Everything I could want.

Well, I got ALMOST everything I could have ever asked for... Lovely, lovely day. The best part was that everyone felt pretty well, and both Mom and Dad had a good health day. I cannot believe how many dishes my mother cooked. She must have thought she was cooking for hayhands or something. Oh, my goodness... chicken wings, hamburgers, hotdogs on the grill, potato salad made from my grandmother's wonderful recipe, broccoli salad, pasta salad (I made that), fresh asparagus, homemade bread, buns, spiced peaches, green beans, tossed salad, strawberry layered jello, condiment tray, potato chips, cheese tray, angelfood cake, ice cream, and strawberries. I think I've left something out! It was delicious, but everyone was miserable. Yep. I left my camera there, but forgot to take any photos. However, I think I had one more gift that didn't arrive yet. If any of you see it, ..... oh, there he is!!! I thought there was one more! Doesn't everyone love Antonio Banderras? Lucky Melanie. Goodnight! Sweet Dreams!

Happy Birthday

Here it is!

My Mom is 83 today!

Well, another year. Can't believe Mom's 83 and I'm 53. Turn the numbers around, maybe. I sometimes feel 35!!! One more year until my jubilee year. I was born in 1954, so they say your magical year is the year you are the same age as your birthdate. I feel sorry for my son who'll have to be 81!!!! Hope none of these bad bloopers happens to anyone! Kinda cute. We're having video Friday instead of Video Saturday... Have a great weekend!

Surprise!

Wow! This was hanging on my doorknob when I came home! I absolutely have a THING about Halloween and Autumn, so I love getting fall things all year long! My wonderful soul mate friend, Casablanalily knows this, so she left me this cute card (which bemoans the lack of a few good men!!!) and Miss Adorable Witch riding a cute broom on a happy moon. It is wonderful, and I LOVE it. I only wish I'd been home to have a heart to heart and a visit with her!!!! She's amazing, beautiful, talented, and has the best laugh, hands down, in the whole wide world. I love her! Thanks, Casablancalily!!!

The camera isn't working tonight... I think I have the settings wrong!!! This little miss isn't fuzzy at all!!! She's anxious for me to get out her friends and pop some caramel corn (also a recipe from Casablancalily!) AND fire up the candy corn!!!!

Celebration!

Look who's snoozin' at the party! This is Peaches, and he's a very very lucky cat. If I were to ever come back as a cat, I would want to belong to my wonderful friend. This is also going to be a peek at her beautiful home. We went there for banana splits after our night out for my birthday. She has the artistic touch, and I wanted to show a few of her beautiful displays. I think her style is unique. She has old world charm, some antiques, a pretty blend of Northwest Lodge, and a sprinkle of just dramatic beauty. It's an absolutely calm, beautiful place to visit (and I imagine, live!). We call her Paula Deen because she's a gracious hostess and wonderful cook. She's just lovely! Always has gorgeous jewelry and cute clothes!!!

My camera and me... what a combination. These hutches and cabinets are lovely. After I let the photoshop fix and reduce and save the photos, and I deleted them from my camera, I don't think the fixer did a super job, and I think they might have been better before???? Oh, well.. You get the idea.

We are putting to bed a neat little Tavern Restaurant in our town called The Thorn Tree! It fixes wonderful steaks, shrimps, and prime rib, and the owner/cook is simply retiring to play golf. We will all miss it, and Saturday is the final night for service. Busy place tonight. Some of the guests were taking advantage of the last week to come in and order personal favorites. I ordered the patty melt and baked potato. Yum-0! Not exactly low calorie, but then, it was a special occasion.

The Cheater Gardener

Okay, okay.... If you turn these little jars around a quarter turn, you will see the little Amish labels on them. I only WISH I had pickled eggs, snapped green beans, and marinated those little cauliflowerettes. I didn't do squat today. I spent the morning in town snapping little photos of geese at the lake, squirrels on a tree, my favorite shop's outdoor loot.... but something was gravely wrong. Too much light. I took my mom to the hairdresser, sat at the lake and watched a little boy fishing. He was a cutie. About eight, and he came down the road singing a little song. He said, "Hello, black ducks!" and then turned to the big white geese and said, "And hello, White Beauties!" I thought that was adorable. I was sitting in my car, so he really didn't see me but later he waved casually and baited his little hook and began to fish and sing... I don't think fish will bite when people are singing, but he was having a great day. I thought, "Wow... how to raise happy kids like that?" and I also figured he was really glad to be out of school this morning.

I did nada the rest of the day. I read in my SWAG book; I read in a couple other style books; I read in a self help book.... I tried to take a nap. It was lovely rainy and all purply in the sky.... I was just a stinkpot. I called a dear friend who'd been grating zuccchini, picking green beans to CAN, feeding chickens, sweeping her garage, and planning this weekend's menu which included Baked Alaska!!!! I'm impressed. I felt kind of lumpy, dumpy, and grumpy today. Tomorrow will be neater, I promise.

