Wait. What happened to Fall?

We woke up to what they call "nuisance snow". About 1 1/2 inches, just enough to muck up the roads and make driving slippery and sloppy. But it`s lining all the bare branches on the trees out back and I must admit, that`s beautiful! The cardinals love it, you`ll see a splash of red here and there in the sepia tones of the winter landscape. I don`t need to go anywhere so I`ll just sit with a cuppa and enjoy the view out the slider.

It`s Fall, Y`all!

Click on each picture to biggify, you`ll be glad you did!

Happy Halloween!

This is a raccoon that lives under someone`s deck. There`s a knothole in one of the boards and he reaches through it to grab anything tasty. He loves cat food!




Happy Halloween Everbody!

Just the facts, Ma`am.

Yesterday was umm, eventful! I put the boys down for a nap and went downstairs to put a load of wash in. The laundry room is in the basement, where Woody and I live.
Yes! I`m a basement dweller! It`s not as bad as it sounds, it`s the same footprint as upstairs so that`s pretty large. We`re turning it into a 2bdrm apartment. We have completed one of the bedrooms and most of the bathroom (no water to the shower yet). Walled in the kitchen area and have counters and cabinets. Microwave and small fridge. It`s a work in progress. The second bedroom is temporarily acting as a storage area for my "stuff" still in boxes. Has a dining area and living room area with furniture in place but still need drywall there. Electrical is all happening. My sewing machine is set up down there. I had it upstairs at one time so that I could quilt during the day but the boys can`t resist spinning my dials and that pisses off my machine so I took it down.
Anyway. I was down there doing laundry. I came back up and it was quiet, but that`s not unusual because hay! It`s naptime! So I got a casserole ready to pop in the oven later and was sitting down to the computer when I noticed commotion outside. I looked out the window and there`s a cop car and a swarm of people! Okay, 4 people! So I went out to see what`s going on cuz I`m nosey like that. Well guess what. The cop was trying to figure out who this little boy belonged to.
♪ And Hunter was his Name-O ♪
He`d snuck out the FRONT DOOR while I was downstairs (never done this before!) and a (distant) neighbor saw him mowing her lawn with his plastic mower and couldn`t figure out where he belonged so she called the cops.
Surprise! Confusion! Embarrassment!
So. To make a long story short (a little late for that now, to be sure) I claimed him, explained myself and slunk back inside. They gave him a badge and some crayons and a booklet about safety in his neighborhood.
Thismorning, Woody put a hook and eye at the top of the door so I can do laundry without fear of police involvement.
Now Halloween is upon us and that begs the question, What will the boys be for Halloween?
Hunter`s a ...wait for it...he`s gonna be a POLICEMAN! Zander`s a doctor (Lawd, don`t let this be prophetic!) and Anthony is a hodgepodge of all his faves --- a scream mask, a prisoner suit, a sword and a spiky green hairdo. He`s 9 and came up with this combo from stuff out of the box of Halloween we brought up last week. (I was looking for the window cling stickers and some stuff to decorate)
We took some of the store-bought baby and toddler costumes from years past to a re-sale shop called "Once upon a Child". I thought they took donations and they were in very good shape, originally fairly expensive. Anyway, to my shock, they PAID for them! $37.50 for 4 costumes and a few baby clothes! So that will buy candy to give out (and I got 3 skeins of silk embroidery thread for myself too...)
I`m working on a rooster whose tail feathers will require elebenty colors. I`m still on his head so I have time to work up a collection. The silks are kinda spendy but something this time consuming justifies a thread I love to work with and will give the Wow factor in the end. It has a sheen to it just like a rooster`s jewel toned feathers in the sunlight.
Listen, it`s time for Ant to get off the bus and the li`l guys will be getting up so I need to shut this down and be on full alert. Man! I don`t remember raising kids being this complicated! However, I was a working mom and somebody else was handling naptime...
Stay tuned!

Squirrels

I tried to rake leaves yesterday but it was windy and futile so I played on the computer instead. This is my new screensaver.









Following the squirrel theme, a squirrel family portrait




Okay, I`m on a roll here.










WHAT.

Been thinkin` about trying again with this here blog. Even if I just post pictures till I figure out the rest of it.

I`m Baaack!

Whooey, where to start!
We went out to eat on my birthday. We were at the salad bar, building our salads, when they announced that the Space Shuttle was fixin to launch (after being cancelled for several days prior). We all dropped what we were doing and ran out to the parking lot to witness. We saw it separate, part went off into the clouds towards space and part turned back towards earth. At the moment of separation, there was a sonic BOOM! I felt it in my feet, up my legs, past my hoo-hah and my belly did a flip. AWESOME! My scalp tingled.
We had an interesting waiter. Gay as a blade. Dad asked for him special. Came to our table with no pen or paper and took our order. Drinks, appetizers, how would you like your steak cooked, fries, onion rings or baked, etc. Wrote absolutely nothing down. Even with the confusion of the launch, and all of us taking a different seat when we returned, he got it right! Spot on! Dad said he brought a party of 27 at Christmas and he did it then also.
So I played on the beach, played in the pool, shopped the beach shops, got my hair cut in a fancy salon, copped a tan. Mom bought me some pretty clothes and Diane fueled my addiction for Savorsky crystals. I`ve got em in my ears, on my toes and around my ankle. A girl`s gotta sparkle, dontchya know!
They took me for the famous "Roll yer eyes back up in yer head" scallop sandwich one day for lunch. I defied the Cocktail Law and had a frosty mug of beer at NOON. Actually, I defied the Cocktail Law on more than one occasion! I went by Indiana time, which is an hour early, then factored in the I`m on vacation clause, which buys another 2 hours, and before ya know it, I could justify cocktails for breakfast!
Diane and I found ourselves alone at the community pool one day. Not a pool Nazi in sight! We went down the list of pool regulations, beginning with "Must shower with soap before entering pool" and "No jumping or diving permitted" and did (unwashed) cannonballs right there in front of God and each other. We drew the line at peeing in the pool. We were, after all, raised better than that.
I learned that I was called MonkeySue when I was small because I clung to my mamma and wouldn`t let her set me down. How did I never know that till I`m 52?

Vacation!

I`m goin to Florida! Yay ME!

Memorial Day

Today, let`s all remember those that did their thing so that we remain free to do ours.

Happy Birthday Jesse!

The Ray-Bob gets the first internet shout out! Happy 19 Jesse! Sara had her big Three-O on the 16th. Happy to you also Sara! We`re all headed to JT`s to bonfire/bbq and do what we do. Will report.

Come on in, the water`s fine

Today`s as good a day as any! Here I can keep track of the garden, my quilts, my daily adventures. Please bear with me as I learn how to do that. Now, where`s my camera?