Christmas Decorations Abound

Fruits of my labor and some of our collections!

I Promise to Be Good, I Promise to Be Good

Junior's first Christmas....he was very interested in the big forest that suddenly appeared in our den earlier this week. And then today it had all these neat hanging things on it. One in particular caught is eye...and I quickly realized why. It was a store window with toys revolving and whirring away inside! (the one that looks like a little house) Delightful to a furry feline! I think I'm ultimately going to have to move it to a higher branch.

Oh Christmas Tree

Done! This was my last tree to tackle....that would be the 26th one I've decorated. Tim still has his tree and the aluminum tree to do upstairs and that will bring us up to 28. There are actually 31 total but three aren't trees that get decorated!

I put the lights on this tree Thursday afternoon and then ran into the annual tree light glitch. This time, quite a few strands wouldn't light up. I wiggled each light at my husband's suggestion and got all but two strands to work. Tim fiddled with them and couldn't find any reason for them not to come on. At this point I was trying not to get hysterical at the thought of taking the other zillion strands off and starting all over with new lights. Then Tim remembered that we might have extras in the attic. Sure enough there were but they were missing every other bulb from the year we had to add a blue cover to every fourth light (they only came with pink, yellow and green for some reason...it's always something with our lights!). So, I sat on the sofa and added color bulbs and then put them on the tree. So that was done. Part of Friday was then spent replacing burned out bulbs all over the tree which was a major undertaking! They were really hard to remove from their little sockets! Got that done in between dusting toys and shelves in the front parlor!

Today we finally got to put the ornaments on! Who knew this would ultimately become a three day job? Mom and I tackled it first thing this morning. She always unwraps the ornaments for me and I find them a spot on the tree.

The weather was so nice again today that Tim and I put net lights out on our bushes and he lit my candy canes and hauled the big tree for our pot out front up from the basement. Everything looked so pretty and festive tonight when mom and I came in from some shopping we treated ourselves to. A little jaunt over to Half Price Books, Borders, Michaels and our favorite thrift store!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Not only on the inside but also the outside! I purchased some fresh greens yesterday at Grantline Nursery and managed to attach them to the pole light outside today while it was 57 degrees (heat wave!) along with my two light up candy canes and big red bow! It was not an easy job but I'm pretty pleased with the end result. Just need Tim to light them up now!

Junior Was Cute Again

So around here, preparation for the holiday season always includes touch up painting. I've been painting doors and nicks on trim, etc. One area that needed touching up was the trim around our stained glass window going up the stairs. So the other day Tim scraped off the peeling paint which then left a crater and he had to fill in with caulk. I decided to finally tackle the painting of it this morning and Junior decided I was extremely fascinating. He wedged himself in a corner at the very top of the staircase and practically hung half way through the railing at times. I was a little concerned he might fall but he never did and just looked extremely cute so I ran and got the camera. Cute, huh?

Junior Was Bad and Then He Was Cute

So, who do you think just happened to pull this ornament off the tree in our bedroom? I awoke to some serious zooming around the bed this morning as "somebody" played with his new found toy. Being that I had witnessed a certain cat named Junior trying to bat the very same one off before, I'm almost 100% positive he was the culprit this morning.

And then later he was tucked into his little nook behind the sofa pillows upstairs looking out the window. So, I took this opportunity to quickly decorate Junior with the hand me down Christmas hat and collar and snap his picture. He was, well, let's say, appalled. He honestly looked at me as if to say, "What have you just put on me and why have you done this to me?" He hardly moved. He just stayed perfectly still. So, I was able to grab several perfect shots of him in the morning sun.

We have aptly named this picture "Looking for Santa Claus". It's pretty darn good don't you think? What a ham.

Dinosaur World, You Won't Want To Miss It!

My article is up! Here's a sneak but to read more go here:

Kentucky News - Dinosaur World Cave City, KY - On the Road with Contributing Editor Elizabeth Young

Driving along I-65 S through Kentucky, it’s hard to miss the giant fiberglass dinosaur sitting atop a small hill at Exit 53. He invites the adventurous driver and family to exit at Cave City, KY and visit Dinosaur World. Reminiscent of the almost bygone roadside attractions, this is a delight to find along the modern interstate.

Y-M-C-A

Our very own YMCA opened last Saturday 2 minutes from our house. So, how could we not join? We did and took advantage of the no join fee. Saved $100. Then we found out that we could actually join through Fox 41, Tim's employer, and they'd pay half of our monthly fee. So nice of them!

Today I went and took my first Yoga class. I think I liked it! It was like nothing I'd ever done before. We stretched. And stretched. And stretched some more. We stretched out stuff I didn't realize could be stretched. I quickly discovered that my quads have apparently not been stretched in 13 years. That was the last time I belonged to a gym....Bally's in Akron, OH. Then after all the stretching, we relaxed.

And then I went back out into Siberia.

And then as the day progressed, all my muscles that got stretched started to hurt. But I was expecting this. So, I gritted my teeth, took some Advil and then tonight I enjoyed a nice, long, hot bath in the jacuzzi tub with soft music, a candle and a cat (perched on the edge of the tub the entire time.) Junior is absolutely fascinated by the tub, the water and especially the bubbles when the jets are on! He didn't seem to mind that his tail was getting wet as it swished back and forth in my water. I kinda minded but Junior didn't. I'm just glad he never jumped in with me.

It was especially odd to see myself in aerobic pants again. I haven't really worn them regularly for years. At least they still fit. That was encouraging.