I will have to get my video of Chocolat out and clean. It's just magical. I put that thing on in the kitchen and while Vianne works her magic on that old shoppe, my kitchen comes to life and brownies appear in the oven. Swear! And when I am depressed (which for some reason I may be???) I watch it at night and let it run while I sleep. Soothing music all night after it runs once. She is my role model... cute sweaters, red shoes, vibrant shop, magical spirit, Johnny Depp (who doesn't hurt), and all.

So, I think I'm on sensory overload. I have been reading style books, blogs, and all those wonderful posts.... and I just fly to bed and dream of all kinds of projects, parties, soirees, ...... and then when I wake up, poof.... I'm movin' a bit too slow for my dreams.



However, this is something I made for myself about seven years ago: This is the quote on the bottom: "Our words are powerful, so powerful that they can change our reality - the quality of our days and nights. Moaning rarely makes either us or those around us feel better. In fact, it often makes everyone feel worse. Learning to shrug is the beginning of wisdom. " It's from Simple Abundance, and oh, so true. I have this on my desk at school and in my kitchen during the summers. See?

Early Morning Coffee

When did I grow up and learn to LOVE LOVE LOVE coffee? I know it is an acquired taste, they say. I drank it with my grandmothers, especially Ma, but it was half coffee and half milk/sugar! It was always in a pretty cup, and it was just like liquid candy. Uh... well, guess some things never change. I think I learned to LOVE coffee when I discovered all the flavored creamers out there. My absolute favorite is Southern Butter Pecan. Oh, my. Right now I have Gevalia coffees, and I'm having pecan torte with that creamer... Kind of like a slurp of Thanksgiving pie. The guy who lives with us loves coffee, and he leaves for work about 5:00, so I make us a half pot of coffee for that hour. He takes his, squeaks out my kitchen door, and then I get up... OH, yeah, I got that fancy schmancy coffee maker free with Gevalia that they offer. It has a timer, so it's always brewing about 4:40. Between that heavenly smell and his awful alarm clock that sounds like a really loud phone I'm usually awake, but I usually don't get up until the house is securely "all mine" again.... even though my son is asleep. He's a night worker or a night browser if he's not working. He loves to stay awake all night and sleep half the day.

Today I flung my covers off in a panic that my phone was ringing at that hour. I have a lot of night owl friends who call me late, late, but nobody calls me early unless there is trouble. The joke was on me, and it was simply time to get up. Looks like a stormy day coming. The clouds were pretty and pink early as I sipped my coffee on my deck and contemplated SEVERAL jobs I need to do out there: paint the bench, weed the corners, water the petunias, water the geraniums, and other sundry items. Later, I told myself, but I managed to rescue the plants with water, I hope.

I have Amy of Four Sisters in a Cottage on my mind today. She's headed for chemo. You can read about her amazing journey and send a prayer for her today. Time to hit the road. I'm searching for some little birthday surprises for my mom. Yep, we share a birthday on Friday, and although I'm sure I'm "present" enough (haha), I want something to wrap! Oh, yeah, baby!

Red Room.....Red Rum.....????

Whee! The painting is finished. Almost everything is back to its normal or new position! I think I need some extra lights or daylight to take photos of it, though. It's really kind of dark and elegant looking. I'm a fan of dark colors to live in. I love, love all the magazine and blog photos of light and airy rooms, but I just always feel totally happy when I paint my walls a darker color.

Of course, Sal was around to pose in her usual spot atop my antique school desk with the hydrangeas. She's such a little ham! The red tutu was mine as a little little girl. It was all I asked Santa for one Christmas, and my Aunt Opal decided to make it all come true by making it. My mama didn't plan on getting it for me (too something... frilly, naked, frivolous, silly?) but I wore this little item forever and a day. There's a photo right beside it of me posing... I just didn't get a very good shot. I can tell everyone right now, this blog thing is a challenge. I'm challenged when it comes to digital cameras to begin with....

Isn't she just a little riot? She's under my desk chair right now, petting my feet with her little velvet paws... Tickle!!!! I would get one of my friend's kittens, but I know how shocked Sally would be! Whenever you believe you are the only species (a la the rose in The Little Prince), it really is a shock to discover there are more.... and your little shoulders droop and you're never the same. Kind of like discovering your honey bunny has another honey bunny.... only probably not quite the same... Cats can use those little claws better than we do, trained as we are to be ladies!.... Which brings me to the third section of this post:

I bought this book called SWAG: Southern Women Aging Gracefully. It looks to be lovely: "I invite you into these pages to squander a little time. It is, after all, the ultimate luxury. Join me in celebrating the humor to be found in all our delightfully ordinary lives full of joy and wonder. I am proud to be a woman of the South, and I am aging gracefully as I can----without any outright sweating." ( Melinda Rainey Thompson, author) What a cool intro... I'm about to read on. Took my soaker hot shower, poured a glass of sparkling soda, and am ready to call it quits. Tomorrow I'm talking my mother to get a perm!

