Saturday, December 31, 2011

I Actually Made Something

I bought this tomato spoon/server months ago at the auction.  It was with a whole bunch of silver plate stuff that I eventually polished and now use.  When I saw it I knew that I was going to make a pendant out of it.
Soooooo, the other night, I got out my hammer (I keep it hid from David) put the spoon between several layers of newspaper and beat it till it was flat.  This was simple as it was only very slightly turned up.
Then I bent it, which was fairly easy as I only had to use my hands. And voila!! I slipped it over this chocker.
And, I wore it to work the next day and received several complements.  I really should have made the bale a little higher and flatter......but at least it's laying on the kitchen counter anymore.

Friday, December 30, 2011

It's Not Christmas Unless The Ambulance Comes

Me/daughter/DIL each had a glass of white in our hand when the ambulance got there.
1: Bottle of white wine

1: seizure—BIL
1: ambulance
7: wild monkeys
8: (semi) adults
1: tree with lights only (it fell earlier in the week and we never put the ornaments back on)
3: dozen+ presents
1: ham-spiral cut
6: side dishes
1: lava lamp dropped and broken (well almost—it still doesn’t work right)

1: car stuck in the front yard that David had to pull out with the tractor—(this happened before BIL had the seizure thank goodness)
1: air mattress (thank you Kay)
9: time I went to bed (mellow) and left everybody up arguing with the wild monkeys about the sleeping arrangements.
2: couch sleepers
3: air mattress sleepers
2: with mama/daddy sleepers
2: time I got up and 3 of the wild monkeys were up eating a ham sandwich
3: time BIL was caught outside sneaking a cigarette
So you see it makes sense what I told someone you don’t have to be tipsy to enjoy a "Rattle" Christmas, but it helps.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Hi everybody.  You remember that I killed my laptop, which is what I used for all my blogging.  And I have yet to get a new one.  I almost did, but that is another story.  And until I get a new laptop, my blogging will still be sporadic.  But I wanted to let you know that I keep up with your posts on my iPhone and that I wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  And share with you a little Christmas "rattles"
First of all, we bought a gorgeous tree from a local grower...finally got it up, where it stayed undecorated for several days.
Then David decorated it and it was beautiful...see: 9 feet tall and awaiting the angel on top.
 Then while I was in the shower, and David was watching TV....

It is back up, but we haven't put the decorations back on.  And it's Christmas Eve.  But one of the wild monkeys has been very sick and in the hospital, so we have just not redecorated it....Hopefully the wild monkey will get to come home tonight or tomorrow and we can have our celebration.
As I was frantically cleaning house, trying to decorate the outside, decorated the inside.......I thought, you know trees, ornaments, ceramic Santas, wreathes, parties, on and on.......Christmas is still all about Him.  And it will come without all the trappings.  Let Jesus be praised..let me worry more about my worship of Him rather than decorations and shopping.
Now that said, I leave you with a favorite picture.

'Twas the day before the night before Christmas, and in the McCaulla house, the puppies were sleeping on top of the couch......

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Have yawl been wondering about me?
I would love to tell you that I have been doing amazing things.
But I have only been doing ordinary things.
I killed my lap top and I rarely ever come back here in the bedroom to use the desk top unless I have to balance the check book or pay bills.  Yeah.
I want an iPad......I want a new lap top....I want/need a new iPhone.
Well I did do one thing......and it was awesome.
David and I went to the National Quartet Convention in Louisville KY.  (I love 4 part harmony)
And no matter where we go David finds "Elvis."
So there he was walking around the Kentucky Convention Center and David had to stop and have a conversation with him.
Part of the conversation went like this.
David:  Do you ever enter any of the Elvis impersonator contests?
Elvis:  No, those guys scare me.
We walk off and David is kinda in a daze....he asks me, What did that mean?  Does he not realize that he is one of those guys?
Fast forward a few days later, Avery saw this picture in my phone and here is our conversation:
Avery:  I thought Elvis was dead.
Me:  He is
Well who is that?
That is an Elvis impersonator.
What is an Elvis impersonator?
Well he is pretending to be Elvis.
Oh...does PapPaw know that?
She never fails to make me smile.....

