HOMELESS MOUSE

It's a sad time for a mouse to be homeless in South Texas, these days, with the monsoon we have going and the creeks and rivers rising. ....Inspired by the foolishness on one of the forums I visit.

INCHIES

That's what these little 1 inch square collages are called. Inchies. I joined a swap with them on Swap-Bot and as soon as I coat them with Modge-Podge they will be ready to mail off. Some people just collect them as is, and some people use them to make things like refridgerator magnets, jewelry, or parts of larger works of art.

AS THE BULB FLICKERS...

I'm still trying to get back in the groove with art. So the other day with no inspiration to illuminate any light bulbs over my head, I opened an old encyclopedia volume (C) and tried painting a few things I saw there. That's where the two men came from - 'Man of Mystery' and 'Petroleum Scientist'. The furry monster came from a quick glimpse of a painting in the background of a decorating show on HGTV. And that was all I could come up with.

DANGER!!!! TRESPASSER!!!

This is what Coconut confronted in the backyard this morning. This female (I think.) turtle was inside the fence up against it, hiding in the grass. Coconut sounded the alarm and bravely kept it from attacking or breaking into the house.
We had a huge thunderstorm last night around midnight. It lasted about 40 minutes or so. I finally had to get up with Carl, who was terrified. Patti-Jo was really scared too. I had to sit in the recliner so they could burrow in behind it and hide. Even then, they were very nervous. Coconut just sat on the couch, occasionally getting behind the curtain to look outside, and wondered what was the matter with the two big dogs. As I am typing this, we are having another thunderstorm, although not as intense as the one last night. When I went to town earlier, the Aransas was WAY up again. I wonder if it will be over the bridge later?
QUESTION OF THE DAY:Are your animals afraid of bad weather?

THE BERCLAIR MANSION - GHOSTS?

My friend, Susan, recently emailed me a link to an article about and recording in the Berclair Mansion. It's been in area news often lately. I don't believe in 'ghosts' per se - not the way they are usually thought of and presented. It really is a fascinating subject, though. Anyway, because I am lazy, I am just copying and pasting my letter to her.

Hi Susan!

I've been reading about that in the Bee-Picayune. Thanks for the link. I hadn't heard the EVP recording...didn't know it was out there. I remember when we stopped there on the way back from Bastrop and took photos. Nothing unusual in my photos. How about yours? I am not really convinced, though, that there is anything 'of note' there. I don't know. I mean, why would 'ghosts' be talking about such mundane things. Not that every word would have to be a pearl of wisdom or lofty thoughts or anything. ;) And the house was built in 1922, I think? So everyone who lived there is known. So where did the little girl come from. Or 'Adam'? Sure, the little girl could have visited there, but the house wouldn't have been of major importance in her life, so that she would have come back there as a ghost, I wouldnt think. Adam could have been someone who was working there or something, I guess. Or another visitor.

Or... how about this scenario. Time is not as we know it - a straight line from point A to point B. Maybe it overlaps on itself as in a 'all things (timewise) can 'be' at the same 'time'. So then the little girl could be one of the ladies who lived there. Even though they lived there only as elderly adults, they were still little girls at one time and they could be as little girls in any 'time' or place where their adult bodies were at one time.

You know I'm Catholic, so I believe in 'purgatory' as a place or 'condition' of purification, suffering (to whatever degree), and reparation. Since nothing impure or imperfect can enter into heaven, and we all have the residue of sin on us - even small faults - from things that were not truly repented from in this life, we need a cleansing. So my normal take on 'spirits' or ghosts is that they are in their purgatory being cleased from this residue. It would be suffering for them to know they are dead, know the truth of God's love and awesomeness, yet be denied, for a time, full entrance into His presence. Through God's mercy, they are in purgatory. (Not hell, because there is a big difference between say, murdering someone and wasting hours daily playing video games to the detrement of one's duties.) LOL! (Personal experience!) So maybe they are on 'earth', in whatever location, going about whatever normal business they would have in life. Sort of. More or less. I take it as an indication that they need prayer. As we all do.

BUT it could be evil spirits trying to lead people astray from the truth of Jesus and the Gospel. If people get preocupied with searching after ghosts and that kind of false spirituality...leading them to ouija boards, seances, fortune tellers etc. then they are not putting their faith in God, but maybe thinking the afterlife is just some kind of ghost party thing or something. LOL! Not heaven or hell and right or wrong.

OR the voices could be some kind of 'residue' of sounds in the past - not the spirits actively interacting with people here, today, but a kind of leftover sound still resonating in that place, through some scientific principle that we don't understand yet. Or it could be some kind of static signal from somewhere else (in the here and now) transmitted in some way that we don't understand yet.