Tinkerbell, Soulwork, and Me

First, I just have to say I have always and forever and a day LOVED Tinkerbell. I know, she's supposed to be a flirt, a little naughty, and actually kind of annoying, but I have always been a huge fan of hers. When I was little and watched Mary Martin in the original (to me) Peter Pan, I was simply overwhelmed when her little light flickered, fluttered, waned, and went out. I admit to unashamed wailing and crying until my mother threatened to turn of the television. I was screaming at the top of my voice, "I DO BELIEVE IN FAIRIES!" To this day it makes me cry to remember how desolate I felt about all that death and dying for fairies. Well, of course, Tinkerbell revived, life was amazingly good, and I grew up (somewhat). At 50, I discovered that Tinkerbell, the Disney version I always envision her to be, and I are the same age. Well, of course we are! I privately collected a few things: a cherished little ceramic piece from my aunt and uncle on one of their trips to California when I was a little girl, my View Master Tinkerbell reels, a lunch box, a patch, and a purse. There.

Then, the movie came out called Neverland. Something deep inside me sounded that little bell. I kind of hinted at taking my students, but my intuitive Tinkerbell warned me I better reserve this movie for Home Alone viewing (something my friends know about me. It might need to be placed in the ranks of Beaches, A League of Their Own, and Message in a Bottle ---which I inadvertently went to the show to see---big mistake!). These are the movies that need me to sit there in my darkened den with a hanky, my confused and very sympathetically attentive cat, and absolutely no one in the house to hear me howl. It's not pretty, and it's painful, so for this reason I have never seen Titanic, never watched Millennium Man, never ever opened the cellophane on a gifted copy of The Notebook, and makes me wish to high heaven I'd never watched Philadelphia, Bridges of Madison County, or Life is Beautiful.

The story of J.M. Barrie is mesmerizing and hauntingly sad sad sad. It would have to be in order for him to write such beautiful prose in his stories. The real book of Peter Pan is terribly sad, very heart breaking, and poetic beyond the level of the cartoons and stage versions. Barrie's personal life is horrible! A little boy haunted by the death of his brother, dons his brother's clothes to become a semblance of the little lost boy for whom his mother moans and mourns. J.M. Barrie lived that life and became someone other than himself to try to coax his happy mother back. Amazingly sad, huh? I have a long long post about mothers he authored that I'll share in a day or two. I'm toying with a birthday video experience for myself alone to see Neverland. Any advice? Is it breathtakingly sad? I always try to find something special and watch it for my birthday week. My list includes a couple of Meryl Streep beauties including Music From the Heart and Sophie's Choice (another movie I almost wish I'd never seen). One of my favorites that promotes no remorse is How Stella Got Her Groove Back! I think it would be fun to be a sistah!

I named one of my favorite little dogs of all time the most perfect name of all time: Tinkerbell. She was a spot on namesake for this little miss, full of spunk, born the runt of the litter of my grandmother's beloved border collie Queen. She lived to be quite old, and she was the apple of my eye and my bestest friend in the whole world as a little girl. How could I have known I was actually a Tinkerbell myself... Not in looks, (oh, I wish! ) Not in actual flibertigibit actions, (Oh, I kinda wish!) but in soul and in spirit. I carry a Tinkerbell purse at times. It may, no, probably does look odd being carried by a big old lady.... Who could possibly discover that lurking inside is the soul of a fairy princess? Duh... Probably anyone who sees my kitchen today! It's time to exit Neverland and get busy!

.... or Should I watch that movie?

Yep... I think maybe we have a new cat Noir and maybe by day, as well. Yesterday when I arrived home, I noticed the cutest little skinny kitty about an eighth of a mile down the gravel road that runs east of our house. I scooted my car down beside it/her (always a her, huh?) and of course, she scurried into the ditch, but not too far. I drove back to my driveway, rolled down my window and did my "here kitty, kitty thing" for a long time, and gradually she came down the road and waited just out of reach, too timid to come on. I came in, forgot about her, and was a little shocked when my son came in and announced, "You ought to shut your car window. There was a cat in there!" Well, about four bowls full of cat chow and bread and milk later, she seems really friendly... not particularly pretty, but a nice little gal. Inside, Sal is pretty ticked off to see her precious tub of Deli Cat removed from its throne under the sink and she doesn't get any of it.

