Must be the Season of the Witch.....

When I look out my window
Many sites to see
When I look in my window
So many different people to be
It's strange
So very strange
You got to pick up every stitch
You got to pick up every stitch
Must be the season
The season of the witch
Must be the season of the witch

HAPPY HAUNTING, MY FRIENDS!

43 India

Wine Country Kind o Weekend

Oaty enjoys the last bits of fall sunshine.

Where do you take friends from out of town? Winery touring of course!

Cool mushroom garden at Chandon! The champagne was fantastic, thank you Mr Sideways Again!

A huge wall made entirely of green wine bottles. I couldn't quite capture the sunlight coming through....

Sideways Sam and Lisa Pizza get their crush on!

Doesn't that look like fun?

(maybe we can even get a new post out of these two now that we have caught them carousing in the grapes! By the way, these two really know their wines! I had a great time observing their sniff and swirl techniques, and hearing about fruity aftertones, oaky, drinkable and what not!)

Have a great week, everyone!

44 India

55Flash Fiction Friday

Standing in Shakuntulas kitchen, learning how to make dosas....so different from our kitchens, totally black, the appliances, the floor. Maybe the walls were white...no frilly curtains, no rooster shaped cookie jar..... sorta looked like "clear everything flammable out of the way! Shaku is cooking!"
Shaku's dosas, like pancakes on Saturday morning, only better.


Have a lovely weekend everyone! I hope you will write a 55 too!

47 India

Great Pumpkin HNT

Every year, the Great Pumpkin rises out from the pumpkin patch that he feels is the most sincere, and then he flies through the air and gives presents to all the good girls and boys of the world. That’s what Linus says, anyway, and so he’s going to spend Halloween waiting for him, along with Charlie Brown’s little sister, Sally.

"Hey Mr Ratburn, do you wanna wait for the Great Pumpkin with me?"

"Of course, Mistress, of course...."
"Ratburn, do you think our pumpkin patch is most sincere?"

"I do..."

Sigh!

Oh well. Maybe next year, kids.

Naughty Mr Ratburn!

48 India

Hey, Jenny Jenny....

What if your telephone number really was
867-5309?




50 India

Happy Birthday Little Rita!

In my daughter's eyes I am a hero

I am strong and wise and I know no fear

But the truth is plain to see

She was sent to rescue me

I see who I want to be in my daughter's eyes

In my daughter's eyes everyone is equal

Darkness turns to light and the world is at peace

This miracle gives me strength when I am weak

I find reason to believe

In my daughter's eyes

by Martina McBride

We have been truly blessed.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY BEAUTIFUL GIRL!

52 India

55Flash Fiction Friday

Shore Temple, Mahabalipuram

Fifty-five more days until India!
Am I excited?
You bet!
Do I really have the gall to turn this into a fifty-five?
You bet!
Mahabalipuram is a 7th century port city.....
many of its ancient ruins remained buried by sands until the tsunami of 2004. Shore Temple was set free from the sand!
Too cool!

Wanna know more?

Ok wait! That's 55, i'd better stop now..... Cheap cheap cheap! I know.....I am sooo busy that I didnt even visit all of your wonderful HNTs yesterday...really it's not like me to be this busy....but this weekend is the grand opening of my little shop in town AND Little Ritas 10th birthday party so.......off I go!
Let me know if you played!

OK! I will now have a countdown to India on my posts everyday...... here it is:

55
Have a great weekend!

I First Saw You Pickin Oranges In Orlando

Eek! Can it really be HNT time already? Grab the camera Mr Ratburn, before the sun goes down! Let's go!

Hey look what I found!! This might very well be the last golden delicious for the year!

Thistles can be a real problem in the orchard. Especially when they are over 5 feet tall! Sheesh, this one tried to bite me! Can you thay thistle five timeth without sthumbling?

This time of year, the orchard smells mighty fermented...and look! Even the trees are falling down drunk!

This is what happens when an old apple tree is overloaded with fruit! (Course Mr Ratburn will tell you different!)

Happy HNT everyone!

I Me Mine I Me Mine I Me Mine....

