Rain and the hummingbird vine

We finally had some rain Sunday and again yesterday here in North Georgia. It's amazing how a little bit of moisture will make the blooms suddenly appear. This is a picture of a hummingbird vine or cypress vine as it is commonly called that has been rambling on my porch steps and across the rails all summer. It has not bloomed very well until Monday. I don't put out hummingbird feeders (I forget to fill them up and really have no time). I would rather rely on plants to bring the hummers in. Be careful though, it can certainly take over a small area but what a show it can put on!

Four legged family members

I thought I would share pictures of a couple of our four legged family members. It took me several minutes to get Tucker to lay still and Lizzie didn't want her picture made at all. You can tell she is not happy about the whole prospect of being in a picture with Tucker. My 18 month old thinks the dog's name is "Bad Dog" instead of Tucker. Speaking of 18 month olds, while I was trying to get a picture of the dogs.....he was playing in the toilet!! Wonderful!!!!

Birthday Boy

Today is my husband's birthday and now we are "officially" the same age. I am exactly one month to the day older than he is and you would think it was 10 years the way he describes it. Happy Birthday to my husband of 23 years.

Fall decorating

Here it is Sept. 19 and it will be in the low 90's here in Georgia with not a rain drop in sight. Never mind....I love fall and enjoy the color change on the mountain. I look forward to it every year. I have also enjoyed changing the look of the house with the seasons. I have to say however, decorating over the past two years has been difficult with being pregnant at my age and now having a boy that is a constant whirlwind. I swear he never slows down. But that's okay...he sure is fun. Anyway, I found this little cabinet at the World's Longest Yard Sale back in August. It was dug out of a barn in New Salem and when I opened the drawer to see if it in fact opened....there was a nest of dead mice. Lovely! I told the man I would take it if he got rid of the mice. He did and I brought it home. Its been sitting in the basement since August and today we took it to the front porch and I fixed it up. I have been saving my okra pods for just the right spot and now they are in the cast iron pot. The wire horse muzzle on the door is filled with little white pumpkins and the bird houses I have had for years. Can't wait to work on the rest of the house!

Visitor of the four legged sort

Back a month or so ago, there was quite a commotion going on in our pasture courtesy of this little guy. We affectionately named him "Trouble" and he came from down the road. No...he doesn't belong to us, he came to visit Peaches and Shelby and decided to stay awhile. We had to call him something and "Trouble" seemed to fit him well. Peaches and Shelby certainly did not appreciate his affections. As it turns out, Trouble is a miniature mule and a "stallion" miniature mule. After a week or two, we finally caught him in a stall and shut the door on him. To be such a little guy, he sure is strong. It took both my husband and myself to get a rope on him in order to take him home. He did not want to leave his new found girlfriends and did not go home easily. We found that in order to move an unwilling mule (even a little one), you have to walk them backwards. Yes, we backed that ornery little thing all the way down the road to his home. I almost say "Good riddance", but he sure is cute!!!!

Fall Gathering

What a beautiful sunny day for a fall gathering. I just returned from Becky Howard's house/farm/business. She owns Pigeon Creek Cabin in Lafayette Georgia. Her business is housed in a pre 1810 log cabin filled with early primitives and handmade items. She also has a Dry Goods Store located in her daughter's former playhouse. I spent almost 2 hours there taking in the beautiful scenery and of course buying stuff!!!

Those pesky deer

Deer are lovely creatures and I like to see them from time to time, but not in MY garden!!! Last week as I was picking the tomatoes to can, I noticed several of MY sunflowers were missing their heads. I don't mean something was chewing on them. I mean they were completely gone.

Surely those squash bugs wouldn't do that. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out it was deer coming in at night to eat MY sunflowers that I have been looking forward to all summer. The neighbor's dogs are completely falling down on their job as official deer chasers (my dogs live in the lap of luxury inside). Anyway, my bright idea was to tie a couple of aluminum pie plates on the end of long stakes to scare them away.

Guess what? It worked.....for about a week. MY sunflowers still have their heads but the deer have now moved on to MY okra. Sigh!!!!

Awesome junk (I mean treasures)!!

The husband and daughter have gone to Ohio over the weekend to see his grandmother and play in a tennis tournament, leaving me and my little "wildman" home. The "wildman" has run out of steam and is down for a much needed nap. I really need one too but I thought I would take advantage of this hour or so and share some of the awesome treasures I have found over the summer.

The little stool was found at a local antique mall with the MOST hideous paint color ever - bright neon blue. Needless to say it recieved a facelift. The old cast iron and iron shoe forms are from Carol Bennett of Antiques and Uniques. Check out her blog at http://antiquesanduniques.blogspot.com/. The funnel was found at an antique mall just inside the Georgia border heading north out of Florida on I-75. For the life of me, I can't recall the name. While we were in Florida, I picked up the BEST magazine I have found in a long time and on page 55 was my funnel!!

You'll find bargains galore if you dare to dig through the clutter that most antiques malls are full of. I found all of this at local malls for $26.00.

The very best bargains are of course the free kind! The washboard and enamel dishpan were FREE!!! A friend of my husband was moving and gave them to me.

My helper and resident "wildman" thought my display needed a little rearranging. The big long wooden object is called a "tree" and it is used to harness horses together. It is in great condition with the hardware intact. I'm not sure where its "home" will be just yet, but I worry about that after I buy!! Surely I'm not the only person who buys first and then figures out what to do with it later. The other little object is a hog scraper. I'm going to put a hole through the collar and attach to the bathroom wall to use as a towel hook. I need at least two more. The best bargain of all was my little guy!!!

My most favorite primitive shop in the whole wide world is closing. This is the final week for Simply the Past located in Lafayette, Georgia. The hooked runner and the great old wheelbarrow came from their shop. Becky Howard, her sister Nokie and their mother are closing their downtown location to open separate businesses. Becky will now operate "Pigeon Creek Cabin" out of a really old log cabin at her house. Nokie and her mom will have their hand made primitives online at "Cat Creek Primitives". So sad they are closing but looking forward to their new ventures. Check out Becky's site at www.picturetrail.com/pigeoncreekcabin and Nokie's site at www.picturetrail.com/catcreekprimitives.