The Grape Pumpkin

No, it wasn't a face this time. But it is almost autumn.

And it does look like a pumpkin. And I couldn't help but hear Linus's

words ringing in my ears...with a little adaptation. :)

"Just wait til next year, Charlie Brown. You'll see! Next year at this same time, I'll find the pumpkin patch that is real sincere and I'll sit in that pumpkin patch until the Grape Pumpkin appears. He'll rise out of that pumpkin patch and he'll fly through the air with his bag of toys. The Grape Pumpkin will appear and I'll be waiting for him! "

~Linus van Pelt

It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

1966

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Slow Cooked BBQ Ribs

This was The Mister's birthday dinner last Friday evening. If you need a fool proof recipe for ribs, this is a good one. Cut slabs in half, which is a serving size, approximately. Lay ribs in a pan, (it's ok if they overlap a little). Pour 1 bottle of beer over them and sprinkle with chili powder. Seal tightly with foil and bake at 250 for 6 hours or more. Just before serving, carefully remove slabs onto a cookie sheet, spread tops with your favorite sauce and return to the oven uncovered for 15 minutes. They fall off the bone. Perfect every time. Yum.

Served here with cole slaw and THESE onion rings.

And THIS chocolate cake recipe, of course. :)

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Ideal Coffee Break

click to enlarge

There's just a bit of coolness in the air this weekend. The sky is a darker shade of blue and the clouds are low and puffy. These are sure signs that my favorite season is going to make an appearance within the month! The theme this time around over at Creative Tuesday is to show your thoughts on an ideal coffee break. I'm imagining an impromptu outing with blanket and basket in tow. Thermos of coffee. Goodies to nibble on. Watching floating clouds and falling leaves. Sigh. Lovely. And someone special to come along for the moment, right? Because it's always more fun to share!

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I tried to push myself a little harder this time with my sketching and do something a bit more difficult. Well, I just about pushed myself over the edge with that woven basket! Definitely had to have a model to help me keep the pattern going correctly. It doesn't look bad if you don't look too closely! ha ha. Whew! It took forever! 8.5 x 11 and colored pencils.

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Last Friday was The Mister's birthday so we went out for lunch. It was a beautiful day and we decided to eat outside at the restaurant. McCormick and Schmidts, if you are familiar. I stopped at the restroom when we got there and he went ahead and was seated and ordered our drinks. When I joined him and we started talking, three sparrows flew in and hopped around our feet. He laughed and said, "You know, Mrs. Doolittle, the birds didn't appear until you did!" So, of course I had to add a cute little bird to my sketch. :)

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So, anybody want to enjoy a coffee break with me?

Let's see who can see a cloud animal first, shall we?

Click HERE for more entries!

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Holding

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Auction Day

I worked an antique auction yesterday. And it was a pleasant one, too! No junk. Inside. Clean bathrooms. Nice stuff. The estate was from a collector and he had lots of vintage metal advertising signs and some railway collectibles.

This huge lantern was neat. There's Steve with the red hat. Remember him?

I watched this man all day. I had a great view of him from the cashier's table. This first metal whiskey advertisement was nice. It went for almost $300. Every time I looked over at him, he had added to his pile. The butter churn was cool and so was the pretzel tin! So was the copper tea kettle!

I placed a bid with the auctioneer for a few of the railroad items. That way he could bid for me while I was busy working. I put a bid in for a switch lantern but they went for close to $200 each.

I didn't bid high enough for a conductor's hat either. They went for well over $100.

And this railroad crossing sign went for $100!

This sign would have looked cool in the boys' train themed bedroom, but it

went for almost $300.

I was about to give up winning anything when this sign finally went on the auction block.

There's my yellow bid number in his hand. Then I had a customer wanting to pay, so I had to put my camera down and take care of her. But guess what? He walked that big sign right back to me! Can't believe I won it! The best part was this....

Walking into their room with it! Spencer immediately said 'yes' when I asked "Do you want a present?" His eyes about popped out and he looked at the walls for a spot! He knew exactly what to do with it. So fun to get them something they really love! They were all excited even though the photo doesn't show it. They all get that pained look on their face when they see the camera! ha.

