Be Back Shortly

the To Do List around here has been crazy...lots of long-put-off chores just piled up to make a Never Ending Chore List...

well, I've learned my lesson said the woman who stood outside in frigid weather pressure washing the walkway...with soaking wet sneakers...and a bad attitude...

Just a Peek

into the Heart of Our Home

Weegie says "Welcome"...no, really, she does...and are you totin' snackies?

DH just painted the new wall colour that I L-O-V-E...but I haven't finished with the bead board...sittin' there next to the stove is a Large Sample of the Granite I want to use for new counter tops...I'm betting on the price going lower...so I'm holdin' out until after the first of the year...
Yes, I realized after I took the photo below that DH forgot to paint over the sink...when I mentioned this, I got a rather windy explanation of why that isn't such a bad or obvious thing...DH got a rather windy explanation of why that is bad and obvious and why it'll be taken care of pretty darn soon...I took about 12 photos...and they're mostly awful since I take crum-bum photos so this is a Limited Tour of the Heart of Our Home...

Thanks to Shelia at Note Songs for hosting this lovely event...just the perfect time of year to start focusing inward on our homes and hearts...

(I'm sorry, Shelia, I have tried and tried to get your Heart linky to post but it won't!...every time I click to load the image, crazy blogger saves my post as a draft)

Until Mr. Frog

perfects his camo technique, I'd afraid he'll be missin' out on the breakfast buffet at the local feeder...although, to give a guy his props, Frog is persistent...I've gotten him off the feeder twice now in three days...

I think I'm startin' to tick him off...

**********************************************************************
disclaimer: this post was going to be about the cool stack of ironstone platters and plates I dug out of a dumpster...well, "dug" is a little extreme...the stack just sat up on top of a full mini-dumpster...but my photo was so crappy that I decided not to inflict it upon your eyeballs...I might gather them back up from around the house but I dunno...I'm feelin' lazy...

This is How We Roll

at #17...(well, this is how we bake...but "roll" is a baked item and a passe hip phrase...so, naturally, I could not resist...okay, full disclosure: I didn't try)

I have stacks of baking books...I have Pie...I have The Pie and Pasty Bible...I have The Pastry Queen ...and list could go on and on*

But since this thing called Real Life (a.k.a. My Job) intrudes upon my Imagined Mad Baking Skills...

Mungo and I busted a move (yet another passe hip phrase) with the

Just Add Milk Bag o' Muffins...

then I tossed in a few things to make it seem like Real Baking**...

used my Cute Little Muffin pan...because everybody knows anything smaller than 2" x 2" has no calories...therefore, Zero Points for WW!***

and look...oh, yeah...Mungo and I are ready for our next Fall Induced Baking Session






**********************************************************************
*I do have to get this

**and because those cranberries have been in the freezer since Thanksgiving...time to start makin' room for this year's harvest

***I am so lying...do not make mini-muffins, eat the whole pan, go to weigh in and faint**** when you've gained a few...

****or leave troll-ish comments on my blog...

My Fall Inspired Table Top,

er, shelf scape...

I did a little work with this wire cloche this afternoon...took it from steel grey to black...the little owl I love...naturally, a thrift shop find...I don't decorate a lot for Halloween...and only a bit for Autumn but I do like to have something pretty and seasonal waiting for us when we open the door...

DH walked by and said "that looks nice"...yep, ya'll got right...he spent the first part of the day in the Dog House...

when I took the pix, I decided that a leaf to the far right needed to go away...too much...and I really didn't feel like taking a new photo...but since I have yet to master more than the "crop" and "resize" tools on my Photoshop Elements*, I had to heft it up outta my chair and go take a new photo...

I will not always be that motivated...

Thanks to A Stroll Thru Life for hosting Table Top Tuesdays

**********************************************************************
*trust me...if I had mastered Photoshop Elements, I'd be sporting some Very Good Looking Photos of myself on the ol' blog :)

And So It Grows

Look! I simply cannot (knock on wood) believe it...but this might be the First Ever Pumpkin I've raised to maturity [this is me grinning from ear to ear]Do these things just fall off the vine when they're done? (sssshhh, my ignorance is showing)

And we're* working on a bead board back splash in the kitchen...the bead board is left over from the new ceiling on the front porch...hence the current multi-colour look...

And the kitchen getting a new coat of paint...Tan Almond or something like that...I've lost my paint chip...a BHG colour from H/M**...the paint man opened up the can and all three of us (me, DH and Paint Man) looked, first, at the paint can, then at one another, then back at the paint can...

