Dog Sitting in a Chrysalis

As a child in grade school there was a time when the teacher had a butterfly cocoon for us to watch. I seem to recall how hard it was watching that thing for the longest time and wondering if the teacher was just playing a trick on us. I mean really, THAT thing is alive??

Honest! Didn’t the caterpillar in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland spin his cocoon and transform into a butterfly in record time? I saw it with my own two eyes!

Then there were my teen and young adult years when I fervently listened to the musical team of sisters called Heart (or was it Hart?). Anyhow, I remember a popular song about the Dog and Butterfly. Although I can’t recall the words to that song at this moment I assure you if it were to come on the radio I could sing every word and not miss a single note.

Present day. I have previously written about Mosey Cottage and most recently referred to this house as being in the chrysalis stage. Days on end pass and I see more WRONG with the two livable rooms than what I see being done with the rest of the house. BUT I recently had a tidbit of stirring that was made visible to me. The kids had a couple of contractors to come in and evaluate the need for offering their estimates. I met the first man. I liked him. He was excited about his craft and saw the opportunity to work for us and still be able to have a bit of leeway in what he loves to do. My son in law liked him too. I was told that they most likely will go with this man’s estimate. Maybe. The second man I never met. I understand he acted like his work was a drudgery and he could care less. Phooey on the nay-sayer who wants to drag his feet! (I still expect the chrysalis to spin and produce a beautiful butterfly like Alice’s caterpillar).

What does a dog have to do with any of this? >sigh< Cub is a hound dog. A mix breed of hunting dogs. He points and flags. Forget the heeling. He pulls and drags if you fall while trying to manage his leash. Forget the hunting although his nose is always sniffing something to track. And I do believe he’d just as soon EAT a butterfly as to chase it. This is my daughter’s dog. NOT mine! My Daisy is much cuter (wink wink).

My daughter has been roughing it in the front two rooms of my Mosey Cottage for nearly a year now. Family stuff happens and jobs change and now I find myself “dog sitting” so she can keep her job. You see, Cub suffers from severe separation anxiety. He has broken through three windows, two doors, torn up the carpet, shredded a couch…..need I say more? As long as he is WITH somebody he knows he is fine.

He is a bit tamer and a little more behaved since I started keeping him. I usually keep him in Mosey Cottage. In fact I have spent enough time there that I’m beginning to feel a bit more like maybe someday I WILL be living there. Sure keep hoping so!

It is interesting to watch a chrysalis from the inside. It isn’t what I had expected. I mean who would have ever believed me if I told them that this chrysalis is helping to transform a DOG?

I’m still expecting the butterfly….

Merry Christmas Ya’ll!

Cub in his hound dog cuteness….

 

 

 

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Christmas 2014

Merry Christmas to all who come across my little blog and blessings abundant I pray for you!

10 ft tree in a 12 ft ceiling

10 ft tree in a 12 ft ceiling

I was lamenting earlier this evening, the eve of the Eve, about the fact that to many I am just an old lady. Lamenting because I have been feeling the loneliness of the elderly. Thus far this year I have not been to a single party. I have not yet tasted any of the Seasonal foods and sweets except for a small bit of store bought fruitcake. Yeah, I’m one of those odd people that LIKES fruitcake. I haven’t had occasion to dress in festive clothing. I could dress up here at home but my dog really doesn’t care and I really don’t want to clean the dog hair off the good stuff. I’ve wrapped a handful of gifts and bagged the rest. Made loads of items that I just didn’t have the energy or desire to wrap. Haven’t decorated. All the bagged gifts are hanging out of my bedroom closet. And to top everything off I’ve been under the weather. >sigh<

In my melancholy I’ve had much opportunity to watch the world hustle and bustle along, all in a frenzy, over-spending and over-eating and some even over-drinking. I watch at how the “Christmas” shows on TV are now considered “holiday” and how so many of them don’t point to the real cause of Christmas. Save Charlie Brown. But he was tucked away on odd nights when most people wouldn’t watch.

I watch. And then I began to marvel. What would the world have done if Jesus had not been born at that time, or even at all for that matter? I wonder what concoction or abhorition would have been devised to occupy people’s minds. Christmas is a HOLY day. It is celebrated world wide, warm and cold weather, regardless of belief.

