It Just Doesn't Get

any easier than this!
I bought the Cute Halloween Gift Bag just because...well, I had another project in mind for it, but
like so many projects...let's just say it didn't come to fruition...and my friends would say well, imagine that...

so, the bag is just hangin' there on the coat rack...kind of makin' me feel crappy with those unspoken taunts because it is Yet Another Reminder of the Un-Done Things...

but then I get a flash of Cheap Door Decoration Inspiration: find some twigs, paint them black and orange*, stuff them into the bag** and stick on the front door...

as an aside, a good indicator of my Crafting Abilities is that when my husband sees me standing on the driveway, spray painting sticks, he doesn't even ask any more...he just heads in the other direction...
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*The black-and-orange thing didn't work out so well...at least not using both on the same twig...kind of had a Creepy Halloween stripe thing going on...painting each twig a solid colour is a better way to go...unless you like the Creepy Halloween Vibe...I prefer the Cute Halloween Vibe...just sayin'...

**the bag, bein' paper, will not hold up for a long time if you leave in a Naturally Moist Environment like southeastern Georgia...but it'll last several weeks as long you give it a sheltered spot...

We're The Proud New Parents

of Samantha!

Many thanks to Lorraine for posting about the chimp sanctuary...I decided I'd much rather
have a bouncing 19-year-old baby chimp than that new laptop I don't really need ('cause, yes, I do lay around on my large behind too much as it is...)...and I believe DH is thinking about adopting Elway...

At # 17

in October, it is allllll about the pumpkins!
(normally, scarecrows freak me out but this guy cost only 10 cents plus he stays on the porch sooooo...)
I confess to havin' a pretty serious Pumpkin Problem...But gettin' your pumpkin on is soooooo easy...you can just plop them down anywhere...

in the house...on the porch...another scarecrow but this one is a Bear Scarecrow and surely he can't animate some dark Georgia night and go all Horror Picture on me...plus, he too lives outside with his other little freaky scarecrow mate....yes, I do have issues....somewhat belatedly realizing I really should have found time to paint the wicker this year...pretty sure it ain't gonna happen in 2011...in the garden...
and *poof* you're callin' it done...and the older I get, the more I like *poof* easy...

and then we have an entirely different type of Pumpkin...Pumpkin Butt plopped down in our bedroom...watching my Leslie Sansone walk-aerobic tape...the tape finished and Chubby sprawled out like "whew, man...that wore me slap out!"

No, Chubby Bubby...trust me, I've tried...just watching the exercise video does not melt those pounds away..

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*before anyone gets hysterical, I do try to "exercise" the Bub...she loves to chase the red laser light from the level around the floor...

Appearances Can Be Deceiving...

at least when you have Blind-As-A-Blind-Bat vision...or limited attention span...and I can raise my hand on both of those...

I thought the garden was all petered out except for these spider lilies that I completely forgot I planted*...so, nice surprise there...

once I was out & about with my camera, I decided to taunt MB, a northern friend of mine, with this shot...the woman can gather up buckets of osage oranges that are crazy beautiful but, somehow, I still find myself pickin' up dirty old magnolia pods for her...

and then I noticed some blooms here...a couple more here...and I realize this garden is still bloomin' along...and that makes me smile...

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*I truly cannot remember these at all...I wonder if they have been lurkin' under the dirt for the 5 years we've been here, just waitin' for the right time to pop up...but I love these...my granma grew these alongside of her house in Thunderbolt...and since they weren't blooming when we moved away from Thunderbolt, well, I didn't get the chance to bring any along with me...I've regretted that...that and the Snowdrops that didn't come along either...

and what is this strange weed that grew up in one of my butterfly bushes?! it has papery pods that remind me of the orange Chinese lantern pods but I don't know...

Re-Purposing That Cooking Spray

around the house...

You may know this...might never have crossed your mind...

but if you have one or more of these who like to *L*I*C*K * whatever/whomever cannot run away fast enough...

or one of these who likes to get into everything not intended to be gotten into...then try using your cooking spray on those Squeaking Door Hinges because that ceaseless squeaking will drive a person to Crazy Land...

I mean I'm not an expert or anything on this* but I figure slurpin' up WD-40 is probably not good for one's gastric system, human or otherwise...so I'll just be on the safe side and try to avoid that tragedy-waiting-to-happen-slash-ginormous-vet-bill...I believe we're already financing a new wing on the vet clinic as is**

First, my closet door started...eeeek eeeeeeek eeeeeeekkkk...and every time during the of the day that damn door eeked at me, I'd make a mental note: Spray Hinges...that went on for at least 3 or 4 weeks...Additional Footnote: the laundry basket resides in my closet so DH is in & out of that closet several times a day too...just sayin'...

Then, the garage door started....eeeek wweeeeeeeeeeellll...Mental Note: spray hinges...Footnote: DH is in & out of this door more than I can count...

Then one of the interior french doors started...errrrrreeeeeekkkkkk...Mental Note: Doesn't this bother him*** at all?...Spray Damn Hinges My Own Damn Self...We won't even bother with the Footnote here, okay?

Yesterday, it became a Matter of Sanity to, finally, make myself stop in the middle of going from Point A to Point B in the house cleaning, go to the kitchen, get the spray and Take Care of Business...

aaaahhhh....sweet non-squeaking door silence...

The Cherry on Top? DH wanders up to the last door where I'm spraying, swingin' door widely to-and-fro to work the spray in, spraying again...and says "aren't you just the little Miss DIY..."

Don't worry...he only got The Stare****...

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*as I said: Not a professional on squeaking door hinges or using cooking spray on them...don't have a fit if you do it and you get a funky residue or the finish comes off...I'm just sayin' I've done it for years without a problem...that's all...will not be financing all new hinges in your house :)

**L-O-V-E our vet...but, seriously? with all the FB (Furry Babies) that shack up here, our vet bills already sit right next to our mortgage in the Expense Category...