Let's just call this one a Case of Painting Dangerously...

Teddy says "Hey"...sure, he looks all sweet and cute...It Is A TRAP! you go to rub that soft white tummy and then the Claws O' Death come out...


*********************************************************************
*we're=The Husband

**I tried to find a link on-line but Good Luck with That

My First Table Top Tuesday

and possibly my last since I expect I'll get booted...I cannot figure this Mr Linky stuff out!!!
(hey, I got it! I think...)

you know, as I scouted #17 to find a little vignette already set up, I realized I've seriously let my little Niches of Artfully Arranged STUFF slide...but I do love this little area...

I love Mr. Fox and his candle...I love my Little Blue and White sugar dish...I love the Prim Pears I picked up a great booth in the antique mall...along with the little wren note a friend sent me some years ago now*...I even love that little scrap of Red and White Fabric!
I love these Dove Dark Chocolate squares...at first, I doubted them...but the secret is to let them warm up**...oh my word...
today, when I got in from work, Ms. Witch was waitin' on me...seems a dear friend believes my co-worker doesn't already understand the way the wind blows through our office doors...I'm pretty sure Dear Friend is mistaken...

But I decided to not take the More Than Inferred Reference personally*** and plunked Ms. Witch down in my little Table Top Scene...

Thanks to A Stroll Thru Life for hosting Table Top Tuesday

*********************************************************
*I hoard pretty paper

**Just clutch them in your hand for a few long seconds

***Hey, some things in this life you just gotta own

Three Things

First, Buy This...You'll thank me...this is not just a mustard...it is like Miracle Mustard...amazing on sandwiches, of course...but also in potato salad...and in pasta salad...and the Good Lord only knows what else...

Second, Buy This...cook some rice, dump a jar of this tuff on it...oh man...I'll even re-think getting Mexican Take-Out for this...and my good friends know what a fiend I am for Mexican Take-Out...I could eat veggie fajitas, no oil, with red rice, guacamole side salad and an order of enchilada sauce every day of my life...actually, probably twice a day every day of my life...

and Third...I believe I've been working on this for a year now...possibly two...appear to have blocked out the actual time frame...this bears no relation to the previous two mentions but I just feel like sharing my slow-behind-progress...

A Crow and Some Pink Stuff

So, I've manage to salvage a decorative resin piece my DH surprised me with last year...or the year before...I forget...

I don't mind mixin' in a resin piece here and there...but I try not to get carried away as I do like things that have some age on them...that have a history...

and these sassy crows and their pumpkins look adorable on the hearth...but some how, Mr Top Crow's beak chipped off...and so the Crows and their Pumpkins have sat in the garage, on a shelf, gathering dust...

because if a resin piece breaks, unless you can glue something back on or back together, it just becomes trash...but I hated to throw the piece away since DH gave it to me...

so there The Crows sat ...and sat...and sat...

until this past Sunday when I decided the time had come to either repair Mr Top Crow's beak or into the trash can with him and his buddy (that is actually a Huge Lie...I would have stuck them in the garden)

so here is the process of My First Attempt at Repairing a Resin Made in China For a Quarter Tchotsky...

[insert disclaimer] I am not a Professional Resin Tchotsky Repair Person so try this at your own risk...

Supplies: Pink wall patch stuff that dries white
Fine Grit Sandpaper

Craft Paint and brushes

First I sanded the rough edges of the beak down and then I filled the cavity with the Pink Stuff (it dries quickly)

After that first layer of Pink Stuff dried, I lightly sanded the area and applied a second layer.

Next, after the 2nd layer of Pink Stuff dried, I worked on sanding the lower part of the beak down some and sanding the ridge of the upper beak down too*...just so the bottom part was sooooo much longer than the top...and the ridge I sanded down so Mr Crow looked a bit more like a crow instead of a black toucan hanging out in a Pumpkin Patch...

I decided since there was no way I could match the multi-coloured finish on the beak, it would be better to just paint both crows' beaks...and while the going was good, I rubbed a little shiny black paint over both crows' feathers...

A good wiping down and I'm satisfied...I'll take The Crows and Their Pumpkins to work with me tomorrow to liven up my desk...

oh...Mungo says "hey"...yes, our cats wallow on the kitchen counter tops...that is a battle I decided to gracefully lose years ago...

