Go Wild!

What were your plans for the day? Cleaning the house, grocery shopping, maybe a load or two of laundry? Yesterday I broke free, went with the winds of change and did something totally different. That's right, I shirked my duties and picked up my "partner in crime"... my daughter Stephanie. We had plans to go to a great place here called OOPS. It's a decorator's paradise, right up our alley!

They were loaded with Christmas and I was in Heaven. No matter how you decorate, they had something just perfect for everyone. Who wouldn't want a Christmas Malamute? Perfect in a foyer, and you wouldn't even have to feed them!

These were huge, great for a large table or ledge.

Not sure how I would use these golden crabs...on the tree, in a big bowl or maybe in a stocking?

These may be hard to sell here, we are a looong way from Vegas!

These made me smile, my "Flamingo Knees" are better now!

Santa's Elves were busy at work...

 Everywhere you looked they were tooting horns...

Tending forest friends... 

...or wrapping presents!

Every color you could imagine in trees...fuchsia, magenta, peacock, tangerine, oh...and a few green ones too!

They did have a strobe on the floor that I wanted. It sprayed a disco-like light show across the trees, I was mesmerized. I wish you could see it in the pictures, you'd want one too!

If you are going to have a lime green tree, you need a matching wreath!

Stephanie chose these for her Christmas wreath. Somewhere between Oz and Dr. Seuss, that's the theme!

I hate that Thanksgiving gets squeezed every year as we "blink" and it's Christmas.

I have a feeling my home may be the only one without a witches broom/ farmer's hay rake/ decorator fork.

  

I almost missed this great shot...I was looking at the bronze elk and trying to decide where I'd put them...

Waiting patiently on his "daddy's" motorcycle, this little Jack Russell Terrier was enjoying the sunny Fall day!

"What are you looking at?"

"Haven't you ever seen a dog before?"

"Take a picture, it'll last longer!"

...and then they were gone!

 

Homeless

Most of the time I steer away from anything ugly here on the blog. It's not that my life is perfect, it's got plenty of stress and worry just like everyone else. We do live in a  pretty quiet little town, and we are sheltered from a lot of the things that plague larger cities. But that doesn't mean we are free from the dark, ugly side of human nature. When you pick up the newspaper you read about rapes and even murder. 

The ugly I'm talking about is the often forgotten, rarely punished act of dumping an animal. It happened recently to our neighbors who took in a Momma cat who had delivered her kittens under their deck. In a few days another half grown kitten "appeared." That's been two months ago and the kittens have found homes, two of them are staying where they were born!

Then yesterday a Facebook friend in Austin posted a picture of a dog that was left at an abandoned property. It's just unforgivable that we can be so heartless to an animal. Larger cities press charges when animal cruelty is involved. Without the gruesome details, our daughter Amy lost two of her beloved chihuahuas to a neighbors' out-of-control rottweilers. The city of Denton finally took action after they killed a second chihuahua. The ironic thing is that even after this cruel act, Amy forgave the dogs. She said it was the owner who should be punished, for keeping the dogs in horrible conditions in a backyard. 


Like I said, it's not a pretty post today, but it's in my heart to share this. Lots of problems in the world but this one just seems senseless.

*Steven has always been a dog lover, this picture taken (Wilkesboro,NC 1989) of he and Lizzie, our blue tick hound. Yesterday he took that unwanted dog home with him and gave him a name, welcome home Layne!

Wonder Mop

It was over in the flick of my wrist, the mop that I've used for the 5 years we've lived on Granny Mountain broke yesterday. Possibly the one tool I love most of all, beside my vacuums of course is my Don Aslett mop. Used by PROFESSIONALS... I like that part, it runs circles around other mops. Simple in design but oh so good, it makes quick work of mopping my hardwood floors. Almost as soon as you dampen the microfiber pad, the job is done. Zip-Zap I'm ready for tea and scones.

I bought this wonder mop on QVC one rainy December day when we were building the house we live in now. It was Mary Beth Roe that demonstrated it, if you are not a QVC customer you may not know who Mary Beth is... she could sell me anything, she's from Minnesota and that accent coupled with her smile makes you KNOW she's trustworthy! I should tell you I have her cookbook, no I didn't order it from QVC, I found it at the Friendly Bookstore in Rogers... a second-hand place that takes donations and raises money for our library. I nearly peed my pants when I saw it there on the second row of the cookbook aisle, I knew immediately the best recipes known to mankind were in that cookbook! I opened the cover and $3.50 was penciled in, my heart did a flip flop, I clutched the prize to my bosom and paid the nice little white haired woman at the front. I was giddy with excitement and as soon as I got in the car I began to look through the Minnesota Masterpiece. There's one whole chapter of Jello recipes. The side dish recipes take up another 1/3 of the cookbook. Lumped in with vege casseroles are pasta and rice sides, the good ones like broccoli cheese rice casserole and homemade macaroni and cheese. The dessert chapter has the hard to find recipes from every potluck, church dinner or reunion ever held!


The fact that Mary Beth told me this was her favorite mop was good enough for me, I hopped on the phone and ordered it. A few days later it was setting on the front porch, delivered by the UPS man while I was out running errands. The box didn't look big enough but when I opened it, the simple goodness of a product made to last went together in two pieces.


So for the last 5 years I've enjoyed my relationship to this unfailing mop. Wet or dry the microfiber cloths clean my floors in a snap. Until today when I crinked the head and the heavy duty plastic dealy went kerwhackie. Technical, I know. I broke the dang thang. Lucky for me they have more, it will be here in 7 days....