Thursday Thanksgiving Portrait

Just another idyllic day in the orchard...

When suddenly......

My gosh, it isn't even safe in your own backyard anymore.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

and do be careful!

71India

PS If anyone has anything negative to say about India and those bombings, I can't hear you! I can't hear you! I can't hear you. Tummmm teee tummmmm.....

Houston, we have a problem....

Yes, that is my oven, in pieces, two days before Thanksgiving.

I don't really like to cook turkey anyway...

(coke box used to protect repairman from greasy buildup...ack!)

72India

Musical Monday on Friday Night

Ok well I have to admit I went looking for the lyrics for this song because I thought they were saying something pretty sexy, in fact, too sexy for it to be playing from my daughters radio in her bedroom! Actually the lyrics are pretty tame, but I wonder if you can figure out what I thought they were saying.... he he!

At any rate, what a cool video by Finger Eleven. Check it out.


Happy Monday, everyone!

73India

Thursday Portrait

Flashback 1996
Seeing Lime's post of her lil kids and herself from a few years back has inspired me to post some old pics for Thursday Portrait myself. Thanks Lime, I am having a brain freeze due to too much cashmere and fleece inhalation.

Some of you already know this, but Little Rita was born 8 weeks early! That is why she looks like a little wood elf or some non human creature up there! When she was born, they told us not to expect her home for 8 weeks. Of course, I was in hell at that thought. Imagine how thrilled we were when the doctor announced that she could come home after 4 weeks. Believe it or not, she is one month old in that picture and barely weighs four pounds!

That picture up there was taken on Thanksgiving 1996. Pretty much 12 years ago exactly. Could I please look that young again?

As you can see, by the time Little Rita was 9 or 10 months old, she was looking like a right plump baby girl! That cat is Buster. He lived to be 17. What an awesome cat.

Ok there you have it, flashback!
Have a wonderful day!
77India

Shop Til You Drop!

So, if you are one of those Christmas shopping types, come on over here, we need to have a little talk. Did you know that there is an online place where you can shop for handmade and totally cool items from all over the world without leaving your computer?

I am talking about ETSY.com. Now think of Etsy like that other place that starts with an E, except that ETSY.com was especially created as a marketplace for artists to sell their stuff online.

Last year I also did a post about ETSY because I think it's really important. You can get everything you need and never have to leave the house. No mall, no parking hassles, no traffic jams, no gas, no lines, no returning stuff, no Walmart greeter. No slave labor, no sweatshops, no plastic junk that's gonna break tomorrow.
Additionally, you are purchasing an item entirely handmade by the artist, and no middleman!
So this year I did some random searches, and you can clearly see, this isn't the toy aisle at Target!
Here are some cool things that I found today:

clancy the little weirdo

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13023468

Morticia Handspun Wool Haired Bedhead Doll

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17073094

There are tons of handmade jewelry on Etsy but what kind of a friend would I be if I didn't share MY friends jewelry shop. Here is my favourite item from her store!
Chained Amethyst
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15070864

Snowflake Dream Booties
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17415826

Now you have shoemakers, and then you have shoemakers!
Zerkahloostrah custom retro platform pumps

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5102176
..and they have lots of other styles, for men too! They get my vote for the best non factory shoemaker on etsy. (You're not supposed to be a factory on Etsy, as everything is supposed to be handmade, but you wouldn't believe some of the stuff that sneaks by the Etsy team!)

Burnin Love Fire Skirt
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10368374

To heck with JC Penney, eh!

Queen Tiger Maple Pencil Post Bed

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?ref=sr_gallery_21&listing_id=10542956

Now I think you will agree, we can do well without the mall! Head on over to Etsy and spend some money. I promise you the best service, the nicest and most talented people from all over the world, and terrific gift items in everyone's price range.

Last year Lime found some pretty hilarious stuff on Etsy and so I'm sorta hoping she will do her own search again this year and share what she finds. (HINT HINT)

And in case you haven't already figure it out, I have an ETSY shop too!

http://urbanprairiegirl.etsy.com/

Have a lovely day!

80India

55Flash Fiction Friday

"My new shiraz is ready", she cooed, gazing out over her golden vineyards. She watched in delight as her personal vintner poured the burgundy nectar and holding it up to the sunlight, she swirled, then took her first sip.

Suddenly, her eyes grew wide in horror.

"This wine is pure SWILL! Off with your head!"