**********************************************
*so sorry about this shoddy photo...

I Thought It was a Wash

with my pumpkin patch this year...

but, lo and behold, lookee lookeenow I'm busy hoping this is a pumpkin and not some other type of squash...

and we have another baby...smaller than a golf ball, I doubt this little guy will make it to maturity before our first hard frost...but we'll have to see if I can help him along...

we had such a long hot dry summer that the vines just quit bloomin' for quite some time but they've fired back up again...

Really, it would not have mattered...I am Vegetable-Garden Challenged*...

******************************************************
*I try every year to do a veggie garden but since I don't want to use chemicals, those bugs and assorted mildews and fungii and whatever else happens along kick my behind each and every year...it is enough to make me break out the Sevin Dust...

Oh My Word...

I've found another Christmas movie I think I'm going to love (I'm watching right now so I'll report back....everybody else is watching their Christmas movies, right?)...I needed to decompress from work so I stopped by the Goodwill...and picked up

Mrs. Santa Clause starring Angela Lansbury* for a cool $1.99...water aerobics can wait...I've got my priorities in order!
*this is a musical...just a heads-up in case some of ya'll tend to break out in hives over musicals

Hollywood Regency-Ish Style...Sorta...Maybe...

well, only the pumpkin might really make the cut into the Hollywood Regency style category but for the sake of continuity of my thought train...okay, only the Idea of high gloss white ceramic pieces is remotely HR...but my pumpkin and bunnies* suit my Hodge-Podge style category to a T...

thrift store finds, the largest rabbit started off dark grey...not so bad, but he didn't show against the black fireplace surround...but that poor little bun...well, I imagine somebody loved him at some point...but his paint job was crazy ugly...the GW clerk laughed as she rang him up...1/2 off 69 cents, I believe...I'm surprised the shop didn't have to give him away...stick him in some unsuspecting shopper's bag...

but enter these two old palsand before you know it, any Hodge Podge becomes a collection...

yes, two is a pair, but 3 is a collection...I'm a firm believer that old saw...

************************************************************************
*the buns are about to into their "Spring" labeled Rubbermaid container for the fall and winter**...they should have gone up, oh, 'round about June, but I'm Cultivating the Habit of Not Sweating the Small Stuff...

**that means I need to scrounge up 2 fall-ish pieces to spray paint white...I'm still kickin' myself over not buying that hideous old owl statue...

So, Here's the Question...

why do some people believe helping animals to be less of a calling than helping humans? and, along that line of questionable reasoning, why does doing either one exclude doing the other? and, Lord help, why would you stand in front of me knowin' I know All About Your Expensive Designer Bag Problem Habit and that the only charitable donation you do anyway is some rinky dink paycheck United Way thing* (STOP AND READ THIS NOTE: everybody that is about to have a hissy fit over that previous sentence go on down and read the little * remark at the bottom of the post) you got pressed into doing so the Officially Shall Not Be Named Place of Business could make the Red on the Fake Thermometer Board go all the way to the top and say something stupid about how so many people need help that you didn't believe in giving money to Animal Charities?

okay, that was 3 questions, but did ya'll ever know a Southern Woman to actually stick to her 1 Question Quota? (a Southern Woman on a tear/soapbox/havin' a hissy fit has strange volcanic rhetorical rhythm alongside mad on-the-fly self-scanning skills that just, zuppppp, suck you right in...hypnotizes you against your will)

Whenever you can, wherever you can, please give generously to help others...It is Important...and becomes More Important when fewer people actually have money to contribute to charities because of Lost Jobs, Lost Bonuses and Actual Pay Cuts***...

I know I struggle with giving as much as I could/should...there are times when I have to wrestle My Inner Book Demon or Thrift Shop Demon or Want to Look Pretty Demon (I swear when Face Lifts get sold on QVC's easy payment plan, watch out!) to hold back that debit card...and lots of times My Inner Demonettes kick the livin' snot out of my Inner Goody Two Shoes...it ain't pretty, folks, but it is the truth****...

