WITCHY WOMAN

These are 3 of 6 canvases that I purchased.  I had 3 of them stretched to see what they would look like and hung them in a guest room on a grass cloth wall. 

They looked fabulous.

They are original and were found in a pool house.  Ah ha....exactly where they need to be hung...

my pool house!

This one might need to be hung behind a door somewhere as this is the largest penis I have ever seen and didn't notice until peep pointed it out to me.

I am waiting on an email to give me some information about this artist.

When peep purchased our house I offered to leave them there and she said...

"no thanks mom...they scare me."

I understand.

Haitian art is a complex tradition, reflecting African, French, Catholic, and tribal and Vodou roots. It as an important representation of Haitian culture and history.


Many artists cluster in ‘schools’ of painting, such as the Cap Haitien school, which features depictions of daily life in the city, the Jacmel School, which reflects the steep mountains and bays of that coastal town, or the Saint-Soleil School, which is characterized by abstracted human forms and is heavily influenced by Vodou symbolism.

OFF TO HUNT A COUCH

Today Texas Furniture is having a half price couch sale.  Hubby has meeting in Amarillo.  I have done my billing for the month and have a rare afternoon free.

I am totally up for a sofa event!

Seagrass is tempting...oh  my!

One like this will allow me to lie near my window, watch White Cat eat Gray Birds and study my Pottery Barn catalog.

Gosh darn I hope that Texas Furniture has Pottery Barn look alikes!

OH BE CAREFUL LITTLE HANDS WHAT YOU DO

Yesterday I opened my HPO Capitol 1 statement.

All I can say is "forgive me" when I cursed the times I only had a $500 credit limit that I have tried to increase more than once.

I rarely use this card, in fact only to pay for my HPO on a quarterly basis--which is just a bit over my credit limit causing me to have to use my personal Visa and then reimburse myself (bookeeping pain) and to pay for my HPO Ipad apps...thus causing me to want to increase my credit limit...thanks to the heavenlies for looking out for me.

When I opened my bill, it was $342.86 with charges that stuck out like a sore thumb.  3 to Papa John's Pizza for $50 + each time--guess it's expensive pizza and also in North Carolina, 1 to WD Amtrak. 

So...I made the time-consuming phone calls to the fraud department and also found that an attempt was made to purchase a Jet Blue plane ticket for $758...thanks to the heavenlies that my credit limit would not allow it.

And to you Mr. Bad Person Robber Thief Credit Card Number Stealer...if you were not on this flight that had a flat after using someone else's credit card besides mine or YOURS....then you will be...or something very similar will happen to you....because if I know one thing I know this....

Karma...well...karma will catch you at every single corner and it's up to you if it's good or bad.

Boogers to you Mr. Bad Person Robber Thief Credit Card Number Stealer...boogers to you!  EAT IT!

LUCKY ME

I am the proud winner of this country home automatic refreshing kit

as much as I like it, can't wait to install it, show it off....

I sure hope it doesn't lessen my lottery chances by using my winning karma on winning this

my home already smells good...especially if you like that clean smell of sheet rock dust!

JUST PART OF IT

822 came with 14+ cats.  Wild cats.  Have I mentioned before that we don't love cats?  We managed to trap quite a few and move them to country barns to flourish in mouse heaven.  I guess the others ran off.

But....this one?  Well...we don't know if it's male or female.  We don't know much about it at all because it runs away...but we do know one thing.  He/she is here to stay.  And he/she is H.U.N.G.R.Y.

I like to feed the birds and the squirrels and most mornings White Cat is sleeping like this just under the bird feeder praying to get lucky.  And from the looks of the feathers here and there, it's obvious that a dove or two have kept him hanging on.

I told hubby...I cannot just sit here and watch this White Cat slowly starve to death.  I am going to feed it.  It's an angel cat, a mystery cat, and maybe not a cat at all.

Did I mention that hubby has a small sign nailed up in his workshop that says "NO CATS"?  He strongly disagrees with cats being part of this property.  He does not love cats.

The other day...after I showed him the cat food I bought...not the best but not the worst, I overheard him tell someone in reference to White Cat....we bought our cat some cat food.

And someone with a Cool Pix (not me) took this photo.

I think he's in there.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEATRICE

Meet the one person who in her presence or absence occupies a great deal of my thoughts a great deal of the time.

This is my very own Elizabeth Beatrice Benton, shown here with my very own Mattie Beatrice.

(please notice shoes with gown)

I pretty much adore how they pretty much match in this photo.

She was truly one of the kindest most purely good persons I have ever had the privilege to know.

Since I walk almost every day and since almost every day I sit and think a little...she just happens to be the thing that pops into my head at those times.  Not so much her face, but her words and more importantly the actions that matched her words.