I also got the winning bid on this print!

Tomorrow I'll have to get out my girlie hammer, nails and stud finder and do some hanging. That sign is weathered and filthy. And heavy!

I spent my whole paycheck today, but it was so worth it!

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What I Did Wednesday #6

Being the first day of school, and the first day of freedom for me, I spent the day out and about! I ran errands and celebrated being free as a bird! I could go to more than one place just because I wanted to! I didn't have someone with me that might have a meltdown because things were going so well that I went one place too many! lol. It was a relaxing day, although a busy one.

1. Enjoyed beautiful skies, although the temps were in the 90's.
2. Did some grocery shopping at Wal-mart.
3. Noted the pretty clock at an intersection in Beavercreek, Ohio.
4. Dropped a big bag of clothes off at the Goodwill store.
5. Stopped at Dick's Sporting Goods. I'm looking for an ankle brace for Spencer. His left ankle turns inward. And he has very flat feet, which doesn't help. We put him in high tops last year to give the ankle some support but they seem so big (size 12) and heavy that I think they may strain his back and scoliosis. So, we're trying some options.
6. Noted the Ohio flags flying with the American flags. So pretty in the wind.
7. Dropped a couple of bags of books off to Half Price Books. They pay you for your books, although it is a very little amount these days. I think Kindle has eaten away a lot of their business.
8. Did some grocery shopping at Sams Club. I think I bought the whole store. ha. Had to get on the young man cashier who was less than gentle with my things. When he advised me that he had done this "a couple of times" I advised him that he then should know better than to squish my bananas under a box of tomato sauce cans. A-hem! lol...
9. Treated myself to an icy cold drink in the drive thru.
10. Got home in time to greet the boys getting off the bus. Their teacher said they had a great day. Although NONE of them would drink from those new stainless thermoses!!!!! Good grief! And here I thought I had it all planned out! LOL.

I hope you had a wonderful day, too!

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Preparing for School

In thinking of ways to improve this coming school year, I decided it would be good for our grocery budget and good for the environment if I didn't send bottled water in the boys' lunches. I had these nice 'green' stainless thermoses with freezable lids and thought that would be a great solution. But, being the mom of autistic boys, I also knew that I couldn't just make a change like that and assume all would go smoothly. So Monday I did a practice run on all three boys. Spencer and Harry drank from them just fine. They were a little hesitant at first but when I assured them it was only water, they were OK with it.

But not Alex! And he's my one boy willing to eat anything I put in front of him! Silly boy! See him here? Don't let him fool you. He's pretending to take a drink! lol! His mouth is closed tight! He thinks he can fake out his mother. Oh dear. We went round and round like this with a mild growl (from him, not me!) and I decided to give it a rest and try again the next day. Today didn't go any better, even when I let him watch me fill it with water. He pretended to take a drink again. I just couldn't help but laugh. Good grief!

Last night I tried Plan B ~ let him see me fill it with his favorite Crystal Light drink. And guess what? He drank it. Whew! Yay! Claps and kisses from mom. lol. Sent a note to his teacher for just to make her aware. Hopefully there won't be any drink protests.

Oh dear. Change is hard.

And yes, today is the first day of school!

I never have trouble getting up and cheerfully sending everyone out the door! :)

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Kitten Update

The kittens are now five months old and mom has decided that

her job is done. She scarcely comes around any more and

when she does, she is not willing to share food or let the

kittens nurse on her any longer. She hisses and bats them

on the head! When she comes by it is only to eat and leave.

My goal of domesticating her failed miserably. lol. I got to

touch her a couple of times and was promptly admonished.

Tiger remains the most affectionate and friendly. He's happy to sit in my lap, trot along beside me in the garden and is constantly trying to come inside.

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Marmalade will tolerate being held and petted but you have to catch him and hold him down to do it. He purrs very loudly but doesn't seek that kind of attention. And did you notice that Marmy almost has a milk mustache, too?

