Just Another Manic Monday or Fall(s), Folderol and Fiddle Dee Dee!

November???

Anyone else feeling the shock that September and October are GONE?

Yikes!  My mind has definitely been elsewhere.

Actually, I sent it on vacation when it went into overload.  Then it came back, and WHAM!  It's nearly Thanksgiving!

"Slow and Steady" as indicated by the turtle jockey on my birthday pillow from Mom is a slogan apparently reserved for summer vacation...

To say we have been fairly preoccupied of late, while moving at warp speed, is a gross understatement.

In addition to dividing my mother in law's entire lifetime spent in the same home for over 50 years, there was the sale of many of her possessions that the family didn't take.

And of course, there were some jewels like Dad's beautiful desk, which I so wish we had been able to fit on the moving van. 

The one that got away...

Yes, that's the sound of me sighing, but I'm not sighing too loudly because I am grateful that Dad is coming to live with us, or at least the 16 year old version of himself is.  And man, is he handsome!

In between the stresses of this summer and fall filled with sickness and deaths, I found myself going to the antique mall one day for solace. I love the manager who is always happy to see me.  She knows a magpie when she sees one! ;-)

On one such journey, I discovered a pair of really cool chairs that have the most wonderful patina on the wood AND yellow leather upholstery akin to buttah... both visually and texturally.

Plus the price was a STEAL.

I bit!

After getting the chairs  to the warehouse where we are storing the things from Mom's house, I flipped them over and discovered they came from LA as in Los Angeles as opposed to Lower Alabama as they say in the Heart of Dixie.;-)

I hate to even think what the pair cost originally, but these Hollywood stars are happy to come live with us. More on where they are going next at a later date!

In my travels around the internet, looking at Etsy and other avenues for Christmas shopping for family and friends, I found the bracelet of my dreams!

Now, whether or not Santa brings this is a another matter, but I just think it is the best looking thing ever.

I am picky, picky, picky about jewelry, and this is something I could happily live with for a long, long time to come, sort of like FOREVER.

It's on the list and the ONLY thing on the list. Clever, no? ;-)

Among the many wonderful things we sold was a library FULL of books.  Now, understand that I would have taken them all, but we couldn't.  We had to be selective, and we were.  This is just the tip of the iceberg.  My in-laws were major readers!

My cute little book bag from Barnes and Noble sure wishes it could have been loaded about a hundred times over.  But I keep reminding myself there will be other books to buy, new authors to read!  

That gold and blue book bag also reminds me of something else that is gold and blue that I love watching every fall.

Yes, Mrs. Magpie is a BIG fan of SEC (aka Southeastern Conference) football!  Woot!  Woot!

I was reading about football when I found this next picture.

In case you don't know, this tiger-striped pooch obviously belongs to an LSU fan.  Only in Louisiana!  LOL

I might not have a dog to dye, but I do have some tiger-striped shoes to express my school spirit...

But it's not the LSU Tigers I love, though my first cousin and my niece do. Rather it's the Auburn Tigers!  War Eagle!

Auburn happens to be playing Arkansas this weekend.  Now, tell me, who would favor these SCARY hawgs...

Over these CUTE tigers?

Here, Kitty, Kitty...

Is there even a contest???

I think not.

And while we are at it, War Eagle (another mascot of Auburn's) is a WHOLE LOT easier on the eyes than than a Razorback Hawg.  Talk about Halloween!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

I rest my case.

Oh, and the final score?  Auburn: 35   Arksansas:  17  Waaaaaaaaaaaaar Eagle!

Ahem, switching gears...

I've enjoyed seeing all of the fall decorations around the blogs, and I did put a few things up like this wreath which looks kind of odd against the screen door in this shot.  We had a Nor'easter that blew about half of the leaves off, but there were still plenty of them left.  Just goes to show you how thick it was.  Cost?  About fifteen dollars for the leaves.  Ten dollars when you subtract the leaves that blew away.  Thank you, Dollar Tree!

Another thing that says "Fall" to me... crotons.  We have some in our yard that live there happily year 'round!

And I added two pots of crotons to the little cart on our front porch at the St. Augustine house...

In addition to the crotons, there's a  rather shy scarecrow...

And his lady love [whose hair amazingly resembles my own this morning]...

Originally, the scarecrows were courting on the bench, but the wind kept knocking them over.  So they are frolicking amongst the crotons where they shall remain until after Thanksgiving. I am a sucker for a cute scarecrow every time! Reminds me of the "Wizard of Oz" which came on every fall when I was a wee one. And as a not-so-wee one, when I was in my thirties,I got to hold hands with TWO of the munchkins who lived in Florida. I just wish that Scarecrow had been there, too!

The tin tub on the back porch was also filled with crotons..

While more happy scarecrows were cavorting for passersby to enjoy.

This guy...

And his buddy have both been basking in our beautiful Florida weather.

Speaking of weather, I got some new "Wellies"  for gardening at the Tractor Supply Store. Yes, you read that correctly.  I just LOVE the Tractor Supply Store and its wares...