Oh, yeah... This is the beginning of my birthday week. I think I mentioned that before. Oh, dear. 53 years. No, Oprah, this WASN'T the year for me to get it all together, lose weight, pay off my debts, or any of those wonderful, motivational things you offered on your show. 52 was okay. A bit memorable for some silly escapades and a bit forgettable for some others, if you know the kind. Tonight I did two loads of laundry, got seven gifts ready to wrap when I uncover where I have hid the scotch tape, and did the dishes so I'd have a pretty sink in the morning. Today was a good day at my parents with salad, chicken wings, pizza, and strawberry shortcake. The best part was that Daddy was a bit better and ate a little more, (translation.... something!). Mom and I played in the doll clothes, and I brought home a big trash bag full to sell. What she doesn't know is that I'm hoping to rework some of them and dress two dolls for her birthday. I am hoping to make a flower peddler and a tinker peddler doll from two bisque ladies I had in my shop... Kind of a cheap gift since both the dolls and the clothes are coming from Mom's stash. I will just provide the "creativity." Ha ha. I ordered a battery for my camera, so when it comes, I'll take their photo and post it. Have a super week...

Britain's Got Talent- Connie

Get ready. You are going to be once again six sweet years old. You KNOW I'm in tears like the middle judge!!!! Listen to this little angel! Even Simon???? wow... Happy Video Saturday!

Moon Child

I am totally a moon child. I'm not sure where I found this awesome photo, but that's exactly how big my moons are to me, whether they're waxing, waning, or somewhere in between. I have always been told that children react to a full moon, and teachers always think so. It's the topic of conversation in the lunchroom... "My kids have been wild today," says one harried educator. "Well, no wonder; it's a full moon!" consoles another. Well, I think I'm a sucker for this as well. I act wild and absolutely without bounds when I'm "howling" at that full moon. When my son was a little boy, I'd grab him and we'd take off in my car, my beautiful, now sitting without a license, Thunderbird. (I replaced her with a Taurus, but oh, how I miss my red T-Bird). We would chase the moon, flying down back roads and coming to rest on graveled areas by full moon-lit fields. Snow reflected the total icy hauteur of the moon, while summer's big bales of hay made me feel a part of all that is good and wholesome and beautiful.

I have always been proud to be called a moon child, born in June, and sign full of water if you go by any of that. I love my sign and its predictors, but I don't really have much dependence on astrology. I don't necessarily think it's wrong, but just something fun to think about, especially when you're young. But I'm not that any more. My (shh! hate to say it) 53rd birthday is rapidly approaching. Sounds like a dull number, huh? I feel frumpy, kind of yucky, and definitely not sassy and with it. I have been kind of in a mechanical rote of life for a long time. I have fluctuated between living in much clutter with purging like a maniac. I have wished for different conditions like help, more money, a husband.... and suddenly, I'm having fun with what I have and not particularly yearning for what I don't. I am taking my time with some areas long neglected, and I'm finally, finally giving myself permission to create the life I think I've always waited to have.

I so wish my parents both were feeling better, and I can't help but cross my fingers for my son to find a fabulous job and a wonderful girlfriend. There are lots of things to wish for, to dream about, and to wait for. Today, though, I am going to finally let those go where they belong, into a section of my heart and mind called tomorrow.... maybe later, in God's good time. Who knows? I haven't really labeled that section ever, so many titles come to mind.

I only know that there is an abundance out there of inspiration, of happy productive people who make the absolute best of everything that comes their way. I have always wanted to "portray" that image. Now I truly want to feel that way from the inside (the gizzard, as my gramma used to say,) out. Where will that lead? Well, hopefully I will soon be able to share some of that with this blog.

For tonight, it leads to a hot soaking shower with yummy Orange scented gel, a tall glass of lemonade fresh squeezed and served to ME in good glassware, maybe a little snippet of cheese and a fabulous multi grain cracker I found last soiree into Walmart... a little Keebler cuddler of a cracker. Oh, my! Oh, and a couple of delicious Bing cherries! If the moon beckons me any time soon, I may see if my silver Taurus can keep up with the beam.... I may learn it is as much fun to take a silver bull by the horns as it was to soar on a mythical bird from the Aztecs???? Rattle, rattle, my mom would say... Enough of this, she'd announce. Too much fairy tale nonsense... But, aha... my lovely and sweet mama has NO computer. And any more, she is so wonderful to me that I know if it makes me happy, she'd be one hundred percent in my corner.

