Not Since Wilfred Brimley Has Oatmeal Been Loved So Much

Because it's a tiny pig. A tiny pig named Hamlet. Which is the best pig name ever. Enjoy.

You take the good. You take the bad. You take them both and there you have the facts of life.

Yes, I totally reeled you in with promises of reflections on Tootie and Natalie and the gang - but today's word isn't about those lovable scamps.  It's about painting (I wish that I had funky backup singers who could repeat key words after me to give them more impact. Let's pretend that I do.) This post is about painting (painting!) and junkin' (junkin! aww yeah! )

First the painting. Oh boy howdy. We got the walls in the foyer and hall redone and the horrible painted-over, peeling wallpaper is buried for nobody to shudder at again. We even got the dust cleaned up. Hallelujah. Now we're on week two of paint picking. Somebody just shoot me now.



This little slice of Mondrian madness is the foyer.There are three more colors on the other wall that you can't see. 

And this little road to nowhere is our hall...
where we currently have no less than twelve paint splotches painted. Because thirteen would be overkill. 
There is a certain madness in an artist (the Mister) being married to a picky person (me). You know what that madness makes me want to do? That's right! Escape! Let's talk about some really happy stuff.
First, my friend Dawn kindly clued me in that one of our audio crushes at the ranch, Mr. JD McPherson was playing on Conan last night.  I think he and the boys did a pretty smashing job:

I probably should have warned those of you down front about the virtual granny underpants flying towards the stage.  
Know what else makes me happy? I promise that it does not include me stripping off my skivvies.  It's  estate sales with the girls! Last weekend, I went to a couple of awesome estate sales with Rae and Lisa and had such a great time. It's really fun that we all share the same love for the sales. I think that Mister Kitsch paid them to be friends with me so that he doesn't have to spend hours with me in strangers' houses but hey, whatever works!  Here they are in the basement of our first house:

Ain't they sweet? They kept me laughing all morning. I think that the best quote of the day came when Rae told Lisa that her bouffant was blocking the light in this shot. That sign about clothing being mandatory? Totally aimed at me.  See that golden glow about them? That's none other than a paneled basement. I always give houses bonus points if they have them. Who needs windows when you've got the glow from some sweet faux wood? (faux wood! aww yeah!)
This basement also had a monkey cage! (monkey cage! awww yeaaaah!) Yes, a monkey cage. We were all intrigued by it, I'll admit. Luckily, Jamie stopped by the sale earlier and smartly got the scoop on what happened to the monkey. It turns out that one time, the monkey got loose and the father (or grandfather?) tried to fire a shot up into the air to scare the monkey out of a tree that he'd climbed. Unfortunately, the shot hit the monkey and well, the monkey was no more. If that isn't the stuff of family legend, then I don't know what is! See...that's why it pays to talk to the people whose sales you go to. Because we did, Rae got to meet the lady that wore this amazing skiing squirrel dress as a child. Also the co-owner of the monkey. This is all getting confusing, isn't it? Anyway....
We found tons of amazing stuff at that sale. Here is a trunk shot as we were leaving:
There seems to be a dog theme running through our finds, huh?
The next house was pretty interesting. I talked to a neighbor who told me that it has been closed up for many years and it was easy to tell as it was in pretty bad disrepair. The most intriguing things about that particular house were:
1. This fantastic duck

2. The QVC Room. There was an entire room stacked full of boxes of sealed QVC purchases. The owner of this home really loved to shop! You should have seen the women in that room, ripping open boxes in a foamy frenzy, trying to find treasures. Rae and I briefly visited before realizing that new crap ain't our bag.
3. Vintage Sequined Dresses. Lisa found the most amazing dresses with the tags still on them that fit her perfectly. It was a fate moment. And a real sweaty bathroom moment. She'll tell you about it here. 
Here's are some of my favorite finds of the day:
Oh, Marshall Matt Dillon with your beautiful, piercing eyes.
(No need to duck again, buckaroos!  My passion is squelched by remembering his years in that sad Jake and the Fat Man TV show. Underpants firmly in place. )
Lassie (fake well not included)
Vintage packaging. One of my biggest weaknesses. It confuses people. It confounds people. Poor Rae gets brownie points for listening to me prattle on about a 1980's bottle of lemon Joy detergent. And for finding me that A&P tomato juice can! Whoot! 

