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.

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.

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......

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.....

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.

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...

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!!!