Bloglines

One of these days I'm going to post a list of all the blogs I visit...Blog Visiting has rapidly become a large part of my days...In fact, I'm going to count all of the blogs I have saved in my Favorites folder right now...hang on a sec...

whew...89

I'm seriously going to have to consider setting up a blogline account so I can just click in when new posts are added to sites...

a big part of why I click to add yet another blog into my favorites folder is I find people's lives just fascinating...the day-to-day stuff...

true, I have saved some blogs whose writers boggle me by their intellectual range...others that amaze me with their ability to make beautiful objects...and yet others speak boldly about religious matters...

but the ones I find myself visiting as often as I sign onto the 'net are mostly, like I said, day-to-dayers...some religion or gardening...some crafting or other endeavors may slip in and out of the threads...but by and large, the blogs that manage to interject their writers' beliefs, talents and practices in amongst the grit of daily life speak to me...and give me a cyber-thump on the head to be mindful of the days...

I remember when I cruised amazon.com looking for a book to help me out with monkeying around with the templates here on blogger...and I came across this book...No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog...and I have kept thinkin' about that book...

one reason is, as a Southern Gal, my first reaction to the title was "how freakin' rude"...my granma used to say "If you don't care, you're nothin' but a pile of dog doo in the corner." Honestly, I have no idea where she got that from...but whenever I'd say "I don't care" about one thing or another, that is the response I, invariably, received...

and I guess it stuck...

the other reason must be that I do care what people have for lunch...I'm especially fascinated by tales of elaborate sandwiches made with lots of cheese and condiments...

and I care what colors people want to put on their new kitchen walls...

and I care about that finished knitting project..and the new mums just put in...and the latest read...

now, don't get me wrong...I don't lose any sleep about such things...but I do care...

a final reason for why there are 89 blogs parked in the Favorites Folder...what fascinates others fascinates me, too...not necessarily what the object of their fascination is, but that they are fascinated or deeply invested in said object...and then I just have to see what all the fuss is about...

I'm a sucker for someone else's obsession...

The Littlest Japanese Black Pine

The latest plant addition at Number 17...
Mr G's Charlie Brown Japanese Black Pine...
Mr G has a *thing* for black pines...I don't know why...but he does...

anyhoo, I looked all spring for a JBP to add in here...and couldn't find one...

Mr G ran across this pitiful thing while on an errand at one of the big box home improvement stores...

It does appear to have been literally run across, doesn't it?

ah well...I planted it around the corner of the house to add some screening from our neighbor's loverly pool stuff...so I won't see it often (if it survives) ...the neighbors will, but I reckon we all have our burdens in life to bear...

The plan called for the root-ball to be planted so that the truck would be more tree-ishly upright...but I decided "what the hey"...lets go with that Zen-Garden- windswept`pine thing...upon reflection, perhaps not the smartest move...

Little Jack

Boo!

Our son and his girlfriend (I have got to come up with a better way to reference her..."her" is so impersonal..."girlfriend" doesn't quite cover the 2 years they've been together and all the family time she's spent with us...I'll have to give this some thought...it has been buggin' me for a while) spent the evening carving jack o' lanterns...

Anyhoo...

The fascination of Halloween and all the customs that go along with it has always eluded me...

When I was a child, I recall being apprehensive about dressing up in funny clothes, marching up the walk to a stranger's door (these were different days...children were allowed to trick-or-treat at the homes of people without said people having completed a background check in triplicate), knocking on the door, holding out my plastic pumpkin and getting candy(these days it doesn't bother me quite as much...I'm joking...)...

I don't know if it was the free-no-strings-attached candy thing that threw me or even if at that age I worried too much about the reactions of other people...people I didn't know and quite probably would never seen again until October 31st rolled back around again...

Wasn't that a little early to be worrying about perceptions and such, you ask? Well, while I can be pretty sure I didn't know what the word perception was all about until a little bit further on...

