MY HAUNTED HOUSE, BEWARE

OUTSIDE IN MY YARD...
 GHOULISH CREATURES HAVE ARRIVED
TO RAISE HAVOC.
WITHOUT MY PERMISSION
THEY'VE INVITED THEMSELVES
INSIDE MY HOME



IN MY DINING ROOM, SOMETHING CACKLES
DEMANDING A PLACE AT THE TABLE



IN MY FAMILY ROOM, A GOBLIN TAUNTS
AND A RAVEN WATCHES



IN MY LIVING ROOM...
ONE SKELETON RATTLES HIS BONES
WHILE ANOTHER HAS LOST HIS HEAD



IN MY BATHROOM I DON'T HAVE A LEG TO STAND ON
DID A MUMMY STEAL MY TOILET PAPER ?



AT MY DESK SOMEONE IS WATCHING ME
 IS IT JUST A DREAM?



CHECK BACK HERE ON NOVEMBER 1st...
TO SEE IF ALL MY SPOOKY VISITORS
HAVE BEEN SPIRITED AWAY.
IN THE MEANTIME...WHEREVER YOU GO AND WHATEVER YOU DO THIS HALLOWEEN...
HAPPY HAUNTINGS



PUMPKINS, PONIES AND PULLED PORK

TREES IN ALL THEIR AUTUMN GLORY

greeting me as I head to the Harvest Festival

PUMPKINS AND GOURDS GALORE

MUMS

FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS AND WREATHS

ADORABLE SCARECROWS

A TRACTOR PULLED HAYRIDE

SWEET PONY RIDES

PULLED PORK AND CAROLINA SLAW

A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL.
GOODBYE UNTIL NEXT YEAR

P.S. The photos are not the best quality. Taken from my cellphone in bright light. I could hardly see what I was doing because of the sunshine  reflecting off the surface of it, as I was trying to take them..

P.P.S. Thanks to BUTTERCUP over at http://buttercupcountsherblessings.blogspot.com/
I won her Paper Culture Giveaway. I'm so-oo excited. I never win anything.  But now I have. As a result,  I get to pick out some lovely new notecards and stationary with a $50 gift voucher, she's going to send me. How wonderful is that? Made my day in a big way.  

OUCH, IT STINKS. .

'

When it rains, it pours. The toilet in the downstairs bathroom decided to back up, again. Looking at the sewer cleanout in the backyard, my husband determined that was where the trouble was. Once or twice a year, roots grow in our sewer line, catching whatever goes down there. It becomes clogged and we have a big problem inside the house. In the old days my husband would rent equipment and try to fix this himself. (Now he physically can’t.) This is backbreaking work. Sometimes he was successful at unplugging the clog and other times he wasn’t so lucky. That is when we would have to call a plumber. We tried various local guys and most of them encountered the same problem my husband had. They couldn’t push the roots and sewage through. It stopped them dead in their tracks. Then, the job hung in limbo... sometimes for a day... or even a week or two, while they tried to figure out what to do next. This became a huge inconvenience. So while we waited for a solution, we resorted to some very clever bathroom alternatives because the toilet was not available. Use your imagination. I won't elaborate. (Eventually we bought a camping toilet for such emergencies.) The plumbers ultimately figured out that their plumbing snakes... were useless here. They were just not long enough, to push the gunk through to the main sewer... because of the way our sewer line is laid out. When they shut down the old septic tank here, and converted us to city sewage, the line to the street became much longer - approximately 150 –160 feet. That created a situation for us. Most snake reels are about 90 feet long. And most plumbers only carry one reel with them... because they are quite costly... but mainly because one reel usually does the job. But at our house... it always takes two reels of industrial "snake" to deal with the problem.  Otherwise there is an immovable object blocking the line. And sometimes even their snakes get stuck below ground, trying to have at it. Only one plumbing company locally has the right equipment to get the job done... Roto-Rooter. So, we don’t hesitate giving them a call, whenever we have an issue. This is the second time we've called them this year. Remember the onions and the garbage disposer? Unfortunately, Roto-Rooter is not cheap. This visit cost us a whopping $260.  OUCH... screamed our checkbook! It STINKS! That is including our senior discount, too. Yet, while the plumber was snaking, outside in our backyard… my dear husband was busy at work. He was running all over the inside of the house, HELPING the plumber… by turning on water, in this sink or that, and flushing toilets. I say his time is worth money too. Therefore, at that hourly rate of $260 ... I think my husband is entitled to a cut of the plumber’s proceeds, don’t you? He made a wonderful assistant.

OLIVER IS THERAPEUTIC

Meet Oliver. Are you in love? I am. Just look at those eyes. He is a real sweetheart, isn't he?  What you don't know is this... that adorable dog, is actually a registered volunteer at our local hospital. Oliver interacts with all the patients and staff. He is a good listener and provides lots of comfort to those in need. He loves being petted. And he thoroughly enjoys his job as a therapy dog. He tries to make everyone’s day a little brighter, just by being there. He is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. And he is ten years old. My husband and I had a chance to meet him during a recent hospital visit. He touched our lives and put joy in our hearts. We found out that Oliver works for the DELTA SOCIETY. They are a national non-profit organization that helps people by incorporating companion animals into their daily lives. “Delta Society's Pet Partners program trains and screens volunteers with their pets so they can visit patients/clients in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice and physical therapy centers, schools, libraries and many other facilities. Over 10,000 handler/animal teams bring comfort and compassion to those in need. These dedicated volunteers and their pets have been credited for helping people forget about their pain, providing distractions so nurses can perform medical procedures on patients and inspiring patients recovering from strokes and heart attacks to perform more physical therapy exercises than when they work with just their human therapist.” It is a well-known fact that when animals are around… people’s blood pressure will drop signifigantly. They will feel less depressed. Less lonely. And they will also experience less anxiety and stress. The DELTA SOCIETY depends on individuals and corporations for financial support. They receive no government funding. My husband and I are putting them on our Christmas List this year and will be making a donation. It is one of three charities we support. The other ones are… THE ROLLING DOG FARM, a place where disabled animals enjoy life. And HEIFER INTERNATIONAL, where impoverished families around the world receive training and gifts of animals (heifers, sheep, goats, chickens, etc.) that help them become self-reliant. The theory is… ‘it is better to teach a man to fish so he can feed himself than to give him a fish that will feed him just once.’ The links to these charities are listed below. The holiday season is almost upon us. When thinking of what you want for Christmas this year… think of others. Include them in the budget. It is truly better to give, than receive.

http://www.deltasociety.org/

www.rollingdogfarm.org/

http://www.heifer.org/