Here is an example:

Pretty is as pretty does

If you bend over and touch your toes every day you will always be able to

You can tell the character of a man by the way he treats his mother

God Bless It (this usually went along with a kiss on a hurt)

They've been telling me since I was a little girl the world was going to end..don't be scared

Don't let the rock salt get in the ice cream

Say your prayers

Heaven has streets of gold

But the most important thing about her was her humble precious heart.  She was the first one at my side when I had my children patting my arm being so careful not to touch the needles.  She was the first one that worked so hard to create gifts with her own talented hands for her loved ones.  She was the first to do the thing that would make her a servant.

She played the piano at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church and never said one word when I pretended to be her while playing her piano.  (Like that was easy to listen to)

Now that I have my own little soul to affect, I realize how very important I am to the life of her if I want to be (and boy do I ever.)  

The lessons we carry on mean more than we know and the way we touch others might really surprise you.  So...touch...share...be kind...and be nice every day.

JULY 15, 1960

Was a great day indeed!

This is the day my very best friend forever and ever came into my life and has been there every day almost without exception.

She is:

Beautiful inside and out

Hilarious

Kind

Generous

Smart

Energetic

and the list goes on and on and on

and I am so thankful that she is my sister friend!

We have big plans...when we both go live together in the manor we are going to hide folk's slippers and sit by and laugh.  We will probably swipe the laxative from the cart and put in the nurse's tea.  We will talk about our children and their children and certainly our husbands who will be down the hall sleeping...as they should be. 

But that's many years from now because she hasn't turned 50 yet or so she says...except she forgot to change her birthdate on facebook so the secret is out.

So between now and then...we will talk on the phone everyday about the good in our lives and how lucky we are to have each other.

And today, I will wish her a happy birthday and tell her how great I think she is...

because she is....

THE HOLY HIGHWAY

When I said I would post a later story about our trip to the Masters, I could not have possibly known that it would be with such great sadness and loss. 

It was just a few months ago that we wandered upon this peaceful place and trespassed without fear or care.  Skippy pulled the four chairs up to the water's edge so that we could share a glass of wine and watch the sun sink into the ocean. 

We had the music playing in the car just feet away.  I can't remember the song.   I know if we were not singing out loud, we were singing somehow.

And later we golfed because while we wanted to attend the Masters we really cared more about our own game and the fun we would have trying to beat each other.  I'm pretty sure we won.  Maybe not.  I can't remember.

Today, is the day we bury him.  I say "we" because it is an entire town.   But some will be affected more than others and Skippy and I are two of them.

Today, I read this chapter in my bible as I sat in my chapel and wept yet another time over our great loss.

It made me feel better...because I believe what it says...he is on the Holy Highway...for sure

Isaiah 35: The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lie down, the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it.
It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

We were going to Portland at the end of the summer.

I know we would have sang.

THE SWEETIE PIE BOWL

My step dad is a potter.

He has been in a college pottery class for as long as I have known him.

Each Christmas we are the lucky lucky recipients of his awesome talent and his incredible generousity.

Let yourself go back to the scene in Ghost where she is at her wheel and has this perfect vase turning with the water and the clay and the gentle touch of her hands.   And then...she messes up and the whole thing is ruined.

This is how the sweetie pie bowl began.

It was meant to be a bowl, but in the middle of the process something happened and it was ruined.

Except...it is far from a mistake.  In fact, it is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen.

The imperfection became perfection by looking through different eyes.

It is not a bowl with a crooked shape...it is a bowl that looks like a heart.

It is a sweetie pie bowl.

MY TODAY BOUQUET

Today is like any other day

I hold a bouquet in my hands

fragrant beautiful real

it contains

One very perky daisy

one tall stoic snap dragon

and

one melancholy rose looking at its reflection in the table top

on any given day

the flowers become others and others become the flowers

I love the bouquet and wish so deeply that they could all be

happy perky daisies every single day

but life is

 real

beautiful

and fragrant

and a mixed bouquet of flowers in all seasons of bloom

pura vida

DEAR COACH BEEN

Your phone call was just precious.

It made me cry.

I have known it was coming all her life...I just didn't know it would be from you until a few months back.

When she was born, I knew today would come. 

When she was six, I knew you were probably already around this earth somewhere.  That's when I started praying for you.  For you to be a happy healthy loving strong honest boy growing up to be her man and the father of our grandchildren.

When she was fourteen, it was you.  But you had your ups and downs and then it wasn't you anymore.

But you stayed friends and stayed in contact.  You both went off to college and each had a very good life.

And then...something just clicked and it was you again.

Today...you asked for our blessing and I told you that from this point on you will be like our son.  And I mean that.

And it makes me smile to think when I thought of you when she was six and we didn't know you yet, that you really were growing up to be a fine person worthy of her...just fourteen miles away...destined to be Coach Been and the Mister to Mr. and Mrs. Cody Mac Been.

Welcome to the family Coach Been!

MOTHER MARY

Meet Mary

I am a Methodist and will never ever change that...but deep down inside I am a Catholic Wannabe.