Okay, those are my many theories. LOL! What do you think? What are your best takes on it, so far, Susan? This is a fascinating subject for sure. I am hoping to hear more about the Berclair Mansion, although I don't think there will ever be a definative answer.


QUESTION OF THE DAY: What are your ideas on this subject?

CONSIDERATE ARTIST?

Considerate Artist

You can mouse over the color blocks to see the catagories.

2nd Question of the Day: What did your test say about you?

CROCS!

I bought my first two pair of Crocs yesterday at Walmart. Yes, I actually purchased those eye-blinding shoes in the photo. They weren't the end result of a swap gone terribly wrong. The new Super-super Walmart has gaping holes in their inventory selections, but they did have Crocs copies. In two colors only. These PINK and YELLOW ones, and black. No other choices. I was somewhat embarrassed to run into Garrett and Marti and have her catch me with these things in my basket. It wasn't embarrassing to have Garrett see them, because he is my child and has seem me acquire much weirder things. Much weirder. Marti asked me about them, we laughed, and then later when I saw them at the check-out, she said she got some just like them, too. At least these shoes go with the flamingo purse Ashley bought me one time... And I am wearing the flamingo bracelet today, too, that she gave me.

I am going to a birthday bbq in a little while at the parish hall. The shoes, purse and bracelet will look appropriately festive. Happy 35th birthday, Loretta! No I didn't buy her anything that garish. She is getting a tastefully flowered shirt from me, and a beautiful stuffed bunny rabbit from Shabree.

Question of the Day: Do you have crocs? What color(s)? Like them?

ARTINESS IN PROGRESS

Things have been pretty arty around here lately. Zach, Shabree and I have all been doing various things, and swapped art is arriving regularly, too.
The first photo is of two more Summer Postcards, two Artist Trading Cards and some decorative papers. Aren't they all gorgeous?! THANKS, Andrea, Beatty Family, Janis T. and Donna! I love all of it!

Here is Zach's latest. Horse drawings, of course. ;) What isn't in the photo is the drawing he did for the library's reading poster contest. It was a horse, with a patchwork quilt pulled up to his neck, and an ice bag put on a bump on his head, and a dented book nearby. The title was 'Run Headlong into Reading'. ;)

Last of all, I finished these pumpkin atcs for a Funky Pumpkin ATC swap I joined. Excuse the camera glare. There are no orange stripes and blotches, nor glassy smears on the actual atcs.

PINK SUNDAY

More to come later, maybe, but for now, my pink photo is one of Marlene and Barbara all ready to go to church. I got those two outfits a while back, from eBay, but this is the first time they have worn them. Marlene's is hand crocheted and came with a clioche hat, but it doesn't fit with her tall poofy hair style. She thought the skirt was a little short, since she prefers a more modest look, but agreed to let her knees show a little, for the photo. Barbara's is made from a vintage(?) handkerchief and also came with a hat. The wide brimmed picture hat doesn't fit over her boufant hair-do either.

RED SATURDAY

These are two prints of red Madonna icons that I have hanging in my living room. The first shows a very pregnant Mary preparing for the journey to Bethlehem. We have used this icon as part of our Posada each December.

Next is a Goodwill find. This Chinese - or would it be Japanese? - girl was surely one of a set. However, the boy half of the set was missing. I really like this little figurine even though she does have a chip on her hat.

Arizona Diet Green Tea with Ginseng - that is my drink of choice these days. I buy it in these gallon jugs. It has almost replaced Diet Coke with me.

And lastly, this is my make-up bag. Isn't it cute? Although I hardly need a make-up bag any more, since I almost never wear make-up. But I love the bag. Under it is a planter that I bought at ..... Goodwill. You knew I was going to say that, right? Behind it is fabric that I bought when planing to make more quilt blocks...but that project never 'material'ized.

ORANGE FRIDAY

I bought a bag of oranges yesterday when I went to the supermarket. The boys have already eaten quite a few of them. There were three kinds of oranges available at H.E.B. and all three came from California. Where are the Texas oranges?

The vintage platter in the photo was given to me by my son-in-law, when he came back from Japan. It is really thick and heavy, and I like it a lot.

WHITE/BROWN/BLACK THURSDAY

This is my bride and groom collection - or most of it, anyway. When I unearthed them yesterday, two had their heads broken off - one bride and one groom from different sets. I glued the headless bride back together, but couldn't find the groom's missing head. I think these are going to go the way of my salt and pepper set collection. I am going to package them safely away until I can get things more decluttered around here.