I love pumpkins, but I'll bet you already know that about me! This year I grew a couple of Atlantic Giants. Only a couple because that's how they get giant...you really can't have more than one, but this year I chose to keep two!
They are actually about 40 pounds each at this point, nothing compared to the 300-1000 pounders that expert pumpkin growers can achieve. The pumpkin in this picture was about 2000...erm, ok 20 pounds when that shot was taken. In the meanwhile, I can pretend, can't I, that my Atlantic Giants are actually giant sized this year?
~
Did you ever grow anything that got totally out of control? Like the time you got a thousand zuchinnis or something? Tell me about it!
Ha, reminds me, I've got about 2,000 dahlia bulbs...which makes me think...know why dahlia bulb dealers never get rich?
Because dahlia bulbs multiply like rabbits under the soil, and then you never need to buy more, and in fact, can give away like, hundreds and still have hundreds left....if anyone's interested!

55Flash Fiction Friday

October

If I wrote fifty-five words about you
fat round orange pumpkins
red grand old barn
dry earth spent hard

If I gave you what you wanted ~ told of your shameless beauty

Flaunted your colors

If I even forced loved ones to cooperate

...used false replicas to further my fall

Would you then become my 55?

~

Ok what are you waiting for? I know blogger sucks, but you can still write a 55!

Orange Sweater HNT

Every October I dust off the orange sweater.

Every year for 25 years.

I wore it because I knew I looked really cute in orange!

I wore it when I was lonely and needed a friend.

I wore it when I was pregnant, with jack~o~lantern face cutouts on the tummy.

It reminds me of pumpkins, Halloween and falling leaves...

Except this year it reminded me of a time 20 years ago. New York.

Same girl, same sweater.

Falling leaves.......

Same Mr Ratburn even! (He took the pictures)

Yes, but of course it was Halloween. Otherwise, I wouldn't be romping in the leaves with a kitty nose on, would I?



Same girl, same sweater, Falling leaves.....

same Mr Ratburn!

20 years, Mr Ratburn..... fancy that!

HAPPY HNT EVERYONE!

Understanding Women
Unless you are battling a case of terminal stupidity, you know that you need this book. Beginning with how to be sure this is really a woman, this book tells it all. Learn sure-fire ways to get a good woman every time, find out what they are thinking, and solve every one of their confusing mysteries.
This is a must read for anyone who ever expects to come into contact with a member of the fairer sex. Women may want to read it too just to find out why the guys are getting so smug.

Sometimes my dad actually sends me something useful by email......


WOMAN'S PERFECT BREAKFAST
She's sitting at the table with her gourmet coffee. Her son is on the cover of the Wheaties box.Her daughter is on the cover of Business Week.Her boyfriend is on the cover of Playgirl.And her husband is on the back of the milk carton.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

UNDERSTANDING WOMEN (A MAN'S PERSPECTIVE)
I know I'm not going to understand women. I'll never understand how you can take boiling hot wax, pour it onto your upper thigh, rip the hair out by the root, and still be afraid of a spider.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
MARRIAGE SEMINAR
While attending a Marriage Seminar dealing with communication, Tom and his wife Grace listened to the instructor, "It is essential that husbands and wives know each other's likes and dislikes." He addressed the man,"Can you name your wife's favorite flower?" Tom leaned over, touched his wife's arm gently and whispered, "It's Pillsbury, isn't it?
-------------------------------------------------------------------

CIGARETTES AND TAMPONS
A man walks into a pharmacy and wanders up & down the aisles. The sales girl notices him and asks him if she can help him. He answers that he is looking for a box of tampons for his wife. She directs him down the correct aisle. A few minutes later, he deposits! a huge bag of cotton balls and a ball of string on the counter. She says, confused, "Sir, I thought you were looking for some tampons for your wife?He answers, "You see, it's like this, yesterday, I sent my wife to the store to get me a carton of cigarettes, and she came back with a tin of tobacco and some rolling papers; cause it's sooo-ooo--oo-ooo much cheaper. So, I figure if I have to roll my own .......... so does she. (I figure this guy is the one on the milk carton!)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

WHO DOES WHAT
A man and his wife were having an argument about who should brew the coffee each morning. The wife said, "You should do it because you get up first, and then we don't have to wait as long to get our coffee. The husband said, "You are in charge of cooking around here and you should do it, because that is your job, and I can just wait for my coffee."Wife replies, "No, you should do it, and besides, it is in the Bible that the man should do the coffee." Husband replies, "I can't believe that, show me."
So she fetched the Bible, and opened the New Testament and showed him at the top of several pages, that it indeed says .......... "HEBREWS
------------------------------------------------------------

THE SILENT TREATMENT
A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper,"Please wake me at 5:00 AM." He left it where he knew she would find it. The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up."
Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests.

All together now......


Oohhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

If You're Going To San Francisco...