I have filled my little chapel with a collection of Mother Mary along with lots of other comforting things.

Enough things to make any Baptist take a step back

I love the rituals of the Catholic church and they are very similar to those of the Methodist Church

I love the incense offered to raise our prayers to heaven....I love holding a rosary and praying for those that I love as if they were a bead in my hand, I love lighting candles to bring the power of a flame, I love taking communion, but I especially love the peaceful look on the face of Mary and the way she tenderly holds her child

64% of the world understands but a small portion, I think, misunderstand Mary

She is a mother

and as explained to me so beautifully...she is just like any other friend that you would ask to pray for you

but she has special favor...she is the mother of the Son of God

and Revelation says that our prayers are held by the saints in gold bowls before God

and since I am a mother I like the thought that God gives special favor to the prayers of a mother for her children.

Mary understands

SORRY CHARLIE

Man oh man...I sure feel sorry for the person who called me with the number ###.@@@.****....

because I butt dialed you about 4 times today.

1st of all, I don't text.  2nd of all, I don't text with my thumbs when I do text.  3rd of all, I am left handed which means while texting and driving which I would never do, I am at a sure fire disadvantage.  4th...if I am texting and driving I am not wearing my readers so I can barely see the screen...which all adds up to the reasons why I don't text....

Today was different.  I met Mattie to take her to lunch for her bday...she texts...and this is her main form of communication since she's supposed to be working and not texting. 

Only I don't really care about that because her summer internship is free except that it still costs us as if it was a semester of college...she can call/text her mother for lunch plans if she wants to...and cause me to text her back.

So..I am secretly shopping at Hobby Lobby and Pier 1 and while trying to carry my wallet, keys, packages, sunglasses, and phone...I realize for the 4th time I have accidently called the number that is at the top which is at the top because I keep dialing it.  With my thumbs.

I bet they think I'm a gosh dang nut.

Nope...just a very bad cell phone user.

I guess I should consider a purse.

Sorry ###.@@@.****  ...it was just me.  If I knew who you were you would have a name and not a number and then I could apologzie.  

I so incredibly hope you are not my new senator's office.

JULY 7, 1989

was one of the best days of my life

On the day of my kid's birthdays I like to tell them the story of the day they were born

It never changes and I remember them like they were yesterday;

and these days since they're young adults..when I ask them if they want me to tell them about the day they were born...they just laugh and act disinterested.

When Mattie was born there was a tornado warning and I remember being in the hospital in the wee morning hours, still in some pain from the csec...watching the lightning light up my dark room and exposing this tiny bundled burrito I was holding by myself for the first time...all alone..just me and her. 

God had and has some big plans for her

she is brave and honest and strong and smart and truly wonderful

in fact they are the three best things me and God ever did together as a team

I love her and admire and respect her

and wish the best for her happiness the rest of her life

I pinched her toes and cheeks that day she came into my world...they were the tiniest toes I had seen in a long time and they were mine to pinch.

Now...they just belong to her and the miles she walks are her miles in her world and I just get to sit back and remember the day she was born...and tell her all about it when she lets me.

And when she doesn't, I just tell it to myself...because I never ever want to forget one of the best days of my life!

God bless it!

MY HUSBAND AND HIS COOLPIX

On occasion while I am downloading my photos for the HPO, I am surprised (yet not) of the photos that pop up in my camera.  They make me laugh.  Usually...I laugh alot.  Because these photos are taken by my hubby who may have had a beer or two that might bring out his creative and/or sentimental side.  In these photos you can see a side to him that does not show while he is sitting behind his desk at FNB.

Our copper finials

July 4th weekend...giving him this Monday off

I had no idea this man's face was so hysterically funny

A view of the "G" he carved for our windowbox that he built.  I wish I could have seen him take this one because he had to have been crouched under it. 

He hates...and I mean HATES cats...but he must have thought these baby kitties who are just coming out from under the neighbor's porch are sort of sweet.

Our shady street just before the rare thunderstorm came through

The pot of lavendar on our porch

The storm is nearly here

This poor dove flew into our window and knocked itself silly...I saw him chasing this bird...it did make me laugh.  He asked me if I wanted it for supper.

I'm trying to hide the bird under a rock in case he's just loopy instead of broken..maybe he can fly later

The storm is just over head and you can barely see the buzzards circling the sky

Our neighbor's pine tree.  I bet he wishes he could climb it and sit on that big limb and spy on people.

and probably one of the favorite photos he has ever secretly taken of me...I am not caught looking fat, chubby, old and wrinkly...I am looking out my window watching the storm and thinking just how lucky I am that I have this window to look out of and it reminds me of how I will look when I don't live here in this body anymore.

I won't ever really leave this house...I will always be looking out this window...

And he always loves to take pictures of what he's cooking...I'm going to make him a guest chef on the HPO Not Enough Salt Column