You can see the colors a little better in this shot, though the sun was a bit bright for the IPAD's camera. 

I got to wear these boots exactly once before the big "F" as in FALL, not to be confused with the season.

No, FALL as in tripped in the street and ended up in the ER (via ambulance) with a knee the size of Texas, which miraculously was not broken and sustained no torn tendons. OUCH but PTL!

While they were busy gluing my face back together where I hit my eye socket and cheek (thank goodness I wasn't wearing my glasses!)...

And tending to the fractures in my hand which they wrapped like a mummy but eventually ended up putting in a brace a few days later, a brace that resembled the equipment of a Ninja warrior...

My knee decided to be sneaky and wait till it got home to become very angry.


[WARNING:  Scary Picture Ahead!]...


It bled out where the muscle pulled from the kneecap and looked worse than a Halloween freak about 24 hours later. We are talking Blue Smurf, and the pictures do not look half as bad as it was.  The knee specialist, whom I adore and who nicknamed me Crash, has actually marveled at the progress my knee has made, calling it miraculous.  To which I say, thanks for the prayers!  I am now doing therapy (on my own!) and have a normal looking leg, though sadly lacking in sun tan.

This photo was taken when Mr. Magpie went out of town. Missy came up and stayed with me for a week at the Holiday Inn where we pretended we were on vacation! ;-)  In truth, it was difficult to have my right arm and my right leg a bit incapacitated, but thank God for faithful friends and Mr. Magpie! In addition to Missy, Mr. Magpie, and the maids at the Holiday Inn, my friends Lisa, Laurin, Linda (can you tell I like people with "L" names?), and Charles got to see this as did some other friends.  They were WONDERFUL support, and Mr. Magpie has been an EXCELLENT nurse.  Who knew???

And the worst part?  I got caught with no makeup AND a hairy leg the morning I fell, and EVERYONE saw it... the firemen, the paramedics, the police (who all came thanks to my neighbor calling 911), the ER staff, Mr. Magpie, and later my doctor, my doctor's nurse, Missy, Lisa, et al!  Oh, the shame, the shame!  But when you are a card-carrying member of the Blue Smurf Society, you cease to care! ;-)

All of that, and I had not ONE pain pill except to take a baby aspirin at night to help prevent clotting. Can you say, "Miracle"???  I sure can! 

I have had a lot of people ask me HOW I fell and WHERE I fell.  Okay, here goes.

This is a picture of the street behind our house (and that is our 80-something year old neighbor in that costume).  The street is brick, over a hundred years old, and if you look carefully, you can see a concrete ridge back there below another ridge.  That same concrete separates the brick street from the asphalt on the street beside our house, and the toe of my sneaker either caught that or a brick that was sticking up.  Not sure, but there wasn't anywhere to go but down onto a masonry surface. I tell you, I am a walking, talking miracle!!!

Now, you might be wondering what my neighbor is doing dressed up like Mary Poppins???

I haven't a clue.

But I do know that I grabbed the camera and started snapping when this apparition came into view. We see things like this all the time in St. Augustine... I mean, WalMart Man aka Willie the Pimp (he calls himself that) lives here... but generally, I am not personally acquainted with those folks.  With this one, I am!   Gotta love it when people can dress like this on a lark and not be carted off by the men in white coats! Viva La Ciudad de St. Augustine!  ;-D

All in all, the events of this summer and fall have been a bit harrowing at times, but in trying to stay focused on the positive, I think the following quote sums it up best...

Amen!

My father was a living testimonial to this quotation.  He had all sorts of trying things happen to him in his life which I won't get into here, and unlike the seriousness of this shot where he was listening to someone speak...

He kept on laughing and enjoying life, counting his blessings with his family being high on that list.  This is how I remember him best, hugging me and smiling, telling me "I love you" every day and meaning it.  This reminds me, that even amidst life's sorrows, how blessed my life has been! 

I want to share a couple of other things with you in closing.

Sometimes life gives you high honors, but to me, the greatest honor is when people you never expect to see again, like the nursing agency which took care of Mom, write to say, "Out of all the families our agency has served over the years, our staff tells us that yours was the NICEST family they have ever encountered."  May I return the compliment.  What on earth would we have done without you, especially Laquonya who I wanted to adopt! But even more important is this thought which refers to the people we meet in passing...

That says everything to me, and I am proud of these three siblings pictured here in front of their grandmother's tree a million Christmases ago.

And these sweet aunts who were right there helping, too!



Well done, ALL!

I also want to single out this little prince, pictured in Virginia on a fall day many years ago, and say how proud I am of him.  That would be Mr. Magpie, he of the dirty knees who apparently fell down before this shot and kept smiling! ;-)

Mr. Magpie has handled his mother's affairs flawlessly, and I am so proud of him I could pop.

To that end, I leave both you and Mr. Magpie with this lovely quote...

Thank you all for doing this for me and for our family, for bearing with us and buoying us up as we have sailed rough seas...

Thank you! 

Thank you! 

Thank you!

From my heart to yours...

XOXOX

Devotedly,

Mrs. Magpie (Sheila)