I was a real Pudge as a child...my granma decided I was too skinny as a little one and decided to fatten me up...and she evidently did a bang-up job because I turned into a roly-poly little girl...and I was blind as a bat (I realize bats aren't truly blind), but no one knew until I was in the 5th grade...

So, I was *stout* (speaking of the word *stout*...who on earth decided it would be good to name a clothing store The Stout Shop?...what a trial...if nothing else in society has progressed, I'm glad little chubby girls don't have to shop at stores called that any longer...I hope), pretty much limited to seeing clearly what was within about 10 inches of my face, and shy...

Hmmm...no wonder Halloween was a trial...Blind Pudge stumbling around in the dark with vision-obscuring mask begging for more fatty foods...

and the whole Pumpkin Carving Thing...ewwww...it is southeastern Georgia...it can be 90*F on Halloween Day...and bugs love to mess with decomposing produce...ewwww...and cleaning out pumpkins before you carve them...man...that is just nasty...Pumpkin Guts...

But, DS & DGF seem to have heartily embraced Pumpkin Carving so I sat, smiled and enjoyed their enjoyment...although a few times when big clotty clumps of membrane came out, I did feel a little queasy...

Say what you will, when just plopping a few uncarved pumpkins out on the front stoop became de rigueur for au courant Front Porches...well, I was one happy camper...Pumpkin Carving seems to be back with a vengeance (I know...it never really went away...kind of like Big Hair and Big Shoulder pads) and that's okay because there is room for all sorts of Pumpkin Displaying...

Here is my contribution to the neighborhood fall decorating thing...



Okay, I just realized I did participate a little in last night's festivities...I drew the face on a little pumpkin and Mr G did the honors...Mr G looked so disappointed that he didn't have a pumpkin to carve that I sacrificed my cute little pumpkin I sat on the bookshelf to the cause of Pumpkin Mutilation...

This thing actually startled me when I opened the fridge last night...if only Little Jack's presence would keep me out of there (and the stuff in the bottom container to Jack's right is Mr G's leftover wonton soup...not a science project)...

Little Rhythms

What are the Little Rhythms of your home?

There are little things I do in the morning that help me feel as though I'm waking up the house...little things like turning off the Chicken Lamp on the buffet...drawing aside the curtains in the living room...opening the kitchen shutters...

and little things to be done in the evening to help the house make ready for the quiet night...

well, relatively quiet nights...we do have Cats and Dogs...you never know what is going to startle you awake in the middle of the night...one cat shoving another off the kitchen counter (I promise, I have tried to put a stop to this whole Cats-On-The-Counter stuff...but...) and the ensuing ruckus...or someone barfing up all the acorns eaten on the sly...or just someone having a late night call of nature...and then going out to eat more acorns...or to lick a toad, swell up and require a trip to the emergency vet clinic...

But...little habits help ground me to our home...I feel it (as strange as I realize the rest of this sentence is going to sound) is important to establish a harmonious relationship with one's home...when given the choice between having a *house* or a *home*, I'll chose a home every time...

A home has been tended to...blessed...loved...

A home comforts, protects and enhances...

A home makes one happy with simple little things...the way a sunbeam bounces off the kitchen countertops...or the way a breeze passin' through lifts a curtain up into a friendly swirl...or makes one sigh with pleasure just turnin' in at the driveway..."I'm home"...

A house is just somewhere to be when you're not somewhere else...

Little Treasures

I love thrifting...if I had a little heart emoticon, I'd put it right in the middle of that sentence...in fact, I need a bumper sticker to declare my love of thrifting to the world...or whatever portion of the world has the misfortune to wind up behind me on the road...particularly as I s-l-o-w down to eye particularly promising-looking trash heaps curbside...