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Mustache has been the little rebel. He's grown up faster than the other three and was determined to run with mom. For the past few weeks he has followed after her and wasn't seen for days at a time. I assumed she was giving hunting lessons. This past week he came back, looking a little ragged. See the abrasions around his eyes? He looks like he tried to wedge his face into a small space and scraped himself up and lost his eyebrows in the process. Mom didn't seem happy to have him around and they had a few tussles on the back porch. He was skittish and not as friendly as before. After a few days of food, affectionate petting and telling him life is SO much better here with me, he has decided to stay. :)

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And last is little Whiskers. She's such a tiny girl! But she can hold her own wrestling with her brothers and is a spitfire. Can't pet her yet but she loves to play ..with her claws out, I may add. She does watch with interest as Tiger sits on my lap, so maybe she will come around in time.

click to enlarge

This is one of my favorite things to see in the morning. All four kittens sleeping in the wicker chair, waiting for breakfast. And yes, before anyone asks, they are welcome to stay as long as they wish. But they will need a trip to the vet eventually. :) And they have to be tame enough to pick up and pet, you know? Ugh. Hate to see that vet bill! Maybe they'll give me a good deal? Presently, I'm just happy Mustache has decided that a cushy life is so much better thanbeing a wild tom cat always on the run. :)

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"Be sure and have tender feelings

for poor harmless creatures."

Nancy Luce

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and thanks, Marsha for the picture! :)

Homey Sounds

photos by me and googleimages.com

I mentioned in one of my random thoughts last week that

wonderful squeak and bang of an old wooden screen door.

We have one that leads into our courtyard and I love to hear

it. There's something old fashioned and nostalgic about it.

The same goes for wind chimes, the tick and chime of clocks,

and that dreamy oscillating room fan that makes me

sleepy just to hear it. I've also been enjoyed the creak of

our porch swing and the crickets chirping.

Pleasant, relaxing sounds of summer!

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Do you have a favorite homey sound?

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Cloud Creatures

Ohio sky 8-18-11

I see three cats on their hind legs throwing a

mouse up in the air.

What do you see?

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Hey!

There's a rabbit inside this house!

What I Did Wednesday #5

1. Enjoyed my pot of coffee. Cool enough to drink it all hot instead of pouring it over ice in the afternoon!
2. Tried out my new Personal Off mosquito repellent. No more spray. Just turn this on and clip it to you or something nearby and it blows a breeze of citronella around you. I clipped it on my veggie basket while I worked in the garden.
3. Played with Nugget.
4. Harry brought me the band-aids. He really just needed some Neosporin on a cut. I took off the last of my band-aids. Nice. At one time I had 11 on my legs! Not easy shaving that way, let me tell you. Not very attractive, either. lol....
5. Fluffed the pillows in the window seat.
6. Watched Spencer repair his paper stacks. See sidebar for more detail.
7. Repaired my sunglasses. I lost one of those tiny screws. Grr. They don't feel the same on my face now. Still need to fiddle with them a bit.
8. Noted the first leaf turning on the burning bush.
9. Made fresh salsa, again. Yum.
10. Weighed the boys. I'm especially curious how the cheese free diet will effect Spencer's weight. He weighs 12-16 pounds more than his brothers.
11. Cleaned all the dust and rabbit hair out of the fan. Yep, that was nasty. ha.
12. Mopped the kitchen floor.
13. Baked THESE cookies. An instant favorite.
14. Chatted with Harry as he listened to his tunes. You know how all kids have their camera pose or camera smile? This is Harry's pose. ha.
15. Walked around the house and picked up a load of trash and dirty laundry. Made mental note to remind the men that they will not live like slobs and I am not the maid. ha.
16. Sorted things in my closet and filled a bag to take to Good Will.
17. Noticed the magnolia is about to have it's second bloom of the season.
18. Charged my iPod.
19. Updated the calendar with upcoming important dates for the next few weeks. Working quite a few auctions. Hmm...I feel some interesting posts coming as a result. My friend that works with me texted me about a lady who bid and won a 'bearded dragon' and carried it around perched on her shoulder for the rest of the day. She said I really missed a funny shot to put on my blog. Too bad I was sick and didn't work that one. ha ha.
20. I'm thoroughly enjoying the heat and humidity being gone. So nice to have the doors and windows open. I love that homey sound of the squeak and bang of a screen door.
21. Ate more cherries!
22. Dusted the top of the china cabinet.
23. Tried to decide what to do with a bag of cherry tomatoes The Mister brought home from work. I saw a yummy homemade pizza on a blog that used them.
24. Was distracted constantly by big puffy clouds that floated by the windows.