Monday, August 8, 2011

I Have Been Hibernating


Maybe yawl have been wondering where I have been and what I have been doing.  Please note the picture above...temperature 104*.  And I'm pretty sure that it has been higher than that at times.  The older I get, the less I am able to tolerate the summer heat here in Mississippi.
So I just hibernate.  I got to work and church and that is about it.  I only go to Wal Mart when I have no more toilet paper.  I make David go to the grocery store.
The AC here in paradise runs constantly.  We keep in on 71* and it only stops running after dark.  During the day the house stays around 74* and that is with the thermostat set on 71*.  I am regretting all these French doors and windows and high ceilings.  They are indeed pretty, but when I pay the heating and cooling bills I sigh deeply.  I have placed sheets over the sheers in the master bedroom.  (I do not have curtains on any of the windows--there are sheers on every window and it too is indeed pretty for the view) Sigh.
David plowed/seeded/watered the front yard.  The grass only grew in the places it usually grows.  The water bill was $179.00 last month and $117.00 this month.  He quit watering when we got the first bill.  We still don't have decent grass. So it's as if he took $297.00 and flushed it down the toilet.  Sigh again.
He did make me two very nice flower beds.....one is doing well the other (which takes the brunt of the sun) not so much.  But I love them...they were my anniversary present.
Married 16 years June 16th.  Sigh again.  I adore my husband, he is my heart.
I have been on Adkins and have lost 26 pounds.  Sigh again.  But I'm stuck. The scales are not going to move anymore unless I do.  I have walked some at the gym in our church, but I have PROMISED myself that I will walk daily when it cools off.  Sigh again.
Adkins has been very hard on my body, and my liver studies elevated.  So my doctor told me to slow down and eat more carbs.  I have and have not gained, and I know I have got to come up with another plan.......Sigh again.
The furbabies are fine.  The Wild Monkeys   grandbabies are also fine.
I will leave you with these final pictures...let me set the scene.  David had been baby sitting 4 of the Wild Monkeys while I worked (yes I was scared).  I came home to them playing in the sprinkler.  He had to run an errand and left me in charge. 
I said, "Don't get in the mud."
I said, "Don't throw mud balls at each other."
I said, "Don't make a mud hole in PapPaw's front yard."
Well, take a look for yourself.








Monday, June 13, 2011

Audubon Ruffed Grouse


Soooo, this is a framed print that I bought at the auction for the grand total (I think) of five bucks.  It just looked old to me and of course I have a thing for old prints.  When I got it in my hands I noticed the word Audubon in the lower left hand corner.  It stayed on the floor in the bedroom for a week or two and then I hung it up.  Then I tried to read what was in the lower right hand corner....hmmm, Havell 1833...hmmm.  I began to do a little research, and of course it is a reproduction.  Namely the main cue that it is a reproduction is the size...I have actually seen a Audubon double elephant folio and it used to reside about 5 miles from where I now live.  In the home of J.Z. George--"Cotesworth."  Of course I was in high school then and was impressed despite the fact that I didn't know what I was looking at. I wonder if they still have it displayed or if it is in a vault some where.

This is Cotesworth.
When I was doing my  research, I noted that the original double elephant print of my Ruffed Grouse was listed for $27,000 on one website ....so according to Wiki, "Of the 119 copies known to survive, only eleven are held in private collections. In March 2000 the Fox-Bute copy sold at Christie's (New York) for $8,802,500. In December 2005 an unbound copy, the Providence Athenaeum Set, sold, again at Christie's (New York), for $5.6 million
Although I didn't find a treasure money wise, I did find a treasure in that I learned a lot about the amazing Mr. Audubon...and that was worth five bucks, plus it looks great in my guest bedroom...

