My Buddy is Scheduled for Surgery Tomorrow

My best buddy, the one who never complains, accompanies me to the dump and on any other errands I run, eats anything I make like it's the best thing he ever tasted (even when he steals it from the table), who chases away the racoons and shadows from the backyard is having knee surgery tomorrow.

Riley the Truck Dog

Several years ago, my Riley Dog tore his ACL in his right back knee. Whenever it flared up, a shot of cortisone would fix him up. Over the last month and a half, he has had two shots with no relief. He can't put any weight on that leg. Poor fellow usually leans on that leg when he hikes the other to pee on a tree. He shakes and has to switch legs mid-stream.

Tomorrow, he goes to that dreaded place...THE VET! The last few times he's been, he has put on the brakes in the parking lot. I have had to carry my 50 pound baby through the door. Once inside, his bladder refused to hold up and he left piddle dots on the floor. Oh, the shame!! He has to be there at 8:00 for surgery. And insult to injury, he has to spend the night!

Get back on your feet fast!

Riley Dog is 10 years old. Other than his knee, his health is great! Dr. Darch expects a speedy recovery and the ability to get his two miles in every day!

Estate Sale Bliss!

Last night, I got an e-mail from EstateSales.net telling me about an estate sale just 20 minutes away. I looked at the photos, thought it looked like fun and set off to rummage!

Look what I found!

The snow shovel with the extending handle is destined to be a sign! The bulletin board is already hanging in my basement workshop.

The plastic box with fruit on it has a crumb sweep inside! Two decks of cards show dogs playing poker. The cookie tin was hand-painted. Daisies are so happy!

A friend told me to put sprigs of rosemary in a green glass bottle to root. Check! The purple one was too pretty to leave behind!

Vintage Christmas ornaments make me smile!

This little guy balances on skis and has ear-muff-tufts.

This vintage golf ball basket has so much potential! And the pillowcases inside will soon be pillowcase dresses!

This wicker bell is now a project! I have sprayed it with primer and hope to get some red paint on it tomorrow. I'll hang a red glass ball from the ribbon inside. It will be a silent clapper!

These German Die Cuts jumped off the stairs and into my hands!

Tony loves history! This book is perfect for him!

There are a few things I can't show you since they are being sent to some on-line buddies and friends who read my blog! You'll just have to wait!

Even Skippy had to check out my goodies! This was $34 well spent!

7 Things You Don't Know About Me

My blog friend, Vintage Christine from I'm Not Old, I'm Vintage, did a post today called 7 things you don't know about me. Boy! Did she have surprises! While I don't have any tattoos and never dated a pimp, there are some things I've never written about in my blog. So here goes...

1. I've been to prison.

2. I was a juvenile probation officer, so I took my children to prison for a day trip. So yes, I've been to prison, but I was home by bedtime!

3. When I was 16, I was driving my Mom's station wagon and accidentally pulled somebodies back bumper off their car. I was so afraid, I left without telling. Good news, no damage to Mom's car! Bad news, I still feel guilty!

4. I never had any babies. I had toddlers! Will weighed 9 pounds 12 ounces and Rick weighed 10 pounds 2 ounces. Naturally!

5. Tony and I got married after just 3 dates. The first lasted 10 days, the second was 3 months and the third was one month. Why were our three dates so long? Tony lived in Australia and I lived in North Carolina. It was cheaper to get married!

6. Animals seem to come out of the woodwork to create memories for me. I've been punched by a kangaroo, bitten by a wombat, chased by a dinosaur (it was really a kimono dragon), and saw the hugest spider ever (a huntsman) on my own bed. When Rick was 3, we were digging up ferns down the trail in the back yard. Rick hollered, "Snake!" I ran all the way up the hill before I realized Rick was still at the bottom of the hill with the snake! I did go back to get him

7. At 44, I am happier than I have ever been in my life. (I knocked on wood after I typed this so not to jinx myself!)

Loose Ends...

This has turned into such a busy week and weekend! We got the remnants of Hurricane Ida earlier in the week. It rained so much Wednesday, Thursday and Friday that the birds started hanging out on my porch just to dry out! (And NO, I'm not talking about the ceramic chicken on the table!)

I do LOVE my birds! And this little guy sitting on my corbel just became my favorite!

Yesterday, we were headed to Louisburg to visit some friends. We stopped at Target/Starbuck's for fortification. Tony ran in for drinks while Will parked. This is a photo of the window in the car next to us! I think I had the same problem earlier in the year...my rear car window would not stay up. Suction cups and rope worked for a while. Tony eventually put a block of wood under the window inside the door (not like the pieces of wood you see in this photo). It stays up permanently now! It never occurred to me to shove sticks in the sides of the window. It seemed to have been working, though! You have to be creative in keeping your windows up when Ida dumps 5 inches of rain on you in 3 days!

But, I digress...

With cappuccinos and hot chocolates in hand, we headed thirty minutes north to visit friends in Louisburg. They live in a gorgeous house that was built in the 1700's. Yes, that is a seven! They have restored the entire house and built studios and workshops throughout the property.