Every Saturday, Mr G and I have what we call our Saturday Morning Ramble...generally, this includes a stop at the Habitat for Humanity thrift store (although it is really a warehouse...a seriously falling down warehouse, but oh well...just be careful where you step...and about which wall you choose to lean upon...or where you stand when it is raining...but all of these defects add character...much more fun to shop where you take your life into your own hands than in a brightly lit linoleum-tiled glass-fronted space in a soulless strip shopping mall)...then we drop by the library...maybe head to the diner where locals gather for breakfast...sometimes we head by the nursery for some plants...or by Goodwill...it just depends...

But today! Well, the Episcopal church just across the road held their rummage sale...and while the sale wasn't monstrously large, some loverly things were to be had for a song...we arrived pretty early (right after 7 a.m.) since I awoke around 2 a.m. for some strange reason having to do with a certain husband crawling over me to turn off the fan that he insisted be on...the fan that combined with the ceiling fan to turn our bedroom into little freezer...the fan that I said would make the room too cold...Mr G kept taking my part of the quilt since he decided to sleep on top of it...being the gentle and kind wife I am, I'd wake up freezing and snatch it back...

I digress...above you see a good portion of my treasures from today...excluded are the shutters I talked Mr G into dragging home from Habitat to make a door at the place where our bedroom corridor intersects the front hall area...also excluded are the tarts and the tart warmer...

Today's Finds:

a lovely soft old delicate quilt...for the unbelievable price of fifty cents...the lady who donated it to the sale said it belonged to her grandmother...while I can't see myself handing over such a thing, she remarked that you have to start letting things go...obviously, I haven't reached that level of evolution yet...the quilt now covers our small dining table...perfect

a print-on-board of dogs playing cards ($1)...sometimes I can't help myself...I have started collecting (among other things...many other things) old paintings of dogs & cats...and while this is a print, those dogs just won my heart...I'm afraid this dogs-playin'-cards thing may get out of control...

a duck towel holder ($2)...to match my pig towel holder...and my cow towel holder...that are lined up over my laundry area...I'd share a pix (because I think it is pretty darn funny), but I realized as I was editing my photo that shelf needs some serious attention...

an unopened box set of the first 5 Mitford books ($5)...a timely buy since my copies are getting a little ragged...it was about to be scotch tape-on-the-pages time...

a darling little print of 3 tigers taking tea ($1)...on the back there is a strip of paper with the words "Three thumping tigers are taking their tea" or something along those lines...Tigers are cats so I bought it...

2 nice older very large baskets in pristine condition ($3 and $4)...the largest one Mr G insisted I buy since I love baskets...it really is so large I'm not sure what I'll do with it(the picture doesn't do it justice)...but I expect the cats will help me out with the decision-making process...one or two...possibly three...have probably set up housekeeping in there anyway...

an older jelly strainer with stand (75 cents)...at least that is what I'm callin' it...the same lady who donated the quilt donated this old jelly strainer...I have no idea what I'll use it for, but I can see it sitting on a dresser top, holding the crazy little things I pick up...

a non-fiction book about cook-offs($1.99)...Mr G and I just watched a show about the Pillsbury cook-off...and I was fascinated...

and a darling, never-been-used, electric tart warmer($3)...with 2 tarts, one being pumpkin pie-scented and the other apple-scented...

oh...I almost forgot a cute little starburst/compass rose type rhinestone pin($1)...all stones present and accounted for...

All in all, a quite satisfying haul...

Thrifting for me is not just about getting a bah-gain...I feel like I'm rescuing cast-offs that have outworn their welcome in other parts...and I love that Mr G has gotten into the spirit of thrifting...and may one day give me a run for my money in hunting down bargains that we can drag home to re-purpose or just to sit about the place...Mr G used to laugh when I'd drag something sorry lookin' home...until I came up with a plan to re-use it...and then take great pleasure in explaining...in great...lengthy...detail how much said item would have run us picking it up retail...

