Come Visit Me

A new blog with new look, new approach, new themes but the same love and the same philosophy!

I hope that you get as excited as I am about my new blog plans! 

Please Come visit me at my new blog: www.anacreofoklahoma.wordpress.com

Gone but Not Forgotten

I am back! I have moved Rachael and Alexandria to Texas to start a new life with Daddy. Holly, Jeremy and Ruby have moved in until they find a house.

So I have been packing, unloading, cooking, laundry, etc. I have been very tired. I had a little trouble adjusting to my baby Alex not being here to hold and love everyday. My husband bought me a new Miniature Schnauzer puppy to help ease the pain of adjustment. Her name is Countess Lilly Bianca, we call her Lilly. She’s a cutie!

So I have much to blog about, now just finding the energy. My fibromylgia has been kicking my butt lately, that is hard to do, kicking my butt,that is. I will be back this week. Missing all my blog friends, I love each and everyone of you.

Take care.

Freecycle and Thrifting

Freecycle is a fantastic Yahoo Group! I joined about 3 weeks ago and I have already picked up some great items. The first item I got was our sweet bunny, Floppy (see the previous post). Next I picked up a serger, just needs some maintenance, going to the shop next week.

This weekend I chanced upon this wire closet shelf/organizer. We are using it in Holly’s flea market booth to hang her vintage clothes. I just need to buy two support brackets and screws. Holly is re-doing on of my flea market booths. She is using her extraordinarre’ decorating diva skills to turn a ho-hum booth to Classic Retro Vintage wonder.

So join your local Freecycle Yahoo group and see what treasures you can find. I am purging my closet so I am giving away a sack of clothes on Freecycle soon. The person who wants the item emails the giver, the giver emails back his/her address and confirms pick up(unless it is already gone) and then wantee picks the item up. Usually items are just left on the porch for pick up. Lots of fun.

Here are some furniture items I recently thrifted at a moving sale. A wooden chair for my living room, needs to be re-glued in a couple of places and the seat needs to be recovered.

A nice bamboo folding screen, $10.

 

A vintage child’s playpen, great condition, $5.00. It folds up for storage and the mattress is in good shape and has the cutest animals on it. The playpen has pastel wooden balls that are on springs and can bounce if pushed down. It has the seal of approval from Better Homes and Garden Magazine!

An estate sale sign lured me to stop the other day, I tried to ignore the urge, really I did! I drove a few blocks past the sign but I broke down and turned the wheel into the no-return land of estate sales, oh, the shame! Here are just some of the spoils, two large trash bags of vintage 1950’s & 1960’s clothes, $2.00 dollars each. (you can tell I am remorseful, right?)

A 1950’s Brown with Turquoise blue polka-dots with a blue silk hankie in the pocket. A housewife would look very snappy in this dress while fixing her family’s dinner.

A 1950’s red sweater with a crochet collar trimmed in white. It looks like something for the soda shop scene.

Here come the 60’s! A purple geometric print knit jacket. A slim white or black sheath dress under the jacket and hair teased to perfection for the office crowd.

Another geo print knit dress with a matching belt. Groovy, man, groovy! Perfect with brown chunky heeled shoes for the date on the town.

Much, much more. All of these vintage clothes will go in Holly’s new booth.

Join your local Freecycle Yahoo group! Let me know what you pick up or give away. Share the wealth is my philosophy.

Skinny, Dandy, Floppy and Henry

We had four dogs until Rachael took her two yorkies, Jezebel and Maggie. Now we only have our two thrifted dogs, Skinny and Dandy. And we have Floppy, the lop-ear rabbit, who came to live with us about three weeks ago. My little Parrotlet, Henry, has made his home here for about 5 years.

Dandy is a female Heinz 57 (that’s what my Dad called dogs of unknown heritage). She has the coloring and ears of a Blue Heeler and the body build of a wire-hair terrier. She has tufts of very long wirey hair and a smooth coat like the heeler. She has bulging eyes and very crooked teeth. She is beautiful to me and she is the happiest dog! She is in constant movement, every picture is blurred.

Her story began with me visiting a friend of mine and her retired neighbors came over to visit before they went RVing. They were talking about a dog that they had to return to the SPCA because they traveled and could not take care of her. The dog had belonged to his elderly aunt who recently passed away and they had “inherited” the dog. I saw Dainty (yup, that was her name) in the back yard. I became worried that Dainty would not find a home because she was so ugly. I had visions of her fate if I did not rescue her, so I asked them if I could have her. Plus she had lost her elderly owner, which I am sure loved her very much. So fate bound her and I that day and I changed her name to Dandy.  She seem to never know the difference.

On one of the hottest driest days last summer, I was out in the yard working and here came this young 4 or 5 month old Border Collie running up to me. He was wanting to play and was very happy to see me. When I reached out to pet him, all I felt under his hair was bones. He was the most skinniest dog I had ever seen, I could feel his skull bones. I won’t go into detail but I knew I had to feed him and fast. I also knew that once I feed him, that would be that and he would stay around. So once again fate sealed the deal and he became mine. I searched all the newspapers for owners, ask the animal control officer in the nearby town and looked for flyers around the area but no one was looking for a Border Collie.