Beverly and Mark researched what items would have been grown in a garden in the late 1700's and have tried to replicate. My favorite tree was a pomegranate. And, it was bearing fruit!

The stairway is in the kitchen. The perfect spot for a photo-op for my boys!

Beverly, the talented mistress of the house, carves gourds into these fabulous jack-o-lanterns! Even sweet Annabelle finds this tabletop display welcoming!

These are the gourds Beverly grew this year. Once they dry out, they will keep her busy in her fabulous art studio! Behind Will and me is the garden that sustains the family. Even now, they have garlic, chives and parsley ready to harvest. A large section has just been planted with lettuces and spinach. Mark welded the wrought iron gate entrances. My brown eyes turned green with envy! Bailey, the furry creature I'm holding, stole my heart. She was the sweetest dog. (Riley sniffed me good when we got home. He recognized the scent of unfaithfulness!)

Beverly even planted a knot garden in front of her art studio! She shapes her boxwoods and trains her climbing rose over a trellis. The lucky folks who live across the street in the white house have a beautiful view!




All of their paths were laid with reclaimed bricks. They scrubbed the mortar off before laying them. Nemo guards the art studio!




An afternoon hike to the back of the property was perfect! Can you believe how pretty their homestead is? It would be awfully hard to leave for work on Monday morning!

This is a natural granite culvert that intersects the path. It is dry most of the time, but now, it trickled with the rain from earlier this week.

Mark did all of the woodwork inside the house...he laid hardwood floors, built cabinets, and, you know what they say about old houses? No closets! So, he built furniture to hold towels, clothes, dishes, everything. He even built this workshop!

And even though it is starting to get a little dark, you can still see the outline of Beverly's studio. The back is a potting shed with a greenhouse just steps away. Through the front door, you find a welcoming sitting area facing a fireplace. Bouquets of lavender hang from the hearth.

To get to the second floor, you climb a ladder with wide steps and swing up to the art studio. All of Beverly's supplies are boxed, hanging, stacked, displayed throughout the second floor. Oh, I want one!

We were invited for lunch and had planned to leave around 2:00 in the afternoon so we didn't take up their entire day. As dark surrounded us, we finally pulled out at 5:30. Mark and Beverly were wonderful hosts!

Today, we returned to our list of clean-up chores for the storm. As I was carrying a pile of sticks to the fire pit, I came across this creature hanging from a tree limb. Isn't he beautiful? (NOTE: As I was showing the photos of this post to Rick, he saw my last photo, announced it creepy and demanded to know where, exactly, it is located in the yard!)

I'm sorry this weekend is over!

Last Chance for a Snarky Sign Entry

Tomorrow is the deadline to enter my Snarky Sign Contest.

Do you have a smart-ass comment or quote?

Send it to me.

The three that make me laugh the most will be chosen.

Once I whip them up, I'll send you your sign!

I'll post pictures of the winning quotes next week!

Close, but No Fire Trucks!

Okay, so the fire department has been to my house twice since July because I burned hummingbird food and the toaster nearly caught fire. We were very fortunate both times because the only damage we had was smoke and a bad smell. Needless to say, my children are very sensitive to smells now. I even have this sign over my stove:

Well, every time I turn on my stove, smoke gathers inside the oven and pours out when I open it. I can't figure out why this happens. So, I figured I would try the oven cleaning setting on the stove. When you move the lever across the front of the stove, it locks the oven, turns the heat on as hot as it will go, and cooks the crap out of any spills inside for 4 hours and 20 minutes.

About 20 minutes into the "cleaning", Will hollered down the stairs, "Did you start a fire in the fireplace?" Nope. "Something is burning! What's that smell?" I filled him in on my plans to clean the oven today in the hopes that smoke will no longer waft from my oven when I open it.

He came downstairs to inspect and was met by a wall of smoke in the kitchen. I hadn't noticed the smoke pouring into the living room because I was playing on my computer...reading ya'lls blogs!

"Mom! The alarm is going to go off!" This caught my attention. In less than a minute, my computer was cast aside, I had windows and doors open and a fan sucking out the smoke. This seemed to work. After about an hour, the oven no longer produced smoke, just a whole lot of heat!

I was so relieved when the 4 hours and 20 minutes was over.

You know, once you've been tagged as a woman who burns dinner, the water boils out of the artichokes and the lingering smell of smoke disguises the burning pot. I just added some more water to the charred pot and kept cooking. Smoked artichokes aren't bad. Will did ask, "What are these black flecks on the artichokes?" He didn't believe me when I said "burnt water."

The Motherload of Funny

I have just added the funniest blog to my list.

Instead of doing the chores on my long, LONG list, I was dawdling away the afternoon by checking out blogs I've never been to before. I stumbled across this one... FAILBLOG

Since this is one of my youngest child's favorite words (he loves to announce FAIL whenever his mother does something stupid (more often than I would like to admit)), I had to investigate further.

Very quickly, I was snorting at the stupidity of others. I AM NOT ALONE! And saying a prayer of thanks that I saw no photos of myself! However, should one of me appear in the future on this blog, I will pay handsomely for someone to blur out my face and any other identifying marks. If you don't have an hour to spend giggling, do not click this link!

Just one sample...