I feel kind of yucky today. I don't know why. Not enough sleep for one thing. I am meeting Lydia for lunch at Papa's in about an hour and a half. I don't know if that will be an satisfying alternative to The Chisholm Trail or not. Chisholm closed and is for sale again. It such a popular place and has such good food, I don't know why it keeps being closed and put up for sale so regularly. Probably not adequate profit for the overhead and labor required to operate it. Anyway, I called Papa's and asked what the lunch menu was for today and it was Southwest Chicken, so that sounds promising. Yesterday, Lydia and I went to lunch at Taqueria Jalisco in Beeville, but when we got back to town, the sign on Papa's said that day's lunch was 'Milagro Meatloaf'. Now THAT sounded intriguing. Although I guess you could take it either of two ways. My mother once advised me, "NEVER order meatloaf in a cafe!". But I love meatloaf, so if they ever have Milagro Meatloaf again when I am looking for a lunch idea, it will be a miracle if I don't stop in and order it.

I made an appointment at the veterinary hospital this morning to get two more cats spayed. Honestly, we have only ONE elderly (spayed) cat that is actually 'ours' - who we accepted from someone who offered her to us. Nissa came as a tiny kitten who was the last one remaining from a litter that had lost their mother. But with all the strays or volunteers or 'dumpees' who have found their way here, usually pregnant, we have a backyard full of felines. I keep getting them spayed, but never can get ahead of the 'herd' for long. After these two, there are two more females needing to be spayed, I think, but they are super-wild, so I don't know if I will be able to capture them or not. After that we have 2 female kittens who will be spayed as soon as they are old enough. THEN we will be done with the baby kitty factory...for a while, until new cats move in.

I have got to go to Beeville today. I have put off grocery shopping as long as I can. It's reached the emergency stage - I am out of Diet Cokes and green tea, and the dogs are out of pork neckbones, chicken necks or any semblance of real meat for their breakfast. I am almost out of regular dog food, too, and cat food is not far behind. Chicken and pork bones can safely be fed to dogs as long as they are RAW, not cooked.

I've been forgetting about my Question of the day. So I'll make up for it with several:

What do you collect?

How many dogs (what kind?), cats or other pets do you have?

Do you feed your dogs any particular foods?

GREEN WEDNESDAY...AND GAMES

Yesterday, I dug through my button jar and got out all my green ones for the first photo. Not many!
Later, Zach called wanting to know if he and Mat could come over. I was wanting to get a little housework done first, so I told him 'not right now', but that I'd pick them up when I finished up a couple of things. But then I changed my mind and called back and said I was going to go to Beeville to get us all Subway sandwiches, and I'd pick them up when I got back. So when I stopped by to pick them up, I took this photo of Chuck's new emerald green horse trailer.

Zach and Mat spent the night, too. Well, Zach did. Mat changed his mind about 10:30. They brought over two games to play. Mathieu brought Cranium's Sounds of the Seashore, and Zachary brought Cranium. In our family, we used to play games all the time - every day, in fact. We'd get huge tournaments going for all kinds of things. We'd play Monopoly, Scrabble, Who's On First, Mad, WaHoo, Parchessi, Dam Busters, Tri-Ominoes, Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit, Dominoes, Yahtzee, Backgammon, and all kinds of card and dice games.

When the grandchildren started coming, we kept it up, although not nearly as avidly. A 2-3 times weekly game of Candyland, or Cootie or Go Fish or something. Now, I hate to admit, I can hardly stand to play a board game. So it was somewhat of a trial to get through each of the boys' games once. Isn't that awful to admit?! I need to do better. On the other hand, if any of the grandchildren are playing Sims2, Sims2: Pets, Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, or Viva Pinata on any of the video consoles, I am THERE, and we are discussing every move.

Reagan and Amy picked up Mathieu for a short time to take him to get two (ouch!) shots he needs before starting Kindergarten in September. While they were gone, I had Zach help me pull some weeds from around the compost pile and in the tomato patch. I also managed to sweep the front part of the house, wash dishes, clear some trash out, and clean the fridge. Later that afternoon, after Mat returned, we all went out back and threw frisbies with the dogs.

GASP! IT'S BLUE TUESDAY!

