Yard Sale Siren

The call of the yard sale beckoned me last week! I rarely go to the sales. We seem to have them year round here because of the warm weather. Each Thursday and Friday, the handmade signs sprout up on all the corners and intersections. But, I already have too much stuff, so I usually ignore them. But this sign kept calling to me. So, when I had to pick up Damien early from school, I dropped by. It was almost the end of the first day, but I still found some good bargains! These little cream pitchers were only $1 for both. The scalloped one has a chip on the base, but is still usable. I think they are old, they do not have seams like pressed glass.

The lady having the sale said her mother had recently passed away. Her mother was an artist. I think her dad was re-locating and together they were holding the sale. this was a small watercolor that her mom had painted.

Here is another watercolor, same size as the first. $5 each.

I thought the purples and greens in the paintings would look good in my master bath, which is also purple and green. Here they are hanging on the wall. Tony helped me clean them and hang them.
They also had a lot of old linens. I got this 50s style table cloth for $1 and napkins for .50c. We started using cloth napkins this year in an effort to "go green" and not waste so much paper. It turns out that cloth napkins are closely related to socks! They go to the laundry, but then somehow disappear and never make it back to the napkin basket we keep on the table. I don't know why this happens. I have a feeling that somewhere in my attic there is a squirrel with a great sock and napkin collection!
Here is a handmade mirror that I purchased for $12.50. It is about 3 ft. wide and has blue leaded glass worked all around it. It is wired so I can hang it either way.

I also got a huge 9 x 12 blue wool rug with carved floral pattern all around for $35. It is still rolled up until I can move things around and get it on the floor. It just about gave us a hernia and ruptured discs, trying to get it in the house!

Overall, it was a good sale. I also bought some pen and ink drawings of cats and wooded landscapes for .25c each. I like to think that the artist's spirit called out to all fellow artists to come and buy her lovely stuff and that I heard that call. I have not had the urge to go to another sale, but her daughter said she was going to have another one in November, because her mother loved Christmas and had a ton of decorations and several trees each year. I'm going to make a point to go back early on the day of that sale to see what other treasurers I can find!

Bucket List

Last week we received the movie "The Bucket List" from Netflix. The kids were a little disappointed. They are always in hopes of a kid or teen oriented movie. But, there was nothing else for them to do (yeah, right!), so they sat down and watched it with me. It was a pretty good movie.

It must have touched something inside of my youngest (he is 12, soon to be 13 in a few weeks). He watched the movie two more times on his own! It gave him serious pause for thought. A few nights later, he came to me (when I was on the phone, of course) with his own bucket list. I was surprised at how much thought he had put into it. I told him we would keep it and he could update it every year, crossing off things he had accomplished and adding more things he wanted to do.

I thought I'd share it (and a few of my comments and explanations) with all of you!

THE BUCKET LIST
Do til I Die (means before he dies)
1. Help a good friend for good.
2. Skydiving (this was in the movie)
3. Draw a good Picture
4. Win the lottery (me too!)
5. Go out with a grin and a kiss!
6. Get married and have kids
7. Be a good trumpet player
8. Shoot a gun at plates (I think he means skeet shooting)
9. Drive in a Hummer or a F 150 (his favorite vehicles)
10. Walk on the wall of China (me too! especially after seeing pics of Debbie & Kenny's visit there!)
11. Have very good friends. (He has already checked this off)
12. Be at least 15 yrs old or older before dying. (15 seems really old to a 12 yr old! What does that make me?)
13. Sing a very good song to a lover. (I TOLD my husband that the girl friend thing was starting!)
14. Never forget Nana or Papa, even at 75 yrs old.
15. Pass all of my schools very good. (I think he means classes or grades)
16. Kiss the hottest girl I see in school. (See comment on #13!!!!)
17. Kiss the hottest girl out of school. (I think this was also a goal in the movie, but anyway, see comment on #13!!!!!)
18. Never stop loving monkeys. (He collects stuffed monkeys)
19. Laugh until I (we) cry!
20. Be the best skateboarder on my block.
21. Look at a very good place (I think this is also in the movie - to view something magnificent.)
22. Never drink at all.
23. Never smoke.
24. Try to be a math teacher.
25. Never forget best friends forever (then names all friends)
26. Never forget Ivy, Bitzy, Teddy, Lilly, etc. (names all of our pets).
Last: Kick the Bucket!!!

I hope that we are giving him all the tools and all the support that he needs to reach and accomplish all of his goals throughout his life! Nana

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” ~Elizabeth Stone

Grab Bag Catch Up!

We had a lot of rain last week from the tropical storm that came up from Florida. Afterwards, there was a huge double rainbow! It was beautiful! By the time I hurried home and got the camera out, it was almost gone. You might be able to see a tiny bit of it just above the trees in this picture.


The sun started coming out while it was still raining, making the whole yard misty and foggy!

It had rained so much that our huge Dogwood tree was soaked and bent toward the ground. We had a small stream running through the yard! Exciting for drought ridden Georgia!


I was telling a friend through email that Rich often brings me flowers for no reason. We must have some sort of mental connection, because that afternoon he brought me two bunches of Gerber Daisies! They've lasted all week -probably because I've had to keep them on the kitchen counter, away from the cats!

I read a recipe called Chicken Noodle Casserole. I started craving homemade chicken noodle soup or chicken and dumplings! So, I decided to put all the stock veggies in the crock pot and then add some chicken. Tonight, I'll make homemade dumplings (like thin noodles), using the stock from all these goodies!

Eye wear!

