BEST HALLOWEEN COSTUME EVER!

Will we ever live Antoine Dodson down?  Love it!  Happy Halloween!

SOUTHERN FRIED THURSDAY

Taking a different approach to Southern Fried Thursday....Oh, it is still Southern, it is just the Southern Europe.  Here are some pictures Rachel took on our wonderful trip to Italy and Greece!  These are all from Pompeii.

Beautiful gardens on the outside of the city wall.

I could not believe the neat feeling you got walking around the old ruins.  It was a trip of a life time!  I can't wait to go back to Europe...maybe when Rayray graduates from college.

There were dogs all over Pompeii, and Athens too.  The just roamed freely and everyone pitched in and fed them and took care of them.

There were stones like this all over the city.  The image of the male genitalia was pointing you in the direction of the nearest brothel!  The kids got a big kick out of it!

GETTING HALLOWEENY!

Things are looking spooky at Miss Sweephay's shop!  TCW and I stopped in last Saturday to get our pumpkins for the 4th Annual Pumpkin Carving.  There is a witch watching over the beautiful mums and pansies at the front door!  I can't wait to attend one of her gardening classes.  Btut went for container gardening and said she had a blast.  Y'all should check into it.

While we were there I met the Gourd family - Tolfur, Lulu Mae, and Jim Bob...

...and she has the most beautiful pansies and mums.  I have never seen a blue flower before except for some Hydrangeas.  Miss Sweephay pointed out that there are very few things in nature in the color blue.  I had not thought of that before.  They were gorgeous!

Love, Love this metal bottle dragon...I think I will call him Grottle Rex.

If you need some beautiful, huge mums, this is the place to go. 

Gorgeous! 

USELESS INFO TUESDAY

I should have probably included something about tornadoes, but I didn't want to press my luck.  Stay safe!

~  Aardvarks eat ants and termites.  The name aardvark means "earth Pig" in the Afrikaans language.

~  When it comes to per capita alcohol consumption, Luxembourg's residents out drink all other countries.  The World Health Organization found that residents of the tiny European country each consume roughly 284 bottles of beer and 88 bottles of wine annually.

~  The 1997 hit movie "Good Will Hunting" was filmed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

~  The Porsche Cayman is named for a relative of the crocodile.  It is named for the caiman because it is "small, agile, fast, and a little bit aggressive," according to a Porsche executive.

~  In 1901, Queen Victoria was buried with a plaster cast of a hand.  The cast was made from the hand of her beloved husband, Albert, who died 40 years earlier.

~  A copy of the Magna Carta made in 1297 was sold at auction in 2007 for an incredible amount of $21,321,000.  It was purchased by billionaire David Rubenstein, who has made it available for display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

GOT PUMPKIN?

1709 was jumping yesterday!  We held the 4th Annual Webb Tree Farms Pumpkin Carving!  Lots of food, fun, friends, and fire (see below)!

AndyRandy cooked hotdogs.  They were yummy.  There's Btut and Bear waiting on their dog!

I know you might think your eyes are deceiving you, but yes, that is TCW helping Lisa Tutb gut pumpkins!  We all were a little taken aback.  I think he even gutted TWO WHOLE PUMPKINS!  We had to take a picture in order to save for posterity.  Thanks Lisa Tutb...you are the best gutter EVER!

Carvers hard at work!  We were all really concentrating trying to do our best and win the Webb Cup!

KD and Britnaynay made the cutest spider cake!

L Big Dawes won the coveted Webb Cup!  Go L Big Dawes.  She was awfully excited!  (Loving the lighter attached to a badge lanyard so she won't loose it!)

Pyrotechnic Ken did flaming pumpkins again....

...we all had really neat pumpkins!  Thanks Tim for having another great Pumpkin Carving!  Can't wait till next year!

FLASHBACK FRIDAY

THIS IS ONE TIME I DON'T MIND USING "Ks" for "Cs".  I loved Miss Pitts Kindergarten!  WOW 1975!