Enjoying the beauty in ordinary things!

Hope your day was wonderful, too!

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Current Favorite Snack

I think I've eaten a few hundred cherries this summer.

I just can't seem to resist their sweetness, their

color or their cute heart shaped selves.

Good thing they have pits to slow me down a little!

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"If life is a bowl of cherries, then what am I doing in the pits?"

Erma Bombeck

1927-1996

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Random Thoughts

Indiana Melon

1. Feeling so much better today after 5 days of a flu bug. Actually didn't feel worn out after just getting dressed like I have been. Nice.
2. Nothing sweeter than an Indiana Melon. Being a Hoosier by birth, I appreciate it even more. Too bad all cantaloupes can't taste that good! The best part was that all three boys ate a nice sized serving with dinner and loved it.
3. Cutest part of my day last week was one of our regular auction customers, who can be quite cantankerous at times, stayed to chat with me a while after he checked out. Seems he has won the world wide Iron Man or some kind of weight lifting competition for his age bracket for many years. He's 79 years old! He last competed 2 years ago but has stopped to care for his ailing wife. He even wanted me to feel his biceps. LOL. How could I refuse? Cute.
4. The garden tomatoes are finally turning ripe here. We are enjoying our burgers and BLT's and this morning I picked enough jalapenos to make salsa. Yum.
5. Mother cat is seen less and less here. She finally has weaned her kittens after 5 months! I think I got to touch her 3 times. Not pet. Just touch. Each time she batted my hand with her paw. Not a mean strike with claws, but just an "I know you're nice, but you still aren't allowed to touch me" kind of smack. The four kittens seem happy to stay close for now. Marmalade and Whiskers will barely tolerate a touch, while Mustache and Tiger are very affectionate.
6. I've taken away Spencer's beloved cheese. I know, mean mother I am. It's his favorite snack, mostly eaten at bedtime. But it's gotten out of hand! I allow 8-10 slices but he sneaks and takes more...up to 30+ more slices! At 70 calories a slice, that's a whopping 2100 calorie snack! Sometimes he eats so much he gets sick on it. Ugh. I've tried hiding it in the refrigerator but he always finds it. It took on another unpleasant dimension during the 2 day red dye craze (see my sidebar) as he not only took way too many slices, but had to smear it into a paste on the table before eating it. That was the last straw for me and I announced I wasn't buying any more. He is overweight anyway ~ a high-fat-protein-eating, computer-surfing teen. He's looking mopey around bedtime and forlornly looks into the refrigerator every night. He still gets his 1/3 can of reduced fat Pringles before bed and I've been offering grapes in place of the cheese. Not the same, I know, but I think he'll live. It's tough being the mom. Sigh. :)

I hope your day was wonderful!

Happy new week!

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Moon ~ A Creative Tuesday Sketch

click to enlarge

I have this thing for clocks...and birds....and the moon! Since the theme for Creative Tuesday is moon, I thought it would be fun to use them all! The moon that rotates around the face of a clock is especially appealing to me, so this one was really fun to draw.

8.5 x 11", black ink and colored pencils

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"Aim for the moon! If you miss, you may hit a star!"

W. Clement Stone

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To see other sketches of the moon, click HERE!

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Tiger

He's so photogenic.

And I swear he poses for the camera!

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Sunset

sunset August 2011

“Nobody of any real culture, for instance, ever talks nowadays about the beauty of a sunset. Sunsets are quite old fashioned. To admire them is a distinct sign of provincialism of temperament. Upon the other hand they go on.”