***of course not...

****Not the Assault with the Cooking Spray he was buckin' for...

Ever Have One of Those Days

when nothing will do but some blog time
3 candy bars


and a big diet coke?

apparently? I did...

Just sayin'...

I'd link up to Wow Us Wednesday but I'm not sure
it is the kind of Wow Miss Kim has in mind...

R. I. P.

my dear Sally

I gave it my best shot, but simply could not get Sally the Sourdough Starter to thrive...

Um, Beg Pardon...

but is it supposed to look like this? I mean, seriously? I'm thinkin' this is either some Kick Ass Sourdough Starter or a guaranteed jail term after I kill somebody off with this stuff...

Bart appears to be leanin' towards the jail time option...
Typically, situations like this whole sourdough mess begin with my good intentions...good intentions and an impressive lack of actual knowledge...

"by gum, I'm going to actually do some of these cool things in the magazines I buy!"*
Generally, this is when my closest and oldest friends dissolve into helpless laughter**....

It smells sour...so that is a good sign? maybe? yes? no?

Sally (yes, I've named her so I'm under even greater pressure to keep this thing alive) looks like this after her mid-day feeding...Okay, open for opinions here...

although, at this stage of the game (meaning after being caught several times dubiously staring into the jar, giving a half-hearted swish with my wooden spoon and then putting Sally back into the pantry), I'm pretty sure even Hubby won't consider eating anything that evolves out of this project...and I'm even more certain I won't...

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*sort of trying to justify the ridiculous amount of $ I spend each month on magazines...and we're not even talkin' about the ones that arrive courtesy of our lovely mail lady...

**and then I get to hear all of the Remember When You Tried stories...

Out of the Box

while hitting my usual Saturday thrifting haunts, I found these...6 immaculate large heavy cloth napkins with a groovy 70s vibe goin' on...

you don't even have to think it, much less say it...I know a lot of people would pass these by even if the price was a dime...but since I L-O-V-E orange...seriously, today? I painted a one-armed rocking chair bright orange...home these came to #17...

once in the door,*snap* went the tape holding the napkins in the box so I could count my junkin' booty (arrrgghhh*), the count started and, beneath the last napkin, I found this
maybe these napkins weren't exactly the Birthday Girl's favourite** so the box and its wild napkin contents made its way into the linen drawer just in case Ginia ever popped in for fondue and the naps had to make an appearance at the table***

But, knowin' myself and knowin' a lot of other women, I think, more than likely, this gift entered that Eternal Black Hole of Uselessness...Savin' It for a Special Occasion...

what a shame...they're only napkins...Cool Ass Groovy Napkins, true, but still just napkins...

Confession time...what have I Saved for a Special Occasion?...clothes, of course***...candles...china, crystal, sterling...and, yes, napkins and table clothes...and things that are so weird even if I could remember, I probably wouldn't share it with ya'll...garden twine...that's all I'm sayin'...

We should make a pact...with one another...with our selves...no more waiting for some around-the-bend imaginary perfect occasion to start busting out with Special Things...

Every day is special...light those candles, grubby up those napkins and wear that dress you bought because you were channeling your Inner Real Housewife...what on earth could it hurt?****

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*Junkin' Pirate Talk

**I can see that...these napkins are pretty Taste Specific

***some of those clothes were waiting for the Special Occasion of my large butt being able
to squeeze into them...I'm just going to toss those to the GW...sick of those downers every time
I open the closet...Ralph Lauren linen suit from, oh, at least 15 years ago...the jacket is almost long enough to be a dress...I don't know what wishful thinking that was all about...apparently, I was channeling Miami Vice and The Great Gatsby that day...

****technically, I guess, you could 1) burn the house down when you forgot the tapers were lit because you Never Light Them 2) piss off your mother-in-law when you get lipstick all over the family Irish linen napkins that came over on the boat back when and 3) have people question what you do for a livelihood...but probably those things won't happen...

Considering

it took me only 10 years to finally unpack my granny's Fostoria, it should be no surprise that I am a somewhat unreliable blogger, right?

But since, apparently, today is a Red Letter Day around #17 what with me unwrapping all that glass from newspaper dated 2001, I thought "what the hay"...

Mungo is a Very Helpful Cat...

Every summer when I was in school, I spent a week or two with Granny and Papa...and when I got older, Granny would let me take her Fostoria out of the china cabinet where it spent the rest of the year just hangin' about the place and set the dining room table with her good dishes and the Fostoria...

I don't know why I've taken so long to get around to this...and I could swear there were more pieces...in 10 years time, any other pieces could be anywhere...

The Hubby got that panicked look on his face when he realized I wanted to put my hands on something that was in one of the Endless Tubs in the Garage...inevitably that involves bringing each tub (you say "tote", I say "tub") house for me to rummage through and announce "No, not in this one"...why is whatever I'm looking for always in the last tub?

But I was a real stinker this morning (let's just chalk it up to hormones and call it good) so I let the whole missing Pickle Dish* go for the moment...

All of that aside, my granny's Fostoria at all set out and then it is going into our new island (dragged it home from Habitat for $30**...love it) so I can actually get my hands on it and use it...now I've got find where I stowed that cake plate...

I did mention Mungo is a Very Helpful Cat...

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*I know I did not dream up that Pickle Dish...

**and with that fantastic price, I can so give serious thought to buying that great vintage chandelier at the little antique store...

What is Better Than

One Rrraaahhh Kitty?Why, Two RrraaahhhKitties, of course!and, Little Rrraaahhh Kitty, you must have a ribbon too...yes, this is how collections get started...Thank Goodness :)