Can you find the following people:

Pressley Harris, Paul Overstreet, Paige Craig, Lance Wenzler, Emily Crosswhite, Robert Malone, Marvin Julich, Holly Owens, Evans Dunn, me, Leighanne Foster, Wilson Craig, Margaret Nelson, Hunter Sherrill, Jennifer New, Amy Smart, Norman Godwin, Delinda Peek, Annissa Roby

LYRICAL CONFESSION #53

I have a confession to make...yes, another one.  I did not realize until just recently that the song was saying "Heard it in a love song."

I still can't get the wrong lyrics, that I thought to be right all these years, out of my head.  Come on, sing it with me...

"Purdy lil love song,
Purdy lil love song,
Can't be wrong."

Just trying to keep it real!

~  Hillary Clinton was head of the fan club for singer Fabian while she was in high school.  The club consisted of teenager Hillary Rodham and two other girls.  (Can you say Geek?)

~  Cats have over 100 vocal sounds, dogs only have about 10.

~  Dagwood's first sandwich was featured in the comic strip in April 1936 and consisted of tongue, onion, mustart, sardines, beans and horseradish.

 ~  Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor were in 4 movies together:  Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Another You (1991).

~  In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.

MAIRZY DOATS...

Do you remember the poem Mairzy Doats?  It goes like this...

"Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey

A kiddley divey too, would you?"

One day years ago, when Rachel was small I was singing that to her.  She collected lambs and had a Lamzey Divey.  I finally asked my Mom, "What the heck is a Mairzy doat, anyway?"  She then informed me that it was from an old song, and what they were saying was "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy.  A kid will eat ivy too, wouldn't you?"  Makes sense now, huh!

FLASH BACK FRIDAY

I thought I would talk about something I loved from my childhood today.  Then it dawned on me...Flash Back Friday!  What a great new theme!  Surely lots of people will want to guest blog about anything they fondly remember from their childhood!

Here goes..."Live from the Omni!  GEORGIA CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING!"  My brothers and I would watch this on TBS every Saturday and Sunday night.  We had our favorites - Billy was a huge fan of the Four Horsemen, I preferred The American Dream Dusty Rhodes.  He was always trying to find others to help him fight the 4 Horsemen.  They really kicked his a** one time breaking his wrist and his ankle.

I am telling you, this was when wrestling was really real!

I had a fun time researching this and remembering happy times!  Did any of you watch GCW?  If so, what was your favorite wrestler?  Some of the ones I remember most are Bob and Brad Armstrong (the Freebirds), Dusty Rhodes, the Road Warriors, Mr. Wrestling I and II, Ole and Arn Anderson, The Nature Boy Ric Flair, Junk Yard Dog, Buzz Sawyer, Andre the Giant (he never lost), Tommy Rich (he was hot)....

Dusty Rhodes

Junk Yard Dog

The 4 Horsemen bullying everybody

Buzz Sawyer

The Nature Boy Ric Flair and Gorden Solie (the announcer)

Have a great weekend!  And don't forget to practice your signature moves...Diving knee drop, Standing armbar twist behind the back, or the figure four leglock!

SOUTHERN FRIED THURSDAY

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT...

...JUST SAYING!  Love

USELESS INFO TUESDAY

sorry - no time for pictures today....

~  The ill-fated Titanic was the first ocean liner to have a heated swimming pool.

~  Bette Midler's backup group is a trio known as the Harlettes.  Previous members of the ever-changing group have included Melissa Manchester, Katey Sagal, and Linda Hart.

~  Christopher Columbus described the shape of the earth in a letter he wrote to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain as "Pear Shaped" following his third voyage to the New World.

~  The highest score that a wannabe attorney can score on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) is 180.  The lowest score possible is a 120.

IT IS NOT JUST ME...

...that likes to nickname my animals.  BJ is a pro at giving BLT's kitty Tabitha Lucy nicknames.  I asked her to keep a list for me so I could blog...Here is Tabitha (named after her favorite Auntie Lil Luci Agnes - aka Triple T)!  Taada!

