Halloween Haunt 2002

In honor of Halloween 2010, I decided to post some photos from our Halloween Party/Haunt 2002! I can't believe 8 years have passed, since sometimes it feels like yesterday!

My dear friend Marie and I had planned to do something in 2001 after Martha Stewart came out with her first Halloween magazine, but after 9/11 we just lost our oomph to do anything.

So we gathered many ideas over the next 8 months and got to work summer of 2002.

We had so much fun, but time makes things fuzzy and stressful times not as bad ! :o) We were crazy by the night of the party!

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We carved many signs and headstones for our cemetery (photos later) out of foam insulation.

Marie's husband Steve, replaced our front door lights with these skulls that had red lights inside.

Our shrunken apple head tree
with ghostly books of every kind.

One of the sideboards covered with

an assortment of interesting and scary knick-knacks.

More hand painted books with an

electric-charged crystal ball sitting on top. (The kind that when you put your hands on it, the electric current follows your fingers.)

Another sideboard with crooked mirror.

The Phantom of the Opera was the first vignette of our Haunt.

We better not disturb him.

Oh, no, too late, he has seem us, so he is playing the same song over and over and over! Next stop the Mummy's tomb.

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I'll post more photos over the next week. The photos were taken with a 3 1/2 inch disk camera...remember those? Some of the disks are unable to be opened, so hopefully I can get all the pictures online. Hope you all our planning frightful and delightful Halloween celebrations......enjoy!

More vintage jewelry on Etsy

The winds will blow their

own freshness into you, and

the storms their energy,

while cares will drop away

from you like the leaves

of Autumn.

--- John Muir

I am finally listing more vintage jewelry on Etsy each day.

Please have a look...there may be a piece you can't resist!

NATIONAL FERAL CAT DAY

TODAY IS NATIONAL FERAL CAT DAY!

For more information on how you can be proactive in helping our "2nd best friend" go to

www.alleycat.org

Be kind to all our little furry friends,

domestic and wild.

Praise God!

Live in the sunshine,
swim the sea,
drink the wild air...
--- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mission accomplished!

Haven't the the past 24 hours been so emotional watching the Chile miner's rescue? I watched practically the whole thing. ( I did sleep, unlike the rescuers!)

It is a testimonial to what can be done when people come together for a common goal/cause. Anything is possible! Each rescue was so individual you just had to see them all ! And when the last rescuer was pulled to the surface it really doesn't get any better than that ! I just thank the Chile government for sharing every detail with the rest of the world. God Bless Us All here on this wonderful planet Earth !

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Have an inspiring day!

October 16th National Feral Cat Day

Light is the task

where many share

the toil.

--- Homer

National Feral Cat Day
October 16 is National Feral Cat Day—a day for us to think about the outdoor cats in our neighborhood. We often see these cats ducking behind the supermarket or sunning in our backyards, and many of us dig into our wallets to feed them. Who are these cats, and how did they get here?
Feral cats exist in every community. These cats are the same species as domestic cats, but are not socialized to humans and can’t be adopted into homes. Instead, they live healthy and content lives in family groups called colonies.
The best and most humane way to help a feral cat is through a program called Trap-Neuter-Return, which ends the breeding cycle and helps cats and people coexist peacefully. Alley Cat Allies’ website www.alleycat.org is a great source of information on Trap-Neuter-Return and the importance of spay and neuter for all cats.

Did you notice the above cat's clipped ear?

Feral cats are ‘eartipped’—a portion of the left ear is clipped while they are under anesthesia—and then released to their original colony site. These cats have been either spayed or neutered and usually vaccinated too.

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HAVE A HELPFUL DAY!

Inspired Ideas and time sure does fly!

If wrinkles must be
written upon our brows,
let them not be written
upon the heart.
The spirit should

not grow old.
--- James A. Garfield

Oh my goodness! Look how time flies when you are having fun !

(Yes, I mean that sincerely! :o) The summer went by way too quick, but we did have fun and still plan to enjoy each day as it comes. Hope you will join me in doing the same?

As you know, I love these old postcards....this one is from 1910, 100 years ago. It is so amazing to me how so much can be crammed into 100 years!

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The below picture is from Ceago Winery located between Nice and Lucerne in Lake County, California. This is looking from the lake towards the main winery buildings. Lovely, isn't it? We finally made it over there July 6th just in time to see 1/2 of the lavender field in bloom. So many people told me I must go and see the lavender! As you can see they had trimmed one side and the other was to be started the next day. It was quite a sight and the smell was heavenly! And tons of lovely little honey bees buzzing about. (I took some pics of them and will post soon) They usually have the trimming done by the end of June so I felt so blessed and lucky to have seen and smelled the lavender this year ! I will post more pictures this week. I plan to get back to posting regularly. Really I do !

HAVE A LAVENDER BLUE DILLY DILLY DAY !

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Oops, I almost forgot to mention (and the reason I started this post!) that I placed an ad in a new free online magazine called Inspired Ideas by Amy Powers. I have checked Amy's blog www.inspireco.blogspot.com from time to time and saw she was resurrecting her newsletter Inspired Ideas, but this time she was selling ads. I was lucky to get in on the first issue of, I am sure, many more to come. She is so sweet and so talented and although I haven't met her in person (she lives on the East Coast) I am sure she is as nice as can be in person as she is over the internet ! You can check it out here: http://issuu.com/inspired-ideas/docs/autumn

Lots of fun ideas and projects that require very little experience, money or time. We should all take the time to use our creativity

even a little bit. :o)

Thanks so much Amy!

Kenny Loggins fun !

Sleep, riches, health, and

so every blessing are not

truly and fully enjoyed

till after they have

been interrupted.

--- Jean Paul Richter

Yikes, here we are (after too many lemon drops for me!)...on the way home from Kenny Loggins Thursday July 29th 2010 at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, California. We rented a limo with 13 of us....although there was a total of 19 in our group. Had a lovely dinner before the concert at the Mountain Winery. Mike surprised me with backstage passes and an awesome large diamond ring for our 22nd anniversary and 50th birthday in November. FUN ! Hopefully I will post more pics of the rest of the group this week, but we know how that goes ! :o)

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HAVE A WEEK FULL OF FUN AND CALM !