There's Something Happenin' Here...

What it is, is exactly clear

There's a bed hoggin dog over there

Tellin me I got to beware

I think it's time we stop, Mabel

What's that sound

Everybody look what's going down

There's battle lines being drawn

Mabel's right; and Mama's wrong

 Silly dog, speakin her mind

Giving much resistance with her behind

It's time we stop

Hey, what's that sound

Silly dog is staring me down

What a fine night for bed hogs

Queen size bed sleep like a log

Growling tunes she should keep inside

Sayin' "Mama, It's ALL my side"

It's time we stop

Hey, what's that sound

Mama wants to lay down

Hidden cookies strike deep

so the pup, she will creep

moves her booty yes, slides away

Step off my side, mama needs to make hay!

You better stop

listen, what's that sound

Growl again, you're going down!

*with apologies to Buffalo Springfield

The Weight of Things

I have been on a insatiable cleaning jag lately. Not that I'm cleaning house so much as just getting rid of STUFF! I find it shocking and appalling that a single woman with one dog moved into this four bedroom house with 360 boxes filled in a semi. And I've managed to accumulate even more now that own a business! I'm sick and tired of it all and am starting to feel that I'm drowning in stuff.

I've been auctioning off old office equipment and a soap opera wedding dress I found for my niece at a studio sale (we found her an even nice couture dress at the thrift store for even less money!) Bulky items that I don't want to ship have been relegated to CraigsList. Smaller jewelry tools and such head to the Garage Sale page on the Lampworker's Forum.

I was quite shocked this week to realize that the craft books I had accumulated while producing the t.v. show were over four feet high! All got listed and I've sold all but about a foot of them! This stack of craft books mixed with Southern Living recipes is all that is left!

I've cleaned out all the copper cookie cutters that never really sold from my website. They did well at shows where I could demo...but not online. As I called around to refineries in the area, I was amazed that copper only fetches around  three bucks a pound (still, 90 bucks is 90 bucks!)! I mean, people have been stealing the wiring from new homes to sell the copper... do you realize how labor intensive that is??? It seems to me you'd make more picking up cans and bottles!

I've got bags of tin cutters to go along with the copper and a bag of stainless steel rods that are bent. And I've fired all the precious metal clay that had long since dried out to take to the fine metals refinery. I have bags of scrap silver from my wire classes and got on a wild hair and decided to get rid of all the jewelry I never wear.

That's where I hit a snag. How can get rid of the gold watch my mom gave me?? Forget that I intentionally stopped wearing watches in 1993! (Passive aggressive boss constantly asked me for the time.) Never mind that the watch no longer fits and still wouldn't if all the links were in place. 

And what to do with these little treasures?

 

You may see a five dollar bill and a little bracelet that would fit a toddler. The bracelet was given to me by my sister when I was in her wedding in 1966. The five dollar bill was the last money my father ever gave me. I had begged off of seeing him the last weekend he was alive in 1975. My mother and he spent the weekend alone and she returned and pulled my allowance from him out of her pocket. I stashed it in my room and three days later, when I realized he was gone, I put the money in my jewelry box. I have no idea why my eleven year old self did that but now at 47 that five dollar feels like it weighs a ton. 

So what do you do with memories that weigh too much?  Do you cast them aside? Or do you hang onto them hoping some part of who you were still exists somewhere?

Waiting For Rocks at Twilight - Wordless Wednesday

These Two

I love these two. I love them together. I love them apart. I love watching their relationship to each other.

I find it hard to believe that for FOUR YEARS, we kept them apart! Bart had such a nasty reputation in the neighborhood (mostly from stupid leash walkers who have no concept of socializing dogs or how to deal with a dog that is off leash) & Mabel was such a dominate brat...we were afraid to introduce them. But once Bart officially belonged to the bestie, we HAD to allow them to meet. As I've written before...it was such a non event!

It's a rare day we don't hike together. These two are pack mates now.

She protects him.
She corrects him.
He looks to her for guidance when meeting others.
He longs to be alpha but doesn't step on her toes.
She dashes off after coyotes. He's got her back.
Mischief seeks them both.

And I know...one day, all to soon...their rolls will reverse. I'm glad Mabel has a friend like Bart. I'm glad Bart has a friend like Mabel.

On His Six

Can you even SEE Bart???