Oscar Wilde

Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900

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This is a Skywatch Friday post!

Click HERE for more skies!

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Today

I couldn't sleep last night, for several reasons, and after laying there a couple of hours realized that I had a sore throat and a fever! Ugh. In the summer? Those are the worst kinds of sick, I think. To make it worse, I had an auction to work today. I popped a handful

of pills (lol...yes that was for you Pat) and got myself there alright. We had our registration and cashier's table just inside the front door. It was a filthy, rundown house that smelled like mildew. And look at my view for the day! LOL..oh, those auction porta johns! They make me laugh every time. It is sitting literally 2 steps from the front porch with people walking all around it! And you can't see from the photo, but it was sitting on such a slant, I swore it was going to fall over today with someone inside it! It didn't happen, but I did have my camera ready! This was the only photo I took at the auction! Busy, crazy day with some strange computer glitches and some cranky people. lol...

The weather, however was delightful. Less humid, less hot and the clouds were amazing!

I got to drive through my second favorite tree tunnel! This one is short and not on a curvy road like the other one, but it is still pretty. My last turn before getting home. Always have to look at that barn. Very pretty today!

This was a nice sight, too! Two of my men said they would help with dinner as I sat at my desk and watched. The Mister prepared some sweet corn and Taylor manned the grill. It was a good thing because I was feeling pretty worn out when I walked in the door at the end of the day. I think they felt sorry for me after one look. Or maybe they didn't want me touching their food! LOL.

I told The Mister that he looked like a dwarf beside Taylor, and I'm shorter than him! I guess that makes me look really little! And at 5' 5", I'm really not that short!

Hope you had a nice day.

I need to get to bed!

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Spencer's Disappointment

A few days ago I thought it would be a good day to get out for a drive. I got the triplets dressed and had everyone go to the bathroom. We all got everyone into the Jeep and I helped with seat belts as I told them we were going to the corn farm. Spencer sat up in front and looked a little too excited for the corn farm (he doesn't even eat it!) so I repeated several times that this was not a trip to the store, we would not be buying any DVDs, and we would not even be getting out of the Jeep! It was a beautiful day and the drive there was a pleasant one.

But when we got to the farm, it had it's CLOSED sign out! Oh no! It is only to be closed on Sundays! How disappointing! So we turned around and drove home. Still, it was a nice 30 minute trip and good to get outside since we've been hiding in the air conditioning for weeks now.

Alex and Harry seemed to enjoy themselves and happily got out of the Jeep when we got home. Spencer, however, was not happy we only went for a drive. He decided to sit in the Jeep and have a protest. He didn't whine or cry or do anything, actually. He just sat, refusing to unbuckle his seat belt. I closed the garage door and left him there. lol. I checked on him a couple of times over the course of 20 minutes and he just gave me a pitiful look.

Harry sat in the family room and sadly waited for Spencer to come in. Alex, on the other hand, was delighted to have the living room all to himself! He chose a DVD and was not missing his brothers at all! Spencer did finally come inside but covered his face when I tried to talk to him. Sigh. He did eventually give up the pity party and got back to other activities.

It's ok to laugh...I thought it was fairly amusing. lol....

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Locks of Love

So, my hair is getting REALLY long. :)

One time I had 8 inches cut off and a friend reminded me that if I had 10 inches cut, I could have donated it to Locks of Love! What a great idea! Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada suffering from long-term hair loss from any diagnosis. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure.

My hair grows really fast and I think if I let it grow a couple more months I can donate 10 inches and still have my hair touch my shoulders, which is still long enough to wear up like I often do. I'll keep you posted and take pics, of course. Besides, if these people above can do it, I can too! Better than having it swept up off the salon floor and thrown away, right? The guy's photos are really funny, aren't they? They look like mug shots, although he does look happier after he gave his hair away, doesn't he? :)

And this is the best part of all, isn't it? Look at this beautiful young girl with her "real hair" hairpiece! That just makes it all worthwhile, doesn't it?

I'm thinking end of September, past my birthday, just

in case I really hate my new haircut. lol. :)

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photos from google.com/locksoflove