Actually, he did more than laugh...he christened me and one of my old junkin' buddies The Trash Monkeys...little did he know that we would embrace our inner Trash Monkeys, and indeed revel in our Trash Monkeyness...[insert loud and irritating laughter]*

So, I cannot wait for the day when I can crown Mr G prince consort of Queen Trash Monkey...I feel confident I have some things lurking about to make up a loverly scepter and crown for my Mr G...in fact, I know I have some old pieces of wood from that shutter I took apart to make.............

*I have not, nor shall I ever, knock on wood, dumpster dive...well, the ittybitty one outside of habitat where they put things for people to look through...but other than that...I don't have the nerves...or the upper body strength...to vault myself into a large strange dumpster...not sayin' it is a bad thing, just not a Mrs G thing...

It's Gray and It's Green

Friday afternoon, as Mr G and I sat on the front porch, looking into our little courtyard area I realized just about every plant shared 2 characteristics: grey-ness and spiky-ness...and with a full sun situation, that makes for a washed out and dry looking garden...I have no idea how I let that situation evolve except for perhaps thinking I would have this garden area heavily depend on herbs that could take a full day of Georgia Summer Sun without being watered every day...but regardless of how things got into this sorry state, the courtyard begged to be saved from Perpetual Grey Spikyness…

Can you see where this is heading? After all these years of wedded bliss, Mr G saw it coming…but as we all do in marriage, he has learned to not fight the inevitable…resignation is not necessarily an evil thing…I myself am a Practioner of Resignation when a military-inspired holiday rolls around and old military movie after old military movie airs on the television…On those days, I let Mr G be to enjoy his Man T.V. while I putter about the house doing girlie sort of things like re-arranging books by their colors (within topic areas, of course) and re-arranging my shelves of collectible stuff…and I try not to sigh...too often...and too loudly...

Anyhoo...

After a couple of trips to my favorite local nursery and a couple more trips to our home improvement chain store, we had the beginnings of a Do-Over for the courtyard area...

Plant material purchased Friday and Saturday:

a 3-gallon pot of yellow ginger lilies (wonderfully scented & chosen especially for Mr G)

a fall cassia tree

2 dwarf gardenias 'Radicans' (for Mr G because he loves scent in the garden as much as I do, maybe more, because I would never again try my hand at growing gardenias...they despise me)

5 Toffee Twist sedges (okay...the name was enough to earn them a spot on the cart...but I love the color & fall of these plants)

2 Crimson Pygmy barberries (I really would like about 3 more, but I snagged the last 2)

1 pot of purple ruellia (I should know better, but I planted it in a bottomless pot to control this little thug)

1 Morning Light Miscanthus (along with a gorgeous deep green pot for its home..off the clearance rack, no less)

2 dwarf Gulf Stream nandinas (to flank the 1 princess nandina)

1 big Elegant Marjorie mum (one of my my favorite color for mums)

and 3 little rosemarys for that brutal spot beneath the kitchen window...that spot has the most gorgeous dogwood I've ever seen (and I don't even like dogwoods)...but the roots make planting in that spot next to impossible..

along with 3 loropetalums for the bed next to the woods

and many bags of Jungle Grow (I believe that is the name)

Mr G earned a lot of Brownie Points this past weekend...he did not grouse or gripe or whine once...I'm going to try my best to recall this when the next Military Movie Day rolls around...I think that'll be Pearl Harbor Day in December...I should probably go ahead and just circle the date (in bold SHARPIE) on the calendar to remind myself...

Some pixs from the courtyard and from other spots in the front (my goldenrod volunteer (yea!), a magnolia pod with amazing curliques, and a red leaf from a crape myrtle)

well, crud...apparently, Blogger has decided I will not be uploading photos...I've been trying for about an hour now...I give up...Maybe I can edit them in later..

(okay, apparently, the secret is to use mozilla firefox to access blogger instead of IE)

This is the Morning Light miscanthus...in the loverly green pot that came home from the clearance shelf...
Toffee Twist to the left and Fall Cassia below

Token Red Leaf from a Crape Myrtle
Volunteer Goldenrod Elegant Marjorie lookin' good in her pot
Magnolia seed pod