Ah, sea dreams studio. What a lovely name, lovely logo! Today you can call me Paint Dreams Studio. My living room has finally arrived! Today my son painted one coat, tomorrow if it dries, the next. Summer's humid temperatures have made this a different experience than we had last year with the furnace blasting in mid November. So, fans are flapping all the loose curtains, and it feels like Nanuck of the North Pole with AC on, fans pumping, and all the furniture askew. But, maybe by the weekend I'll be all ready to hang up pictures and mirrors, arrange the furniture, and call the room a success. He painted over the stenciled cabin border I did long ago. It was a labor of love, and I'd carefully saved it during the last painting, masking it off and creating a border. I wanted it gone, I think. It looks more professional, and I'm sure better than a little home stenciled pale border atop the bold red! Everything pops on red, the cream curtains, the little frames on the pictures, shelves, woodwork. I may get tired of it, but hopefully not in the next few years. I'm just plain tired today anyway. Kind of grumpy around the edges. Probably didn't get my beauty sleep in last night. Haha... Went to the doctor with Dad and discovered his medicines were making the digoxin level in his blood too high. That may be why he's been so sick and losing so much weight. I hope we get some of this straightened out so he'll feel better.
I personally think it's time for a summer party. I would have tried to come up with a midsummer night's party, but due to painting emergency, I'll have to wait for another time.
According to Sarah Ban Breathnach sometimes it's necessary to call a cease fire on watching the news. I have been trying that experiment this summer. I watch no CNN, no Anderson Cooper, no Fox news, nothing. I do catch some headlines on Yahoo homepage, and of course, my mother updates me on all the heinous things going on. I dunno if it has helped or just made me concentrate on the few bad news stories I have heard about, like that woman in Ohio. I don't know how long this is supposed to go on, but since I'm the one that started it, I can call a halt any time I choose, I guess. I did find my movie for Saturday video, so be sure to tune in. It isn't news, and it's sooooo cute! this has been one summer dreams studio post, with little snippets from all the corners of my brain. It I hadn't been to Walmart so many times this month, I'd say it's time for a Watermelon. Maybe I'll see a truck along the road. Better clean out the bottom shelf before I do that. My next menu item is going to be Philly Burgers. I found the recipe in Taste of Home Summer Barbecue magazine. Looks like an easy and yummy meal for my boys. The hamburger is mixed with Philly cream cheese, onion, mushroom, and Dijon mustard. Then a little Worcestershire and onion ring on top in a Kaiser roll. Looks delish! I just need to grab some Onion rings in a can. Always something!I forget no matter how clever I am with my list! Take care, all!

What a day! Thunder rumbles as I type this; still have to finish watching this episode of Hell's Kitchen (my summer favorite. Why do I love to see a grown man screaming at adults for kitchen mistakes?); and still have a couple of cleaning jobs to finish, and it's already after 10. Bought paint today to finish painting my living room. It's going to be an apple red, bold and totally fun but when? My son has all the things removed from one wall. He's the master painter.

Since he's over six feet tall, he's an expert at it and doesn't even need a ladder to do the ceiling trim work!!! Amazing. We did two walls right before Thanksgiving, and just haven't had the heart to tear into the other two. It's put up or shut up time. He's off work on layoff for a while, so it's time for me to get this done (translation: He can do it now!). I'd promise photos, but I just learned there is something wrong with the digital camera. This is the second camera I've purchased and didn't really use all that much. I'm not as technical as he is, and it's usually in his room plugged into his computer. I'm glad for him to use it, but I need to get much more savvy if I'm to ever keep up with the wonderful blogs I read! Stay tuned. We might get a photo out yet.

Happy Father's Day Tomorrow

You know what? I am not sure where or if we are celebrating Father's Day this year. My dad hasn't been feeling super duper lately, and so tomorrow is kind of up in the air. I have my menu, and I have some little things bought for him, so if things go well, we're having spaghetti with meat sauce, cheese biscuits, lettuce salad, jell-o with bananas, chocolate pie, cherry pie, maybe a ooey gooey cake, and some kind of little vegetable surprise thing. I will probably get to cook this, but just have to wait on the logistics. Since my parents haven't been very well lately, I don't think they've been up here since Thanksgiving. That might not be unusual for some people, but they live less than a mile from here, and I go there every day or so. But it's good to know we can be together at someone's house. Lots of times my son and I buy something like chicken or pizza and take it in. My mother's secret bad? habit is to go ahead and cook the whole thing whether or not it's at her house and whether or not she's "supposed to" because she is a born Paula Deen! I warned her not to do that this time, so she just called me here at 8 p.m. the night before and tells me she has made the Jell-o and the chocolate pie and the cherry pie and she has made the spahetti sauce and has the package of spaghetti. She also has peas Daddy shelled, but I think she's freezing them for me to have for the first snow. That is my favorite little garden tradition from my early "wifery" days. I don't grow my own peas or feed my own husband any more, but still I love to have one little package of frozen home grown peas for that first tracking snow... I bought these at the local grocery store, Matt's Market. He is amazing, always in a cheerful mood, always busy, store much like it has been for years and years. Lovely small grocer with great meat counter and some surprises like homemade bread from Marguerite and jellies, sweatshirts with local holidays, sometimes the occasional homemade cookie or pie. Whatever you do, may you have some good memories tucked in your heart about your daddy. I'll just leave it at that... Blessings to all!

A Spoonful of Sugar!

Hey, there... I just saw this photo and decided it was a good "look" for my house lately. I have been trying valiantly to get all caught up with my housework, closets, bathroom, tons of Mt. Washmore clothing (A la Flylady.com), and other stuff too numerous to mention. This Tide with Downy smells heavenly in the washer and from the dryer... Does anybody think I can stick with my plan to do a load a day??? Ha! I am getting ready to do today's though. Something about an empty washer, dryer, AND hamper just floats my boat. You can tell it's summer since Laundry is on my mind. Not as fun as helping my mother with hers as a little girl. Two rinses, stick in the water, wringer washer, hang on the line... Clothes were a bit stiff, but oh, that scent can't be duplicated.... fresh air! And she used Tide, too.... the lovely white grainy kind. Have a fun weekend.