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Victoria's Secret Finally Found Me

Yep that's right, they have been looking for me for about 16 years...let me explain.
I am a big girl.  Okay?  And apparently prior to my arrival in David's life he had never dated or even been around any big girls.  Our daughter is slim, his sisters are slim, his mother was slim and on and on.
On our first Christmas after we married we were all shopping in the mall.  Our daughter made her way into the Victoria's Secret store.  I went elsewhere. However, David  followed her in and began to look around.  He went up to one of the clerks and inquired about buying me some sexy lingerie.  The clerk asked him what size bra I wore...and he told her.  She laughed and told him that they didn't sell that size in there.  He slunk out -- embarrassed.
I have been a bit peeved with them ever since.
I mean she didn't have to laugh at him.  He was being sweet and apparently he didn't realize just how big a girl I am.
Now for some odd reason, they have found me and are sending me catalogs. What the heck?  I have never ordered from them. (See above--they don't have my size)  I have moved 3 times since then.  How the heck did they find me?  Why are they sending me catalogs?  I'm still a big girl, however I am on a diet and have lost 16.6 pounds.  Do they think that I will be a prospective customer?  Are they trying to make amends?  I still can't wear any of their stuff...they don't have purses in the catalog do they?  That's about the only thing that I could order.
Needless to say, I toss the catalog and never look inside.
And they are trying to sabotage this post!! I have tried to post pictures from their website twice and both times I was knocked off the Internet.
So there will be no VS pictures, I will post this picture of the puppies instead. 



So there VS!! Take that!!!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Mommy We Were



Wondering about something:
Me:  Okay what?
CiCi/GinGin/TanTan/BitBit:  Well it's acually two somethings.
Me: Okay what?
CiCi/GinGin/TanTan/BitBit:  Well first of all, why were you taking a bath in Daddy's tub with your clothes on?
Me: I wasn't taking a bath I was scrubbing it out.  It's too deep to bend over and get the sides clean and the stuff I use makes it really slick and slippery.  Soooo if I slip and fall and break something I won't be naked when the paramedics arrive.
CiCi/GinGin/TanTan/BitBit:  Oh.
Me: What's the other thing?
CiCi/GinGin/TanTan/BitBit: Why haven't you been clogging?
Me: You mean blogging.....so many reasons, the laptop is cranky, I've been busy trying to keep up with housework and stuff.
CiCi/GinGin/TanTan/BitBit: You sure have been going to the auction a lot.
Me: Yeah I know, they have been having Monday night sales...I may need to get into a 12 step program....maybe not...there won't be any more until August.
CiCi/GinGin/TanTan/BitBit: Why don't you show your clogger friends some of the things you bought.
Me: Okay.
 This little box is from oh heck I can't remember, one of those mall stores...mine for $2.50.

 Bean pot for $2.50...for David to keep his peanuts in.

Little planter, old brown bottle and galvanized kerosene can...I know I know....

 Ceramic magnolia for a dear friend who loves them...$2.50.



A Medical Dictionary published in '47, with this very sweet inscription.

These two very sweet canisters for $2.50.  I gave one to a friend and the other will hold the body cream that I make.
 Couldn't resist these 5 stitch encyclopedias...they too were $2.50.

 And last but not least, these maracas...why?  I have no idea, except that they called to me....$2.50.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Water

