Friday Favorites

It's been a hot minute since I've done a Friday Favorites post, so some of these favorites were from October, but that doesn't make them any less important.

Let's start with the pumpkins that one of the churches in Hooterville sells from its front steps. This is a tradition the church members started many years ago; they didn't do it last year, and I missed it. It's such a happy sight to see when I drive by on my way to and from work, and I enjoy walking by them on my afternoon mental health breaks.

Speaking of mental health breaks, the show that Mother Nature is putting on with her fall colors this year has been stellar. Walking through the fallen leaves has always been a favorite of mine, and this year has been no exception.

Last weekend, I put out my Thanksgiving decorations and, while I don't go nearly as crazy with fall decor as I do with Halloween or Christmas, I still make an effort. One of my very favorite things is my collection of vintage Gurnee candles. Finding them online and in the wild was a thrill that I feel to this day.

When my bilingual victims advocate left Not So New Job this past spring, she was distraught at the thought that the Christmas cactus she had babied in the office would suffer from her absence. I was very happy to inform her that, not only has the plant not died, but, under my dutiful care, it is thriving. I sent her this picture of the blooms it is sporting, and she was happy.

Finally, when Queen B decided to relocate to Texas, I was worried about her for many reasons. I was mostly concerned that she would be lonely. I am so happy that she has found a circle of friends there who lift her up and support her. This past weekend, they attended a wedding for one of their friends, and Queen B looked happy, healthy, and gorgeous. Can't ask for better than that!

It goes without saying that she is my favorite girl 💞

Things I Never Mentioned

 Last month, a bird flew into a window at Not So New Job. I've never seen an impression like the one it left. Clearly, our windows needed a good cleaning. Also, when I looked outside for the bird's body, there wasn't so much as a feather on the ground. So, either the bird wasn't injured (unlikely, I mean, you can see the impression of his EYEBALL for fuck's sake) or a predator dragged the carcass off for dinner.

The world will never know.

My new victim services coordinator ran the picture I took through an AI generator, and the resulting cartoon is hilarious to me.

Also hilarious to me, although not to her, is the picture I took of Queen B at the dental clinic while she was home last month. The crown we installed on her front tooth many years ago had shifted, and she wanted it checked while she was home. As it turns out, the tooth shifted because the prior dentist failed to replace her permanent retainer as he should have. The dentist who has taken over the practice was appalled and has agreed to replace the retainer for free, but we also had to get a new crown. Queen B was fitted for the new crown at that appointment and will have the temporary tooth replaced by the new crown when she is home for Thanksgiving.

Happier moments happened during Queen B's visit, of course. She, Shanti, and I visited the local paint-your-own-pottery place, where we each chose a Halloween-themed item to paint. 

Queen B's mummy was good enough to earn her a chance to win a gift certificate for painting the Piece of the Month at the store. She didn't end up winning, but the nomination was a nice surprise.

Lastly, Hugh and his fellow firefighters were honored for saving the Visitor's Center at the local National Park when a wildfire ravaged it this summer. The event was held at The Association, which is where Mom, Kristi, and I have attended the Boozy Book Fair.  Mom and I attended the ceremony, and we indulged in craft coffees while we were there. It was a good day for all of us.

Bow-CHICA-Bow-WOW

I recently discovered that I have an affection for vintage hen-on-a-nest candy dishes. How did I make this discovery, you may ask? Ummm...mumble, mumble TikTok, mumble, mumble.

I'm not embarrassed by my chicken-loving, but I'm more embarrassed by my obvious weakness for social media influencers. 

Ahem.

Anyhoodle, I've spent quite a bit of time (and money) on the hunt for chicks to add to my collection, as well as making space in my kitchen for displaying my birds. I'm not really mad about either of those things, because there is nothing I enjoy more than a good thrift hunt and reorganizing my spaces gives me a slight thrill.

Currently, the chickens roost (see what I did there?) in my kitchen, on the windowsill and above my cabinets. I have pretty much run out of room, which means my flock is complete (yes, Hugh, I said it).

The large chickens are mostly all named, including Attila the Hen, Hennifer Anist-Hen, Henneth Poultrow, Henrietta Clucks, and Lady Featherton. The roosters are Colonel Sanders, Cluck Norris, Rooster Cogburn, and Foghorn Leghorn II.

I haven't named the small salt cellar chicks because there are too many of them, so I just refer to them as The Chickies.