I have no shame. Good grief! I didn't realize my eyes were that bloodshot! Anyway... (NEway?) My blue head wrap is a long scarf I bought at Goodwill (where else?!) a long time ago. I bought it to use as wall covering in one of my Wandette stories. But it didn't work so well, so it had been languishing around the house ever since. A couple of weeks ago, while I was painting, I saw it on my art table and wrap-tied it around my head on a whim. I was pleased to find that it kept my hair out of my eyes and away from my face so I could paint more comfortably. It looks somewhat Frida-ish, no? Or maybe that is 'freakish'. Or maybe the expression is more Salvador Dali. Oh, well...
The huge blue earrings came from Walmart not too, too long ago. They are of the LARGE, tacky variety that I love.
The ring is a Linde Star sapphire and diamond one that my father bought me when I was 16. My grandfather, who was a farmer when I knew him, had been a jeweler at one time. He gave my older sisters a ruby and an emerald, which they had made into rings. (Right, Jan?) So Daddy thought I should have a nice ring too.
The blue shirt is just the one I happened to be wearing anyway. I am the Queen of the Solid Colored T-Shirts. And the blue eyes are just standard equipment.

MORE YELLOW MONDAY

Okay, here are some better Yellow Monday photos. Zach called and asked if he and Mathieu could come over. I said, 'Sure!'. Then I thought to call right back and ask if he could pick some cowpen daisies for me to photograph. And then, since he was changing shirts anyway, I asked if he had an every day yellow one he could wear. Mathieu was already specially dressed in a hugely too big camo shirt handed down from Zach's friend Charles, who recently moved away. But he obligingly changed to a yellow shirt too. Aren't they photogenic? They posed themselves completely on their own. The only direction I had to give them was to move the flowers more to the center (Zach) and then for Mat to move them so he wouldn't be covering his face. From the looks of these photos, you'd never guess that they came in the door fighting and that in posing for the photos Zach at first had his arm tightly wrapped around Mat's neck. ...Or maybe you would.

COLOR WEEK: YELLOW MONDAY

This isn't such an auspicious beginning to my color week photos. I'll try to do better as the week progresses. Why is there such a dearth of yellow around my household?

I love figural vases and have had this yellow rainboots 'vase' for several years. It was a Goodwill find. But when I put water in it to hold the honeysuckles and lemon balm, the water ran out like through a seive. It turns out that my 'vase' is a small planter. The terra-cotta bottom is very porous. So that accounts for the wilted contents. But the honeysuckles and herbs smell wonderful. The photo was taken outside behind my herb garden. That is cinnamon basil pushing into the photo.

COLOR WEEK!

On her blog, HulaSeventy suggested that she is ready to do another Color Week. I had been wanting to do that too, so I am going to gladly play along. If you'd like to play too, just say so in the comments so that we can visit your blog and see what photos you share. If you are new to this, what you do is put a photo spotlighting the color of the day on your blog. It really is fun to see what everyone comes up with.

Here are the colors for the days:

Monday - Yellows

Tuesdays - Blues/Turquoise

Wednesday - Greens

Thursday - White/Brown/Black

Friday - Oranges

Saturday - Reds

Sunday - Pinks

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Wanna play along?

ESCAPE!

That's the title of this great postcard I received yesterday, as a part of HulaSeventy's Summer Art Postcard Swap. Thanks, Mindy! :)

I had a rough couple of days....BAD sleep deprivation, thanks to insomnia coming back again, just when I needed to be at my best. I took Chuck to Corpus Christi for the injection into his spine at his neck. He has been feeling awful the past few weeks, and has been off from work for several weeks. But it looks like the injection worked! It should last anywhere from a few weeks to 6 months, the doctor said. So that is great news. I hope it lasts the full 6 months. Actually, I wish it lasted longer. He can only have 3 of these injections, so when those are done, he is on his own with the medications that are not working. But for now he feels so much better.

QUESTION OF THE DAY

This is a new feature I'm going to try to incorporate into my blog. Yes, I am shamlessly copying Cookbook Junkie. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery", CbJ! ;)

Anyway, to start things off, here are two questions that I MEANT to include with the previous two entries:

Question of the day #1: Did you have imaginary friends as a child?

Question of the day #2: Do your children, parents, siblings or spouse read your blog?

HOOP PETTICOAT CHANDELIER

Now here's a great idea! Mathieu asked to see the hoop petticoat that I still hadn't done anything with, yet. He just thinks it is the most bizarre, whacko contraption! As I was holding it up for him, I commented that it looked like a chandelier. So he wanted me to hang it from the ceiling and pointed out the hook above the dining room table. So I hung it by the straps, and he stood on the table to whirl it around and swing it like a big bell.

Unfortunately, it was still there an hour or so later when one of Garrett's friends stopped by looking for him. He couldn't have missed it since he was standing not 8 feet from it, but didn't say a word about it.