How About Some Eye Candy, So To Speak

Yesterday mom and I went on a little buying jaunt...now, we didn't exactly expect to end up just an hour from Ft. Wayne but by the time we arrived at this guy's house that's where we were on the map! It was a little farther than I had expected. Fortunately, the weather held up, we just saw a few flurries at one point, and it was ultimately worth the time and effort! I scored a big box of great children's books for my etsy shop! All in all, about 160 books! I picked up a few games too and these two old ones to keep for my collections!

Today I happened upon two old opthamology textbooks from the 1930s and found some really super great color plates of eyeballs with diseases! Now, is that good stuff or what? Apparently in Etsyland it is! They weighed a TON, far heavier than our cat Garden Kitty I'm sure and she's a little over 10 lbs!

So, there ya have it. True eye candy.

Please Don't Pull My House Down

So, yesterday I was sitting at my computer figuring out shipping costs to Spain and the UK for etsy sales when all of a sudden it felt like someone ran into our house with a large vehicle. I heard noise, I felt tugging and pulling and immediately looked out my window in time to see a large semi truck from Gotta Go Trucking taking down the phone lines running across the side street! Of course, at that point I wasn't sure what lines they were so I had to call Tim at work. I was pretty sure they weren't power lines as we still had power. We had phone too but Tim was pretty sure it was the phone. One was still attached and the other was snapped in two. Lines going across the street to our neighbor's house were snapped and hanging too far down in the middle of the street.

Tim suggested I call the police which I did. The policeman arrived promptly and had dispatch call AT&T and the Street Dept to put up some warning signs at each end of the street. He said he'd try to stay until they came with them so no other large trucks would try to come down the street.

Now, here's the kicker. We talked about all that, I went upstairs to finally take my shower and I hear a truck coming down the street so I peer out the scrapbook room window and sure enough, it has to attempt to turn around but it at least saw the wires because no sign had arrived yet although the Street Dept guys had come and surveyed the situation. Then not 5 minutes later I hear another truck. A Rumpke dump truck this time and it slams on its brakes in order to stop before hitting the wires, which it does tap with its front windshield.

Okay, this is my house they are still attached to you know? And do you know what the nice policeman is doing? Sipping his coffee and looking at his laptop. I never could figure out why he didn't block the street himself with his cruiser you know?

Then he had to leave and no one was out there except me in the window in a towel. But AT&T finally arrived about this time and they get busy fixing their wires. The Street Dept guys show back up with all their signs just after the nick of time and don't bother putting any out at this point.

And then everything was fine again.

Surprise Party!

Last night we went to our friend Jamie's suprise birthday party! He really did seem surprised so it looks like everyone pulled it off! Lots of good food, cake, decorations and friends!

Thrifting Wednesday- Lots of Eye Candy

Well, after being really good for awhile and not going on hunting expeditions I was finally really bad yesterday with my partner in crime aka mom. We started out about 9:30am and didn't stop until 7:30pm when we collapsed into chairs at Carraba's for supper!

We hit several of our favorite haunts and found lots of good stuff! I found some wonderful things for my etsy shop, especially vintage children's books. Not much vintage Christmas out there to be had but I found a few things.

One of my favorite books was entitled Around The World With A Camera and dated 1916 I believe! It has fabulous photographs of the most unique things, people and places! I am by no means a history buff but I am itching to sit down and pour through this treasure!

Fur-iends

Well a few weeks ago Junior and Garden Kitty finally became friends! Not that he wasn't trying from the beginning but she was a little slower to come 'round! Now they play and wrestle and chase each other. Usually about 5:30-6:30 am when I'm still trying to sleep. And where do they do this you ask? Right next to my side of the bed. Yup. Every single time!

And, while we are talking cats and cat behavior- would someone please explain Daylight Savings Time to my cats? You see, at 5:15 am Sunday morning they thought it was 6:15 am like the day before and they were hungry and GK was behind the bed squealing and meowing ever so slightly and when that didn't rouse me out of bed, she did the "get on her pillow right above her bed and purr (buzz) loudly" trick. When that didn't work she had Junior come in and meow a time or two. Then they decided they might as well wrestle on the floor next to my side of the bed.

So, I never did get that "extra hour of sleep" everyone raves about when Daylight Savings Time comes to an end. I actually only got like 6 hours of sleep.

And have for about 4 days now due to one thing or meow or another. Etsy has been booming, which I am grateful for! It's been crazy trying to keep up with listings, packing items, shipping them out and keeping any new finds organized and ready to list! Christmas decorating is in full swing here although it was seasonal chaos when Tim had Halloween decorations out and I had multiple trees up just a room or two away! With 31 trees to decorate, I unfortunately have to start in October or late Sept. Just couldn't get much done at the end of Sept. though but October has been quite productive!

And a good thing! Our vintage toy collections and themed Christmas trees will be featured in an upcoming magazine put out by the local paper! A very nice freelance writer and her photographer hubby came over a couple of Sundays ago and spent about 2 hours with us! It was great fun and I had a lot done which she was thrilled about!

So, busy busy busy here at the old house!

The Mad Scientist Strikes Again

Tim decorated our front porch yesterday in "Mad Lab" theme! I supplied the food coloring and he did the rest! Our front yard was then transformed into a graveyard complete with Ed Skeleton resting wearily against a fiberglass stone. We apparently had lots of trick or treaters, however, I missed most of them. I sat glued to the computer listing over 20 items in my etsy shop and Tim played spooky music, ran the fog machine and passed out candy!

Vintage Indie Market- Holiday Edition

Just launched this morning! Vintage Indie Market. Buy handmade and vintage this holiday season! A spectacular group of vendors are participating including myself!