Americans with their nuclear and space programs.  But he has now suddenly gone missing and the CIA thinks that Gabby can help find him. As Solo and Gabby are making their escape from East Berlin, they are being pursued by an Soviet KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer). The escape plan is fun to watch and very inventive.

Henry Cavill

Armie Hammer

Alicia Vikander

It appears that Dr.Teller is being forced to work on a nuclear program by an Italian crime boss and his wife. When this information comes to light, the CIA and the KGB operatives have to work together to save Dr. Teller, if possible, and to take out the bad guys. They come together under the U.N.C.L.E.umbrella lead by Alexander Waverly, (played by a handsome, mature Hugh Grant) who is head of the new agency. Gabby also plays a big role in the plot but who is she really?  Well, Dear Readers,The Travelling Toe will not spoil the fun as you will just have to see how it ends for yourself!

Hugh Grant

The interplay between the 3 leads is really funny and enjoyable with one getting the upper hand only to lose it the next minute.  The style of clothes, cars, music, hair styles and even that dramatic cat-eye makeup was fun for us Golden Girls to see. We remember those times too well.

Italy served as a dramatic backdrop for much of the story.  Why is that songs sung in Italian sound so much more romantic than those sung in English?  Hmmmmm....not sure but might have to take a fact finding trip to Italy to find out first hand.

Guy Ritchie was the director of this movie and he did a good job of the multi-scene montage that the TV series used.

Guy Ritchie

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 big toe up with a heavy coat of glitter nail polish.




Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.

"Ricki and The Flash" (movie critique)

RICKI AND THE FLASH
movie poster

Being huge fans of Meryl Streep, the Travelling Toe and The Friday Movie Mavens, went to see her new flick "Ricki And the Flash" at the mall multiplex.

Meryl Streep
(Ricki Van Dazzle)

The short overview of the story is that Linda (AKA Ricky Van Dazzle), decided to try to make it in the world of rock and roll music. She leaves her husband and 3 kids behind in Indianapolis and heads out to make it big in California.   But years later she lives in Tarzana and her music career consists of playing a steady gig at the local tavern, with her band know as "The Flash".  They play to the same group of  blue collar workers, down and outers and drinking crowd each weekend.  By day she is a cashier at the local organic supermarket and lives in a low rent apartment complex.  Her life is not one of glamour and big money.

Kevin Kline

Mamie Gummer

Ricki starts receiving calls from her ex-husband Pete (Kevin Kline) but tries to ignore them. Finely she answers one of his calls only to learn that Pete was calling to tell her that their daughter Julie (Mamie Gummer) has been ditched by her new husband for another woman.  Julie has imploded and will not leave her room, bath, eat and she is deeply depressed.  Pete asks Ricki to come back to Indy and help their daughter as his wife is out of town and he is having a hard time coping by himself.  Even though Ricki does not have the dough, she decides she has to fly to Indy and try to get her daughter back on track.  

Side Note: Mamie Gummer, the actress who plays the daughter, is the real life daughter of Meryl Streep.

Of course when Ricki Van Dazzle arrives on the scene the whole level of drama escalates.  Ricki really tries to connect  with her daughter and 2 sons, her ex-husband and his wife, Maureen, played by Audra McDonald, but on her own terms.  Her band mate and lead guitarist, Greg, is played by a bearded Rick Springfield and he has several wonderful sets on the guitar...he is still good on the ax.

Audra McDonals

Rick Springfield

Well, Dear Readers, The Travelling Toe will leave the storyline there for you to discover on your own.  

We movie goers did like the flick, but felt it was long on the singing and a bit short on the storyline. When Ricki sang a song, she sang the whole song not just tidbits of it.  Not that the band and Ricki were not good, it just overshadowed the story.

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 big toe up with a pair of arch supports for those 80's platform boots that Ricki wore.




Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes.

"Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation" (critique)

MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE - ROUGE NATION
movie poster

Once again the Friday Movie Mavens and The Travelling Toe scurried out to the local multiplex to see an action flick.   This time it was "Mission:Impossible - Rogue Nation".  It would appear that the MI team is not the only ones ready for an impossible mission, the FMM group is always up to accepting an impossible mission too.

Tom Cruise

If you have seen the trailers for this movie then you probably saw the stunt where Tom Cruise (Ethan Hunt) is hanging onto the side of a cargo plan as it is taking off,  screaming at his partner Benji (Simon Pegg) to open the door.  Well Benji does open the door, but it is the wrong door. Since this stunt is in the first few minutes of the movie, you know there will be a lot more action to follow.

Simon Pegg

Ving Rhames

The main premise of the story line is that the head of the CIA, played by Alec Baldwin, who gives his usual stoic performance of a mad as hell head of some agency, who wants the MI force to be disbanded.  But the head of the Mission Impossible force, William Brandt, played by Jeremy Renner, is tying to convince the oversight committee to let the MI team continue as they are close to tracking down the head of a global terrorist organization only known as "The Syndicate".  By going out on their own, Ethan, Benji and Luther (Ving Rhames) are now considered to be "rogues" and are being hunted by both sides.  Also in the mix is Ilsa (Rebecca Ferguson) who may or may not work for The Syndicate or may or may not be a double agent.  

Jeremy Renner

Alec Baldwin

Rebecca Ferguson

The MI force finally finds the head of The Syndicate and he is definitely a very nasty guy and has some very nasty plans afoot.  He is played to the hilt by Sean Harris.  (side note: you would not want to meet him in a lighted alley much less a dark one!)

Since this is the 5th Mission Impossible movie, Dear Readers, you know it will have exotic locations, car chases, motorcycle chases, hand to hand combat fights and a lot of outrageous stunts.  

This movie is full of action and is a fun romp and we all enjoyed it.

The Travelling Toen gives this movie 1 big toe up and 1 little pinky toe up with a new pair of track shoes for running and hiding from the bad guys.



Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.