I have been thinking a lot about water lately. Why you may ask?  Because things rattle around in my head, that's why.
When I was growing up we didn't have running water in our house until I was about 8 or 9.  At that time our little town got "city water."  Mama had our house plumbed for water, she closed in an end of a hall and we had a bathroom.  We also had an outside hydrant so that my uncle could water the garden.  Water was then and has ever since been a luxury for me that I still respect.
It was one of my jobs to draw water from the well.  Which I never did do joyfully I have to admit.  This is a picture of what the bucket looked like.
(This is not our actual bucket, which I have hanging in the garage.) I can still hear the sound it made as I let it down into the well as it hit the sides of  the 12 inch concrete pipe inserted into the ground.  And I can still hear the sound it made as it hit the water and I as I hauled it up with the pulley.  I would pull the release and   the water would flow into an aluminum bucket. Then I would tote that bucket up to the back steps and then up onto the porch.  There was nothing quite like that first drink of cool delicious well water drank  from the aluminum dipper.
Running water meant no more going to the outhouse, no more drawing water, no more bathing in a #3 galvanized tub outside in the summer and in a smaller version inside in the winter.  No more aluminum buckets and dippers, no more boiling water outside to wash clothes.......or inside to bathe.
That summer that we got "city water," we had a month of free water, we were encouraged to run the water as much as possible to flush out the pipes, and boy did we!  I had a ball playing in the water outside, making rainbows, playing in the sprinkler........it was great.
Even today I still relish and appreciate every single tub bath or shower, every load of clothes washed in the washing machine, and every load of dishes washed in the dishwasher.
There have been times when we were without water and all I could think about was water...I need to use the bathroom, I need to brush my teeth, I need to wash dishes, I need to wash clothes,  I need water to cook...I need water!  David can tell you that I almost drove him crazy...we finally got our water back, but we didn't have hot water...I was near the breaking point and I went to a motel....
I love the beach, I love looking out at the water in the gulf and listening to the waves,  we live on a lake and I'm constantly looking out at the water, we don't have a swimming pool-but I want one. 
This past weekend we went to Louisiana and crossed the mighty Mississippi at Natchez.
The above picture is a floating casino river boat that is now closed because of flooding.
This is the Red River, also in Louisiana, and it too is over flowing its banks.
Water.......see what I mean?  Things rattle around in my head.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Puppy (Dog) Therapy

This therapy is good for anything that ails you...insomnia, anxiety, saddness....you name it. 
First of all gather your dogs, I have four...which as far as I'm concerned is the ideal number, however utilize how many ever you have.
The ideal weight of the dogs is from 2 to 10 pounds, which again is the weight of my dogs.
Make yourself comfortable in your bed, lie on your back with your head up on at least 3 pillows.  Place a neck roll under your neck.  Allow enough room between the top of your head and the head board for one dog.  This is where I place the smallest dog--the 2 pounder.  The closer she is to the top of my head the better I feel, so she is usually sort of draped around the top of my head without actually being on top of it.  This is very therapeutic, especially when she puts her nose close to my ear so that I can hear/feel her breathing.
Next, tuck another dog as close under your right side as you can without smothering them, repeat with another dog on the left side.

Lastly place the largest dog either on your chest with her head tucked under your chin (this works best when anxiety is at the worst) or on your lap.

Pull covers up to your chin.  The best choice for covers is an old soft ugly blanket.
Lastly place each arm on either side of the dogs at your side tucking them securely under your arms.
Now breathe in and out slowly and feel the unconditional love.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Rattles To Tell You

This the sweet little Betsy McCall doll that my cuz sent me after I cleaned her up a bit and washed her clothes. I'm trying to find her some shoes and socks...I got outbid on some on eBay....
This little Madame Alexander doll was in the "Tuesday Morning" store in Jackson, in the old days before the economic turn-down, she would have come home with me....she and probably at lease one more...sigh.
I bought this chair at the auction (yes I have a thing for chairs big and small) had the seat re-covered and it perfectly matches my grandmother's occasional table.

One of the wild monkey girl's   grandbaby girl's feet...I love this picture,  I'm pretty sure that I took it when they were asleep.

I bought this sewing box at the auction--I can't resist them. I only look at what is on the very top and I wait till I get home to take out everything and savor each thing.  Nothing says love to me like a sewing box or or a sewing machine...because when I was growing up, my mother made all my clothes.  Just look at those wonderful needle cards..

I also bought these pretty girls at the auction and paid very little for them.  I'm giving them a make-over now.
For somebody who does not drink, it seems that I am always buying whiskey carafes...this one is so pretty. Mine for $2.50.  On the bottom is says "liquor bottle."