In addition to the chickens, I have three turkeys, who will only make an appearance at Thanksgiving, so I didn't feel the need to name them. I still love the nameless bastards all the same.

Some might say that, by collecting grandma's chickens, I am showing my age. Some might need to shut the fuck up and get their own hobby.

NaBloPoMo and Other Letters in the Alphabet

A million years ago, back when blogging was at its peak, some wordy bastard declared November as National Blog Posting Month, quickly creating the NaBloPoMo acronym and challenging bloggers everywhere to a thirty-day posting streak. I never personally participated, as I was mainly posting during the workweek while living my life on the weekends.

A lot has changed in the blogging world, thanks to the stratospheric rise of social media, and I'm pretty sure NaBloPoMo went the way of the dodo bird, but, since I've been such a slacker in this space this year, I have decided to challenge myself.

Don't get too excited, I'm definitely not posting daily, but I am going to make more of an effort to be present in this space, thanks to a handful of casual comments my kids have thrown out recently about this space being a time capsule of our lives. They aren't wrong; I've been doing this for almost twenty years and a lot of our memories live here; I'd like to think that the kids will still have access to this space long after I am gone, and, with that, will be able to easily recall our shared history.

Anyway, I'm going to try.

What better way than to document the fun and productive weekend I had?

Hugh and I were disappointed that we didn't have many Trick-or-Treaters on Halloween, but we sort of expected it because of the Trunk-or-Treat downtown. The Man-Cub was the happy beneficiary of our leftover candy, so we at least managed to make him happy. In hindsight, we should have made him dress in costume when he came by to pick up the candy on Saturday. Missed opportunity.

Saturday, I got up early to take down all of my Halloween decor and to pull out the boxes of all/Thanksgiving decorations that were taking up space in my attic. I went through the boxes very quickly, setting aside items that I no longer use for a trip to the Goodwill donation center.

My sister, Barbie, was in Hooterville at Mom's, and we planned an afternoon of thrifting and antique shopping, so I figured I could drop the boxes off, then. When I mentioned it to Mom and Barbie, they were more than happy to look over the items and, in the end, took everything that had been destined for donation.

Fine by me!

That gave us more time to peruse the Goodwill shelves, where I scored BIG time on several pieces for my Dickens Christmas village! $5.99 for a limited-edition piece that I know for a fact sells for over $100 online? Uh, yes, please!  

After the Goodwill, we grabbed lunch at a new place in Hooterville that I had been interested in trying (verdict: limited lunch menu (though breakfast is served all day), good food, a little on the pricier side; will return for the breakfast mimosas, for sure). Then, we hit every thrift and antique store in town before grabbing Happy Hour fountain drinks at Sonic and returning to Mom's house for a marathon crafting session.

Barbie had picked up a ton of vintage Christmas goodies at the Goodwill Bins in her city, and we sifted through them to make a few holiday decorations. It was fun! And, it's always good to spend time with Mom and Barbie.

Sunday, I got the house decorated for Thanksgiving, and Hugh and I joined Shanti and the Man-Cub at Mom's for dinner with her and Barbie. Mom made her famous homemade fried chicken, which she hadn't attempted in years. It must be like riding a bike, because the chicken tasted just the way I remembered.

It was a great way to cap off a great weekend.

 

Pictures Or It Didn't Happen: Halloween Decor 2025

Two posts in one day! I'm on fire!

Just kidding, I'm barely smoking, but at least I'm making the effort.

Tomorrow, the Halloween decorations will find their way back into the attic, so it's time to immortalize them in this space. It's important for me to do that, so I have some inspiration in future years, when I am struggling to create new, fresh displays with long-loved pieces.

I honestly didn't go all in this year because I felt a need to keep my spaces clutter-free, and, strangely, I didn't miss the chaos. I loved the displays that I did put together and enjoyed the streamlined effect.

I also didn't purchase much new stuff, save for the three Cracker Barrel witches that adorn the fireplace mantle (and that's a story in itself, wine and eBay were involved, and I'll leave it at that), and a couple of prints that I framed myself.

The mantle display may be my favorite, ever.

I posted several of the pictures that I took over the past month on my social media, although not daily, as in years past. Some I edited and some I didn't. There's no consistency among them, but I'm posting them here anyway.

Because it's my blog and I'll brag if I want to 😂