My cup of tea (not the shop, the bedroom!)

Well, thanks to Cindy at My Romantic Home (see her blog listed on my favorites), I thought I'd post my little works of art that are directly across from my bed. These teacups and saucers belonged to my grammas, both avid little vintage collectors. I inherited about forty or more from each. My one grandmother had other grandchildren to inherit about forty each! She loved them! I had them all stashed protectively in a cupboard for years after they passed away, thinking they didn't suit my decor. One day, I decided to put them in a cabinet in my room. I remember dropping one on my blue carpet and it bounced! "Lucky me," I thought. Then while sudsing them in my kitchen another saucer rolled along the floor after it plunged from soapy hands. "No, I CAN'T break these!" I thought triumphantly and maybe a big smugly... (For sure prematurely). I had the whole lot, about sixty or more sitting at my feet on the floor of my bedroom in front of the cabinet. I picked up a little Mother's Day candle we had bought my gramma... (a two-piece Mother's Day candle, and I forgot about that fact). Crash, a five pound candle came hurtling into the midst of the finery... Thus, I learned I can indeed break them, more were broken than I was ever able to count, little snips, handles, curves, oh.... it was kind of emotionally damaging! I rescued all the whoe ones and made myself into a sort of china dating service, matching the good cups to good saucers, performing the marriage rites to widowed and "widowered" china... I think I did a pretty good job. They seem content on my shelf, and I shut my eyes and pitched all the fallen brethren of Spode, Limoge, Noritake, and whatnot... gone! I know, I could have made some kind of lovely ceramic top and grout thing, but I was just plain disgusted with myself and wanted no trace of that clumsy ordeal.
Anyway, all are happily welcoming me every morning when I roust myself up from sleep. I don't like the border any more, but I can't decide whether to cover it temporarily with some roses or to just wait until I can afford to do the whole room???? Who would have thought I would tire of DUCKS hahahahahahah... who didn't think it except me? I remember my mother, my then husband, my friends, "Do you like ducks that well? You won't get tired of them???" I insisted I loved ducks. Well, I still have my mother, (thank the Lord!), my friends (thank the Lord), and my ducks... Not so much the husband, though! HAHAHAHAH... I'm in a silly mood today. Time to go wash some cups and saucers????

The Lake House

Okay, so I watched it. I love Sandra Bullock, and I like Keanu Reeves. I love romantic chick flicks, and it was on HBO free.... so I taped it, I watched it, and .... I won't ruin it for anyone. I will add, though... If you are confused at the end, look it up in Wikipedia. DON'T do that before you watch it though because it tells what happens. It's no Chocolat, but it was a nice June movie.

Today would have been my grandfather's birthday. Way over 100 years old if he were still there waiting for me at the end of his driveway with that wonderful old gray tractor. It had a running bar on the back, so I could hop on it, hold on to the back of his seat for dear life, and take off with him on miraculous adventures. Shady Peanut Lane always welcomed us... a little spot in the meadow beside an old concrete bridge left there before a change in highways. There, I'd sit on the sides feeling quite daring (although the water wasn't deep, the bridge quite low). Soda crackers and cheese, crumbling in the red beaded purse, wrapped in waxed paper... Makes me thirsty to think about it. Sometimes a thermos of ice water, usually not. We picked some blackberries if we could stand the chiggers, loading our buckets with thorn stolen jewels. Our blackberries weren't ever very large, but they were sweet. I liked to pick mulberries from two huge trees bowed down with with huge fruit. Nobody in our family ate mulberries, but what easy picking! Paw-paw taught me to make a grass flute, to count the seconds between lightning and thunder, and to walk gently with animals.
Once he overheard men hired to haul our hay calling him "the old man." It crushed his little soul, and he never felt young again. I know the feeling some days... Kind of like when my seventh graders told the science teacher they wanted to be like me when they got to be senior citizens... I had a holy cow! I told them they didn't need those books any more and no, there wasn't going to be a movie. They had all flunked the class, I announced wickedly. Finally a bright little lass asked how old I am, and when I responded, "Only 52!" I could see bewilderment on their faces... Hadn't they SAID I was old??? To them 35 is ancient.... anything more, and it's time for silver hair and rocking chairs.
I spent today working on my laundry (Mt. Washmore, as Flylady says) and putting out patriotic items... Puttery delights. Bought the 5-5-5 Domino pizza special for a treat for my son and friends... Didn't want to mess up the kitchen I'd been cleaning all day...
Created a centerpiece of geraniums and moss, Uncle Sam vintage look cutout, flags, and what nots. It's on my kitchen table, along with Lady Liberty and a blueberry check candle.

