** This 'n That & Tea Cups, Too! **

Life gets in the way sometimes, and disrupts our schedules, doesn't it? That happens to me a lot!

As I mentioned yesterday, I planned to photograph some beautiful trees today in a nearby neighborhood, but I just didn't make it over there. Hopefully, the leaves will hang on another day or two, waiting for me to get there with my camera! BUT, I did take this picture of my back yard neighbor's trees. Remember I posted some on September 30th, and said I'd share more later? They still haven't reached their peak, but I thought the one in particular was really pretty.

Can you see those two round-ish looking things in the top? I've decided those must be owls' nests, because they are huge and that's the direction I've heard some hooting coming from! Maybe I'll get to see some of those beautiful birds sometime soon.
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Tiger-Gal had to get her nails clipped today. All of a sudden, they were way too long. She even got a cute Halloween bandana from her favorite doggie place, Kennelwood Pet Resorts!

I love both photos, don't you?




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I'd like to welcome my newest follower, Ms. Lou Turner! Hey, Lou....great to have you stop by! If Lou's name sounds familiar, it's because she's also a member of Saturday Writers  AND my publisher from High Hill Press. Welcome, Lou!

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And last, but certainly not least....I'm finally participating in Tea Cup Tuesday again! It's been quite a long time, mostly because I just couldn't get my act together in time to post my photos, etc. I'm joining Terri at Artful Afirmations and Martha at Martha's Favorites.

 I bought this beautiful cup and saucer just this past Saturday, the 23rd. I found it at one of my favorite consignment shops, Garvey Decor. I not only buy things there, but I also sell some of mine, too!

 I never look for anything in particular. No particular brands or colors or patterns. Just whatever catches my eye, and is what I consider a reasonable price!

 I loved everything about this one. The beautiful colors, the delicate handle and the pedestal "feet" on the cup!

      My camera doesn't take the greatest pictures, but just the inside of the cup has an iridescent shine. I know I'm probably not describing it properly. Hopefully, someone knows the name for that.

The name on the bottom of the cup and plate says: Original Napco China, Hand Painted. Then it looks like the number 1, and two capital D's and 239. 

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A bit of a hodgepodge post today, but that's what makes life interesting I think! Hope you thought so, too!

 “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” -- Oscar Wilde

** Finding Bliss in Every Day Life **

 Nick Nixon & me 10/23/10.



A few months ago, I wrote a little on my blog about Nick Nixon. Nick was a country music singer/guitar strumming star in the 1970's. I'm pretty sure when he first began, I wasn't "into" country music yet. I grew up mostly on The Beatles and Motown, and didn't care much for what I thought was "that-old-twangy-hee-haw" kind of stuff!  But, that changed when I was married to First Husband (FH). Country music was a regular part of military life, especially the years we lived in Germany. There wasn't any American television, but we had one radio station: Armed Forces Radio Network. I listened to every kind of music they played and that's when I began to like country.

Okay...getting back to Nick... jump ahead about 40 years and I discover he's a member of Saturday Writers , plus the "Coffee & Critique" group I recently joined! That man can write stories as well as he can still sing!  He's currently working on his memoir and we know thousands of readers out there will also recognize his talent.

 These 2 pictures were taken Saturday at the Kisker Road Library in St. Peters, Missouri. Nick participated in an event which featured local authors. I surprised him when I walked in with this old LP of his, which I found on E-bay! (I wish y'all could've seen the look on his face when I first held it up!) I asked him to autograph it and he signed it to The Ronald and me. Of course, I've already played both sides a couple of times, and he sounds great. His voice is obviously different, but I can tell it is him. I really believe his voice has gotten better with age. I think these days he sounds a little like Merle Haggard, whom I love. AND, the best thing about all of this.....Nick Nixon is one of THE nicest, most talented men you'll ever meet.....And he's still so darn cute, isn't he?!  Here's a You Tube link, if you'd like to see and hear a slightly younger version of Nick:  Trust me...you'll love it!!

                                                        

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The trees in my part of the world are so gorgeous right now! Some are a little past their peak and some are just getting there. This one is in my neighborhood and I just had to stop and take a picture of it Friday. My subdivision is a fairly new one, therefore we don't have large, old trees. But the colors on this one just took my breath away. That's what fall leaves do to me. They literally make me stop to catch my breath, and utter words out loud, even when I'm alone. It's like watching fireworks on the 4th of July: Ooooh...Aaahhhh!  I SO wished I had my camera Sunday, because a friend and I went shopping and passed dozens of trees that shouted out to be photographed. Then Sunday night, we had thunder storms and I'm so afraid the trees will look entirely different today, but I'm going back to the one area that is nearest my home, and this time I'll have my camera with me.                                                                                                                              

I took the picture below to share one of the views from our deck. That large, dead-looking tree is where we've seen our owl friends, sitting on the very top branches. There's usually just one owl, but a couple of times, we've seen two of them. Maybe a mom and a pop? In the late evenings, I hear the hooting quite often, but it's usually too late and dark by then, and so I can't see anything.

Hopefully, tomorrow I'll have quite a few magnificent tree photos to share!

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree” -- Emily Bronte