Luther. (Luther! Aww! Yeah!) Oh let me count the ways that I love Luther. He was in the basement and Rae revealed his glory to me. I couldn't leave without him and promised that I'd leave him to her in my will. Isn't he beautiful? I can not resist his smile. The lady who wore the skiing squirrel dress and her family owned Luther when she was a kid. They also owned the monkey. Gah, I'm suddenly realizing how that lady was the luckiest kid on the planet!
She told us his name and about how he was such a sweet dog. I always feel like a bit of a freak show when I buy other peoples' family portraits in front of them but she seemed pleased when I promised that I'd treasure him. Or maybe she just wanted me off of her porch. You know how sometimes it's hard to tell? Thank goodness I didn't prattle on about how I'd treasure the vintage litter box that I bought.

However, in retrospect, I do wish I'd asked her if she could show us some pictures of the monkey.
Until next time,x's and o's,Eartha

The Kissing Man Will Be Missed

I was so sad to hear this morning of Richard Dawson's passing. Depending on where our age puts us (or how strongly inclined we are to watch old reruns), most of us remember him well from Match Game, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Laugh In and Hogan's Heroes - and definitely from his long run on Family Feud. 

My grandmother just adored him on Family Feud and planned her days around making sure that she didn't miss the show. She got so tickled at how he kissed all of the ladies and called him "The Kissing Man". "The Kissing Man is on!" she'd chirp and ask me to turn the volume up on her floor model Curtis Mathis TV. Year after year, she'd watch him and I'll always associate him with her and remember how we'd yell out answers to the survey questions, stopping from time to time to congratulate each other on how smart we were.

 I often like to picture Heaven like a great big party where everyone is having a fantastic time in a swank pad on a hill overlooking the most beautiful setting that we can imagine. Glasses clinking and the whole place just bubbling over with genuine laughter. Every now and then, a new guest will arrive at the party and someone will say, "Well look who's here! It's..." and introduce the rest of the party guests to the most recent invite. Everyone then welcomes them with handshakes and cheerful slaps to the back before someone hands them a drink and a plate of tiny sandwiches and the best seat in the house - which is every seat, well...because it's Heaven.

Today, I'm picturing Richard smiling and waving as he comes through the door and my grandmother finally getting a kiss on the cheek from him. She greets him with a shuffle and a swish in her party dress and the house shoes that she always brings with her for the end of the evening's wind-down. Maybe she has her beloved black and white cat, Porkchop on her shoulder. It's a good scene. They're both grinning widely like old friends. Somewhere in the background, the needle drops on a record that they both remember and they bob their heads with the beat.

 I was mulling over which video to share of Richard today. There were so many hilarious ones of him, cracking jokes and full of laughter and wit - but when I found this one, I knew. This is from his very last show and never made it to TV. The message is clear and timeless and I can't think of a better legacy for him to have left with us here as we prepare for our own party invite one day.




Richard Dawson. He will be missed.

Until next time, 

x's and o's, 

Eartha

Squirrel Party!

Yep, there is no doubt about it. I love squirrels. Real ones. Fake ones. Oh my gosh, do I. Recently, I was telling you all about how I also love crafts made out of nuts. Still with me? I got the cutest little guy in the mail this week from the fabulous Betty Crafter.




Isn't he sweet? He's made out of walnuts. I bet his little log is meant to hold toothpicks.
Thanks to Betty's kindness, now I have three nut squirrels and from what I hear, three of anything starts a collection. Look out world!

In celebration of taking this new guy into the fold and cementing a new collection, I thought we'd have a squirrel party today. And what do we need for a party? Food! How about acorns?


With the help of a couple of friends, let's gather the ingredients.

We'll need pretzel sticks, donut holes, nuts or chocolate sprinkles, and milk chocolate chips.

And since it's a party, we'll just skip to the finished product!


These were so easy. You just melt the chocolate of your choice (I've also heard that you can use Nutella unmelted) and dip the tops of the donut holes into it. Then you dip in chopped nuts or chocolate sprinkles. Insert a half of a pretzel stick and voila! acorns! These are only meant for human consumption but I did toss out some peanuts on the patio for our squirrel friends in their honor.

For our party entertainment, how about an adorable little video? Everyone knows that the late, great Bob Ross was as sweet as those happy little clouds that he painted but what could be even better? Why, Bob Ross bottle feeding a baby squirrel - that's what. Bring it!





Was that adorable or what?? Thanks for coming to my impromptu Squirrel Party! I hope that you all have a great weekend!

Until next time,
x's and o's,
Eartha