I shan’t get “preachy”. Don’t you just despise “preachy” people? I will just sit back and watch the world go by. Later in the morning, for it is Christmas day now, I will load up the car with all the bags and gifts and begin my trek about two counties delivering presents to friends and family and to many who can’t get out. I come in my red car. Can’t say I will be wearing a red suit but I will dress up for the occasion. Santa comes in all forms don’t you know.

Do you have an elderly friend or neighbor? Why not consider a brief visit with a plate of cookies or even a plate of your leftovers? (Many times I’ve been THRILLED to get my daughter’s leftovers….).  Share your festive spirit with others and don’t forget to wish them a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Mosey Cottage

Howdy ya’ll! As usual I have been quite busy taking pix, working on my art and crochet, and babysitting my beautiful granddaughter. She recently turned a year old! What’s that got to do with the title, you ask? Oh, just about everything! You see, I always had prayed for a house from my late husband. Well, since his passing, my daughter and her little family decided to use some of the monies to buy me a house! There’s a story here too but it needs to wait for another time….

Mosey Cottage. A name to memorialize my late husband whose nickname was Moe. A name to depict the house. A house for an artist. A house that’s only a “mosey” away from the granddaughter. No “over the river and through the woods” here!

Mosey Cottage

Doesn’t look like much from the front. My son in law had mowed and consequently moved the step off to the side. This is what’s called a “shot gun” house. Narrow and long. Each room is as wide as the house and follows the next in line. It has/had a garage with a breeze way between. Every bit of that is now part of the house.

The south Side

As you can see, there is a LOT of work to be done. I am looking forward to getting started on the landscaping which doesn’t exist as of now. I did manage to plant my nearly dead irises next to a badly rusted clothesline pole. The other flowers are yellow lilies that are common here. Provided my son in law hasn’t mowed these I am praying they live.

My poor transplant of irises

I am not living here yet. The house had previously suffered a major water break. Hence the entire center of the house has mushy floors. Also, since the house was built circa 1940, it needs electrical updating.

Would you like to see the inside? Or part of it? When the kids bought the house the contents were part of the bid. There’s a houseful of furniture, dishes, linens, and even toiletries and clothing! The lady had died in a nursing facility and the family just didn’t want the house or her things. Sad, really, both for the lady and for me. My kids aren’t allowing me to keeping anything!

Glimpse of the Bathroom

The bathroom was poorly planned. No room for two people for sure! Kids tell me that they are going to update perhaps with a new tub. Definitely new plumbing!

Sad bathing

Yep. Even the bathing stool and potty hat were left behind. GROSS!!!

The place I plan to spend all my time is NOT in the bathroom! Haha! Since the garage is enclosed with both interior and exterior doors the kids say they are making me a dream come true! I get to FINALLY have my own crafting workshop/artist’ studio! I’m so excited! Especially since THIS is what it currently looks like:

Garage Dreaming Of course, this is only a partial view. It only shows about half. Or perhaps a third. As you can see there’s a LOT of items left to sift through and sell. This picture is lighter than what the room really is because I had the outside door open. It’s actually much darker and depressing. Hopefully I can get a bigger window. I’ve got my fingers crossed!

And so Mosey Cottage starts with a hole. Not Whole yet. But I am soooo looking forward to sharing the progress with ya’ll!

beginning work full view

Until next post I pray your life is wholly full of life and love and whimsy.

Enjoy!

Bonnie (aka Peabutton’s Mom)

 

Happy Mother’s Day in the USA!

Happy Mother’s Day to all! If you assist in the raising of children, whether male or female, my sincerest wishes go out to you!

On Saturday I was blessed to spend my entire day with both of my daughters and granddaughter. My eldest and I tag-teamed caring for the baby while my youngest cooked apples for her. Later we all changed clothes and my youngest did our hair and makeup. When her husband got off work he joined us as our photographer and baby carrier!   🙂   We had a “Mother’s Day” photo shoot!  Here are a few pix:

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He’s so wonderful! He’s even holding my little purse!  🙂

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Me and my girls! I feel like the older I get, the more American Indian I can see in my face. I see it in my eldest girl too!

