Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween Night

A couple shots of the scary front yard and a close up of the ceramic luminarias. I found these cool battery operated tea lights at Walgreen 6/$5 so I didn't have to worry about kid's costumes getting close to a flame.



Spidetr web (what a mess) and my old skelton. Apparently the battery wore out because it didn't sing to anyone last night - it sure did throughout the year when we went into the garage!

My wooden Jack O'Lantern. I just love this thing for some reason although you can hardly tell there is a candle in it.

Eddie tired out from answering the door and keeping guard on mamma . I like this photo because he has Halloween eyes!

Two fabric pumpkins on th emantle. Also you can see a childhood photo of me and my AA graduaton photo from 1996 (Kodiak college).

Miss Daisey relaxing with her granny while we waited for trick or treaters. She was actually more verbal than Eddie toward the trick or treaters. Go figure.....


My black cat on the mantle. The candles burning were pumpkin scented. Yummy. I'll switch over to thanksgiving decos soon.

The last of the candy. I ended up giving everything I had left at 930 to two boys and then turning off the lights. We had over 200 kids and they came from 6pm to 9:30. They were all ages too! Had plenty of young teens who did some really interesting costumes.

Halloween At Work

Me and a coworker at work today. Cowork er (on left) dressed as a crazy lady and me as a clown.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Great Buys for Doggies at Target

I stopped at Target on the way home tonight and in that special value area in the front, they had a section of 2/$5 dog items relating to winter and/or Christmas. There were GREAT values in there. This means that despite student loan payment begining shortly, I will be able to participate in being a secret Santa for a couple of homless foster dogs. Yippee!!!

I don't normally use my blog to promote a retail giant like Target but hey, when you see a HUGE value you just gotta share it!








Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Final Post Tonight, I Promise

Last year Jerry brought home those fancy party collars for Halloween from his store. I've seen really expensive versions in pet boutiques for all occassions but frankly I believe these guys would be annoyed by all the stuff and fluff on those. These weren't too bulky. I bet they would prefer these over Halloween costumes!

Ed responding to the "down" command for an oatmeal treat.


This photo started out as Ed & Daisey then when I put Chloe up on the chaise Eddie jumped down. I took Chloe away and then Daisey jumped down as Ed jumped back up. It was a nightmare trying to get a group shot and I had to settle for the ratties - even though they are not sitting next to each other. I guess I could photoshop in the chihuahua, LOL.

Chloe kept getting in her bed and I kept dragging her out. she wanted nothing to do with the photoshoot.

Daisey's cute little underbite!

This pose is a volunteer pose they assumed when I turned y camera off. I grabbed it really quickly but Daisey had already stood up and was contemplating jumping down about 3 seconds later.

Eddie as the Rooster, Again

Some of you may remember a previous post with Eddie in his rooster costume. After I bought it I just couldn't resist because it is hysterical! It is a lot of work to dress an active rat terrier in a rooster costume because he won't be still but mostly because he thinks the headpiece is a toy, grabs it, and tries to chew it up! LOL

Chloe the Evil Chihuahua and Annie the Cat Dress Up for Halloween

Chloe, the evil chihuahua, dressed as herself (Devil Dawg) for Halloween

Annie the cat as a Hawaiian tourist - an unhappy tourist I would say by the puss on her face, LOL.

Monday, October 27, 2008

My Little Honeybee

She's no witch - she's a honey bee!


If Daisey ain't cute, there is no such thing as cute!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Green Thumb Sunday - Garden Gnome

Here is proof that I have a Gnome living in my garden. If you have a Gnome in your garden and you have a blog, please feature your Gnome in a post so that he/she can be acknowledged for the wonderful work that they do!

I discovered my Gnome sitting in my Phalanopsis where he guards it agaisnt any preditors that might hurt the plant or its blooms. Luckily I was the recipient many Christmases ago of a book by Poortvliet/Huygen simply titled "Gnomes" so I knew not to fear my Gnome when it appeared in my garden.

I believe my gnome is a Forest Gnome so I'm not exactly sure how it ended up in Central Florida but we are happy to have him! I believe he may have a few friends around here and when I am feeling better, I will search the garden for photographic proof.

Scary Garden

I am considering turning my front yard (garden area) into a really scary walkway area for Halloween. I usually keep it seasonal but not scary. Our neighborhood is very popular for trick or treating because cars can park at entry and kids can hit 50 houses by sidewalk. All the neighbors participate and most come outside and set up tables, chairs, and candy in the driveway. Lots of people iwth small kids come to my neighborhood and even my simple autumn scarecrows freightens some of them. Humm....what do ya think? should I be the scary house this year?

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Final Vacation Post - Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas


I didn't take my camera into the park so any photos are borrowed from online sources. The final adventure of our vacation last week was a trip to an actual diamond mine. In fact, the only one in the United States! The special part is that this tract of land belongs to the state of Arkansas and is open to the public for prospecting as opposed to leasing out to commercial entities.