AKA...

Tabitha Lolita Margarita Lucita
Tabitha Tallulah Weezie Gert
Tabitha Lucretia Lucinda Pearl
Tabitha Angelica Mariah Sabrina
Tabitha Maltilda Pricilla Penelope
Tabitha Marmalade Bathsheba Toodles
Tabitha Magenta Harriet Ivy
Tabitha Babette Cherese Minnie

Love it!

SOUTHERN FRIED THURSDAY

The Alabama State Flag as it exists today was adopted on February 16, 1895, pursuant to Act No. 383 of the 1895 Legislature of Alabama (Acts 1894-1895, p. 719), which is codified as Section 1-2-5, Code of Alabama 1975. Section 1-2-5, Code of Alabama 1975, provides\:


"The flag of the state of Alabama shall be a crimson cross of St. Andrew on a field of white. The bars forming the cross shall be not less than six inches broad, and must extend diagonally across the flag from side to side."

The St. Andrew's Cross resembles the letter "X" in the English alphabet and is also referred to as the "saltier" or "Crux Decussata." According to tradition, Andrew, the brother of Peter, was crucified on a cross of this shape. Andrew did not feel worthy enough to die on the same style of cross on which Christ died and requested a cross of another shape. His request was granted and he was crucified upside down on a cross which now bears his name. Rather than using nails to secure his limbs to the cross, Andrew was bound to the cross with ropes. His suffering was thus prolonged. St. Andrew's Cross came into wide use during the Medieval Period and became the national cross of Scotland, since St. Andrew was the patron saint of Scotland.

The salute to the Alabama State Flag provides:

"Flag of Alabama I salute thee. To thee I pledge my allegiance, my service, and my life."

BABYSITTING JACK

Last night I had the pleasure of babysitting Jack again.  I had spent the night with him Friday because his Mom and Dad are out of town.  Same thing last night and again this coming Friday night.  We had a wonderful time.

We played games, ate a good dinner, colored, and watched TV.  We checked in with his Grandma via phone, too.  He was no trouble and went to bed at bedtime with no problem.  He slept through the night and was a delight this morning as I got ready for work.

Meet Jack....



...he belongs to Triple T and Big D.

USELESS INFO TUESDAY

~  Five countries have the star pattern representing the Southern Cross constellation on their flags.  They are Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Samoa and Papua New Guinea.

~  The difference between hay and straw is that hay is cut grass, clover, alfalfa, oats and other grasses used as feed for farm animals; straw is the hollow stalks of wheat and other grains left over after harvesting and used for livestock bedding and mulch, as well as for weaving hats and baskets.

~  Pope Paul VI gave Mother Teresa a white Lincoln Continental at the conclusion of his 1964 visit to India.  She auctioned it off to raise money to establish a leper colony in West Bengal.

~  It would take approximately 1.2 million mosquitoes, taking one suck each, to drain all the blood from the average human adult.

~  Oktoberfest officially begins in September in Munich, Germany.  This year it began on September 18th and ended on October 3rd.  When first held in 1810, it began in October, but it was later moved to September to take advantage of the milder weather.

Saturday Night's Allright for Fighting...

 Had a Blast at the Big Dawes Saturday night!  Thanks for having us and cooking delicious chili.  We had such a fun time watching the game outside on the big projection screen.  They built a fire in the firepit and everything.  Some one was even smart enough to bring a delicious dessert!  Thanks!

(Sorry for the blurry pictures...I forgot my camera and had to use AndyRandy's, then I had to blow them up when he emailed to me through gmail - I wont forget next time!)

Big Dawes and friends out by the fire pit and pool and hot tub.

 Btut, Wino Bill and AndyRandy enjoying watching Alabama kill Florida.  My seat for most of the night was the one next to Wino Bill.

 Oh, I almost forgot!  While we were sitting there, it got so cold it started to snow.  I said "Look everyone!! Can you believe it is snowing."  Then Btut, AndyRandy and Wino Bill had to point it out to the others!

It was magic!

Love