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If you look close you can see that the entire field is CLOVER….Looky at what we found:

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The one in the center of the pic had even been mowed over! My youngest managed to find that one.

Onward. Today, Sunday, Mother’s Day, I was blessed to attend worship service with the family in the morning. Then, about mid afternoon, I embarked on a treasure hunt of sorts. Let me explain.

For many years I lived alone with my girls. We never had money for spending on some of the simplest of things, like buying flowers. So, we got creative and found a way around it! We went digging for flowers! As a family we would embark on our quest with a shovel (sometimes a broken one and other times just a hand held garden version), a few trash bags, maybe a box or a bucket, and our wits. I usually packed along drinks in their sip cups and a few snacks. We would hunt for flowers along roadsides, by abandoned houses or properties in the country, near old forgotten cemeteries, even in cow pastures! A few times we found flowers near the river bottoms along farm levees too. We’ve had some beautiful gardens that loved us back every year! I always hated leaving them behind when we had to move again. But that always gave us cause to go flower hunting again 🙂

So today, remembering my girls and some irises we had previously spotted, I borrowed my youngest’ shovel and a big garden fork. As it worked out I never even had to use the shovel! Here’s a picture of the sad, sad shape of how I found the irises:

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Hard to see them through all the poison ivy! Hope I don’t get infected with that horrible stuff!

And finally, here is my newest treasure:

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The orange hint of something seen in the bucket is a brick I found that was marked as made in St. Louis, Missouri. That is an added bonus for me! I love treasuring hunting this way!

I will be keeping these in the bucket for a little while. I don’t have my own yard yet. Soon…..And when it happens I will be documenting EVERYTHING, including the planting of these irises that I found for free.

Hey! Have any of you ever done something like this? Drop me a comment! I look forward to sharing with ya’ll  🙂

Until next time….

Hug your Mom!

Bonnie

 

My Cup Runneth Over?

I remember singing a song as a child, “Running Over”. As I have grown older I’ve come to realize the full meaning of this phrase. Life in the “Whole” can still be a little off balance from time to time though. Such have been the past few days for me. My “cup  runneth over” simply because it’s laying on it’s side! Even after 7 years of cancer freedom I still have multiple health issues. Today my counselor told me that I’m doing too much. “My cup runneth over”…. Easter is on my heels and knocking on my door; I have a very important Art Show coming up; I am still trying to juggle time spent working on my Etsy shop with all my doctor appointments and tests and such. “My cup runneth over”. So, in light of these events and my tilted cup I would like to share a few pix of my endeavors 🙂   Enjoy!

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Working on this for my 9 month old granddaughter.

A peek at some of my stash of cereal boxes, etc...

A peek at some of my stash of cereal boxes, etc…

Organized chaos in progress.

Organized chaos in progress.

 

My work station at the bathroom sink!

My work station at the bathroom sink 🙂

Needless to say, figuring how to add pix just so has been more coffee in my overflowing cup 🙂   Until next time…..Hugs and blessings I pray for you 🙂

 

 

 

 

Time Well Spent

Time with family should be well spent. Either way there are memories made. Some good, some not. Today has been a pretty good day here in the “Whole”. Spent time with my oldest daughter and later we both spent time with my youngest and her little family of three. This is how many of my weekends go. Somewhat laid back. Waiting for the laundry facility to free up 🙂  Soooo, my girl, my dog Daisy, and I went for a leisurely walk down the lane I previously posted about. Time well spent. Time spent enjoying the beauty of Spring starting to blossom. Time spent in fellowship together. Savor every moment you have because you really DON’T know when it could be your last. As I have enjoyed this beautiful day here I remember a loved one, a friend and colleague, whose memorial service was being held many miles from here. As I walked along with my little entourage I continued to pray for my friend in her grief and her family’s. One day her husband was there and the next he was not. A viral man, full of life and loved by a great many people around the world. His was time well spent. How shall you spend your day? Every moment spent becomes a memory. Time well spent I pray.Image

I know, it’s horribly out of focus. This is the Four Leaf Clover my daughter found today. Time very well spent!