The easiest way to handle that struggle is to set yourself set up to just do automatic debits from your checking account or to a credit card, if you're Very Responsible with Your Credit Card and don't carry some big ol' balance , to your favourite CharitieS

painlessly thoughtless...

almost all of the charities we give to are set up for some type of automatic debit...and when you get comfortable with that $10, $20 or $30 wavin' Good-Bye to your checking account, then you gradually up the dollar amount...treat those charitable deductions as if they're just like your cable/satellite T.V. bill...when you get used to that little amount comin' out of the bank account each month, your introductory offer expires and your bill goes up*****


********************************************************************
*and before anybody freaks on me, let me say, if you contribute through paycheck deduction to United Way, that is lovely...Mr G does too...and I did when it was an employee option at my last job (I like to choose local options when that is available...like a county-wide plan for people who cannot afford their prescription drugs)...and if that is all your family can do right now, completely understandable...times are tough...very tough...and it is great that you're trying to help others when you're stretching and, or struggling, yourselves...BUT if your shoe closet makes my jaw drop and your bags really are somebody else's Nice Car Payment...at the very least...please please please don't start with me about your Philosophy on Charitable Giving when all you get up off of is a lousy $10 a paycheck...Because the conversation will go rapidly and, yes, irretrievable downhill...I promise you...**

**and before anybody else decides to take issue with this post and trot out that Tired Old Chestnut about this being a Free Country and One Being Entitled to What One Wishes With One's Money, let me just say...if that is the Truth of the Matter, please feel free to try that line with the IRS, your state's tax agency and the Tax Commissioner's Office of Wherein Your Primary Residence is Established...and then still don't start with me...because That Dog Don't Hunt...

***And if you really can't find the extra $ in your bottom of your purse right now, I get it...try to find Something to Do for a charity...I'm finally about to get off my Oh So Valuable Personal Time and start volunteering with a local charity 1 weekend a month...see? I'm doing like the actual $ thing...starting off slowly and then when I reach the level where I'm comfortable with the amount of time I'm committing to give to others, I'll see if I'm willing to up the ante...it Really Is all about tricking myself into not being such a Selfish Cow...again, not pretty, but the truth...

****And the Very Worst Inner Demonette for this time of year is about to rear her Ugly Head...the Spring is Here and It is Time to Buy Plants for the Garden Demon...this is a scary time for the ol' pocketbook...

*****That poor Customer Service Rep...it wasn't a good day for him...

2010 Georgia Literary Festival

2010 Georgia Literary Festival

I love that Statesboro is playing host to our state's literary festival...check out the link

Big Doings in Georgia

this week(end)!

Starting today, The Friends of the Library/Old Book Sale opens to the public in Macon, Georgia...I've been to this and let me tell ya'll it is a Book Lover's Dream...

Plan on getting there early (you should be on the road right this second) and waitin' in a Long Line to get the best selection...and bring some big bags...and maybe an extra body to sit somewhere so you can deposit books until you're ready to head to the check-out...

If I didn't have to head to work this morning, I'd already be half-way to Macon...

AND Georgia Organics is hosting the Georgia Organics Reclaiming Agriculture 13th Annual Conference & Expo this weekend...

Mr G and I are headin' up tomorrow for workshops and we'll be there Saturday for the educational sessions too...even tho' we're giving ourselves a cool 2 years to build up a fund to purchase a Little Farm of Our Own, there is no time like the present to start building a knowledge base for actually being able to handle some of the what-seems-likely issues of Farm Ownership*...

This is exciting stuff!

**************************************************************************
*and I'm hopin' this conference will encourage me to be willing to toe the line on our About To Begin Budget Strict Savings Thing...

Delayed G-R-A-T-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N

did I spell that right?

We had snow here in Statesboro this past weekend...that is a pretty big deal for our neck of the woods...and I planned to post at least my Very Favourite Snow Photograph...but I can't...

Mr G reformatted my laptop after it began doing Strange and Annoying Things...and the photo editing software I used to, er, use won't work now on my laptop...seems the new version is not working with my operating system...I dunno...as if telling me that is going to get me any closer to making them call a detente...

So, I've busted out the Photoshop Elements 8 Santa dropped off #17 this past Christmas...I've been dreading this...

See, for a person holdin' a degree in English, I have an awfully hard time understanding the written word when it comes to following directions...and makin' change, but since that is a Math Skill I'm not really expected to know how to do that, right?

and, even tho' Cheap is favourite word of mine, I wouldn't mind payin' an extra buck or two to have Actual Instructions on how to use the program in the box...instead of trying to click back and forth between an online video tutorial and my screen...or going out to track down a manual at the bookstore...where once I looked at the prices of these Necessary Manuals, I realized I wasn't going to pay that anyway! I'd order from home, get a deep discount, free shipping and the opinions of total strangers as to which book is best...does any one actually buy books in a bookstore any more?*

at the very least, a disclaimer on the box that reads something like "hey, just so you realize you will have to plunk down at least $25 extra to get a book so you Can Actually Use software you're about to buy...just so you realize, that's all we're saying" would be a helpful thing...then Santa could have stuffed the book in my stocking along with the program and the 20lbs of black licorice and I'd be all set...