...better take the BART!

Today in the city, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival free concert in the park, Emmylou Harris, Richard Thompson, Iris Dement, Drvie by Truckers, Bob Weir, Jorma....and many more for free..whoopee! let's go huh? Why aren't we already there, in fact?
PLUS
an A's game, Fleet week, Blue Angels are in town, Litquake (SF literary fest), Italian Heritage Parade and Festival, The Ten Tenors, and much much more....sigh....

Why! oh why! aren't we there already? In a word, traffic. Not just regular traffic....motor-off-time-to exit-car-pee-off-bridge-traffic. Heh! Open-tailgate-make-sandwich- outa-cooler-traffic. Take-long-needed-nap-traffic. Does anyone have a helicopter, pilot and a couple of parachutes we could borrow for the day? We'll bring you along with us!

Richard Thompson in the park for free...

Sigh...........................

55Flash Fiction Friday and Other Important Stuff

**UPDATE** 55Flash Fiction is at bottom of this post**

OK for right now I have to say forget 55 because lookit what I learned at Kien Lims blog!

T~shirt and Vest Folding Made Easy! Kien, you are my hero! I tried this about three times before I got it right, and then woweeeeeee~~ You have to go see....55 can wait! This is important stuff, people!

UH OH, guess what? That was 55 words! Am I off the hook? No? Then go watch this video at Kien's.

Or you can just pop over to YOUTUBE and check it out too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrkjVC77cbg
You could still write me a 55 about tshirt folding if you wanna, or whatever else...

OK OK OK Heres my 55, and yes, it's about breasts, you expected less?

It was a lovely day for a walk, the countryside beautiful this time of year. Taking in nature's gifts as he strolled, he soon tired and came to rest against a very large round boulder, and soon slumbered.

He dreamed of milkshakes, ice cream, and yogurt, until awaked by white stuff dripping on his head.

Im just gonna say this one more time! Get em checked people!

Jodhpuri Chai Party HNT

This is a little dollhouse that I made in woodshop. It's designed after a typical home in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
Jodhpur is famous for having many houses painted the very same shade of blue.
This may be because blue is the colour of the Brahmin caste, or because the blue colour repels insects, or simply because it's more cooling. It depends who you ask! Oh India, you crack me up so bad! *UPDATE*See comments section for another take on why the houses are blue.....
I was so excited when I discovered that I could take my pictures of Jodhpur to a paint shop, where they matched the colour perfectly! They put this little lense thing on the picture, then it told the paint mixer how much of what colour to use. I don't know about you, but I was impressed! LOL

My dollhouse looks a little lonely, don't you think? Why don't we have a tea party!













Welcome, everybody! As you can see, Logo is already here! Get another cup ready Logo, here comes BS. He's right behind you in the window!

Heh! Ok so enlarge this pic, because I want you to see the lovely Crapola that Logo sent me!
Notice the teeny gold violin, the candlesticks, and the tiny glass fruits on the table. Those are the crapolas! And they are really tiny! Ooh I just love tiny things!
(For those of you wondering why I'm calling it crap...we have this game we adopted, that I saw once about a year ago on another blog. We send each other stuff, then we have to make art and posts and what nots with it.)

How'd I do BS? Schadeboy?

I leave you with this limerick, I'm saree it's so bad! Har har! I wrote it with a couple other friends.....

There once was a man from Bombay

Who just didn't know what to say

when the girl from next door

caught her saree in the door

and unraveled her dress all the way.

Happy HNT everyone!
Mr Ratburns got his own kind of tea party!

If it's boobies you're looking for, check out the Hijackers! We got plenty today!

Pontifcating on cereal and breasts......sorta....

Somehow Little Rita made it to almost 10 years old without ever having rice krispies.
This morning she had them. I didn't realize that I'd been denying her!

She poured the milk. Total look of joy and surprise on her face, "ooohhh cool, mommmm, they really do pop!" Sticking her face way into the bowl and laughing!
Precious.


On another note, this is boobiethon week. There are going to be boobies around every corner people. Bare boobies, covered boobies, all sorts of boobies, and yes, some of them will be mine. Get over it.

If you haven't ever learned to do a breast exam, you owe it to yourself. This is a little 10 step chart that oughta help you.

And, I think this is funny...I'm sorry if you don't. Gotta give the guy a little credit there, for wanting to help out the women in his community! Har har!

If you wanna see my seven favourite songs post, it's down there v......Have a lovely day, people!