Skinny loves Alex, where ever she is, so is he. One day last Fall, she and I were out in the front yard and she started walking towards the road.  I started toward her and Skinny reached her first and actually herded Alex back to me, either he was partially trained to herd or it is just a born trait of Border Collies. He has difinitely earned his place with us and every meal he gets. Skinny is now a very healthy and loved dog.

We have been wanting to get a pet rabbit for some time. I joined the local group of Freecycle about three weeks ago and the first day a lop-ear rabbit was put up for give-away. I quickly called the number and asked for it. His owner was moving and could not take him with her. My husband picked up the rabbit and all his stuff the next day. His name was Lover Boy but since he will be a pet of two little girls, we decided that Floppy would be a better name for him. Lover Boy didn’t seem to mind, as long as he got carrots, celery, food and water.

He is a sweet tame bunny. Mr. Handyman has already built a rabbit hutch for him. We live in the country and there are many coyotes around that would find Floppy a convenient meal so he is inside his hutch, inside a fenced yard. He only comes out when we are around to watch for those wiley coyotes.

 

Henry is my Green Rump Parrotlet. Their lifespan is actually unkown but somewhere around 20-25 years. He is fiesty and affectionate. He likes music, he will chirp very loudly if he does not like the music; kinda like he is yelling “Turn that crap off!” He likes for me to be in the room where his cage is, he will make very low, soft chirping as if he is talking to me.

My Surprise Lily bloomed this week (ignore the scratched propane tank that needs painted badly).

A very delicate pink blossom.

We have had extreme heat warnings this week. You know when I say it is hot, it is really hot!

I hope these hot summer days find you in a cool place.

An Empty Nest and Other Things

My daughter, Rachael, and granddaughter, Alex, have moved to Texas. Rachael and Alex’s dad, Brandon, are trying to make Alex a home. I know that it is the best thing for Alex to have both mom and dad but I miss her terribly. And I hope Rachael finds happiness. They have lived with us since Alex was 5 months old, I held her, kissed her and loved her everyday. I really didn’t have the empty nest syndrome when my children left home for a life of their own. Of course, I missed them but I knew that they would be ok and it was part of life. However, I find that this seems to be harder to accept, I know I will adjust, it is just a sad time for me. We are going to check into a webcam, so we can talk to our girls everyday or so.

However, life goes on! Change is a constant. Holly, Jeremy and Ruby are moving in with us until they find a house.  This is an exciting time for them becoming homeowners, etc. Holly wants a sewing/craft room all her own, sounds good to me. Jeremy says the garage will be his “man room”. I am looking forward to having little Ruby around more often, Holly and Jeremy, too.

Now on to other things, when I opened my mailbox today I found another exciting swap! This one is Ephemera and Whimsy Addiction swap and it was from Storylaura. She spent some time putting the swap together, with much insight into things I would find funny and enjoy.

Look at that bag, it was a theatre promotional for the movie, Mark of the Devil! I love it! Can you read what it says? A barf bag for the movie because it is guaranteed to upset your stomach. That is so funny! Such a great piece of ephemera!

• Vintage postcard
• Stamps
• Tarot Cards
• Oriental Paper
• Pieces of Gold Paper
• An Old copper coin
• Chinese Fortune
• Mother of Pearl Bird (bead)
• Pages of old German? Book
• Heaven Bank Notes from China (Buddhism)
• Two Gold Charms  

And some great vintage buttons and doodads! 

Thanks, Laura, it is perfect!

One truth from Kahlil Gibran:

“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.”

Some parting humor from Bill Crosby! He is so funny! ( I needed some humor today)

“Human beings are the only creatures that allow their children to come back home.”

Bombshell-o-matic Cooks!

This is a great EASY appetizer to fix, maybe for a Cocktail Party (for those who do such things, darhhling) or just for the hungry family until dinner is ready.

Oklahoma Cowtown Dried Beef Spread (I made up the name. What! You couldn’t tell!)

• 1 jar of dried beef, chopped coarsely
• 5 or 6 green onions, sliced thinly
• 8 oz. package of soft cream cheese, room temp

Combine all the ingredients. Store covered in the refrig for a few hours or overnight, until all the flavors blend. Serve with your favorite crackers, I like the round vegetable crackers.

YUM!

The little glass that the dried beef comes in makes handy dandy little juice glasses. When I first started keeping house, I had those very same juice glasses. We were living high on the hog!

Enjoy!

Keep An Open Mind

This week I have experienced, viewed, shared discouragement in our fellow human beings. I was moved to share this little poem with you. Often when I am a little sad about the current state of such close mindedness, I get out this poem and read it, somehow it helps.

Snug lie those who slumber

Beneath convictions roof,

Their floors are sturdy timber,

Their windows weatherproof.

But I sleep cold forever,

And cold sleep all my kind,

For I was born to shiver

In the draft of an open mind.