~

In this 55 I get to pretend that I am some snobby rich wine baroness in the Napa Valley. Actually, I came upon this poster while searching an appropriate background to pose this skirt in front of. I ended up using a beach scene, and my standby checkered background. You can see it over there in my shop sidebar if you wanna------->

By the way, I know nothing about wine, and I don't really care for it either, so this wine poster girl thing is a total fake out.

Hey that gives me an idea, I oughta do a poster for the agriculture that I really love about Northern California....he he....

I wanted to post this because Bryan really oughta make that trip out West to see the home of his favorite cartoonist, and go ice skating at Snoopys with the Ratburns! So there you have it, your very own wine country poster chickie fakeout 55!

Happy Friday to you and be sure to run over and tell the G~man that you played.

8583India

My god, it seems there has been a miscount! 83 days only to go!

Thursday Portrait

Bangalore 2003

Beedi Factory, Mysore 2003

Time for the India countdown.

That's right, I am not going until February this time so I have a little bit of a wait still. But that doesn't mean I am not exciteddddd already!!!!!!!!!! I can barely stand it. Poor Mr Ratburn, the India bug has bitten him as well, leaving him incredibly envious. I really wish he could come with me again, but the $, oy, and then there is Little Rita, still not ready to go to India with us. So where traditionally I would attach my India counter when I have 55 days left, this time I cannot wait. Here we go, the countdown has begun, woo hoo!

86India

Hiya Tex, Where Ya From?

Here it is, the moment all three of you have been waiting for:



Ease up on the linguine!

Have a lovely week!

Musical Monday

I don't care what anybody says, I think Courtney Love was fabulous. I don't know what she's up to now, but I hope it's something good. This from 1999.
Enjoy it.

Doll Parts

Thursday Portrait

What's this?

Royal mail?

Wow! Do you think maybe it's a crown or something? Hey look!

It's t-shirts for Little Rita, Gary and me from my very own pal over at Fortress Guinness !

Thank you, FG, I love it! My favorite color, how did you know? I'll see if I can round up the other two models later on after school!

YYY

JUST DO IT!

I don't wanna hear any excuses. Get off your computer chair and go. It's only 8 am pst, you have plenty of time!

Now I don't wanna influence your vote or anything...but if you want pain, bring on McCain.

I could just roll over and die laughing at that little jerkface. (Don't you just love it when you have your own blog and you can call someone important a jerkface on the internet?)

Over the past few months, I have received lots of polytainment emails and BTW when you start hearing that word around, POLYTAINMENT, remember, you heard it here first. It's my word, I invented it. I have to say the most ridiculous email of all was this letter proposing that Barrack Obama is a terrorist, why, just look at that name AND his running mate, when you put both names together, you get Obama Biden, which sounds a lot like some sleazy little man we've been trying to squelch for years, so therefore you mustn't trust Obama, "they" are going to take over this country! "We can't have black men tellin' us wut to do, mah gawd, them guys wuz slaves when my granpappy wus alive. It'll be uh cold day in hell when ahm gonna lissen to some black guy tellin' me what for."

Now this blog of mine is at the point of 4-5 readers a day. Thankfully, I am pretty sure those faithful readers of mine don't need a lecture, but I am gonna say this to you passers by that need a nudge.

Pull your head out, people!

This political message brought to you by Susiestheboss

**UPDATE****America has spoken. Obama, you're the man. What a fucking miracle!

What Makes You Think An Ant Can't?

I'm out standin' in my field!

Some of you have already seen these pics but Bryan hasn't. This was my 32 pound pumpkin that I grew last year. I was so looking forward to growing an even bigger pumpkin but the gophers won. Next year I am aiming for a 50 pounder, at least!

Oh! Do you wanna know what we did with the pumpkin after we had had it in my bedroom for 8 months? We harnessed it to a rope, Little Rita climbed up into a 40 foot redwood tree, and with a pulley system hoisted the pumpkin up there, and attempted to drop it for the big splatter! But guess what? It got stuck in the limbs of the redwood and so LR had to climb down and shove it off....it landed on the ground with an unsatisfying plunk but remained unbroken. I wish we had gotten pictures, the three of us were in hysterics over the sight of the giant pumpkin wedged 30 feet up in the air in the branches of a tree, that and we had worked so hard to tie this yellow rope around the pumpkin only to have it fail....hilarious!

Finally, Little Rita climbed up into her fort and we handed her the pumpkin which she then shoved over the edge! There we received good splatter! From those seeds we grew this years pumpkins that the gophers ate....sigh....

Have a lovely weekend!