Happy birthday, Paw-paw! I love you forever and a day.

Funny Talking Animals!!

Well, it has taken me all morning, but I finally think I figured out how to post this thing on my blog. I hope you think it's worth it. I was having so much fun "talking" to Sally this morning as she scatted through the kitchen, so I decided to see if other pets were as verbal. Sally didn't bother to learn English like these guys. Aren't they precious?

Fairy Jar Swap

OOOhhhh.... Look at this flicker site. Can you imagine the sweet fingers and imaginations that created all these lovelies! This one caught my eye most, but they are all adorable. Look Fairies live all through this website. Dusty, tired day. Did a little cleaning at the shop, mostly grumbled like the sky threatening rain and maybe worse tonight. Great things happening when I got home. My son had decided to grill, so he bought the stuff and had supper all ready. That was an amazing boost for my spirit. Think I might be a bit sore from the little spat I had with an old plastic footstool in my room. I think it bucked me off into the bed foot last night. Made a huge crash and kinda stung a bit. Dunno how that actually happened, but I'm totally fine, just a little tinted with purplish green along my back and kind of stiff. I might actually blame something other than my own clumsiness if anyone had been in the room, but it was just me....
----- Don't you love this little fairy? I need to finish some project so I can do things like this that matter so much more than LAUNDRY, MOPPING FLOORS, RUNNING THE SWEEPER. Those are too loud! Weather bug is chirping on my computer to alert me to the upcoming storm that may be on our doorstep in a few moments. Think I'll sign off for now.

HONK! HONK!HONK!

Just little old me having an extremely good day doing nothng but goofing off and making little happy piles of stuff to go here and there... My sweet, darlin' son helped me get the other half of the closet cleared out, all is sorted, and I think I can coerce him into helping me stack it back, take the piles of clutter to this and that place... At the moment, he's mowing with the wind blowing his hair out straight behind him. He, for some odd reason known only to young men of his nature, has donned a set of catcher's knee guards....???? Nope, he wasn't ever a catcher.... Nope? Hmmm? You know, I have no idea. He has always liked little odd stuff like that, and he bought them for himself. He fancies they make his knees stronger???? or maybe he doesn't think that at all.... I don't care as long as he mows! Have a loverly Wednesday! No American Idol to watch??? maybe I'll actually work. My good friend called this morning and thinks it's time we put out our festive red, white, and blue. I so agree.... And perhaps when all the clutter magically, like rabbits in velvet top hats magic!!!!, disappears, Betsy Ross will invade my spirit and we'll see flags out the wazoo...???? Talk to you about it tomorrow or so.

Mamacats, blacksnakes, and Bumblebees

Awww.... isn't this adorable? I should have had this for Mother's Day! It makes me think of my friend's cat with four kittens. My friend has a heart for animals. She has a tiny old Shih tzu dog named Sasha that will steal your heart and a Mamacat with four little babies. This week has been her Wild Kingdom week. She is so afraid one of the wild neighborhood tomcats will kill the babies her Mamacat (named Kitty, of course) had on her tumbled and cluttery front porch. The babies were securely stationed under a little pile of bench, bucket, rug, stash of ??? who knows what. They were in a good spot, but heaven knows any tomcat can find a good spot. She spent the first week and a half of their lives getting up every 20 minutes all night long. We all kept telling her that wasn't good enough and while she was gone somewhere, an old tomcat would slide in and get them. One day last week she was outside eating her breakfast and planting beautiful flowers in every receptacle imaginable in her yard. She noticed her mama cat jumping and attacking something in the grass, and it was a HUGE blacksnake, about four feet long. She hates snakes about as bad as she hates mice, which is an amazing hatred steeped in screaming. Well, she decided to chase Mr. Slither through the yard and up a bush. "He stuck his tongue out at me!" she hollered in my ear on the phone. "Where were you?" Well, I'm here to tell you my friendship might include writing her curriculum, hauling her little butt to town and to the doctor, being there for many crises, but NOT coming to her rescue if a snake's involved! Nope. I'm not that good a MOTHER, let alone friend. I hate snakes MORE, is my motto. She lost the snake as it slithered around bushes, up trees, and out of sight in its S-ing movements so quickly through the grass. She had called the local snake lover, who happens to be a doctor. (Snake doctor?) and he was out of town, and my friend was out of luck. Anyway, it put a big damper on her fun in the yard. Later that night she stepped barefooted on a bumblebee, which stung her big toe. She wasn't much for the camping lifestyle any more. (It was huge fun to tell her I couldn't see any difference between her right foot, which was really puffy, and her left, which is kind of skinny.) Anyway, she decided to get the cat carrier for the kitties, and she convinced (by chasing her and a stolen kitten down twice) the Mamacat to let her put the babies in the carrier. The mamacat comes and lays on top of the carrier, and my friend keeps her in there a few hours, lets her out, and she comes back. It's a great system, and one that will salvage those babies for a bright future as little cats! They are adorable, but I am not getting one. I don't think the above picture is at all the representation of my cat Sally if I brought in one... unless it is actually a Mamacat strangling and tasting a baby???? eeeek. Have a fun day.