So, long story short**, no snow photo until I learn how to operate Elements...I cannot figure out how to save the photos in a web friendly size without actually havin' to edit something...

If any one can point to me to a Free On-line Site with some brief tips about Elements 8, I'd be Very Happy and Very Appreciative...

***************************************************************************
*I feel deeply disloyal to brick-and-mortar bookstores when I buy books on-line (almost always) but how on earth can I justify not buying books online when online bookstores undercut even their own B & M stores by $10 or more with the added incentive of no shipping charges? I don't understand the business model ...Signed, Call Me Confused in Georgia

**Is there such a thing as a Short Story in the South? I think not...

Some Times It is Easier to Dream

than to implement, isn't it?

I have used my Brand New-To-Me Chalkboard (3.99 plus tax at the Goodwill) to provide an illustration of my 2010 resolutions... #3 is part Mr. G's too...I think, God love him, he is mostly humouring me*...

See, it is not that I really want to be a Farmer...I mean some casual gardening is fine & dandy, but farming, so I've heard, is a hard hard way to earn your livin'... I do want to have enough organic produce to provide for our table year 'round and maybe some to sell at the local farmer's market...

some chickens (some=3)...maybe a little goat...possibly a pet cow...

Let's call it Farming Lite...

And, important footnote, Mr. G and I do have the bad habit of draggin' home dogs and cats that
seem to have found themselves homeless...

our latest find is Lady Bug Rosie...and her room is our master bath...of course, Lady Bug doesn't live in there, but when it is bed time or when Mr. G and I head off to our jobs, that is where she hangs out...Can I just say I look forward to the day when I can take a bath without somebody drinkin' my bathwater? Because it wouldn't be our house if Lady Bug didn't have some cute personality tic...She won't eat unless I'm in the bathroom with her (our dogs eat separately...food aggression drives me nuts)...

We need more room unless we stop this pickin' up every goofy dog that is runnin' in the middle of the road...and that is just a pipe dream anyway...at least until legions of people stop being such incredible sorry-assed creatures...that is an Even Bigger Pipe Dream...

ANYWAY, to achieve #3 on the list requires the sudden onset of intensive saving for the next 2 years...

We hashed out the budget in January, took it out for a test drive this month and decided to "start for real" in March...

seems we burned through our "discretionary" spending $ the first weekend of the February...

Danger, Will Robinson, Danger: Steep Freakin' Learning Curve Ahead...

We do very little credit card spending, have a little credit card debt and a decent savings account...

but we're used to spending, even in these strapped times, whatever is left over from the month's expenses...

magazine here, take-out there...plants for the garden, some thrift shopping...some more take-out...and massive vet bills...

Adds up appallingly fast, doesn't it?

Whether or not we can pull this off will be hanging wayyyy up in the air for some time, but I cannot help but believe that even if our farm never materializes, the next couple of years are not just going to be about learning to control our money (I won't even buy into my own delusion by adding "better" at the tail end of that sentence) but about refining other areas of our life together** and of our selves as separate beings***...

Any and all budget tips welcome...

*****************************************************************
*possibly praying to God every night, on his knees in the garage, that it doesn't happen
**this will almost assuredly bring about some serious disagreements
***and possibly involve jail time for somebody

Happy New Year!!!!

Early on, I decided to start my New Years from 2010 forward on February 1st...it just takes the pressure off of January...

the last thing I need after approximately 6 weeks of Holiday-Holiday-Holiday is angst over what to come up with for a New Year's Resolution...

So, Happy New Year, Ya'll!

I'm about to make a few cosmetic changes here on #17's blog...I thought about deleting #17 all together and starting anew but one's blog becomes like a family member...or at least a great pair of old jeans or sneaks...the thought of separation is depressing...and guilt-ridden...

I just need to be more focused and diligent because I love my little corner of bloggy world...and to stop by other blogs for a read and a smile...

A Quick Question in order to further my redecorating plans:

Photo of the blogger on blog profiles: Yes, No or Doesn't Matter One Little Bit?

(I hate hate hate hate hate having my pix snapped...I always discover some new horror about myself when I end up in a photo...only recently did I discover a striking similarity between myself and Ringo Starr on my left side profile when a buddy snapped a candid photo...I could happily gone to my grave without that knowledge nugget...I did say thanks, right, Donna?...but I do love seeing a pix of the writers on the blogs I visit)