HAPPY NOVEMBER FIRST!

Today, my Mom, My Uncle Jerry (back-which happens to be my Mom's twin brother), my cousin Vickie, me, and my Dad went to Four Winds Casino. 

  I know...we're bad. We wasted some money.  Just a little though. But you know what, we had fun!  We were losers but we had fun!  And is it any wonder that we had fun.  I grew up with my Aunts and Uncles getting together every weekend, having fun, hence, I got together with my cousins every weekend, hence, my first playmates were my cousins.  Hence, our family is my friends.

 You can never tell what these two are up to.  They were friends before Mom and Dad married.
Double Trouble I say!

 And when I got home, my Shug and I sat on the porch, for at least an hour!  It was 70 degrees outside!!! NICE and VERY unusual for Indiana weather in November.

 Gorgeous I tell ya!

And peeps, did you know Fall is a good time to plant trees.  One of the best times actually.  They can spend their energy on the root system, and not leaves and blooms.  And Fall, in Indiana, is a somewhat wet season. So BONUS, rain waters trees.   And then we go into winter, which is also wet.  Then summer and they have spent all that time developing their root system.  AND....BEST of ALL, 75% off these trees at Lowe's!  $2.00 each.  I did the math for you!

 It's a little late, but Happy November 1st!  What did you do today?

Cindy Bee

Hedgeapples & Spiders

I thought Halloween would be an appropriate time to post spider pics!  Here's the deal.  I'm not really afraid of spiders.  I mean, I don't want them crawling on me, but I'm not panicky, scaredy-cat, creepy-crawly, afraid of them.  

This one was in our shower when we first moved in. And okay... I was a little creeped out by it.  And I had to take a shower or I was going to be late, so I had to kill it.  I usually let them be, or take them out on a piece of paper.  But this one was BIG.  So I smashed it with a shoe and screamed while I did the deed.  

 

If you've ever watched a spider, they can weave some pretty cool webs.  Such as this Golden Orb Weaver I saw at Patty Beck's last year.

 

And I'm not freaked out wearing this bracelet.... 

(won these hand warmers at Grovy Girl Yarn!)

or having cool spider yard art in my yard made out of door knobs and bolts.

 

But this kinda freaked me out.  Not the mole!  But about two inches above it to the left.   I was cleaning out a cabinet in the garage and something itty-bitty-teeny-weeny-tiny-winy, bit me! And it hurt all the way to the core of my arm.  It hurt worse than any bee sting I've ever had.  And it immediately welted.

  

I killed that little bug too, which we decided was a tiny red spider.  It was about the size of those little no-seeum bugs, but it was red.  And the next day the area got bigger and itched a lot.  My nurse friend told me to draw a circle around it in pen and if it gets bigger to get to the hospital.  Now peeps, I've been stung, and never thought about going to the hospital over something like this.  But she seemed very concerned.  So I drew the circle.  That night I took Benadryl.  

The next day it swelled even more....but it wasn't itching as much.  So, I decided if the swelling didn't start going down the next day, I'd go to the hospital.  

Thankfully, it did start going down.  And when I went to spinning group I was telling them about the bug that bit me, and they suggested I get some hedgeapples and put them in the basement.  But where does one find hedgeapples?   Well, the next day...much to my surprise, one of my spinning friends came over with a whole sack of them!  (She told me the night before she had a friend die of a spider bite a couple of weeks prior)

 So I've decorated with them...

all over the house...

and it's the weirdest thing...

I haven't seen any spiders!

 What about you... Do you have any home remedies on how do you get rid of spiders?

Cindy Bee

PS...HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween Fun!

Last Saturday evening, several of us went to an "organ concert" called Music of the Night at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.  The concert featured Charles Manning, the Phantom Organist.  

We met in the Gothic Chapel for the concert.

A few songs might sound familiar to you, such as Ghost busters, Witch Doctor, and there was "name that tune game" of old TV show theme songs such as The Adams Family, The Monsters, Casper the Friendly Ghost, etc. (I think Jodie 'with an ie''s husband watched a lot of TV as a kid....just sayin.)

 After the concert and a refreshment of cider and donuts, we went for a cemetery tour.

 The cemetery was established in the early to mid 1800's and it is over 500 acres.

 There are several famous people in this cemetery,

 such as President Benjamin Harrison, John Dillinger, and some famous poet whose name escapes me at the moment!

 We walked all the way to the top of the "crown" and if my camera were any good, it would have taken a beautiful shot of the Indianapolis skyline at night.  But I don't have a decent camera.  

I did have a fun time that evening though!

So, here's the scoop.....

I don't know if Groovy Girl Yarn has a ghost or not, all I know is yes, some weird things have been heard and seen in that building.  So far all is friendly.  

My computer has not been working properly.  It's been crashing on me.  So today I went and purchased a back-up system.  You know the kind.  "Easy to use, just plug in and push a button."  I'm ready to heave it all across the road in the pond.  But it is the reason I haven't been online much lately.

Lastly, my camera stopped working this week too.  All of this electronic dysfunction has just added more work to my already busy week.

Is anyone doing anything special for Halloween fun this weekend?

Cindy Bee

Halloween Night

I thought I'd give you a glimpse of our neighborhood on Halloween evening. I love it. We live in an old neighborhood, with big trees, and old houses. Some neighbors are in their late 80's and early 90's and have lived in the houses since they built them in the 40's. Those of us that pass out candy sit outside and visit with each other. Some decorate, or dress up, or both. And this guy....

dressed up his dog! SO FUNNY.


Our neighbor...

the next neighbor...

our neighborhood Mayor and his girlfriend, dressed up as Maxine!

The neighborhood Mayor position is self-appointed without pay.

Across the street.

My Shug sitting outside passing out candy. I know, I didn't decorate outside this year, but I did decorate inside. Just haven't been home enough this year.

One of our last Trick or Treaters! What do you think? Is she a good witch, or a bad witch?

And just as we settled inside with the fire going, crocheting, relaxing with the dogs on our lap, watching Caspar, two more trick or treaters! My Shug answered the door while I held the dogs back.

It was the little guy (he'll always be the 'little guy' to me) I used to watch. My Shug didn't even recognize him! How could he with his face covered like that!

So, I do have to tell you a story. Last year at this time we got Dixie. Read about it here. And last year this little kid came to our door trick or treating and said, "hey that looks like my dog, well the dog I used to have." That was all he said, he got his candy and left.

This year he came to the door and said, "Did you find that dog? I said my neighbor found him. He said, "Did you get him last year about this time?" I said yes. He said it was his dog, he patted him on the head and said his name was Ollie and he ran away. He didn't act like he cared nor did he ask for him back. When Dixie came to us he was scrawny skinny, no hair on his back side, bumps all over him from flea bites, and he had fleas so bad they were coming in and out his nose. I'd run away too. We put an ad in the paper, and on the radio. He had no collar, no tags, and no computer chip. No one called to get him.

Thoughts from a peri-menopausal woman...

I think his parents dumped him and told the kid he ran away. He ain't getting him back.

Cindy Bee

Trick or Treat!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

(painting by "Mandy")

Just curious how people celebrate Halloween in other countries, if you do celebrate.

Cindy Bee