The boys have new eye wear this year! They had to switch. Damien went from reading glasses to full time wear. He actually has bifocals to help him both read and see in the distance. The glasses darken to sunglasses outside, which he thinks is cool, but he is having to adjust to wearing them all the time!


Tony went from wearing glasses all the time to just reading glasses. He has to adjust to remembering to take them off and on and to not leave them on a desk or table somewhere in a classroom!! Their motto is "On the face or in the case!"

Lilly Loves Teddy & Our Family of Cats

This is Ivy. She's 10 years old. We got her when we bought our house. Our other cat had been killed by a stray dog at our rental house when we first moved here. We rescued her from the pound back in 1998. Her cage tag had a code that indicated it was her last day before she was to be put to sleep. She was about 3 months old and bow legged! She is not a lap cat - has always cried when she is picked up. But she loves to be petted and will sneak up and sleep on you at night. She loves to eat - anything!! We say that she takes on different nationality personas, depending on the food! Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Mexican, etc. She also loves junk food like Cheetos. We have to be careful now that she is older to not give her too many people snacks - she has kitty special diet food and snacks instead!


This is Bitzy - she's seven years old. My mom gave her to us in 2001 when we went to Kentucky to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. She's a little camera shy, but a very pretty cat. She is adjusting to the new kittens. They want to be friends, but she only tolerates them.


This is Liger (Momma Kitty). She's part Maine Coon, but she has a very sweet face. She lives outside with her older son. She's a sweet, but chubby cat!

This is Simba - he's also part Maine Coon. I believe his father is all Maine Coon. He has more of a "Lion" face which is more typical of Maine Coons. They get to be BIG cats!! Sometimes up to 35 lbs!! Simba is a hefty 15 lbs and is only 1 1/2 years old. He's a big baby, though!! He wishes he could be inside with the kittens. He like you to hold him! He will lay on his back and purr and make muffins in the air while you brush his belly! He loves to play with his little brother and sister when they come outside. They will soon big almost as big as he is!


This is Theodore Bear (Teddy) and Tiger Lilly. Teddy is already 8 lbs at 6 months old. Lilly is a dainty 6.5 lbs. Our kittens were in a happy mood a few days ago! It's nice having two cats that get along after 7 years of our two calico cats hating each other!! Ivy lives downstairs, Bitzy lives upstairs!!! These two are litter mates, and very happily get along. They also love the two outdoor cats . But we have cats everywhere!!! The last of them - Lilly - was spayed this week. She also had a belly button hernia (common in cats) and that was fixed. We rescued several cats after a neighbor moved and abandoned them. The kittens were born about a month later by one of the rescued cats. Kittens are so cute, but there are too many of them and 100s are put to sleep everyday at local pounds. Just two feral (wild) cats can reproduce and after seven years they and their offspring can produce over 480,000 cats!! A cat can easily live to be 20 years old. Kittens can go into "heat" as early as 5 months and often have 3 heats a year. Cats are wonderful pets and very easy to take care of, provided they are fixed! We love all our cats - they are very lucky and very spoiled!!

Party Italian Cous Cous

We had our usual monthly potluck and I brought Italian Couscous. It made a lot!! Wish everyone was here to enjoy some with us! This was originally a pasta recipe, but I had couscous on hand, so I used that instead and, as usual, changed around a few ingredients.

3 cups couscous, cooked as directed on package (you can use less if don't have a crowd) While it is cooling prepare the following ingredients and then add them to couscous and mix lightly:

1 box fresh cherry or grape tomatoes washed. If you use the larger ones, half them.
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup SMOKED mozzarella cheese - gives it a nice flavor - diced
1 Tablespoon fresh garlic, minced. (I use the kind already chopped and in a jar).
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup pitted black olives
1/2 roasted red pepper, diced

Dressing:
1 cup low fat salad dressing
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup rice wine seasoned vinegar (or another favorite vinegar you might have)
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon of your favorite hot sauce (like Tabasco)
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
Other optional spices: turmeric, Mediterranean blend, dried basil, coriander - add a pinch or two if you like

Blend all dressing ingredients. Mix into the couscous/veggies/cheese. Serve immediately at room temp. or chill until ready to serve. Makes enough for at least 20 side servings. Enjoy!

Job & Braces

Becca got her first "real" job this summer - cashier at Kroger. Here she is after a LONG couple of days! School started Monday and she went straight to work afterwards. She had Tues. off from work, but on Wednesday she had braces put on her top teeth, then headed to her other job - babysitting at the church. She gets up at 5AM, the bus comes a little after 6AM and school starts at 7AM!!! Too early for me! School is out at 2PM and then it's off to work until 8PM several nights. Luckily, it's not every school night! This is what she looks like coming off a long shift! They wanted her to stay until 1AM!!! Crazy!


Here are the new braces. Might be hard to see, but they are Hot Pink. Just on the top for now. Her teeth are straight, but she had a baby tooth that didn't come out and the impacted tooth under it is pushing toward her front teeth and could damage them if it is not corrected. All that has caused a slight overbite and her left side bite to be off a tiny bit. She will get an expander in the roof of her mouth next month, then bottom braces, later, to correct the bite. If she is lucky, she will only have to wear them for a year and a half. If the baby tooth doesn't loosen up, it will have to be pulled and then possibly a tiny surgery to move the adult tooth in the correct position to "come on down"!!

I'm an ol' pro at braces. I've gone through this with two step daughters, but started my career as a witness to "braces wearers", when I would go to appointments with my best friend in high school! I remember spending a lot of time in dental waiting rooms. I also remember the muscles it took for the two of us to turn the steering wheel of her car in order to parallel park when we got there and again to get out of the parking spot when we left!!