Special Things

It has been raining for several days now.  I am not complaining; we desperately need rain.  I do not water the lawn - I do use a soaker hose for my driveway border twice a week and water the containers.  I do this as a conscious effort to conserve water even though we do not usually have any water bans.  My neighbor's automatic sprinklers are running as I write with the rain streaming down the windows.  The plants in my yard soon learn to live dry or die.  It sounds cruel and heartless, but it does stop water waste.  Well, off my soapbox now and sorry if I offended anyone about water usage. It doesn't even have anything to do with this post.  The sound of the sprinkles just infuriated me so much I got off the subject of BEING GRATEFUL!!!

Okay, okay, I have calmed down.  Now back to special things that bring happiness to me around the house.  First, there is my now-retired husband (I'll leave that there to mull over!) Second, there are the critters: Two cats (Miss Molly and Azalee) and two dogs (Willie and Scout).  Third, the art pieces we have collected over the years.  They are not really anything special except to us.

This little bird on a box sits on the dresser by the bed and greets me each morning. It perches on a little ring box and is sprinkled with glitter, but it is his jaunty party hat that puts a smile on my face!

 I dug through a wet cardboard box at the flea market to find this painting of a beach.  The frame was already properly distressed and the painting just needed cleaning.  It is hung by the computer to remind me that there is a life outside blogland!

This driftwood angel and the angel below was crafted by an artisan who set up at our local craft fair.  I don't know what happened to him, but I treasure his pieces for their quirkiness.

Here's the other angel made from building supplies with a grapevine halo.  I have a third piece smaller than this one that is a door knocker.

Another orphan found at the flea market.  She has her own special place in a wooden crate with vintage garden journals.  Every time I have to move her she leaks a little sawdust, but I cannot find the hole.

This primitive painting of two little Dutch girls leans against a green screen door in the den atop a stack of trunks.  I let them out for spring.  It is just about time for them to retire to their other home - in the trunk!  This is not cruel - I have so many collections, I change them out about every two or three months so everyone has a turn.

One year nothing would do but to have sheep on the mantel for Christmas.  My dear husband willingly drove me to several primitive open houses until I found these.  Of course, he was pleased - they became my anniversary/birthday present!  They are about eight inches high.  So far they have made the all-year-long cut - that is, they never get put away.  The sheep are just herded from one vignette to another!

This group is mainly year-longers.  George Washington holding his ax for the cherry tree is fixing to get the ax for the year and be replaced by a birdhouse.  These sit on the primitive cupboard holding the TV and its stuff.  The bird is a spool bird with nails to hold spools of thread.  The pottery head who I call Teddy Roosevelt is a student art project I got for nothing because his ear fell off when drying in the kiln. (Can you tell? -NO!) The giant chickens are a part of a true art piece by Ernest Lee, a well-known South Carolina outsider artist.  The chickens are painted on a giant dough bowl.  Ernest sets up on the side of the road in Columbia to sell his art.  One day just before I arrived to buy some pieces, a man backed his car over the bowl and drove off.  Ernest was so disgusted, he said I could have it for $35 if I thought I could fix it.  It took awhile, but I carefully glued a little at a time until I had it almost back to normal.  I used to put this away at Christmas, but it has gotten too much to haul down every year and store under the bed.  I just decorate it.

Doesn't his little monkey face make you smile?

This is not a thing - this is Scout who as I was writing this post chewed a hole in the sofa cushion for like the fourth time and pulled out the stuffing.  Does he look apologetic? No way - he is just waiting for Chucks and I to leave so he can get back to his fun.  Chucks just told him that we know why he was abandoned by the side of the road.  Then Chucks gave him a treat for saying something mean!

Did my special things make you a little bit happier?  I certainly hope so.  I think the small things around us every day should be noticed more.  Like small blessings, they are often overlooked.

If it stops raining I might get a project finished this week.. I am still junk sober - I have actually stopped counting the days. I am still shopping inside my house. Of course, the Peach Tree 23 (a 44-mile long yard sale) is this weekend so I may have to cheat a little!.

Another update:  Miss Star Dust, the bed that could, went home this weekend to live with a family who plan to use her - wait for it - A BED!

Got to go sew up sofa cushions.  Go back to your projects because I can't wait to see them.

See y'all!

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