I've always heard that it's easier to find these gems after a rain because the rain washes the dirt off so I was excited when we sat on our Murfreesboro inn porch reading in comfy rockers and watching it rain the day before we went to the mine. What we didn't know is that the "dirt" is actually clay and a day of heavy rain makes for a slippery mess.

If you can stay upright the clay actually builds on your shoes and they get heavier and heavier and began to resemble the feet of that man known as the tree man. For some unknown reason I cannot get that guy off my mind since seeing him on TV a month ago. Anyway, sometimes the muck would take your entire boot, shoe, and sock right off your foot when you tried to walk. We found lots of nice stones but no diamonds. The day we were there they only found 2 diamonds but I'm thinking that was due to the difficulty in working in the sticky mud.

The park is nice with other things to do so it looks like a good family vacation to me - in the dry season! There is a small water park, wildlife viewing, nearby lakes and fishing. The quaint little downtown has nice shops and antiquing. There was also a great BBQ trailer called "May's" with real down-home type BBQ served on "lite" bread.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Vacation Photos - Branson

I went to the Dr. yesterday because my respitory infection turned into an ear infection. I am home again today so thought I would spend some of my "extra" time posting more vacation photos before I fall asleep again from meds.

Who knew our hotel would be next door to the Titantic? My cousin Diane wanted so badly to be photographed on the top of the ship saying "I'm King of the world!" Our time in Branson was so short we didn't visit this museum but Dad, Jerry, & I did visit a couple others after Diane & Linda left (one day before us). More on those museum later.

Cousins Linda, Diane, and I got manicures before we out that night for dinner and a show. Ironically our color choices were red (Linda), white (me), and blue (Diane).

Here's the group at our Tepanyaki dinner - Jerry, me, Linda, Dad, and Diane. I have no idea why Diane hates being photographed - she's cute as bug!


My cousin Diane's super comfy car. The cousins drove 9 hours each way in this little Cadillac.



The three cousins went shopping twice in two days. Boy can those girl shop! It was Diane's birthday so Linda & I went together and bought her a purse she admired but would not buy for herself. Funny, both started the shoppin trip by saying they weren't going to buy for the grandkids on this trip.....yeah, right.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Vacation Photos - From Little Rock to Branson

This is a photo Jerry took of my Dad & me outside a Kroger's store in Little Rock. I thought the display was lovely and it explained to Jerry why I am so obsessed wth seasonal decorations - seemed all of Arkansas was decked out with pumpkins, mums, & scarecrows! This was taken the evening we spent in Little Rock before departing for Bransont he next morning.

We had a lovely drive through the Ozarks. Here is a photo of the woods. Quite different than all the evergreens of the Pacific Northwest!

Here's a closeup of the beautiful leaves and acorns that were calling it "fall" LOL. We were a little early for the full-on color change but we did see it's beginnings.

I typically avoid "roadside attractions" but we kept seeing this sign for an Arkansas Natural Bridge that I just couldn't pass up all in the spirit of a leisurly trip.

This was the visitor's center for the park. I dreamt about living in a small cabin in the mountains that night.

The second cabin in the park was used as a mini museum with old tools, kitchen ware, etc. The photo is of a REAL still (no longer in use) under the house.

Dad & Jerry by one of several large stone orbs. Not sure if these were natural or not.



Me in front of beautiful foliage. I wanted to stand futher away from the tree but Jerry kept insisting closer and closer until I finally stepped into a spider web! I slapped my head over and over to get the web and it's occupants out of my hair.

Final photo of Dad on the path to the bridge. Impressive rocks.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Vacation Photos - Dad's 80th Birthday

It's gonna take a while to catch up on vacation photos and stories. I'll start with the most important reason we went to Arkansas and Missouri - Dad's 80th birthday. After a great time in Branson with the cousins, Dad, Jerr & I returned to Dumas (where there was no wireless available) on Tuesday, October 14th. My step-siblings cleaned the house and decorated for the party while we were in Branson. They made steaks, salad, twice-baked potatoes, and a birthday cake with 80 candles on it!

Siblings Justin & Hannah - two of the three kids of my stepsister Ann & her husband Eddie

My step sister Ann. It ended up taking 4 of us to get all those candles lit at once. Needless to say, there was a lot of wax on that cake.

Jarrod, one of two sons of my step brother Terrell & his wife Phillis. I graduated high school with Phillis. In the background is Eddie, Ann's husband.

My Dad all full from a big dinner. Ann make him a special hamburger steak smothered in onion and brown gravy.

Party scene clockwise at 12 o'clock: Paul (my step sister Reba's husband), Justin, Lawrence (my step sister Judy's husband), Judy (backside), step sister Reba (backside) and my step brother Terrell.

My step sister Reba on the left and Phillis (Terrell's wife) on the right.

My step sister Samantha - the baby!

The last one is of Andrew, Ann & Eddie's boy.