Porches for summer

I would love to entertain on my porch more... (translate that any!) I have a cool deck with a wonderful seating area, kind of cluncky table and cheap chairs, lots of clutter, a wonderful chiminea, and absolutely no flair for outside entertaining. But I love to dream.. Most of these pictures come from a little shop called Through The Country Door, which has a online ship and a cute catalog. Just dreaming a little about the days when I was little and my grandparents entertained outside in the evenings. Sure, there were mosquitos, bugs, and chiggers, but it was cooler, they had no air conditioning inside, and the late night frogs were always singing us to sleep. They had a green glider kind of like the one above, and they had metal shell shaped chairs in the grass. My grandfather sat with his yellow billed straw hat with the little green sunglasses slit on the front brim.... and the stories would grow wings. I listened a lot, but always we wish we could do that more when there's no way to hear those stories any more. Haying, black snake stories, who's related to who and how.... just the time of day tales that old men enjoy swapping. Finally my gramma would bring out the prize: a glass of iced Double Cola and a box of Russel Stover chocolates. Around went the box, and woe to me if I chose wrong. Some of those candies were nasty! My favorite was VERY tricky: dark chocolate outside and pink chewy inside.... if I was unlucky, I got caramel, or some kind of hideous orange creme. Bleauh! and no trading, pinching, nibbling, or second chances allowed. Her glasses were tall, large, with pastel polka dots all over. I usually got a little Mary Mary How does your Garden Grow juice glass full of wonderful pop. We didn't have it ever at home... too expensive or just not on my mom's list. She still won't tell me. Sometimes late at night my other grandparents in Excello called us on the phone to come up and have watermelon in the yard. Cousins spit seeds, gathered lady bugs, lightning bugs, and if we were brave, little monkey toed tree frogs. My jars always ended up tipped over and empty. I hated to hurt any of those critters. In the spot of my mind reserved for horror, I remember some cousins from Texas who mutilated the lightning bugs and made rings. I threw a hissy fit as only the princess pea could throw, and my dad had to make me sit by him on the swing for the rest of the night. No tag or midnight croquet for me that night. But a fit I had, and I remember feeling better after I screamed my little lungs out at that group of kids.... I wonder if they ever think of their wild, stomping Missouri cousin? Probably not.

Sailors taking warning, red skies, sorting, Etsy, and Scooters

Wow... a whole civilization exists that I knew nothing about until this morning. It's a community of sellers dedicated to their own little world called Etsy. You can look at it and find almost anything hand made for sale. I had read that word over and over in blogs all winter and spring. Suddenly yesterday I thought, "Duh! I don't know what ETSY means. I was pretty sure it was an anacronym, so I spent the rest of the day on and off thinking of cool things it might stand for, such as Electronic transfers synchronized .... uh... I couldn't ever think of a good Y. Instead of coming in here and looking it up, I went to bed, and believe it or not I would wake up in the night and think, "Etsy!" Finally, at about 4:45 a.m. I just toddled in, looked it up on Wikipedia, and then began to browse HereI think I'll really enjoy browsing. Here are some cute little tags I saw on there. Fun to order or fun to dream of copying some day. I am kind of a sucker for tags. I envision lovely tags on just about everything.

Okay. So yeah, I was up at this ungodly hour and I browsed a while, tried to wake up our houseguest to go to work on his day off (not accomplished, thank goodness!), and then went in for a cup of coffee and a little bible study. I looked out the window and saw the most amazing sight. Red sky. I had seen orange, fushia, but never this amazing blood red before. I kept thinking of the old "Red sky at morning; sailors take warning" thing, also there's a short story called "Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" and that was beating down on my brain. It was amazing. Finally it tinged the sky an amazing orange, finally fushia tipped coral. It was a gift. Then the clouds really rolled in and we had a toad strangler, as my dad calls it.

My day was cool. I loved the red sky part the most. My little mother on her walker was riding her little scooter, Rascal, or whatever you call it and tipped the thing over and we had to call in the troops to pick her up. Actually she got up before anyone could get there, but about seven people, cousins, friends, neighbors--- responded to my frantic calls because I was about fifteen miles away and Gerred was fifty! She's fine, or that's her story and she's sticking to it!I sorted through six boxes of STUFF from shool. How and why am I such a terrible packrat. I had trouble getting rid of much. I'm trying harder than usual, though, so I had a nice big box for the trash pickup in the morning.

More storms in the forecast. I may try to wake up and see if Nature repeats her fabulous performance. Don't tell me any scientific explanation for the red.... water saturation, dewpoints, whatevers.... I prefer the romantic symbolic sailors (or scooter pilots) take warning one!