-Unknown Author

Religious, political, ethical or whatever convictions held by so many; make them so intolerant of others. What a wonderful world this would be if each of us would be willing to open our minds to others! Even just a little!

With that said! I have also viewed this week what we humans are capable of when a tragic event happens! We all seem to come together to do such good, even if it is only for a short time. Please pray, send good thoughts or whatever you do to the individuals, their families and the heroes who came to help in the Minnesota bridge collapse.

Open your mind to the possibility of shades of grey, not just black and white!

Duck and Cover

Part 2 of 10 Random Things About Me

That’s old Bert the Turtle telling us to Duck and Cover in case of nuclear war.

I wonder if we as a nation were really that naive to think that ducking and covering our head would save us in a nuclear war. Why were we so willing to take that government propaganda to heart? I remember thinking it didn’t make alot of sense at the time. If nuclear war was really that harmless why was everybody building bomb shelters underground? I was always full of questions. Some of my family’s outings were to tour bomb shelters that were being built in our area. 

However, living in tornado alley may have been another emphasis behind the bomb shelter craze; not just nuclear war. My Grandma Bertha Belle built a very simple one using concrete blocks and steel rebar. I remember cots, blankets, shelves of food and water being down in the shelter. We did spend some time in the bomb shelter but only when the tornado sirens sounded.

I am not sure why my elementary school showed us this film; it would be very interesting to know. I have talked to many other people my age who was not lucky enough to see Bert the turtle. Maybe because ducking and covering might help in a tornado. Maybe because there was a Air Force Radar Base located on a hill just west of town. Maybe because there was a major oil company headquartered in town. Maybe it was just “older people helping us”, you need to view the film to understand.

I look back at that time now and wonder how all the talk and preparations for a nuclear war shaped my personality. I think that time in our history helped make my generation to not be afraid of change, so the Baby Boomers went out and changed the world. Many of the Greatest Generation (the one before mine), especially the women, absolutely hate change of any kind.

In the early ’70’s, a poster declaring 20 things to do in case of nuclear war was very popular. It was on all my friend’s walls declaring that the last thing to do was to bend over and kiss your ass goodbye. I think that my generation had experienced the Vietnam War by the ’70’s and had become cynical of our government’s foreign policies. Duck and cover was no longer effective government propaganda.

Everytime I start to think about the threat of nuclear war, I think that now our greatest threat to our way of life is our willingness to let our government take our rights away a little at a time. We are being told in order to protect our freedom and liberty, we must give up some of it up.

I will leave with some quotes.

“If you wish the sympathy of the broad masses, you must tell them the crudest and most stupid things”…….Adolf Hilter

“America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter, and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”…….Abraham Lincoln-One of my heroes!

“They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”………Ben Franklin

Wana’ hear old Bert, the careful turtle, tell us to duck and cover.

Flowers and Aprons or Flowery Aprons

I have been making a few aprons lately and wanted to show you one I made for myself. Remember the material I happened upon for free? I thought with the flowery bands, it would make a nice apron.

I put a vintage hankie in the pocket.

FINALLY, some of my flowers look nice. The very cool, rainy spring we have experienced, has made gardening a bit of a dissappointed this year. It seems as if we will have a nice summer showing of flowers. Do you noticed how the flowers look like the flowers on the apron?

I have the old horse metal and wood bars for hitching a horse to a wagon displayed on the ends of my garage. I painted the metal black. This is the north side of the garage door. The flowers in the pot are vinca and purslane.

This is the south side of the garage door.

I planted some Varigated Leaf Morning Glories this year and I love the color of the blooms.

Another flowering plant I like is Purslane, it’s flowers come in all sorts of colors. Purslane also likes hot and dry conditions so it’s great planted in sunny areas. It is in the same plant family as Moss Rose.

We also picked our first ripe tomatoes this week! The tomatoes are usually ripe by the end of June. Last night we ate BLT’s and today I ate cottage cheese with sliced tomatoes, YUM!

It is time for Alex to run through the Winnie-the-Pooh water sprinkler and tall cold glass of iced tea for me! Enjoy your summer!

Crazy Lazy Days of Summer for Kids Swap

We have participated in several swaps for kids on Swap-bot, Alex always loves to open her swap box!

I am coordinating the Crazy Lazy Days of Summer for Kids Swap. Summer for kids means bubbles, water guns, popsicles, cooling off by playing in the water, staying up late to look at the stars, riding bikes, visiting the zoo.  For the older kids the end of summer means trying to get in the last fun days before the school starts. I thought that a surprise box in the mail might make their day! 

Summer ends at varying times around the United States, here in Oklahoma, we will have Summer until Late September/Early October.

If you have a child/children that would enjoy this swap, go to swap-bot, read the rules, become a member. Swappers have to be 18 or older to join, so you will have to sign up for your children. The last day to sign up for this swap is July 30th. The Send By date is August 5th.

I wish I could be at every home when the swap box arrives to see all the kids faces! I will see Alex get excited at everything she pulls out of the box!