How to turn 15$ into 100$...

Yes, baby! I won a hundred bucks with my homemade Halloween costume--homemade is the BEST kind and the most funnest! I only spent money on the wig and light face paint. The rest was created from some leathery black pants/2 black tops, 22 odd black belts, nuts/bolts, wingnuts, heavy duty black thread, black electrical wire, chains, keyrings, old paint/makeup, foamcore, etc.
I had my picture taken numerous times and only frightened one small child.
See why I can't throw anything away? I KNOW I will always use it later!

Yellow-Bellied!

My Edward (recycled trash costume) Scissorhands outfit left me with several random black-leather belts laying around the house…I was hoping when I got home from work tonight, I would find one still thrown down across the floor—hopefully moving in a stealthy S-shaped pattern! No such luck.

I brought a 3’ blue-racer home last night and it managed to escape from its container. I have no idea where it could be—I suppose I will eventually find it curled up in the back of a closet or inside a boot or (eek!!) a pot or pan. This one had a much deeper colored, buttery belly than the last one I caught in the Flint Hills. Poor thing—my brothers are back this week and we had an exciting time fishing some snakes out of mom’s well and she is absolutely horrified at the thought of any type of wildlife lurking around the watery depths that humans might consume. She’s having the well tested and re-cemented at this time—when my brother passed around beers at supper last night and sneakily placed a glass of water in front of her, she literally shrieked out loud when she saw it, which caused the rest of us to bust up laughing to tears! (She’s terrified of snakes!)

We’ve had a fun weekend, restacking firewood and trimming/moving brush and trees off some land where a pathway winds through a woodsy area. The guys grilled some elk and beef that came from my cool Uncle Darrell’s Hunter Friend (not the one that killed the Clutter family in Holcomb KS). It was all really good— we were starved from the excitement of treble-hooking snakes and bringing them up from the damp depths of hell as mom wringed her hands and screeched from across the yard!

Here is Edward, nearly completed--just have to fix neckline, more buckles, better face-painting, and trim the wig!

Note to Self:

When creating an "Edward Scissorhands" costume, don't scissor your OWN hand with a scissor.
I might also add, don't lock yourself out of the house and try to reach up in the pre-dawn hours (hoisting your body with a bad back) clamboring through your bedroom window via the use of a FOLDING chair.

Trash: Joys and Junkheaps.

All the outbuildings around the Homer Hobbit House are packed with a plethora of abandoned articles. Numerous boxes of old jars and bottles were the first thing to go... I can't imagine why is it was all saved (brewing some homemade alcohol would of been fun!), yet it seems rather sad... Here are some pics of just a few items. But amidst trash are treasures such as these pastel-lined black cups and the collectible metal hedgehogs. Feel free to inform us what the cups are!
And you'd better wear a mask around all the dust.

It Looks Like a Big White Spider Just Crawled on Your Head and Died.

When I came back from downtown after getting 'a few blond streaks to cover the grays', Brigham's disgusted statement caused me to do a double-take in the mirror.
Peas and Rice! I am NOT Marilyn Monroe! I'm not a blonde!

A new person totally crisped the top of my hair with overprocessing and now it's not hardly curly anymore (stomping my foot). Frown. Curls are ruined. Although I rushed right back down to have more brown put back in, it's not 'ME'.

'Me', if I had MY way, should look like this:

Or that lady that sells real estate if she were a brunette:

Speaking of which----If I won a few million, this is the pet I would own:

Rock and Roll Backpack

This really jangles a LOT and LOUDLY when you move, so I recommend wearing it to someplace noisy or people will stare.
Bottom and side of the Heavy Metal Trasht Bag:

Trash Dress

Recycling Kick!
Earlier this summer (June) I found a couple old dresses and 'remade' them for the Country Stampede--in case I needed some type of sundress... The black one was a ladies size 18 tanktop dress, which i cut off the skirt and changed around. Yeah, a FREEBIE and it did look cute on...
But then I got the idea to take one of my son's extra large gray t-shirts (his baggy phase) and cut it up into a dress. I added scraps (Bailey's prom) and odds and ends, then countless shell buttons all over the entire thing. (I love shell buttons--obsessive, like Joan Crawford's 'no wire hangers' thing--yikes!)
I ended up with a scrap crap cool dress-- will take a final pic when I can locate my camera recharger!