I can't remember if I posted this before, It's a wicker baby basket...mine again for $2.50.
And last but not least I would like to thank Helen at Dollz and Thingz for mentioning my blog in hers. We have become great friends.  I found her through the old days on Yahoo 360, when I searched for someone who loved dolls.  Please go visit her, I promise you will be amazed--she is a very talented artist.
More later.


Sunday, March 27, 2011

Another One Of My Collections

I have always been draw to little chairs, and I don't know why.  I just noticed one day that I had several of them and decided to group them together.
These are grouped together in a corner of one of the bedrooms. The red one is my little red rocker that I got as a gift for my 5th birthday.  So that would make it 51 years old this December.  The slatted birch chair I bought years ago at Freds.  It folds up flat.  The others I have bought at auctions and estate sales. 
Tyler Wentworth sits regally in this chair on the nightstand.

And these are on the wall directly above the ones in the first picture.
They make me think of a story:
Many years ago my friend Sheila and I were talking about how there used to be country music shows about once a month in our little town.  She remembers Peggy Sue, Loretta Lynn's sister performing and that her dressing area was in the kindergarten room.  She had brought  her daughter Darletta with her on this particular occasion. Apparently Peggy Sue had a very thick country accent and Sheila remembers her saying...Daaarrrrletta jes lookit all them little cheers.
For years after Sheila telling me that story, every time we passed each other in the hall we would say..Daaarrrrletta!!! jes lookit all them little cheers!
I think I'm going to paint that saying on a canvas and hang it on the wall under those little cheers.....

Sang it Peggy!!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Apology

Apparently I need to apologize to everyone in the world, no everyone in the entire universe, because according to David I have kept you all awake with my snoring.


So all of my friends on this continent and across the oceans, I apologize.
I really don't want to have one of those 2 night sleep studies done, and I'm hoping that since my husband is a Respiratory Therapist, and he is going to borrow an oxygen saturation monitor and check to see if I stop breathing, maybe just maybe my doctor will write me a prescription for a CPAP machine. 
Or maybe one of my friends is going to let me borrow one.
Or maybe another friend will bootleg me one for another little while, but I will have to buy the tubing which is $167.00!! (The machine is $600.00+)
I think that my deductable is paid, but I will still have to pay the 80%.
Why am I quibbling about this, when all of yawl and my husband can't sleep?
So until I get this all worked out, could you all just put some cotton in your ears?

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Things I Bought At The Auction #Something

 I know I haven't been here much, but I just can't seem to get it together anymore.  However one thing that I do for myself is go to the monthly auction.
It seems that lately I have been on a picture kick, or maybe I should say art kick.  Like so many of us wealthy people (hahahaha) we collect art, and I'm adding to my collection..........
These pieces of art were bought by me at a gallery at the monthly auction and were very expensive none cost more than $7.50 most were $2.50.

The first one has to be my favorite, it is a signed water color....(I love water colors). See the red-bird?  It is hanging in my dining room and looks wonderful in there.  It is also framed very nicely.  The second one is also a water color and is hanging in my bedroom.  It looks sorta Christmasy, but I love it anyway.


These two are what I think are vintage prints of state birds/state flowers....of course when I bought them I didn't realize that one of them was the Magnolia...very sweet.  I think they may be pages out of a book.  I love them too and they hang in one of the bathrooms.  Since we live in the semi-country on a lake, I love to collect pictures art work of birds and animals.
I also enjoy collecting pictures sigh, I mean art...of women, I have several representing various ages of women.  I thought this was very sweet.  It too is in a bathroom......Hmmm could it be I'm running out of wall space?

And of course I love this oil, because it depicts a lake and I adore dogwood.  It is signed by Pat Pucket and has the date and place on the back...I forgot to take a picture of the back...and I can't remember what is written there.
Each picture is framed and I have pleased will all of the frames except one.
This is only some of the art that I have collected over the past couple of years.  And I have more things to show you at a later date that I purchased at the last couple of auctions.